Astrology is truly a language of time, in which no period is ever “born out of nowhere”.
Each phase is, in a sense, inscribed within the vibrational memory of what preceded it, that is, of previous cycles.
The best comparison one could make is, for example, when you board a train in the present at a station : you know very well that this train does not come from nowhere, it must have passed through other stations beforehand.
And even if you have taken exactly the same train in the past, it will never be quite the same, because in the meantime it may have traveled an entire circuit, worn itself down, and been repaired along the way.
Astrologically, it is exactly the same with the various cycles, in secondary Progressions and in Transits: the cycles we experience in the present are born from the ashes of previous cycles.
This is also why astrological interpretation texts that are given in a generic way for a given aspect necessarily remain limited and partial, because they do not take into account the lived history of the individual at all.
Each new aspect is therefore not an isolated event, but rather a phase that is part of a continuity.
Thus, what we experience in the present is always lived in a “relative” way in relation to what we have gone through in the past.
This is also very much what is useful to understand in the alchemical processes and the evolutionary cycles they represent, which I have developed further in my course.
If we take, for example, a person who has experienced their progressed Sun conjunct their natal Neptune, this is such a powerful and profound aspect that it will necessarily mark the incarnation over the long term, and therefore shape the individuality at a deep level.
This may highlight the importance of Neptune transits for the rest of the life, of course, but it can also act as an evolutionary factor that will, in a way, “relativize” all the other cycles the person may go through.
Each new cycle in the present must therefore, in a sense, be relativized in relation to the older cycles from which it “inherits” energetically, symbolically, and sometimes karmically.
This is what can give an interpretation its full depth and richness, because it is able to bring nuance by identifying these major intersections of cycles throughout a person’s life.
This is also why the image of the spiral is so evocative astrologically : each cycle adds an additional layer, weaving the evolutionary process of the present by passing again over the same points.
There is therefore never exactly the “same cycle” repeating itself, but rather each time an additional layer accumulating at a different level of consciousness.
The different astrological phases of the cycle (Conjunction, Square, Opposition, etc) mark, in a sense, moments of progressive maturation of evolutionary processes.
Each time a full turn of the zodiac is completed, there is therefore both, symbolically, the task of taking stock, with the balance and residues of the old cycle to be dealt with, which will then act as awareness and as fertile ground preparing the following cycle.
There is thus necessarily a dual task : first, to clearly understand past cycles in what they came to accomplish, in order to better understand and interpret present cycles in what they can motivate.
This is just as valid for a psychological astrology of personality as it is for a mundane astrology that describes the historical cycles of humanity.
To go further, you can identify your generic cycles or explore “the mirror of the septenaries” (cycles divided according to planetary functions).
Another good exercise, when looking at your own birth chart or a new chart, is to learn how to identify the major trends, in secondary Progressions and in Transits, that have been experienced, in order to detect the major life “lessons” that may have been at work.
For example, a Pluto that happens to be the “last planet” of a birth chart will inevitably, in transits, move back into conjunction with the other planets, and this necessarily reflects a very particular alchemical process of Calcinatio that must be identified.
It should also be noted that often “history repeats itself” : over the course of a life, unresolved crises tend to return later in a different form, in order to be worked through more deeply or in another way.
The more consciousness one brings to each cycle, the less one is likely to compulsively suffer its forces.
This also implies understanding what I describe in order to understand the life of astrological aspects and the resolution figures they involve.
For example, a person born under a Saturn–Neptune conjunction in 1989 will experience, in 2025–2026, both a repetition of the natal conjunction aspect and, at the same time, the energy of a square from Aries; there is therefore necessarily a sensitive resonance with the birth issues represented by that conjunction.
Thus, the cumulative spiral effect is there to allow evolution, repair, and an increasingly refined understanding of the forces at work.
With each return or the emergence of an additional layer, the individual or society has an opportunity to make more conscious choices, taking into account the entire accumulated background.
Understood in this way, each astrological cycle is never a single “blank page”, but always a page that is written as a continuation of the previous ones.
And if one accepts the notion of Karma, it may even be that the roots of our personal book are particularly ancient, extending far beyond the framework of this single life (all astrology being, by essence, “karmic”).
The final question is therefore : how can we live each cycle with greater awareness, in order to maximize our present evolution ?