Saturn retrogrades back into Pisces; the effect is dizzying, nauseating, with a big helping of ‘I can’t believe we’re in this very spot again!’ Where the transiting body falls in your chart, along with any aspects it’s making, as well as the natal situation of Saturn, will all figure in to where in life and in what way you feel this. The thing is, a heavy moving back into the previous sign typically has a uh-oh! feeling that’s distinctly temporary: usually we know this as a brief backslide into what’s largely finished, a momentary and tiresome rehash. This time, though, it feels like our own individual fresh hell; maybe that’s the other energies with which it’s still in contact, whispering their worst, or the fact that it’s Saturn, which tries to plant us firmly in the material world, no blurred edges or pleasant dreams allowed.

Saturn’s still technically conjoined Neptune, but now that it’s back in Neptune’s sign everything takes on a fun house mirror quality, exacerbated by Pluto in Aquarius in sextile playing with the mind, worrying us about what the future holds and emphasizing the down side of all that’s modern, while the sextile to Uranus now shocks us with all we hadn’t noticed, before. The unreliability of our own perceptions will be the most prominent effect here; if you treat yourself as if it’s a Mercury retrograde, that is, be cautious and aware you might not be seeing things realistically (let alone not seeing them optimistically!) then you can hold off until you adjust, which will take only 5 or 6 days. Then it becomes a wait-it-out, as you deal with every little Piscean thing Saturn didn’t handle before his exit.

The Daily Word Image is a wild bird perched on a person’s finger. To me this is astonishing, that rare moment of communion with the natural world that you can’t make happen, it just does on its own. There is wonder to be had, right now, and experiences of awe and hope. Know that they’re real, and not as rare as you might think.