SECONDARY DIRECTIONS Discussed By VETTIUS VALENS ANTHOLOGY 1500 Years PRIOR Placidus

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secondary directions are typically believed to have been invented by Placidus
a 17th century astrologer, monk, and mathematician.
HOWEVER
Surprisingly
secondary progressions were also discussed by Vettius Valens
a 2nd century Hellenistic astrologer.
Therefore
his discussion is over 1500 years prior to
the independent invention of the technique by Placidus.
However
unlike primary directions
secondary progressions were not widespread in Hellenistic astrology.
Like many other predictive techniques
evidence of their use in that era survives only in the work of Valens.


CLEAR SECONDARY DIRECTIONS IN VALENS

Valens discussed two methods of secondary progressions in Book IX
the final book of his Anthology.
The first is the standard method
in which one determines the age of the native
and then adds that many years in days to the birth date
and looks at the transits to the natal chart on that day.

"...It is necessary to calculate as follows:
add a number of days to the birth date equivalent to the age
(in years)
of the native.
Then, having first determined the date
whether in the following month or in the birth month itself
cast a horoscope for that day.
See which star, if any, is in the Ascendant
or is coming into conjunction with another star
and whether it is moving from an angle
to a point following or preceding an angle
or from a point following
or preceding an angle
to an angle
or whether it was rising at the date of the delivery
but is now setting
or coming to some unrelated phase
or to something better.
You may consider these to be the periodic forecasts.


https://www.csus.edu/indiv/r/rileymt/Vettius Valens entire.pdf
Valens, Anthologies, Book IX, Ch. 3, Riley trans., 2010, p. 154


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This excellent elaboration of original secondary progression and its being forgotten for 1500 years touches on the historical fact of the forgetting in western astrology of quite a few concepts in Hellenistic astrology by later authorities; whole sign house format, certain modifications of profection, the manilius decans, the concept of erecting charts based on the estimated time of conception, the Parallel of latitude, are just a few examples of ancient Hellenistic practices forgotten by the time of the 9th century Arabic transitional era.