Abbreviation: Psc
Genitive: Piscium
Right Ascension: 0.85 hours
Declination: 11.08 degrees
Pisces is considered the 'last' sign of the zodiac, as Aries is the first. It is a significant constellation today, in that the Vernal Equinox lies within Pisces today (so shouldn't Pisces be first?).
The original drawings of this constellation had the fish swimming together as a pair, today they are drawn facing in opposite directions tied by a cord which runs through Aries and Aquarius. The fish is an important symbol both in Christian and pagan religions. In early mythology (Babylonian) they appear pushing a giant egg out of the river Euphrates, from the egg emerged the goddess Atagartis. It is thought that she is the basis of a 'fish' cult, in which life is renewed each spring.
Aries had been the site of the vernal equinox for over 2000 years, until around 7 B.C. Pisces became the first constellation, a date co-incidentally that generally is accepted for the year that Jesus Christ was born. In that year, Jupiter and Saturn met, at the point marking the new Piscean equinox in the skies, making one exceptionally bright star which, in the winter months could have guided the Wise Men SW from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.
In astrology, Pisces is the water sign and is ruled by Neptune. Pisces is considered to be the most mystically inclined of all the signs, as the last of the twelve, it represents the return to the great ocean from which all life evolved, and where all boundaries are dissolved.
