D I Astrology 11 : Is Sade Sati a Blessing !

Start calling SadeSati (SS) a blessing, and people will believe you have gone nuts. However, today’s minority opinion is surprisingly the Seer’s opinion who composed the fundamentals of Jyotish!

SadeSati’s literal translation is seven and a half. Then, why is it associated with so much dread?

Well, this seven and half year period is ruled by Shani. Let us understand it’s creation. Every person born has a Moon sign, say Ramesh was born with Aries as his moon sign. Keep this in mind. The critical component of the SS is Saturn. Shani’s motion is what creates SadeSati. Saturn takes two and a half years to traverse a sign. Thus in seven and a half years, Shani will cover three signs. So which are these three signs that Saturn needs to cover to cause SS? Take our example client Ramesh; we said he was born in Aries. SS is Saturn’s travel in three signs, first, the sign just before the moon sign, then, the moon sign, and then the one immediately after the moon sign. Thus, in Ramesh’s case, his SS will start when Saturn enters Pisces (before Aries), Aries itself, and Taurus (immediately after Aries.) These three signs constitute Ramesh’s SS period.

Another example, some Suresh was born with Virgo as the moon sign, then SS begins when Saturn enters Leo, moves in Virgo, and exits Libra. This round of seven and half years is the SS. This period is associated with Saturn. Our TV serials portray Shani as some villain, astrologers build tales around fear of Shani. Sadly, no one understands what he stands for.

Saturn in Jyotish the planet of Karm, please do not mistake this term as justice (Indian philosophy does not have the concept of judgment).

Karm can loosely be stated as a duty. Saturn is the planet that one’s soul has authorized to take control of one’s duties and their executions, which he does to balance the soul’s actions in a past life.

With the vilification of Shani, we all see him as some bad person and how he is hell-bent on avenging (god knows what), but he is not, he is not Faizal, he is not the “Sabka Badla Lega re Tera Faizal” types at all. Again understand that there is no concept of justice in Indian philosophy. Nevertheless, Shani is always portrayed as the judge and the executioner, the planet who will judge one’s actions and punish, push one into hell (not an Indian concept either).

The stories depict Shani as some vindictive person, who, for no mistake of a person, or for just having scratched his ego, will hurl the person to the nadirs of wretched poverty, dreaded diseased. This fear psychosis is genuinely the “master” weapon of an astrologer, which he will use to dole money out of you. With a grim face, he will remark, “hmm, Mushkeel hain Agale Kuch Saal, Shani Maharaj ki Vakra Drishti Hogi Aap pe, Aaapki SS Shuru hogi.” Naturally, the sacred client wants to know what he should do to get away from this villainous Shani, and that is the cue for the astrologer to give the client some classic sounding remedies and charge a hefty sum. In reality, the remedies are absolutely not needed for SS, and even if one wishes to carry out some remedies, then these are so simple that anyone can do it free of cost. The nature of these remedies’ simplicity is counterproductive; people will pay an excessive sum for odd remedies.

As per Jyotish, SS is seven and half year journey to “find” oneself. For gold to shine, it has to pass the test of fire, which applies to human beings. To get the gold within, one will have to face few trying times to emerge as enlightened beings. SS is an eye-opening experience, wherein all that false falls away. Any relations, friends, relatives, etc., who were never true will fade away. Any work started during SS will endure for a long time; it may not reap results immediately but will bring wonders after many years. What is needed is hard work; this is the only principle that Saturn is interested in teaching. During SS, when Shani takes control, he wants to create an appreciation for hard work. Cutting corners, trying to escape hard work, is futile; Shani will patiently keep creating circumstances wherein sincere hard work is the only way out. The acceptance of this fact is the release from the tough time of SS.

Shani’s goal during SS is to prepare; prepare for a life that is ahead—teaching patience as a way out of failures. Work without expecting the Phal (Fruit). There is not much to SS apart from pure, simple learning. Thus the more a native resists change and is adamant not to learn the worth of hard work, the more difficult times the native faces during SS. Nevertheless, the noble teacher, Shani, always gets blamed.

SS can make one go from rags to riches; such a description will never come from an astrologer. As this will not help him spread the fear of the dreaded judge Shani. Not that every astrologer does that, sometimes the client is self bothered with these fears when he approaches the astrologer. The astrologer is dutybound to allay the client’s fears and educate on the benefits of SS.

Understanding the role of the Moon Sign.

We might wonder, why is the moon sign taken into account for defining SS?

The Moon indicates the mind in astrology, which means SS is more of a psychological thing. In astrology Moon is the reason we are born; its placement shows us our true make. That is where Shani focuses itself on shoving us in the right direction.

Another fear/boldness of a few that arises from SS is that some signs do not face it, while some signs do. This logic is just absurd. Shani does not discriminate; he is the hard taskmaster irrespective of any sign. So, where does this logic come from?

We all know the Planets rules sign; they have ownership over signs shown in the table below.

Like us, humans, the Planets have their relationships, which generally can be labeled with friends, neutral or enemies. Thus depending on which sign Saturn is, its results will get affected.

Let us consider our example of Ramesh, Pisces, Aries, and Taurus are his signs of SS. Thus Jupiter, Mars, and Venus will play a role during SS. Saturn considers Mercury and Venus a friend, while Sun, Moon, and Mars are enemies and has a Neutral disposition towards Jupiter. Thus in Ramesh’s case, when Saturn is in Pisces, he is in a neutral person’s house. In Aries, Saturn is in enemy houses, while in Taurus, it is a friend’s house. The results will get diluted or have some shade of the relationship. However, make no mistake, he will still be the stern taskmaster. Saturn will make fishes less dreamy show them the reality of the realm. He will make the Ram work with focussed energy instead of running all over. While in Taurus, Saturn will make the bull work diligently and make him aware vanity is a waste of time.

What we have seen so far is just a glimpse of a few things. However, people assume since Saturn is in the friend’s sign, they will have no hard time; it does not work that way. Some say Saturn in Leo is terrible; he is in an enemy sign and will be the worst SS. That is not how planetary relations work; yes, in Leo, Shani is in his Father’s sign, whom he holds as his enemy. Sun represents the bloated ego, which Shani hates; any person with Leo as a moon sign will be aware of the large ego, even people around him/her will be aware of it. The only thing that Shani wants from Leo is to drop the ego, learn a bit of humility, that all. By nature, Leo will not do it, thus face more hardship. When Shani is staying in Capricorn, it wants the capris to learn handwork, as its Saturn own sign, Capri is armed with handwork, so during SS, it works hard just like usual, thus feels less heat from Saturn.

Here are few remedies for SS, which anybody can follow throughout life, irrespective of the SS; as simple they seem, these are quite hard to do consistently, but they never fail.

1. 1. Be humble 
   2. Be respectful to elders, help the elders 
   3. Please respect the work done by our maids, our co-workers, especially those who work under us
   4. Feed any needy person
   5. Feed animals, birds
   6. Furthermore, most importantly, work hard, learn diligence and perseverance. 

That is all that is to Sadesati.

Keep your nose down and keep working. Is that hard?

As SS is made of three signs, it is safe to say at any given time, 1/4th of the world’s population is under SS. It does not mean all will have the same effects. Depending on the individual, the results will be different, but the learning process will remain the same. The quicker one accepts the reality of Saturn, the earlier he/she starts enjoying the SS. We can end with the adage – for gold to shine, it has to pass through the fire; there is no other way out, especially no short cuts.