Even then they had time to gather in a phalanx that would
have been hard to break had they risen quickly, but this
they were forbidden to do by the traditions
An interviewer at an employment agency would have no trouble identifying these two Sun Signs, no problem in telling a Ram from a Fish. All it takes is a little experience, and a minimal understanding of astrology.
INTERVIEWER: What was your most recent place of employment?
ARIES: I was production chief at Parakeet Publishing, at 42 East 83rd Street.
INTERVIEWER: I see. I'll check them for a reference. The Parakeet Publishing Company, at 82 East 43rd Street.
ARIES: That's not what I said. You got the address backwards. Are you hard of hearing, or are you trying to intimidate me?
INTERVIEWER: Could I have your present home address, please?
PISCES: Sure! I live in the McCall Apartments, at 7000 6th Avenue.
INTERVIEWER: All right, let me make a note of that. That's the Bacall Apartments at 6000 7th Avenue, right?
PISCES: (visibly confused) Well.. uh, if you think it's a nicer neighborhood,I guess I could see if they have a vacancy . . . .
Walk up to a Ram and remark, "As an Aries, you're probably creative" - and the Ram will reply, "You can say that again! I'm loaded with original ideas.Would you like to hear some of them?"
Walk up to a Fish and remark, "As a Pisces, you're probably involved in one of the water sports, like surfing or scuba diving" - and the Fish will reply, "Well, I can't swim, but - uh, which one do you think I should be involved in? I suppose I could learn "
Walk up to a Ram and remark, "If you continue along the path you're on now,you'll never end up as a leader" - and the Aries person will reply, "How would you like a punch in the mouth?"
Walk up to a Fish and remark, "If you continue along the path you're on now,you'll never end up as a leader" - and the Pisces person will reply, "Really?Gee, I hope you're right."
The pattern that gradually emerges with the Ram is aggressiveness, sometimes to excess. The pattern that gradually emerges with the Fish is accommodation,also sometimes to excess. Aries, of course, is a Fire Sign and Pisces is a Water Sign. There's a marked difference between Aries aggressiveness and Pisces accommodation,and just to be sure I've made that difference clear, here's another example. A Ram has just walked up to the counter and ordered a pizza, to takeout.
CLERK: Okay. One pizza to go, coming up! How do you want it, with mushrooms or green peppers?
RAM: Neither. I want black olives and onions. And see that you don't burn it,like you did the last time I was here.Now, a Fish has walked up to the counter, to order a pizza, to take out.
CLERK: Okay. One pizza to go, coming up! How do you want it, with mushrooms or green peppers?
FISH: Well, let's see - what do most of your customers order?
CLERK: We sell a lot of mushrooms.
FISH: Mushrooms. I'll take mine with mushrooms.
CLERK: Of course, personally, I prefer green peppers.
FISH: Oh. Well... uh, could you change that, please, to one pizza to go, with green peppers?
CLERK: Sure, but look, now - why don't you just order it the way you want?Don't let me influence you.
FISH: Well - could I have two pizzas, then - one with mushrooms, and one with green peppers?
You can see that Pisces is accommodating. What you may not see, however,is the multiple motivation behind it. The kind-hearted Fish really do like to please people, when they can. Every Piscean dreads the embarrassment of outright confrontation, and they dislike attention focused on themselves. Butthere's also a more subtle reason why Pisceans are reluctant to commit themselves to a personal opinion: they're always on the alert for snoopers, because they have an absolute horror of "Big Brother." At an airport, a stranger passing by, carrying monogrammed luggage with the initials CIA or FBI, can catapult the typical Fish into a nervous panic. Try to convince a Pisces that those lettersstand for Charles Isidore Abernacky or Frederick Bruce Israel. Go ahead, try.What kind of Jewish mother would name her boy Frederick Bruce? Someday,make a list of all your Pisces friends who have un-listed phone numbers. It will be interesting.
When a Ram meets a Fish, it seems that here is a sweet, mild, gentle soul the Aries person can push around more or less as he (or she) pleases. I'm sorry to say that this is what the fiery Aries often tries to do with the watery Piscean. But the Ram should study the natural sciences - and the Bible.
From the natural sciences, he'll learn all about the elements of earth, air, fire and water - and that water can be dangerous to fire. Flip the flame on a lighter as high as you like, then dip in into a glass of water. Sputter . . . . pssssttt. . . and out. Although water may seem to be the weakest of the elements, it's actually the strongest. A few drops of water dripping steadily on a rock for along enough period of time will wear the rock away into fine sand. I know an Aries landlord who impulsively raised the rent on the New Jersey apartment of a Pisces lady named Marion. She accepted the news from him sweetly, with gentle feminine submission. However, the Arian landlord has spent the last eight months in and out of the courtroom. She sends him little notes about the leaky plumbing and such (one drop at a time, you see), and he still hasn't been able to hike the rent by so much as one dollar. Before it's over he'll probably lower it.
The secret of the great strength of water is its non-resistance. Water does not resist. Toss a pebble into the river, and what happens? Water doesn't resist the object penetrating its calm. Old Man River just opens up, swallows the pebble, covers it over - and keeps moving right along. The Nazarene relates the strength of Water's powerful passivity to the human personality. "Resist ye not evil," counseled Jesus, whose birth, by the way, ushered in the Age of Pisces,nearly two thousand years ago.
The Fish are influenced by the mysterious, infinite wisdom of Neptune, and so they seldom resist the more aggressive Rams, who are driven by the fiery force of the red planet, Mars. Often, Aries people find that Pisceans have a restful,cooling effect on their flaming frustrations. An association between them is usually beneficial to both. Each Sun Sign carries, within karmic memory, the seeds of experiences gained from the Sun Sign immediately behind it on the astrological wheel of life - and conversely, there are many lessons to be learned from the character and qualities of the Sun Sign immediately following one'sown.
This is a 2-12 Sun Sign Pattern, meaning that Aries represents the second astrological house to Pisces, and Pisces represents the twelfth astrological house to Aries. Translated, Aries will always, in one way or another, symbolize money to Pisces, whether in a negative or a positive sense. In some manner, money will be a vital consideration, and a frequent topic of discussion between them.
To the Rams, the Fish represent many secrets, which Pisces usually keeps and won't tell, causing Aries to be exceedingly annoyed. If not that, then the two of them will spend much time discussing secrets - or the past sorrows of one or the other. Sometimes, the secrecy syndrome is beneficial, but you can be sure, however it works out, that both money and secrecy will form the foundation,in a variety of ways, of any association between the Ram and the Fish, whether they're involved as friends, relatives, business associates, lovers or mates. "Secrets" may include all matters of the occult, the esoteric or the metaphysical,such as astrology, hypnotism, astral travel, telepathy and the like.Sooner or later, these matters will prove to be of mutual interest to any Aries-Pisces combination, whatever the sex, age or relationship of the two of them, as
with all 2-12 Sun Sign Patterns.
Since Pisces lies behind Aries on the karmic wheel, the Ram feels an instinctive tolerance for the foibles of the Fish, somehow understanding the Piscean behavior, even though it differs so vastly from his (or her) own. Each Aries person has spiritually experienced the passivity and submission of the Pisces nature, which is why Aries, in the present incarnation, leans so hard toward the extreme opposite of Piscean humility - ego. With all their brashness, Rams reveal their karmic soul memory of the Piscean experience through their hidden vulnerability to hurt, and the quickness with which Arian compassion and generosity can be aroused.
The Rams, however, aren't about to chance any masochism (openly, at least) in this lifetime. One might say that Aries comprehends and appreciates the Pisces attitude without envy, and without condemning it. They've already received their report cards in the Piscean spiritual school, thank you, and they prefer not to return. They didn't like the teacher (Neptune) all that much. And so it goes with all the Sun Signs, around and around the birth wheel - again and again - until all the necessary lessons are learned, and the soul can graduate from the earth-flesh level of awareness and existence, into a higher, and more individual awareness.
Due to this 2-12 influence, the Fish will never fail to in some way look up to Aries as having something important to teach them, and unlike most Sun Signs,in relation to the sign ahead of them, Pisces is usually placidly willing to imitate,and to learn from the Rams. (Water is not only the strongest and most powerful of the four elements - Water is also wisest - which is why it's strongest.)
On the whole, the Ram and the Fish are nicely compatible, with neither overly desirous of interfering with the other's approach to life, but rather complementing it instead. Yet there will be times when they experience some heated(Aries) or chilly (Pisces) encounters. The forthright Ram has little patience for the sometimes slippery tactics of the elusive Fish.
I know a Piscean in Colorado who pleasantly (Pisceans are nearly always pleasant) once remarked to me: "Well, you know what I always say - promise anything, and get out of it later. That's my motto." The Fish are uncommonly cheerful about confessing their little flaws. This method of backing away from a commitment quite naturally may create, on occasion, a barrier between Pisces and the very direct, naively honest Rams, who will usually display undisguised resentment when the Fish swim away alone now and then, to exchange whispered secrets with the ocean - or who may feel hurt and neglected if the Pisceans should glide behind some cool seaweed to refresh their weary souls, withoutleaving behind a trail indicating where they may be found. But no harm is meant by the kindly Fish. Lacking the Ram's tough horns, and the Mars emotional, spiritual and mental stamina, it's the Neptune soul's only protection against an abrasive daily existence in this harsh world - the wear and tear of life's problems.
The Piscean motto of "promise anything, and get out of it later" may sound deceptive; yet it's a philosophy that keeps the Fish young and tranquil -and off the psychiatrist's couch. It also allows Pisceans to conserve their energy,thereby enabling them to remain composed enough to listen to everybody else's troubles for hours on end. Nevertheless, to the Rams, sneaky is sneaky
