Progressions
We will be using secondary progressions - these are the transits that happened to you right after you were born but abstracted to represent lifelong developments. The transits that happened in your first day in the world are lengthened to represent an entire year.
The speeds of the some planets and points by progression are:
| The Moon will change signs every three years and go around the zodiac wheel every 27 years |
| The Sun progresses exactly one degree every year |
| Mercury will move a little more than one degree every year |
| Venus also progresses a little faster than one degree every year |
| Mars will progress half a degree every year |
| The ascendent progresses one degree every year |
| The midheaven also progresses one degree every year |
When we look at progressions, we mostly look at the progressed Moon. Sometimes we will also look for changes to the progressed Sun, Mercury, Venus, ascendent, and midheaven. Even more rarely, we will look at Mars’s progressions.
Interpreting Progressions
The first progression to look at and one that makes the most changes is the progressed Moon. Because the Moon progresses into a different sign every three years, it shows how our emotional needs are developing. In the rites of passage timeline in the transits section, you’ll notice that the return of the progressed Moon is also a rite of passage. This return happens every 27 years, preceding the Saturn return by two years everytime.
the progressed Sun moves one degree every year. In your teens or twenties, your progressed Sun will be in the sign that comes directly after your natal Sun sign. In your thirties or forties, it will be in a sign that sextiles your natal Sun sign. In your fifties or sixties, your progressed Sun might square your natal Sun at some point.
Progressed Mercury and Venus will tend to follow the Sun around, just like they do in transit. Sometimes, even if a planet was not retrograding when someone was born, it could retrograde shortly after their birth. When this happens, progressed Mercury, Venus, or Mars might be retrograde. Later in life, the progressed planet might go direct again. For the time that the progressed planet is in retrograde, the drive that planet rules will be in focus.
The ascendant will progress towards the IC and the midheaven will progress towards the rising sign. This means that your identity will develop towards your roots and your goals become more authentic or naive as they mature.
When reading progressions, always relate the progressed planet to its natal position, the house its natal position is in, and what house it rules.
For example, if your natal Sun in Cancer has progressed into Leo from the seventh house into the eighth, then the ways you find your own identity in community (Sun in the Cancer) is informed by the love you are learning to create through intimacy (progressed Sun in Leo). Your awareness of social norms (Sun in seventh house) is developing as your awareness of social values matures (progressed Sun in eighth house).
