Eris in the 2nd solar house. Spiral Door aspect, Quaoar and Ixion in the 10th solar house. Pluto working toward the 11th solar house. Saturn in the 6th solar house. Chiron-Nessus conjunct in the 12th solar house. Mars retrograde in the 5th solar house. Venus retrograde in the 6th and 7th solar houses. Pisces is the relationship house for Virgo; the career house for Gemini; and the house of home and security for Sagittarius. This interpretation works for Pisces rising as well.

SENSE OF MISSION is the theme, the message, the meaning, the time of year and the time of humanity. It is, rather, if you have the inclination or willingness to feel -- something not true in all parts of the world, or for all people, but the Spiral Door is wide open for you, and is continuing to open. This is the result of years of preparation, dedication and, in a sense, making large investments in an annuity that is reaching maturity.
 
Among those who follow astrology, the question of what to do with one's life seems as popular as Bic lighters at a rock concert. I would propose that it's a more pressing question than relationships, which I personally think is a fine thing because in my view the relationship questions are asked in ways that don't have real answers. But there's always something that needs to be done on our planet, and when we're surrounded by those with whom we share intention and work, we can easily share love.
 
The turmoil of our era in history, combined with actual advances in spiritual awareness, are contributing to the issue of what to do finally coming to the surface. So, too, is a breakdown of old belief systems, which are crumbling under the weight of their own nothingness. Could it be that the supposedly most ethereal of the signs, the one normally associated with swimming backwards into a little nook between two rocks, going in circles, or sitting on the couch with a beer and purple bong plucking idly on the guitar, is currently the one getting the clearest signal from the galaxy about what now must be done, and how to do it?
 
One reason this is plausible is because Pisces is the sign that is composed of cosmic chaos; and from chaos imagination may spring. It is the last sign, the sign of endings and transitions, and this energy matches perfectly the difficult and astonishing transition the world is now engaged in at full throttle though not necessarily looking at the highway. Our times call for nothing if not paying attention, first, and an all-embracing imagination, second. Rarely is that your problem; rather, your problem more typically involves keeping a positive attitude and allowing yourself to believe your contribution is part of a necessary exchange of energy. It involves feeling you are some actual value to the world, and feeling that this value in some way nourishes you.
 
The long journey of Pluto across Sagittarius, which began in the mid-1990s, has occurred in your 10th solar house: your calling , your profession, the reputation you earn, and in the most tangible terms, your life mission. The passage of Pluto is never a cakewalk, but it is always meaningful, ever compelling, and guides us to keep our eyes on the bottom line or single most important priority. Pluto is a prime or fundamental energy. If at this point you don't have a sense of what you are here to do, I would propose that you are either not listening, you are attached to the past, or caught in a pattern that involves devaluing the role you are being called upon to play. If you don't sense your mission, you need to ask if you don't prefer dramas. At this point in your life, you will get the one you prefer.
 
Pisces, though it is a sensitive, receptive and often negatively polarized water sign, is blessed with strong fiery placements in its solar chart, and these are now all getting major transits. That is to say, the three houses that address key issues: your personal resources and self-esteem (the 2nd); focus, service and wellbeing (the 6th); and your mission and sense of achievement (the 10th) coincide with the fire signs Aries, Leo and Sagittarius, respectively. These signs all bestow passion, imagination and determination. They help create something where once there was nothing, a Pisces specialty. They are indeed the most optimistic signs of the zodiac. I would like to focus on the archetypes of these three signs, and the planets now transiting them. While most people draw their primary identity from their Sun and Moon signs, when planets transit other areas of the chart, or when major discoveries occur there, it's possible to access them directly and put them to work.
 
Let's go in order. Aries is the archetype of self, self-awareness and because of the Aries Point, it's the sign where we personally intersect with the much larger society. The message of the Aries Point is that the 'self' and 'society' are integral to one another. This is obvious, but our human sense of separation affects not only our relationship to Prime Creator, and to one another, it affects our relationship to the community and culture of which we are part. And we often experience a sense of separation from ourselves, which basically puts the world and everyone in it out of reach.
 
If we understand Aries in the context of Eris, which in 2005 was discovered there and has been there throughout our lifetimes, we might get a better sense of why it's so challenging and so necessary for you as a Pisces to make a constant yoga of being friends with yourself. It would probably be an excellent idea to review the events of 2005 for a turning point on these themes. It is likely that something crystallized or became apparent; something that did not have a name got one; some process that lacked a shape or tangible sense of reality came into focus, and that thing in essence was your conscious relationship to yourself.
 
Aries is in your 2nd solar house, so it represents your personal resources, from cash to your talents, from what you use to make your living to all that you consider your personal property. Because Aries is here, you are your most important asset. You might say this is true for everyone, but I don't think it is; there are many ways to tap into energy, and for you, it's directly through your self-awareness and the ongoing process of weaving your relationship into everything larger than you. But for reasons relating to Pisces, not to Aries, this can be unusually challenging for you. So, Pisces bestows a kind of selflessness; Aries compensates for it mightily, unless there is some unaddressed damage or beliefs so dysfunctional you cannot get through the day.
 
Eris, one of whose themes is alienation, appearing in Aries helps us understand why it is that Pisces people tend to have such a hard time making friends with themselves, as well as why we must deal with so much shadow material when it comes to self-worth. Shadow material can be doubt, fear, presuming others are better than we are, or that they are unwilling to assist or don't care about us. It may be the presumption that they are out to get us. Shadow is, in the simplest form, anyplace that the light does not reach because it is blocked, and what it tends to get blocked by is oneself. But how this happens is worth questioning.
 
This is particularly true as your calling in the world is increasing in intensity, because that is a form of light. The more energy, the more damage a relatively small liability can do. The more power you are working with, the more dangerous a relatively small character flaw can be, and the more important it is that you understand and address it.
 
One common form of shadow is self-sabotage. I feel the reason this is so difficult to address is because of hidden loyalties to the people who indeed taught us to sabotage ourselves. The moment we get into alignment with ourselves (or even move in that direction), we betray them, and we may fear being alienated by them and left further out in the cold. Yet if we recognize that in many ways, 'self' is a learned concept, we may investigate from whom we learned it, and indeed question whether we want to be loyal to whoever that was. Eris is now pushing the issue, insisting that you remember that you make every decision on the basis of who you think you are. Every decision is an affirmation of who you think you are. As you decide, you vote for or against yourself, sometimes thousands of times a day. The more you are able to see that all your decisions are essentially modeled after how you feel about yourself, you'll be able to take the process of how you feel into your own hands. But it's not enough to sense your own inadequacy; I suggest knowing how you got that way, because at the moment, it's the only thing that can stop you.
 
We have many advantages in this game of psychic chess today; for one, we have a ready concept and words for 'shadow material'. We live in a time when one is free to believe what one wants, and in our society, pretty much to do what one wants. Feminism died an early death, but if women are willing to center themselves, and stop being at war with themselves, they can indeed compete in the way that men must do. And if so, they can have most of the opportunities that men have, if they want them. If economics are somehow stacking the deck against people, I don't think there has been a moment in the history of the modern world when we had more possibilities to bring ourselves forth, if we are willing to do the work. Which leads to what Leo says about your chart.
 
Leo is your 6th solar house, and this presents an extremely interesting and characteristically Pisces kind of paradox. Leo is the sign of self-expression, glory and leadership. Leo bestows creativity in the biggest sense, that of creating the world and holding it in alignment. But the 6th house is the house of servants, service and participation in the most basic ways. The disadvantage is the sense that all your glory gets lost in the sauce of washing pots, cleaning toilets, doing the filing and tending to the sick -- traditional activities of the 6th. The advantage is that you have the capacity, an incredible capacity, to do what must be done. You can do so with astonishing energy, stability and relentlessness.
 
The 6th house is actually an excellent place to stash Leo, because it puts that energy to good use, and if one is going to feel glorious, applying energy to the basics of life is a good way to do it. The 6th also bestows healing power and vitality, for good or ill: Leo there is a strong sign from which to be drawing these kinds of strength. Nobody can say you don't earn what you have. But you can claim that, though the shadow form of that is the feeling of not having what you deserve. Once again, you get to decide, though if you want to be free, decide you must.
 
Saturn in Leo has been the cause for a lot of dealing with necessities the past couple of years, but I think if you look, you will see that you have made some astonishing progress and, indeed, made a contribution. Saturn is opposing Neptune, however, and there will be moments when you may feel total doubt, or like all you have created represents a kind of obstacle. Yet I think there is a healthy way to channel your skepticism, particularly if you admit that it's there. Indeed, the ability to question yourself is a great asset, it keeps you honest, and it keeps you clear, as long as you ask the questions in a way that has answers; honest questions usually have answers, and the dishonest ones tend not to. If Saturn opposite Neptune is about having no illusions, then let go of them gladly so that you may live the life you want to live, rather than the lie you perhaps think you must live.
 
Which leads to the Spiral Door opening in your 10th solar house (Sagittarius), right on the cusp of your 11th house (Capricorn). Sagittarius, the last fire sign, is the most visionary. Sagg takes the passion and creativity of fire and assimilates it into a form that can easily blend with this world: as ideas, as entertainment, as knowledge, as a quest. True sense of mission, as those who lack it can tell you, is about having a connection to something beyond oneself and beyond one's immediate needs, and here we have the essence of Sagittarius. It is about assimilating reality one atom at a time, but at the moment, very quickly.
 
Sagittarius represents visions that others can relate to, inspiration that can help guide people toward their own inner fire, and a compelling quality that generally gets results. As you build your skill at doing these things for yourself, you will do them for others. But Pluto suggests strongly that you address the issue of shadow material around your sense of power. Does having power scare you? Now is the time to let go of it. Does influencing others scare you? Now is the time to be honest about your influences. Do you in any way lack trust in what you do with the strength and influence you have? Be honest, start modestly, and learn to trust yourself, because that trust is your foundation.
 
All the fire signs are idealistic, but none has the vivid, accessible, practical passion of Sagittarius. And here, you have been on a long, intense and at times very difficult mission, because Pluto has pushed you to go to the depths at any time you aspire to anything greater than what you are. But it is this combination of reaching the depths and reaching upward that unlocks potential and creates lasting progress. Though it is odd to say, you count on fear to ground you and keep you humble, but it's now fear that has served its use, and it's time to use other techniques.
 
In essence, the journey of Pluto in Sagittarius has come with one message, which is that to really feel and express a mission, it must be one that you truly deem meaningful, and that connects with the world in a tangible way. Moreover, it is your dharma to express a positive message, affirming of life. This comes to a shuddering climax as Pluto crosses the Galactic Core in your 10th house, but in case you're worried about a letdown, don't -- if any sign is capable of a rolling multiple orgasm that lasts through the night and well into the morning, it is Pisces. Indeed, this is a threshold to a role in life for which you have been preparing since Pluto crossed your solar midheaven in 1994 and 1995, and which will continue well into the Uranus in Aries era (which has yet to begin).
 
The Spiral Door aspect is refining Pluto to its clearest essence -- your soul's mission in this lifetime and perhaps through a series of lifetimes. There are few better places to express this than Sagittarius. At the same time, Uranus, now on its long-term journey through your birth sign, is giving you plenty of energy to identify yourself as an inventor, creator and innovator; as one who solves problems and who invents the world as you go. Pisces born in the second decanate (approximately the first week of March) are now getting this transit at full energy, though any Pisces who chooses to identify with the Promethean, forward-looking, creative breakthrough energy of Uranus will surely have access to it.
 
Which leads to your relationships. You may have noticed a few things lately: one being that you are considerably more radical than most of the people around you. Second, though this may have been repelling in the past, you are now gathering a group around you, made of genuine individuals who share certain key values. This magnetism is the energy of Uranus. The more you value yourself, the more you will feel part of your community. Conversely, if you are feeling alienated, go back to Eris in Aries and have a talk with her: look at the shadow, get to the bottom of your guilt complex, turn toward the light and become aware of what blocks your own awareness of love's presence. This will not be difficult, but you will need to go through the steps consciously.
 
When Saturn reaches Virgo later in the year, we come to something of a main event in your relationship life, indeed, an encounter or deepening of involvement with someone who is not out of their depth when they encounter you. At the same time, a process of making sure the relationships you have are really the ones you want has already begun. As both Saturn and Virgo would suggest, time is of the essence -- a lot of time. If you choose at the beginning to take your time and allow commitment to grow, and indeed to allow the places in your life where commitment does not really exist to be shown to you, Saturn will bestow the gift of clarity, stability and solid exchange in your most personal relationships, which in these chaotic times is the best gift you could want.
 
Saturn creates, supports and helps us modify form, and Saturn is playing a major role in your life now, indeed, pushing you to keep yourself organized and take care of your health. That is good form. Yet form, to be meaningful, must have content, energy, and substance to drive it, and for you, that means purpose, innovation and passion. The one thing you cannot substitute for is passion. Anything else, any other factor, you can replace.

It does not matter what you have passion for: life itself, some way of expressing yourself, some subject, a person, your family, God, your own existence, training guide dogs or all of the above.

So many people lack passion, there is a kind of cover-up of this truth, and a denial that passion is really real -- especially with women, who are still to this day presumed to be handmaidens and thus in the eyes of society, passion in their hands is seen as a dangerous thing. But men face an equally difficult crisis, because authentic masculine passion is gradually being replaced by sexual and intellectual sheepishness pumped up by Viagra.

Uranus making its long transit through your birth sign, which reaches a peak this year and in these very days as it squares Jupiter and begins to contact the Great Attractor, is putting you in an unusual position of not only setting an example, but also of allowing your own energy to push those who are more reluctant than you, who are more reticent, more hung up on form.

Once you have your passion, of which there is no shortage right now, the new form follows, sometimes easily, sometimes less so -- but it follows, and this must guide your priorities, your choices, and your sense of what is necessary. That will have repercussions, not everyone around you (as you are no doubt seeing) will be up to the challenge, and indeed (as you are no doubt seeing) some people most assuredly will be up to the challenge. But to say that the Sun, the Moon and the planets are pushing you higher, pulling you higher, and guiding your intentions is only to glimpse reality. You have what you need, and you are who you need to be.

And at this time, your mission, which originates inside you, is now wide open before you -- if indeed you will open your eyes, look and -- trust what you see.


PISCES
For more information about your relationships, please see Virgo. This will give you an idea what is happening for those closest to you, and how they may experience you. For more information about your career, please see Sagittarius. You can consider this an alternative take on your professional life, as it's an assessment of your 10th house. For more information about the home and security angle of your chart, please see Gemini. This will give you greater detail on themes just covered in this horoscope that relate to home and security. For an explanation of the houses, please see this article.