Pisces zodiac sign characteristics

Pisces (The Fishes), February 18th - March 20th

This is the Negative Pole of the Water Triune, and corresponds to the feet of the Grand Man.

Its colors are gray, emerald-green, pink, white and black. Its birth stones are chrysolite, pink shell and moonstones.

Its profession is art, as expressed in sculpture and symbolism, mechanics, and grade.

Its chief characteristics are perception, emotion, and silence.

Its tribe is Naphtali—meaning "Wrestlings"— which aptly describes its anxious, lifelong fight with its own faults and outer circumstances.

Its planets are Jupiter, Neptune and the Moon.

Pisces people are of two types, the one possessing fine, straight figures, wide-awake, piercing eyes, square head and jaw, and elastic step. The others are apt to be round shouldered, with weak carriage, full faces and sleepy eyes.

The active ones are subject to pains in the head, feet and back, to weak digestion, rheumatism and fits of anxious self-censure.

The inactive ones go farther sometimes, degenerating into melancholy and despair.

Pisces women should strive to strengthen their internal organs. This is a silent, feminine sign, the women usually having strong characters, and the men often possessing wonderful hidden tenderness of nature, the occasional appearance of which through the alert, masculine manner is highly disconcerting to their possessor.

The heritage of these people is a pure devoted interior love-nature, and a generous and loyal faith in mankind. Unfortunately this faith and generosity is too often betrayed and abused, and as they grow older they withdraw into a shell of indifference and cynicism to protect the natural sensitiveness of their nature. Thus enclosed in scale-armor, like their prototype, they gain the name of being "cold-blooded fish," which is not always merited.

These are faithful students, never considering their education finished, but always striving to improve their minds and bodies. No sign appreciates more the advantages of a liberal education. There is a hidden, unsuspected lack of self-confidence under their determined manner, due to their over-conscientious ideas of their duty and requirements, which causes them much secret anxiety. These are careful, restless, thoughtful, faithful people, building far better than they know or expect, over-anxious about starting out in any new direction as a rule, yet at times strangely radical in their business affairs.

They love history and travel, and are upright, kind and affable when unruffled.

Pisces people are very sensitive and proud, and desperately afraid of ridicule. They often cruelly hurt the feelings of others in their frantic efforts to save their own.

They are capable, executive, and love art and beauty in all its forms. Their perceptive faculties are abnormally keen, a mistake or defect never escaping them, which tends to make them severe and accurate art and literary critics. They seem to take in everything, even to the smallest details, in a glance. This accuracy in taking a thing in from all sides at once accords them the gift of reducing everything to a method, and the perfection of the methods of a Pisces person is the admiration of every one else.

These people are always calm in action, the greater the heat of the argument or stress of circumstances the more immovable the calm. They love harmonious and elegant surroundings, and are never happier than in beautifying their home. Nature is a constant source of delight to them, and their best medicine. There is an innate modesty and purity about Pisces which reminds one of the pure water of their native element, and these feet of the Grand Man, or faithful, conscientious support of the human race, generally walk in straight, clean paths. They are very fond of responsible positions, and usually fill them faithfully and acceptably.

All Pisces people, both men and women, seem born with the feeling that people and fate are against them. Others' paths are comparatively easy, but they have many obstacles to overcome. And this very fact is often the secret of their success, causing them to put forth greater effort, and be more persistent and faithful in their work.

They are natural philanthropists, having much sensitive sympathy in all cases of suffering, and giving generously where they feel called to, yet they are quite close and careful of their money. If this trait develops and, as is sometimes found in Cancer, the Positive Pole of water, the love of money becomes the controlling principle of their lives, their upright, honorable nature becomes debased, their sensitive sympathies and generous impulses become obliterated, a disposition to trickiness and dishonesty is shown and they turn into cold-blooded fish indeed.

A wrong start in life is a more serious matter to these people than any others, as once started they are apt to continue in the way. They avoid change, and a child of this kind should be given a good education and then placed in a position where there are good chances of rising. Their best chance is found in some growing mercantile business. Should they become authors, their style partakes of the clear purity of their native element, with an eye to the picturesque. They are very seldom egotistical, and sometimes so lacking in self-esteem as to induce a certain awkwardness of manner. They have a deep religious nature with great loyalty to their particular creed. These are law abiding people, exacting and severe in domestic and business discipline, and expect every one to possess the same steady unoriginal persistent traits they have, not taking into account the difference of talents and natures.

Pisces, like Sagittarius, inclines to a faithful adherence of the marriage vow, but lacks the latter's ardent, devoted love.

The women have more devotion in their nature, but are less methodical. Unless trained in childhood to careful habits, they are the most thoughtless of persons, dropping and losing their belongings, constantly mislaying or leaving other people's things in disorder, and generally turning the house upside down. They have an odd unreasonable stubbornness at times which is the outcome of their pride, timidity and fear of ridicule, and at these times, no argument will move them.

They are very fond of asking questions, curiosity being one of their strong points, and unless possessed of enough tact to perceive their mistake, they can make themselves very unpleasant. They are inattentive listeners and think little of breaking into a discourse with something entirely irrelevant, showing their attention was far away. When these people have learned the value of silence they are far on the road to success, but their faculty for seeing the faults of everything and criticising so freely spoils a fine nature, loses them friends, discourages their associates and ruins their own happiness.

Pisces and Cancer would make a sympathetic union, though their failings are too much alike. Pisces and Virgo make a harmonious match, both being equally critical. Pisces and Caprioornus promise domestic comfort and satisfaction. Also a union of Pisces and Taurus. Aquarius and Pisces are magnetically attractive, though the latter is almost too cold-blooded for the former's more impetuous nature. They should never marry Sagittarius or Libra, as neither of these like to give the reasons for their actions which Pisces expects and exacts.

Pisces' most fortunate weeks of the year are those beginning November 12th and August 5th.

"Astrology", by M. M. Macgregor (1905)