Sade Sati is the roughly 7½-year period during which Saturn transits the 12th, 1st and 2nd houses from your natal Moon sign. It is the most discussed transit in Vedic astrology — and the most over-dramatised.
Sade Sati is better read as a period of restructuring than of misfortune. Its intensity depends heavily on Saturn's dignity in your birth chart, the houses it rules for your ascendant, and which dasha is running — which is why two people in the same phase can have completely different experiences.
Sade Sati runs while Saturn transits the 12th, 1st or 2nd house from your natal Moon sign. You need your Moon sign, which requires your birth date, time and place.
About seven and a half years in total — roughly two and a half years in each of the three phases, matching how long Saturn spends in each sign.
No. It is a period of pressure and restructuring, and its difficulty depends on Saturn's strength and role in your own chart. For some charts Saturn is a functional benefic and the period is constructive.
The middle phase, when Saturn transits over your natal Moon sign itself. It is usually the most personally felt of the three.
Occasional emails when something genuinely moves — eclipses, retrogrades, dasha shifts — written the same way as these articles. No horoscope spam.