Scorpio and Pisces - nuances of the water trine, part 1

Traditional astrological approach (although not exclusively) describes Venus and Jupiter as benefics - planets bringing good fortune and prosperity and Mars and Saturn as malefics - planets bringing problems and frustrations.

We find a similar approach with astrological aspects, where sextiles and trines are said to be harmonious (showing us talents, areas of support and everything sweet and creamy about us).

When we look at the zodiac signs, we notice the signs themselves are also "in aspects" with each other. For example, the point of 0° Aries is square (90°) to 0° Capricorn and  0° Cancer.

The signs of Scorpio and Pisces are also "in aspect" with each other, the aspect being a trine. According to common descriptions, this trine connection would suggest that these two signs get along pretty well and have an easy time finding common ground.

Is that so? 

The inner world - Water signs edition

Both Scorpio and Pisces are signs belonging to the Water element.

Now one of the Water's characteristic is "hard to get to know". The majority of water signs energy goes inwards, to their inner world. Each of these worlds is unique, being constantly shaped by many (every day) factors like passions, emotions or ... conditioning - basically everything they have lived out.

It's like every Water sign comes with its traits along with a bonus of secrets and subtleties that a third person can notice only with time, once he/she starts getting close to Water sign people. And I'm assuming Water signs have decided to share their inner world with anyone at all.

So :

Scorpio's natural expression is about secrecy. He won't easily share what he feels at the current moment.

Scorpio's defensive/survival instinct orders him to show off only composure, cold blood under majority of circumstances, otherwise Scorpio is vulnerable to attacks. But with this instinct comes also the will to fight, confront issues, meaning there's motion and energy for problem solving.

Scorpio's are warriors, having their "sword" ready in case anyone wants to attack or breach their personal space, inner world.

Pisces are also about secrecy, but in their case it's not about the defense of their inner world or avoiding the infiltration of strangers (like we see it with Scorpio).

When we say "he is secretive" we mean this someone doesn't express his intentions, perhaps even conceals them. To be honest, being secretive doesn't describe the actual Pisces.

Pisces are mysterious, having an elusive nature that is pouring out of this sign. The fact one cannot fully grasp Pisces intentions doesn't mean these intentions are a secret - it's a matter of perception and understanding and Pisces get misunderstood a lot.


Pisces feel their reality very deeply, reacting strongly to their own emotions and on top of that, being able to soak the emotions of others. And when you combine the emotions of self and others you get chaos - elusiveness. 

Intuition

Scorpio and Pisces often use their intuition, especially when in contact with other people.

Scorpio's intuition resembles a condensed force - like an arrow with a really sharp point - trying to feel out the weakest (the most sensitive) point of a person in order to "enter" and feel the other's inner world. 

Scorpio searches for the area that is protected the most, because he knows, from experience, that one protects only that which is the most precious.

Scorpio wants to get to the bottom of matters; his motivation largely determines the approach others have to him. When Scorpio uses his intuition only to learn about the other's secrets, he's acting from the defensive position 

"If I know their motivation, I can prevent/prepare for their attack". 

But when Scorpio searches other's inner world looking for hidden problems haunting others, he can offer precious insight and is perceived as tremendous support in one's transformation.

You cannot compare Pisces' intuition to any object - it just has no form at all.Scorpio takes (mental) action and brings his intuition into motion, but Pisces don't need to do anything at all.

Pisces just catches the emotions of others. Intuition-by-Pisces is about a constant process of emotional exchange with the environment, with others. There are no barriers - Pisces can penetrate everything to get to the bottom.

The attitude of others towards Pisces and their intuition also varies. Many people don't explore their inner world. When Pisces comes and tells of the "beautiful, bountiful and blissful soul" (which they actually feel) someone has, Pisces can be seen as dreamers, people speaking of fantasy and things that are not real (Pisces then are judged and labelled). Problems arise when Pisces is not aware of the differences between people's sensitivities and "pours" without moderation.

As you can see, one simply cannot compare the intuition of each of the Waters signs (Scorpio, Pisces and also Cancer), because each sign uses their intuition in a different way.


One's expression of emotions, motivation behind actions and closeness to his inner world will be a key factors differentiating Scorpio and Pisces - even to point of bringing tension when "being together".

Scorpio and Pisces - not so easy to get along

Problems with getting along are more associated with dynamic (nonharmonious) aspects like square, opposition...

BUT

those "easier" aspects - trines, sextiles - have the potential to bring a lot of disappointments. Signs in trine working together - sure - but in bringing out each other's problems.

This applies to Scorpio and Pisces.


Let's look at the table, showing the dignities planet's have in the signs of Scorpio and Pisces.

	Scorpio	Pisces
Domicile	Mars, Pluto	Jupiter, Neptune
Exaltation	-	Venus
Fall	Moon	Mercury
Detriment	Venus

The only common factor, showing in both columns, is Venus. This is an important clue, suggesting a significant difference (in the nature of both signs) in their approach to relationships, defining what is and how "harmony" is achieved in various relations.

It is in relations that we should look for most obvious differences and potential discords.

So let's get to it.

Scorpio's view - when Pisces exaggerates

Intuition

Pisces intuition means catching (sensing) emotions. It doesn't matter how these emotions (or if at all) are expressed.

What's interesting is that one can mask pretty well but Pisces will still feel the general emotional vibe from a person. The process of intuitive emotional sensing is often slow, like gathering water droplets in a dish. But sooner or later, this dish will be full.

Let's imagine a Scorpio person that doesn't feel like sharing his thoughts at the moment and is in the company of a Pisces.

In Scorpio's eyes, the whole "catching emotions no matter the barriers" has little to do with how emotional bonding should look like - a slow process of discovery, in which both sides learn about each other and connect. No, Pisces' sensitivity skips this trust-gaining phase and goes straight for the connection. For Scorpio, Pisces interferes with his need for privacy.

When Scorpio is not interested in telling his secrets, any intuitive learning process a Piscean does could be considered as an attack, thus making Scorpio retreat (the gentle scenario).

Why is it happening?

Pisces goal is to reach the ultimate emotional connection with another person. For Scorpio, this might be just too much. Trust (and the final outcome - the bond) has to be earned (i.e with loyalty), one cannot know the most sensitive Scorpio parts just like that.

Openness

Pisces is careless in its honesty. This sign believes in good and warmth in every human being.

Does Scorpio share this ideal? Scorpio's nature is more about thinking "what secrets do you have, buddy?" and everyone has something to hide. Scorpio is more willing to put on a mask than fraternize (without any reason) with someone who hasn't gained his trust.

When you look closer at the way Scorpio behaves, you'll notice his action have an underlying motive - "everyone has an evil and suspicions part of themselves, something that might harm me someday". This is a pattern Scorpio has gained through years of experience, being a victim of people's betrayals. Sometimes these were the people Scorpio thought would never do such a thing.

For Scorpio, betrayals are a part of the human nature, and Pisces can exaggerate in the way it trusts people.

Confrontation

One of Pisces trait is a bubbly personality, lacking a certain refinement. When a carefree Pisces gets into trouble, he often loses a general direction of how to proceed, trying to avoid confrontation with the problem.

Pisces instinctively reacts with escapism when in trouble, feeling helpless when dealing the "wave of emotions" caused by the issue. Or the other way round - Pisces just doesn't care, trusting everything will solve itself out. 

Scorpio is oriented towards action - this is a very energizing moment for him.

Even when Pisces decides to actively act to fix their situation, they don't gain as much energy from the challenge as Scorpio does.

The ability to confront, proving one's sharpness, acuteness are the characteristics Scorpio values. When the times comes for real action, having a slouchy Pisces as a companion is more of a burden. Then Scorpio has to deal with everything.

Pisces' view - when Scorpio exaggerates

Intuition

Sometimes Scorpio just cannot trust. A developed emotional world, deep seated habits and some bad experiences - all of this creates a space for patterns demanding to search for secret motivation of people, situations. 

Pisces knows that ultimately any "hidden agenda" doesn't matter. Everyone is wonderful, no matter how he's been hurt in the past. In this regard, Scorpio is limited in his perception, being driven by his subconscious conditioning, forgetting to look from a broader perspective. 

This "broader perspective" is for example an ability to look at another person without being judgemental - just accepting others for who they are.

For Pisces, Scorpio too often labels people when using his intuition, saying "I judge you, I know you're hiding something". It's frustrating, because it prevents Pisces from experiencing the beauty and depth of another human being.

Openness

Sometimes Scorpio just cannot open for a random person he has just met. For him, being close is not only about two people getting to know each other, but also what does Scorpio's intuition tell him about that person - often there's judgment involved:

- is that person trustworthy?

- can I create an emotional bond with him/her?

Scorpio makes demands - at least that's how Pisces sees it and again, Pisces feels Scorpio's approach is limiting. When one focuses too much on one or two traits, one looses the whole picture, the whole person.

Thanks to their intuition, Pisces are able to feel the mood of others but they don't do it just for the sake of it - they seek the true, spiritual connection of souls.

For Pisces, Scorpio gets too distrustful and timid, not believing in the good within others. Pisces believe in the rule "open up for others and others will open up for you". It is hard to achieve a union with Scorpio when he has so much trouble acting according to this very rule. 

Every cloud has a silver lining

It wouldn't be fair to only write about the differences in behaviours between Scorpio and Pisces without looking at the bright sides. And there's much to see.

Both Scorpio and Pisces will emphasize feelings and the usage of intuition when navigating through life. That is enough to build a strong bond based of similar goals, ways of self-expression. Each side wants to build a common platform of emotional understanding.

Both signs share a similar theme - transformation and purification - thanks to those themes they enter new stages of development and self awareness.

Scorpio descends into the very bottom of his own psyche to find, uncover and pulling up his hidden passions, yearnings (everything that has power over Scorpio) on the day light. Pisces has to deal with emotional chaos, but through the process of achieving balance and emotional peace Pisces learns which personality traits are only an emotional residue, preventing further development.

There's a magical bond between Scorpio and Pisces that's hard to rationally explain, but both have to go through similar challenges - gaining consciousness by accepting the past and letting go of emotional residues that subconsciously drive them. Sure, the "transformation process" proceeds differently in each sign, but the possibility to identify with each other is a strong binder.

Helpful intuition

Scorpio's intuition, though a bit too brutal from Pisces' perspective, can help in making sense of the emotional chaos Pisces deals on a common basis. Scorpio has the ability to do these things - show the truth no matter how Pisces tries to escape or avoid the subject. Plus, Scorpio can delve in the essence of an issue, no matter how jumbled the situation may seem.

On the other hand, Pisces senses can pass through the non-penetrable mental barrier Scorpio raises, even without breaching the barrier itself. Pisces sensitivity allows to catch Scorpio's emotions (their intensity, expressiveness allows that) and offer support. And with a bit of luck, Scorpio might just acknowledge this intuition as a superb feat of acuteness, being captivated by Pisces person.

The trine

I don't like to make judgments about trines (or any other aspect in this matter) - there is no chart element that is 100% supportive or problematic. 

There are no aspects without faults. Everything has it's pro's and con's and even the most helpful elements of our chart can be the reason of our downfall.

Scorpio and Pisces are a really good connection but are still two separate zodiac signs. Actually, every sign is in a way "selfish" - with its own way of expressing, goals and idea for life. Every trait when brought to an extreme (like Scorpio's suspiciousness or Pisces' trust) might bring more sorrow than joy.

In my opinion trines don't guarantee cooperation, getting along but an ease finding similarities in the way each sign (or planet) expresses itself. And when we see that the other side feels/thinks/acts so much alike, we'll quickly catch contact together and be able to get along, especially at times of conflicts.

Is a trine between Scorpio and Pisces harmonious enough to rise above individual differences?

Let me know what you think :-)