Before becoming an astrologer, I had never heard of a progressed chart, so I thought it would benefit my audience if I shared a little bit about what one actually is. If you are familiar with your own natal chart, you know that it is a map of the sky when you were born. And, from an evolutionary astrology perspective, it’s an imprint of your past and your future based on what placements are there. A progressed chart is more complicated to explain than what it actually is. So, I’m going to start with what it actually is: a progressed chart is a picture of your evolved personality over time. This means, from the time you were born up until now, you have been growing, evolving, changing, and during that personal evolution, your personality went through a metamorphosis via the planets!
This metamorphosis begins with the Sun and the Moon and is shaped by what sign each of these luminaries are in. The way to figure that out is to recognize that in a progressed chart, the Sun moves only one degree per year from the time of your birth, while the Moon moves about one degree per month. Let me give you a quick example using my progressed chart: I was born at three degrees of Aquarius. This means that by the time I was 27 years old, my Sun had progressed to zero degrees of Pisces (this is because Pisces is the sign that comes directly after Aquarius and there are only 30 degrees in each sign.) So, Pisces is the sign that my Sun will remain in for another 30 years! I am still in my Pisces progressed Sun sign now, and during the time of this blog, my Moon and Mercury are also in the sign of Pisces! Thus, the way I am expressing myself most dominantly now is as a Pisces. The Progressed Sun In astrology, the Sun is our will, our ego, and our most authentic self. It is such a main component of who we are, that it is essential to examine in a progressed chart. If you found out that your Sun sign was no longer in the sign it was when you were born, wouldn’t you want to know what sign it's in now, and how that’s been affecting your behavior and the way people view you? I would say… most definitely YES!
The Progressed Moon
The Moon represents how we experience the world emotionally. It is our emotional default behavior; what we do on autopilot to comfort ourselves. So, like the Sun, it's an essential component of our personality. The moon moves much faster than the Sun, however, at one degree per month in a progressed chart, so it's easier to track and notice the changes in your mood whenever your progressed Moon changes signs. We know that by the time you were two and half years old, you had a completely different Moon sign than when you were born! (And possibly even sooner if you were born with a later degrees Moon sign.) This is one of the reasons the Moon is the biggest "planet" to look at in a progressed chart reading; every two and half years, you have a new Moon sign! Understanding your Moon can help you understand yourself and why you are acting / feeling the way you are.
The Moon encourages more self-compassion and understanding. When you realize that you are no longer a Gemini Moon, for example, but a Cancer Moon, this can help you see why your core needs have changed. Because these two Moon signs both find comfort in very different things. It can also be helpful for you in navigating your partner’s emotions if you understand his or her current progressed Moon sign. The Progressed Chart Reading To me, the question of why you would you want to get a progressed chart reading is simple: it tells you more information about yourself! And, from personal experience studying mine, it’s brought deeper understanding and clarity as to why I’ve acted more like a Pisces than an Aquarius for the past 12 years! To give you some perspective, when I was 26, just weeks before turning 27 and entering into my Pisces progressed Sun sign, I left a corporate job to follow a passion and moved up to the mountains. I enjoyed the isolation from city life and immersed myself in spirituality; trying out different belief systems and ultimately recognizing that the real learning would come from looking within. Needless to say, this is all very reminiscent of Pisces behavior! And, it's no surprise that during this time, professional astrology also found its way in.
So what else can you get out of a progressed chart reading besides just your progressed Moon and Sun sign? Well, we also look at the faster moving planets: Mercury, Mars, and Venus - which can tell us about your communication, drive, initiative, and values. We look at their progressed zodiac sign and house, and we check for any significant aspects being made to your natal chart.
The outer planets do not move fast enough to make a difference, and that is because of the way that a progressed chart is calculated using a day-per-year model. This means that what would normally take a day to move in the ephemeris (which is a book that calculates astrological dates) takes a year to move in a progressed chart. So, planets like Pluto, which takes 248 years to orbit the sun, would not have moved even one degree in most people’s progressed charts!
That brings us back to why we just focus on the personal planets in a progressed chart reading to gauge how your personality has evolved over time. All you really need to know is: this chart represents another layer to YOU! And understanding yourself now can help you understand where you’ve been and where you’re going next! Additionally, it can help you relate to others who have a different natal Moon sign than you. Once you feel what it’s like to have their Moon sign in your progressed chart, it’s an opportunity to walk in their shoes, and vice versa.
If you are convinced that a progressed chart reading is for you, click here to book a session and enter the code PROGRESS20 at checkout to receive $20.00 off!
