$string = "This is the character¶ causing me all this grief; ¶I need the strings separated";
$array = explode("¶", $string);

var_dump($array);

array(3) {
  [0]=>
  string(21) "This is the character"
  [1]=>
  string(28) " causing me all this grief; "
  [2]=>
  string(28) "I need the strings separated"