What dates does the Sun spend in Pisces?

Roughly February 19 to March 20. These are tropical-zodiac dates, measured from the equinox rather than from the constellation of the same name, and the exact ingress moves by up to a day or so between years because the tropical year is not a whole number of days. If a birth falls within a day of either boundary, the sign has to be computed for that specific date and time - a fixed date table will get some of those cases wrong.

Which planet rules Pisces?

Modern Western astrology assigns Neptune as the ruler of Pisces, but the classical rulership is Jupiter. The split dates to the discovery of the outer planets: Neptune was not visible to naked-eye astronomers, so every pre-telescope source uses Jupiter. Both attributions appear on this site because traditional and modern techniques answer different questions, and mixing the two rulerships silently is how contradictory readings get produced.

What does it mean that Pisces is a mutable water sign?

Pisces belongs to the water triplicity, described as cold and moist, which it shares with Cancer and Scorpio. Mutable signs close a season and hand over to the next. The pairing of one element with one modality is unique to each sign - twelve signs, four elements, three modalities - so water plus mutable identifies Pisces and no other sign. Polarity is receptive, alternating around the zodiac so that every sign sits between its two opposites in polarity.

Which planets are strong or weak in Pisces?

Venus is exalted in Pisces, Mercury is in fall here, Mercury is in detriment here. Exaltation and fall are a fixed table inherited from Hellenistic astrology, not a judgment computed from the chart: they say a planet is easier or harder to work with in that sign regardless of anything else in the figure. Detriment is simply the sign opposite the one a planet rules. A planet with no listed dignity in Pisces is called peregrine, which means unaspected by dignity rather than weak.

What are the three decans of Pisces?

0 to 10 degrees is subruled by Pisces (Neptune); 10 to 20 degrees is subruled by Cancer (Moon); 20 to 30 degrees is subruled by Scorpio (Pluto). This is the triplicity system, where a sign's three decans go to the three signs of its own element in zodiacal order, starting with itself. A competing Chaldean system assigns decan rulers by planetary order instead and produces different rulers for the same degrees, so a decan reading is only meaningful once you know which of the two systems it came from.

Pisces

02-19 - 03-20 · water · mutable · receptive

Dignities

Ruler: ♆ Neptune
Classical Ruler: ♃ Jupiter
Exaltation: ♀ Venus
Fall: ☿ Mercury
Detriment: ☿ Mercury
Symbol: Fishes

Hellenistic tradition

Pisces is the nocturnal domicile of Jupiter in pre-1846 tradition and exaltation of Venus. Mutable water, traditionally tied to dissolution and the boundless.

Modern Western reading

Modern Western astrology assigns Neptune as ruler (post-1846). Associated with merging, imagination, and the dissolving of boundaries.

Same element

Decans

Planets in Pisces

Compatibility with all signs

All Pisces compatibility detail →

Questions

What dates does the Sun spend in Pisces?: Roughly February 19 to March 20. These are tropical-zodiac dates, measured from the equinox rather than from the constellation of the same name, and the exact ingress moves by up to a day or so between years because the tropical year is not a whole number of days. If a birth falls within a day of either boundary, the sign has to be computed for that specific date and time - a fixed date table will get some of those cases wrong.
Which planet rules Pisces?: Modern Western astrology assigns Neptune as the ruler of Pisces, but the classical rulership is Jupiter. The split dates to the discovery of the outer planets: Neptune was not visible to naked-eye astronomers, so every pre-telescope source uses Jupiter. Both attributions appear on this site because traditional and modern techniques answer different questions, and mixing the two rulerships silently is how contradictory readings get produced.
What does it mean that Pisces is a mutable water sign?: Pisces belongs to the water triplicity, described as cold and moist, which it shares with Cancer and Scorpio. Mutable signs close a season and hand over to the next. The pairing of one element with one modality is unique to each sign - twelve signs, four elements, three modalities - so water plus mutable identifies Pisces and no other sign. Polarity is receptive, alternating around the zodiac so that every sign sits between its two opposites in polarity.
Which planets are strong or weak in Pisces?: Venus is exalted in Pisces, Mercury is in fall here, Mercury is in detriment here. Exaltation and fall are a fixed table inherited from Hellenistic astrology, not a judgment computed from the chart: they say a planet is easier or harder to work with in that sign regardless of anything else in the figure. Detriment is simply the sign opposite the one a planet rules. A planet with no listed dignity in Pisces is called peregrine, which means unaspected by dignity rather than weak.
What are the three decans of Pisces?: 0 to 10 degrees is subruled by Pisces (Neptune); 10 to 20 degrees is subruled by Cancer (Moon); 20 to 30 degrees is subruled by Scorpio (Pluto). This is the triplicity system, where a sign's three decans go to the three signs of its own element in zodiacal order, starting with itself. A competing Chaldean system assigns decan rulers by planetary order instead and produces different rulers for the same degrees, so a decan reading is only meaningful once you know which of the two systems it came from.

Reference, not advice

This is cultural and astronomical reference, not personal prediction or advice.

Tropical zodiac dates are astronomical conventions. Traditional interpretations are paraphrased from primary classical and modern sources. See sources and methodology.

Sources

Last reviewed 2026-05-28.