Empathy, Intuition, & Fish

We are entering the month of Pisces (the Latin plural of fish) symbolized by two fish, swimming in opposite directions. Kabbalistically, water symbolizes mercy and good fortune. Pisces’ ruling planet, Jupiter, is the planet of abundance. With influences like these it is no small wonder that Pisceans are such compassionate and generous people.  Born to share, they are devoted and loyal, knowing inherently that service and devotion is the purpose of life and brings great happiness.

 

As for the fish swimming in opposite directions, well, Pisceans often struggle with making decisions, their head tells them one thing, and their heart dictates something else, making it nearly impossible for them to make a choice. Kabbalist Rav Berg explained that the reason for their indecision is that they are connected to two worlds; the physical world as we see it, and the spiritual world. Intensely intuitive, they are more aware that everything they “see” is actually an illusion. For this reason, Pisceans should usually act on their first hunch—their gut-feeling.

 

In fact, new research is uncovering just how complex and thoughtful our ‘gut’ feelings really are. The scientific word for this is the enteric nervous system (ENS) and it is making a lot of decisions! Like the brain, your guts have neurons and these neurons are not only controlling your digestive system, they are also talking to your brain! It turns out that your emotions in particular are heavily influenced by your ‘other brain’ — feelings of depression, anxiety, sadness and stress. Gut-wrenching experiences, as it turns out, are literally exactly that. I’m very excited by this research and will share more about it in a later post.

 

While Pisceans are intuitive, capable and caring, they can also completely disassociate from reality when difficulties arise in their lives. Instead of saying, “OK, this is the situation, onward and upward,” instead they fall into victim-consciousness. This month, because we are all affected by the energy of Pisces, be wary of letting yourself feel like a victim. Once we identify ourselves as victims we fail to see that everything in our lives has to happen as part of a bigger plan, a larger process. It’s as if we are saying to the Creator, “I don’t trust you and I don’t trust my process.”

 

Pisceans aren’t built for conflict. They will go to great lengths to avoid confrontation and in so doing, they swallow their truth for the sake of keeping the peace. A Pisces who has learned to meet conflict can be an inspirational leader, but without the courage to stand by their truth, they can easily be carried downstream into codependency and unhealthy patterns. These are concepts that will likely arise for all of us this month. In a commencement address at Stanford, Steve Jobs advised not to allow the “noise of others’ opinions [to] drown out your own inner voice,” but instead to “have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” This is great advice for this month.

 

Sensitivity is the calling card of a Piscean. Instinctively, they intuit when something is bothering you, and they want to fix it. Interestingly, this kind of advanced empathy may be a factor in their highly attuned powers of intuition. Intuitive people focus on all the different modes of communication, not just what is being said, but also the body language and the vocal inflections, some of this processing occurs on a subconscious level. Social scientists have found that “truth wizards” — people with a higher than normal ability to detect a lie — can be so empathic that they almost morph into the person they are listening to, assuming their body posture, inflection and stress levels.

 

Pisces, naturally intuitive, are keen observers and we can all follow their lead in developing our intuitive natures. It all starts with listening, in fact, listening to your own body is a powerful start. When you are relaxed, breathing easily and leaning forward with an open posture, that’s a good indication that you are in a safe environment with people who can be trusted. If your stomach is in knots or your heart is racing, you find your arms crossed or your body angled away, that is a good indication that there is something that is making you defensive and uncomfortable, follow that thread until you find what your intuition is warning you against.

 

We know everything we need to.

 

We have all the information that we need, we just have to be open to receiving it. Kabbalah teaches that everything already exists in abundance in the Upper Worlds (spiritual world). To understand this teaching requires a shift in our consciousness. Usually, when faced with a problem we immediately begin working on a solution in order to achieve our goal or fulfill a need. That is one way to go about it, but it’s the long way and one many may not be able to complete.

 

 

Rav Ashlag told the story of a father who has prepared a room for his son and filled it with gold, silver, clothing, a remarkable library filled with books of wisdom and everything else that his son could want or need. However, his son sits in the room weeping helplessly because it is too dark to see anything. Meanwhile, the father is thinking, “Just open the curtains and see that you have everything you need!”

 

We’re all a bit like the son sitting in the dark. We only see what we lack. Having the awareness that everything we need is already here is the consciousness necessary to turn on the lights, to strengthen our connection with the Creator and open ourselves to all the answers we will ever need.

 

When we are attuned with our intuition we are given powerful indications of who we should love, where we should work or a decision that we should make. It is not impulsive, it is a powerful, steady pull, a sort of knowing. If you question whether something is intuitive or impulsive, you only need to stop and listen to yourself. It may help to say it aloud. Often, saying something out loud will either resonate as truth, or sound fraudulent to your own ears. Saying it aloud is an easy tool to immediately uncover any ego, insecurity or stubbornness that may be masquerading as intuition.

 

“Intuition is seeing with the soul.” -Dean Koontz

 

THOUGHT INTO ACTION

Listen to your body this week. Take a physical inventory several times a day. You may be surprised by what your body is telling you about how you spend your time, where you spend it and with whom.