What Saturn Retrograde in Pisces Means for Your Money

Are you ready to return to square one? Saturn stations retrograde this Saturday, June 17th, at 7 degrees Pisces. He's headed back to the beginning of Pisces, equipped with newfound experiential knowledge and ready to refine his approach. This will have ramifications for your finances over the next four-ish months, but retrogrades don't always spell out doom. This is a great time for refining your flow of resources, re-imagining your long-term plans, or even re-dedicating yourself to diligence in your spending. I've written some horoscopes for you below, to get a feel for what Saturn retrograde might mean for your finances specifically. 

Read for your rising sign.

Aries: Childlike joy and curiosity are easier to access than they ever have been, which is good for keeping an open mind when it comes to creatively generating money right now. A subtle shift in course can result in hundreds of miles of difference in trajectory, so it’s important to keep an eye on even the most gentle breeze that comes across your sails in the next few months. Money isn’t meant to be static; your financial situation will ebb and flow like the ocean. Don’t become so wrapped up in the numbers and data and projections that you forget to use money for the purpose of increasing the quality of the present moment for you. Use this time to think deeply, but also to feel deeply, and take as much alone time as you need.  

Taurus: Disappointment can linger in the air once you realize the gravity of a problem or the scope of the mountain you are tasked with climbing. It’s hard to feel optimistic about anything at all when the numbers aren’t adding up for your finances–period. No matter who you are. A huge period of personal renovations is upon you, and your money is among the first areas to be demolished and rebuilt into something better and stronger. Demolishing, in this sense, does not need to spell out financial ruin for you, but it absolutely will require some destruction of foundational patterns or beliefs that are affecting your ability to dream big AND do something about it.

Gemini: You’ve been sacrificing lately in order to further your long-term goals, and it shows. The next 4 months are an opportunity to renegotiate your terms of engagement and clear out the cobwebs. You do actually get a say in who has access to you and when. It doesn’t matter what other obligations or power struggles may be at play. You are embracing introspection before jumping into new financial commitments, and this type of prudence will eventually pay off, even if it’s not pleasurable in the moment or results in a shitload of FOMO. Trust me: right now, you truly aren’t missing out on as much as you think you are. Future you is grateful for all the ways you embrace discipline, big and small, especially when that discipline is financial.  

Cancer: It’s a good time for re-evaluating your financial position in any partnerships or agreements you’ve made with others. This can be as simple as asking for a raise, or more complicated, like restructuring the flow and control of money within your household, but either way, you are supported in making sure that you are compensated fairly for your role(s). If you’re doubting the entire concept of money and your role in it, don’t worry. That’s normal. Spend some time on overdue household chores and contemplate the tending of a vestal flame. How can this devotional approach to the home be applied to your finances?  

Leo: If your entanglements with others have begun to feel expensive, the time for asserting yourself is nigh. You may not be able to separate yourself from some people’s projections of what’s appropriate for you to have in this life–always taking issue with “too much” because it reminds them of their own lack–but you can always separate yourself from the obligation to live up to their projections. It’s okay to have enough, feel like enough, and feel like everything you do is enough, especially when it comes to money. You don’t need to keep yourself small (or broke) just so the shadow you cast from the light never becomes too large.

Virgo: It can be stressful, can’t it, when you begin to build something long-lasting and you realize the concept of forever never really landed with you? Don’t miss out on an opportunity for unexpected gains just because you cannot fathom doing what you’re doing right now for the next 5, 10, 20, even 50 years. You just have to focus on the next step, and the step after that, and the step after that. Your own impatience might be your undoing, so don’t let it get in the way of creating something today that can nurture you and your money forever–and don’t be afraid to do it with a co-pilot. “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”

Libra: If it feels like all you’ve been doing is pressing your nose to the grindstone for little recognition, it might be time to speak up and ask for feedback. Money, as a resource, is great for keeping our basic needs met, but the less tangible needs, like praise, are vital for making it feel like all of this work is worth it. You’re showing up in new ways lately, people are noticing, and it’s time to monetize that attention. You might find people are more generous than you expect, if you give them a little bit of storytelling and vision-casting to chew on first.

Scorpio: This is not the time to be closed off to new ideas or relationships, but it is the time for restructuring in the areas of what feels good. Any new financial endeavors you embark upon at this time must be centered around creating long-term satisfaction for all parties involved. That may seem like obvious advice, but it’s easy to get lost in the possibilities of short-term gains, especially when enterprising minds collide, so keep in mind the ramifications of success. 

Sagittarius: Refinement is the name of the game for your money during this retrograde. Refinement, specifically, of financial systems in your life that work to keep your foundational needs met. This can include the tools you use to budget, but also the way you make money–AKA your job. Refining your financial position via your job or business doesn’t always have to mean a full overhaul. Sometimes it just means getting more specific about what you want and what you’re willing to do in order to get it. 

Capricorn: There is something to be said for returning to square one with a skill or idea you’d assumed you knew everything about, or had covered every single base. Grappling with embarrassment may be your mountain to climb at this moment, but just know that nobody is watching your wallet as closely as you are because they’re watching their own and focusing on surviving, just like you are. While you’re re-examining your skillset to make it more lucrative, be open to the possibility of planting new seeds of creative pursuit.

Aquarius: A retrograde in your second house is not a recipe for financial disaster, but it is an opportunity for devising or revising a plan–particularly when that retrograde planet is Saturn, who loves a well-thought-out plan. This may also mean that payments, contracts, and exchanges are delayed or even fall through, but trust that anything which cannot come to pass in the next four months is being put off for good reason. In the meantime, get better acquainted with your money by examining the roots of your spending patterns.

Pisces: The hamster wheel is indeed spinning beneath your feet, and it’s asking you to put a lot of faith in your ability to build muscle while remaining in the same place. It’s okay if running away from your financial responsibilities sounds tempting; having a feeling is not a crime. However, can this impulse to escape be tempered by a healthy dedication to fostering more depth in your relationships? This may seem counter-intuitive, sure, but diving into work before reaping the benefits can wear down the soul. There are other types of wealth besides just money, but that also doesn’t mean you can blow up your finances every time you feel impatient about the fruits of your labor.

If you’re ADHD like I am, you can utilize “out of sight, out of mind” in your favor when it comes to saving money.

I used to feel bad about the fact that I need to literally hide my own money from myself if I’m going to save up. But that was shame driving, and now shame is locked in the trunk with a gag in its mouth. If you know that you forget about things when they aren’t right in front of you, this can be a great tool for setting cash aside, as long as you do it mindfully. 

What do I mean by mindfully? Give yourself reasonable barriers to access when it comes to money you’re trying to save. 

Use a separate account for savings and even consider opening it under a local credit union or Chime — basically, somewhere that is not the same place where you manage your everyday spending and bills money.

Once the account is open, if you’re given a physical card to access the account, either cut it up and throw it away, or (if that level of restriction doesn’t feel safe for you) ask a trusted person to keep it for you, and give them very clear instructions on when they should allow you to access your money. This should obviously be someone who is trustworthy and feels comfortable maintaining boundaries with you. 

Other reasonable barriers to access: putting your card in a safety deposit box that you have to physically go to, freezing your card in ice, or writing down your login & account info and storing it in a secure (preferably locked) place, not saving any login or account info digitally.

Part of shame-free financial literacy is not only accepting, but embracing the way your brain works, and finding unique systems that work for you. Equipping yourself with financial knowledge, especially when you are neurodivergent, allows you to make more empowered decisions about money, instead of making choices from a place of fear or embarrassment. 

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One of my biggest not-so-secret secrets is that I truly love human beings.

I’m being cheeky here, but really. It’s become so common to have a general disdain towards humans — which makes sense with all the bad behavior a small number of humans keeps getting away with — but I love them. They truly delight me. 

Yes, humans also disappoint me and enrage me and hurt me and let me down. But that’s not the point. I am truly and genuinely fascinated by every aspect of the human experience. I am enthralled at the tiny, mundane details of another person’s life. If it weren’t such a huge violation of privacy, I would read strangers’ diaries just to get to know their brains better. 

I love humans. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I choose to put myself in a position to help humans and to be supported in exchange. You have to know your why before you can ever truly begin something. My why is people. I am delighted at any opportunity to get to know a person better and find out what lights them up inside. I am humbled at the chance to witness humans making decisions that expand the entire scope of their life. I am sobered by the chance to have even a tiny part in another person’s self-realization.

Why did I choose money as my channel to helping humans? Three reasons. One, because money is an inescapable fact of life that I spent a long time trying to escape because I had accumulated so much hurt around the subject of resource. Two, because it’s something I understand, and I want to be of service to humans so I might as well use my understanding of money to expand their understanding of money. And three, because the guidance, encouragement, and healing I offer people in regards to their money is the guidance, encouragement, and healing I needed (and still need).

I love humans. I’m here for the humans who feel like they can never quite get money “right”. I’m here for the humans who feel shame or fear or guilt when they think about money. I’m here for the humans who have tried various healing modalities in hopes that they would also heal your finances. I have been that human. I still am that human! I’m no better than you, I’m just a human on their own journey who is determined to use what they learn to help others on their journeys.

Never settling for good enough keeps us in a constant state of seeking, which is inherently opposite to contentment.

The animal who is always seeking food doesn’t ever experience the contentment of a full belly. The human who is always seeking safety never experiences the contentment of stillness. Always seeking more means that what we have is never, ever enough. This is especially obvious when it comes to money. The constant pursuit of more money, regardless of how much one already has, serves and perpetuates capitalism at its very core.

The idea that there is always something better, something more exciting, something that pays more, something that could fulfill you even 1% more, can keep you from ever experiencing true safety or contentment. This concept erodes many relationships by planting the thought in our heads that if a romantic partner isn’t completely compatible, you can find another one, or if a friendship isn’t serving you 100% of the time, you have the right — or even the responsibility — to ditch that friend and find better ones.

“Better” is a fugazi. It’s a pipe dream. It’s a moving goalpost. Better will always exist just like worse will always exist, and there will always be things you desire that are outside of your reach. In order to settle for good enough, you have to know what good enough even feels like. And if you’re always looking ahead at how something can be better, you are not looking around at how something currently is. You are not allowing yourself to feel the current moment, because manifestation says you need to focus your feelings on already having the better thing or the better situation. You are not supposed to ask yourself, “What if it never gets better than this? What if this is all I need?” because then you would immediately be thrust out of the rat race. 

Your contentment and safety, specifically with your money, is capitalism and imperialism’s worst enemy, but first you have to identify contentment and safety for yourself. Letting go of the constant chase for better is the first step in actually feeling and doing better.

“I’d rather be purposeful over being happy.”

(quote is from this post)

Because you wanna know my dirtiest, most shameful secret? It’s that I actually am quite a happy person. 

I know. Gag me with a telephone pole. 

But it’s true. I’ve been in some devastating situations in my life and even when I felt like I was on fire, I still found a way to feel happiness on a daily basis. And it wasn’t a struggle, either. 

I’m not suggesting that anyone else needs to be like me or that it’s even fathomable for everyone to be like me. It’s just my truth. And happiness, after a while, gets old. 

Or at least, it became not enough for me. I know, again, what a bratty thing to say. But it was true: just achieving happiness was no longer enough for me as a goal, because I had already done that. Or I do that, I should say, because happiness isn’t a constant, just like all emotions. I find happiness on a regular basis, so it’s not really something for me to strive for at this point. 

But you know what I absolutely can and do strive for, and in doing so, uncover so many layers to myself that I never thought could exist? Purpose. And not in the abstract sense of the word, either. I literally want to be of purpose. I would like to be useful. I want to be put to work, in a way that serves anything other than me and my desires.

Perhaps this is a privileged thing to say, but the likelihood of me getting whatever I desire is extremely high, 90% of the time. And I guess I could have settled for enough in that instance and enjoyed a life of relative ease. But for me, purpose was a more thrilling pursuit. And it remains that way even now. I find myself through being of service. I have found where my boundaries are in that regard, too, by positioning myself to be of service to certain people a little too much in the past. But ultimately, I would so much rather be purposeful over happy. The happiness will come and go, as all things do.

It’s okay if your income reaches a plateau.

In fact, it’s normal. It’s capitalism that tells us the mark of a strong business or a sound investment is consistently producing more income. 

But that’s not possible, let alone feasible. An infinite growth model is a pipe dream. Our planet cannot physically sustain that much economic expansion. Everything reaches a plateau at some point. But capitalism tells us we need to push through these plateaus and innovate or produce enough so the profits continue to grow. Settling into a level of income that’s more or less steady is seen as just that: settling. 

Some people run from this idea, thinking that a plateau in revenue means their market is saturated or that they need to step up their individual earning potential somehow. Some people are traumatized by poverty and find a sense of control by earning more and more and more, building up some sort of stockpile of security for the day when their income flow is inevitably cut off, because their trauma taught them that the flow is always cut off eventually.

Some people have internalized the idea that their income is a measure of their value, and when the income stops growing it must mean they are no longer progressing as a person. I just need to add more value, as if who you are and what you offer isn’t valuable enough already. I would challenge those people to examine why constant progress is seen as a mark of their goodness or worthiness (hint: it has to do with the infinite growth model I mentioned already).

Many of us are told not to settle for “good enough” in many areas of life, most notably in relationships and our financial situation. But what is that constant seeking, constant yearning for something better, constant striving for progress if not just repackaged pressure to be in an infinite state of growth?

Just like stability, perpetual growth without stagnation or decay is almost unheard of in the natural world.  Capitalism exists inherently in opposition to the natural laws of our planet because it insists that growth can continue on endlessly, or that a state of perfect stasis can be achieved and maintained ad infinitum. What if you set those expectations down, and allowed yourself to stagnate? What if —gasp— you allowed yourself to decay? What would happen if you discovered what is enough for you, and then fucking settled for it?

Constant growth is impossible. Stability is fleeting. But enough can bring you true safety and self-acceptance, if you allow it to transform you rather than scare you. 

It’s not your job to manage other people’s sensitivity to rejection.

Even if you are someone who is also sensitive to rejection or perceived rejection, it’s still not your job. I would even argue it’s especially not your job. 

Your job is to understand your own values and limits so you can set boundaries accordingly. Your job is to show up as authentically as you can muster, even when it means disappointing another person or obliterating their previously held image of you. Your job is to figure out what a strong and profound yes feels like so you can also identify when you feel a strong and profound no. Your job is to honor that no.

It is not your job to uphold the inauthentic or incorrect image of you that others may hold in their minds. It is not your job to correct that image, either. It is not your job to be inauthentic so that others don’t have to feel rejection or discomfort or embarrassment. You can let that all go, set it down, walk away from it.

Leaks in your boundaries can easily become leaks in your finances: that broke friend you regularly buy food for and genuinely don’t mind it, but occasionally you need to say no to them because an expense has come up in your life and you don’t know how to say no because you understand their situation so well, having been there before yourself, and you hate the thought of embarrassing them or causing them to go without so you allow your finances to take an unnecessary hit just to avoid saying no and potentially letting someone down. 

If this sounds oddly specific, it’s because I have been this person before. Everything I write and teach comes from lived experience. If this sounds oddly familiar, it’s because you’re probably in the right place to be reading this right now. Take a deep breath, let it out slowly, and breathe out the part of you that is still attempting to manage other people’s emotions and compensate for their inner battles. Rinse and repeat as many times as it takes. Remember that while it is everyone’s job to show up with compassion and take care of each other, that should not require you to sacrifice your safety on a regular basis.

Financial safety can mean any number of things.

Are your finances emergency-proof? Is the amount of money coming in always greater than the amount going out? Can you confidently make purchases or pay bills without checking your account first? Do you pay certain recurring expenses 3, 6, or even 12 months up front?

Yeah, me neither. 

So. Many. People. Never experience financial safety. But we all deserve it. For me, financial safety is measured by how little I actually need to think about money. It might mean something different for you, and I’m here to help you nail down that definition for yourself so you can begin confidently pursuing it.

You aren’t an evil capitalist for wanting to create a life where safety includes having more than enough money.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting money beyond what is needed for your survival. Simply surviving is the first goal, but it doesn’t have to be the only goal. Most people want to do more than “just get by”, and that’s okay. 

I think a lot of folks are nervous to admit that they want to have more money than they need. Which makes sense, right? All around us, every single day, we see examples of people who have WAY more money than they need doing terrible things. As a result, we think it’s more respectable or reasonable to say, “I just want a simple life where my needs are met, I don’t need extravagance or luxury.” And it’s okay to want that too, but how often are we shrinking ourselves in order to not appear greedy or capitalistic?

I propose that there is a middle ground to this, and it’s not just based on an amount of money. There is a place you are allowed to exist that is in between “just getting by” and “hoarding valuable resources.” You can establish a baseline of safety for yourself and then decide that you want a little more than safety. It’s okay to want exciting! It’s okay to want thrilling. It’s also okay to want simple. It’s okay to want routine. It’s okay to want luxury.

What’s not okay is it exploiting labor and our planet’s resources to generate more money than a single person could spend in a lifetime and then doing nothing to distribute those life-affirming resources. The good news is, 99% of humans aren’t doing that.

I want you to take a deep breath right now and tell yourself that it’s okay to want whatever amount of income you’ve been daydreaming about, and it’s okay to pursue it. The trepidation is very real, because we have all been harmed by capitalism and resource hoarding, but if I can be cliché for a moment here, we need to start becoming the changes we wish to see. If you hate the trickle-up economics we are seeing on a large scale, then you are welcome to dedicate yourself to becoming a conduit of resource rather than a black hole. If you’re sick of the way money is distributed globally, then you are welcome to distribute money in the ways that are possible locally. 

You don’t have to be mega-rich to do this. We’ve already seen how little the mega-rich are willing to do for the collective, how they cling to their resources out of fear that they might have to experience “just getting by” or the 24/7 attack on your nervous system that is struggling under capitalism. 

Through my experiences with humans I have arrived at the belief that the majority of people want to do good. Most people, when they talk about the reasons why they desire more money, include being able to redistribute funds to their communities. Most people envision wealth as a state where they are consistently “giving back,” in whichever ways are important to them. 

So, let’s add it all up. The majority of people believe that everyone deserves to have their needs met, plus a little extra. The majority of people believe in distribution of wealth. And the majority of people are afraid to pursue wealth in case they are perceived as greedy. You see where this is going?

You are free to define what safety and wealth mean to you, personally and financially, and then pursue them. Unless your goals include becoming a resource-hoarding billionaire, you aren’t hurting anyone by achieving financial safety. 

The elephant in the room.

I don’t believe that we need to over-specify when we’re discussing our own personal experiences within a movement or a market or a community. It’s a waste of precious time to come up with counter-arguments on the front end just in case anyone has an issue with your testimony. I don’t need to disclaim that these are my experiences, but I want to address something.

It is a fact that manifestation, LOA, spiritual money coaches, and concepts of that ilk bring positive results to many people’s lives. I am not against the idea or act of manifestation in the slightest. Even today, I am in a constant process of reframing my relationship to it. I believe that we are all in a constant state of co-creation, and our realities are constructed by these collective manifestations that we don’t always have control over. I believe that the universe is not actually waiting at your beck and call to deliver every single one of your whims or desires. I believe that everyone deserves enough resource (including money) to have their needs met and then some, at a level that allows us to be truly safe and expand our world as we see fit, and I acknowledge that in late-stage capitalism, and for people who live at intersections of oppression, this can be a colossal uphill battle. 

What I am not for is the way white supremacy has infected the zeitgeist of manifestation and money. I am not for coaches and “manifestation experts” who sling their ideas around without even attempting to be trauma-informed or build in accommodations for neurodivergence, then make money selling these courses to an audience who’s been deceived by clever marketing and unethical sales tactics, and claim that they “manifested it, and you can too,” and if it’s not working, then you did it wrong. I am not for the people who say “your thoughts create your reality” to those with intrusive thoughts, or to trauma survivors. I am not for any “leader” who tells you that your emotions can be controlled, and that they must be “mastered” before you can access abundance. 

The people I am here for are the people who have been burned by these coaches and communities, and/or are burnt out on the constant crawl towards that unknowable quantity, “stability”. I’m here for people who have reached their breaking point with money, either now or in the past, and are tired of being told that the only path to financial freedom means being an entrepreneur and hustling 24/7/365. I’m here for the NDs, the autistics, the ADHD brains who are sloughing off layers and layers of shame that have been placed on them over a lifetime because they aren’t “good at money”. I created this business because that is who I am and that has been my story for a very long time.

So, if what you’re doing is working for you, keep doing it. This space is not a space where you need to defend yourself. It’s important to me that I address the flaws of a system and how it can easily be weaponized to manipulate people. But it doesn’t mean the whole concept is broken.