Last Updated on July 30, 2020 by astrologerbydefault

The next few months are very typical, just check what the planets are upto, the highlights.

• Saturn retrograde from 11^th May to 29^th Sept in Capricorn.
• Venus retrograde from 13^th May to 25^th Jun. He is going to be retrograde in Taurus and will remain in Taurus till 1^st Aug. In this he will also get combust from 31^st May to 8^th Jun. Venus stays in one sign for about 29days, now he will be in his own Taurus for 3.5months!
• Jupiter retrograde from 14^th May to 13^th Sep. In this period he will transit backwards through Capricorn and enter Sagittarius on 30^th Jun and continue retrograde in Sagittarius.
• Mercury retrograde from 18^th Jun to 12^th Jul in Gemini. And he will be going get combust practically every month adding his typical confusion to the potent mix brewing.
• Mars retrograde from 10^th Sep to 14^th Nov. In this period he will transit Aries and Pisces in the retrograde motion.

The effects of the last year’s eclipse are still on and we are now fast approaching the most confusing period of the year. In these next 5 months several planets are doing their retrograde-forward dance. Venus and Mercury will get combust for a bit. We will see one lunar penumbral eclipse and one more humongous Solar total eclipse in June in the Gemini-Sagittarius axis.

Saturn retrograde, in Uttarashadha nakshatra, is the over-arching theme for these few months. So let’s first find out which signs are going to be most affected by his reversal.

• You have to count from the ascendant sign for the physical effects.
• And count from the birth Moon for the effects on the emotions, comforts, security, astral body, intuition, instinct, love, kindness etc.

The first sign affected is naturally Capricorn. Then Saturn will aspect Pisces, Cancer and Libra from here.

Capricorn is in the 5/9 axis with Virgo and Taurus. ie Capricorn is either the 5^th or 9^th house counted from these signs. 5^th house blocked means that there will restriction in life, the energies of creativity, divine connection, genius, intelligence are blocked. The 9^th house restricted causes trauma, especially from the ancestors, the past lives, social patrons/peers can betray, teachers can misguide, higher learning can be affected, conflicts about the philosophical foundation of life, divine blessings are blocked, auspicious benefits from past lives fail to support. If the 5/9 axis is influenced the ability to differentiate between auspicious and non-auspicious stuff is affected. So these two signs, Virgo and Taurus will face typical issues affecting all aspects of life as above.

Uttarashadha Nakshatra falls partly in Sagittarius, ie its 1^st quarter lies in Sagittarius, so Sagittarius ascendant sign or birth Moon should also exercise due caution.

Then Aquarius is Saturn’s own sign, so if he is going to reverse his energies then this sign too will face his effect.

So our identified signs are Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Libra, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces. Wherever these signs fall in your horoscope, whatever they signify for you, you will face obstacles, restrictions, suppression, problems, karmic issues etc. So analyse your horoscope in depth. The readings will vary from person to person depending on the power of the birth chart, the on-going Vimshottari dasha and the other transits (depending on your level of experience/study go through the Nakshatra, Ashtakvarga, Navamsha etc).

• Eg for Libra ascendant, the body health will face some breakdown, surrounding environment will be suffocating, siblings will cause issues, loss of money, lesser options in life, will lack courage to choose, family life will cause problems, creativity might be stifled, children may cause problems, hidden enemies will try to hurt but you may be able to tide over this part, also professional/social life will be problematic. This will happen despite Saturn being a yogkarak for you so examine your chart carefully and remain alert during this period.
• Eg if your birth Moon sign is Libra then these above aspects of life will cause mental stress, emotional trauma. Eg your Mom will cause you some sadness. Or your residence will be briefly haunted, etc. This will again depend on your personal chart so go through it in depth.

I have written about using the Nav-tara chakra (post here), draw up yours and find out in which Tara, the Uttarashadha Nakshatra falls. You will be required to undergo karmic events connected to that Tara.

Let’s briefly check out the Uttarashadha naksahtra whose energies are going to be used by Saturn to give his effects.

Uttarashadha is ruled by the deity Vishvedev and linked to the Sun. The word means ‘final victory’, or ‘final celebration’. It is represented by an elephant’s tusk. Leadership, aggression, responsibility, law, character, guidance, good, truth, will, skill, time, apex, light, justice, ancestors/past lives, plans, firmness, introspection etc are some of its keywords. Actions taken under Uttarashadha have long lasting effects are more permanent in nature. If you have any planet in Uttarashadha or your ascendant degree is in this then you are a person of good qualities, intelligent, airy, satvik, modest, fortunate, introspective, mature, in touch with your inner divine and with significant leadership qualities. Practical, achieving, creating structures, truthful, clever, courageous, taking on challenges and winning them. You inspire others. On the spiritual levels, you will be determined to attain the highest Moksh in this highly balanced Uttarashadha. Uttarashadha is deeply connected to the Ida, Pingala Sushumna and your Kundalini etc.

Now Saturn is retrograde in this nakshatra. Time and Karma both working backwards into the energy of this very powerful naksahtra, using its potent energy. For these few months things will take on a very traditional tone, harshness, rigidness, intolerance, secretive underhand stuff, imbalances, challenges will over-whelm. Spiritual practice will pall and materialistic tendencies rise up. People may get caught in destructive relationships, leave things incomplete, get stressed, seem active without doing real work etc. Ego and selfishness will rise. People will speak of many grand things but will do nothing in actuality. Lawlessness will increase. The individual’s sense of right/ wrong will be lost. People will be inspired to do inauspicious stuff and not be inclined towards auspicious things.

This Nakshatra combines the influence of Jupiter, Saturn and Sun, so whatever these planets signify in your life you will face issues from these things during Saturn’s retrogression. This will be a critical time for several of us.

If you can work with these energies to Observe dispassionately, you will be able to use this unprecedented opportunity for your spiritual progress. Just as the most ill-adapted chart for the material life becomes the highest genuine Guru so do the toughest times for the material indicate the best times for the spiritual. But yes there is the pain of disillusionment. Saturn brings out the Reality within everything. So be prepared for some hard truths coming your way.

Saturn entered Uttarashadha 1st quarter which lies in Sagittarius in Dec 2019. This quarter is a Pushkar navamsha so all planets here work for the auspicious. Till here Jupiter the owner of Sagittarius also had some say in the matter, so Saturn had not taken on his ‘Lord of Karma whose Time has come’ role. But when he entered the Capricorn portion of Uttarashadha on 23rd Jan 2020, his own sign, his energies changed completely. He will remain in this nakshatra till the end of this year.  So practically this entire year is dominated by Saturn in Uttarashadha, the Capricorn portion.

(The 1st quarter is owned by Sagittarius, Jupiter’s mooltrikon. The 2nd and 3rd quarters of Uttarashadha are owned by Capricorn and Aquarius respectively, Saturn again. The 4th quarters is owned by Pisces, but Jupiter is not so effective in Pisces.)

When Saturn becomes retrograde like this, the best thing you can do is to discipline your own mind first and foremost. In any way you can. You can do any Puja, Homa, Mantra jaap, charity, prayers, Dhyan, any Sadhana you are drawn to, simple or complicated remedies as you can afford to do. Just be sincere and regular about it. Intention is everything. (I have written several posts on these remedies, do use the Index page to locate these posts, if you wish to read)

Saturn is all about work, he is not emotional about anything. So if you get emotional about things happening, your problems will multiply. Avoid the following stuff during this period, addictions, love-affairs, over-spending, wasting time, wasting resources, risky behaviour, rash driving, speculation, big investments, arguments, buying unnecessary things, confrontations with the boss/ government, litigations, etc. Retrograde Saturn is not a time to start new things in life. (Since Saturn entered Capricorn in Jan 2020, scope for starting new things has reduced. Saturn generally does not allow new things, instead makes you complete your unfinished business. So whatever you have planned when Saturn was in Sagittarius has greater chances of actual growth). There will be reverses in life, disappointments and pain from time to time. Plan your life systematically, look at your long term objectives, your life’s aims, work in a disciplined manner to achieve them. Even if you feel that nothing is moving, persevere, be patient.Temporary attractions are not going to be good for you during this period. Just be honest to yourself about what you really want in life. Saturn is about Reality not imagination. Pragmatic not emotional. Saturn in Capricorn is about sustained work, he will give you all your rewards when he enters Aquarius, but only if you work now. He will actually help you if you decide to work, but if you are lazy, he will ensure punishment too.

These months are full of highly fluctuating energies, things are changing very fast on the energy levels and are not suitable for any major decisions in life. Lie low and let things unfold around you. As it is, all of us are suffering the karmic effects of Ketu in Sagittarius, which include the lock-down, diseases, deaths, economic turmoil, broken relationships, breakdown in some way or the other.

The silver lining is for those who are spiritually inclined, this period can be best used for intense mediations, spiritual activity, jaap, Homa Dhyan etc. This will help recover balance from the confusion around you. Also if you lose focus and get agitated by the chaos on the material levels around you, you will miss this once in a life-time opportunity for Dhyan. So the keyword for this period is to focus on the Self as much as possible and avoid making life-time decisions in haste.

In my personal life, I too am seeing karma on a fast-forward. One blessing is that all this, at least for me, is being resolved in Dhyan or Swapna-awastha. As I had already mentioned in some post, if some prarabdha karma has to be gone through by the body/mind in this life, it can be diverted into the Swapna-awastha. Or with the power of the Dhyan, it automatically shifts to the astral body. (ie If I am supposed to die, I will experience this death in my swapna-awastha or during Dhyan.) The astral body will suffer rather than the physical body. And the astral body recovers faster especially if Dhyan is regular. Personally for me this is the best option. However big the karma is including physical death is complete in the astral, leaving the physical planes free to do even more Dhyan.

Now if you have Saturn retrograde in your birth chart (I have), then the conflicts will be more. You might be more targeted by your boss or you may target your staff. Try to be patient and control your emotional outbursts. Whatever is going to come your way as per your horoscope, try to navigate through it in a pragmatic and dispassionate manner. This will be more intense especially if your birth Saturn is in one of the identified signs above, Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Libra, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces. Or you are going through a Dasha/Antar-dasha/Pratyantra-dasha of Saturn etc.

So many signs are involved just with Saturn’s retrograde. A significant chunk of people are going to go through life’s issues and this will be modulated even more by the other planets’s retrogrades, transits, combustion, eclipse etc which is coming up. We all must be prepared for what is coming up.

Why do planets seem to go retrograde or seem to stop or go faster or slower? There is a very interesting astronomical reason, do read this post to know more.

I have written on Jupiter going retrograde in this post and about Venus retrograde in this post here.

I have written about the karmic events in the year 2020-2021 in this post. The objective of Jyotish is not to get scared, never, this is the science of Light. Learn to use the energies of the time coming up in the most productive manner. Being aware is the first step. Remedies are the next step. And behavioural changes are the final step in this process.