Pisces is the sign of the fishes, actually two fishes connected by a rope or ribbon. As the story goes in Greek myth, Aphrodite (Venus) and her son Eros (Cupid) fled into the water to escape the monster Typhon changing themselves into fishes. It was the goddess Minerva then who commemorated the event by placing their image in the heavens.
{mosimage}
Fishes have been a very spiritual symbol since ancient times. Babylonian and Egyptian stories tell of the fish goddess Atargatis, in whose temples were kept sacred fishes that were ritually eaten. Atargatis had a son, Ichthys, similar to the Greek version above; Ichthys was a sort of divine-son-savior figure.
Liz Greene in her book, The Astrology of Fate, associates Dionysus with Pisces, and subsequently with Christ. Jesus Christ, as the avatar of the Piscean Age (which has now just concluded) represented a sacrificial God-son. Sacrifice and surrender (to a Higher Will) is one of the hallmarks of the sign Pisces.
Christians and Catholics might be surprised at how the historical (and pagan) symbolism of the fishes carries over into the story of Jesus: he said “I will make you fishers of men”, he multiplied the loaves and fishes, and finally he offered himself and his body and blood at the Last Supper which is re-enacted each Catholic mass and devotees ritually eat his body (the host); calling to mind the goddess Atargatis story above.
In the Cosmic Astrology of the Ascended Masters Pisces represents the energies of God-mastery. A “master” adept, as it were, is one who has defeated the forces of fear in his world and walks in the self-assured presence of Divine Peace. Having conquered fear, he gains control over all situations; he is the “master”.
The human perversion of Pisces is of course fear, to be haunted by doubts, and to act in self-degrading ways. Many Pisces, or those with the Moon in Pisces, or Pisces rising in their charts; can be manipulated because of a basic uncertainty of who and what they are.
Pisceans can act very deceptively; feeling it is necessary to lie, because they are not good or strong enough for the truth; and their egos are very undefined since their focus in is non-actual, but potential, manifestations. Pisces is the sign of the dreamer, artist, poet, and spiritual contemplative. By and large, Pisces is an energy that is very sensitive and vulnerable, but of necessity it must be.
How then can Pisces represent such a concept as God-mastery, which seems to so diametrically opposite to its nature? The very vulnerability of Pisces (which must be nurtured and protected) is really the only doorway to let the higher potentiality of the Christ Consciousness “come down”, as it were, and assume a more permanent presence in the world.
The process of building one’s spiritual mastery consists of standing, facing, and conquering all of the doubts, fears, and withering anxieties that assail one at moments of import. Yet the Piscean victory is not by muscle or might, but by letting go and finding a stable peace within. Christ-peace or buddhic peace is latently in every man, woman, and child; but it must be internally “accessed”.
It certainly can seem to be quite a contradiction to the human mind but “letting go” (as an act of the human ego) is actually the “taking command” (by the real self, Higher Self, Christ Consciousness, etc.). Being such a seeming contradiction to the materialistic, linear human mind; the process of Higher Mastery is therefore so “hard to do”.
Jupiter is the planetary ruler of Pisces, affinitizing with its spiritual emphasis. Venus is the exaltation ruler of Pisces, associated with the higher ethereal appreciation of love and beauty that Pisces also embodies.
Modern western astrology also gives Pisces rulership to the outer planet Neptune, which can produce quite a malefic manifestation; including addictive behavior, deceptiveness, and low self-esteem. Neptune however also is connected with sublime spiritual thought and visionary experiences.
Mercury is debilitated in Pisces, since it rules the sign OPPOSITE Pisces, Virgo.