contrary to the malignant influence ascribed to the constellation it was designated "abundant or wealthy."[1]
The flower ascribed to Pisces is the daffodil, and the gem the white chrysolite.
The symbol of the sign, ♓︎, is thought to represent the two fishes joined together. A fish was always the symbol of the early Christian faith, and the figure appears in many of the stained glass windows in the churches of to-day.
When each sign of the zodiac was assigned to one of the twelve Apostles, the Fishes were said to represent St. Matthias.
The Western Fish is represented by a lozenge-shaped figure traced by faint stars, which is known as "the Circlet."
Three distinct conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn were recorded as taking place in Pisces in the year 747 of Rome. This was the year in which for a long time Christ was supposed to have been born. The claim has been made that the star of Bethlehem was so to speak a composite star, a conjunction in Pisces of the planets Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars.[2]
Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus were all located here in February, 1881. Stöffler predicted in 1524, when these three planets were in conjunction in Pisces, that there would be another Deluge. The season was unusually dry. It was in this constellation that Harding discovered Juno in September, 1804.
The principal star in the constellation is α Piscium, known as "Al-Rischa," meaning the Cord, or "Okda," the
- ↑ The star ζ Piscium marks the initial point of the fixed Hindu sphere from which longitude was reckoned. This point coincided with the vernal equinox a.d. 570. This date, says Burgess, fixes approximately the commencement of the history of modern Hindu astronomy.
- ↑ In support of this theory a recent writer has said that "such a conjunctio would at once have been interpreted by the Chaldeean observers as indicating the approach of some memorable event, and since it occurred in the constellation of Pisces, which was supposed by astrologers to be immediately connected with the fortunes of Judaea, it would naturally turn their thoughts in that direction."
