Venus in Pisces

The Melbourne Aquarium

photo credit: Fir0002, November 2006

Venus entering Pisces has Venus joining a school of planets already swimming their way through the sign of two fishes. (Breast stroke, anyone?) This Venus ingress will occur on February 26th at 2:04 in the morning (UT/+0). And once it happens, that will bring the number of personal planets in Pisces to four: Venus, Sun, Mars and Mercury (which is of course, in retrograde).

Considering there are only five personal planets and that not one of those listed above will be leaving Pisces until mid-March, this says a lot about this moment – and the next several weeks.

Personal Pisces energy is now nearly maximal. We’re not talking generational (societal) and were not talking transpersonal (the unanticipated or unexpected)…we’re talking personal energy: that which we think of as being ‘all about me in my daily life.’ And this isn’t something to fluff off or swim away from. After all, considering the Mars doesn’t transit Pisces but once every two years or so, and given orbital permutations Mars’ transit of Pisces isn’t guaranteed to be during the Sun-in-Pisces period all that often.

In fact, looking back through my ephemeris, it would seem we would have to go all the way back to 1919 to find a time when the Sun, Venus, Mercury and Mars are all in Pisces.

 A page from 'The American Ephemeris for the 10th Century at Noon'

by Neil F. Michaelson, revisions by Rique Pottenger

 

Looking ahead, we’ll have a couple of days of this configuration in 2026, but neither 2026 or 1919 were timed as to bring the fifth personal planet (using the term astrologically) into the picture. That fifth planet is our Luna Moon. And yes, this year we will be experiencing this ‘perfect personal Pisces storm’ between 6:20 in the morning on March 10th until 11:17 a.m. on March 12th (both times given for the UT/+0 zone).

I’m not crazy about the concept of ‘planetary alignments,’ which if you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time you’re probably aware of. Planetary ‘alignments’ is not really a term used much in professional astrology, though astrology does have a term for any time you have three or more planets in any given sign. That situation is known as a ‘stellium,’ and any time you see a stellium you know there’s a lot of energy of that kind being centered in that sign.

Stelliums can be composed of any kind of planetary symbol. You could have Sun, Saturn, Pluto…or Venus, Mercury, Moon…Uranus, Mars, Jupiter (which sounds like a cause to hold onto your hat with both hands!). As long as all the planets are in the same sign, you get that vortex of sign energy astrologers call a stellium.
But in this case, all the planets are personal planets. 

So we know that all this energy is about us. Each and every one of us, as individuals.

And considering this stellium (aka alignment) is in Pisces, and that Pisces is a sign all about events and life situations which confront us with the reality of our feelings…not about ‘them’ but about ourselves, this next few weeks can be expected to be full of many things which evoke our emotions. Or which call our attention to our emotionality – or (considering this is Pisces) or tendency not to want to deal with either reality itself OR the reality OF our emotions…either the ‘how we feel about something’ or why we feel as we do about something.

Or even why we allow people to treat our feelings as they do.

Venus is the last planet to the party. In entering Pisces on February 26th, it brings a certain panache to the mix…but then again, amps up our sensitivity. At once we will want more and hope for more…and be more disappointed when or if things don’t go our way. Or even if they don’t live up to our expectations.

That’s the Pisces thing. In getting us to feel the “distance” or the “difference” between our hopes or expectations and the reality of life and how people and life really are, Pisces becomes a sign about learning how to manage expectations and accept reality and realities, especially when it comes to other human beings and our fantasies of what could be.

Pisces supports faith and faithfulness. But Piscean periods (and Piscean people) will move through our lives as agents of life itself, agents who through their actions force us to confront our own drama. Our own denial. Our own fears. Our own wishes. Our own faith or lack thereof.

We tend to think the fault is ‘theirs.’ And while ‘they’ may be at fault at some level, the feelings and reactions and emotions are ours.

So, what do I mean by a ‘Pisces person’? Yes, there are people in our lives whose charts are heavy-laden with Pisces planets. Inevitably we will see such people dealing with their own expectations, their own love/hate with regards to reality, their own battles with escapism and acceptance.

That’s one sort of ‘Pisces person.’ But the other kind…the one which is far more common is any person who represents the house or situation which stirs up wherever Pisces is in your natal chart.

For instance, if you have Pisces on your 8th house, anyone who comments on your fairness or how you deal with power or power struggles is going to rile you up…as will…anyone who in your life represents sex, financial investments, war, surgery or the general concept of having to operate without having control. Given that there is a side of Pisces which likes not having to ‘do,’ this question of control will be a love/hate relationship which may evolve into wanting the power but not the responsibility. Or maybe the choice but not the accountability for that choice.

Such ‘pro/con’ (love/hate) relationships are common with Pisces. And anyone who stirs up your Pisces house or represents its functionality is someone you are more likely to blame when you get forced to feel something you don’t like to feel.

Especially during these next few weeks. After all, not only are all the personal planets in Pisces, but Pluto and Saturn are also in yin (responsive) signs. In fact, the only two planets in yang (self-assertive) signs are Uranus (in Aries) and Jupiter, which still in early Gemini is in sextile to Uranus.

And that means that life is likely to be stirring up situations and dynamics to test us – each and every one of us – in exactly that Piscean way we need to be more aware of. The Uranus/Jupiter add-on here will be the choice we have between moving through our own issues or blaming, even taking the fight to others - which well may be an example of how dare you try to show me who I am!

So yes, as Venus enters Pisces and unites with Neptune and Fomalhaut we can expect overtones of romance and fun, escapism and fantasy. And that’s just great providing we have our feet on solid mental ground about the difference between reality and real life and whatever good time we’re having.  

Beyond that, during the weekend that the Moon will add to the Piscean quotient, perfecting the personal Pisces quality of it all. Even for the most solid citizens among us this is likely to be a touchy time as on March 11th that Piscean Moon will conjunct Chiron, setting off Chiron’s trine to Saturn, currently retrograde in Scorpio.

Moon/Chiron equals ‘feelings of vulnerability’ or lack or necessity which involves something you don’t quite know how to handle. Saturn always being ‘hard lines’ or limits or reality or life structures, in Scorpio this accents the interactive qualities which I specifically outlined in reference to Pisces on the 8th house (the 8th house being the native house of Scorpio).

This would be a moment for hard facts and real-life decisions. Those of us who are decent with taking on and dealing with responsibility will have less of a hassle than those who aren’t, but no one is likely to love doing what now needs doing.

Feel the feeling and do what need doing anyway.

Remember, Pisces is first and foremost about recognizing how our feelings work and that they exist for a reason. The ultimate Pisces education includes the reason for those reasons, and that’s what most of us really hate getting to. Or admitting, even to ourselves. It’s why we all have things we do to ‘escape,’ and Venus’ transit through Pisces can be prime escapism territory.

So if you’re off on a vacation, great. Just try to remember that even on the finest beach a little sand may get in your daiquiri. Or you could get a sunburn.

Life is not a fantasy. To play, to fantasize while enjoying life? That’s Pisces at it’s best, which is why we associate Pisces with the greatest of actors and artist. All the many ways we are touched by the kindness of others, where we are inspired to be better people, those are Piscean. Helping those in need in Piscean. Understanding the pain and anguish of anyone - even the most heinous of villains, that's Piscean.

Pisces is the sign of charity and caretaking, which is a wonderful thing until or unless you’re sacrificing your own life in the process.

The balance here is the balance of the Pisces/Virgo polarity…doing what we should, letting go of the fantasy. Either way, whether the fantasy is being the hero who sweeps in and saves the day, never making a mistake…or whether the fantasy is every day as a party…Pisces will teach you to moderate that vision until you understand that it is a fantasy.

And then...when that happens...strangely...everything will be far more wonderful. And wonderful things happen.

Does that mean that fantasies are bad? No...it's our expecting the fantasy to be real which generates disappointments. And the measure of the disappointment is proportional to how deeply we've invested ourselves in wanting to believe that fantasy.

That's just the Piscean process.

With Neptune in Pisces, Venus’ transit of Pisces – particularly the first week or so of it – are likely to be highly unrealistic. That means that part of the challenge is keeping in the back of your mind that nothing is as good or as bad as you might think it is.

Or as someone else might want you to think it is. There is an automatic ‘connective’ quality to Piscean times which means we are vulnerable to being ‘played’ by others. They may say ‘it’s all good’ or ‘it’s all bad’ and you may go with the one which ‘feels’ best to you (Pisces is very big on instinct) or you may be disinclined to believe anyone. Not wanting to deal with things is a common Piscean tactic which once Venus enters Pisces we are likely to see a lot of people resorting to. Like little fishes along a reef, people are likely to ‘flee’ from decisions they don’t want to make and things they’ve done which don’t hold Pisces water.

For some and in some cases, this is just a time when you should accept that they are too afraid, too sensitive to respond in the moment. Fear and over-sensitivity are premier Pisces bugaboos. They can be fun (as in a horror flick) but then again, they can be mass movements which end up creating all sorts of problems simply because people get caught up in mob mentalities.

Whatever happens, as Venus moves into Pisces, the exaltation of this combination asks that we use our opportunities to good use and that we be or become realistic about what our limits are…and who other people are in reality, never mind who we want to think they are.

Does that mean they’re so ‘bad’? No, not always. It means that they’re human – no better or worse off than we are.

Being equally strong is just as hard as coping with feeling you’re weak. But that’s the Pisces reality.
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