Astrological Forecasting; the birth chart unfolds

In my last post, I wrote about forecast techniques that draw on the current positions of the planets, bringing us new energy and experiences. Now it’s time to consider symbolic forecast techniques, which are rooted in a specific birth chart. The main methods I use are secondary progressions and solar arc directions.

Secondary Progressions

There are lots of ways of “progressing” a natal chart, that is, moving on the planetary positions to show a symbolic movement of that energy. Secondary Progressions are perhaps the most familiar and most used by modern astrologers, to the point that this is what most folk mean when they refer to “progressions”. The actual movement of the planets in the days following the birth is seen as having a symbolic effect throughout the lifetime, on a principle of one day for one year. So for example, what is happening 21 days after birth will tell us something about our experiences in our 21st year of life. With each planet moving at its own pace, the Sun will advance around a degree a year by progression, the Moon around a degree a month, the personal planets a degree every year or two and the social and outer planets much more slowly.

This means that we focus on different planets by progression than by transit. Whereas transits from the slower, outer, planets, are most meaningful, by progression these planets hardly move at all through our lifetime. The progressed Moon, on the other hand, will make several journeys around our complete chart by progression and is often central to our progressed interpretations. The angles are also progressed, using techniques generally based on the movement of the Sun. So in the course of a lifetime, our Sun may change sign 2 or 3 times, our Moon will change sign every 2 and a half years. The remaining planets may change sign, house, or direction (retrograde or direct) depending on their positions at birth.

These can be subtle changes, slow and deeply internalised. Progressions speak to our soul evolution, an inner experience that is more emotional, reflective, or contemplative than the more externalised energy of a transit. These are inner shifts, an evolution in our feeling self, an inner flow that shows our shifting responses to the world around us. They might affect our actions indirectly, with inner changes driving outer decisions. But generally, secondary progressions show what is happening for us deep in our souls, perhaps only partly conscious. They might show the colours of our dreams, the intuitions and inner knowings which well up within us. They are the waters flowing beneath and through the landscape of our transits. They are the potential of each of our natal planets and angles unfolding in its own time, our own organic inner growth.

Solar Arc Directions

Like secondary progressions, solar arc directions are based on a particular birth chart and are unique to that chart. The difference is that all of the planets move at the same pace, in this case the pace of the Sun. The solar arc or movement of the Sun is around a degree a day in real time, so by solar arc direction all the planets move approximately a degree a year. This means that the aspects in the natal chart don’t change, and by solar arc direction the planets move together, in their natal configuration, processing slowly through the houses and signs. Just like with secondary progressions, we pay attention when they change sign or house, bringing new ways of being or realms of existence into our consciousness.

Because being based on solar symbolism, solar arc directions tend to show up more consciously or externally than progressions. They are traditionally associated with events, an energy which manifests in a tangible way. They mark the moments of decision or a coming into consciousness.

We can use both of these techniques as stand alone charts, especially the secondary progressed chart. But perhaps they are most powerful in connection with the natal charts, with the aspects from the progressed or solar arc directed chart back to the natal showing us how the natal chart is unfurling, what form our natal potential is currently taking.