How will Saturn Retrograde affect us, you ask? Brace yourselves…

We’ve been counting down the days until the end of Mercury Retrograde on April 15th. Heck, we’re so excited that we even baked a cake. But unfortunately, retrograde is not done with us humans quite yet. Saturn Retrograde begins on April 17th and our lives are about to be cosmically tampered with once more. Damn you, Universe! And you’re probably wondering: what exactly are the Saturn Retrograde effects?

Although we’d rather keep our heads in the sand, we’ll buck up and tell you how Saturn Retrograde is going to affect us. Spoiler alert: there’s going to be some major ups and downs.

Saturn is the ruling planet of karma, according to AstrologyKing.com. And it’s during the retrograde period that karma is “sorted out.” This means we’re going to be taught a lesson based on a wrongdoing from our past and be rewarded for our previous good behavior. So depending on how you’ve lived your life up until now, Saturn Retrograde could work in your favor.

But don’t get too excited, good-doers. Astrological researcher Lynn Koiner writes on her site that Saturn Retrograde can make us feel insecure and “unable to accurately assess what can realistically be expected in any situation.”

This can lead us to agreeing to certain things that we shouldn’t necessarily agree to.

The good thing about Saturn Retrograde is that life will seem to slow down, Koiner writes. We’ll be able to strategize our next moves and get rid of projects that frustrate us.

She notes that starting any kind of business endeavor during Saturn Retrograde is a bad idea, and that you’ll have to take more steps backwards to achieve success later down the road.

As is often recommended during Mercury Retrograde, take this huge chunk of time during Saturn Retrograde (April 17th to September 6th) to do some soul-searching. Figure out what you need to change to live a more successful life.

As much as we’d love to deny that retrogrades happen, the universe will not allow us to do that. Being aware that the retrograde is happening is the best way to avoid making plans that could be affected by it. Good luck, fellow humans. Hopefully we’ll see you on the other side.