A Lesson in Pisces

Through Pisces that we may see illusion as illusion, and have “right perception”, which is the necessary prelude to true knowledge.

In Pisces*, the last sign of the last quadrant, we arrive at the final stage of zodiacal evolution, ready to take the last, critical step towards self-understanding and recovery of true Self. The Pisces’ polarity, Virgo, is the first sign of perception of “world-beyond-self”, and tentative relatedness to that world. Virgo engages in careful observation of every nuance of every detail of the world, thereby mentally ordering/organizing it, and through service to this world, justifying a place for itself within it. In contrast, Pisces looks beyond the infinite mass of details, beyond the “strokes and flecks”, beyond the picture(s) of world/ universe painted by these strokes, and sees the unbroken flow of underlying color; therefore, it is through Pisces that we may see illusion as illusion, and have “right perception”, which is the necessary prelude to true Knowledge.

Like all signs in the Eastern Hemisphere, Pisces creates its own experiential reality. As a Water sign, it is emotional and feeling: emotive, hyper-sensitive, compassionate, charitable, and tolerant. However, it is the Vaporous form of Water: highly malleable and influenced by environment; it takes on the color of whatever landscape it is in, and the form of whatever receptacle holds it. Because it is water in vaporous form, its capacity to expand is infinite, possessing no natural boundaries or form of its own. Because its purpose, like that of all zodiacal signs, is to find/discover/define/express the Self, it is drawn to merge with everything to establish some “identity”, whether true of false; this merging is a kind of getting “lost” in experience/relationships. This applies also to pain, not only its own pain, but that of others. Its vaporous Water state allows it to not only see others’ suffering, to enter into that suffering. And as a Mutable sign, it adapts, learns, and serves. Depending on its level of evolution, it may do this in a functional or dysfunctional way.

The Piscean ego structure is different from that of other signs. It is not ‘strong’ in the usual sense, meant to endure. It is meant to fall away, like the launching mechanism of a rocket (R. Olesky) once its capsule has achieved enough height to escape gravity and to move along its own trajectory. As the last sign of zodiac, it may function as either “pre-egoic” (R. Hand), becoming ‘one’ with everything so as to form a kind of anchoring in chaos and Maya (the ‘apparent’ / ‘consensus’ reality)… or it may function as Trans-egoic, i.e., Spirit-centered: rather than merging with all experiences and egos of this world, it instead identifies with their Underlying Source, the ALL- within- all.

The glyph of Pisces is 2 semi-circles, ‘back to back’, joined by a horizontal line: the semi-circles represent the subconscious and the Soul/Spirit; the line symbolizes an energy vector allowing connection with others, as well as the capacity for consciousness regarding which direction it is moving in: towards either ego or towards Spirit.

The totem of Pisces is 2 fishes. This describes its adeptness at surviving and thriving in its watery/ephemeral environment. However, the 2 fishes are joined; they are in the same water, but swimming in opposite directions. This tells us that Pisces may move towards either ego/World, OR towards Soul/Spirit/The Unqualified Absolute. It cannot go in both directions at the same time. Each direction results in a completely different “self”. Whatever direction and self it chooses necessarily requires that it abandon the opposite direction and self. There are no half-measures.

The boundless, ever-expansive quality of the Piscean water-vapor element speaks to the dispersive function of the sign: merging with the experiences of this world (even one’s own ego or that of others), Pisces cannot help but see their illusory, “cloud-like” quality: no matter how substantial they appear, they disappear in the Light of Vision. Through Pisces, we learn we are “in the world but not of the world”, and we can learn to be comfortable with that. The Key of Pisces is “I Believe”; this is the secret that it comes to share: it is not the world which gives rise to our being; it is our Belief which gives rise to the world.

*References: R. Hand, J. Green, R. Olesky, March & McEvers, Sakoian & Caulfield, “A Course in Miracles”

©Copyright October 3, 2016