I have been interested in the way secondary progressions work almost since the time I was first introduced to astrology in May 1988. Initially, it was the natal chart and its interpretation that attracted my attention. Once I learnt how to calculate secondary progressions I became increasingly convinced that it must be possible to time ‘events’ in our lives consistently and within a limited time frame.
I decided to commence my study of this theory on my own chart, using major events from my own life such as marriage, birth of children, relocation etc. The reason for using my own birth chart is because I needed to ‘build’ the foundations of my research from a fixed model as it were.
I drew up a natal chart using, initially, the time of birth supplied by the hospital and, because of my theory that absolutely everything had to be as precise as possible, I tried to calculate the exact latitude and longitude of my birth place rather than that given for the town. I wasn’t sure at that stage how much difference it would make to an accurate timing of events.
I was also aware that my birth-time could easily be a little earlier than that supplied to me because there would inevitably be a delay between my birth and the recording of it. So I listed all the major events for which I could remember the exact and very close time. The next step was to move the birth time back slowly until I could find my first exact aspect.
To do so accurately meant that I had to calculate the precise progressed positions for all planets, Sun and Moon plus all house cusps including the intermediate ones. Eventually, by trial and error, I found a major event, which, once I had pulled the birth time back slightly, became as precise as possible. This then gave me a very accurate birth time to work with. It also gave me an exact position for the MC.
Using this adjusted position I began to use the other event dates and times to adjust all of the remaining planets and cusps one at a time to as near exactness as possible. The reason for my acute accuracy was purely because I wanted to be able to see whether it was possible to then apply the adjusted positions and accurately time future events. I have recently reached the point where I have been doing this and the timing is uncannily accurate, only 4.5 days out at most so far.
Just as importantly I wanted to see of I could verify which aspects work in practice in progressions and whether all house cusps should be accurately calculated and used, or just the Ascendant and MC as is usually the case. Other observations I wanted to make were whether events of a similar type shared similar characteristics and whether events, which were connected in other ways, also showed similarities.
My most difficult observation has been deciding what orbs of influence work in practice because obviously I, personally, have only experienced a limited number of the total combination possible. I wanted to try and find out what factors on a progressed chart point to the difference between a major event and just a turning point or new phase and, whether my theory that events can be timed by progressions alone without any need to refer to transits was correct.
I have now completed this foundation research and have begun to write a book about my findings so far. My next stage of research into this fascinating subject will need my full-time attention. I have just completed writing a book about my own life up to the point where I became a qualified astrologer, which as yet is not published. I am hoping that it will provide enough funds to enable me to commit myself to my next stage of research without financial distraction.
My research now needs to expand in at least two directions. One is to calculate future event timings on my own chart within my set time scales of accuracy and to be able to give a more accurate description of the type of event etc. The second being to ask for members of the public to take part by giving me their birth details and answering specific questionnaires about their experiences and timing of common events such as marriage and birth of children so that I can assess whether my observations apply to all charts.
I anticipate that it will take me approximately five years to analyse a sufficiently large enough sample of charts to produce a balanced and accurate report. I hope to begin this next stage of my research as soon as possible.
Autumn 2004