Progressions

Foreword to the First Edition (1998)

by Robert Hand, PhD

“In astrology there is one thing that we have enough of, books for beginners. This is understandable because astrology in modern times has always grown through attracting new enthusiasts and it is natural that most texts should be directed at them. However, this has caused one unfortunate condition to come into being. Much of what astrologers actually do is undocumented. We have a good core of written material which is rather basic. But the solid material that actually gives rise to astrology’s effectiveness as a practical tool in counseling is passed on mostly by word of mouth from astrologer to student, or in lectures and workshops. The result is that material is lost, sometimes reinvented by another, sometimes not.

“This book by Robert Blaschke on progressions is quite accessible to astrological readers of many levels, but it is not a beginner’s book. It does not just give the basics of progressions. It goes beyond that to provide a practical and theoretical foundation for integrating the various methods of progression into a single body of method in which each method has its place and there is as little overlap as possible.

“The core of the method is based on the three principal forms, common secondary, or day-for-a-year progressions, tertiary, or day-for-a-lunar-cycle progressions, and the so-called minor progressions which are based on a lunar cycle for a year. Conventionally these methods have been used as competing techniques for accomplishing roughly the same thing. The only question has been which is the most effective technique of the three? Whatever the answer might have been, the common practice is to use secondary progressions exclusively because it is the usually taught technique. The Church of Light has also taught that one should use secondaries in conjunction with minors. The minors are used to support the indications of the regular secondaries and possibly improve the timing of events because of the greater movement of the planets within that system. (I believe in fact that the term “minor progression” was coined by the Church of Light.) Tertiaries are the least familiar of the three on this continent, but those who have used them have been impressed with their effectiveness. Tertiaries were devised by the German astrologer E. H. Troinski around the period of the Second World War.

“Blaschke’s theory is that these three types of progression derive their usefulness from the following relationships. Secondaries are the result of the interaction of the Earth and the Sun (day and year) which in turn correlate to Matter and Spirit. Tertiaries are the result of the interaction of the Earth and the Moon (day and month) which correlate to Matter and Soul. And finally minors are the result of the interaction of the Moon and the Sun (month and year) which correlate to Soul and Spirit.

“However, this metaphysical and theoretical framework would be of little use were they not related to practical, applied astrology. While this book is solidly grounded in the author’s metaphysical position, it is not an airy, theoretical work devoid of practical application. While pursuing the logic and usefulness of the theoretical position, the book provides much that is useful and practical, and describes techniques of application which may not have occurred to even more advanced astrologers, material on planetary returns in the various systems, cycles that naturally arise out of the various systems and so forth. This is technically a very rich book and one which teaches a definite method which would not be difficult to apply in practice, although some readers may choose to use various parts of the whole system in order to test the overall efficacy of the system. The only warning I would give the reader is that one should make certain that in taking a partial approach to any system, one should be careful not to disrupt the integrity of the entire system in doing so. Sometimes a part of a whole is much less than one might expect with respect to the entire whole.

“A question which remains is this: Is the author right, and are his methods for applying progressions the best that there are? At this point I do not feel qualified to give an answer. I do know that my theoretical and metaphysical positions are somewhat different from his. But what I do have to say is that I applaud him for putting the method out whole and entire so that the astrological community can judge it, and that he has done so in book form so that the method cannot be distorted or altered by the more faulty transmission of the word of mouth. Whatever may be my, or anyone else’s, final judgment on Blaschke’s methods, this book should advance the study of progressions in astrology on both the practical and theoretical level and for this we owe Robert Blaschke a vote of thanks.”

Robert Hand, PhD
December 1998
Reston, Virginia

Foreword to the Second Edition (2024)

by Jenn Zahrt, PhD

“Twenty-six years after its first publication, Robert Blaschke’s Progressions remains a definitive work on the theory and application of progressing natal charts. It was in this book that I first came across the concepts of tertiary and minor progressed time scales, converse progressions, and progressed time twins. These techniques grip me, and I see them coming to life all around me through my relationships. I happen to know an uncanny amount of people born within a month of me, and the secondary direct and converse progressions unfurl in a symphony of synastry. Astrology chooses you, and chooses you to transmit its living wisdom. It clearly chose Robert, and his work has been a major inspiration for my own, and that of so many astrologers in our community.

“Progressions is the first book in his five-volume Astrology: A Language of Life series. Robert had two more books planned before cancer took him from this world far too soon. As his great friend Mary Plumb wrote in a blog post for The Mountain Astrologer, “he passed away peacefully on January 18, 2011.” He was 57.

“Through his Earthwalk School of Astrology, Robert proudly bootstrapped his own publications. This means he had to maximize every millimeter of the page to squeeze the most value out of the print run. Thanks to the generous permission of Carol Cilliers Blaschke, Robert’s books will be re-typeset and updated in second editions through Revelore Press to allow ample breathing room for his magnificent ideas to shine through. As pertains to Progressions, the ephemeris in the first edition provided data from 1920–2010; the second edition expands the ephemeris by another century to make this book a complete resource for decades to come.

“At the 2012 United Astrology Conference in New Orleans, Robert was posthumously nominated for—and won—the Marion D. March Regulus Award for Discovery, Innovation, and Research. When you read his volumes of Astrology: A Language of Life, you will know why.”

Jenn Zahrt, PhD
July 2024
Olympia, Washington