Secondary Progressions: The Astrology of Who You're Becoming

You're not the same person you were at 18, and your chart can pinpoint when you changed and why. That's secondary progressions: your birth chart moving in slow motion, year by year, mapping who you're becoming. I break down how it works, plus real charts where the timing was scary accurate. Want to know when your next big shift is coming? This is the technique that tells you.

Transcript

0:04

Hey, homie. This is Eboni. Welcome to Homegirl Astrology. This is where we turn "what the F?" into what's next using real deal astrology for real life mess.

Eboni Bledsoe 0:13

You know how you're not the same person you were at 18 or even last year? Astrology actually has a powerful technique that explains why that happens. It's called secondary progressions your chart moving in slow motion, showing how your life unfolds year after year. And once you see it, you'll get why staying married for decades or even keeping the same friends since high school should honestly come with an award. Because people change... a lot. And fair warning, this is one of those videos where I've gotta sneak some spinach in with the dessert. A little technical but worth it, and I'll flag the fun stories so you know the good stuff is coming.

0:56

So what are secondary progressions?

Eboni Bledsoe 0:58

Astrology works in layers. There are lots of techniques, but let's compare three so that you can see where progressions fit in. 1. Your natal chart is your blueprint. It is the snapshot of the sky from the moment you were born in the place that you were born, showing your personality, your patterns, and your potential. Astrologers often call it your natal promise because everything you will ever experience is already contained there in that chart and that's why it's called the "root" chart 2. Transits are the daily headlines. What's happening in the sky right now. the collective weather that we are all under. As I'm recording this video, the Sun is in Libra and that is happening for everyone. Saturn and Neptune are conjunct for everybody in the world, and we are all feeling those transits, just in different ways and in different areas of our lives, depending on where it's falling against our birth charts. And 3. secondary progressions, those are your memoirs. That's your personal story. This is how your chart unfolds in super slow motion year by year, mapping your story and how it develops over time. Progressions don't just tell us what might happen. They show us when it will happen. And when the timing hits, That is when life delivers the drama, the plot twists, the sagas, the stuff that movies are made of Now, how do we actually calculate the thing? Here's the key: One day after your birth equals one year of your life. Astrologers even have a phrase for it. One day above equals one year below. So, the transits from day one after your birth reflect the events that will unfold when you are 1-year-old. The transits from day 30 after your birth reflect the events from age 30. The sky kept moving after you were born. Progressions take those early transits and put them on a delay, kind of like an astrology DVR or video on demand. when you hit age 30, you're basically watching the sky from 30 days after your birth. Same episode, just played later. those first 90 days of your life are actually really important transit wise. Now, what actually happens in that slow motion chart? Progressed planets can do five things that line up with pivots in your life. So let's talk about 'em. First up, progressed planets can change signs, and when they do the vibe shifts. the way that planets move in transits is the same way that they move in progressions, albeit at a much slower pace. So the Moon spends two to three days in a sign by transit, so it's two to three years in a sign by progression. The Sun spends about 31 days in a sign by transit, which translates to about 31 years in a sign by progression. But because the Sun's speed isn't perfectly even throughout the zodiac signs, your progressed Sun might change signs a little earlier or later, depending on the sign it's moving through. Venus, Mars, and Mercury most people will feel those change signs at some point in life. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto They move so slowly that not everyone will experience them changing signs by progression. You might, if those planets in your chart are sitting at the tail end of the zodiac sign, so like 28, 29 degrees, or if you live long enough to see it happen. Gotta be in it to win it. You know? Take John Legend for example. For most of his life, he was living his best Capricorn life. He graduated from an Ivy League school at Penn, got a job consulting for Boston Consulting Group, a prestigious management consulting firm. Look at John's natal Sun and Mars here in the sign of Capricorn on the inside chart. We can see in his secondary progressed chart from February 2002 that Mars was at 29 degrees Capricorn and the Sun was at 29 degrees Capricorn. So when we push forward a day. The Sun moves into Aquarius and pushed forward a week or so, and Mars also moves into Aquarius. That's when he quit his consulting job, rebranded himself from John Stephens to John Legend and fully stepped into his musical career to become the EGOT winning guy that we know today. Second, planets can move into new houses, and that's when your focus shifts in a way that you can really feel. One of my clients was in her mid thirties, and honestly, she hadn't dated too much. She was very like, woe is me" about her love life, convinced that it just wasn't in the cards for her. When I looked at her natal chart, I could see though that she had a strong promise for love. So, I told her, Look, I know it feels bleak right now, but you're gonna meet somebody really great. You just gotta chill out until then." And listen, I don't say that to everybody 'cause it's just not true for everybody. less than six months later, she met the person who is now her fiance. And when I went back and checked the timing of it, I saw her progressed Sun was moving into her seventh house, the house of partnership and marriage, and now that it's fully in there, they're engaged and getting married in a couple of months. So that is a classic progression story. The natal chart shows the promise, but progressions reveal when the story actually clicks into place. And she's not alone. Whoopi Goldberg is another example. Her progressed Moon moved through her fifth house, which is the house of children and creativity in 1972, and that is when she got pregnant with her daughter, Alex. Different chart, same principle. House shifts spotlight new life chapters. Third, sometimes a progressed planet can change direction from direct to retrograde or retrograde to direct. Not everyone's going to have this experience with their progressed chart, but when it happens, it feels like a pivot. Think about Mercury. If you were born with Mercury retrograde and it turns direct by progression, that year can feel like your voice finally clicks into place. On the flip side, if it goes retrograde by progression, that part of life could turn inward, slow down, get more reflective. Either way, it's a turning point. Donald Trump is a perfect example of this. For years, he flirted with the idea of running for president, but never followed through. Then in November 2014, his progressed Pallas: an asteroid linked with strategy, vision and politics, went direct. Here's Trump's natal Pallas at 11 degrees Capricorn, retrograde. Here it is in the progress chart at 27 degrees Sagittarius, retrograde, and then Pallas shifts to 27 degrees Sagittarius, except it's now direct. By the summer of 2015, he finally announced his campaign, and this time it actually stuck and now he's the president. That's what a direction change looks like in progressions. The energy that's been circling or stalled suddenly clicks into forward motion and things can take off, so we have Pallas to thank for his presidency. Like Trump, I was also born with a retrograde Pallas, and when my progressed Pallas went direct, that's when I got my first corporate job in management consulting. Not a coincidence. Pallas has a lot to do with work and career. Mythologically, Pallas Athene was also seen as a hard driving ball bustin' badass standing on bidness, and I definitely leaned into the Ann Taylor business suit corporate warrior in the boardroom type of energy. Fourth progressed planets can start making aspects to each other. Here's a really powerful example. Right after his 21st birthday, my client's progressed Midheaven came into conjunction with Admetos and squared Uranus. In Uranian astrology, that combination can mean shock, sudden upset, even deadly accidents. And tragically, that is when his mother passed suddenly due to a car accident. That's the level of precision that progressions can have. When progressed points and planets meet each other, they set the stage for a very specific kind of chapter, sometimes subtle, sometimes life changing. And finally, progressed planets can aspect your natal chart. when your slow motion chart activates your birth chart, that's when major life events line up. Beyonce's chart is a perfect example. When she gave birth to Blue Ivy, her progressed Venus was on her natal Moon- Uranus midpoint. That's a classic combination for giving birth. With the twins, it was even more dramatic. Multiple progressions stacked at once. Her natal Midheaven lined up with her progressed Moon- Uranus midpoint, which can mean excitement or even sudden motherhood. Chiron and Zeus lit up the Midheaven, which can bring a health crisis, a painful surge of something, complications. Beyoncé was experiencing preeclampsia and toxemia, where her blood pressure had spiked dangerously during her pregnancy. Progressed Mars and progressed Ascendant were there with the Midheaven as well, which can represent cutting the body. And in her case, she had an emergency C-section after one of the twin's heart actually stopped beating in the womb. So in that moment, you can see the crisis, the pain, the literal surgery, but also the joy and expansion of adding Rumi and Sir to her family. That is the precision of progressions. They don't just describe vague mood shifts. They show the timing of very specific, very real life events. Progressions remind us that people are not static. We are shifting all the time. And that's why sometimes we say things like, some people are only in your life for a season, or some people aren't meant to be there with you until the end because we're always changing. Sometimes it's subtle. Your Moon changes signs and your mood shifts over a couple of years. Sometimes it's major like your Sun hitting a new sign after 30 years and suddenly what used to matter just doesn't anymore. And think about it this way. People are represented by different planets in your chart as well. So certain people will be experiencing things based on the combinations that are happening. But usually there is a buildup. You feel the change rumbling before it clicks into place. That's the beauty of progressions. They don't just describe the who of your chart, but they also describe the when of your story. So remember. Your natal chart is your blueprint. Transits are the daily headlines, and progressions are your memoir. The slow motion series that shows how your life unfolds year by year. I've gotta give a shout out to Bernadette Brady. Her work really helped me to understand progressions much better.

12:05

All right, that's a wrap on this one. If it landed for you, go ahead and follow the show so the next episode can catch you when it drops. And if you've got a second, leave a review. It genuinely helps more people to find us. Curious how this all plays out in your own chart? You can book a reading with me at homegirlastrology.com. And if you're into astrology, strategy, plus a little bit of magic showing up in your inbox, join my newsletter, Tomorrow's Truth Today. I'm Eboni. Peace, homie