Progressions: Your Inner Growth Over Time

The most widely used method is the secondary progression, and its idea is simple: one day after birth stands for one year of life. If you are 30, astrologers look at the sky on the 30th day after you were born and treat that as your progressed chart for the year.

Because time is compressed so much, the planets move very slowly. Progressions are therefore unlike transits, which come and go. They describe gradual inner growth, such as shifts in attitude, needs, and the roles you start to take on.

The progressed Moon as an emotional clock

The fastest mover in a progressed chart is the Moon, advancing roughly 13° a year. That means about 2 years and 3–4 months in each sign and a full lap of the zodiac in around 27 years. When your progressed Moon enters a new sign or house, you often feel your moods and interests change tone, like a new chapter slowly coming into focus.

Progressions in the app

The app calculates your progressed chart for any date you choose and shows it as a wheel around your natal chart, along with a table of aspects between progressed and natal planets. Because progressed planets move slowly, these aspects use a tight orb of 1°. The page also gives the sign and house of the progressed Moon with a short reading, and lists the sign and house changes coming in the next 30 years. The progressed Midheaven moves by the solar arc. If your birth time is unknown, the Ascendant and houses are not shown and the progressed Moon can be off by about six degrees, which is roughly six months.

How to read it

Start with three things: the sign of the progressed Sun, the sign and house of the progressed Moon, and any progressed aspect that is very close to exact. Then ask yourself in which direction you have been growing over the last few years.