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Guide · Progressions

Progressions: how your birth chart matures throughout life

Secondary progressions show the inner evolution of your chart: how your Sun, your Moon and your angles slowly change as you mature. They are the intimate clock of astrology.

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The day-for-a-year rule

In secondary progressions, each day after birth stands for one year of life. The sky of your 30th day of life symbolically describes your 30th year. Unlike transits, which come from outside, progressions describe a development that comes from within.

What moves in progressions

The progressed Moon

It is the fastest and most used point. It moves about 12 to 15 degrees a year and changes sign roughly every two and a half years. Each change of sign and house marks a new emotional season: what you need, what nourishes you, where your attention goes.

The progressed Sun

It moves about one degree a year and changes sign roughly every 30 years. When that happens, the way you express yourself takes on a new flavour, without losing the base of your natal Sun sign.

The angles and other planets

The progressed Ascendant and Midheaven also move about one degree a year. Mercury, Venus and Mars progress more slowly; when one of them changes direction (turning retrograde or direct by progression), it is an important milestone.

How to read progressions

  • See which sign and house your progressed Moon is in: it is the emotional theme of these years.
  • Notice exact aspects between progressed planets and the birth chart: they mark turning points.
  • Combine them with transits: when a transit and a progression point to the same theme, that theme gains strength.
Progressions are slow and subtle. More than events, they describe the way you change inside.

How to see your progressions on Arkanova

  1. Open the birth chart with progressions and enter your details.
  2. See the bi-wheel: the birth chart inside and the progressed chart outside.
  3. Follow the trail of the progressed Moon over the last year and move forward in time to see the next changes.
  4. Read the aspects between the progressed and natal charts.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between progressions and transits?

Transits use today's real sky and describe outside influences. Progressions use the day-for-a-year rule and describe inner evolution.

What does it mean when the progressed Moon changes sign?

It marks the start of a new emotional phase, of about two and a half years, with different needs and priorities.

Does my Sun sign change with progressions?

Your natal sign does not change. The progressed Sun may move into the next sign during your life, which adds a new layer to how you express yourself.

Do I need my birth time?

For the progressed Moon and the angles, yes. Without it, the progressed Sun and the slower planets still give a good reading.

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