Solar arc directions for beginners

Everything in the chart moves a degree a year, together. Simple arithmetic, one-year timing, one argument about which arc.

2 min read · Published 30 August 2026

The answer

Solar arc direction advances every point in the chart by the same amount: the distance the progressed Sun has moved, which is roughly one degree per year of life. Because everything moves together, planets that barely progress under secondary progressions become active. At a degree a year with a one-degree orb, a contact is active for about a year, which makes it one of the more specific timing techniques.

How it works

Take the arc your progressed Sun has travelled since birth, about one degree per year, and add it to every point in the chart. At 30, everything has moved forward roughly 30 degrees.

So Pluto, which under secondary progressions barely moves in a lifetime, travels a degree a year like everything else.

Solar arc versus secondary progressions

	Secondary progressions	Solar arc
What moves	Each planet at its own progressed speed	Everything, by the same arc
Outer planets	Effectively fixed	Move a degree a year like everything else
Moon	Moves fastest, about 1° a month	Moves at 1° a year like everything else
Complexity	Different speeds to track	One number applied to everything
Best for	Emotional chapters via the Moon	Specific-year timing across the whole chart

The two complement each other. Progressions give you the fast-moving Moon; solar arc gives you the outer planets.

Solar arcs are secondary progressions with the interesting parts removed. I would learn the original instead.

Which arc

The standard method uses the actual progressed Sun's motion, which varies slightly because Earth's orbit is elliptical. The Naibod method uses a fixed mean rate of 59 minutes 8 seconds a year. Over a lifetime they diverge by a fraction of a degree, which counts at one-degree orbs. A tool should say which it uses. Most do not.

Reading it

Directed to natal. The natal chart stays fixed.
Tight orbs. One degree, sometimes half.
Watch the angles. A directed planet reaching the Ascendant or Midheaven is treated as significant.
Conjunctions first.

AsterNym shows the progressed Sun on your natal chart; solar arc is that figure added to any natal position.