The Pisces partner

Being true romantics, Pisceans are usually in love - if not with a human being, then with a dream, a creative vision, a cause, or even with God. It's in the Piscean nature to give, and it's impossible for them to think of a life alone - unless it's the kind of aloneness which the solitary spiritual seeker elects in exchange for a different kind of union.

There's sensitivity, gentleness and empathy in abundance in the Pisces partner, although some Pisceans are frightened by their own neediness and present a show of coldness. Most Fishes put others first, and offer their tenderness and affection generously. A few Pisceans behave like prima donnas, requiring constant attention with dramatic scenes or playing professional victims who demand everyone's sympathy. But whatever the outer behaviour, the Fishes feel things deeply.

When Pisceans love, they're with you 100%. Not necessarily tomorrow, or next year. Promises of fidelity and constant reassuring of the loved one aren't part of Pisces' nature. But the love is there today, now, in this moment, and there's a lot of it. And if you put together a long string of moments, you may discover it's been a lifetime. Pisceans are so ready to empathise with just about anyone that their motives are often misunderstood. They aren't really "coming on"; they're just listening sympathetically. You can't possess Pisceans. Their responsiveness flows out so easily to others that you may as well get used to it.

This is not a partner who's attracted to only one woman. He's interested in everybody. Also, his morals are his own; find out what they are first, so you aren't surprised later. But the curious Piscean detachment is evident even when he gets into trouble. When the Pisces partner says that a little "fling" didn't mean anything, it didn't mean anything, and it would be better if it meant nothing to you too. If you're the really possessive type, look elsewhere.

Pisceans may be technically faithful, but their imagination isn't, and never will be. Yet the Pisces partner can give a depth of understanding and communion unmatched by any other sign. Pisceans have an essentially unpossessable quality, no matter how long you've known them. Some part of them will always belong to the cosmos, and not to you. The Pisces partner may reveal forty-five of the sixty-eight selves he's discovered inside himself that week. Be content with that. There will be dreams and visions which you never get to hear about.

Keep asking a Pisces what he's thinking when he gets that vague, dreamy look, and you'll drive yourself (and him) crazy and never get any satisfactory answers. The real truth is that he probably doesn't know; he just "went off", and now he's back again. Many of Pisces' ways of communicating are nonverbal. Try to force him into rigid explanations or declarations and it's like holding a handful of water - it slides through your fingers and is gone.

"Evasiveness" is a word often used to describe Pisces. So is "deceptiveness". But it isn't calculated dishonesty or deliberate secretiveness. When you see thirty different things, how can you explain just one? How do you articulate feelings which change faster than you can say "chameleon"? Pisces can be an elusive partner. Take the feelings as they come, and let them go as they go.

Lots of people get hurt by Piscean partners - not because the sign is unfeeling or incapable of devotion, but because expecting them to say things like, "I will go on loving you forever!" seems nonsensical to a Pisces. But if you know enough of the world and of yourself to accept ebbs and flows in love rather than demanding stasis, then basking in the warm sea of a Pisces' affection can be the most healing and transformative relationship you'll ever have. Remember never to trample on those otherworld dreams and intuitive visions, or ever assume you've understood the complex Piscean nature completely. Just when you do, they'll change on you.

If you dislike change, choose another sign. But if you like unexplored regions, unclimbed mountains, tantalising futures that are shrouded in mist, and magic castles with unexplored treasures, then follow the Fishes through the ocean currents. Only don't think you've got one person. You've got everybody: a cast of thousands. What better way is there to learn about life?