Pisces Traits

Pisces, the Fish, is the twelfth sign of the Zo­di­ac. The sun enters it on February 19, and leaves it right at the vernal equinox. Pisces belongs to the ele­ment water, its quality is mutable and its charge is negative. Its Ruler is Neptune, and Mercury exalts in it. Its motto is: "I believe."

     In the horo­scope chart, Pisces brings humility and uncertainty to planets or Houses therein.

Your Pisces Star Sign Traits

Those who have Pisces as their star sign are born when the sun was in Pisces, normally Febru­ary 19 - March 20 (it differs slightly from year to year, be­cause of the leap years). Therefore, it is also - more correctly - called the sun sign.

     The sun in your horoscope is your natural self - what you are when you relax, when other planets in your horoscope are not active. It's your basic drive, a character you have as an ingredient - more or less evident in all you do and all you are.

     The sun is the most important point in your horoscope chart, but of course it's not the only thing that describes your personality. You need to look at all the components of your birth chart, to get a correct astrological description of your­self.

The Struggle to Feel Good

If your sun sign is Pisces, you're a modest and self-sacrificing person, searching tirelessly for what can make life truly meaningful and fulfilling. You need to believe in something, and you're perfectly willing to spend a lifetime finding it.

     During this search, you don't hesitate to make significant personal sacrifices, even when others would say that they are pointless or just too much. Some take advantage of you, because you're willing to meet their wishes even when that's costly to you. As long as you feel they can somehow help you along the way towards self-realization, you accept. But when another comes, showing more hope for you, there's no trouble for you to change com­panion.

     To you, life is all about how it feels, the emotional dimension. Material things mean next to nothing, the same is true for reason and common sense. Whatever we do, we have to feel good about it. That's the essential thing to you. But it's not easy to accomplish. Still, what can you do but try?

     You're definitely more of a follower than a leader. You can find it in you to adapt to almost any circumstance, and to compromise enough to do fine together with almost any other person. But you have your quest, which is so hard to complete, you often find yourself giving up what you have, to move on. Maybe next time you find what you're looking for.

Three Different Pisces

A Zodiac sign doesn't give exactly the same influ­ence all through its 30°. Its first third has something of a cardinal quality, whatever the quality of the sign as a whole is, its second third is slightly more fixed in quality, and the last third is more mutable.

     If you were born at the end of February, the sun is in the beginning of Pisces. That means your life is pretty much dominated by your quest for fulfillment, and nothing can hold you back from pursuing it. You may seem yielding, but you can break free of any ties if your search demands it.

     If you were born in the beginning of March, the sun is in the middle of Pisces. Then you're con­stantly aware of your quest, but willing to compro­mise about it, and postpone it if circum­stances demand that of you. It takes time for you to get deeply involved in something, and time to break free of it when it has no more to give you. But you do - in a way that is gentle to everyone else involved.

     If you were born in the middle of March, the sun is at the end of Pisces. Then you frequently feel frustrated about your life situation. You want to move, you want to settle down, you want to know what to do. Nothing seems to please you at length, although you have no clue as to why. It's rare that you remain for long in any given situation. It makes your life rich, indeed, but also full of sacrifices and shortcomings. This is the mutable part of the sign and Pisces belongs to the mutable quality, so people born with their sun here are the most typical Pisces, showing its traits very clearly and completely, whatever it costs them.

Traits of Your Father

The sun in the horoscope also represents your father (the mother is represented by the moon). That means your Zodiac sign traits reveal something about the characteristics of your relationship with your father.

     If you have the sun in Pisces, your relation to your father is one of uncertainty. Although there's mutual affection, you both feel that you don't know each other well enough. To some extent you are strangers to one another, and you just don't find the opportunity to get to know each other as well as you would like.

     You try to please your father, sometimes more than what is reasonable, and still your father can neglect to show his appreciation for it. Your relation is an emotional one, and you're often unsure about how your father will react to what you do or say. In spite of these compli­cations, your bonds will never break.

Traits of the Planets in Pisces

When another planet or other point of the horo­scope is in Pisces, it's also affected by the Zodiac sign, get­ting some of its traits. Here are those astrological points, what they stand for in the horoscope, and how they are affected by Pisces:


Sun   basic drive - Pisces brings a compassionate nature and unrest.

Moon   longing - Pisces brings emotions that shift quickly, but still are strong.

Mercury   curiosity - Pisces brings a curiosity difficult to satisfy, because of intellectual impatience.

Venus   affection - Pisces brings warm affection for just about everyone and everything.

Mars   aggression - Pisces brings frustration and a sense of insufficiency.

Jupiter   luck - Pisces brings emotional turmoil, and many rewarding experiences.

Saturn   duty - Pisces brings confusion about values and duty, and some angst because of it.

Uranus   contemplation - Pisces brings bewilderment about the world and everything in it.

Neptune   fantasy - Pisces brings blossoming fantasy and imagination.

Pluto   catharsis - Pisces brings chaotic circum­stances and difficulty to foresee anything.

Ascendant, AC   attitude - Pisces brings an atti­tude of humility and uncertainty.

Medium Coeli, MC   self-image - Pisces brings a sense of craving, but uncertainty as to the nature of it.

Traits of the Houses in Pisces

In the astrological Houses, the Zodiac signs also bring their character traits, influencing the environments de­scribed by the Houses. Here are the twelve Houses of the horoscope, what they stand for, and how Pisces affects them:

1. Identity - Pisces makes you seem shy and yielding.
2. Resources - Pisces makes your material situ­ation out of your control.
3. Communication - Pisces makes you unsure of your friends, and you find it hard to concentrate on your studies.
4. Home - Pisces makes your home fragile and your family ties complicated.
5. Pastime - Pisces makes you unsure about what to do with your spare time.
6. Work - Pisces makes your work difficult and somewhat unsatisfactory.
7. Partners - Pisces makes your relations unstable and emotionally draining.
8. Unknown - Pisces makes you fascinated by, and in awe of the beyond.
9. Travel - Pisces makes you travel much, seldom planning in advance.
10. Career - Pisces makes you unwilling to struggle for advancement.
11. Ideals - Pisces makes you willing to do any sacrifice for the benefit of those who need.
12. Shortcomings - Pisces makes your life a little too orderly, with little room for surprise or impulse.

Generalizations

Of course, all of the above is very general, mainly to give you an idea of how the Zodiac sign traits affect the horoscope. You need to study your horoscope chart carefully, to make a deeper and more nuanced inter­pretation.

Pisces, illustration from a 1482 edition of a book by Hyginus.
© Stefan Stenudd