Sadhe-Sati of Shani (Saturn) is probably one of the most common topics often used in discussions by astrologers and general people alike. From Bollywood to the local priest, everyone has given their contribution in creating the hype or the myth of Sadhe-Sati. And then there have been those who have thought of it as harmless or a blessing as well. But who is right and who is wrong? Who should you believe in and who should you not?
In this post, I’m going to cover in great detail all aspects of Sadhe-Sati and how it can be good or bad. And a disclaimer before that, whatever I am talking about is based strictly on astrological principles. There is not an iota of information here which is what I “assume to be true”.
Fair warning though, this may change a lot of your opinion about Sadhe-Sati, maybe for the positive or maybe for the negative.
What is Sadhe-Sati?
Sadhe-Sati simply translates to “the seven and a half”! It is the transit of a Saturn over three consecutive houses. Since Saturn takes 2.5 years to move through one zodiac sign, it takes 7.5 years (2.5*3) to transit through three consecutive signs. It is this transit that is called a sadhe-sati.The general idea of Sadhe-Sati that you would have is that of the transit of Saturn from the three signs around the natal moon. Which is to say, if Moon is in Taurus, Sadhe-Sati is from when Saturn enters Aries to when it leaves Gemini. So, let us begin a complete analysis of the dreaded Sadhe-Sati.
Why Saturn?
Quite a lot of planets transit the moon from time to time. Why then is Saturn a planet of special interest? Simply put, it is because of Saturn’s nature.
Firstly, Saturn is a slow planet, and transits very slowly. Which means, its effect is always lasting and long term. Put a hand in fire for a second, and put another for a minute, you’ll know what difference speed can make! Because Saturn is slow, it creates major impacts in our life. Fast-moving planets bring about a temporary or short-term changes. Slow moving ones bring about long-term changes. Hence, whatever Saturn’s transit effects are, they’re visible for a very long time and happen in the most critical walks of our life.
Secondly, Saturn is naturally the planet of restriction. It brings about scarcity, it is its very fundamental nature. It is for this reason its aspect or “drishti” is feared. It is capable of changing abundance into scarcity.
Hence, Saturn’s transit brings scarcity to the object of transit. And hence its transit is considered the most important!
Why Moon?
Moon is the karaka for mind. It is one of the most important planets in any horoscope and just an analysis of the Moon can give you a complete overview of the person. There are several texts that give great importance to Moon. Sometimes even over the lagna.
Since Moon is the karka of mind, it controls all your emotions and relationships. Hence, any afflictions to moon directly affects your life. Think for a moment, suppose you are a billionaire with all the luxuries of the world, but you love someone and that person is gone. You get so saddened by it, that you spend your days and nights crying. What then is the value of your wealth? Its existence or in-existence doesn’t even matter. On the other hand, what if you lose more than 80% of your wealth but your wife is still with you (and you love her like a maniac). What difference does the gone money makes? You still have enough to live your life in luxury.
This is the difference between results that afflict the moon and results that don’t afflict the moon. If something afflicts the moon, it would bring pain beyond control. If something doesn’t afflict the moon, it would be a loss but it would be acceptable. Hence, Moon is the primary planet for Sadhe-Sati. Sadhe-Sati brings about pain and suffering because whatever result it would produce, the results would be such that they would do the maximum damage to your mind and emotions.
Why Transit?
Before Dasha became so popular, transit was the method of prediction. In the earliest days, transit was the favored method, which is why all ancient books talk of transits but all modern ones cover dasha. When I say modern, I mean the past few millenniums.
When dasha system came into being, it became a child’s play to make predictions (not that dashas are easy, but the problem back then was something else). You need not constantly keep a track of the stars and the planets. Calculations done by anyone at the time of casting the horoscope were enough to predict the entire life (note that there were no computers then, you might have seen the earlier rolls of “janam patri” or horoscopes made in India, those were huge with all the calculations already done). Hence, Dasha became the preferred method because its accuracy was very close to that of transit. However, since dasha is static, transits never went out of fashion. They remained a very strong prediction tool although they were then used by the select few. But over the time, it was seen that the dasha system cannot predict certain major events in one’s life because of their static nature. Hence, a few concepts of transit were included in the method for prediction which dashas failed to include. These were Sadhe-Sati, ashtam Shani, etc.
Results of Sadhe-Sati:
Simply put, Sadhe-Sati is likely to bring about problems in the most important areas of your life. And trust me I am not exaggerating this. Mind has the habit of clinging to things, and Saturn has the habit of restricting the mind. It would bring about distancing with things that are the most important to your mind. If you think you’ll die without your spouse, you will have problems with your spouse during Sadhe-Sati. If you desire name fame and reputation the most and live only for reputation, you would suffer in that respect during Sadhe-Sati.
Sadhe Sati will bring about those problems that are most likely to disturb you emotionally and mentally. Which is why it is one of the most dreaded phases. However, there is more to it.
Usually, Sadhe-Sati brings about the death of a relative or a friend. It brings about changes over the time.
Moon is the fastest planet, and Saturn is the slowest. In Sadhe-Sati, Moon’s speed becomes restricted by Saturn. Moon represents the mind which is often regarded as the fastest entity in the universe. It can travel from one thought to another in a second. It does a lot of things at once. If Saturn afflicts moon, its speed is reduced. As a result, errors in judgement, mistakes, regrets increase. The mind becomes slow and biased. It cannot be as agile and active as it should be and hence errors happen.
The three Sadhe-Satis in one’s life:
In general the first Sadhe-Sati gives more of physical and health issues. It is so because the role of Moon in the early years of life is that of indicating health and longevity. In their first Sadhe-Sati a person is of 0–25 years of age.
In the second Sadhe-Sati of life, the person is approximately in the middle age. It is there that most mental setbacks are observed.
The third Sadhe-Sati is the one that usually ends with the death of the person. A person in their third Sadhe-Sati is around 60–90 years of age.
The first Sadhe-Sati (if negative) brings about troubles to the grand-parents. The second Sadhe-Sati brings problems to parents, and the third Sadhe-Sati brings problems to the individual themselves.
The three Phases of Sadhe-Sati:
The first phase sets the premise of what you can expect in the Sadhe-Sati. If the first 2 years are not going good, prepare yourself mentally that you life is about to go through a major change. The more you become eager to adapt it and make way for it, the more positive the results would start to get. The more you cling to your life and restrict changes, the more you will suffer.
The second phase is where the major impact is felt. Learn to be rigid, calm and composed. Else, if Sadhe-Sati is going bad, it can give very difficult circumstances.
The third phase is of conclusion, where new opportunities show up and a new life begins. It would still have the pain of the past but would provide you the base to start afresh.
Is Sadhe-Sati bad for everyone?
Not really! It is not bad for most people. Sadhe-Sati gives the most prominent results to those who are dictated by their mind. Who are emotionally vulnerable or who are too controlled by their mind. If your Moon is strong, Sadhe-Sati will not harm you. In fact, given that it detaches you from things, it might become the golden period of your life.
However, the more the afflictions to the moon and lagna, the stronger the effects of Sadhe-Sati would be there. Other than that, several rules that make the Sadhe-Sati positive are:
- If sign is owned by Saturn.
- Friendly signs to Saturn do not give very negative results.
- If Moon is strong, results are positive.
- If the horoscope is strong, results are positive.
- If the dasha is very favorable, negative effects get neglected.
- If benefics aspect the transit signs, either in natal chart or in transit, results are not as bad.
- If Moon is in exchange, results are not bad.
- In kendra or trine, Sadhe-Sati is less malefic.For ascendants and Moon signs friendly to Saturn, results are less bad.
Is there something else to know about Sadhe-Sati?Indeed!
- Sadhe-Sati of each planet:
What if I were to tell you that Sadhe-Sati is not just a 7.5 years period, but goes on for almost all of your life? What if I tell you that you’re living with Sadhe-Sati even right now, though Saturn is not transiting the signs surrounding your natal moon!
Sadhe-Sati occurs everytime Saturn transits over a planet. When it transits over the Moon, it brings about restrictions to Moon, when it transits Mercury, it restricts Mercury and so on.
So, while transit over moon brings about problems on a mental level, transit from different points bring about different results. Sometime good, if the planets and signs are strong; and sometimes bad if the planets and signs are weak or afflicted.
In quite a lot of cases, Sadhe-Sati over Mercury restricts education, growth and results. However, it doesn’t create hassle because it doesn’t affect the mind. If the same were to happen during Sadhe-Sati from Moon, the bad results would have brought total unrest to the person!
- Navamsha Sadhe-Sati:
Sadhe-Sati gives its results when Saturn transits the Sadhe-Sati signs in Navamsha. For example, if your Moon is in Gemini, then Taurus Gemini and Cancer are your Sadhe-Sati signs. So, your Sadhe-Sati would begin when Saturn enters Taurus. However, even if Saturn is transiting Aries, it would be transiting in the Taurus Navamsha when it moves between 3′20″ Aries to 6′40″ Aries. From 6′40″ to 10′00″ it would be in Gemini navamsha and then from 10′00″ to 13′20″ it would be in Cancer navamsha. Hence, this entire duration from 3′20″ to 13′20″, Saturn would be transiting the navamsha signs that correspond to your Sadhe-Sati signs. These would also give similar effects as that of Sadhe-Sati but on a smaller level.
Also, the worst phase of Sadhe-Sati is when Saturn transits the three signs in Rashi as well as navamsha. For example, For Aries Moon, If Saturn is between 0′00″ Aries to 3′20″ Aries, it is both in Aries Navamsha and Aries sign. Hence, the affliction would be more.
- Remedies for Sadhe-Sati:
First and foremost, get a grip on yourself. Saturn is the dharma-raj or the god of justice. It won’t take away something unfairly from you. If you fail, it won’t be because Saturn made you fail, you would fail because you must have done something in your desperation to score good that would have proven counter-productive.
Saturn, by its very nature, cannot do injustice and it cannot bring miseries to righteousness. If you work hard in your job, you are honest towards it and you have done nothing wrong, it won’t cost you defamation. Things might move in a way that you may lose your job, but as long as you hold tight and remain dedicated to your goals, you will be able to overcome the problems very quickly.
Saturn is the karma karaka or the significator of actions, if at all it makes you suffer know that somewhere deep within your actions are at the root of your suffering. The quicker you identify and change, the more convenient it would be to begin afresh.
Thirdly, Sadhe-Sati brings about major changes on an emotional and on a physical level. Mostly, it has a change of place or a change of work associated with it. The person changes too, at an emotional and mental level. Becomes wiser and mature.
Fourth, keep your mind under control. Learn to let go and start afresh. Whatever Saturn makes you lose, it is either for the best or it was destined to happen that way. If you lose your parents, it was a bound to happen. If you lose a relationship, you would do much better without it as soon as you let it go.
Remember, while Saturn is malefic, harsh, and painful; it is never evil! If there is one planet that would never bring you more pain that you have yourself earned, it is Saturn. And even if it brings you the pain, the pain is such that it is meant to teach you something and make you a little better than before.
Remedies for Moon are recommended in Sadhe-Sati. Other than that, an iron ring, or a panchdhatu (5 metal) ring, or a horseshoe ring is advised to be worn in the middle finger.
Meditation would prove especially beneficial in Sadhe-Sati. Other than that, the one thing that is a must for anyone undergoing Sadhe-Sati is to adopt honest ways, a good character, and keep their mind in control.
Always think at least 10 times on 10 different days in 10 different moods before taking a decision. I don’t mean 10 literally, but always make sure that you have thought about the situation in every possible way and you are going with the most appropriate, ethical, right, justified, and practical solution. Impulses would be harmful.
Sadhe-Sati is like a river flowing to the ocean in full force. You cannot swing against the flow, so it is best to let the river take you to the final destination. The more you struggle, the more you suffer.
Note: All negative aspects are valid only if Sadhe-Sati is giving bad results or going to give bad results. Otherwise, in many cases Sadhe-Sati does not give negative effects. In such a case, the only negative effects felt are death in family and frustration (either due to work overload, or day to day problems which are not very major or critical).
So that was all I thought of sharing with you about Sadhe-Sati. If there are any topics you wish to be covered, do write in the comments below.
