Forecasting has been a very important branch of astrology. People have wanted to know about the future ever since. In the past, the main focus of astrology was on predictions rather than on personality analysis, because people had fewer tools to learn about the world, so interpreting the stars for the success of a potential war or ‘just’ finding the best timing for planting crops was important. Astrology was seen as a helpful tool for making strategic decisions rather than getting to know yourself. It’s no wonder that ancient cultures came up with numerous predictive astrology techniques.
Today, you can choose from many methods of predictive astrology. But for best results, you want to combine several of them. Although all of them can be accurate, they are said to be slightly different in nature: solar arc directions are the most external, meaning that they correlate with major events in life, while secondary directions are more about your inner evolution, how you perceive and process things and how you change and grow as a person. In general, it can be said that major events are reflected by multiple predictive techniques. To say that something has a high probability of happening, you need at least 3 clues in astrology.
When diving into predictions, you always want to use the birth chart as the starting point. It’s the birth chart that reveals *what* happens in life, predictive astrology talks about the *when*.
It’s important to mention that predictions have their limits. There are many things an outcome depends on, including your free will and frequency level. There are multiple levels for an event to happen on: they can play out as an internal shift rather than a specific event in your life, and it also happens that something doesn’t happen, although the chances were there. So you always want to be veryyy careful, because stressing yourself out over the future is the last thing you want from astrology.
Pros And Cons of Predictive Astrology (Important!)
You need to handle predictive astrology with special care. Predicting future events shifts your anticipation of the future, so you want to be really careful. Astrology is also extremely complex, so don’t be discouraged if it takes more time to master it.
Positive predictions can make you overly confident and hopeful. (Positive and negative are used here as a synonym for pleasant/unpleasant in the moment) Although there might be a higher probability for something good to happen during a certain timeframe, the planets don’t guarantee that pleasant things will indeed happen, and you might just end up disappointed.
At the same time, negative predictions can introduce anxiety and fear, which you also definitely want to avoid. The negative events might not happen either. You don’t want to make self-fulfilling prophecies, neither do you want to take away your inner agency and belief in directing your fate, so you want to be really careful. Negative predictions are best used to know when to be maybe extra careful.
In our opinion, the most helpful use of predictive astrology is understanding past events. Looking up planetary influences at a certain point in life when something meaningful happened helps you see things from a new light. For many people, it brings comfort to know that if something happened that was painful and negative, perhaps there was a higher intelligence behind it even if we don’t understand why it happened at our current level of consciousness as human beings.
You can also use predictive astrology to prepare for periods that might be more challenging. The point is not to guess everything to the day when it happens, but to have a map that makes navigating the situation easier.
Predictive astrology has a deeply philosophical dimension about free will and karma as well.
Predictive Astrology Techniques
That said, let’s get into the most frequently used predictive astrology techniques (in no particular order)!
Solar Arc Directions
Solar arc directions are not as popular for some reason, but they are super accurate, what makes them extremely useful for predicting external events. Actually, this technique is so accurate that it is used for chart rectification as well (finding your time of birth based on life events).
There are multiple types of solar arc directions, most often, they are based on the Sun’s rate of daily motion. This technique uses the natal chart as its starting point: as time progresses, it shifts every planet for a degree (not exactly one degree, but let’s keep things simple for now) for every year. So when you are 34 years old, everything is 34 degrees away from its natal position.
Events are associated with solar arc placements in a hard aspect or conjunct your natal placements and placements moving into a new sign or house. It’s important that the aspect should be almost exact, maximally within one degree, with many astrologers allowing only half degree before and after.
Secondary Progressions
Secondary progressions are a quite popular predictive astrology technique. They are considered a subtle and psychological influence, representing internal shifts in the first place, although sometimes they help find timeframes for external events as well.
The idea here is that each day after birth equals to one day of life. A significant difference from the previous predictive astrology technique is that here, each planet is moving at its own speed, so slow-moving planets don’t change their position almost at all. You mostly track the angles, your Moon, Sun, and the inner planets. The aspects they form to your natal placements reveal what changes you go through.
If you would like to get started with secondary progressions, tracking your progressed Moon is a relatively easy yet spookily accurate technique. The progressed moon shifting into a sign or house marks the beginning of a new chapter in your life, and it is usually very strongly felt. If you want to learn more about this predictive astrology technique, we have two articles about this topic: you can read about your progressed moon in signs here, and about the progressed moon in houses here.
Transits
Transits are perhaps the most well-known predictive astrology technique. Most people hear about them first when they start getting their hands dirty with astrology.
Transits are based on the current planetary positions. As the planets keep moving through the Zodiac, they form aspects to your natal planets.
Some planets’ transits last for a longer time, while others are fleeting. The transits of the outer planets are the most significant, as they move slower and their influence is felt for longer. However, even the Moon’s transits (which is extremely fast-moving) can be insightful if you are examining a specific event’s planetary circumstances.
Transits are most often used as finding the trigger during a longer period when the probability of an event is higher.
Transits are cyclic, meaning that most people undergo multiple cycles of the inner planets. You have a Saturn return at 28, then around 56-57 years of age and so on. Progressions and solar arcs are once-in-a-lifetime events (except for the progressed Moon, which also has a cycle of 27 years).
Solar Returns
This predictive astrology technique is based on the importance of the Sun returning to the point where it is located in your birth chart. The solar return chart shows the current planets at the moment when the Sun returns exactly to its natal position.
This means that the Sun’s sign and natal house are always the same as in your birth chart. When interpreting a solar return chart, the most important thing to pay attention to is
- the solar return ascendant, its sign and the house where it falls in your birth chart,
- your solar return Moon sign,
- any planets closely conjunct each other
- or conjunct your natal planets.
Of course, there are many more layers under the surface-level interpretations, but usually these are the ones carrying the most important information about the year ahead.
Your solar return chart shows the energy pattern you encounter during that year. Most astrologers think that the year’s solar return chart starts to be felt before and after your birthday too. Events around your birthday are particularly important from the perspective of this technique, as they represent the most concentrated form of this year’s energy.
Lunar return charts are also used. Here, the chart is casted for the transiting Moon’s return to its natal position. They reveal the underlying energy patterns for one month at a time.
Eclipses
Eclipses can be solar (during new moon) or lunar (during full moon), and they occur near the lunar nodes. Total eclipses are particularly meaningful. Traditionally, eclipses were considered a disruptive energy, indicating change and major events.
Eclipses are a major tool of predictive astrology. They are especially meaningful if they are conjunct a placement in your birth chart. Their influence lasts for a long time after they have occurred, until the next similar event. Their effects can unfold even months later.
If you liked this post, maybe you want to save our site for later. Share it with others who enjoy reading about astrology!