Progressions & Transits

About 20 years ago I began to study astrology seriously; I'd read enough to convince me there was 'something to it'. However, I didn't have a lot of money (some things never change :o) ) so I couldn't afford to go on a correspondence course or join any of the then 'schools of astrology' I only had the option of self teaching. Fortunately, I lived in London and had easy access to lots of specialist bookshops which sold all sorts of astrology titles and I'd spend what little spare cash I had on new astrology books, mostly American ones. It was before the age of the PC and therefore it was all to be learnt by calculator, a 'Book of Tables' and an Ephemeris and lots of numbers on a page and geometry drawing aids like protractors and rulers etc.
I adopted an approach of read, apply and observe. I'd read a subject in one of the books, apply the concepts to my charts and calculations and
then see if the principles were true or not. This is how I learnt my way through; if I could see evidence of the principle play out in peoples' lives
then I'd accept it as a genuine fact; if I didn't – then I wouldn't. Through this process, I dismissed sunsign astrology rather quickly. Followed by the 'Equal House' system, Solar Arcs, Solar returns and Lunar returns all came and went. Then I happened upon a book called 'The Progressed Horoscope' by Jeff Mayo… and my whole perspective changed entirely.

A Transit – is the name given to a planet that is actually moving 'now' – here, today, in the present reality – in the sky – in relation to a planet or
another point of a astrological birth chart. The angle that the two make between them implies a relationship and to a variable degree of accuracy
(depending on the experience of the astrologer) – a prediction of an event in the person's life can take place. Well that's all very well; it's not too
extraordinary and most people can 'get their head around it' as a concept.

Progressions (aka secondary Progressions) on the other hand really do break the logic of most people's minds… Imagine you have the birth chart of a person in front of you. This person is now say 20 years old. Now calculate another chart using the same birth details of the person – only move their date of birth ahead in time by 20 days… So if they were born on 1st May 1975 at 10pm – their 'progressed chart' is calculated for 21st May 1975
at 10pm… The planets have moved a little bit, the Moon will have passed through maybe eight signs and can be some 240 degrees from where it was
at birth. The Sun will be some 20 degrees forward and the Ascendant & Midheaven will also have moved a bit. Now when these 'progressed' planets
and positions (Ascendant, Midheaven, Descendant & IC) form angles with the natal chart positions and planets – events can happen in the persons' life.

Does that sound logical? Or does it 'twist your melon' a bit…? How about a combination of mixing the transits and the progressed planets and finding
an angle occur – and that matching an event in a persons' life… This is where the concepts of 'time' fall down completely and everything is reality only through association..

I have had 100's of charts pass through my hands and have found the progressions and transits act on the natal positions 1000's of times creating
events in people's lives. Or rather – to be more accurate; events happening at the same time as I 'predict' them to happen. After a while it lost its magic and I kept trying to define the 'true cause'. After some 17 years, I still haven't found it…

The application of mixing progressions and transits as two poles in a calculation is often taught in modern day astrological thought as wrong and
impossible – but my 'self taught' method proves against this hypothesis. It will work and it can reflect events. Particularly the action of the progressed
Moon and transiting Mars – especially if the natal Mars in the chart is strong. I've predicted accidents (including my own), job promotions, pay rises, dismissals, marriages, births of children, and all manner of changes of fortune using a mixture of progressions and transits.

As if to tip the scales of logic completely upside down, there is even a study of progressions known as 'converse progressions' and these are where
the progressed chart drawn is for prior to the birth. So the converse date would be (following the above example) 20 days before birth… With this subject it gets really quite complicated! Yet, although I haven't really spent the time studying this particular facet of astrology, I have read some convincing books on the matter and it does appear to work although I haven't proven it for myself.

Astrology does work if it is understood properly. I personally tended to ignore the signs, elements (to a degree) whether a planet was 'right placed' or not, the rulerships, and all manner of sideline matters and I just went straight into the numbers and angles – as this is where the real 'core' of the subject lies.
To me it was about a geometry of time and time equations; it made no difference whether a particular planet was dignified or not. That is not to say that all these 'sideline matters' are of no value – they may well be; but if you are beginning this subject and you want results quickly – then my advice (of 23+ years in the subject) is to get straight to the numbers and the geometry first and only afterwards start to come out to the other issues.

Its right there in front of you… all of it.

A.