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Sade Sati calculator
Sade Sati is the roughly seven-and-a-half-year period when Saturn passes through the sign before your Moon, your Moon's own sign, and the sign after it. Enter your birth details below to see whether you are in it now, which of the three phases you are in, and the exact dates it began and ends.
Last updated 8 August 2026. Positions computed with Swiss Ephemeris, sidereal, Lahiri ayanamsa.
What Sade Sati actually is
Saturn takes about 29.5 years to travel the whole zodiac, which works out at roughly two and a half years in each sign. Sade Sati is the stretch when it moves through three particular signs: the one before your natal Moon, your Moon's own sign, and the one after. Three signs at two and a half years each is where the seven and a half comes from — sade sati is simply Hindi for “seven and a half”.
Because it depends on your Moon rather than your Sun, two people born the same day can be in quite different places in the cycle. And because Saturn returns every 29 or 30 years, most people live through two or three in a normal lifetime. At any given moment, a quarter of everyone alive is in one.
That last figure is worth sitting with, because much of what is written about Sade Sati treats it as a rare calamity. It is neither rare nor, in the tradition's own terms, a calamity.
The three phases
| Phase | Saturn's position | Length | What the texts describe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rising | Saturn in the 12th sign from your Moon | ~2.5 years | Pressure builds before anything visible changes. Often felt as unease, disrupted sleep, or a sense of something approaching. |
| Peak | Saturn over your Moon sign | ~2.5 years | The demanding middle stretch. Because the Moon governs the mind in Jyotish, the strain here is usually emotional rather than external. |
| Setting | Saturn in the 2nd sign from your Moon | ~2.5 years | The weight lifts. What was built under pressure starts to hold, and the tradition associates this phase with consolidation. |
What helps
The traditional remedies for Saturn are consistent across the classical sources and share a theme: they are all forms of discipline or service rather than purchases. Saturn is the graha of consequence, and the texts prescribe accordingly — the Hanuman Chalisa on Saturdays, feeding or clothing those who have less, honest work done steadily, and restraint in what you take on.
Be wary of anyone selling an expensive object as a Sade Sati fix. Gemstones for Saturn exist in the tradition, but they are prescribed against a specific chart, not against the transit alone — and no classical source treats a purchase as a substitute for the work.
Common questions
How long does Sade Sati last?
About seven and a half years, which is where the name comes from — sade sati means 'seven and a half' in Hindi. The exact length varies between roughly seven and eight and a quarter years, because Saturn does not travel at a constant speed. Its orbit is elliptical, so it moves faster through some parts of the zodiac than others.
What are the three phases of Sade Sati?
Rising, peak and setting, each lasting roughly two and a half years. Rising begins when Saturn enters the sign before your Moon. Peak is when Saturn passes over your Moon sign itself, and is the phase the classical texts treat most seriously. Setting is Saturn's passage through the sign after your Moon, when the pressure begins to lift.
How many times does Sade Sati happen in a lifetime?
Saturn takes about 29.5 years to circle the zodiac, so Sade Sati returns roughly every 29 to 30 years. Most people live through two or three. It is a normal part of every chart, not a misfortune particular to yours.
Is Sade Sati always bad?
No. The tradition describes it as a period of work, responsibility and maturing rather than disaster — pruning rather than punishment. Saturn's association is with effort and consequence, so what it tends to expose is whatever was built carelessly. Many people mark significant, lasting achievements during Sade Sati precisely because it forces the effort.
Do I need my exact birth time?
For Sade Sati, a rough time is usually enough. It depends only on your Moon sign, and the Moon stays in one sign for around two and a quarter days, so being an hour or two out rarely changes the answer. It matters only if you were born close to the moment the Moon changed sign.
Does this calculator use the sidereal zodiac?
Yes. Positions are sidereal with the Lahiri ayanamsa, which is the standard used across India and the basis of Vedic astrology. Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac, which is why a Western Moon sign is often one sign different.
Sade Sati is one transit among many. For how it interacts with your dashas and the rest of your chart, see the glossary or the 52 yogas.