Kaioh Michiru/Sailor Neptune - Pertinent Mythology and Astrology

this page has been awarded Saturnchild's (presented 7 September 1997)

Every Sailor Senshi on Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon has a patron planet, and each Senshi is named after their patron planet (for instance, Makoto/Sailor Jupiter's patron is obviously Jupiter). Also, each Sailor Senshi has their own zodiac sign, which tells us a lot about each Senshi; plus, it is no coincidence that the ruling planet of a Senshi's zodiac sign is also that Senshi's patron/namesake planet (using Makoto/Sailor Jupiter as an example again, her zodiac sign is Sagittarius, and Sagittarius is the zodiac sign ruled by Jupiter). On this page we discuss the mythology and astrology behind the planet Neptune, as well as the astrology behind the sign of Pisces in connection to Kaioh Michiru, the elegant Sailor Neptune. To your left is the sigil (symbol) for Neptune, Michiru's patron planet. In mythology, Neptune is the Roman counterpart to Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, which makes it quite appropriate for Michiru to be the Senshi that has control over the oceans. Poseidon/Neptune's only real connection to Michiru from a mythological standpoint is that the oceans are their province, but that's about it. If you want more in-depth information on the mythology of Poseidon/Neptune, I am currently building a webpage devoted to just that, so please wait till I have released the site address here. The sigil for the planet Neptune is a small-scale representation of the trident (pitchfork) that Poseidon carries to stir the tides and control weather on the seas. In symbolic terms, this sigil is a combination of a cross and a crescent (i.e. the crescent moon), and this represents the crescent of spirituality, artistry, and higher consciousness tied down to earth by the cross of matter and reality. One can also view it as the cross of matter and reality augmented and heightened by the crescent of higher consciousness and emotion: you can choose whether the glass is half-empty or half-full. Astrologically, the planet Neptune rules the same things that the planet Venus does (Venus represents and rules aesthetics, love, pleasure, and the arts), except for one crucial difference: Neptune rules them on a "higher octave," a higher plane of being. Thus, Neptune represents mystery, illusion, imagination, and the unexplainable; it is the planet of bewitchment, idealism, spirituality, and the subconscious world. The negative side to Neptune is deception, fraud, confusion, treachery, and the like - thankfully, we can safely say that Michiru does not embody any negative properties of Neptune. Neptune brings people onto a higher plane of consciousness, be it academic, spiritualistic, and/or artistic, and its power is subtle. In the highest form, Neptune represents perfection (which Michiru always achieves in multifarious aspects of her life), unselfish ideals (which explains Michiru's extremely self-sacrificing nature), the spiritual quest, and the search for the Impossible Dream. This image is the sigil for the zodiac sign of Pisces, Michiru's zodiac sign (her birthdate is 6 March). Pisces, ruled by the planet Neptune, is the twelfth and final sign on the wheel of the zodiac, and it is the sign of karma, the sign which is the culmination of all the experiences and information gathered by the previous eleven signs. Therefore, one can say that Pisceans are karmically the most developed people of the zodiac, and that Pisceans have "old souls" and operate on a higher plane of consciousness than others. Pisceans, having gathered the knowledge of the other signs, are ready to make the transition from one plane of being to a higher one, and indeed Pisces is not really "the last zodiac sign" but "the one before the first." Pisces is the sign of artists and dreamers (like Michiru), of the highly intuitive and spiritual (like Michiru), of potential for high intellect (like Michiru ^_^), and Pisceans are the most giving people in the zodiac, even to the point of freely giving away the strength and emotional security they need for themselves. Although they are the best at looking deeply into and understanding the human psyche, Pisceans are usually never completely at home in the real world and require escapism, whether it be through the occult or spirituality, any or all forms of the arts (which is Michiru's method), or through drugs. Besides Michiru, other cool Pisceans :P include: Michelangelo, Galileo, Copernicus, Chopin, Einstein, Jack Kerouac, Elizabeth Taylor, George Harrison, Liza Minelli, and Ravel. Pisces is a Mutable Water sign - i.e. a receptive, adaptive, intuitive, spiritual, artistic, intense, and emotional sign - and Michiru embodies ALL the positive qualities of a typical Piscean: Like most Pisceans, Michiru is multi-talented and highly talented, and her main problem is that she doesn't know what to do with her life because she has too many talents. This is not to say that all Pisceans are virtuoso musicians and talented painters like Michiru; rather, all Pisceans have potential for high genius, and Michiru is just one of the ones who had the initiative and ability to tap into it. Pisceans love water and the ocean, and indeed Michiru - a fantastic swimmer - claims to have been a creature of the sea in a past life. True to her Piscean nature, Michiru is almost overly self-sacrificing, putting herself in extreme danger many times in order to protect her partner Tenoh Haruka/Sailor Uranus from harm. Michiru even LOOKS like a typical Piscean: a typical Piscean has wavy hair (reminiscent of ocean waves, no doubt), large/luminous eyes, and full lips. Of course, all manga pics of the Sailor Senshi show them with full lips and big eyes, but you get the idea. :P Fortunately, Michiru does not embody any of the negative aspects of Pisces: lies, deception, a high susceptibility to alcohol and other drugs, excessive escapism, indecision/weak will, and passivity. Though Michiru is the less dominant person in her relationship with Haruka, she is in no way passive and her personality remains equal in strength to Haruka's, and in fact Michiru is in many ways Haruka's silent leader. In keeping with her Pisces nature, Michiru's favorite color is marine blue; also, her favorite gemstone is aquamarine, the designated stone for Pisces. Aquamarine protects Pisceans from harm during sea travel, and it releases their occult powers and brings serenity of mind. Symbolically, the sigil for Pisces represents two fishes tied together yet swimming in opposite directions. This is in reference to a myth concerning Aphrodite and her son Eros (the Greek goddess and god of love, respectively). According to legend the two gods had been walking along the Euphrates River when the monster Typhon appeared, threatening to destroy them. Aphrodite prayed to Zeus, who turned the two love deities into fishes which swam in opposite directions to get away from Typhon. The symbolic representation of two fishes swimming in opposing directions signifies the hidden depths, shifting emotions, conflicting desires, and extremes of temperament in Pisceans. The Pisces sigil is also an abstract representation of the human feet, the part of the body that Pisces rules (Pisceans dance well or at least love to do it, and they have beautiful feet which are unfortunately prone to problems and injuries). In symbolic terms, the Pisces sigil is a combination of two crescents connected with a straight line; similar to the Neptune sigil, this one represents emotion and higher consciousness tied down to and limited by the material world.

Kaioh Michiru/Sailor Neptune Info
Ganymede's Sailor Neptune Shrine
The Sailormoon Citadel
Ganymede's Palace