Auntie Moon

Planets in exaltation find the greatest ease of expression by being in a sign that emphasizes the planet’s best qualities. Venus is exalted in Pisces because its ultimate expression is love without strings ~ pure, unconditional ~ loving without a passing thought as to what it might receive in return.

How easy is it to truly ascend to the exaltation of Venus in Pisces without losing ourselves along the way? It takes a certain amount of agile self-hood to do that.

If we fall into Venus in Pisces, we risk losing ourselves completely and then face the arduous task of settling into a rather flat world when we return to normalcy.

If you enjoy mushy-mushy abandon, Venus in Pisces can be an enjoyable time. It can be very romantic, exceptionally spiritual and inspirational. If it’s not your cup of tea, well…there are plenty of ways to honor this placement without feeling like you’re over-compromised or that you’ve lost control. Before getting Aphrodite’s feet too wet, let’s take a look at some of the ways Venus in Pisces expresses itself.

Part 1: A few of the good things about Venus in Pisces:

• It’s compassionate, empathetic, welcoming to all
• It’s poetic, romantic, artistic, idealistic
• It’s devoted, intuitive toward the beloved, tender
• It’s sensitive, philanthropic, and gently affectionate

There is much to be valued about Venus in Pisces and a great deal of comfort to be found there. It’s a touchy-feely atmosphere that may be too formless for people who prefer the workings of the real world to the softer, dreamier side of life. But Venus in Pisces is not exclusive to Dreamworld.

The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them. ~ Thomas Merton

I knew a couple who shared the 13th degree of Pisces. He had Saturn there and she had Venus. In a world that seemed too harsh for him at times, he found great comfort in her loving nature. It was an antidote to the harshness in his chart, a thing unexplained but ever present. The son of a mean and cranky preacher, he found a bit of heaven in her quiet devotion to her God. She always allowed him to be who he was, but never sacrificed herself to his sometimes over-sombre nature. She’d say, “Oh, he gets like that sometimes” and go on about her business. She was always devoted and affectionate, but never drawn into his melancholy. I imagine she had enough of her own, as we all do.

Perhaps one way to imagine Venus in Pisces is to think of a very soft pillow ~ an altar of sorts ~ to lay our troubles on. The pillow will empathize with, comfort and support while the healing is underway, but it will not collapse under the weight or weave the trouble into itself.

Part 2: A few of the bad things about Venus in Pisces: 

• It’s overly sentimental, too impressionable
• It idealizes illusory love, is indulgent, and lost
• It lacks judgement, confuses fairytales with reality, is lost in pretense, hides affairs
• It’s indiscrimate, melancholic, unable to set boundaries

To get a deep understanding of Venus in Pisces when it is lost, think back to a time when you completely martyred yourself for someone you loved. What did you hope to get from that love? The answer is likely “love in return.” No one I know, including myself, who has given everything they have to someone in that type of relationship has been happy in that relationship.

When we are lost in love, we sacrifice everything because of the beloved, but remain unfulfilled. This is called obsession or addiction in some instances and is not limited to personal relationships. It extends to anything that takes us away from the best we can be ~ self-medication, an inability to say no, anything that can have the suffix aholic attached to it: alcoholic, shopaholic, foodaholic, lovaholic, sexaholic, sleepaholic. Are you a Dave-aholic, Joe-aholic, John-aholic, Meg-aholic, Joan-aholic? You get the picture.

How might that relationship have been different if you didn’t sacrifice everything, if your love wasn’t unconditional? How many of the qualities of “bad” Venus in Pisces were a part of that relationship? It would probably have been a better relationship ~ or at least a shorter one ~ if you had not been lost.

Maybe you gave up a career, a lifestyle, a dream home, (you know what it was) to be in a that relationship. All relationships require compromise ~ it’s the blessing and the curse of partnership ~ but to totally sacrifice yourself for someone who would actually allow you to do that is signing on to be a martyr in a martyrless cause.

How can we make the best of the brief time that Venus will travel through Pisces without losing ourselves?

• Open your heart and your eyes. Stay out of Martyrville.
• If you feel any of the signs of addiction to a person or a thing ~ compulsion, over-indulgence, fantasy, inability to cope ~ take steps to break away from the strings that bind you.
• Make a list of what you’re giving and what you’re getting if in a “lost” relationship. If the “getting” column is too short, it’s time to re-evaluate and make some changes.
• Set some conditional boundaries or learn how to protect your emotional body. 

On the Lighter Side

• Make time for poetry, artistic expression of your true self, and music that moves your soul.
• “Tune in” to the one you love and allow them to be who they truly are without losing yourself along the way.
• Spend a few dollars on something beautiful. Venus does love trinkets. You may even see the beauty in an old item with new eyes and enjoy it for a while.