planets that are transiting the sky. Progressions and directions are other ways of exam-
ining a natal chart for prediction purposes.
Secondary progressions (sometimes called secondary directions), the most
popular method of prognostication other than transits, use the formula “a day for a
year” to predict the future. This method’s underlying notion is that there is a relation-
ship between the first day of life and the first year of life, between the second day of
life and the second year of life, and so forth. The actual technique involves finding a
person’s current age and moving the planets and house cusps of the natal chart to the
positions they occupied at the same number of days after birth as the individual’s cur-
rent age in years. These positions are then examined and tell the astrologer about the
client’s life for the current year.
An oversimplified but nevertheless useful generalization of the transit/progres-
sion distinction is that transits indicate external conditions, whereas progressions
indicate inner development (in the sense of changes in one’s personality and personal
interests). Thus, transits are used to predict future environments, whereas progressions
are used to predict inner changes (although, because there is always a relationship
between inner and outer influences, these two cannot be so neatly separated in actual
practice). For readings, astrologers often erect a chart consisting of three concentric
circles. The inner circle contains the natal chart, the intermediate circle contains the
progressed positions (in what is referred to as the progressed chart), and the outer cir-
cle records the positions of the transiting planets, usually calculated for the time of the
reading. This tripartite chart allows the astrologer to view the interactions between
the various levels at a glance.
The method of secondary progressions examines changes in the progressed
chart, as well as how planets in a progressed chart interact with the natal chart. For
example, John Smith was born when the Sun was at 4° in the sign Sagittarius. The
Sun (which in astrological parlance is one of the “planets”) represents John’s basic
self, so the sign Sagittarius colors his entire personality. Unless this sun sign is coun-
terbalanced by other factors in the chart, John is probably a fun-loving guy who does
not like to be tied down by obligations to anybody. Around age 26, his progressed Sun
will enter the sign Capricorn. This sign tends to be focused on business and duty—
very different from John’s sun sign. The progressed Sun’s change of sign does not indi-
cate that John will suddenly drop his Sagittarian traits and be transformed overnight
into a Capricorn. Rather, his personality will acquire an overlay of the latter sign’s ori-
entation, becoming somewhat more serious and mature. Business matters may become
more important, and the commitments entailed by such relationships as business part-
nerships and marriage will seem less unappealing.
Another method of progression, termed tertiary progressions, could be referred
to as “a day for a month” system. In a manner parallel to secondary progressions, this
approach takes each day after birth as representing a month (a lunar month, which is
shorter than a calendar month) of life. This method, devised by the twentieth-century
astrologer Edward Troinski, is used far less frequently than secondary progressions.
Another infrequently used method, converse secondary progressions, entails using
each day before birth as equivalent to a year of life.
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Progressions and Directions