In natal Astrology, the Moon represents how an individual absorbs and interacts with their environment on a subconscious and intuitive level, including their emotional nature. It is important to remember that this contrasts with the very conscious and logical analysis of the environment that are handled by the planet Mercury. The Moon represents the ways we care for and protect ourselves psychically and emotionally; it’s how we empathize with others and the things that we find comforting and safe. The Moon is also representative of the Mother, or nurturing parent, and how we subconsciously learned to address our emotional needs in early life. As such, the Moon is the natural ruler of the sign Cancer, which is assigned the activities and themes of the 4th House.
Pisces is a mutable water sign that is feminine in polarity. It is symbolized as the two fish that, despite being tied together, are attempting to swim upstream in opposite directions. Pisces is the natural ruler of the 12th House and is co-ruled by its traditional ruler of Jupiter and its modern ruler of Neptune. Jupiter’s influence adds themes of transcendence, faith, charity, open-mindedness, conviviality, idealism, spirituality, and expansion. Neptune contributes the mystical, artistic, receptive, inspirational, imaginary, sacrificial, illusory and visionary qualities. In the Aquarian 11th House of the collective unconscious, we recognize our higher purpose within the collective, whereas in the Piscean 12th House of the subconsciousness, we seek to fully merge and let go of the notoriety and individuality that we’ve obtained in the in northern hemisphere of the chart in order to become fully at one with the whole. Pisces seeks to merge totally with the collective on an emotional and spiritual level, while at the same time finding it difficult to establish adequate boundaries against the potential dangers that naturally arise when opening your heart and soul to others in the material world. Pisces is compassionate, forgiving, and accepting. They are also idealistic and imaginative which gives them a tremendous helping hand in succeeding in their artistic and creative endeavors. If they cannot find a way to materialize their higher ideals during their time on earth though they can suffer from self-delusion or perceive a reality that is based mostly in fantasy or end up being completely disillusioned with existing in the physical world.
When the Moon comes into Pisces, we see a very easy blending of the underlying qualities between these two energies. This is primarily because Cancer and Pisces, along with the houses they rule, form a trine to each other. They goal of both is emotional expression and validation. The primary difference lies within the modes of operation between the Moon and Pisces. Cancer feels safe to be able to express its subjective emotions, knowing that if things become too much to bear or things become unsafe, it can always withdraw into its Cancerian crab shell for protection. Pisces, in so desperately wanting to establish deep emotional understanding and merging with others, often sacrifices the protection of their own boundaries. Once Pisces has exposed itself or allowed others to enter its personal space, they can be defenseless and unable to protect themselves against their environment or establish where others end and where they begin. This is a great example of why the Piscean-ruled 12th House is attributed to sacrifice and self-undoing. As such, there will be two basic means of emotional expression with someone who has Moon in Pisces. The first, is the type that freely sacrifices their own boundaries in order to merge emotionally with others, without any regard for the consequences of doing so. These types of people can be prone to expressing their emotions at inappropriate times and with inappropriate people, because in being so permeable to their environment and the people around them they do not have a solid sense of boundaries. Then there is the type that intuitively acknowledges the danger that comes with exposing themselves emotionally to others, which is often met with the response of remaining emotionally closed-off to others. In doing this, they achieve subjective emotional safety, but only by way of sacrificing their deep yearning to fully connect with others emotionally and being free. Striking a balance between these two forms of emotional expression creates a lot of heartache and tension within the Pisces Moon person, as it’s a struggle to decide if their Neptunian needs outweigh their basic Lunar needs of security and safety. This can manifest in depression and the type of person that requires a lot of time withdrawn from others. They may even channel their frustration and yearning for that higher connection into various forms of art. If each side of this mutable placement can learn to utilize their extraordinary power of discernment to exercise discretion in whom they allow in and what they allow out, they can achieve emotional fulfillment.
In early childhood, the environment may have been one where the native with this placement had to forfeit expression of their own emotions in order to support the emotional environment of their home. They may have been made to feel selfish or trifling for crying or expressing how things made them truly feel. They may have felt like the members of their family treated them as an emotional dumping ground, perhaps without their family even being aware of how sensitive the Moon in Pisces child was. Regardless, the child with this placement would have been extra sensitive to the emotional currents and undertones of their home without words ever needing to be said. They may have combatted this by escaping to artistic outlets such as drawing, painting, music, television or getting lost in the fictional worlds and characters in books. In an ideal environment, the child’s artistic and creative talents would have been supported and encouraged. The Mother, herself, could have been artistic, creative and spiritual. She would have had a hand in encouraging creativity and introduced the child to the world of artistic and spiritual expression. She may have had a background in drama, theatre, painting, sculpture, dancing, or music. Pisces rules far-away lands, so it would also be very likely that the Mother or recent ancestors came from a place far away from where the native was born. The mother could have also not been present during the native’s childhood or she may have been emotionally unavailable or heavily reliant on the Pisces Moon child. Emotional abuse may not have even been the intention from the perspective of the parent but from the child’s eyes they could have felt their emotional well-being infringed upon by the emotions of the Mother or nurturing parent. The Pisces Archetype rules escapism, which includes drugs and alcohol, so it is also plausible that the Mother could have been emotionally unavailable due to addictions to these things.
On the positive side these are very idealistic and dreamy people. They want everything to be beautiful and to able to fulfill everyone emotionally. They are non-judgmental and fully accepting of just about everyone, which can make them constantly seek out new friends to make. They psychically pick up on what is going on in their environment and will go out of their way to be considerate of the feelings of others, which makes people enjoy being around them because they feel that they can be who they are and it will be enough to the Pisces Moon person. In relationships, their partners feel so telepathically understood and unconditionally accepted to the point where there isn't a need to constantly explain themselves or have any secrets. At work, they will surprise people with their creative ideas and their ability to bring the nebulous down to earth. They make cooperation with others very easy and they take caution to give credence towards what others need. As friends, they are always the shoulder to cry on and the people you can divulge your most personal secrets to and never feel shame. They are supportive of your dreams, and know many people which by osmosis, will bring many people into your life.
On the negative side, they can be totally irrational and impractical; It may be very hard to pull their heads out of the clouds. Their perfectionism can quickly lead them to disillusionment or the inability to act at all. They can be emotionally unrestricted and volatile, expecting that others will acquiesce and submit totally to their emotional needs and demands. If they are the type to withhold emotional expression, they can appear artificial and distant. They can also be flighty, always flitting from one thing to another once it becomes too real. If they feel unsatisfied emotionally, they will turn to various form of substance abuse as a means of fulfillment. At work, they can always have their heads in the clouds and be unable to bring action and material progress to projects and daily tasks. In relationships, they can be impossible to satisfy and if they aren't the type to be emotionally needy to the extreme, they could easily be cold and seemingly impossible to reach. As friends, you might never know what to expect from them. They might dump their emotional baggage onto you without notice or run away at the first sign of emotional expression. Pisces likes to establish connection with lots of people, so they might get bored with people and completely dump a group of friends for something new, without notice or warning.
As these are the ultimate creators and idealists among the world, many of these people succeed in careers as Artists, Painters, Writers, Dancers, Singers, Actors, or even Drag Queens as Pisces rules illusion. If they are the extremely reserved and withdrawn type, they might prefer to work in large organizations where they can easily blend into the crowd and go unnoticed. Their ability to understand and intuitively empathize with other people’s emotions makes them excellent candidates for work in the metaphysical fields or as Counselors and Therapists, so long as they are able to establish boundaries within themselves from taking on too much of what belongs to other people.
- Author, Cameron
