Right now, we’re between eclipses and Saturn’s last stand in Aquarius before he joins the Pisces pile-up about a hour after the end of the solar eclipse on March 28/29. Here’s what that will look like:
The “12” in the chart here represents Pisces, which is the 12th sign in the zodiac.
Yes, indeed, on March 28/29 (depending on where you live in the world), the day of the eclipse, there will be five planets in Pisces in the sidereal zodiac: Sun, Moon, retrograde Venus, retrograde Mercury, Saturn and the North Node, Rahu.
Having this many planets in one sign is in itself unusual. However, the rarest element is the meet up of slow-moving Rahu and Saturn.
Rahu takes 18 months to move through a sign. Whenever he changes signs, it indicates a shift in the house in your chart where the eclipses fall, stirring things up and bringing change. The sign change won’t happen just yet, so more on that in a later post.
Slow-poke Saturn takes 2.5 years to change signs, so this shift is also significant. When he enters a new house in your chart, he brings the potential for maturity, hard work and discipline on the one hand, but struggle, constriction and set backs on the other.
As for Rahu and Saturn coming together in the same sign, this happens every 11 to 12 years. The last time was between September 2013 to October 2014 in the sign of Libra. This April echoes an earlier meet up of these two malefic planets – but more on that later.
The Unsettling Winds of Rahu and Saturn
When Rahu and Saturn come together in conjunction, the atmosphere becomes heavy, and charged with uncertainty. Both are vāyu planets – forces of wind and movement – but their natures are different. Saturn is the slow, grinding wind of time, bringing pressure, weight, and fear. Shadow planet Rahu is restless, unpredictable, and swirling with confusion. Together, they create a storm, a disturbance that can be deeply unsettling.
Saturn’s influence tightens, restricts, and brings a sense of burden, while Rahu agitates the mind, scattering thoughts and distorting perception. It can be difficult to feel stable when these forces are at play. Emotionally, there may be waves of fear and anxiety, an underlying sense that something is off but without a clear understanding of why.
On a physical level, vāyu imbalances like this can manifest as tension in the body, nervous exhaustion, or disrupted sleep. The system is overstimulated – either feeling stuck and weighed down or caught in a restless loop of overthinking. It’s as though a kite has lost its string in the wind, carried without control, unsure of where it will land. The feeling of being ungrounded, both mentally and physically, is one of the defining struggles of this conjunction.
It’s important to bear in mind that this combination won’t effect everyone in exactly the same way when in transit. Next week, I’ll publish a post on how it might show up for you personally, depending on your chart. But for now, let’s move on to a little lesson.
What April 2025 has in common with 1968
The last time we had a Pisces pile up when Rahu and Saturn were in the sign was in April of 1968.
Here’s a chart with each of the planets which are now – or will soon be – in Pisces at the beginning of next month.
Here’s the chart on the same date (April 4) in 1968 – the date and time Martin Luther King was shot.
Even if you don’t know how to read a Vedic astrology chart, you can still see there are a lot of similarities between these two in terms of planetary placements. However, there are also some differences which I’ll get to later.
First, let’s talk a little about Pisces.
Jupiter, Akash, and the disruptions of Saturn and Rahu
Jupiter is the planet of wisdom, expansion, and divine connection. It rules Pisces, making this sign naturally open to higher understanding, peace, and intuitive connection.
Because Jupiter works through the Akash element – the subtle space that allows thoughts, emotions, and energy to flow freely – Pisces helps people feel deeply connected to each other and the universe. When Akash is strong, there’s an effortless sense of harmony, clear intuition, and spiritual ease. It’s like being in a group where everything just falls into place – everyone feels welcome, at ease, and part of something greater, without needing to force it.
When Saturn or Rahu enters Pisces, this balance gets disrupted. Saturn, being heavy and rigid, suppresses the fluidity of Akash, making people feel isolated, restricted, or disconnected from their inner peace. Rahu, on the other hand, distorts Akash by creating illusions and mental restlessness, making it harder to distinguish truth from deception. Instead of feeling connected and at ease, there’s confusion, anxiety, and a sense of being lost. Both of these planets interfere with the natural flow that Pisces offers, making it a time when people must consciously work to restore clarity and calmness.
1968 and the Spring of 2025
The year 1968 was a firestorm of protests, uprisings, and violent clashes across the world. In the US, cities burned after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, riots erupting as grief turned to rage. Anti-Vietnam War protests flooded the streets, with police beating down demonstrators at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
In France, millions of students and workers took over universities and factories, shaking the government to its core. In Czechoslovakia, the hope of freedom under the Prague Spring was crushed by Soviet tanks rolling through the streets. In West Germany, students protested against the Vietnam War, authoritarianism, and the lingering influence of former Nazis in government. After student leader Rudi Dutschke was shot in an assassination attempt, protests erupted across the country, with demonstrators blaming right-wing media for fueling violence. Clashes with police intensified, further radicalizing the student movement.
Elsewhere, governments cracked down hard. In Mexico City, just days before the Olympics, soldiers opened fire on student protesters in the Tlatelolco massacre, leaving bodies scattered in the square. Across South America, dictatorships silenced dissent with prisons and death squads. In Japan, radical student movements clashed with police over American influence and economic policies. Even in Africa, resistance movements fought against colonial rule and apartheid, facing brutal repression. Everywhere, 1968 was a year of raw defiance, where people rose up demanding change, and power struck back to keep control.
The 2025 echoes of ‘68
The current protests of 2025 echo the unrest of 1968, with people worldwide rising up against government oppression, war, economic inequality, and social injustice. This goes beyond protests in the United States again Trump, Musk and co.
In Europe, protests have spread across Germany and France over economic inequality, while Hungary faces backlash against its anti-LGBTQ+ laws. In Serbia, student-led protests after a deadly railway station collapse forced the Prime Minister’s resignation. In Turkey, the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu – seen as a political move – has led to mass demonstrations against Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government.
The Middle East and Africa are also witnessing major unrest. In Syria, peaceful demonstrators at the Tishrin Dam were attacked by Turkish drone strikes, killing dozens, yet protests continue daily. In Israel and Gaza, the collapse of a ceasefire has sparked worldwide demonstrations calling for peace. In Nigeria, South Africa, and Sudan, people are demanding government accountability, economic reform, and democratic rights.
In short, across the world, the themes of 1968 – resistance to war, oppression, and inequality – are playing out once again, as people challenge those in power and demand change.
These types of protests and unrest are likely to increase in April, especially in the first two weeks. April 10 - 12 may be particularly intense, as Saturn and Rahu will be perfecting their conjunction.
But here’s why 2025 is not a second 1968
As we head into April, it may seem that the world is falling into the sometimes out of control unrest of 1968. We are already seeing signs of this as Saturn inches ever closer to his entrance into Pisces, as I’ve summarized above.
However, it’s important to take a step back for clarity – something difficult to come by in these fearful, anxious days – and analyze how the Rahu-Saturn Pisces pile up hurricane of 2025 will be different than the one that happened almost 60 years ago.
Here are the differences:
Saturn and Rahu were together in Pisces from January 11 until late June 1968, and then again in October, when Saturn retrograded back into Pisces, until the beginning of 1969; their exact conjunction occurred on May 1, 1968.
Saturn will join Rahu in Pisces on March 29, but Rahu has already been in this sign since November 29, 2023
The two planets will be in Pisces together until May 18, 2025, when Rahu moves into Aquarius. Their exact conjunction will occur on April 12.
In other words, although the intensity is similar between April/May 1968 and April/May 2025, it continued over a much longer period in ‘68 – over a year as opposed to a little over six weeks this time around.
However, since this stormy Pisces pileup involves a solar eclipse, we can still expect to feel its effect over the next six months.
A difference in Nakshatra
Pisces is the last sign in the zodiac, which means it is inherently associated with dissolution, release, endings, and merging into a new whole.
In April of 1968, when a similar Pisces pileup, Rahu and Saturn were in Revatī.
The last of the 27 nakshatras, Revatī is connected to transitions, endings, and the movement from one state to another. It marks the closure of a cycle and the preparation for something new, often reflecting collective shifts or dissolutions on a broad scale. It is a related to nourishment and the ability to transcend that which must now fall away.
When Rahu is in Revatī, its chaotic, disruptive energy meets this nakshatra’s themes of dissolution and transition. This can result in mass confusion, miscommunication, or collective anxiety, especially around systems meant to guide or protect (both Revatī themes).
When Saturn is in Revatī, its restrictive, karmic nature can bring delays or collapses in the very systems Revatī governs. Saturn in this nakshatra can manifest as collective fatigue, disillusionment, or a feeling of being spiritually or socially “stuck” just as a transition is supposed to happen.
Although violence did spark in April of 1968, most notably with the assassination of Martin Luther King on the 4th, Revatī is a nakshatra generally related more to unraveling rather than aggression. It’s also worth noting that the murder of Dr. King directly influenced President Johnson’s decision to signed the Civil Rights Act, also known as the Fair Housing Act, on April 11. The first UN International Conference on Human Rights was also held in Tehran at the end of the month. Both speak to more positive attributes of this nakshatra.
Since Rahu and Saturn stayed together for several more months in Revatī, and rejoined in the fall (although Rahu had moved into another nakshatra), this influence lasted beyond the Pisces pileup.
Saturn and Rahu in Pūrvabhādra Nakshatra
In contrast, Saturn and Rahu are meeting up this time in Pūrvabhādra nakshatra.
I have not yet written about Pūrvabhādra in my 27 Moons Project, which is one of the more intense and enigmatic nakshatras in Vedic astrology. Located at the end of Aquarius and the beginning of Pisces, it is ruled by Aja Ekapada, a fierce and mystical form of Rudra – a deity associated with lightning, storms, and inner fire. As such, this nakshatra carries the raw force of destruction, purification, and awakening.
Similar to the nakshatra Ardra, Pūrvabhādra bring radical purification – not a soft washing of the soul, but rather the storm that strips everything bare.
Pūrvabhādra is a nakshatra of extremes – it moves from materialism to renunciation, from illusion to revelation. It often surfaces during times of moral panic, spiritual crisis, or ideological war.
What this can mean on a global scale
Rahu will transit Pūrvabhādra from March 16 to November 23, 2025. On March 29, it will join Saturn, which has been in this nakshatra since December 27, 2024. This means they are already both in this nakshatra, so we are getting a taste for what it will feel like when they join in the same sign, therefore intensifying the energy.
When Rahu transits Pūrvabhādra, it tends to distort ideological boundaries; it inflames fanaticism, conspiracy theories, and movements that present themselves as morally righteous. However, they often mask a sense of deep-seated confusion or shadow motives.
Saturn brings karmic reckoning, restrictions, and confrontation with reality. Rahu wants to push past limits; Saturn enforces them. Their combination in this intense nakshatra often triggers events where ideals clash with harsh truths, and the result is rarely subtle.
During such a transit, we may see:
government crackdowns on civil unrest
martial law or states of emergency declared in response to protests
violent ideological clashes, especially when linked to religion, ethics, or nationalism
leaders or movements rising to power under the banner of sacrifice, order, or purity
cultural or spiritual institutions exposed or brought to a breaking point
public grief, moral panic, or mass disillusionment
I’m not going to gloss things over here – on the world stage, April is going to be pretty intense.
But the good news is, this intensity is not going to stay at the same level for very long.
Saturn’s move into Uttarabhādra
On April 28, Saturn will move into Uttarabhādra nakshatra.
When Saturn enters Uttarabhādra, the explosive pressure of the previous months begins to condense into something quieter, more private, and karmically heavy. In mundane terms, this period may feel like a collective emotional hangover, a time when the consequences of earlier unrest begin to settle – and can no longer be ignored.
After this day, we may gradually see:
a withdrawal of governments or leaders from the public eye
quiet collapses of systems that were already unstable
increased public fatigue or emotional heaviness, especially around issues of war, morality, or institutional trust
calls for peace, healing, or accountability, which may be met with slow or delayed responses
collective mourning for what has been lost – especially trust, safety, or shared vision
Rahu still in Pūrvabhādra creates a two-sided dynamic
With Rahu still in Pūrvabhādra, the fiery, distorted ideological energy doesn't entirely disappear – it just becomes more untethered. This creates a split in energy:
Rahu keeps agitating, distorting, or fueling unrest based on ideology, conspiracy, or rage.
Saturn, now in Uttarabhādra, begins the slow process of karmic settling, making it harder for that chaos to be sustained without consequences.
This dynamic can manifest as:
leaders or movements losing support as the emotional toll becomes clear
public disillusionment with former heroes or causes
an urge for meaning, peace, or unity – but without clear direction
extreme fatigue or collapse following months of intense resistance
Quick summary on the collective impact
The Rahu-Saturn meet-up in Pūrvabhādra creates a brief but highly charged window of time, where Saturn’s karmic pressure fuses with Rahu’s distorted desire. It’s a phase where ideals clash with hard realities, one where collective tensions often surface through unrest, moral panic, or institutional breakdown.
But that moment doesn’t last.
On April 28, when Saturn moves into Uttarabhādra, the tone shifts. The fire isn’t raging anymore, it’s smoldering. What was external – protests, chaos, collapse – turns inward. Rahu continues to stir things up in Pūrvabhādra, but without Saturn grounding and pressurizing it, that agitation becomes less stable, more reactive, and possibly easier to dismiss or ignore.
In short, Saturn’s move into Uttarabhādra marks the beginning of the fallout – not a dramatic phase, but a sobering one. It’s the quiet aftermath, when we stop shouting and start asking deeper questions, such as: What now? What did we just live through? And what do we still need to let go of before we can actually move forward?
What this means for you personally
In this post, I’ve focused more or less entirely on what this astro weather will mean for the collective on a geopolitical scale.
Next week, I’ll publish a post on how you might feel this energy personally, as well as give tips for how to stay grounded and sane if those stormy winds start affecting you.
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Michelle R. Dean is a Vedic astrologer and writer based in Berlin. To find out more about Michelle, swing by here.
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