Insights for the Month of Pisces     

For those of you who find yourself here, looking, perhaps for astrological inspiration for the moment, let me say that I enjoy writing this each month. If there is something else you think you would like to find here when you come, you could let me and my muse know at julie@juliesimmons.ca

February 18
Sun enters Pisces: 06:32 AM EST
I think of the mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces) as the magicians; the shapeshifters of the zodiac. But none is more mysterious than Pisces, whose watery shapeshifting qualities occur via our feeling states. Feelings are not exactly emotions but rather those low-down, deep-in currents that ebb and flow, pulse and throb and can be still and clear or turbulent and clouded. Those who can navigate the currents of feeling with awareness and without wishing they were other than they are, are masters of the mystical. Pisces is their signature sign. Which isn’t to say this is easy or automatically given to everyone with Pisces in their horoscope. Indeed, Pisces people are often as much of a mystery to themselves as they are to others. To claim the gifts of Pisces we must journey deep inside and learn the art of  all water signs: The ability to feel deeply without immediately acting on the feelings. The power of the witness is required; not so much the witnessing of others as much as the ability to witness and validate their own feeling states. Compassion is required. Which doesn’t suggest that if you’re caught in a flood you shouldn’t look for a life boat or a roof to stand on. But metaphorically speaking, those who can ride the waves, surrender to the turbulence, without drowning will grow wise beyond measure.
In these times, since Neptune entered Pisces in 2012, the Sun, as it journeys through Pisces, conjuncts Neptune, it’s ruler once a year (this year it’s March 1^st.) There will even be an eclipse in this sign on February 26^th. We can expect turbulence. The magic is in expecting it without tensing up; to find the rhythm and use it to shift the shape of what is happening.

February 20
Mercury sextile Uranus
Look for an opportunity for change someplace you never considered before. Despite the awful angst of the moment it’s also true that Mr. Crazy and his posse are inadvertently inspiring much of the world to stand together. It’s sort of like aliens have landed…  

February 21
Mercury trine Jupiter
Somebody is using their intelligence these days and it’s inspirational, or just plain smart. A good time to use the head.

February 22
Mars square Pluto
A fighting aspect with a built-in stalemate. Frustration is the line of least resistance. A better option is seriously disciplined action aimed at profound transformation. We are all being manipulated like crazy. It takes real fearlessness to see a way through it.

February 23
Mercury sextile Saturn
The great divide that separates us from them also separates you from me, and even worse, me from myself. Humans are so strange that way. Today is not a day for One Love but a really good day to listen to other perspectives. Which isn’t the same as pandering to narcissists.

February 25
Mercury enters Pisces
Less intellect, more feeling. Mercury is said to be in its detriment as well as fall in Pisces but some of the smartest people seem to have Mercury here. They know how to think with their guts. We should all try it for the next while.

February 26
New Moon Solar eclipse: 8 degrees Pisces: 09:58 AM EST
Mars conjunct Uranus
You might say, if you were ruthlessly determined to get to the root of things, that the incredible self-centeredness of the western world; the belief that we deserve to have what we want or not have what we don’t want is what led us here, to this moment, to the destruction of the democratic ideal. The engine of civilization when fueled by greed is bound to crash and burn. Every New Moon is an invitation to plant a seed of something – you only get one go a year at each seed. Pisces is complicated: On one hand, it’s compassion and empathy to an extreme degree. The ‘make me one with everything’ sign. On the other hand it can also be about cruelty and torture in the sense that if a person turns away from the suffering of others because they refuse to bear the feeling of it, they project that the suffering of others does not matter. This then becomes some kind of twisted license to cause suffering. Both sides are manifestations of Pisces. Maybe the solar eclipse is asking us to take sides: Compassion or cruelty?
Given that the eclipse is so close to Neptune we can probably expect water to be a significant issue somewhere on this planet which we call home.
Mars suggests that there are revelations afoot that should lead to action: Something to get you up off your rusty-dusty and change your world. In combination with the New Moon this suggests that change should be for the good of all.

February 27
Mars opposite Jupiter
Yesterday’s theme with a large dash of righteousness. Which is not the same as self-righteousness. The issue of ethical actions should challenge everything we do at this time.

March 1
Sun conjunct Neptune
It’s that one day a year when Neptune gets revitalized by the Sun. Maybe it’s like the Buddha seems to have said: Suffering is a fact of life; everyone’s. Given that truth it seems obvious that kindness and compassion are really what the world needs most.

March 2
Jupiter opposite Uranus
Confrontation and challenge are in the air. It’s important to question authority, it’s also important to find and keep our center in a world that is being manipulated toward chaos.

March 4
Venus stationery retrograde
Mercury conjunct Neptune
Let your mind go soft – at least once today. Let things drift in or float up. When it comes to Venus retrograde, get ready to reevaluate something in your life. To let go of the dross and do the work of deciding what really matters. It’s a process. The letting go lasts till March 26th. Then it will be time to get going. So, no rush.

March 5
Mars trine Saturn
Stride through the world, knowing you’re good. And if you are full of doubt on account of something you don’t feel good about, do something else. Everyone has their sphere of excellence.

March 6
Sun conjunct Mercury
Ponder the depths, the mysteries. If you’re into distractions go for the big ones, the ones that make you feel like you had a big dream that could change everything.

March 8
Mercury sextile Pluto
Obsess a little, see if it unearths something you should know, something that could transform what you thought you already knew.

March 09
Sun sextile Pluto
Mars enters Taurus
Time for all good earth signs to roll up their sleeves and get to work. Mars says so. If you’re not the earthy kind of person, find someone who is and support them, whatever way you can. Most likely we have all had enough of the ‘make lemonade’ philosophy of life, even though it makes sense at times. All that kind of thinking, which implies that there is something we could do to make things better, is wearing thin, given the ominous feelings so many of us have about the changes that are happening. The Sun and Pluto are not inherently friends; the Sun is bright, constant and awake, Pluto is dark, deep and chthonic. In synch with each other, as they are today suggests that courage in the face of that which we cannot control will work well. You might not end up with lemonade but that’s not the only game in town.

 March 12
Full Moon: 22 degrees Virgo 10:54 AM EST
Mercury square Saturn
How do devotion and service play out in your life? We are often ignorant of the value that our neediness can have for others. We are afraid to ask for help because we don’t believe we are worthy. And to assume you are entitled can be truly offensive in the face of those who cannot assume they are entitled to anything. Still, there is the quality of Grace, which works in both directions; for the one who gives as well as the one who receives.
Be the witness for that which is beyond concept. You won’t get a concrete revelation but progress can be made.

March 13
Mercury enters Aries
The time for pondering is done (for now). Thoughts need to inspire action. Hopefully we have done the work and our actions will be rooted, like water lilies, in the deep waters of empathy and kindness.

March 17
Sun square Saturn
According to the ancients the Sun and Saturn are enemies: Celestial enemies. Of course the ancient world view was laced with a sense of world as a threat. Many of the concepts we have inherited from our ancestors are rooted in a presumption of humans as being ‘at two’ with nature, rather than at one. When the principle of light and love challenges the rock-hard realities of circumstance it’s time to grow up and take responsibility for what is, rather than expecting miracles or rescue. ‘Divinity helps those who dare’.

March 18
Mercury conjunct Venus
Here, at the end of Pisces 2017, we have a passionate symbol for speaking out, with conviction. Each voice wants to be heard. Try to listen as well as speak. If it seems no one is listening to you, write your thoughts. Poets are not made of mush, they are the voices of the things we cannot express easily. Fierce truths can be articulated in indirect ways.