Tuesday, February 19, 2008

The PISCES Child

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.

2 comments:

Matthew The Astrologer said...

Pssst... you really should attribute your quotes, you know.

Matthew The Astrologer said...

Pssst... you really should attribute your quotes, you know.