Chart Synthesis ✦ Dawn Bodrogi ✦ The Inner Wheel ✦ Part One
Updated
At age 28, we confront the baggage we brought into this world and decide what to do with it. Before this age, success often feels like it belongs to someone else — the product of instinct or expectation. After the Progressed Lunar Return, we begin to step up to individual responsibility with a stronger sense that our lives need shaping by more than just survival instincts.
The Quest for Inner Authority
Part of the journey toward authenticity involves developing the sense of I. Early in life, we test this through Other — often resulting in a frantic quest for partnership. By maturing, we connect the male and female halves of the psyche, and the urgency of partnership lessens as we gain inner authority.
The infamous Saturn return is difficult because, for the first time, we face a responsibility that is entirely our own. But the real reason it feels so heavy is that the Progressed Lunar Return has already removed our security blankets.
— Dawn Bodrogi
The Progressed Lunar Return: The Queen of All Returns
The Progressed Moon takes twenty-eight years to return to its natal place. Usually, the year before the exact return, we begin to lose our footing. Familiar things slip away. This return asks for shedding the old and initiating the new.
Marriages at this time are not particularly recommended — they often indicate a desire to cling to the tribe rather than individuate. Divorce is also common, as early marriages that substituted for internal development reach their natural breaking point.
The Story of Cardinality
Relationship planets rule cardinal signs: Aries (Mars), Cancer (Moon), Libra (Venus), Capricorn (Saturn). Cardinality is the story of the development of consciousness.
Age 7 — The Progressed Moon squares itself. The age of reason, where we first understand responsibility.
Age 14 — The Progressed Moon opposes itself while transiting Saturn opposes its natal position. The height of teenage chaos — the push-pull between the tribe and the emerging Self.
Age 21 — The waning square of both Saturn and the Moon. We sense an ending in the distance and feel limited time to accomplish our tasks before the major returns at 28-29.
The Transition to Individual Responsibility
At age 28, we confront the baggage we brought into this world and decide what to do with it. Before this age, success often feels like it belongs to someone else — the product of instinct or expectation. After the Progressed Lunar Return, we begin to step up to individual responsibility with a stronger sense that our lives need shaping by more than just survival instincts. We begin to crave a direction where we can focus our newly discovered, authentic selves.
Some of this article is excerpted from The Inner Wheel: A New Guide to Secondary Progressions by Dawn Bodrogi. Continue with Part Two.
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The real reason the Saturn return feels so heavy is that the Progressed Lunar Return has already removed our security blankets.
Great article: you say; “They can be an indication of a desire to cling to the tribe” and follow up with the thought that this might be particularly so for people who do consult astrologers. I think this is a valid reflection, most people who actually come for a psycho-analytical reading are tending to individualize and not just follow consensus. Staying with the past and the familiar seems much more like a consensus frame of mind.
A little thing about the number 7; both Uranus (orb 12 times 7) and Chiron (orb 7 times 7) are both intertwined in these cycles, do you have any thoughts about these cycles in relation to what you write here.
Thanks again for an enlightening article, always great to swim in the waters of the queen of progressions…:)
Sol
Thanks, Sol. Nice to hear from you again.
I’m not clear on what you mean with Uranus and Chiron.
Hi Dawn
a lot to ponder here. I’m five years away from my second lunar progression (on my first I moved from the UK to New Zealand, I’m still here and happy though the Kiwi boyfriend I moved here with is long gone!)
My progressed moon has been under some pressure recently going through a testing time in opposition to Pluto and now at 10 Cancer is in square to Saturn and obviously will be for some time as they travel together.
It has been a time of deep clearing of emotional wounds from traumatic past lives, a call to maturity for my inner child and now Saturn is bringing up all the fears around trusting and connecting to my intuition as well as trust within relationship. This was a surprise as I had felt happy and stable in both areas – but I guess there are always new levels of inner maturity and power to grow to.
Hi Dawn,
How perfect, I have been wondering about my next prog new moon within the next year. It will be in sag conjunct progressed mars, merc, asc and part of fortune. All in the second house trine the natal midheaven. Would this mean a carrear breakthrough?
Hi, Hayley–
A progressed new moon is not a progressed lunar return. The progressed new moon is another beast entirely, a very important one, and I would hesitate an interpretation without a thorough look at both the progressed and natal charts. But it would bring a lot of energy to the natal midheaven, yes. However, it might mean a completely new attitude is needed, a new sense and definition of Self.
Very interesting article! I had a relationship that started in 1985. We were both from different countries, he Italian, I, an American…we met in Italy…big instant attraction, almost as if past life recall…His Neptune was on my MC, in Scorpio, My Moon was on his IC in Aquarius, also his Saturn conjuncted my Moon exactly in Aquarius 18 degrees but also was in his 3rd house. Our Sun’s trined exact degree 16 Sag (his) Mine 16 Aries.. My Venus is 2 Gemini and his Moon is 0.50 Libra, nice trine….we met again and again..but each time there was some misunderstanding/ reason on his part, even though he was adament he loved only me(!) as to why we did not stay together!! Amazingly enough… 25 years later (Aug 11th, 2010) we reconnected on Facebook, met again in Oct in Italy. It was all the joy and happiness and then after a couple months, he stopped contacting me…with no real reason…I felt betrayed, lied to and definately decieved…is this his Neptune in Scorpio (which is in
his 12th right on his Rising Sign) on my MC? My Pluto conjuncts his MC..and my Jupiter too in Leo (29 degrees is his, my Pluto is 26 and my Jupiter is 21, all in my 7th house) anyway..this ended again…with duty to his family, over love for me being the reason…yet again! He has a stellium of Capricorn in his second house, works at a bank and has done for 22 years, so this is not an irresponsible man. Please could you enlighten me?? What the heck is the real story here??? Thank you, Befuddled!
Hi Dawn, not sure this is the right thread but here it is anyway! Thanks for all your help!! Maggie xx
Hi, Maggie. No, this isn’t the right thread, I think you wanted the MC/IC in synastry articles, but I will answer here anyway. From everything you wrote, you already know the answer–yes, the Neptune factor is to blame. It would take a complete analysis to understand why the themes are repeating. We have to begin to understand that trines are not always all good. Trines allow things to flow, allow things to happen. If you add angular Neptune, you’re getting a lot of confused energy filtering through those angles. Your Moon/IC connection is very intense, especially with Saturn there. But folks who have Neptune rising don’t always have the clearest picture of their actions or motivations. And his Neptune falling on your MC means that you are capable of seeing whatever you want to see where he is concerned, not what actually is. His Neptune on your MC means that the two of you may have a hard time dealing with the realities of the external world, as far as the relationship is concerned.
It isn’t that his feelings for you aren’t legitimate (when you’re around). Neptune can be deceptive and illusive without knowing it; it’s Neptune’s job to create illusions and then to shatter the innocence. When we’re betrayed by others we are always betraying ourselves in some way, first. Try to figure out where you’ve been deceiving yourself, what falsehoods you’ve been hanging on to, and you will begin to understand why this happened.
Thank you Dawn. it is exactly what I want to hear, because the insanity of it all is what makes it so maddening! I saw what I was told by him to believe, yet something inside me told me differently…remember this was over an ocean or two, as in letters, then much later emails…but yes, I see that I was also wanting the Prince he wanted to be as well..what a joke love is, eh? One minute it is all so glorius, the rest it is all about your own unconscious sneaking in there yet again..one can be decieved by too much inner searching too…believe me. I can get with this answer understanding you haven’t seen the two charts, and I can see what lies I am telling myself, such as believing in love as the so called “answer”…but let us truely be honest…the only answer is SELF as the Godself, and when you get there…what you find is the life, all you look for and into was a made up dream, all an illusion of this so called material world…it goes on and on…like the beat of a heart…meaningful, meaningless…Pisces in Neptune has entered my second house, no planets there but Neptune natally in Libra 28 degrees in the 9th..can you tell? Thanks for the inner look! Maggie xx
Hi Dawn,
I seeee. I was under the impression you were talking about The progressed new moon cycle where the Progressed sun is conjunct the Progressed moon. I have never looked at the progressed lunar return?
I must say that with almost my whole chart progressed into sag in my second house all conjunct and starting to trine my Mc…. I am very much in a different state of mind… and My career fills as if its about to fly. I am a film and tv composer. I have been working my whole life at it.. and its been hard as hell! As I am a libra with scorpio rising with a stellium in the 12th and first. So its all moved out of Scorpio and into to Sag and the second.. I feel like a Sag…. not the heavy, intense scorpio, that has been where all my planets have been most of my life! So I have been reading up on how the progressed new moon works.This will be my second in this lifetime. At the first one, I started my career as a composer. So interesting to see how it works!
thanx for your great work! I love reading your blog
Hayley
Hayley, The progressed new moon is probably the most important progression we experience. It’s impact as a new beginning is much stronger than the lunar return–the lunar return is about shedding the old and gradually stepping into the new, whereas the progressed new moon is a major turning point in life. There will be a lot of new material on the progressed new moon, and the rest of its cycle, in the book The Inner Wheel, which will be available in the winter.
I look forward to reading your book!
I imagine that the second progressed lunar return is quite different? The second Saturn return is years later in that case. My progressed Moon recently entered my 12th house, and since my natal Moon is conjunct my Ascendant, my lunar return will happen when the pMoon moves out of my 12th. At the same time, my progressed Sun will conjunct my progressed Jupiter (both already in my 4th house). I was glad to see that you talk about progressed planet aspects with other progressed planets as I haven’t found much on this. Anyway, should be an interesting time! (Also, about a year later my progressed Ascendant changes signs to Libra.)
The second progressed lunar return begins the work that is initiated at the Chiron return we all have at age 50. The Chiron return is not the big party it’s cracked up to be. At the Chiron return, we acknowledge our mortality and, if we’re living consciously, we need to be thinking about what kind of legacy we will leave behind us. We know we don’t have infinite time to accomplish things anymore, so we begin to focus on what we can do, what contributions can we make to the world around us. When the second progressed lunar return occurs, a few years later, we should be ready to rearrange our lives. Again, it’s about shedding the past, but it’s about not carrying anything that we don’t need. Sometimes people make radical changes at the second return–they make new lives for themselves, pursue new goals. It can be a very exciting time if we’re willing to let go and find new avenues for expression. At this time, we need to begin to work on making our lives mean something, and the lunar return can help us carry that out.