- Feb 3, 2024
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New blog post by Katie-Ellen Hazeldine
The Stories in Our Stars: The Zodiac for Writers
We are now in Pisces Season. But what are its stars, what’s the ancient story behind it all, and what does it mean for writers? Time to go fishing with Pisces.
Dates: 18/19 Feb to 20/21 March. Variable cusp depending on the leap year cycle
Ruling planets: Jupiter and Neptune (before Neptune’s official discovery in 1846, it was Jupiter)
Zodiac House 12. Story Themes. Sacrifice. Endings, Resurrections, Religion, the Unknown, Ghosts, Mysteries. All that is hidden.
Key phrase: I believe
Body: Feet, eyes, bladder
Birth Stone: Aquamarine (‘the water of the sea’) A blue variety of beryl (Emerald is a green beryl.) The aquamarine is a hexagonal crystal structure, sometimes confused with blue topaz, believed to enhance foresight and clairvoyance.
Aquamarine via Wiki
Tarot card: The Moon
Storylines: The Moon, Mondays, tides, cycles, ebb and flow, feminine cycles, fertility, instinct, wildlife, walking on the wild side, hunting, fishing, psychics, ghosts, visions, dreams, delusions, madness, contamination, fever, food poisoning, uncertainty, danger, confusions with documentation, risks in travel.
Via Wiki
Pisces, the Latin plural of fish, is the 14th largest constellation overall, covering a large V- shaped region in the part of the sky known as The Sea or The Water. Its stars are faint —hard to see with the naked eye.
The fish of Pisces are depicted as freshwater fish, koi carp, swimming at right angles to each other, one to the north and one to the west, attached by a cord. Its brightest star, Eta Piscium, also known as Alpherg or Kullat Nunu, is a bright giant star (G class) 294 light-years from Earth and has a luminosity 316 times greater that of the sun. Kullat Nunu is its Babylonian name. ‘Nunu’ means ‘fish’ and ‘kullat’ is a bucket.
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.comcaption…
The vernal equinox currently occurs during Pisces, 19-21 March, the astronomical marker of the start of spring in the northern hemisphere.
Writers need to consider seasonal settings. Pisces is the sign of the thaw, the freshwater melt and the first spawning of the freshwater fishes, though depending on latitude and therefore temperature, some species may spawn sooner. Fish may rise again to the top to feed. Frogs and Toads will spawn. The fish of Pisces are attached by a cord of stars, just as life and death are conjoined and cannot be separated. Pisces is not only the last sign of winter, moving into spring; it is the last sign of the whole zodiac year, the culmination of all the signs that came before it.
Own video below. Koi carp returning to the surface after the winter hibernation.
Egypt
“It (Pisces) is one of the earliest zodiac signs on record, with the two fish appearing as far back as c. 2300 BC on an Egyptian coffin lid ” -(Wiki) The two fish of the constellation Pisces were the offspring of the Great Fish. In Egyptian mythology, this fish saved the life of the Egyptian goddess Isis, and she placed this fish and its descendants into the heavens as a star constellation.
India
In Hindu mythology Matsya is an manifestation or avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu the Preserver who rescued the first man, Manu from a great deluge. (…and here we are again, back to the great flood stories of Aquarius) The Matsya may be depicted as a giant golden fish or as a merman, half- fish half humanoid Lord Vishnu. Vishnu is the second god in the Hindu holy trinity (Trimurti) Brahma was the Maker, god of creation and passion, Vishnu, the face of light and preservation, and Shiva, the face of the dark, and destruction.
Greece
To the ancient Greeks, the fish were the goddess Aphrodite and her son, Eros, who were out walking by the Euphrates one day when a terrible monster rose up out of the water. This monster, Typhon, had been terrorizing the gods of Olympus ever since the war with the Titans. Typhon was a Titan, a son of Gaia, and he hated the gods of Olympus as invaders and upstarts who had overthrown and dispossessed his own, more ancient race of Titans. He was as tall as the heavens and his eyes shot flames. Instead of fingers, he had 100 dragon’s heads sprouting from his hands -for which one could read ‘flames,’ or magma.
Not one of the Olympian gods had the power to destroy Typhon, not alone. All they could do was avoid him or flee for their lives, which they often did by transforming themselves into animals. Aphrodite and Eros now transformed themselves into two fish (koi) and swam away. Ultimately, Zeus imprisoned Typhon beneath Mount Etna, but Typhon is still very much alive down there, just waiting for his own monster movie. As of February 2021 there was much talk about such seismic activity as a potentially major global influence in 2021. We are seeing again, warnings of a potential volcanic eruption in Santorini and beyond in the Aegean, in Aquarius and Pisces season in 2025.
Fictional Storylines based on Volcanic Eruptions and Earthquakes… Piscean.
Rome and Early Christianity
Early Christians used the Fish as a symbol of their faith and called the TWELVE apostles of Christ the Fishers of Men (Pisces as the twelfth sign.) The secret code name for Jesus, Yeshua Ben Joseph- was Ichthys from the Greek meaning fish, it was an acronym Jesus- Christ- God- Son- Saviour.
Bible stories…Piscean.
From The Golden Tarot, by Kat Black
Pisces is embodied as The Knight of Cups. In Arthurian legend this would be Sir Percival, or in later versions of the legend, Sir Galahad. This knight is a champion of the underdog, a protector, a lover, a bearer of grace. The healing chalice. Think Glastonbury and Avalon.
Pisces combines imagination with the determination and self-sacrifice of a salmon fighting upriver to spawn, even at the cost of its life. New life must come, says Pisces, even if the death of the self is the price. Think of self-sacrificing heroes. Jesus Christ. King Arthur. El Cid.
Even Roy Batty in Bladerunner.
Wikipedia. Fair Use.
“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off (the) shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”
Paradoxically, there may be a certain passivity, even inertia. This serves Pisces well at times, but may, in some cases, degenerate into the shadow side of Pisces, depression, alcohol or other substance misuse. Here, we could be writing the story of an anti- hero. Narcotics, Mafia. The tragedy of Al Pacino in The Godfather.
The Pisces hero, heroine is a natural artist, writer or musician. Compassionate and sensitive. But while their steel may be hidden, all the same, it is there. Not much is said about this scaly Pisces steel. They can be tough, even hard in a quiet way. They don’t say much but watch the eyes harden. Cross the line once too often, you are gone. That is it.
Passing the buck is not their style. They will take on injustice, taking on those senior to themselves in status. But these watery denizens need to guard their physical energy. It can be erratic, and their reserves once depleted, are not so easily restored as other signs. If they become prone to headaches at the back of the head, there may be related bladder infections or other issues.
Contagion, Disease and Poison are included in the Piscean storyboard.
Famous Pisces in history
Michelangelo, Amerigo Vespucci, Copernicus, Vivaldi, Handel, George Washington, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Albert Einstein, Nat King Cole, Elizabeth Taylor, Nina Simone, Harold Wilson, Yuri Gagarin, Sidney Poitier, Steve Irwin.
Photo by Inu Etc on Unsplash
‘No man is an island,’ wrote John Donne. Yes and no. We are both the ocean and the land. Islands in archipelagos. But there are bridges. There are boats. Sometimes we are the bridges, sometimes we are the boats.
Happy writing!
---
The Stories in Our Stars: The Zodiac for Writers
We are now in Pisces Season. But what are its stars, what’s the ancient story behind it all, and what does it mean for writers? Time to go fishing with Pisces.
Traditional Associations
Dates: 18/19 Feb to 20/21 March. Variable cusp depending on the leap year cycle
Ruling planets: Jupiter and Neptune (before Neptune’s official discovery in 1846, it was Jupiter)
Zodiac House 12. Story Themes. Sacrifice. Endings, Resurrections, Religion, the Unknown, Ghosts, Mysteries. All that is hidden.
Key phrase: I believe
Body: Feet, eyes, bladder
Birth Stone: Aquamarine (‘the water of the sea’) A blue variety of beryl (Emerald is a green beryl.) The aquamarine is a hexagonal crystal structure, sometimes confused with blue topaz, believed to enhance foresight and clairvoyance.
Aquamarine via Wiki
Tarot card: The Moon
Storylines: The Moon, Mondays, tides, cycles, ebb and flow, feminine cycles, fertility, instinct, wildlife, walking on the wild side, hunting, fishing, psychics, ghosts, visions, dreams, delusions, madness, contamination, fever, food poisoning, uncertainty, danger, confusions with documentation, risks in travel.
Astronomy
Via Wiki
Pisces, the Latin plural of fish, is the 14th largest constellation overall, covering a large V- shaped region in the part of the sky known as The Sea or The Water. Its stars are faint —hard to see with the naked eye.
The fish of Pisces are depicted as freshwater fish, koi carp, swimming at right angles to each other, one to the north and one to the west, attached by a cord. Its brightest star, Eta Piscium, also known as Alpherg or Kullat Nunu, is a bright giant star (G class) 294 light-years from Earth and has a luminosity 316 times greater that of the sun. Kullat Nunu is its Babylonian name. ‘Nunu’ means ‘fish’ and ‘kullat’ is a bucket.
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.comcaption…
The vernal equinox currently occurs during Pisces, 19-21 March, the astronomical marker of the start of spring in the northern hemisphere.
The Nature Story
Writers need to consider seasonal settings. Pisces is the sign of the thaw, the freshwater melt and the first spawning of the freshwater fishes, though depending on latitude and therefore temperature, some species may spawn sooner. Fish may rise again to the top to feed. Frogs and Toads will spawn. The fish of Pisces are attached by a cord of stars, just as life and death are conjoined and cannot be separated. Pisces is not only the last sign of winter, moving into spring; it is the last sign of the whole zodiac year, the culmination of all the signs that came before it.
Own video below. Koi carp returning to the surface after the winter hibernation.
Ancient Stories of Pisces
Egypt
“It (Pisces) is one of the earliest zodiac signs on record, with the two fish appearing as far back as c. 2300 BC on an Egyptian coffin lid ” -(Wiki) The two fish of the constellation Pisces were the offspring of the Great Fish. In Egyptian mythology, this fish saved the life of the Egyptian goddess Isis, and she placed this fish and its descendants into the heavens as a star constellation.
India
In Hindu mythology Matsya is an manifestation or avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu the Preserver who rescued the first man, Manu from a great deluge. (…and here we are again, back to the great flood stories of Aquarius) The Matsya may be depicted as a giant golden fish or as a merman, half- fish half humanoid Lord Vishnu. Vishnu is the second god in the Hindu holy trinity (Trimurti) Brahma was the Maker, god of creation and passion, Vishnu, the face of light and preservation, and Shiva, the face of the dark, and destruction.
Greece
To the ancient Greeks, the fish were the goddess Aphrodite and her son, Eros, who were out walking by the Euphrates one day when a terrible monster rose up out of the water. This monster, Typhon, had been terrorizing the gods of Olympus ever since the war with the Titans. Typhon was a Titan, a son of Gaia, and he hated the gods of Olympus as invaders and upstarts who had overthrown and dispossessed his own, more ancient race of Titans. He was as tall as the heavens and his eyes shot flames. Instead of fingers, he had 100 dragon’s heads sprouting from his hands -for which one could read ‘flames,’ or magma.
Not one of the Olympian gods had the power to destroy Typhon, not alone. All they could do was avoid him or flee for their lives, which they often did by transforming themselves into animals. Aphrodite and Eros now transformed themselves into two fish (koi) and swam away. Ultimately, Zeus imprisoned Typhon beneath Mount Etna, but Typhon is still very much alive down there, just waiting for his own monster movie. As of February 2021 there was much talk about such seismic activity as a potentially major global influence in 2021. We are seeing again, warnings of a potential volcanic eruption in Santorini and beyond in the Aegean, in Aquarius and Pisces season in 2025.
Fictional Storylines based on Volcanic Eruptions and Earthquakes… Piscean.
Rome and Early Christianity
Early Christians used the Fish as a symbol of their faith and called the TWELVE apostles of Christ the Fishers of Men (Pisces as the twelfth sign.) The secret code name for Jesus, Yeshua Ben Joseph- was Ichthys from the Greek meaning fish, it was an acronym Jesus- Christ- God- Son- Saviour.
Bible stories…Piscean.
The Fictional Archetype of Pisces
From The Golden Tarot, by Kat Black
Pisces is embodied as The Knight of Cups. In Arthurian legend this would be Sir Percival, or in later versions of the legend, Sir Galahad. This knight is a champion of the underdog, a protector, a lover, a bearer of grace. The healing chalice. Think Glastonbury and Avalon.
Pisces combines imagination with the determination and self-sacrifice of a salmon fighting upriver to spawn, even at the cost of its life. New life must come, says Pisces, even if the death of the self is the price. Think of self-sacrificing heroes. Jesus Christ. King Arthur. El Cid.
Even Roy Batty in Bladerunner.
Wikipedia. Fair Use.
“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off (the) shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”
Paradoxically, there may be a certain passivity, even inertia. This serves Pisces well at times, but may, in some cases, degenerate into the shadow side of Pisces, depression, alcohol or other substance misuse. Here, we could be writing the story of an anti- hero. Narcotics, Mafia. The tragedy of Al Pacino in The Godfather.
The Pisces hero, heroine is a natural artist, writer or musician. Compassionate and sensitive. But while their steel may be hidden, all the same, it is there. Not much is said about this scaly Pisces steel. They can be tough, even hard in a quiet way. They don’t say much but watch the eyes harden. Cross the line once too often, you are gone. That is it.
Passing the buck is not their style. They will take on injustice, taking on those senior to themselves in status. But these watery denizens need to guard their physical energy. It can be erratic, and their reserves once depleted, are not so easily restored as other signs. If they become prone to headaches at the back of the head, there may be related bladder infections or other issues.
Contagion, Disease and Poison are included in the Piscean storyboard.
Famous Pisces in history
Michelangelo, Amerigo Vespucci, Copernicus, Vivaldi, Handel, George Washington, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Albert Einstein, Nat King Cole, Elizabeth Taylor, Nina Simone, Harold Wilson, Yuri Gagarin, Sidney Poitier, Steve Irwin.
Photo by Inu Etc on Unsplash
‘No man is an island,’ wrote John Donne. Yes and no. We are both the ocean and the land. Islands in archipelagos. But there are bridges. There are boats. Sometimes we are the bridges, sometimes we are the boats.
Happy writing!
---
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