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Its symbol is the fish (two fish moving in opposite directions, tied together by rope, or in other versions, by their tails; its glyph is said to be a stylized representation of this symbol. It takes its name from the plural of the Latin word fish. The Astrology Book: The Encyclopedia of Heavenly Influences
Nevertheless, the two fish in Pisces are encircled by a unifying band, which also symbolizes the continuity of the zodiac as one moves from Pisces back to Aries. Early Christianity and Ancient Astrology (Patristic Studies)
The other emblem of Pisces is a group of two fish each clinging to the tail of the other and are placed in water. Fish is the symbol of fertility, auspicious nature of events…The fish suggest the procreative potential which enables the beginning of a new cycle of manifestation. In the symbol lying parallel to each other, lying side by side but the head of one is towards the tail of the other, reminding us of the cessation of duality in Nature. Esoteric Principles Of Vedic Astrology
Pisces is wisely symbolized by the two fish. The fish is the soma of the mysteries of Isis. The two fish of Pisces linked by a hyphen, have found Gnostic significance: they represent the two souls of the primordial Elohim submerged within the deep waters of Mother-Night. The sacred couple, the two eternal fish, work within the waters of the abyss. Practical Astrology: Self-transformation through Self-knowledge
In Pisces we find both the weakest and strongest, often together in a conflicted duality, as symbolized by its sign the two fish swimming in opposite directions, clearly a Western or Middle Eastern depiction of the Chinese Taoist t’ai chi symbol, the circle divided into light and dark, yang and yin, the primal beginning of all things. Learning Astrology: An Astrology Book For Beginners
The symbol is Two Fish swimming in opposite directions, a mirror of the contradictory patterns of Pisces. Knack Astrology: A Complete Illustrated Guide To The Zodiac (Knack: Make It Easy)
The glyph of Pisces, the sign of the fish, represents two fish who are connected to each other but swimming in opposite directions. It symbolizes our connectedness to one another in the vast sea of the Universe. Choice Centered Astrology: The Basics
The fact that two fish (as opposed to one) represent the members of this Sign also speaks to the duality of Pisceans, their yin and yang sensibility. Love Astrology: Compatibility of signs By Dr S.P Bhagat
If you do not find a way to bring heaven to Earth, however, you feel like the fish swimming in opposite directions – one toward heaven and the other toward Earth. Everything You Need to Know About Your Astrology Sign
Pisces is a mutable water sign ruled by Neptune. Represented by two fish swimming in opposite directions. Thriving on indecision, especially in the emotional quandary type. The Astrological Elements: How Fire, Earth, Air & Water Influence Your Life
Pisces, the fishes, is a sign of the Zodiac in astrology. Pisces symbolizes a big and little fish tied together as a constellation among the stars. The big fish is Aphrodite and the smaller fish is her son, Ichthus. Once, they were being chased in the Euphrates River by Typhon, great monster with fishlike tails when Aphrodite changes herself and her son into two little fish. She reasons that they can easily conceal themselves on the river among all the other fish from their pursuer, the nasty giant Typhon, and her ploy succeeds. Zeus places the two fish among the stars as the constellation of Pisces, the fishes. Ancient Greek Beliefs
You might say that in every Pisces, symbolized by the two fish trying to swim in opposite directions yet bound together by a golden chord, there is this dilemma of a meeting of two dimensions. There is the ordinary mortal side, which is used to facts and realities of a tangible kind. Eat, sleep, make-love and die – or bread and circuses, as the Romans used to say. And there is also a Melusine – or, in the case of Pisces women, the masculine equivalent – which inhabits the dark depths, and which occasionally flashes its tail above water, catching the sunlight, entrancing the mortal on the shore. How this meeting is dealt with is the story of each Piscean life. Some Pisces simply follow the mermaid down, forgetting that human lungs cannot survive underwater. Here we have the derelicts of humanity, the lines of the junkies, and the chronic alcoholics and the hopeless, the wasted, the despairing, the abject. It is these whom Christ, in Christian mythology, declared blessed, for they had sacrificed everything in ordinary life and for their suffering earned the key to another realm. For other Pisceans, the fairy tale has a different ending. It is here that we can see the genius of men such as Einstein – where the Melusine, the glimpse of other realms and of a universe barely comprehensible to the ordinary mind in its majesty and infinity – is translated through the human brain, offering to the world a charting of the unknown waters. Astrology for Lovers
Pisces Fish Symbol Meaning
The miracle of the loaves and the fishes represents the Virgo-Pisces dispensation or teaching, which was to given to the masses as their masses as their next spiritual step. The “loaves” represent Virgo and symbolize purity and toil in the Vineyard of the Master. “Fishes” are the Astrological symbol of Pisces the opposite sign of the Zodiac to Virgo. They symbolize, in one sense that exalted state which will be acquired by the masses (“fish”) when they have been raised above the waters of the lower emotions. Thus baptism (spiritual baptism) is promised for those people who employ the teachings of the Gospels (which are written by the Disciples or “fishers of men”) which life them above the “waters” of the lower emotions to a life of regeneration. Four Gospels Esoterically Interpreted
There is an astrological analogue to Ahab’s psychological condition. The split in his personality parallels what Jung calls “the antagonism of the Christ-Antichrist, represented in the traditional zodiacal symbolism of the two fishes. “ Jung says that there was originally one great fish, which eventually split in two to form the sign of Pisces. “We can see from the example of Leviathan.” He says, “how the great ‘fish’ gradually split into its opposite of the highest God and hence his shadow, the embodiment of his evil side” One fish in Pisces is Leviathan (Antichrist), the shadow of the other fish, Ichthys (Christ). True to form, Moby, the White Whale, rises with Pisces on the first day of the chase and casts a “white shadow” on the surface of the sea. The split in Moby Dick between substance and shadow is perfectly analogous to the split in Pisces between ichthys and Leviathan, Christ and Antichrist, and to the split in Ahab’s personality between good and evil, God and devil. The second mate says that “with Pisces or the Fishes, we sleep”. Ahab’s propensity for projection is such that he does indeed sleep with Pisces, or Moby Dick – and the sleep he sleeps is the sleep of death. New Interpretations of American Literature (Bucknell Review)
Two halves of the circle of spirit, cut, but linked through the being, connecting the higher and lower self; the two fish, large (marine animals, all-knowing and wise) and small (gilled fish, live in schools, follow instincts only). Astrology: Understanding the Birth Chart
The symbol of Pisces –two fishes swimming in opposite directions – is an apt description of a basic human double bind: one fish is swimming toward individuality, while the other swims towards universality. One part of us struggles to form and maintain a separate and discrete ego-identity, while another part yearns to transcend that separateness to merge with the larger whole again. The ego doesn’t want to be dissolved, but if we are to reconnect with the rest of life, then we have to relinquish its tight bound-Aries. We don’t have to lose our ego entirely – some sense of individuality is needed to function in the world –but we do have to put the ego in its proper relation to the Higher Self. Audience: Don’t some people swim the other way? Howard: Yes, the converse situation is possible. Some people prefer to remain amphorous and undefined, and the problem is not that of letting go of the ego, but forming one in the first place. Dynamics of the Unconscious: Seminars in Psychological Astrology Volume 2 (Seminars in Psychological Astrology, Vol 2)
Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac and the Inner self is preparing to retreat from the world. It is cleaning up the odds and ends that have not been cleared in the other eleven signs. For this reason some students call it “the dustpan of the zodiac.” The symbol of the sign is an interesting one to study; the two fish tied together. In Gemini the two lines of force were connected but not tied. In Pisces, one fish swims downstream representing the personality, the other fish swimming upstream represents the soul. Either the soul captures the personality and it becomes the servant, or the soul is bound and made captive by the personality. This brings deep suffering in the people born in Pisces. This is why the spiritual motto of Pisces is “serve or suffer.” The choice is there and it is one or the other. There is no other way. Astrology, A Cosmic Science: The Classic Work on Spiritual Astrology
As mentioned earlier, the Pisces symbol of the Fishes is usually depicted as two fish swimming in opposite directions bound together with a cord. Their struggle represents the internal war you rage between living in the real world and escaping your problems via the fantasies in your head. Harness Astrology’s Bad Boy: A Handbook for Conquering Pluto’s Tumultuous Transit
During this time, the fish, the symbol of Pisces, was the secret sign used by early Christians to identify. In Hinduism it was the symbol of the saviour; Vishnu’s first incarnation in the shape of a fish was said to have saved Man from the Flood. Plan Be: The ReMembering, Secrets of the Divine Feminine
The glyph for Pisces represents two fish swimming in opposite directions, and Pisceans are notoriously difficult to ‘pin down’. They can find it difficult to arrive at decisions, swinging first this way and then that, as if being carried by the tide first in one direction and then the other. On the credit side, Neptune, the planet is associated with Pisces, can deeply inspire great idealism, spiritual aspirations or artistic inspiration, but the negative side of this is that Pisceans can be self-deluding or duplicitous. Astrological Aromatherapy
The allegory of the Christ character feeding a multitude of people, enhungered after three days, by miraculously multiplying bread and its companion symbol fish? …For the Christ, as Jesus says positively , is the product of two births, the one natural, of water, the other spiritual, of spirt., or of bread (Virgo) and fish (Pisces). Virgo Is the first great mother of life, formless inchoate matter, the Virgin Motherhood; and the name was almost everywhere a form of the name for sea or water. Pisces in the zodiac represented the second Mother of life, organic matter that has been impregnated by the rays of the divine sun of life, or divine spirit. Virgo can birth only to natural man; Pisces gives birth to the spirt-soul, which matter inorganic could not do. Pisces is the fish, the symbol of organic life born out of the sea, so that Christly offspring, the Christ’s themselves, are all fished up out of the sea. (Recall that a legend said that the Messiah was to come up out of the sea.) The Red Sea Is Your Blood
Pisces is one of the earliest signs on record, for the two fishes appear on an Egyptian coffin lid dated c. 2,3000BC. The flooding of the Nile when the moon was full in Pisces –Egypt became a veritable ocean…Many Pisceans “see” things that others are simply not capable of seeing. Therefore, the Piscean is left dangling between two worlds – an earthy realm that appears to be correct according to everyone else – and the cosmic realm, which Pisceans are all too aware of. This dilemma is embodied in the astrological symbol for Pisces, two fish swimming in opposite directions, but bound together by a cord. Astrologer Robert Hand has pointed out that in reality these fish are not swimming in opposite directions as we have always believed. Astronomically there is an east fish and a west fish. The east fish swims upward away from the ecliptic, toward heaven, while the west fish swims along the plane of the ecliptic. This, we may conclude that one fish is seeking spiritual illumination while the other concerns itself with matters of the material plane. This, of course, constitutes the primary conflict and one of the “stormy” areas for Pisces, who is all too aware of both directions but slightly more comfortable in the heavenly realm than the physical one. Mythic Astrology: Archetypal Powers in the Horoscope
The two symbolic fishes swimming in opposite directions – one looking backward, the other facing forward, are indicative of the true feelings and characteristics of Pisceans. The urge to go backward and escape into an imaginary, fearless world is strong within the Piscean psyche, yet at the same time people of this sign are often highly gifted and feel compelled to drive themselves toward the spotlight in order to show their talents. The Complete Illustrated Guide to Astrology: Understanding the Influence of the Stars on our Lives
In Syrian myth, the larger fish of Pisces was associated with the great fertility goddess, Derke or Atargatis, portrayed with a woman’s head upon a huge fish’s body. The Greeks identified this deity with their own Aphrodite, and believed the smaller fish to be her beautiful young lover, Adonis, who was killed by a boar. These two figures, bound together in the heavens, symbolized the great yearly cycle, in which the youthful spirit of newly emerging vegetative life emerged from the fertile womb of nature in the autumn, only to be reborn in the following spring. This eternal cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, expressed through the rhythms of the natural world, also portrayed a profound truth about the nature of human beings. The larger fish became a symbol of the mortal body, with its insatiable appetites and blind instinctual needs. The smaller fish, associated with the goddess’ ill-fated lover, became an image of the redemptive power of the immortal spirit which, although trapped in a cycle of mortality, is eternally reborn. Mythic Astrology
A bicorporal sign, the symbol for Pisces is two fish swimming in opposite directions joined by a thread of consciousness; this illustrates the dualistic nature of the sign, and the two ways the energy is expressed. One fish swims towards Aquarius, representing the impetus towards sacrifice of the self for the sake of others, while the other fish swims towards Aries and the need to use all resources gathered by other in order to attain personal goals. Astrology: An Illustrated Guide
Though our modern zodiac represents Pisces as two fish swimming in opposite directions, through the ages many cultures chose the dolphin to symbolize Pisces. The dolphin was sacred to three different gods – Apollo, Poseidon, and Dionysius. Because the dolphin was known for its helpfulness to man., its kindness, its mercy, and even for its healing qualities, it seems an appropriate choice for Pisces. Two dolphins swimming in opposite directions are painted on the queen’s chamber in King Minos’ palace in Crete. Archetypes of the Zodiac (Llewellyn Modern Astrology Library)
The mythological Great Mothers are usually a danger to their sons. Jeremias mentions a fish representation on an early Christian lamp, showing one fish devouring the other. The name of the largest star in the constellation known as the Southern Fish – Fomalhaut, ‘the fish’s mouth’ – might be interpreted in this sense, just as in fish symbolism every conceivable form of devouring, concupiscentia is attributed to the fishes, which are said to be ‘ambitious, libidinous, voracious, avaricious, lascious’ – in short, an emblem of the vanity of the world and of earthly pleasures (‘voluptas terrena’). They owe these bad qualities most of all to their relationship with the mother – and love goddess Ishtar, Astarte, or Aphrodite. As the planet Venus, she has her ‘exaltio’ in the zodiacal sign of Pisces. By Jung
The first constellation in Pisces is that curious cluster of stars called “The Band”, connecting the two fishes, one fish headed straight to the north and the other swimming on the horizon. The fish headed toward the north is the symbol of the aspirant to the mysteries while the fish on the horizon represents the average person. The Labours of Hercules: An Astrological Interpretation
In the Pisces constellation there are two fish swimming in opposite directions; one swims upstream while the other one swims downstream, and they are tied together with a single cord. In Pisces there is always a choice between opposites, whether to follow the high road, or to go with the current or swim against it, or to express the negative charge or the more divine, positive charge. It also suggests a need to reconcile and integrate both the material and ethereal worlds into one. Planets and Possibilities: Explore the World of the Zodiac Beyond Just Your Sign
Thinking about the fishes of the sign is a very useful exercise. The water that they live in is the same as the sea of emotions and feelings that you live in. The water passes through them, and gives them life, and they cannot live without it. The currents of water sweep them along, though they can swim against it too, if they try. You are exactly the same. It is worth noting that the sign of Pisces has two fishes, joined by a cord, but swimming in opposite directions; society pulls one way, you pull the other. The more definitely individual you are, the more you lean towards Aries. The more you allow yourself to be influenced by the crowd, the more you lean towards Aquarius. Pisces is somewhere in the middle. Sun Sign Guide: Pisces (Sun Sign Guides)
The symbol of the fish has been important all over the ancient world, because civilizations emerged on the banks of rivers, lakes and seashores. Waterways were routes for communication long before roads existed. The fish was a staple food and by sharing its habitat different peoples met and their cultures mingled. The fish swims in the past of humankind, and also in the past of each individual, for the child in the womb passes through a fish-like stage of development. …The Goddess Aphrodite was shown with a fish amulet across her genitals, and fishes were sacred by this association. …The two fishes of Pisces have been identified in the sky from an early time in astrology’s history, and myths were elaborated to explain them. For the Romans they represented Venus and Cupid, turned to fishes to escape monster Typhon…Just as Venus and Cupid were able to escape as fishes, so Pisces’ access to the unconscious gives her a great resourcefulness, but is not of a kind that the world usually recognizes. The sea of the unconsciousness in which Pisces swims gives her a deeper knowledge than she can explain or justify. The Knot of Time: Astrology and Female Experience
There are two fishes: the upstream one and the downstream one. As the upstream fish, you make an effort; you fight against the current, looking for inspiration in order that you may give it. As the downstream fish, you foster the notion that everything and everyone will wind up where they’re going to get to sooner or later, so what’s the point in trying. The upstream fish has a point, the downstream fish doesn’t. However, the upstream fish can push so hard it misses the point, which is sensitivity and acceptance are essential to Pisces, whereas the downstream fish can go with the flow and wind up in the swim. The addictive personality (fishes get hooked) is the escapist looking for a way out that in time may prove to be away in. For example, ex-alcoholics founded Alcoholics Anonymous. Faith comes with acceptance, and vice versa. The Watkins Astrology Handbook: The Practical System of DIY Astrology
Fish that save the heroes (Jonah) by swallowing them and spitting them out after a phase of purification (rebirth). Key Words for Astrology
The symbol of the two fish swimming in opposite directions indicates the duality of this sign. Pisceans can either redeem themselves by connecting to their spiritual natures, or sacrifice themselves and become martyrs or victims, if they are unwilling to take responsibility for their lives. It is said that Pisces becomes incarnate either to serve or suffer: Pisceans are often saints or sinners, and many manage to do both. Astrology Directory
The early Christians had to practice faith surreptitiously, and they adopted the Fish as their symbol of mutual recognition. They would draw it in the dust upon meeting one another, much like a Masonic handshake. In the Catacombs in Rome, the symbol for the Fish can be seen everywhere, especially inscribed on tombstones. In addition to the pictographic emblems of the Fish, such inscriptions as the following were found in the great labyrinth: “Faith led me and set before me, as my food, the fish from the pure spring, the great, immeasurable, pure fish, caught by a pure virgin, and this he gave to his friends for everlasting sustenance. He had precious wine and he gave the drought together with the bread. “O Divine offspring of the heavenly Ichthys, receive, with a heart full of reverence, life of immortality in the midst of mortals. Receive the bodily food of the Redeemed of Saints: eat, drink and hold the Fish in the hands.” Alan Oken’s Complete Astrology: The Classic Guide to Modern Astrology