Eager eye and willing ear, Lovingly shall nestle near. In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by, Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream Lingering in the golden gleam- Life, what is it but a dream?
 |
Sun Sign Pisces - The Pisces Child |
Eager eye and willing ear, Lovingly shall nestle near. In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by, Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream Lingering in the golden gleam- Life, what is it but a dream?
Most babies, as everyone knows, were found under a cabbage leaf. A few are carried in that long diaper, hanging from the stork's bill or were brought to the hospital in the doctor's black bag. Not your little Pisces bundle. He came straight from fairyland, clutching a moonbeam. If you look closely, you'll still see the reflection of elves and magic wishing trees in his dreamy little eyes, maybe even a trace of stardust smudged behind his left ear. His wings may have disappeared by the time he gets to the delivery room, but there's probably a small bump where they were once fastened.
You've seen those congratulation cards for new mothers, with pictures of dimpled, pink and white painted babies, fragile and gauzy, flying around over the verse. The artist used your Pisces babe as a model. This could make you think you can lead your Neptune child by the toe, or that after you've scrubbed that shiny stardust out of his ears you can mold him into any shape you like. Why not, when he's such a gentle, delicate little lump of clay? Think again. He'll get his own way just as surely as the yelling red-faced Aries baby, the demanding, regal Leo baby or the stubborn, tough little Taurus baby. The only difference is that hell get it by charming you to death, and drowning you in oceans of sweet smiles and winning ways.
As soon as the ink is dry on the birth certificate, turn in the name of your little Pisces boy for the lead in the first future production of Peter Pan or the girl for Alice in Wonderland. Peter Pan and Alice will be the Neptune children's favorite roles, and they won't need a stage to act the parts superbly. They'll still be starring in them when they're eighty. Parents who breathe the age-old prayer, "I wish baby never had to grow up," will get their wish if baby was born under the sign of the fish. The years won't leave any lasting impression: there will always be a childish, dreamy, magical quality of make-believe hanging like a mist over the Pisces. It will drench him in mystery and unreality forever-and-three-days.
By the time he's old enough to crawl into the jam pot and hide, this strange child of yours will show a preference for living in a world of fancy. He'll enjoy diversions that are far removed from everyday patterns and routines. When he's in the high chair, he'll eat like an angel, if you pretend you're a queen or a clown while you're feeding him. Wear a lampshade, dripping with all your old, sparkling necklaces, or a mop for a wig; smear lipstick and chalk on your face. His imagination will supply the rest. When he's a little older, he'U play happily on the front porch while you do the washing if you hang up a few balloons, put some music on the record player, toss around his stuffed animals, give him some popcorn and tell him he's at the circus.
When he's old enough to start to school and begin to have those peculiar dreams at night, you'll be tying his shoes one ordinary spring morning and get a shock. "Guess who I saw last night?" hell remark confidentially. You'll mumble a polite rejoiner-now where on earth is his green sweater? Oh, there it is-on the teddy bear he dressed up yesterday, when he was pretending it was his best friend.
"Who did you see?"
He'll answer casually, "Grandma Stratton. We talked for a long time, then she had to go. She said to tell you to be sure to water her geraniums and send Uncle Clarence the money."
Since Grandmother Stratton died before he was bom, this could unnerve you a little, on an empty stomach, before coffee. But it's nothing to the prickly sensation you'll get after breakfast, when he's in school and the mailman delivers a letter from your Uncle Clarence from whom you haven't heard in five years, asking for a loan to start a new business.
The wisest parents have difficulty arranging a schedule that will stick with a Pisces offspring. Schedules and routines are his natural enemies, and he'll do everything in his fertile imagination to avoid them. Babies who live upside down-sleep all day and stay awake all night-are often Neptune infants. He wants to eat when he's hungry, sleep when he's tired and play when something attracts his fancy, whenever that might be. Trying to get him to eat, sleep or play at any other time is quite a task. Actually, it's rather a sensible attitude, but the times he gets hungry, tired or playful may vary considerably from day to day and night to night. You might as well adjust your schedule to his. He'll seldom throw tantrums, scream or balk to get you to come around to his way, but he'll gradually win you over by evasive, elusive tactics, and confuse you into Capitulation. You may even get charmed yourself by the 'sheer freedom of it. Not feeling guilty when you chat with neighbors over coffee during the feeding hour, playing a fascinating game of "Princess and Frog" in the still magic hours of dawn-or sharing a bowl of vegetable soup and a cup of hot chocolate with him in the middle of a dreary, gray winter afternoon can become strangely attractive. He might even teach you there's no reason to let that silly clock be a cruel, infallible dictator over your life. It's only a ticking hunk of metal.
The Pisces child will require a healthy amount of attention and appreciation. He'll have to be noticed and encouraged, because he's uncertain about his abilities. Give him as many bushels of it as he needs. Hell also require his moments of privacy. When he goes into one of his mysterious moods of withdrawal, let him be. His mind is a million light years away, and you can't follow. He'll return in plenty of time for his vegetable soup and hot chocolate. Only by now, he'll have changed his lunch hour to mid-evening. If he tells you he was out flying on a saucer with a man from Mars, believe him. It just might be so.
Teachers are always confused when they try to put this odd-shaped peg into a round or square educational hole. He may not fit into either. You'll probably have heaps of struggles between his unique methods of learning and the school's stale routines. Hell simply refuse to conform to a pattern not his own. Don't blame him too much.
The educational system has yet to catch up with Neptune's wisdom. Many Pisces boys and girls are artistic, and most of them love music and dancing. Typical Neptunian youngsters are light on their feet, regardless of their weight. The little girl often longs to be a ballerina; the little boy usually chooses heroes like Beethoven, Michelangelo, the astronauts or Saint Anthony over scientists, presidents and gen-erals. They love all kinds of books and English may be a favorite subject, since Pisces is a good story-teller. They love words, and poetry often enchants them. Neptunians may find math hard to understand at first, but they'll have an uncanny grasp of the abstract theories behind algebra and geometry later on.
There may be a lack of responsibility, which can be frustrating. Pisces children follow their own rules. They're sensitive and easily stabbed to the quick by harshness. Tears may be frequent. These youngsters ordinarily prefer the company of adults to playing with other children. Even' at a tender age, they have a deep wisdom and sympathetic understanding of situations over their heads. A child of Neptune is often accused of lying, yet they aren't lies to him. There's no malicious or cowardly intent. His young mind swims in fluid imagination which whispers a thousand secrets, so utterly delightful and filled with such sheer beauty he can't help trying to make them live in the cold, real world. The fact that these lovely dreams soon die in the sterile, arid soil of a materialistic society is heartbreaking. He needs your deepest pity, or he'll retreat into silent, moody despair.
The Piscean child hears songs of the sea he can never describe. The cold, ugly, naked truth is too brutal for him to bear. He must dress it up occasionally or try to warm it and color it with Neptune shades of romance. It's not fair to call it lying. Instead, encourage him to gather all his clouds and moonbeams and weave them into poems, plays or paintings. Soon enough, he'll learn to adapt to the normal world of brutality, selfishness, cruelty and greed. Why thrust him into it rudely? He may have trouble learning to conform to social and scholastic demands that stifle his individuality. But his parents and teachers can learn from him the value of compassion, understanding, beauty, tolerance, imagination and gentleness. It all depends on the kind of diploma you want from life.
Someday, either the Piscean philosophy of freedom of expression or the conformist concept will win. My money is on Pisces. Of course, your friendly, warm-hearted little Neptunian must be taught that people expect him to adjust eventually to their crazy-quilt, upside-down concepts in order to survive. But if he's shoved too hard by stem, negative adults, he'll lose his way back to the other side of the looking-glass. Don't steal his key. He needs to slip over there now and then, to refresh himself with the true wisdom of the Red Queen and the White Knight. Then he can better cope with the real world of war, poverty, disease, hypocritical ethics and ingratitude. Your little fish needs a cloak of protection against the cold winds to come. Knit it yourself with bright, gay sturdy yam. Try to understand his Neptune ways. Guide him tenderly, wisely, and when he's tall enough, he may someday suddenly reach out and catch one of his silver stars to bring home to you. Then you'll be glad you didn't laugh at his dreams. Better clear off a spot on the mantle right now.