Progression

Definition

Progression is a symbolic predictive technique that moves the natal chart forward in time at a stylized rhythm, rather than at the speed the planets actually travel. The most common variant is the secondary progression, where one day of life after birth equals one year of life. The planetary positions on your thirtieth day of life describe the symbolic sky of your thirtieth year. The natal chart is not replaced; the progressed chart layers on top of it.

In context

If you are thirty-two years old, your progressed Sun has moved roughly thirty-two degrees from where it sat at birth. The chart describes a soul-level chapter, not the day-to-day weather. Progressions move slowly and tend to mark long arcs of identity change rather than short events. A transit tells you what the present sky is doing; a progression tells you which chapter of the life is currently underway.

To go deeper

Progression sits in the family of time-based predictive techniques:

• Direction: another symbolic forward-moving technique.
• Transit: the real-sky predictive surface.
• Natal chart: the base chart the progression moves from.