We’re approaching the peak of this winter’s watery deluge, which culminates at the Pisces New Moon on March 11 with an astounding seven planets in the sign of the Fish. In its higher expression, this Pisces party opens the potential for spiritual breakthrough, deep healing, and reconnection with soul purpose – while a less productive possibility looks like wallowing in self-pity, victimization, disappointment and disillusion.
As the traditional ruler of Pisces, Jupiter – truth, wisdom and expansion – holds special power during the Piscean deluge, and provides a key to navigating the emotional, dreamy, sometimes overwhelming and often confusing high tides. Jupiter in Gemini (June 11, 2012-June 25, 2013), the sign of perception and communication, supports breaking free from fixed mental constructs and opening to different perspectives and new ideas as a path to deeper wisdom. When Jupiter in Gemini is operating unconsciously, it can feel like mental overload – too much information, too many communications, trying to go in too many directions at once – leading to distraction from your deeper truth and purpose.
Mercury is the ruler of Gemini and, due to his Retrograde, is making an extra-long tour through Pisces – February 5 to April 13 – which means that Mercury and Jupiter are in “mutual reception,” occupying one another’s sign. Their mutual reception reinforces the themes and lessons of both planets – we’re being challenged to disrupt habitual patterns of perceiving ourselves and the world, to connect and communicate in new ways, to rewrite the stories we tell about what’s possible.
Since both Mercury and Jupiter are both in the sign of their “detriment,” there’s an inherent discomfort as we navigate this territory, reflected in the natural square – 90-degree angle of tension and challenge – between Gemini and Pisces in the zodiac. Gemini (Air) operates on the level of the rational mind, while Pisces (Water) navigates through feelings. Gemini relies on logical analysis, Pisces on intuition. Gemini objectively presents the data of “what is,” Pisces imagines what could be. Gemini expresses ideas through language, finding just the right words to convey a mental concept, while Pisces expresses the soul’s deepest longing, the ultimately unknowable mind of the Divine, through music, poetry, dance.
Trying to integrate these two very different energies can result in awkward, stumbling, meandering, and sometimes completely unproductive conversations. Attempts to put language around deep feelings, intuitive hits, and areas of life that are mysterious and submerged in the unconscious can result in miscommunications and misunderstandings. We may have a hard time saying what we mean, or even wrapping our own minds around what we mean.
Without withdrawing from communicating and connecting altogether, it’s a good idea to bring a lot of patience, spaciousness and sensitivity to the process (speaking from experience here, after doing the exact opposite…). Slowing down, thinking before speaking. With so many planets congregating in Pisces, everyone is feeling more sensitive and psychically open. Our words have a lot of power now, power that may not be apparent when the ideas are floating around in our minds, but that can pack an unexpected punch once articulated.
While the faster-moving planets (Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars) are moving through Pisces, they form squares to Jupiter in Gemini, but the most notable activation of the Gemini-Pisces dynamic is happening through the ongoing square between Jupiter and Chiron. Chiron in Pisces, according to Eric Francis, “is about helping us see what we have been missing or not paying attention to” (The Missing Piece). Mercury Retrograde, a time for uncovering and recovering more of our truth, reinforces this potential, and especially since Mercury meets up with Chiron three times – February 10, March 8 and March 29.
Jupiter’s square to Chiron – the archetype of the Wounded Healer – expands both our deepest pain and our highest potential for healing. This is the energy of, “if it’s a problem, make it bigger,” which can be most helpful in bringing to the surface unconscious, self-sabotaging patterns, though not necessarily a pleasant experience. The Jupiter-Chiron square was first exact on July 24 (see Reflection, Regression and Compassion), then on January 14 (when Jupiter was Retrograde), and the third will be on March 26, though we’re basically in the energy of it for the next few months.
One of the big Piscean wounds that we’re ALL working through as we transition out of the Age of Pisces is victimization. If there’s a story you tell about your past in which you play the victim (“He made me…,” “They wouldn’t let me…”), consider, as a Jupiter-Chiron/Mercury Retro exercise, re-telling that story from the perspective of your higher self. How did that event serve your growth and healing as a soul? You can also shower that earlier version of yourself with unconditional love, compassion and forgiveness, knowing that you did the absolute best that you could under the circumstances. Sometimes, to get to an authentic place of forgiveness (of yourself and others), it first takes grieving – really feeling the feelings that are tied to those memories.
This is a time for being SO gentle with ourselves, for trusting the process of healing, and really tending to that process – resisting the temptation to check out and escape from what may sometimes feel like too much. The last time I wrote about the Jupiter-Chiron square, I quoted Melanie Reinhart’s guidance for how to work with this planetary combination, and it’s worth repeating: “The crucial factor is our willingness to reflect deeply on our experiences, to balance our expansion with enough stillness and introversion where some inner synthesis (Jupiter) can be reached.” (Chiron and the Healing Journey)
- Emily Trinkaus
