There are so many different methods, techniques and traditions in astrology and most of them are relatively useless, serving only to distract us from focusing on the core of the subject that truly governs and shapes our lives. I could literally write a whole article just listing them.

There is one method that works very powerfully however, but is barely used these days, that is Secondary Progressions.

It wasn’t always the case. Back in the 1970s when I started studying astrology in the UK this method was considered as important as transits.

I was instantly drawn to it not least because my Progressed Sun was opposite my natal Uranus at the time.

But progressions have been neglected by most astrologers ( myself included ) to such an extent that I feel the need to explain what they are.

Whereas transits are an actual measure taking the current positions of the planets and relating them back to your natal placements, progressions are a symbolic method.

This method is based on the connection between the two movements of the Earth, one around on its own axis in one day, the other around the Sun in one year.

One day is said to equal one year, in the sense that looking at the planets positions exactly 24 hours after the moment of your birth will describe the conditions of your life on your 1st birthday and so on.

By far the most important progression is that of the Sun.

It moves slightly less than one degree per day, so by progression it will do that in a year.

The Zodiac contains 360 degrees, so it will cover about a quarter of your chart in your lifetime.

Given that the major aspects are conjunction, opposition and squares, the progressed Sun can only make one of these to any of your planets in your whole life.

But if you do live to be 90 years old, it will make one to each of them.

If we allow an orb of one degree either way we are talking about a 2 year period.

It’s true that the progressed Sun will reach a square aspect to itself when you are about 90, but you can discount that one. If you include the Ascendant and Midheaven, you have 11 Progressed Sun aspects in a lifetime.

If you have very close natal aspects between planets ( within 2 degrees ) the Progressed Sun will hit all of them simultaneously.

This was certainly the case for me as I have a tight T Square including Uranus at 26.30 Cancer, Jupiter at 27.30 Cancer, Neptune at 28 Libra and Ascendant at 28 Capricorn.

So the range 25.30 to 29 of Cardinals is critical for me.

Given that my natal Sun is 4 Capricorn, my progressed Sun went through that T square between the ages of 21 and 25.

This was a critical period in my life, involving my initiation into astrology ( Uranus ), true spirituality ( Neptune ) and my first real relationship ( Jupiter and Uranus on my Descendant ).

I gave up everything that had been part of my life up to that point in order to follow those new paths.

When using progressions I would recommend that you just stick to the Sun, Venus and Mars.

The Moon would have an effect but it only lasts for 2 – 3 months and its not so critical.

Anything beyond Mars would move so slowly by progression as to be largely irrelevant anyway.

Each and every one of these progressions will have major significance in your life, but what exactly does that mean ?

While transits seem to be linked to specific events that happen in our lives, progressions seem to have more to do with an inner unfolding of our own karmic path.

Sometimes these two apparently unrelated methods dovetail and certain events can be triggered by both methods, sometimes not.

But it’s hard to create a clear distinction between the two and often when astrologers do seek to identify and interpret progressions in people’s lives they tend to do it in the same way that they might do with transits.

The examples used in the lives of famous people would be similar in that they would still be looking at the major events in their lives. But maybe progressions don’t necessarily resonate with external events in the same way that transits do.

This immediately takes us into difficult territory because it’s hard to make a case for a link between astrological phenomena and subjective states or feelings about things.

I have a very tight T Square in my chart so that solar progression in my early twenties hit 4 placements all at the same time and I would not have any more major progressed solar aspects for another 20 years.

But just as I was coming to the end of that progression there was one very specific date that pushed me to change my whole astrological research focus onto transits, that was May 4th 1979.

Margaret Thatcher becoming Prime Minister was a massive turning point for the UK but also for my own studies, it convinced me of the sheer power of transits, particularly Pluto ones.

As a triple Capricorn the main driver for me has always been to prove astrology beyond any doubt and so in order to do that I’ve had to focus on specific verifiable events in the lives of famous people and Pluto’s transits more than any other astrological feature will trigger a powerful dramatic event that can be registered as such.

So if you want to prove astrology, the simplest way to do it is to stick with Pluto.

I spent the best part of the following 40 years doing exactly that.

Right up until my progressed Venus went over the same points that my Sun had reached many years previously.

I had previously believed the solar progression to be the most important period of my life until my Progressed Venus reached my T square between the ages of 63 and 67, and I gave up everything and moved to the other side of the world to be with my true soulmate.

So after years of relative neglect of secondary progressions, I’ve come to rethink this whole area of study and to try and find out what they do mean and what their place is in the study of astrology.

And my own experience led me to believe that progressions could be something to do with meeting important people in your own soul group, people who you have connections with perhaps going back many lives and have arranged to meet up again with in order to experience certain things this time round.

As I write this a recognise that I am straying into insecure and unfamiliar territory for a triple Capricorn as these things are impossible to prove but I intend to try and explore it in as empirical a fashion as possible.

I assume that many of my readers have some sense of the possibility of reincarnation, so I may not have to offer anything to convince them one way or another, but it doesn’t really matter if you have such a belief or not.

What we can say is there does seem to be a correlation between major progressions and meeting or connecting with someone who will play a very important role in your own life this time round.

In order to test these theories I thought I would start with looking at the personal lives of successful politicians. I’ve chosen this field because while it may be transits that indicate their own success, perhaps important stages of their personal life would fall under the influence of progressions.

And given that he had a particularly traumatic theme in his own personal life, where better to start than with the current most powerful politician in the world.

Joe Biden has a difficult 7th house with Saturn there and Uranus conjunct its cusp opposite his Sun, Venus and Ascendant.

There is also the a problem with a 5th house Moon in square to Jupiter and Pluto in the 8th house.

So there is a theme of loss around wives and children.

There is also a case to be made that the Moon / Pluto is part of a T square involving Mars.

Granted that 11.36 degrees is a bit of a stretch but the Moon is applying and Pluto is mid way between them, so I would allow it. It also makes sense in terms of Joe Biden’s experience with death in the family to have that Pluto in the 8th as an apex planet.

As a rule I identify the planets involved in a chart and leave it at that, but I feel its important to state that the exact positions of every one are vital to that person’s life and this is a theme that is particularly relevant to progressions.

Progressions are related to an inner unfolding of one’s path through life so there is a relationship between each one. A progressing planet will hit each natal one in turn for a very specific reason.

How does that work out for Joe Biden ?

When looking at progressions we have to bear in mind what is possible.

The space in front of Biden’s Sun and Venus is empty once both planets have passed his Ascendant ( during the first 6 years of his life ) so their power to indicate his major themes are limited.

So that just leaves us with Mars, and it’s the progressions of red planet that are key to all of this.

Biden’s progressed Mars formed a conjunction with his natal Sun and Venus between 1963 and 67. This was the period when he met and married Neilia.

Mars moved on to inconjunct his 5th house Moon between 1968 and 1970 when his children were born.

Mars was conjunct Joe’s Ascendant and opposite his 7th house Uranus when Neilia and his baby daughter Amy died on 18th December 1972 in a car crash, his two young sons Beau and Hunter were injured.

Its also important to recognise that after this traumatic event, the progressed Mars had no more conjunctions to make in his life.

So this period was the only time since the age of 6 that any of major progressed planets moved through this tragic area of Joe Biden’s chart.

This would be fascinating in itself were it not be for the extraordinary connections with the progressions to Neilia Biden’s chart.

We don’t have a birthtime for Neilia Biden, but we can instantly see that life and death are a powerful theme as her Sun is within half a degree of a conjunction with Pluto.

Other than that the most difficult aspect is the accident prone Mars / Uranus square.

The fact that Uranus is square to the Nodes is probably also a factor.

Sometimes the noon chart can help us out so its worth considering that Uranus falls in the noon 8th house, further strengthening the theme of shock accidental death.

In that case, the South Node being in the 5th could point to the tragedy for her children as well.

The Sun / Pluto being in the 10th could be involvement with a man with a powerful career.

But all this doesn’t matter that much. What we are interested in is Neilia Biden’s progressions.

Clearly Joe Biden was Neilia’s soulmate as her progressed Venus was conjunct her natal Sun / Pluto from 1965 to 67 when they met and married.

Her marriage also triggered the difficult aspect in her chart, as her progressed Sun was conjunct Mars at the same time.

This hit home big time because her progressed Sun went on to square Uranus and hit the Nodes from 1971 – 73 when she died.

It’s important to remember that these two events were the only conjunctions her progressed Sun made in her life.

So Joe and Neilia married when his progressed Mars was conjunct his natal Sun and her progressed Sun was conjunct her natal Mars.

Neilia died when her progressed Sun was square to her Uranus and Joe’s progressed Mars was opposite his 7th house Uranus.

A Uranus / Mars connection is a classic for car accidents.

When we are dealing with progressions for very young children, we are limited because they take a long time to build up. All we can expect is a tightening of natal aspects.

We don’t have birth times for any of the Biden children but there are some significant patterns.

Oldest son Beau has Venus in Aries opposite Uranus and Jupiter.

He also has the Sun square to Mars.

For that fateful day in December 1972, Beau’s progressed Sun had reached the exact square with Mars and his progressed Venus was right in the middle of the opposition with Uranus and Jupiter.

Hunter Biden was born with Mars in Aries opposite Uranus.

The accident happened with his progressed Mars still in range of this opposition.

Intriguingly his progressed Sun was conjunct Venus, which perhaps indicated why he survived it.

Tragically his baby sister Amy didn’t survive and she was barely past her first birthday at the time.

Amy Biden’s chart explains why that is.

Mars is at the apex of a tight T square involving Mercury, Venus, Neptune all opposed to Saturn.

Mars is also the apex of a Yod pattern including the Moon and Pluto.

At the time of the accident, the square between Mars and Neptune tightened by progression.

The inconjunct between Mars and the Moon became exact

So did the opposition between Mercury and Saturn.

The charts of the whole family are studded with tragic accident indications.

Joe Biden, like a true Scorpio stellium has been through some dreadful personal experiences but has summoned the energy from somewhere to get through them all and reinvent himself.

The car accident happened just after he had become a Senator and he contemplated giving up politics altogether, but the stellium pushed him through and took him eventually all the way to the Presidency.

But the tragic pattern was still there and it emerged again over 40 years later when his eldest son Beau died of brain cancer.

Joe’s progressed Sun was square to his Mars at the time.

It’s interesting that Joe’s major progressions have all been tied up with his family and the tragic losses while playing very little role in his career.

This has been my findings in general when it comes to Secondary Progressions.

They do seem more to do with the important other people in someone’s life.

Soulmate is a term that probably needs a bit of explanation. It doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone has a person whom they are meant to find and spend their whole lives with.

For many, soulmates are people who they meet up with at a certain prearranged time in their life in order to go through a particular karmic experience which may be prolonged or even quite short, but it will be powerfully significant in each person’s life.

Joe and Neilia Biden were meant to meet up and marry, their progressions demanded it.

Neilia’s tragedy six years later was a critical point of this soulmate experience, as indicated by their both experiencing simultaneous progressions to Uranus.

Their three children were also soulmates in that they had to be part of it. Their own charts and progressions insisted on it.

How and why this all works we will probably never know, but my research into this field of astrology has shown me that it definitely does.

I met my own soulmate at the age of 63.

I absolutely did not see that coming. The reason why I didn’t spot it was because for the previous 40 years I had neglected progressions.

Once I realised that my progressed Venus was conjunct my Ascendant aspecting all my 7th house planets ( Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto ) as well as my 9th house Neptune it was obvious.

As an astrologer, I know that there are some things about your own chart that you are not supposed to see in advance, because you have to live through the experience and that would be altered and diluted by precognition.

Since then I have uncovered many examples of the same themes in other people’s charts.

So while for my first fifty years as an astrologer, I’ve focused solely on transits, for my next fifty, I’m going to focus soulfully on progressions.

Posted on 9th May 2023

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