Natal Ascendant in Pisces
Posted by Luminakisharblaze on March 9, 2011 at 7:15pm in Astrology
(Bernice Grebner)
First Decanate (Pisces-Pisces): These people have very vivid imaginations and can be very impressionable. This gives a psychic talent that may or may not be fully realized by them. It gives a self-image that may be very vague. They just don't always know exactly who they are and where they are going. Taken at best, they should become involved in some type of cause for humanity. They must watch the tedency to indulge in escapist experiences that make them feel good. Expression and study of music and poetry are excellent releases. Also work and service in a hospital.
With Virgo-Virgo on the Descendant, they have a tendency to criticize the partner even when there's no reason to do so. All this amounts to is a transference of their own feelings of inadequacy to their partner. They expect too much, and in most cases it might be better if they stayed single.
Second Decanate (Pisces-Cancer): Their projection into this first house's activity is subject to the reception of their spiritual impulses and expressions to others. They carry with them through all other activities a need to be nurtured; and, when all else has gone, their identity with the need for self-sacrifice remains. They know the mother's influence is instinctive but, above and beyond that, their goals for self-projection remain hidden from themselves. They are driven to creative work with or because of the people they love.
With Virgo-Capricorn on the Descendant, they may marry a friend of long standing, or the relationship with the marriage partner may turn into a friendship. It can work out that they have a conservative marriage relationship. They both have the same friends who are considerably important to both of them, or perhaps a mutual friend got ttem together in the first place.
Third Decanate (Pisces-Scorpio): Behind this seemingly compassionate, understanding approach is a strong individual, innately sure of himself. This person is geared to solve the mysteries involved with life on earth and beyond. He is critical of the more formal means to studying all higher realm subjects. There is a willingness to sacrifice physical comforts to do this, or it takes the form of not tending to physical necessities (this person will not eat properly; may not take care of clothing, etc.). The interests are high mental and spiritual values.
With Virgo-Taurus on the Descendant, this can be a partnership where both partners work together earning joint income, or it can be working together in a job involving communication, travel, teaching, or any of the mercurial talents. Criticism can result when one is not doing a good enough job or when not enough money is coming in.
(Sepharial and Muchery)
First Decanate: Loss of position; false friends; many secret enemies; morbid enthusiasm and corrupt sympathies; religious spirit, inclining to fanaticism; trouble through love affairs and children; danger of drowning; quarrels and disputes with powerful enemies; early death or affliction of a parent.
Second Decanate: High position and much success; two marriages, or inconstancy in the marriage state; eminent friends; certain elevation and honours; a kind, warm disposition and genial nature, very sympathetic, but lacking in constancy. The inherenet merits of the native will raise him to a good position, and will confer wealth by good fortune.
Third Decanate: Loss by strifes and enmities, and by unknown and secret means; success in foreign lands, but a menace of danger; troubles in the marriage state; separation from wife and children; female influence strong, but detrimental; danger of severe reversals, but assistance from friends in high position. At times timid, and anon very audacious, the native is not reliable, and will lose many an opportunity of advancement. A certain religious or fanatical enthusiasm inspires the mind from time to time, but it is not constant, and falls short of end. Passionate nature, infected with an utter disregard of the consequences of action. Fanciful projects make a plaything of the native, and lead him from one to another disappointment.
Physical Qualities: Pisces gives a short or below-average stature; a fully-fleshed body; a well-rounded, full face with a small and round nose and a pale complexion; full but watery or weak-looking, dreamy or lifeless eyes; small hands and feet; small and short limbs; abundant dark, sometimes black hair; generally a stoop at the shoulders. The native detests walking and anything that entails fatigue (unless other indications in the birth chart contradict this).
Mental Qualities: Loquacious, cheery, changeful, passionate; secretive in many things; difficult to know; generally disposed to a double life; quick in understanding; good judgement; versatile. The disposition is gentle (even indolent), incapable of reacting. The native takes things as they come. He is good-natured, slightly selfish without being spiteful, and shows affection and a readiness to render service to others, provided this does not require too much physical exertion. He detests walking and anything that entails fatigue. His indolence is only equalled by his reserve and his self-centredness. If the native has not inherited wealth, his position will be commonplace; but if he has means, this position makes a benevolent individual, who likes to help the weak. Pisces in the Ascendant is favourable for domestic life, which is peaceful and calm. It may conduce to a large family of children.
(Frances Sakoian and Louis Acker)
Pisceans are sympathetic, adaptable, ethereal, and visionary. Their achievements are the result of their sensitivity to the subtle currents of their surroundings. Their mystical insight allows them to penetrate the subtleties of human nature. They also have artistic and musical ability.
With Virgo on the 7th house cusp, Pisceans attract hardworking, efficient, and exacting partners who help them manage their practical affairs.
(Dane Rudhyar)
The Pisces-ascendant type may be wide open to the collective unconscious - perhaps a medium, perhaps a true seer. But he may also be a crusader, a leader of armies or of groups dedicated to a greater future for their nations or for humanity. This very openness to the unknown will call for partnerships of a critical Virgo type. The Pisces-rising person will demand of his lover ones that they should pass through ceaseless metamorphoses. He may demand rigorous discipline and a spotless conduct from his associates. Having his vision absorbed by vast changes, he will often meet daily trivialities with impatience and meticulous care. For himself he will rely upon intuition, but will seek to find intellect and accuracy of technique in his partners, or will display such Virgo characteristics in his dealings with others.
(Howard Sasportas)
Pisces rising can embody any of the various manifestations associated with this complex and elusive sign. Like the two fishes swimming in opposite directions in the glyph, the urge to form a concrete and solid sense of ego-identity conflicts with those forces which encourage the dissolution and transcendence of ego-boundaries. The resolution to this dilemma requires that the person with Pisces rising develop an identity which does not exclude the awareness of being part of something greater than the self. Too rigid a personality would make this impossible, and yet too diffuse an identity would create difficulties in effectively dealing with life. In the former situation, nothing beyond the ego-boundaries could filter into the awareness, while in the latter case, the person is overwhelmed by his or her sensitivity and openness. The dangers are inflexibility on the one hand and chaos and disintegration on the other.
Pisces on the Ascendant may manifest on any of the three levels traditionally associated with the sign: the victim, the artist or the healer / saviour. The victim does not cope well with the more difficult realities of the world and seeks an escape route or crutch - perhaps turning to drugs or alcohol as a way of release. Vague and confused, Pisces rising may flow with whatever is happening, letting other people make choices for them. Some may try to escape the net of daily tedium and entrapment within traditional societal frameworks, turning to crime, underground activity and villainous behaviour.
However, another expression of this sign on the Ascendant is the artistic type. Inspired by the imaginal realms of the psyche, the artist channels his or her perceptions through some sort of medium. The third level, the healer or saviour, dedicates the life to serving others, endeavouring to make real a vision of life glimpsed in a more expanded state of consciousness. Pain 'out there' in the world is felt as their own pain. On all three levels, to varying degrees, this Ascendant is taken over by something which obliterates or supersedes a more mundane existence or limited view of life.
A keynote for Pisces is the sacrifice of the personal will. However, if taken to an extreme, those with this Ascendant may repeatedly set up situations through which others take advantage of them. Besides being trampled on like the proverbial doormat, a lack of clear prohibitions and boundaries often means abandoning the self to emotions and appetites which in the long run are excessive and self-destructive. Virgo on the Descendant provides the balancing principles of discrimination, common sense and a healthy respect of caution and limits. Others may need to provide these qualities but ultimately those with Pisces rising are much better off if they can find such traits within themselves. Some with this configuration will be so absorbed in spiritual ecstasies or high-flown missions that they will require partners to manage the more trivial and mundane necessities of everyday life (Virgo on the 7th). Sometimes the Pisces rising type will be so idealistic and romantic that unconsciously they are highly critical and condemning of others (Virgo Descendant) for not living up to their expectations. Others with Pisces rising derive their identity solely through rescuing or serving others (Virgo on the 7th).
Physically, Pisces on the 1st may have a dreamy, romantic or mysterious quality in the face. The eyes may be large and almost like liquid. Often the overall features are soft and rounded. Like plastic, they can mould their looks into different shapes. In their manner, they may exude a receptivity and willingness-to-please allure which charms and seduces others. Sometimes they exhibit such a degree of helplessness that others are inspired to come to their rescue.
(Jeanne Avery)
The ruler of Pisces is the planet Neptune. When this sign is on the rise, idealism, vision, and high aspiration are strongly in evidence. The person with this ascendant deals with life by seeing only the best in any situation. He adopts a viewpoint of high expectancy and survives by seeing concepts from an overall perspective that may be considered naive by more factually oriented people. He may have a Don Quixote complex and tend to glamorize people and situations around him, yet he can walk through the most difficult times with a clear view of the road ahead. In spite of apparent circumstances, the dreams that parade before his vision have little to do with life as others see it. He puts on his rose-colored glasses, heightens the colors a bit, and carries on. No harsh glare of reality will enter his field of vision unless he chooses.
Pisces is a Water sign and is mutable, or adaptable. The symbol of this sign is two fish, swimming in opposite directions. The most obvious interpretation of the symbology is the inability to take decisive action. The person with this ascendant can keep himself in a hopeless quandary by duality of direction, yet he accomplishes what he must in life by taking this indirect approach. Confrontation and clear-cut decisions are not his way of handling situations. Since he operates strongly from the right hemisphere of his brain, he may have to wait until his intuitive powers point to the right direction.
The appearance of someone with this idealistic outlook is a dead giveaway. He may be myopic with large, dreamy eyes, and can almost look as if he has a halo around his head. The angelic face completes the picture. That faraway gaze seems to reflect the rosy pictures that parade before his mind. He may appear to be wrapped in cotton batting or gauze, and can sometimes appear to be too fragile to live in a world of struggle and difficulty. He seems to stay ten feet off the ground and be high on life all the time. He expects people to be perfect and to live up to his expectations. He may be totally unaware of any faults. He exudes a naive charm that is exceptionally contagious. Since he is so gentle and kind, almost no-one can resist the temptation to go along with his concept of life. He is worshipped and adored, put on a pedestal of adulation.
Neptune can be described in several ways. It is, first of all, the planet that rules film, therapy, and the glamour world. Photograph provides a natural outlet for this kind of energy. But Neptune is the planet that describes the ability to create the circumstances around us. It is like planting a seed in a flower pot. If one plants a zinnia seed, a zinnia grows, if cared for properly, or if an orchid is planted that is the plant that emerges from the soik. Metaphysically speaking, whetever one can conceive is what emerges and is manifest in the outer circumstances. If conditions are not ideal, the fault lies in the seeds that are planted on a daily basis.
Janene Schneider describes this process as sending out 'purchase orders' to the universe. If five 'desks and chairs' are ordered, that is what is received, yet if imperfect orders are released, imperfect 'merchandise' is returned. Neptune, in good aspect to other planets, describes a fantastic ability to order a good life through being idealistic and expectant. The refusal to see ugliness seems to prevent its existence in the life of one with this ascendant. The effectiveness of this talent is indicated by the aspects to the planet Neptune. The visionary quality is connected with a desire to save the world and to lift circumstances to the ideal level. The problems that can occur stem from an unwillingness to be realistic, however, or a tendency to overglamorize people and events.
Learning to utilize this ability in a practical manner can be like taking pictures of a beautiful sunset. Unless the camera is focused properly, the sunset comes out a blur. Since the person with Pisces rising is constantly 'taking pictures' or events around him, he can manufacture fantastic results by simply combining intellect and practical application with the visionary trait. As long as he believes in his dreams while maintaining awareness of their realistic direcion, he finds ideal circumstances. The trouble arises when he sees only the forest and not the trees. When his misty eyes become clear and bright and he faces certain unalterable facts that he may have overlooked, he can feel deceived, let down, and disillusioned. He may become aware of his own naiveté, the most devastating awareness of all. He can feel like an ostrich who has hidden his head in the sand for too long. The letdown is extreme and the dreams in a state of ruin.
If the person with this ascendant comes crashing down from the heights, the reverberating sound can be heard and felt for a long time. His original inability to confront may have been to avoid realistic facts that could be painful, yet the pain is more extreme after a long period of time spent in unrealistic realms. If he can confront, up front, he will avoid the later despair that sets in if circumstances are not what he conceived. The willingness to take a cold, hard look without losing the vision and sense of perspective brings sharper pictures into reality.
Neptune is like putting a valuable art object on a pedestal. If it comes toppling down and crashes to the ground, the pieces can never be glued together again. The cracks show and the object loses its value. It is no longer perfect. If, however, that object is bolted to the pedestal or enlosed in a glass case, it is still high enough to see, but protected from the possibility of ruin. Keeping the overall concepts in view while working out the details brings projects and situations into manifestation in a clear, concise manner. If one with a Pisces ascendant trains himself to look at life in a totally realistic manner, he can be more effective in every way. He can then inspire others while commanding the respect due him. If he glamorizes, in the Don Quixote manner, he may lose the following of those trained facts and figures. He waters down his plan and becomes disenchanted.
Leigh Taylor Young, an actress with this placement, described this idealistic tendency by saying that she used to project her own vision of beauty and idealism on the outer world. 'As long as I can remember, even as a child, I've taken my inner idealism and put it on the world outside to make it match. I finally becmae secure enough on the inside to let go of the rose-colored glasses. What is, is so much more beautiful. You finally know where you stand. Separation exists when you idolize. To the degree delusion is present, there is separation'.
The person with this ascendant has a tendency to swing from the extremes of being high on life to the depths of despair. This tendency to vacillate is especially strong is Neptune is not well aspected. Rick Williams, with Pisces rising, describes this tendency by saying, 'Inasmuch as there's one course of action one must take, there is always a part that says it could be some other way. There are an infinite number of variables. That's when problems occur. It's too cloudy with too much going on inside. That's when you have to step out for a while.' Desperation is not long-lasting, however, as the Pisces rising will find some way to get back on top. Sometimes the means of finding the way back up the ladder to dreamland can be less than healthy. Neptune is the planet that rules drugs and alcohol. In the extreme, this swing of the pendulum can indicate a manic-depressive state. If high hopes and dreams are shattered, the soothing cushion of an artificial high can bring wonderful mental scenes and beautiful colors back into his spectrum. The danger comes with a complete reliance on artificial means of realizing the dreams of an idealistic life.
When Neptune is well aspected in the chart, the individual may find that film, photography, poetry, or therapy can act as media tailor-made for self-expression. The Neptunian person can do enormous good for others by using his idealism for inspiration. His vision enables him to lead others out of miserable conditions by somehow bringing greater beauty into their lives. Whether he uses film to create images of idealism or greater vision to lift spirits out of the doldrums, his natural high is contagious. He may be able to sway people through a hypnotic ability. How could one dare disagree with his vision, even though the sight is obscured to others, when the Neptunian person is convinced of his dream? He may shun you completely if you try to bring him down from cloud nine. Be prepared to go to the castle with him, or remain scrubbing out the fireplace forever.
Some of the most adored and idolized actors of all time were born with a Pisces ascendant.
Since the person with Neptune affecting the ascendant really wants to save the world, he can find an outlet for his vision and idealism through religion.
When one with this naive and gentle rising sign gives in to despair and delusion, the results can be tragic indeed. The fall from grace leads from the Garden of Eden to the toil and sweat of daily labor. Many individuals cannot bear the letdown accompanying disillusion and lack of dreams or ideals.
It may be more important for one with this ascendant to find a healthy outlet for his vision than for almost any other rising sign. When this strong Buddhic energy is utilized on the highest level, the results are profound.
Life can be beautiful around a person with Pisces rising until it is necessary to make decisions. He may first ponder a situation, using his intuitive power to help him reach a conclusion, but after living with that decision for a few days he may take off on an exact opposite course of action. He can madden the people around him by indecisiveness, yet by his own peculiar circuitous route, he wins his own race.
If it is necessary to confront him on issues, trouble can occur, for one may never be able to win an argument with a person wearing a Pisces mask. he may not lose his temper, but the miserable, disillusioned look in his eyes can cause another person to feel like a heel. He may sulk and pout until a promise is elicited that the situation will never occur again. The other party may never know what he did wrong, or just what it was that upset the individual with Pisces rising, but the cloudy skies that will prevail over disagreements may simply not be worth the effort. The Pisces rising doesn't easily deal with the power of analysis.
When this trait of non-confrontation is studied in the light of survival, better understanding can emerge. When the individual with this idealistic ascendant is born, he decides he can handle life is he simply doesn't see the ugliness or tragedy around him. He may idolize family members or those he cares about, and adopt an overly idealistic point of view in order to deal with any potential pain. He'll fight to the death to defend his dreams and vision, as survival depends on his seeing things through rose-colored glasses. He can see himself in this same unrealistic, rosy light. He may never know the truth about himself unless he is forced to deal with reality. He seeks people who will confirm his point of view and continue to put him on a pedestal. He searches for associates and 'prophets' who can live up to his own expectations. The alternative is despair, broken dreams, and dissipation. He cannot live without a vision of the ideal future. Utopia is home base for him.
Children with this ascendant need special care in the early years. Parents may encourage this dreamy tendency without being aware of the results. The child is so sweet and appealing, co-operative and gentle, that he never needs scolding or a reprimand. He appears to be 'perfect'. This little angel can get away with murder unless the parents are willing to do some confronting of their own. If small deceptions are not uncovered and he is continually allowed to 'put one over' on his parents, he can go on to bigger and better deceptions. Eventually, the only one deceived is himself. Self-deception is the greatest danger of all. As he may never see himself as others see him, he can walk at odds with the world, living in his own fantasy, not accomplishing the goals he sets for himself due to the unrealistic approach he takes.
The child with Pisces ascendant can almost appear to wear a halo. The ethereal look can conceal facets of his personality that he is aware of but never reveals to others. Since people tend to expect him to be perfect, an unnecessary strain is heaped on the Pisces personality. He wants to be able to live up to others' expectations of him, yet he may feel secret guilt over the fact that he is very human indeed. When he is tired of bearing all these burdens and living up to expectations, he may fall from the lofty heights that others have escalated him to and indulge in the negative side of Neptune to find his balance. The seamy side of life can expose him to dangers of drugs in his attempt to climb back to the high side of existence. Finding a happy medium of balance can be a long, hard journey. Utopia seems better by far than reality and the ugliness of hard work and survival. Mental hospitals are filled with inmates living in their own private worlds of hallucination.
ince the tendency to delusion is strong with a difficult Neptune, there is an inclination to try to avoid letdown. Glamorizing is the instinctive way to get around seeing the cold, harsh facts, but glamorizing is a set-up for disillusionment. Thus the cycle is completed. Rick Williams continued his expression of this quality by describing it thus: 'It saddens me, this overall human condition... ugliness.... Sometimes I feel frustrated because people can't see beyond their own noses. What I tend to see as obvious may not be apparent to others; but then, I may have missed the point entirely, because it was my way of seeing things. I make a picture out of everything. I can be aware of a negative situation, but instinctively know how to transform it to a positive one in my mind'.
Pisces rising can be heavily invested in being right all the time, simply because if he is not, he might have to re-examine all of the concepts he has adopted throughout his life. He would never be sure what was real and what was not if he discovered he had been wrong. With deeper understanding of the survival issues involved, the person with Pisces on the rise can learn to confront situations up front, seeing the concept but examining the facts as well. He then has a profound ability to rise above potential obstacles, send his 'purchase orders' out to the universe, and create ideal, but realistic, situations in his life.
Opposites attract, or so they say. In astrology, opposite signs rule the ascendant and the house of partnership. This indicates a need for co-operation and the possibility of arriving at the same point of view from exactly opposite directions. If an individual knows what he is really looking for in a partnership, he has a better chance of finding the person to fulfill his needs. When Pisces is on the rise, the idealistic person is attracted to the intellectual who will balance him and help bring dreams into reality. In a co-operative way, the Pisces rising is the visionary, while the partner handles the details. Pisces rising is particularly adept in right-brain activity, while the partner focuses primarily on left-brain activity. If Mercury is well aspected in the natal chart, the Pisces personality is attracted to someone especially intelligent, analytical, and fact-oriented. If it is not, he is liable to find a mate who is critical, nit-picking, and too detail-oriented.
Virgo rules the seventh house of partnership with Pisces on the ascendant. Virgo is the sign of service, detail, and analysis. Intellectual pursuits are necessary for the Virgoan personality. He has the ability to work with great detail. Many editors have strong Virgo characteristics. The planet Mercury, ruler of Virgo, is related to the adult ego state. The adult part of the personality is the fact-oriented, detail-conscious, intellectual facet. In its positive sense, strong 'adult' decisions are possible after research and analysis. In the negative sense, this facet describes an overly analytical quality that may make the resolution of problems difficult. When the Pisces ascendant with a well-aspected Mercury enters a partnership with a Virgo, the coopreative effort brings fantastic results. The Pisces rising will lift the Virgoan personality above the morass of fact, while the Virgo person helps to focus the Pisces. The balance of vision and intelligent application is unbeatable. In a negative sense, the Pisces person sets himself up for disillusionment by selecting a partner who can blow his dreams to bits. If he is more realistic up-front, willing to deglamorize the mate, the partnership can work beautifully.
(Lyn Birbeck) You are a saviour or victim. Neptune is your ruling planet. Your Shadow is scepticism. Other is a servant or slave. Mercury is Other's rulng planet.
You are very sensitive, as if the whole surface of your skin were picking up on Other and the environment in general. You channel or deal with this in a creative / mystical or evasive / dreamy fashion. You're not quite sure where you begin and Other ends, and will dart off into the shadows if things get too barbed emotionally. Yet at the same time there are some things about Other that you find very hard to resist - are addicted to, in fact. Other will probably view all this popping in and out as chaotic and in need of sorting out. This of course can make you even more evasive, but if you value Other's perspective, you will receive his / her practical assistance. In return, you are quite dedicated to Other, helping or healing him / her in a subtle, psychic way. Negatively, Other can become a slave to your elusive charm as he / she tries to order your chaos. More than most rising / setting combinations, this one depends upon meeting one another half way.
Other's critical attitude toward you is really the form your Shadow takes. This means that for all your vague and dreamy manner there lurks behind it a scientific and sceptical attitude that finds it hard to accept certain things, but not anything, that does not have a rational explantion. You still like to maintain an area where you can be totally illogical, so it can be pretty difficult to determine where you're coming from. Suffice to say that making clear what you accept and what you question would itself clarify relationships.
More than anything, you require a relationship that is crystal clear about its own nature and status. The trouble is that you can confuse having such a thing with having an impingement on your freedom to meander where you will. This can be a big mistake, for vague relationships for you are rather like what uncharted waters are to a rudderless boat. A clean, wholesome and definite arrangement is, despite your suspicions or apparent aversions, your best bet. A sailor without a home port can eventually get lost or washed up.
When you are alone, or adrift, it is down to one or more of the illusions described above. Be it your need to roam the Seven Seas of the yet to be experienced, your over-sensitivity that makes you allergic to being close to an Other, or one of your many brands of evasiveness, they all have behind them one thing: your fear of facing your own music - that is, your own hurts, egotism, lack of faith, or anything else that strands you between the devil and the deep blue sea. The flip in your own slippery tail is that in being alone you are ultimately forced to face this music of yours. And when you do, you'll know the score and thereby attract the Other who can and will help you in just the way that you need to be helped.
(John Townley)
You are highly empathic, and your physical involvement with a lover is directly geared to your emotional and psychic involvement.
You happily participate in any kind of sexual expression that your lover desires, not for the experience alone but as a vehicle for becoming closer to your partner.
Once you have found the partner you want, you are the most willing and supple lover, but you must take care that your own personality does not get lost in the process. Because of selflessness and generosity, you may be taken advantage of on occasion by even the most honest and decent lover. It's better not to offer that temptations; be gentle and giving, but retain your individuality and independence.
In general, you will be happiest with a lover whose sexual consciousness is rather highly developed. You can easily transform physical sex into a highly spiritual experience, but only if your lover is willing to go in the same direction. Sexual mysticism, such as tantric yoga, is well worth trying; it will sharpen your sexual expression to a keen and delicate edge, which can turn lovemaking into an almost religious experience.
(Robert Hand)
You are very sensitive and can perceive others' feelings very quickly, but in such a way that they become your feelings. For this reason, it is a good idea to avoid being around negative people, because you will start feeling negative also. You are inclined to be idealistic, so it is important for you to believe in something beyond what you know with your senses. You should avoid people who try to disillusion others as a matter of course, because when you become disillusioned, you feel bitter and depressed.
You like to dream and to retreat to your own little world from time to time. This is fine, but you should not use it as an escape too often. Your imaginative quality may give you talent in art or music, or it may simply emerge as inventiveness and creativity that you can apply in many areas of your life
You are very sympathetic to others. If someone needs help, you are there to give it. In fact, you may gather around yourself people who are dependent upon you in some way. This can create problems later in life, if you start living for such people rather than for yourself.
You are not always very self-assertive, and you may be envious of those who appear to have more energy or who can push to get their own way. Do not envy them, because the world needs your kind of person also, the quieter people who try to make the world better for the rest of us.
This is a Water sign which is also mutable in nature, suggesting emotionalism and changeability. Pisces is also feminine / negative, which implies introversion, shyness and a caring nature. This is a sign of very short ascension, which means that, in northern latitudes at any rate, there are very few of you around. Oddly enough, even in southern latitudes this sign does not have a particularly long period of ascension; therefore you are a truly rare fish.
If you have the misfortune to be born with Pisces rising, you could have experienced a truly horrific childhood. You grew up in a 'mother-dominated' household. Your father may have been severl incapacitated by illness or simply a very weak and ineffectual character. He may have died while you were young, or he may have deserted the family, leaving your mother to cope alone. Your mother was probably strong enough to cope with this, but she may have become embittered or self-pitying as a result.
Some Pisces children have very poor health. The heart, lungs and bronchial tubes are weak, and there may be other problems as well. I have no real evidence of this, but my instinct and intuition tells me that many potential Pisces rising lives may be lost through birth defects, infant mortality and accidents. I suspect that a good many of those children who spend their lives in hospitals or institutions have this ascendant. I am even prepared to bet that a number of children who die from neglect or abuse have this rising sign. The best that one can say about it is that when the progressed Ascendant moves into Aries there may be a positive change in your luck as well as a change in your attitude to life.
Your problems began while you were still inside your mother's womb! At that point in her life, your mother may have been unhappy, unhealthy or short of money, and in no shape to have a baby! Your entry into the world was difficult and dangerous, and your survival over those first few weeks was in doubt. Even as a small child, you had the look of an 'old soul'. You seem to have entered this world with the remnants of a previous life still clinging to you, although of course nobody had the time to notice this. It seems that you are born to fulfil some kind of karmic debt, at least during your early years! The suffering which you underwent as a child could have arisen in a number of ways. If you were the type of Pisces rising child whose health wasn't good, there would have been occasions when you were so ill that you were not expected to recover. You may have spent some time away in a hospital, or in a school for delicate children. Even if you were not sent away, you would have spent a good deal of time alone in bed, reading and thinking. It is this enforced withdrawal from life which allowed your creativity and your imagination to develop.
Your health may have been all right, but you would still have been lonely and unhappy a good deal of the time. A Pisces rising girl called Michelle told me that her father left her mother to bring up two children on her own. Her mother had to work, of course, but also enjoyed a great social life with many boyfriends, holidays and outings, leaving Michelle in charge of both the household and her younger sister from a very early age. Despite this, Michelle did well at school, learned to speak a number of languages, and became a courier in the travel trade.
It is just possible that your home life was quite reasonable, but that you were not on the same wavelength as the rest of the family. You may have preferred to laze about in your room, playing music and drawing, rather than helping with the chores or getting on with your studies. If you were this type of Piscean, you would eventually have drifted away from teh family and made a life for yourself among like-minded people elsewhere.
In your own case, your education may have been good, bad or indifferent. You seem to have had plenty of opportunity to develop your talent for sports, art and dancing, even if the rest of your education was poor. It is possible that you found it difficult to relate either to your teachers or to some of the other children. The children, or worse still the teachers, might have taken it upon themselves to bully and torment you. Whether this was the case of not, you may have 'switched off' during childhood, returning to the world of education in adulthood, either through evening classes or by teaching yourself. One can guarantee that you will become an authority on some subject of your own choice later on. It may be gardening, the language and culture of foreign nations, or the psychic and spiritual side of life. Other Pisces whom I have met are mathematicians, historians, artists, language specialists, or skilled sports and dance teachers.
Bearing in mind racial factors and the influence of the rest of the birth chart, you should be of medium height and size, with a pale, translucent complexion and fine blonde hair. I have seen Piscean eyes described in an astrology book as being 'like a semitic blowfish'. There is some truth in this. Your eyes are probably very pale grey or grey-blue in colour, and they may be large and lustrous, or simply prominent. (Apolo's Note: some of the details of color etc. given here clash with those given by other writers, and do not invariably hold true against reality, so take them with a pinch of salt!) Women of this sign spend a good deal of time and money perming and lightening their pale, flimsy hair. Nowadays, male Pisceans also perm and colour their difficult hair. You are slim when young but inclined to put on weight later in life, especially if you give up smoking. One of your best features that cannot be seen is your voice. You have a quiet, gentle and humorous voice which is pleasant and relaxing to listen to. Your choice of clothes is casual and sporty, but not especially unusual. You prefer to put something on and then forget it rahter than to try to create an 'image'; and you are not especially self-conscious about your appearance. Oddly enough, you may be fussy about the colour of your clothes, preferring to stick with one or two colours with which you feel comfortable.
Under normal circumstances you are friendly, non-hostile, and welcoming to new acquaintances. You project a gentle, helpful, kindly openness; and your ready wit and considerable intelligence make you fun to be with and a very pleasant friend. The problem is that you are not totally reliable, because you prefer to drift in and out of people's lives rather than becoming a permanent fixture. You can be incredibly hostile to anyone who looks as if he or she might take it upon him- / herself to talk down to you. In business situations you appear intelligent, sensible and capable, and are very quick to pick up the essence of the situation. However, you are an excellent actor, and therefore you can fit into any kind of company or situation. One aspect of your personality which you find hard to hide is your irritation when under pressure. You can become tense, tetchy and surprisingly nasty.
You may find that other factors on your chart swamp the Piscean influence so that the usual astrological tendency for the ascendant to be on show, while the other features on the chart are hidden, may be reversed.
The sign of Pisces is represented by the image of two fish which are swimming in different directions. I have noticed that there are two distinct types of Pisceam one of which represents the practical fish, while the other represents the nebulous, chaotic, dreamy one. Most of you appear to lean towards one of these two natures, whilst having at least a touch of the other one about you somewhere. If you are one of the practical types of Piscean, you will be very attached to your home and family. You have a great longing for a nice home of your own; and if you are lucky enough to eventually obtain one, you will spend a good deal of time and money keeping it in apple-pie order. You may collect antiques, keep a wonderful garden, or become the do-it-yourself-er of the century.
Both sexes will be excellent cooks, but you have to watch that your own love of food doesn't spoil your figure. You are surprisingly ambitious, needing to reach a position of status and respectability. This may be a reaction to what you saw as your parents' dereliction of their duty. If your childhood was reasonably normal, then your parents may have made you feel inadequate in some way, which, in turn, also leads you to become ambitious. Whatever the childhood situation might have been, the reaction is the same. You want to get on in life! This may be surprising news to those of you who are used to reading astrology books which stress the dreamy, non-materialistic side of the Piscean nature. If you don't have any great ambitions for yourself, you certainly will have them for your children. In the meantime, you need a comfortable, attractive and secure home, and will go to great lengths to see that you get this.
Now we will take a glimpse at the other Piscean fish. it is worth remembering that Pisces is a mutable sign, which denotes restlessness and changeability. You are a dreamer and a fantasizer; and your dreams may take you in any number of different directions. This intuitive and imaginative side of your nature is probably inborn, but your unhappy childhood definitely helped to foster it even more. You spent a good deal of time imagining what life would be like, thinking 'if only... I were a princess; I won a million pounts; I became the world champion snooker player...'. You may have spent a good deal of time alone, either by choice or by force of circumstances; and this too allowed you to stretch your imagination by reading, dreaming, thinking and generally fiddling around. You may be so emotional that you don't know what you are going to say (or feel) next.
This lonely, introspective childhood will have given you the time and space to develop your creative and intuitive abilities. You may have become an excellent artsist or musician, you may make up marvellous children's stories, or you may be able to inspire others in order to make their dreams come true. You could be drawn to the world of metaphysics; perhaps in the form of astrology, mediumship, white (or not so white) witchcraft, or some kind of old religion, such as Druidism. You will be driven to search for a deeper meaning to life and the hereafter. Whether you take the route of deep religious and philosophical thought, or simply a fascination with ghost stories, it is merely a different manifestation of the same urge. You need to escape from our everyday world of practical matters and endless chores in order to delve into the far distant land of beyond. If I do a quick mental round-up of my Sun in Pisces or Pisces rising friends and relatives, I come up with devout Jews, spiritual mediums, spiritual healers, dowsers and ley-line hunters, astrologers and Tarot readers, palmists, regression hypnotherapists, artists, writers and musicians. All of them are canny, sensible, capable and hard-working, but all are equally involved in the search beyond our everyday world for the world which lies hidden beyond the veil.
Now let us take a look at both of the fish on one plate, so to speak! You have a great desire to help others and even to sacrifice your own needs for the sake of others, but I'm not sure that your motives for this are altogether altruistic. You may have a need to see yourself as the soul of goodness; you may wish to see yourself as the knight in shining armour. If you insist on continuing to live in unhappy or awkward circumstances, you should look inside yourself and examine your motives in order to see what it is that you are gaining from the situation before bemoaning your fate to everyone around you. Nevertheless, you are absolutely wonderful in a crisis. If anyone, even a new acquaintance, turns to you for help, you immediately understand the problem and act at once to solve it. You can be a great worrier. You may worry about your health, your family or the imminence of a nuclear holocaust; and, if you have nothing to worry about, you will go and look for something. You care about small matters and rarely stop to think whether the situation which is currently on your mind is really worth all the anguish. Any form of injustice upsets you and brings you immediately to the defence of the underdog. If it happens that an animal is being ill-treated, you really lose your temper and go all out to rescue the poor creature. As it happens, some Pisceans relate better to animals than to people, while most love to own animals and look after them. You have no prejudices against people on the grounds of race, religion or colour. Indeed, you like your friends to come from diverse backgrounds because this makes them all the more interesting.
Where practical matters are concerned, you can be surprisingly careful. For example, you hate unnecessary waste and will re-use old envelopes and save paper bages and so forth, for a rainy day. You may never be rich, but you hate to be in debt, and you usually have a few pounds tucked away for emergencies. You don't like to borrow money, or to be under any kind of obligation to others, but you quite like it when others are under an obligation to you as this fulfils your need for self-sacrifice while, at the same time, giving you a small measure of control over them. One thing you do hate, however, is to be owed money. If at all possible, you will chase up a debtor; if the debt is not repaid, you will never forget and never trust the defaulter again. Your strong sense of self-preservation saves you time and again from disaster, and you can be very canny when it comes to making sure that your needs are met.