Originally written & published on Vocal
Saturn has been in Pisces, the sign of the fish, since March 2023, and on July 29th, 2024, the ringed-planet stationed retrograde at 19'26° Pisces on June 29th. The planet of organization and structure will complete it's journey backwards through the mutable water sign on November 14th of this year, when it will station direct at 12'42°. Here's a little bit about what to expect.
Source: Maya Land
Saturn Retrograde in Pisces 2024: An Introduction
Saturn has been in Pisces since March 2023, completing its first retrograde phase through the mutable water sign between June 17th (at 7°) and November 4th (at 0°) of last year. Now it's 2024 and Saturn has gone retrograde yet again, this time at 19'26° Pisces on June 29th, meaning that once again, I am over a month late on my article-writing (ugh, hurry up, Kait, before Saturn makes you face the consequences). The ringed-planet, associated with both Father Time and the Grim Reaper, will continue its journey backwards through the sign of the fish until November 14th of this year, when it will station direct at 12'42°.
Once direct, Saturn will stay in Pisces until May 24th, 2025, when it will very briefly enter the fiery sign of Aries, the Ram. Thanks to another retrograde, Saturn will move back into the dreamlike waters of Pisces on August 21st of next year, where it will continue swimming until February 13th, 2026, when it finally reaches the shores of its new sign, not returning to Pisces for another 27-30 years.
Source: Elisa Riemer
Saturn Retrograde in Pisces: What Does It Mean?
Traditionally characterized as the "Great Malefic", Saturn rules over limits and delays, depression, oppression, suppression, all those lovely little "pressions" that put pressure on us. As the farthest planet from the Sun that the ancient astronomers could see with the naked eye, it sort of makes sense that they would associate it with darkness whilst also associating it with boundaries, its existence like a wall separating our solar system from the even darker space beyond. Essentially, Saturn enforces the laws of time and space, and despite its ugly reputation, without this energy, there would be nothing of substance. It is the planet that provides us with structure and organization, symbolizing the gravity that keeps us locked into the material world. Now that we've covered the basic significations of Saturn, we can discuss what it means when Saturn goes retrograde.
All planets go retrograde (as discussed in countless past articles) which means that from the myopic vantage point of earth, they appear to be moving backwards. Saturn's Retrograde period takes place about once every year and lasts for about four and a half months. When a planet is retrograde, it still functions as itself, but not necessarily in the same exact way. For example, its backwards movement can symbolize chaos (i.e. the areas represented by the planet "going haywire") or simply an internalization of the planet's significations. Sometimes, a retrograde period is a pause for reflection, or else, it can represent a reversal of a theme, situation or circumstance. Things, or even people, from the past might come back to us or events might repeat themselves, perhaps to present us with a "second chance."
Source: Maya Land
With Saturn Retrograde, more specifically, we might feel our boundaries and limits, possibly even our understanding of the very structure of reality, get put to the test. This transit might force us to pause and reflect on what it is we are doing: how is it that we are utilizing our time and space as a physical body on this earth? Of course, this reflection isn't limited to ourselves as individuals. It's the entire structure of society that's up for question.
Saturn is associated with responsibility and often the concept of "karma". This means that its retrograde periods will often force us to reckon with the consequences of our behavior. However, this does not always necessarily have to be from a moral or deeper, spiritual point of view. In truth, earthly laws are often unjust and appearances are often awarded a higher value than actual values. In any case, events and situations, etc. from our past that we have not properly taken responsibility for may come back to us now in some form, perhaps in a way that we wouldn't initially expect.
Things become even more confusing with Saturn in Pisces, a sign ruled by the "great benefic" Jupiter and associated with the boundless. Despite the apparent contradiction, there is a logic to this placement. One way Saturn often manifests its energy, while positioned in Pisces, is through organized religion; a devoted reverence for the spiritual traditions that essentially provide us with a tangible container for experiences of an otherwise undefined nature. Alternatively, it can provide a more objective or scientific lens to the study of subjective and mystical truths, whether to scrutinize it or legitimize it.
Its no secret that many religions have a reputation for promoting shame and guilt, and this is an intense struggle for Saturn in Pisces. While Saturn wants us to "pull ourselves by the bootstraps" (gross) and take responsibility, Pisces is compassionate and sensitive. Saturn's sense of duty and hard work combined with the empathetic ability of Pisces to put themselves in anyone's shoes creates the heavy feeling of having the weight of the world on one's shoulders. It creates a feeling of responsibility for the emotions of others, a feeling of responsibility for what we can't control, and sometimes, even a feeling of co-dependency. It can also create a feeling of victimhood and/or a simple resignment to one's fate, where despite having no power over how the world responses to us, we nevertheless blame ourselves anyway. With a natal Saturn in Pisces, myself, it almost hurts how much I relate to what I'm writing, but this also gives me a new perspective on all that I've experienced during the course of this transit. We might be tempted to escape from this pain through dreams, but those dreams only feel like a burden when we wake up to such a dreary reality. The key might be to take that control back, to give our dreams the necessary structure that allows us to put in the work and make them a reality.
Source: gyurka.deviantart.com
That's Saturn in Pisces, but Saturn Retrograde in Pisces (which I realize I also have in my natal chart...oops) just adds on another layer to these already complicated themes. The containers we use to provide structure to our most ephemeral and deeply-held beliefs may be tested and/or illusions exposed. Our very understanding of reality could come undone, revealing itself to be just as "real" as our favorite reality TV show, stranger than even the most fantastical science fiction. However, don't be fooled: this isn't a win for the scientific materialists. On the contrary: the spiritual might become realer than the physical world itself.
On another note, if you believe in the typical view of past lives, this could be a time of heavy karma...but it's much more likely to simply be a time of self-inflicted guilt. In any case, we may collectively feel like we're carrying the weight of original sin, suffering as a result of things we don't even remember doing, perhaps things we've never even done or chosen to do! Whether it's at church, in school, at work, or sometimes even our hip leftist internet forums or punk rock social scenes where we'd least expect it, the importance of "taking responsibility" for our actions is constantly drilled into our heads to the point where we've almost become gaslighted into thinking consequences (whether good or bad) are deserved. We might feel like we're our own worst enemies, sure, and yet, we're punished for the mistakes of our ancestors, our governments, and the collective at large, so why are we internalizing the blame?
From the day we are born, all areas of society bombard us with the message that if we just do the right thing, say the right lines, follow the rules, conform, we can gain control over whether or not we win or lose at the game of life. Fall in line....or face the consequences: get bullied, get cancelled, get fired, get arrested, go to hell! The consensus seems to be: it's your fault, shame on you, you deserve it! In reality, however, the rewards and punishments we receive are more often than not judged, not on merit, not on effort, definitely not on intention, but on a combination of arbitrary factors that we have little to no control over: our skin colors, our body parts, the countries we were born in, the sorts of brains we were born with, and perhaps most often, how wealthy our families are...with the odds being "not at all". How are we supposed to take responsibility for things we aren't even responsible for, things we had no ability to choose, or respond differently to?
Saturn's Retrograde in Pisces could, on one hand, be a time of intense self-reflection where events could force us to take responsibility for our own lives & our own choices. We may come face-to-face with how our actions and existences shape the larger system unknowingly, how we might be complicit in consequences we didn't/wouldn't consider; our every choice a domino whether we know it or not. On the flip side, however, we might find redemption; freedom from the compulsion to needlessly villainize ourselves for the choices of others and/or circumstances outside our control without victimizing ourselves either. The fish was actually an early Christian symbol, and these Piscean waters are like a baptism, here to redeem us from the sins we didn't commit.
We are not responsible for what we can't control and we should not be ashamed of ourselves either! Our only responsibility is to do what we can, with whatever limited resources we have, to work toward making the world a kinder, compassionate and truly just place, cleansing it of it's corrupted ways.
Source: "3D television" by Lerson Pannawita
Saturn Retrograde in Pisces 2024: Past Events
The above section is all very focused on the personal and interpersonal, the emotional and the spiritual, but what about globally on the material level? How should we view Saturn's Retrograde in Pisces through the lens of mundane astrology (which for those not in-the-know is basically the fancy term for political astrology)? Well, first, it may help to take a quick look on how Saturn's transit through the sign of Pisces has manifested in this decade so far.
It is interesting to note that when Saturn first entered Pisces in March 2023, a large series of water-related events flooded the news (pun not intended). From landslides in the Congo to a deadly cyclone in the Indian Ocean and a dam in Ukraine destroyed as a result of the Russian war, aquatic events dominated the media, and in the last few days before it's station retrograde, as well as the first few days after, they increased. For example, on June 13th, 2023, it was reported that a wedding boat capsized on a river in Nigeria, killing over 106 people. The day after that? Another boat capsized off the coast of Greece, killing almost 82 of its immigrant passengers and hundreds more missing. Then, on June 17th, 2023, Saturn stationed Retrograde at 7° Pisces and a group of billionaires decided to explore the wreck of the Titanic in a deep-sea submersible, but the vessel imploded, killing all five of them. This event dominated the media, drowning out reports of all other events.
Source: Artmajeur Gallery, Gyuri Lohmuller
While the OceanGate implosion was certainly a tragedy and my heart goes out to the people affected, people were understandably angry that a higher amount of value seemed to be placed on the lives of a very small group of rich people, who reportedly ignored warnings about the submersible's dangers, than the thousands of people, many of them disenfranchised, who died in their own oceanic accidents just days before. Meanwhile, the temperature of the oceans reached a scary record new high, but how many of us actually heard about this? Our feeds were nothing but a sea of wealthy elites competing for attention on our screens, and Saturn's Retrograde in Pisces in 2023 forced us to reckon with that imbalance. The floods, hurricanes and shipwrecks continued throughout Saturn's entire time in Pisces, increasing in intensity around the time of the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in Taurus (symbolic of dramatic changes to the natural environment), but there are too many to list in detail.
We need to now turn our attention to other themes associated with this transit, such as religion, spirituality, and the modern technocratic cult of artificial intelligence. Last year, I wrote that "Pisces is the sign of imagination, magic and illusion; with Saturn here, we might find ourselves restricted to these realms...the boundaries between fantasy and reality, natural and artificial life, are getting blurrier by the day." It comes as no surprise, then, that 2023 had been named "Generative AI's breakout year." However, by the time Saturn first went Retrograde in Pisces, fear set in and with good reason, with the rise of deep-fake photography making it harder to discern the true from the false, lay-offs increasing while workers are replaced by A.I. (affecting even Hollywood stars!), and innocent people arrested as a result of flaws in facial recognition technology. ChatGPT lost traffic, as it's maker, OpenAI was forced to take responsibility on its use of people's data, and laws were put in place to regulate the use of A.I. overall. Even after Saturn turned around again to go direct, however, the fear continued while the technology remained, and as predicted, Elon Musk's Neuralink chip was planted in a human brain for the very first time.
Religion is another essential theme to consider. Numerous news reports have exposed the shady practices of cult leaders and the abuses of religious authorities during the course of Saturn's transit through Pisces. Meanwhile, the war waged by Israeli settlers on the native Palestinian people has been justified as some sort of holy war by both the Jewish Zionists and their white evangelical Christian supporters, while the rights of Muslims and Palestinian Christians have been restricted and their lives have been persecuted. Schisms, witch-hunts and blasphemy trials have also found their way into the news.
The sign of Pisces has also been associated with mind-altering substances. The opiod epidemic has continued to remain a problem, with fentanyl in particular killing many. Many people have been arrested due to the war on drugs, although others have been pardoned for illegal cannabis use. On June 27th, shortly before Saturn's most recent retrograde, Purdue Pharma was found guilty for its role in the opioid epidemic through the distribution of their drug OxyContin. Around that same time, dozens of companies and medical professionals were sued for unlawful distribution of Adderall, an ADHD medication currently experiencing shortages. Meanwhile, dozens of people died from drinking contaminated alcohol in South India, while other countries experienced issues with contaminated food (i.e. a botulism outbreak in Russia and a recall of mango and avocado production in the U.S.A. or hundreds of hospitalizations due to red yeast rice supplements in Japan).
Politics is it's own religion and also, one hell of a drug. Before the retrograde, Donald Trump was found guilty of defamation while President Joe's son, Hunter Biden, was arrested for the use of narcotics. It's only been a month and a half so far, but after the retrograde, American politics got even weirder. President Biden got COVID-19 and due to concerns raised about his potential dementia, his V.P, Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee instead. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court found Donald Trump to be above the law...or, well, basically any crime committed by a president while in office is exempt from prosecution. Then, when someone tried to assassinate Donald Trump, his supporters started wearing band-aids on their ears. In addition to fears of dictatorship and Project 2025, this proves that MAGA is an obvious cult, a bunch of evangelic Christians who somehow view a corrupt billionaire & friend of the Clinton's who behaves very similarly to the biblical antichrist as a second coming messianic figure, a truth-telling rebel meant to save the working classes from the sins of the neoliberal-democrat swamp... while all/most political parties rely on deception and repetition to garner support.
Interestingly, as I write today on August 20th, 2024 (have to specify the date since it feels I've been working on this article FOREVER!), another event made the news with some similarity to the OceanGate incident that occurred when Saturn in Pisces went retrograde in 2023. Tech tycoon, Mike Lynch, also known as the "British Bill Gates", has been reported missing in an Italian shipwreck along with his 18-year-old daughter and other passengers. Interestingly, the billionaire had just recently been acquitted in a fraud trial launched by U.S. company Hewett-Packard, and coincidentally, his business partner, Stephen Chamberlain, died after being hit by a car earlier this week. Understandably, this has sparked accusations of conspiracy and theories that this may not be a coincidence after all. If these theories are true, this story is another disturbing reminder of what evil actions that those with enough money and power can get away with.
Is there any over-arching theme to the events above? Well, most of this ultimately all goes back to what I said before in the previous section. The media and even the government's treatment of five reckless billionaires compared to hundreds of immigrants makes it clear that some lives are awarded more value than others, but is this really "deserved"? Why is it that some people are given harsher punishments for pettier crimes, while some of the most violent, evil people on the planet run free? Hint: it is not about morals, not about "good" or "bad", or "right" and "wrong." With Saturn Retrograde in Pisces, the lie of a "fair" and "just" society in which "everyone gets what they deserve" is being exposed.
Source: Pastel Ufo Print by Morysetta from Neon Talk
Saturn Retrograde in Pisces 2024: Predictions
Let's look at the chart for Saturn's station retrograde on June 29th, 2024. It shows a sextile from Saturn at 19° Pisces to Mars at 15° Taurus and an incomplete one to Uranus at 24°. On one hand, we might interpret this aspect as bringing a stabilizing force to our behaviors; by reflecting on that past, we can develop a concrete and do-able plan of action to calculate our next moves. Through the lens of mundane astrology, this may be our approach to military strategy, for example, or, given Mars position in the sign of Taurus, this could be an organized approach to fixing the economy and/or climate. The chart also shows Saturn making a trine to Venus at 15° Cancer and the Sun at 8° with Mercury separating at 25° in an exact sextile to Uranus, the cosmic rebel. As the planet of love and peace, Venus's trine to Saturn Retrograde and sextile to Mars, could represent the renewal of diplomatic agreements and peace-keeping strategies. On the other hand, the Venus-Saturn trine could bring longevity and permanence to existing relationships, in both romance and business. In the sign of Cancer, it could be a stabilizing influence for family life, in particular, and maybe even have a positive effect on the real estate market.
Meanwhile, the chart for Saturn Retrograde places the Moon at 20° of the war-driven Aries separating from the North Node, which could indicate the presence of a combative feeling in the air despite otherwise positive aspects. Lastly, the chart places Pisces ruling planet, Jupiter, at 7° Gemini, the sign of its detriment, which could in general, represent a lack of commitment or faith (such as but not limited to the lack of faith in our governments to make just decisions) or else, it might emphasize Saturn Retrograde's influence on areas of communication and media. Saturn's Retrograde journey occurs in the second decan of Pisces (ruled by Jupiter and the Moon) with Saturn stationing Retrograde near the star, Beta Piscium, in the Pisces constellation, marking the mouth of the western fish, which according to a source written by Dr. Eric Morse as quoted by AstrologyKing, "is about keeping us on course and in tip-top condition to see the present era through."
Perhaps, the most important aspect Saturn Retrograde makes is the square to Jupiter at 17° Gemini on August 19th, 2024. This square occurs on the same day as a Full Moon in Aquarius, a conjunction between the Sun in Leo and Mercury Retrograde, and a t-square from both luminaries to Uranus in Taurus. The conjunction of Mars and Jupiter (now separating, with Mars at 20°) adds yet another layer of interpretation to this already intense mix of transits, while Saturn's opposition to Venus at 18° Virgo completes this configuration by making it a t-square. On its own, Saturn's square to Jupiter can cause tension between simultaneously occurring feelings of hope and despair, freedom and restriction. The two giant planets will meet again, after Saturn turns direct, on Christmas Eve 2024, and also, later on, in June 2025. So, this may be just the beginning of a conflict that will play out for a long time, and might even influence the entirety of Saturn's Retrograde transit in Pisces.
Looking more closely at the signs they are in now, this square could manifest in restrictions (Saturn) to our freedom (Jupiter) of speech or even thought (Gemini) motivated by religion (or any other kind of institutionalized belief, really), conspiracy or deception (Pisces). Perhaps, this could have something to do with use of A.I. to detect people guilty of wrong-speak or it may simply represent the power of propaganda to control our thoughts. That said, the conjunction between Mars and Jupiter in Gemini suggests people are angry about whatever this is and ready to fight, and/or I suppose, the restrictions represented by Saturn Rx in Pisces could be in response to protest and disillusionment among the population. The opposition between Saturn Retrograde in Pisces and Venus in Virgo might possibly suggest limits and an overall decline in the quality of life, with Venus representing pleasure, aesthetics, marriage, of course, but also, the products that bring us happiness. In the sign of Virgo, this might especially apply to women and/or "low status" workers, or just disenfranchised people in general (i.e. the sick, the disabled, etc.). Any uprisings represented by Mars and Jupiter in Gemini may result from this decline. The coinciding Full Moon simply highlights these issues, and any other issue arising from tension between the needs of the people (Moon in Aquarius) and the wants of their rulers (Sun in Leo). Shocking disruptions (Uranus in Taurus) and miscommunication, particularly misunderstandings that result from ego and the inability to listen to another point of view (Mercury Retrograde in Leo) may also play a role.
In September, the Sun in Virgo will oppose Saturn Retrograde (on the 8th/9th) and a Full Moon in Pisces will make a conjunction to "the great malefic" a little over a week later (the 17th/18th) while Mercury, now Direct, in Virgo will make its opposition only a couple days after that (the 18th/19th). These are dates where we might want to watch out for any particular activity relating to Saturn Rx in Pisces. Without going too much in detail, some potential manifestations of these aspects include restrictions in the free speech of workers (particularly those who work in Mercurial fields like writing or tech? or maybe people losing jobs over what they say online, for example?), restrictions regarding what you are allowed to criticize (such as to what extent, you are allowed to criticize powerful organizations), heightened feelings of guilt, lack, shame and/or depression, mental health crisis, and/or challenges to employers, managers and/or labor leaders.
In October, Mars in Cancer (on the 1st) and Venus in Scorpio (on the 5th) will both trine Saturn Rx in Pisces, which could potentially bring us some more (and much-needed) positive energy, especially regarding dating and relationships. The predominance of water signs brings a strong, emotional energy and heightened sensitivity i.e. the undying love of soulmates. Both Mars and Venus are in their traditional signs of debilitation, however, so it is important to be aware of any potential negative significations while still hoping for the best (i.e. obsession, in the case of Venus in Scorpio, or manipulation in the case of Mars in Cancer, etc.). Stories relating to water and oceanic accidents might once again dominate the news. Later in the month (the 22nd/23rd), Mercury in Scorpio will trine Saturn Rx, as well, which might represent some sort of official decision being made or it could bring a stability to our communications. Lastly (the 28th/29th) Venus, now in Sagittarius, will make a square to Saturn, which as far as love is concerned, could lead to break-ups and conflicts in relationship, while more partners will want their freedom, or this aspect could refer to women's freedom, as well, which could be restricted in some way, perhaps by religious cults or a deceptive organization.
Then, in November, after a trine to the New Moon and Sun in Scorpio (1st-5th, coinciding with the American Presidential Election), perhaps bringing a new beginning based on reflections of the current structure, Saturn will finally station Direct at 12'42° Pisces. Things may (or may not, because when does it ever?) feel like they're back to normal or at least, we might like we have a better grasp on our reality, and the line between real responsibility and unnecessary guilt/blame will (hopefully) be a lot clearer. Saturn will be stationed Direct at a degree close to the fixed star, Alpha Hydrus, the head of water snake constellation. Not much is written about this particular star but the constellation is described as giving "a cunning, practical and treacherous nature, with great danger of poisoning," according to astrologer, Vivian E. Robson, as cited by Astrology King. Sooo, perhaps, it's best we be careful and watch our backs anyway!
Conclusion
So, Saturn Retrograde in Pisces has certainly felt like a glitch in the simulation so far, or might it be the creation of a new program? In any case, hopefully, the transit will help redeem us from any unnecessary shame by showing us the things we really are responsible (response-able) for.
For information on how it will affect your sign, I suggest you refer to the "horoscopes" section of my Saturn in Pisces article. Similar themes may present themselves now, but possibly in a "reverse" or roundabout way, or else, you might be more reflective on these themes. These themes may manifest themselves internally as opposed to externally or situations/circumstances from the past, relating to these themes, may repeat themselves, whether literally or just symbolically (i.e. in spirit or essence). That said, it is important to note that those with luminaries, angles or personal planets between 10 and 21 degrees of the mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) will be most especially affected, and possibly those with Capricorn or Aquarius Rising, as well, due to sharing Saturn as their planetary ruler.
Of course, it's important to take the whole natal chart into consideration. For more information on how Saturn Retrograde in Pisces will affect you personally, I suggest that you please book a reading with me on my website. Thank you.
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