Growing Green with the Zodiac: Pisces Season 2025

Toward an Ecological Astrology

Growing Green with Pisces is the seventh in a series of 12 almanac posts in which I’m using the astrological paradigm—the ancient view that planets, people, and plants are all part of a single cosmic whole—as a way to think about our current ecological and environmental crisis. I hope these posts encourage us to pay more thoughtful attention to the green world, especially now that the new U.S. administration seems hellbent on steamrolling the environmental policies worked out over the past two dozen years. It’s no exaggeration to say that our lives—and the lives of our children and their children—depend on maintaining the health of our home planet.

This material is the working draft of what may (or may not, depending on my energies) become a book. Not your cuppa? Go here to select what you receive from Thyme, Place & Story.

Pisces Season: February 18-March 20

Guardian planet(s): Jupiter (ancient), the planet of expansion, wisdom, and philosophical insight; Neptune (after 1846), the planet of dreams, illusions, spirituality, and the boundless realms of imagination. Modern astrologers often focus on Neptune’s mystical influence, but it’s important to remember that Jupiter (the ancient guardian) provides structure through the compelling desire for understanding, balancing the often ephemeral energies of Neptune.

Pisces symbol: the Fishes, twin figures swimming in opposing directions, symbolizing the tension between the material and spiritual and the fluid currents of emotion and intuition. The story behind the Pisces constellation: the myth of Aphrodite and Eros, who transformed into fish to escape the monster Typhon. Transformation is an important theme in the modern understanding of Pisces.

Element/Modality: Mutable Water, associated with emotions, intuition, empathy, and the deep currents of the unconscious mind. (Cancer: cardinal Water; Scorpio: fixed Water)

Pisces’ home in the Zodiac is the 12th House, the house of the unseen, the subconscious, dreams, spiritual growth, and hidden understandings. Also associated with endings, transitions, and the dissolution of boundaries.

Piscean folk (people with Sun, Moon, Rising Sign, or a cluster of planets in Pisces, and/or a strong Neptune/Jupiter or 12th House, or planets in the water signs Cancer or Scorpio) are intuitive, compassionate, imaginative, and deeply empathetic. They are often dreamers, mystics, artists, and visionaries, drawn to the mysteries of life and the search for transcendent experience. Neptune encourages us to dissolve the boundaries of the self, connect with the universal, and embrace the flow of life, while Jupiter provides a steadying influence and a purposeful instinct to understand Neptune's vast ocean of transformative possibilities. Life for Pisceans can be both enchanting and challenging, as they adjust these tensions.

When it comes to green, Piscean folk may be inspired by the natural world and particularly drawn to bodies of water. They can find themselves interested or involved in environmental efforts focused on ocean conservation, wetlands restoration, and protecting marine ecosystems. Their empathic, intuitive understanding of interconnectedness makes them passionate advocates for our planet’s ecological health. Pisceans’ creativity finds expression in forms that raise awareness about environmental issues.

Pisces Season 2025 invites all of us to dive deep into our inner lives, to explore emotion, intuition, and spirit. Pisces’ fluid, imaginative, and transformative energies encourage us to release rigid structures, embrace the unknown, and trust in the wisdom of our dreams and inner guidance. This is a season for reflection, healing, and compassion—both for ourselves and for the world around us.

Adding focus intention and structure to this 2025 Pisces season is Saturn, the planet of boundaries and discipline, currently transiting Pisces. Saturn’s influence is added to that of governing Jupiter, challenging us to ground our dreams in reality, to manifest our spiritual insights in tangible ways, and to navigate the delicate balance between surrender and control. Saturn in Pisces teaches that while the ocean is vast and mysterious, it is the shoreline, the boundary, that gives it shape—and gives us somewhere to stand.

Pisces Season in the Green World

Throughout this series, we’ve been thinking of ways the ancient understanding of the cosmos can be brought to life in our gardens. Here are some suggestions:

• The garden as renewal and regeneration. As the twelfth and final sign of the ever-circling zodiac, Pisces is associated not just with endings but also with renewal, resurrection. Imagine how you might explore regenerative gardening practices such as no-till gardening, permaculture, and soil restoration in your corner of the Earth.

• The garden as sanctuary. Pisces governs spiritual experience, and a garden can provide a sacred space for meditation, quiet contemplation, personal ritual, and moments of peace. But this doesn’t have to be a big undertaking. All you need is a reflecting basin, or a splash of color, or a spot of shade from the summer sun, or a comfortable bench—and the time to enjoy it. Look here for an idea or two that might fit your space.

• The garden’s invisible underworld. Pisces rules the unseen, which might inspire you to consider the hidden ecosystems beneath the surface—the soil microbiome, root systems and mycorrhizal networks, mirroring Pisces’ themes of interdependence and interconnection. In Entangled Life, Merlin Sheldrake writes, “More than ninety percent of plants depend on mycorrhizal fungi—from the Greek words for fungus (mykes) and root (rhiza)—which can link trees in shared networks sometimes referred to as the ‘wood wide web.’” Imagine your garden as a place to celebrate the underworld life that blankets our Earth with green. How might you explore this idea in your space?

• The once and future garden. Pisces is the dreamer of the zodiac. What if you pulled out your journal and pen or your sketchbook and colored pencils and framed your future garden as an act of imagination? Your imaginary garden might involve climate-resilient plantings and experimental ecosystems—a garden that inspires hope and possibility in a time of environmental anxiety.

• Water in the garden. To respect Pisces’ water resources in our era of climate change, smart gardeners practice water-wise gardening. Possible components: a well-planned rainscape to conserve runoff; a graywater system to distribute washing/bathing water; drip irrigation that puts water where it’s needed. You might also create a water feature that will serve as a welcoming resource for birds and the other inhabitants of your space and place. Isn’t this lovely? So serenely green . . .

  

  Image: Vlad Kutepov, Unsplash

Gardening by the Sun in Pisces Season

Here in Texas, there are daffodils outside my window and the temperature will top 70. If you’re a northern gardener, you may still be clenched in winter’s icy grip. Choose the activity that fits your Pisces’ garden climate.

• Plant seeds of hardy vegetables and root crops (garden peas, radishes, mustard, spinach, turnips). Plant cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, and Swiss chard seeds, in cold frames, if that’s what works for you.

• Plant roses, flowering shrubs, vines, trees—protect as necessary until established.

• Divide and transplant perennials (daylilies, hostas, irises).

• Prune winter-damaged limbs, clean up debris but leave leafy mulch to protect the soil.

• Greenhouse gardeners, it’s a matter of latitude. When you have 10 hours of daily light, it’s time to plant lettuces, cabbage, broccoli, Swiss chard.

Gardening by the Moon in Pisces Season

The Moon’s phases. Tradition tells us that the waxing moon’s increasing light encourages leaf growth and its increasing gravitational strength raises soil moisture and boosts plant sap production. The waning moon’s decreasing light and strength is said to encourage root growth. Each of the Moon’s phases (waxing, waning periods) lasts about a week.

• Waning Gibbous (Feb. 20) to New Moon in Libra/Scorpio (Feb. 28). Avoid planting. Harvest and store crops, fertilize, weed. On the New Moon, put work aside, reflect on your intentions for the coming lunar cycle, especially those that have to do with big changes, new projects and technologies, community activities.

• Waxing Crescent (Mar. 1) to First Quarter Moon in Taurus (Mar. 6). Indoors or out (local climate permitting,) plant above ground annuals (especially leafy and flowering plants) and herbs.

• Waxing Gibbous (Mar. 7) to Full Moon in Leo/Virgo (Mar. 14). Plant above ground annuals (especially fruit plants), grains, flowers. On the Full Moon, celebrate, gather medicinal herbs, reflect on the cycles of your life and your emotional connections with the people you’ve known.

• Waning Gibbous (Mar. 15) to Last Quarter in Sagittarius (Mar 22). Plant below ground/root plants, perennials, trees, shrubs.

The Moon’s signs. As the Moon changes phases, it moves from one zodiac sign to another. Traditionally, each sign is suited to a different set of tasks, prompted by the planet that rules the sign. If you’d like to learn about gardening by the Moon’s signs, you’ll find a helpful calendar and chart here. I’ve set the Astro-seek link for the beginning of Pisces in February; you can reset it (top left) for March. And you might be interested in the Facebook group, Planting by the Signs, led by longtime practitioner Phil Case, who is happy (really!) to answer your questions from his first-hand experience and observations.

For Indoor Gardeners

Pisces, of course, is all about aquatic plants such as anubias, bolbitis, java fern, java moss, and water lettuce. You’ll need an attractive container filled with water aquatic gravel, and non-fishy décor like driftwood or rocks. Check for light requirements. Some how-to suggestions from Hearth and Vine here.

Some Pisces Reading

As you know, in this series we’re using astrology as a lens through which to view the climate crises. Planet Earth is our home in the cosmos, and oceans play a major climate role. Here are five books offer nuanced insights into how climate change threatens the oceans, as well as its broader impacts on marine life and human communities.

• The Brilliant Abyss (2021) by Helen Scales. Explores the deep ocean’s wildlife and ecosystems, highlighting both the wonders of the unknown depths and the threats posed by climate change, deep-sea mining, and pollution.

• Blue New Deal: Why We Need a New Politics for the Ocean (2022) by Chris Armstrong. Proposes a comprehensive policy framework to protect oceans from the multiple pressures of overfishing, pollution, rising temperatures, and acidification, arguing that a “green” future must also be “blue.”

• Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs (2022) by Juli Berwald. Focuses on the science and stories of coral reefs, showing how climate change, overfishing, and pollution are stressing these crucial marine ecosystems, while also examining innovative efforts to restore and protect them.

• Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future (2021) by Elizabeth Kolbert. Although it covers several climate interventions, the book includes significant discussion of ocean-related challenges such as coral reef survival and the increasingly urgent measures scientists are attempting to counteract ocean warming and acidification.

• The Atlas of Disappearing Places: Our Coasts and Oceans in the Climate Crisis (2021) by Christina Conklin and Marina Psaros. An illustrated exploration of the regions most threatened by rising sea levels and other climate change impacts. Provides case studies of coastal communities around the world and potential paths forward.

Pisces Medicinal Herbs

In the ancients’ view of a unified cosmos, the archetypal qualities of each planet were embodied in particular plants here on Earth, while the plants affected those parts of the human body most closely associated with that particular planet. In this traditional, highly-unified paradigm, herbs related to Pisces (Water) and Neptune (Roman god of the sea and fresh water) range from mildly calming to sedative to narcotic.

Hops (Humulus lupulus). Sedative and calming; commonly recognized for its role in brewing beer. Key constituents include humulene and lupulone, with various resins and essential oils that can soothe nervous agitation and support deeper sleep. Studies suggest that these compounds may enhance sedation by modulating GABAergic activity (gamma-aminobutyric acid, a neurotransmitter in the brain). Hops helps wash away mental static and tension, inviting a tranquil, dream-supportive state.

Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata). Known for its tranquilizing and anxiolytic properties, often used to ease stress and encourage restful sleep. Primary phytochemicals chrysin (a flavonoid) and harmala alkaloids act on the central nervous system, potentially increasing GABA levels and calming mental chatter. Passionflower can help to quiet an overactive mind and promote gentle relaxation.

Blue lotus (Nymphaea caerulea). Mildly psychoactive and soothing, valued for its calming impact on the mind and body. Two significant constituents believed to contribute to its effects are aporphine and nuciferine, which potentially influence dopamine receptors and promote mild euphoria and relaxation.

Valerian (Valeriana officinalis). Sedative and anxiolytic; supports sleep and relaxation. Research has identified two important compounds that do the job: valerenic acid, which interacts with the GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) system in the brain to promote relaxation and reduce anxiety, and sedative and antispasmodic compounds called valepotriates. Together, these help soothe the emotional anxiety that sometimes comes with Piscean energy, promoting deeper rest and rejuvenation.

Photo by Jens Vogel on Unsplash

Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum). Potent analgesic and anesthetic, traditionally prized for easing pain but profoundly addictive. Poppy’s main active compounds are morphine and codeine, both of which bind to opioid receptors in the central nervous system, suppressing pain perception and promoting deep sedation. Additional alkaloids like papaverine relax smooth muscle and reduce tension. For centuries, the opium poppy was one of the most lucrative global commodities. Its derivatives were heavily sought after for both medicinal and recreational use, and colonial powers, notably the British Empire, exploited this demand. The mid-18th century Opium Wars between China and Britain were a direct result of the plant’s high commercial value.

Unsplash photos by Meg McDonald, Colin Davis, Phillip Larking, Jillian Amatt, Jens Vogel

That’s it for Pisces season, friends. You’ll hear from me again on Monday, March 3 with the March edition of All About Thyme. And I’ll also be introducing the next book in our Guerrilla Readers series, Prequel, by Rachel Maddow. Meanwhile, our discussion of both Democracy Awakening and Jesus and John Wayne remains open.

Paid subscribers, your Pisces workbook is coming in a separate email. It includes considerations of the tarot’s Moon card from two botanically-themed decks, a passel of project prompts, and (naturally) a trip to the kitchen.