The Pisces symbol: The fish
Pisces is drawn as two fish tied together by a cord. In Greek myth, Aphrodite and her son Eros became fish to escape the monster Typhon, tying themselves together so they wouldn’t be separated. The two fish swimming in different directions are the sign’s picture of a life lived in two worlds.
Pisces closes winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the last sign before the March equinox starts the zodiac again. It is the sign of endings, dreams and the thaw before spring.
Pisces’s traditional ruler is Jupiter; modern astrologers add Neptune. Together they describe compassion, imagination, faith and the dissolving of boundaries.
Pisces strengths
- Compassion
- Feels what others feel and responds with kindness.
- Imagination
- Sees what isn’t there yet, in art, ideas and people.
- Acceptance
- Forgives easily and judges rarely.
- Intuition
- Senses what is happening before it is said.
Pisces shadows
- Escapism
- Drifts away from problems instead of facing them.
- Porous boundaries
- Takes on other people’s moods as its own.
- Avoidance
- Says yes to avoid letting anyone down.
Pisces in love
Pisces loves tenderly and imaginatively: the handwritten note, the shared playlist, the sense of being understood without words. It needs a partner who is kind, honest and steady enough to keep it grounded, and who makes room for its dreams. It gives a great deal and needs care in return.
Pisces at work
Pisces does well in creative and caring work: music, art, film, therapy, nursing, spiritual or charitable work, anything that answers to feeling. Rigid structures wear it down. Gentle deadlines, a quiet place to work and a practical colleague help it bring ideas to life.
Pisces and its opposite sign, Virgo
Pisces sits opposite Virgo. Together they make the axis of surrender and order: Pisces imagines and accepts, Virgo sorts and fixes. Pisces often grows by giving its dreams a practical shape.
Best matches for Pisces
- Pisces and Cancer Two water signs: gentle, caring and emotionally in tune.
- Pisces and Scorpio Water with water: a deep, intuitive and devoted bond.
- Pisces and Capricorn Water and earth: Capricorn’s steadiness gives Pisces’ dreams a home.
Traditional matches, from how the elements and modalities sit together. Any two signs can work. Pisces compatibility with every sign.
Pisces rising
Pisces rising gives a soft, open, dreamy first impression. You tend to take on the mood of the room and respond to people with sympathy, so others may feel understood by you very quickly. The lesson of this rising sign is to keep a clear sense of where you end and others begin.
Find your rising signMoon in Pisces
With the Moon in Pisces, you feel everything, your own moods and other people’s. You need quiet, music, water, sleep and time alone to recover. You may soak up stress from those around you, so protecting your peace is not selfishness; it is how you keep caring.
Find your moon signPisces questions
What are the Pisces dates?
The Sun is usually in Pisces from February 19 to March 20. The exact start and end shift by a day or so from year to year, so if your birthday is on the edge, a birth chart calculated for your year, time and place settles it.
What element and modality is Pisces?
Pisces is a mutable water sign, ruled by Jupiter (traditionally; Neptune in modern astrology). Its opposite sign is Virgo.
Which signs are most compatible with Pisces?
Traditionally Cancer, Scorpio and Capricorn, because of how their elements and modalities sit with Pisces’s. Any two signs can work; the pairing pages describe what each match tends to need.
What does it mean to have Pisces rising?
Pisces rising gives a soft, open, dreamy first impression. Your rising sign depends on your birth time and place, not your birthday; the rising sign calculator works it out.