What Are Annual Profections And How To Calculate Yours
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What Are Annual Profections?
Annual Profections technique is an ancient Hellenestic Astrology method of seeing what a theme or area of focus will be for your Solar year, and a key Planet (your “timelord”), based on your Birth Chart.
Using the whole sign House system, starting with the Rising Sign as the 1st House, this will count as your 1st House Profection Year for your first year after birth. Then, in your second year of life, you will move into a second House Profection Year and so on. Every twelve years you will come back to the same House Profection.
Based off of your own personal Natal Chart, the House that is activated for you for the year will also be in a certain Zodiac Sign, and the Planetary ruler of that Sign will be particularly significant for you for that period. It will also activate any personal Planets you have in that House.
It is basically a way of “profecting”, or moving forward, your Rising Sign every birthday. You can also profect your main luminary (Sun Sign for Day Charts and Moon Sign for Night Charts) for more information.
-> If you want to know specifically what it means to be in a Venus Profection year, for example, check out my other Annual Profections Guide!
Time-lord techniques allow you to determine which planets in a Natal Chart are activated during any given time period. The activated planet is called the Lord of a given period, and its transits will be more relevant for you.
Similarly to charting where eclipses fall in your chart, Annual Profections is a way to see what will be an area of focus for you for that birthday year. It is popularly used in conjunction with a solar return chart on your actual birthday, for discerning what the coming year ahead may have in store for you.
Read on below for a Profections wheel, where to calculate yours automatically, and what it means for the different Houses to be activated:
How To Calculate Your Annual Profection
Starting with your Rising Sign as the 1st year of life in the 1st House of an Astrology wheel, you can cycle through a House per year until you reach your current age.
Using the wheel below is a quick and easy way to see which Profection House you will be in based on how old you are (which are the numbers in the concentric circles), and which corresponding House will be in focus. If you know your House Sign placements off the top of your head, you will also know which Zodiac Sign that House falls in, and which will be the activated Planet for you for the year.
You can also get your Annual Profections chart done here automatically if you like.
For a video lesson of me teaching this technique and others, get my Astro Timings Workshop!
Annual Profections Wheel:
Interpreting Your Annual Profection
The first step is locating your age in the Chart above. Then, once you have that, take your Rising Sign as the first House and cycle through in Zodiacal order to find your current Annual Profection Year Sign.
Depending on the personal placements of your chart, the House that is activated for you will be in a Zodiac Sign (for more detail about what each of those indicates, read our post on The Characteristics of the 12 Zodiac Signs). This will add a flavour and style of execution for your Profection year.
By knowing the Sign your Profection is occurring in, you can also find out its ruling Planet, the so-called Time Lord for the year. This is important to know because you will likely feel any transits and aspects to or from this Planet more strongly for the year (for example, when I was in an 8th House Profection Year in Cancer, the eclipses and many of the Full Moons totally wiped me out, and I’m not usually affected by them as much)!
For example, if you are a 25 year old Aries Rising, you will be in a 2nd House Annual Profection Year in Taurus. This means that for this solar year you may take on more Taurean and 2nd House themes, with Venus has your timelord. Pay attention to where Venus is in your Natal Chart and its transits through the current sky! It will also tie in relationship themes as Venus is also the ruler of your 7th House.
Read our post on The Planets in Astrology for more information about each of them.
Here is a summary of Traditional Planetary rulers:
Aries - Mars
Taurus - Venus
Gemini - Mercury
Cancer - Moon
Leo - Sun
Virgo - Mercury
Libra - Venus
Scorpio - Mars (it’s important to use the traditional rulership with this technique because that’s what was used when it was developed)!
Sagittarius - Jupiter
Capricorn - Saturn
Aquarius - Saturn (its traditional ruler)
Pisces - Jupiter (its traditional ruler)
Annual Profections in the Houses:
1st House Profection Year
The first House will affect things directly relating to you, such as your sense of self, body, core identity, personality, style, vitality, and main characteristics. This is the place where Mercury is said to be “in its joy”, meaning that it rejoices here. During this year, significant things may occur to your aesthetics or who you are as a person. You may grow or change in some way, or simply reconnect to yourself in a deeper way, coming into a truer sense of self. Your overall wellbeing and identity may come into focus. Look to the Sign it is in (your Rising Sign) for more information, as well as what the Planetary ruler is doing!
2nd House Profection Year
This will concern your values- what you place value on, your self-worth, taste, what you appreciate, as well as your finances, income, money, property, and possessions. This may affect the way you make money, how much money you make, your spending habits, what you spend your money on, and your general relationship to money and what your values are, as well as your skills, talents, and other resources. You can use this as a foundational year for building wealth.
3rd House Profection Year
This House deals with communication, so the way you communicate and process information, as well as expressing yourself in general. It also deals with siblings, relatives, routine or short-distance travel, and learning. It is also the House of publishing. The Moon is said to be “in its joy” in this House. In this year, you may publish a book or express yourself more openly online, your thought patterns may change or you may have something to do with your siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins etc in a more prominent way. Your local neighbourhood may be highlighted in some way. This is a good year for coming into a truer sense of self-expression and mindset alignment. As the place of daily crafts, you might even practice more magic!
4th House Profection Year
This is all about your family and roots, your home life, childhood, ancestry, inner child, places where you feel at home, as well as your parents and concept of belonging. During this year, you may make important decisions regarding your place of residence in some way- renovating or moving, you may heal some ancestral trauma or do inner child work, or your family may simply feature strongly for you. It is a good year for rooting down and building strong foundations. Look the the Zodiac Sign it is in for you for more details, as well as any Planets contained here Natally, and what the ruling Planet is doing!
5th House Profection Year
This is the House of joy, pleasure, creativity, children, hobbies, and what you enjoy. If you are artistic, this may be heightened during this time, or you may discover a newfound sense of creativity. You may also desire to have children or come into focus with them in some other way. Venus has its joy here. It may generally feel joyous and light, you may rekindle the romance in your relationship or simply feel a more giving sense of vitality. You might like to take up sports (or be more sexually active!) and may find your general productivity increase. Again, look to the Zodiac Sign this House is in for you for more information and to find out the Planetary ruler.
6th House Profection Year
This is the area of daily work and routines, your habits, rituals, and regular practices, the structure of your day-to-day life. As we are the sum of the things we do on an everyday basis, this House also relates to your health and wellbeing. Just like your day job may not be your chosen career, this can also relate to what you do for a living, or the duties involved in your chosen profession (for example, you may be an Astrologer but your daily work also involves answering to emails, posting to social media etc.), in this your colleagues may feature more prominently as well as a general sense of service or being devoted to something. It is also the house of pets and small animals. Mars has its joy here. A 6th House year may at times feel a laborious, all work and no play- it’s important to make sure the things you do regularly also allow you to relax and have fun!
7th House Profection Year
This is the House of intimate relationships, both romantic and business partnerships. During this year, you may make significant new deals, contracts, partners, meet a soulmate, or become more committed in existing relations, such as getting married. It also relates to private one-on-one relationships such as clients, therapists, or your best friend. Your partners may simply feature more predominantly for you in your life. Some other major changes may occur in your relationships or you might focus more on your close ties or make other significant decisions and long-term plans.
8th House Profection Year
This is the House of death and rebirth, of transformation and transmutation, of shared resources (such as your partner’s money, taxes, debt, grants etc.), and inheritance (literally or figuratively). During this year, you may work on ancestral healing or come to terms with what has been passed down to you, for better or worse. You might take out an important loan or get a tax break, joint finances may become prominent for you in some way, or boundaries (particularly emotionally and financially) may be highlighted. You might deal with cycles of life and death in some way.
9th House Profection Year
This is the area of long distance travel, expansion, foreign destinations, higher education, wisdom, beliefs, learning, philosophy, Astrology, spirituality, and religion. The Sun is said to be in its joy here. During this year, you may be interested in taking up a new form of study, of expanding your knowledge in some way, of expanding your worldview through either philosophical or deep discussions, or by literally travelling abroad or being involved with foreigners in some way. Your spirituality, religion, and even Astrology may also feature more strongly for you! You might focus more on your beliefs, discovering more of them or releasing others. Publishing is also featured here.
10th House Profection Year
This is the House of careers and public image and persona, of being in the public eye. If your Midheaven (MC) line is also here, it may point to your calling, vocation, and purpose, as well as your profession and life path. Sometimes it also relates to the parental figures. During this year, you may see important developments occur in your career, become more publicly known in some way, or make significant changes, decisions, or growth regarding your direction in life and purpose. You may focus more on your legacy and what you wish to create and leave behind in the world, or gain some kind of recognition.
Get our Workshop on Finding Purpose + Vocation in the Natal Chart for more information!
11th House Profection Year
This is the House of friendships and groups, of alliances, communities, memberships, hopes and wishes. When this place is activated, your close friends may feature more strongly in your life, you may join more memberships and clubs, or you may be involved in collaborative efforts of some kind. Jupiter is in its joy here, and so you may experience a boost towards your hopes, wishes, and dreams! You might get more involved in the collective in some way or social media may feature more prominently (also true of the 3rd House).
12th House Profection Year
This placement is about the shadow and things hidden, the subconscious, unconscious, intuition, dreams areas of loss, as well as retreat and renewal. During a 12th Profected year, you may feel the need to retreat more and rediscover yourself, spending time in solitude or isolation. Saturn is in its joy here. It is generally considered an introspective yin time of inner soul exploration. Your mental health may be more of a prominent feature in your life or places of isolation, such as hospitals, monasteries, and prisons might be relevant. This is a good year for slowing down and spending time with yourself and your inner world, a retreat would be extremely well-suited!
Read our post about What The Houses Mean In Astrology for more information on each of them! For more detail, look to where the ruler of the House is placed in your Natal Chart, which other Houses your timelord rules (if any), and where the timelord is placed in your Natal Chart.
For example, if you are a Sagittarius Rising, when you are 33 years old you will be in a 10th House Profection year in Virgo. Virgoan and 10th House characteristics will be activated for you. Mercury, ruler of Virgo, will be especially important for you for the year (your timelord), and you can look to where Mercury falls in your own Natal Chart.
If Mercury is Natally in the 9th House, it may bring in themes of travel, philosophy, publishing, and Astrology into your 10th House indications, tying them in with your career focus for the year. Mercury will also be the ruler of your 7th House of Relationships Natally (as this would be in Gemini), and so may also tie in themes of partnerships and collaboration.
Altogether this could look like your 33rd year being an important career year with a focus on healing, refinement, and service (10th House in Virgo), and you may publish a book in collaboration or travel a lot with your partner for work (Mercury in the 9th Natally also ruling the 7th House). Then, you can pay attention to Mercury’s transits and aspects to other Planets throughout the year (you are likely to feel its retrogrades more)!
If you would like me to create a personalised Annual Profections reading for you: click here, or for a custom analysis of what your whole year ahead will look like for you instead, get a Year Ahead Reading here!
Annual Profections are a great way to gauge which area of life and its themes may be more in focus for you for a given year of life. Through this, it can be beneficial to track the Planetary ruler (the Time-lord), so that you can be prepared for any important transits and aspects.
Have you ever worked with Annual Profections Astrology before? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments section below, or if you have any questions or anything else to add, let me know.
If you would like to learn more about what the year ahead holds for you, including Annual Progressions and other techniques, you can book in a personalised reading with me!
Or, to self-study more about the fascinating world of Astrology, check out our Cosmic Guidance: Traditional Astrology 101 Course or our Beginner’s Guidebook to Astrology + Natal Charts.
