So many folks are excited about Venus in Pisces. Yes, it’s an ideal time for love. Venus is in exaltation with Pisces, but my Capricornian caution needs to air out some stuff about Venus in Pisces.
Full Disclosure: I have Venus in Pisces in my natal 10th.
I know this placement. I walk this placement.
First things first, look around you and think about a Pisces you’ve known. A bestie? A challenging teacher? A parent? An ex? How do you feel about them? Good, bad or indifferent? With Venus in Pisces, that Pisces that you may have never even thought about or would have considered now has a touch of Venusian glamour–and friends, glamour is fleeting. Cupid may have struck you with his little arrow, but that love wound may hurt and bleed once Venus moves out of Pisces. Use your common sense. If you have a bad past with a Pisces ex now may not be the time to revisit that relationship unless you’ve both done some major inner work.
Pisces is linked to Neptune and the Twelfth House. Neptune is the planet of illusions. Neptune is the planet of movie-making, of myths and of sacrifice. There’s definitely a “risking it all for love” vibe floating around. Now that’s lovely, but your mythic, epic lover-hero may have need to pass a credit and background check first. Attend to the practicals. We’re more likely to feel spiritually attuned to a mate, but “as above, so below”, so be sure to attend to the below, real world stuff! Don’t make excuses for bad behavior because the target of your infatuation is healing his or her core spiritual wound. Keep it real, even if it feels like a dream-come-true. That’s Neptune, causing that dreaminess.
The Twelfth House is also identified with the Latin word “carcer”, which means “prison”. With Venus in Pisces, love is a prison–albeit a glamorous prison. It’s very tempting with Venus in Pisces to create or consent to a little gilded cage for you and lovey. This can be little rules and protocols that eventually become big co-dependency. This can also feel like being taken hostage, especially if you’re in an unrequited love scenario, or waiting on someone to decide whether to commit or not. There’s also some atonement here, or a debt that has to be repaid. We go to prison because we owe a debt to society. Spiritual debts become due and sometimes the repayment terms are not to our liking. Unlike the Saturnian Tenth House, where we can clearly see the obstacles in our path, the Neptunian Twelfth House presents challenges that seem to surface seemingly from nowhere. The truth is, the challenges were always there, we just were deluded into NOT acknowledging them, often because we failed to go deep enough. When Venus is Pisces, it’s easy to mistake the charming Venusian surface for a deep, spiritual, transcendent connection if we are not present and aware. Feel the love but keep those feet on the ground and your eyes and ears open!
The Twelfth House also rules our subconscious–and with Venus in Pisces, love is like a deep ocean with some interesting sea monsters just floating around. One minute, all is fine and well and the next minute you’ve discovered you’re in love with the Kraken. The inner sea monster of bae becomes painfully visible, often without warning. With Venus in Pisces happening while the sun is in Aries, be aware that the lover that may be charming and accommodating now may expect it to be all about them by late April.
Venus in Pisces is a charmed time, in every sense. Just because the stars have aligned though, doesn’t mean that you should lose yourself in love. That’s exactly what the more toxic Venus in Pisces seems to want us to do–merge and enmesh completely with the beloved. Look at the glyph for Pisces, though. It’s two fish, close together, but not tethered, not caged, free to swim how they please, but choosing to swim together, and that’s what Venus in Pisces should be. Now go find that swimming buddy!
Kristin West 