Author: Alison Price   –   Published: March 2025

Working with the Progressed Lunar Phase

Once you understand how to interpret a natal chart, which can take a long time, you would then probably move onto astrological forecasting.

Direct Forecasting

Typically, you would maybe start with direct forecasting techniques like transits first, eclipses and then you’d move on to solar returns.

Symbolic Forecasting

Finally, you’d move on to the symbolic forecasting techniques, of which there are two that I generally use, which are, secondary progressions and solar arc directions. But within secondary progressions is a very important part which is the progressed lunar phase. By the way, if you don’t learn anything else in progressions, you really do need to know about the progressed lunar phase. So, let’s get started…

Transiting Lunar Phase

Definition

Let’s first consider the transiting lunar phases which occurs as the Moon goes round the Earth once a month. These phases begin at the New Moon where the Moon grows in light to the Full Moon. Then from the Full Moon, the light reduces back down to the next New Moon when the cycle begins again. In this way there are two weeks of growth and two weeks of reduction or holding. This is the transiting lunar phase that we all know and love. We can all see the Full Moon, which we have been able to since the day we were born, so it’s nothing new really, but now it is just about understanding the different phases.

The Principle of Phase

The Moon is not the only planet to actually phase. We do see phases of Mercury and Venus quite clearly with the telescope. On occasion there are phases of the other planets, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. We are only likely to see the superior planets when they’re in the full phase, and therefore they are opposite the Sun, because that is really the best time as we can view them from Earth. If the superior planets are on the other side of the Sun to us, we can’t even see them. We never see their full range of phases.

With the inferior planets, Mercury and Venus, we can look and view several of the phases, especially the quarter phases, but not all of the stages as we can see with the Moon. This really means that the Moon dominates when it comes down to phases.

The Lunar Phases

Eight Phases

Throughout the lunar cycle, there are eight Moon phases. The synodic cycle starts at the Moon’s conjunction to the Sun and finishes when the Moon once more makes a conjunction back to the Sun which takes about 29 1/2 days. 

The eight lunar phases in order are:

• New Moon phase.
• Crescent phase.
• First Quarter phase.
• Gibbous phase.
• Full Moon phase.
• Disseminating phase.
• Last Quarter phase.
• And Balsamic phase

Natal Chart

Natal Lunar Phase

In your natal chart, you will discover that you have a particular lunar phase and it will be one of the eight phases listed above. Personally, I was born during the Crescent phase, so this means that the Moon was slightly ahead of the Sun and is opening up (or waxing) the angle from the conjunction and thus gaining in light. Your natal lunar phase that you were born with stays with you for the rest of your life.

John Travolta

Example Chart

I just want to show you the difference between the two types of lunar phase. I will use the example of John Travolta’s chart shown below. In this bi-wheel, his natal chart is on the inner ring and his secondary progressed chart is on the outer ring.

Natal Lunar Phase

Travolta’s natal lunar phase is Full (marked in blue). You can see that the Moon has just passed the opposition to the Sun and so is in the Full Moon phase.

Progressed Lunar Phase

He secondary progressed lunar phase is Balsamic (marked in red) because the Moon is moving towards the conjunction to the progressed Sun. We can tell that in a year or two, he will have his very exciting, and highly significant, progressed New Moon. This conjunction will be in Taurus where the Moon is exalted and therefore well placed.

Progressed Lunar Phase

Progressed Chart

The secondary progressed chart is calculated by taking one day to equal one year of life. Example, if you are 50 years old, you count forward 50 days in the ephemeris and that is your progressed chart. This sounds simple, but back in the day, when we had to calculate these progressed charts by hand, you really paid attention.

Progressed Sun

All the progressed planets will move. In general, the progressed Sun will move around 1° forward in the zodiac for each year of your life. This progression equates to 360° in 365 days a year, so it does vary slightly.

Progressed Moon to Natal Moon

Now the progressed Moon, because it moves a full cycle in around twenty-nine and a half years, this means that the progressed Moon will return to your natal lunar position at around age twenty-nine and a half. And if, for example, you are fifty years old, as we mentioned earlier, the Moon will then move once more off from the position of your natal Moon and will be somewhere else in your chart.

The progressed Moon can be anywhere in the progressed chart. If you’re over 30, you will have had a full cycle, if you’re over 60 you will have had two full cycles, and if you’re over 90 you will have had three full cycles. But that is the cycle from your progressed Moon to your natal Moon.

Progressed Moon to Progressed Sun

When we look at the progressed lunar phase, we consider the progressed Moon and its relationship to the progressed Sun. As I mentioned earlier, your progressed Sun moves around 1° for each year of your life, so your progressed Sun has moved and the progressed Moon could be anywhere. The point is, that the progressed Moon will still be in a phase with the progressed Sun and this is known as the progressed lunar phase. Even if you were born, as I was with the natal Crescent phase or whatever phase you were born with, you are stuck with that phase for the rest of your life, but your progressed lunar phase changes all the time.

Current Progressed Lunar Phase

You need to find out what phase your progressed Moon is in today and you would do by looking at the position of your progressed Sun and calculating how far the Moon is away from the progressed Sun in the cycle. This will tell you which of the eight phases your progressed Moon is now.

Phase Changes

Timing

The progressed lunar phase will change every three and a half years. In general, there are no orbs with phase change, for example, it is either in the New Moon phase or it’s in the Crescent phase. The progressed Moon is never in two phases at once. Only as the Moon makes the exact aspect to the progressed Sun will the phase change happen. There will be frequent progressed lunar phase changes in your life. As I said, it’s around every three and a half years and you need to know when the next phase change is going to happen for you.

Duration

Phase Change Influence

Even though each phase lasts about three and a half years, the important period is the six months just after the phase has changed. Say for instance, you have a phase change on July 1st, 2025, and maybe your Moon is going from Balsamic to the New Moon phase, this would be a critically important time, and it is known as a progressed New Moon. And bear in mind that each of the phases in their turn will have an impact on your life. But in general, the critical time for the progressed lunar phase change is within six months of that change within the three and a half years. I generally consider this an important forecasting marker around when the progressed Moon is withing 8° of the phase change.

Forecasting

What to Do

As a good astrologer, not only would you find out which progressed lunar phase you are in at the moment, you also need to discover when the progressed Moon will enter into the next progressed lunar phase. The progressed lunar phases have the identical sequence as the transiting lunar phases, but now they are called the progressed lunar phases and I will list them here for clarity. I have some more general forecasting tips as well.

Progressed Phase Names

The eight progressed lunar phases in order are:

• Progressed New Moon phase
• Progressed Crescent phase.
• Progressed First Quarter phase.
• Progressed Gibbous phase.
• Progressed Full Moon phase.
• Progressed Disseminating phase.
• Progressed Last Quarter phase.
• Progressed Balsamic phase.

Progressed New Moon Phase

A fresh 29.5-year cycle begins.

Themes

• New identity forming
• Beginning of a long-term life direction
• Feeling inward, low-energy, introspective
• Planting symbolic seeds
• Often a major external or internal reset

Keywords: Rebirth, new beginnings, gestation and conception

Events

• New relationships, jobs, identities
• Life feels “quiet but different”
• Major endings just behind you; a new path ahead

Progressed Crescent Phase

Opening semi-square

First movement outward after the New Moon.

Themes

• Gaining momentum
• Overcoming inertia
• Learning new skills needed for your long-term path
• Feeling hope and fragile inspiration

Keywords: Motivation, preparation and early growth

Events

• First signs of progress
• Early opportunities appear
• Confidence-building experiences

Progressed First Quarter Phase

Opening Square

The action and crisis point.

Themes:

• Taking decisive action
• Making major choices
• Tension that forces growth
• Building structure
• Confronting what blocks your emerging identity

Keywords: breakthrough • challenge • commitment

Events:

• Job changes, moves, relationship shifts
• Obstacles that demand courage
• You push forward, ready or not

Progressed Gibbous Phase

Opening Sesquiquadrate

Refinement, improvement, preparation for visibility.

Themes

• Self-improvement
• Adjusting the plan
• Fine-tuning your skills or purpose
• Preparing for a public phase

Keywords: refinement • analysis • growth

• Events
• Study or training is highlighted
• You edit, revise, polish your life direction
• Feeling “almost ready”

Progressed Full Moon Phase

Opposition

Peak visibility, culmination, clarity, fruition and maturity.

Themes

• Harvest
• Results of the last 14 years
• Visibility, recognition, illumination
• A life peak or turning point
• Sudden clarity about your purpose

Keywords: culmination • revelation • completion

Events

• Major realizations
• Career breakthroughs
• Relationship peaks or conclusions
• Public visibility

This is often when people say:

“This is what my life has been building toward.”

Progressed Disseminating Phase

Closing Sesquiquadrate

Sharing what you’ve learned; teaching or transmitting your wisdom.

Themes

• Teaching, mentoring, passing on knowledge
• Broad communication
• Seeking meaning
• Giving back

Keywords: distribution • teaching • outreach

Events

• Publishing, speaking, coaching
• Sharing your Full Moon insights
• Becoming influential

Progressed Last Quarter Phase

Closing Square

Turning inward; re-evaluating; breaking down the outdated.

Themes

• Letting go
• Releasing old goals, relationships, or identities
• Internal crisis that forces a reorientation
• Preparing for a new cycle

Keywords: breakdown • release • liberation

Events

• Major restructuring
• Ending commitments
• Changing beliefs or direction
• Feeling “this no longer fits”

This is the “cleaning out the house” phase.

Progressed Balsamic Phase

Closing semi-square

Final release before the next New Moon.

Themes

• Closure
• Healing
• Rest
• Spiritual insight
• Removing old karma or patterns

The balsamic phase keywords are surrender, release, giving up the ghost, lying fallow, dissolution and completion.

Events

• Eclipsing old relationships
• Preparing energetically for a new life cycle
• Deep solitude or creativity
• Completion of a long chapter

This is the soul-rest phase before the rebirth of the Progressed New Moon.

Important Phase Changes

Pecking Order

Not all progressed lunar phases are created equal and some phase changes are tremendously more important than others, allow me to explain.

One Conjunction

The progressed New Moon phase is the most important because it kicks off a fresh cycle for you. This happens once at the start of the synodic cycle at the progressed Moon’s conjunction to the progressed Sun

One Opposition

The next most significant phase is the progressed Full Moon phase because this shows the complete culmination of all your efforts over the last fourteen years since the progressed New Moon occurred. This happens once in the whole cycle at the progressed Moon’s opposition to the progressed Sun.

Two Squares

The 3rd and 4th most important progressed lunar phases transpire at the two quarters. The two square aspects are when the progressed Moon is square (either opening or closing) to the progressed Sun. The two square (tense) phases are the progressed first quarter phase and the progressed last quarter phase.

Four Eighths

The final four phases are of slightly less importance because they are all set at the octile aspects of the semi-squares and sesquiquadrates. When the progressed Moon is semi-square, or sesquiquadrate, to the progressed Sun, is when these four phases come into effect, and they are as follows:

• Progressed Crescent phase (opening semi-square).
• Progressed Gibbous phase (opening sesquiquadrate).
• Progressed Disseminating phase (closing sesquiquadrate).
• Progressed Balsamic phase (closing semi-square).

Forecasting Skills

Progressions

As a forecasting astrologer, you would do well to pay close attention to any progressed lunar phase change for your client in the upcoming twelve months for which you are forecasting. If your client happens to come to you during a time when you look one year forward and there is no progressed lunar phase change, then you are unlikely to be mention this at all. However, if in the next twelve months there is going to be a progress lunation phase change, it is critical that you comment on it.

Exact Day

There will be a specific day when the progressed phase changes as the Moon makes the exact aspect to the Sun. Generally, you don’t want to mention forecast shifts or things to-the-day because, of course, birth times are always slightly out. What you want to do is discuss the fact that during the third week of October, for example, there’s going to be shift in energy.

You don’t need to mention that it’s the progressed lunar phase that changing, we know that it is, but from your client’s point of view you only need to explain that there is going to be an energy shift related to the actual sign, house and phase unfolding for them.

Interpretation Steps

1. Progressed Moon Aspect Progressed Sun

Look for the exact aspect between the progressed Moon and the progressed Sun to find out exactly which day the phase change will occur. If you have the professional astrology software Solar Fire, it will calculate it for you. However, if you’re using Astra Gold, you can just step the progressed chart forward to find out which day this occurs.

2. Sign and Degree

You need to find out which sign the progressed Moon will be in at the phase change. With this sign, of course, you would pay attention to the essential dignity so that you can determine whether the Moon is well placed or not for your client in this progressed period.

3. Aspects

Pay attention to all aspects the progressed Moon makes into the natal chart. Particularly look for conjunctions, oppositions or squares to natal planets. Additionally, check the Moon’s connection to the nodal axis within the natal chart.

Book Recommendations

Secondary Progressions

Here are some secondary progressions and progressed Moon themed books which may interest you.

• The Lunation Cycle by Dane Rudhyar (solid astrology this).
• Moonology by Yasmine Boland.
• The Progressed Moon Around the Zodiac by Giselle Terry.
• Progressed Moon: Mirror of Our Reality by Diane Ronngren.
• Secondary Progressions by Nancy Hastings.

Overarch

Direct

When you start with forecasting, it’s best to begin with direct forecasting techniques and that means transits as you get a grip on what’s going on up there now. Next, I suggest you move on to solar returns because they’re just an extension of transits.

Indirect

Once you decide to move into symbolic forecasting the best place to start is with secondary progressions. And as I say, if you only do one thing, do the progressed Moon because it’s a fast-moving progression. You can monitor the progressed Moon in your own life and the lives of your family members. See how these phases unfold through the cycle and the critical phase changes which happen at the eight specific hard aspects to the Sun, which is around once in every three and a half years.

Starzology Astrology Podcast

Listen to more podcast episodes on the Moon and related topics.

Author Bio

Alison Price: Professional Astrologer

Alison helps you uncover your individual creativity and lead a fulfilling life using your own astrology. She shares her wisdom from the heart with a touch of humor. She offers Consultations for everyone and Coaching for Aspiring Astrologers.

If you’d like to get in touch with Alison, you can reach out to her via email at starzology@gmail.com.

More Articles

If you enjoyed this post, you may like some more astrology related articles from our blog.