Is your Moon in Aquarius or Pisces?

If so, Saturn has a message for you right now.

A year ago, I suggested a friend get a reading from a well-known Vedic astrologer who has been practicing for over three decades. I told her of his tendency to be “real”—he is fastidious about his readings, eschewing anything that can’t be read exactly in the chart. I appreciate this. I told her to ask in particular for his advice over an upcoming transit I noticed in her chart—sade sati. If anything, I thought it would be great to have her talk to someone who has had extended experience watching people go through this particular transit, and who could offer her more advice.

So my friend came back: He told me that sade sati isn’t real, and warned against believing the hype (Vedic texts are notorious for foreboding, catastrophic language). He said “If it were that bad of a transit, then you’d be in a crisis period for a quarter of your life since sade sati periods last around 7 years each (and there are typically three in a lifetime)—does that make sense?”

Fast forward a few months later into her sade sati: She’s lost her job.

Sade sati is understood in the Vedic system as a time of contraction—a time when our life shrinks inward a bit, and we repay some karmic debt from either this life or another one. The debt could be anything—something left undone; an aspect of life that needs to be experienced and understood; a redressing. There’s no way to know exactly what you’re repaying and why, but the chart will hold clues.

One common pitfall for people entering their sade sati is grasping for “quick fixes.” People tend to grasp for external things to compensate for the heavy oppressiveness that comes during this time—maybe they get a new car, make a hasty change in job, or dump a long-term partner thinking it will relieve the mental pressure. If the decision isn’t grounded in something more substantial, it will likely fall short.

Saturn is the planet that creates a sade sati period. Sade sati is when Saturn transits the sign before your Moon sign, the sign of your Moon sign, and the sign after your Moon sign. Since Saturn takes 2.5 years to transit a zodiac sign, sade sati lasts about 7.5 years total. Since the transit relates to the Moon, the pressures are mostly mental since the Moon rules the mind. Something about your perception and understanding of yourself and life in general is undergoing a change.

Saturn’s function is to go deep. When he gets into a sign, that area of the chart will get reworked. Anything weak or that shouldn’t be in your life will be routed out. So, for example, if your Moon is in your seventh house of partnerships, you’ll undergo a deep change about the way you perceive and approach relationships. Relationships that shouldn’t be in your life will pass away, and others that may test you will drift in.

Currently, Saturn has been in the sign of Aquarius since January 17, 2023. This means that people whose Moon sign is in Aquarius are in the second and most intense phase of sade sati.

But they are not the only ones in their sade sati. Capricorn Moon signs are in the third and final stage of their sade sati, and Pisces Moon signs are in their first phase. When Saturn enters Pisces on March 25, 2025, Capricorn Moon signs will be finished with their sade sati, Aquarius Moon signs will be in their third phase, and Pisces Moon signs will begin their second phase, and the pressure will mount for them. So this is a notice for them.

Here are short descriptions of each phase of sade sati:

First phase (Saturn is 12^th from the Moon): This is when you begin to feel restless. Maybe you start feeling like you need to move, change jobs or careers, break up long-term relationships and you start jumping ships. Maybe your partner leaves you or you get laid off. Cracks in your foundation are starting to show. Understand that this restlessness and loss is part of a larger, 7-year transit, where a greater picture of deeper issues begins to emerge. Act, but with a sense of restraint and control, knowing you don’t have the full picture yet. Remember, sade sati is a period karmic adjustment so if it puts you in a less-than-desired position, it’s likely part of a mental “course-correction.”

Second phase (Saturn is 1^st from the Moon): Intense mental pressure has arrived. These are your “crisis” years. Saturn is sitting directly over your Moon, pressing on you mentally. The problem with this phase is that you’re not thinking clearly, so making changes can be problematic. On the other hand, this is one of the most clarifying moments of your life—a time when have no choice but to get “real” with yourself. Events and situations will force mental “reckonings.” This pressure is an endurance test, strengthening your mind and your ability to face reality.

Third phase (Saturn is 2^nd from the Moon): You’re in the aftermath—now it’s time to rebuild. Now it’s time to rebuild based on what you’ve learned over the past 5 years. For some, this will be a period of achievement, since sade sati years are truly building years. For example, the start of your sade sati may have been forced out of a job or career, and now, after 5 years of hard work, you get a promotion or make a significant achievement in your new path. For others, the struggle may still continue, especially if there’s some mental resistance in the personality.

Photo by NASA Hubble Space Telescope on Unsplash

To really understand how your sade sati will go, you need an astrologer. The astrologer will analyze things like the strength of your Lagna lord and Moon, and their respective transits; the strength of your Mahadasha and its lord; the bindu points of the houses the sade sati occurs over and so forth. What the astrologer is looking for is the strength of the chart (i.e., you) to cope with the challenges the sade sati brings.