Saturn in Pisces 2023-2026

As Saturn wraps up his Aquarian teachings, which held us all in his grip from March of 2020 until March of 2023, I can’t help but reflect on the collective experience we all went through. These years have CHANGED us individually and collectively. The pandemic brought challenges and experiences we may not have felt ready for, but that didn’t matter one bit to Saturn. His teachings are hard. They require that we grow in ways we likely wouldn’t if left to our own devices.

I imagine none of us are exiting this Saturn in Aquarius realm unchanged. The landscape of our lives now includes the undeniable awareness that we are connected.

Aquarius is co-ruled by Saturn and brings a stubbornness and righteousness to the idea that we have to do something a certain way in order for it to benefit our community and world. We saw this in the themes of “if you really cared about others, you would do THIS” or “I’m kicking you out of my life unless you do this thing the way I think is best”. This was exacerbated by the South Node in Sagittarius which can make it easier to fall into a zealot mindset that refuses to allow any new information to enter the picture.

It was a bit rigid at times, yes? Putting it mildly! LOL

In all of that, the themes of “we are actually one” and “what we do affects others” prevail even when delivered in some of these harsh ways.

Aquarius is ultimately concerned about our connectedness, regardless of the delivery.

With Saturn as the Teacher, and the Zodiac sign being the method of teaching, we now meet Saturn in a new way.

Saturn is many things, for sure. He is related to Karma, maturity, mastery, time, boundaries, limits, commitment, dignity, hard work, darkness, harvest, and our very bones. He doesn’t play around. He also doesn’t value misery… he asks us to grow.

In Navigational Astrology, he holds our wounds of denial. That is, what we perceive life or others have denied or are denying us. Consider what you experienced being denied 2020-2023. Was it perhaps something about being included in the greater human community? This is the surface level of Saturn in Aquarius. Below the surface we have (hopefully) matured, been humbled if we were being rigid, and are well aware that everyone we encounter can be helped or harmed by their interaction with us.

Another fundamental aspect of Navigational Astrology, is viewing the Zodiac as holistic, or that each sign gives birth to the next, or that each sign is the next logical step is fundamental in understanding the Zodiacal flow of cycles.

So Pisces is the natural response, the obvious next step from Aquarius. It’s in Pisces that we let go and let be. Pisces is utterly allowing of it all, even with no natural boundaries. There is no separation in Pisces, only expansion into the nebulous world of consciousness, spirit, and unconditional spiritual love. It’s here that we seek to be aware of the world, but perhaps not experience it directly.

Saturn is always teaching us the same things, he only changes HOW he goes about his teaching. In Pisces he is teaching us about boundaries in a place where they don’t exist naturally, but it isn’t black or white. It isn’t hardcore protective boundaries or absolutely zero boundaries. We have to allow multifaceted thinking to enter the classroom.

Lessons around what forgiveness looks like in the real world come to mind. For instance, when we forgive, does that erase the harm done or does it mean we renegotiate our relationship with new information on board?

Do we take responsibility for our lack of boundaries or enabling and the harm that has caused us and others?

Do we enact strict protective boundaries that cut off connection? Or do we say something like “I don’t like that but I DO like this.”

Whatever Saturn teaches us, it tends to come in handy later on. There is always a harvest and a gift at the end of the cycle. So we can expect to receive a gift from the Saturn in Aquarius years as we are navigating the waters of Pisces (with an actual life raft).

How about some practical “what-do-to” ideas for this cycle:

-Commit to a spiritual practice of some sort. You don’t have to commit to ONE particular practice, but commit to deepening your spiritual life in a real way, one way or another, regularly.

-Take responsibility for making your dreams a reality. We’re in the mutable waters, yes, but Saturn is solid ground, so we’re not going to drown. Pluck those big wants right out of the ethers and start making small steps to form them in real life. Saturn will help, especially if you are willing to work for it consistently.

-Find a way to serve. Volunteer, help out a neighbor, begin a movement in your community.

-Bring play and creativity into your daily life. Schedule it in if you need to (Saturn would get a chuckle out of that!). I literally put things like “nap” and “paint” on my to-do lists. Whatever it takes!

-Get real about your addictions. We all have the ways we self-soothe and escape the harshness and drudgery of some days. For some it’s complaining or spinning in victimhood, for others it’s substance abuse, for some it’s work, sex, or love obsession. Humans are soooo creative and wily, we can be VERY sneaky about our addictions, so at the very least, let’s be honest about it with ourselves if nothing else.

-And finally, let’s let go of whatever tries to exit our lives. Pisces is a sign of endings and I don’t think Saturn will let us delude ourselves for very long if we’re trying to breathe life into something that’s already got a stank to it. I’m reminded of the Pucifer song “Momma Sed” and the lyric “Changes come, keep your dignity.”

We can also expect issues of WATER, oil, and the lack of availability or OVER abundance of various liquids to be prominent in these Saturn in Pisces years. With one of Pisces’ rulers, Neptune, also in Pisces, we have a double-down on this mutable water, complete with all the themes of both restriction and overflow.

I also have to mention that Pisces is the last sign of the Zodiac. This is where consciousness is the most dissipated before it is reborn once again in the never-ending cycle of life.  Saturn is in the final years of wrapping up a cycle that began April of 1996. This is huge.

The last time he entered Pisces was May of 1993. What happened in your life in the years 1993-1996?