It’s the start of summer retrograde season. Two planetary retrogrades started nearly simultaneously—Saturn and Neptune, both in mutable Pisces. Saturn went retrograde first midday on June 30 (PDT) at 19º 26’ Pisces. Neptune quickly followed in the early morning on July 2 (PDT) at 29º 56’ Pisces. We’re now in the slow drip of the watery retrogrades.
Retrograde refers to a planet’s apparent backwards motion. From our Earth perspective, each year it looks to us as though a planet about to go into a retrograde phase temporarily halts its motion (becomes stationary). Within a few days, it then looks like the planet is moving backwards —retrograde—retracing its path.
Saturn and outer planet retrogrades (Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto) are experienced strongly in our lives due to the length of their retrograde periods. All of these planets have annual retrogrades. Saturn retrograde periods last about 130 days. The outer planets’ retrogrades last approximately five months. Both transiting Saturn and Neptune in Pisces will travel backwards throughout the summer and into late fall.
I’m sharing top tips for navigating these retrogrades as well as the following juicy symbolic and astrological information you can use for the next five months. Subsequent posts will expand retrograde information for you—specifically the Neptune in Pisces retrograde—and the upcoming Mercury retrogrades. For now, this is the juicy information I’m laying out for you:
- Retrograde facts about transiting Saturn & transiting Neptune retrograde in Pisces.
- The qualities evident in a Saturn in Pisces retrograde.
- Top tips and themes for navigating the Saturn in Pisces retrograde.
Quick Retrograde Facts
Neptune transits through a zodiac sign for about 14 years. Saturn transits through a zodiac sign for 2.5 years. Neptune entered Pisces in 2011 and Saturn entered Pisces in March 2023. We’ve already had several annual retrograde lessons with Neptune in Pisces. This year it’s retrograde lesson #13 out of 14. Transiting Saturn in Pisces offers us its retrograde lesson #2 out of 3.
Here’s two reference charts for each planet’s retrograde degrees, dates, and important aspects to the Sun. Notice that both Saturn and Neptune will connect directly to the Sun through two trines and an opposition. Trines offer ease, understanding, and harmonious support because planets are in the same element. Because the transiting planets are in Pisces, the trines are with the Sun in Cancer and the Sun in Scorpio.
I’ve laid out the timeline and the specific degrees for those of you who want to track when these two planetary retrogrades also connect with your natal planets in mutable or water signs. These retrogrades do affect all of us. However, especially for those of you who have natal (birth) chart planets in mutable signs—Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces—and positioned in mid to late degrees of those signs, these Piscean retrogrades may provide larger personal reset opportunities.
The stationary retrograde dance starts slowly because Saturn / Neptune are both reversing their path through the sky. So, where’s the retrograde dance floor in your natal chart? What I mean by that is what house(s) is governed by or contains the sign Pisces? That’s where transiting Neptune and Saturn are currently hanging out. (If you don’t know, or aren’t sure, contact me here. Give me your full name, birth date, exact time, and city/state. I’ll send you a free natal chart with the Pisces house(s) highlighted.)
Saturn in Pisces Retrograde: The Quality of Time & Boundaries
One of Saturn’s most powerful meanings is time. Saturn and time show up as natural time cycles; “putting in the time” to create something, or make something work; getting older, growing up, maturing; “the sands of time” which relates to the often granular way we experience time—minute by minute, or upon reflection, gazing at the peaks and valleys of memorable times in our lives. Transiting Saturn in Pisces can often feel like time has adopted trickster traits. Pisces, generally, loves being in a flow state. There aren’t obstacles, or sharp edges, nasty tempers, or mundane chores.
Saturn in Pisces loves directed flow. Saturn helps keep Pisces centered instead of drifting away aimlessly. Saturn in Pisces promotes emotional, psychic, and intuitive flow backed up with boundaries and structure. Like being so physically strong in your core that dancing feels silky and smooth. Like silently picking up the vibes in a room of people with a clear-eyed analysis as your pocket compass. Like being realistic and visionary simultaneously. Saturn in Pisces wants to teach us to use our time wisely through tuning in to our intuition, imagination and emotional sensitivity with healthy boundaries and integrity guard-rails firmly in place.
So what happens when you’ve been striving hard to meet all kinds or outward-facing, production-focused metrics, or performance-based efforts at work, school, and home and there’s never enough time in a day? What if you’ve given your best, but you haven’t spared many moments to live in grace, or ease, or flow? You might feel a like this lovely Greek goddess/nymph/musician who has received a laurel wreath for her gorgeous performance on the lyre. All the practice, commitment, and hard work was worth it, but she’s Completely. Spent. Now.
The retrograde Saturn in Pisces period has got your back! Working with Saturn is always better than resisting her. Throughout our lives, this lovely ringed planet asks us to use her natural strategies in order to give us much needed frameworks, inner strength, stamina, and wisdom over time. Saturn rules our skeletal system and our skin—two fundamental structures of our lives. In addition to time, Saturn also represents reality (facing facts), commitment, dedicated efforts, and responsibility. These are her main strategies in our lives so that we can earn her laurel wreaths of maturity, wisdom, and thoughtfully designed structures. So take cues from Saturn during these 130 days and SLOW DOWN.
How do I do that?
Retrogrades are well-known for being excellent times to use lots of words that start with “re”. Yes, please review, rewind, re-read, and re-evaluate. To my mind though, those are great tasks for a Mercury retrograde.
The top Pisces Saturn retrograde re words are:
REST. Resting yourself is crucial to helping your nervous systems calm down, to releasing stress and cortisol, and toward transitioning toward better life balance. Slow your spin.
- Resting comes in many forms—physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, creative. Check out this great rest quiz by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith. She’s gonna give you great rest suggestions.
- Resting is you being kind to yourself. Commit to this powerful act of kindness. Put gold stars on your calendar days where you took or are taking rest!
REDUCE. Simplify your life through subtraction, not addition. Realize that it’s necessary to say no.
- Think of this as clearing space in your big bag of responsibilities.
- Softly, gently act for yourself—firm up one loosey-goosey boundary with others. Setting respectful boundaries actually gives you more space and serves as an energy reset.
- Stop doing one thing more. Take a self-compassion break. Your name isn’t Atlas. You’re not holding up the world. You can choose to lessen your load—even by a tiny bit. Breathe dear one. You’re getting wiser here.
REALITY CHECK. Life can be a struggle, tough, challenging. All of that is true. And . . .life can be hilarious!
- People are weird. You know this. You’re weird! Appreciate the weird, wild, romantic, and ridiculous.
- Pisces Saturn reminds you that there really are cosmic jokes, LOL funny shit happening, dad jokes, silly string, animal videos, FUN and LAUGHTER. It’s all good medicine for your soul.
RELAX. An antithesis to burn-out. Gently, gently, give yourself permission to lower your shoulders, to loosen your jaw, to embrace relaxation as your natural state.
- Picture relaxation like a regal cat. Not lazy—alert, aware, relaxed in her environment.
- Pisces Saturn supports your flexibility, your suppleness, your willingness to let go of control.
REVIVE. Engage consciously with your inner issues, concerns, and insights. Express gratitude for how much you’ve grown in wisdom and maturity.
- Adopt the rhythm of this Pisces Saturn retrograde. The retrograde dance step is two steps forward, one step back—echo and anticipation. There’s no rush here.
- The Sun is the counterpoint to this planetary dance. It’s continually giving your ego a boost of vitality, light, and life. Hug yourself for giving yourself grace.
I’m picturing each one of you taking all these words and tips to heart. I’m committed to this lesson in flow and ease too. Over time, I’ve come to treasure Saturn’s teachings. Remember this is not a test, or another thing to add to your-to-do list. Easing back into our natural state of being is a powerful recall comprised of all kinds of tiny movements. Every step in the dance matters. Nothing is wasted or unimportant. Take your lovely Piscean Saturn time.
