poison & cure: saturn in pisces

This last week of Saturn in Aquarius’s final push though its anaretic 29th degree brought about events that have felt like a sucker punch. But that’s Saturn for you. The keeper of time will have even the strongest and most resilient on their knees praying that most Saturnian of prayers: 

grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can, 

and the wisdom to know the difference

Wisdom: that most difficult, painfully won of Saturn’s gifts. The one that is so often passed on, however covertly, in the arts. 

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Story connects. Heals. Makes us feel less alone. Helps us grieve. Helps us love. Helps us move through collective trauma. 

And collectively, here in the US, we’ve had a lot of trauma to move through.

These last six or so years, Saturn was in Capricorn and then in Aquarius; they're the only planet to be at their strongest, in domicile, in back-to-back signs. And Saturn at their strongest can be helpful, but also difficult; we are either addressing the root rot, or letting it fester and building up armies to defend it. Let’s think about what happened from 2017-2023: Trump, the pandemic, the fall of Roe, an increase in book bans (especially by BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ authors), virulently visible racism and horrific attacks against Black and AAPI communities as well as a marked rise in antisemitism and attacks on synagogues, the Right going after trans kids and outlawing healthcare for minors, 

millions upon millions dead and disabled from a pandemic that our government has failed to adequately address, 

the rise of fascism, most explicitly marked by an attempted coup at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021,

and so much more. 

In publishing, we recently had the PRH antitrust trial, the prolonged Harper strike due to intransigent, greedy executives, the New York Times going on record as a defender of TERFs (throwing its hat in the ring with the aforementioned rise of fascism) and denouncing its own employees who dared disagree with them. The commitment to the status quo, which can be an unfortunate expression of Saturn in domicile, is profound in this industry. 

This is the context in which Saturn enters Pisces. 

Saturn, who picks us up when we fall off our metaphorical bicycle. Who reminds us that the laundry must be done, the groceries must be purchased, the pets must be fed. Who, also, wants us to maintain boundaries with others and most especially with ourselves. Who asks us to make a plan for what we want most — but also, and perhaps more challengingly, what it is we need to heal from. 

Which is where Pisces comes in. 

Saturn offers some structure to Pisces’ infamously vast, oceanic emotional waters and untapped depths. Saturn is not afraid of a visit to the Mariana Trench. 

Saturn knows that in order to access Pisces’ most powerful curative powers, you have to go deeper than you’ve ever gone before. 

Of course, it’s not possible to live, to maintain, to do normal Saturn things — or normal pleasurable Pisces things! — if one is in a state of constant intensity. 

Which is what creating and creation is for. 

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This is especially true when Saturn isn’t alone. Because it’s not just that Saturn is going into Pisces; it’s that Neptune, the Big Dreamer of the cosmos who so loves to push boundaries (and sometimes disappear them entirely) is also (already) there. 

Good for art and literature. Not so good for common sense. This is also a very ripe moment for an explosion of cults and cult-like movements. The Saturn-Neptune story co-presence will continue beyond this Pisces transit, as both planets will enter Aries in a few years. So the extent to which we’ve collectively felt Saturn’s strictness is about to shift dramatically to the other end of the spectrum. 

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Saturn in Pisces often marks very notable artistic and literary periods, which I’ve been doing a fair bit of research on. (Obsessively, you could say.) I had the goal of writing about it, but frankly, it’s just far too much to fit in one or even two newsletters.

So: a seminar. 

This Friday, March 10th, I’ll be giving a talk, Poison & Cure: The Art & Literature of Saturn in Pisces on Zoom at 2pm Eastern. The talk is $25 and will be available for download, and will be available on my website after, so if you can’t make it live, that’s okay.

The seminar will focus on: 

• Saturn in Pisces Themes & Major Events in Literature & Art from the last 500+ Years… 

  • with a special focus on the handful of periods where there was a co-presence with Neptune, as there will be for this transit we are going into

  • highlights: the protestant reformation, the french revolution, romanticism, and so much more (it’s ridiculous)

• … & what that indicates for us moving forward 

With some attention also paid to: 

• Authors and Artists with Saturn in Pisces 

• 20th/21st century authors’ Saturn in Pisces return stories

I hope you’ll join me for what is sure to be a gloriously Saturnian and Piscean deep-dive. 

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Wisdom is so often hard won. These last 500 years of Saturn in Pisces transits highlight that. Thank everything that’s holy for Story, and for the stories that we, in this digital age, have such easy access to. 

Sending you all love and blessings as Saturn moves through the sky and through your life, bringing its banes and blessings alike.

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Thank you for reading this edition of astrology for writers. I am a working writer, and this newsletter is only possible because of folks who support my work with paid subscriptions, which, to me, is rather like a Patreon — an indication of support. If you are interested and able, you can do so here.

Also, registration for How to Write a Book Proposal closes Friday, March 10th. The class begins Saturday, March 11th.