Saturn in Pisces + Full Moon Invite
Everything you need to know about the Saturn in Pisces transit starting today.
Reminder: Full Moon Ceremony Tonight
Today, Tuesday the 7th of March at 6pm PST is our Full Moon in Virgo Ceremony. We will be focusing on practices that help us trust our intuition and refine our witchcraft. Link and more information on how to prepare will be sent out 1 hour before the ceremony begins. To join the ritual, subscribe to my Mystery Cult.
Saturn in Pisces by Way of Analogy…
Okay, so, this might be triggering for some of you.
The other day I was chatting with my friend, Lianne, about how age and experience moderates our ideals. Specifically, I was saying that …
Some nurses I know were complaining about the medical establishment. Obviously, no one thinks our medical system is working for anyone but insurance and pharmaceutical companies.
In my community of artists and radicals, we hear a lot about mutual aid. I believe in mutual aid. Only by developing systems of mutual care can we ever hope to create communities where we all thrive.
But let’s say we were to abandon ship on the medical establishment tomorrow. Fuck hospitals, insurance, and pharmaceutical companies.
Millions of people would die. Children with cancer would die. Basic medicines like penicillin would not get made or distributed. Hospitals would fill will trash.
And yet, in my community, it feels like you would be treated like a MAGA conservative if you were to question the doctrine of mutual aid. Even asking, “If we rely solely on mutual aid, how will we distribute medicines like insulin?” feels like it could get you cancelled. But…
… Questions that aim at the difficult, unresolved, frustrating aspects of our dreams and ideals are exactly what Saturn in Pisces is going to demand we answer.
Of course, we don’t have to respond to this invitation to get sober about our dreams. We can say, “MUTUAL AID IS A SYSTEM THAT WILL NOT BE QUESTIONED!!” And storm out of the room calling the questioner capitalist scum.
BUT! Wouldn’t it be better if we DID question it? Because then, we could address the questions, work on resolving the conflict, and then we’d be that much closer to having systems that actually DO work for everyone… and maybe mutual aid will be one of them!
We will see this scenario played out over and over again during the period of Saturn in Pisces.
In our dream world, our lover anticipates our every need, isn’t hung up on their ex, and is a completely healed person who thinks about us all day… except when we’d prefer them to be completely independent (tho simultaneously devoted to us, and willing to drop everything to come to our side, but not in a whipped way).
In our dream world, we can make a living from our art work without making any compromises, and we spend all day in the studio listening to music and making work that will win us awards. Never experiencing self doubt. Every artwork a home run. Inspiration will flow as an inexhaustible river and we will be richly rewarded for our efforts.
I could go on with my examples, but I think you get the point. Dreams are beautiful, and important. They give us a star to move towards. But…
…our chance of achieving our dreams diminishes if we’re unwilling to face the friction that will inevitably arise as we seek to achieve them.
Saturn in Pisces teaches us how to respond when our dreams aren’t easy to achieve.
Saturn: The Basics
Saturn, known in astrology as the Greater Malefic (the big bad), is the spirit that brings slowness, restriction, frustration, and consequences. Saturn is the taciturn Grandpa, or the Crone who will gobble you up if you make the wrong choice.
When Saturn moves into a sign or house, we can expect to confront our own limitations in that area, or feel a sense of dissatisfaction with the world around us.
On the positive side, Saturn can help us make decisions that ensure a stable future, bring form to that which is incoherent, and increase our capacity for discipline.
On the other hand, Saturn always drives into the heart of that which is causing us pain or dis-ease. Saturn is happy to dwell in our unhappy place (after all, Saturn’s joy is in the 12th House, the House of Self-Undoing).
I imagine Saturn like a slow acting poison given to ants. The kind where the infected ant takes back to the hive. The hive is the place within us (and our culture) that hurts.
Saturn knows just where to find the pain.
In the Mystery Traditions though, our poison is also our medicine, the only difference is the dose. And, if we aren’t willing to address what is hurting us, then even if we treat the symptoms of our disease, we’ll never find the cure.
Saturn in Pisces
Dates: Mar 7, 2023 — May 24, 2025, and then Sep 1, 2025 — Feb 13, 2026
Pisces is the sign of the dreamer. And like all waters signs, it rules matters of the heart…
In tarot, Pisces corresponds to the Moon card, where the ancient leviathans of the unconscious coming rising up to greet us. They call us surrender to the pull of the tides, the inexorable passions flowing through us, pulling us deeper in. We are called to let our egos dissolve and merge with the all.
To cross the gateway of Pisces is to enter the Otherworld, the realm of the unconscious, of dreams, of longings, of the imagination.
Pisces is the speaking fish who offer us wisdom, mermaids, dragons and swirls of opium.
At its best, Pisces delivers us into a mystical ecstacy that brings us peace and a total opening of the heart. Communion with the Saints. The bliss of union and a love that has no perimeters.
At its worst, Pisces is delusional, drunk, lying to itself and others. It’s a murky bardo of lies and deception that can keep us trapped for years ,never able to admit the truths that could help us find firmer ground.
Typically, when Saturn leaves a house or sign, if you showed up for the work, Saturn leaves you with a gift.
The gift Saturn will leave us as it exits the House of Pisces in 2026 will be peace, wisdom, and dreams that are more actionable and achievable. IF we show up for the tasks it sets for us in the meantime.
Saturn Return
Most of us experience at least two periods of what are called the Saturn Return.
It happens roughly around age 28 and 56. Most astrologers consider the moment Saturn enters the sign it was in when you were born the formal beginning of your Saturn return. The friction Saturn brings will increase until it arrives at the exact degree it was in at the moment of your birth. Then it will ease off, and you will begin processing what you learned.
For folks experiencing either their first or second Saturn return in this period,* this is a period where you’re going to be invited to “face the music,” and “get real about your dreams.”
Most likely, because your Saturn return is happening in Pisces, this will take the form of an interrogation of all the ways in which you, up to this point in life, have been been dominated by your emotions.
Often, our emotions are what motivate our actions. But when we have Saturn in Pisces, sometimes our emotions are not legible to us and are repressed in some way. Since they can’t be expressed directly, they often find some other medium for expression. Which basically means, we can be led off track by emotions we haven’t been willing to face, without realizing what the problem is.
The good news is that during your Saturn return, you will be encouraged to face your feelings of overwhelm or directionlessness head on. Or, you will be offered opportunities to turn dreams that have felt romantic and aspirational into more tangible daily practices. Dreams to realities.
Even if you’re in a relationship, you may find yourself feeling lonely and isolated during this transit. In general, you are likely to feel dissatisfied and vaguely lost.
Your task is to seek out that which blocks your peace.
Refusal to listen to your own intuition will be challenged at every turn over the next few years, but if you do make the choice to slow down and heed your inner voice, you will find that your capacity to access your intuition will become one of your greatest assets.
During your return, learn to hold your emotions with care. Listen to your intuition and your heart. Remember though, true listening doesn’t just mean acknowledging. It means hearing and then responding with your actions. Consistently.
You will find that if you are able to rise to the challenge of your Saturn Return, your capacity to bring your dreams into reality will change the course of your life.
Not only that, but your generation (the Saturn in Pisces generation), will help the larger ecology of souls on this planet live up to our dreams and ideals as a species. Bravo!
*Exact dates of Saturn in Pisces for the last two transits are Mar 23, 1964, to Sep 16, 1964; Dec 16, 1964, to Mar 3, 1967; May 21, 1993, to Jun 30, 1993; and Jan 28, 1994, to Apr 7, 1996.
Content for Paid Subscribers Below
How to Handle this Transit: Important Dos & Don’ts for Saturn in Pisces
Who Will Be Most Effected? What to Watch out for
Key Practices for this Transit (Magical and Mundane)
Book Recommendations