Annual Profections: How to Work With Time Lords
What Are Annual Profections?
Annual profections are an ancient astrology technique (Hellenistic, to be specific) that calculates the theme of each year of your life, from birthday to birthday. It looks exactly like a birth chart wheel, only this one has numbers that correspond to ages. It assigns to you a Time Lord, which is really just a planetary ruler for the year. The themes of the year will have the flavor of your Time Lord, reflected through the themes of the house your year falls in. One year you might have a Mars year in your third house, while the following year you have a Jupiter year in the fourth house.
Still with me? Don’t worry, it’s not as complicated as it sounds, I promise! Let’s get into it.
The Annual Profection Chart & Calculations
Because we’re dealing with ancient astrology here, there are a few important things to keep in mind.
1. We have to practice this technique using whole sign houses. Placidius, Sidereal, or anything else will not give you an accurate interpretation. I only use whole signs for all my astrology readings even though I don’t practice Hellenistic astrology. I think whole signs just make more sense in general and for my personal placements.
That being said, please make sure whatever natal chart generator you are using is set to whole signs!
2. Ancient astrology DOES NOT include pluto, uranus, or neptune. Sorry Charlie! Saturn is the end of the line for us on this journey. Without getting into the weeds, those planets simply weren’t discovered yet! Don’t have an existential crisis over it though–modern astrology has forged ahead and it all just falls into place.
This does, however, shuffle our Time Lords just a wee bit. There are several signs who have both a traditional ruler and a modern ruler. Here, we are omitting their modern ruler. For annual profections use the following:
• Moon = Cancer
• Sun = Leo
• Mercury = Virgo & Gemini
• Venus = Libra & Taurus
• Mars = Scorpio & Aries
• Jupiter = Sagittarius & Pisces
• Saturn = Capricorn & Aquarius
The Chart Wheel
Now take a look at the chart and how it displays each year of life. This one is set to Cancer rising because we will look at mine as a case study but you can head to Astro-Seek to get a copy of it for your rising sign–and you can also just have them calculate the whole thing for you!
You will notice that one full cycle is 12 years because there are 12 houses in the natal chart. Each year of life occupies one house until you make your way around the wheel. From your first year of life (age 0) until your last day of being 11 years old, you complete one full cycle of life. Once you turn 12, you begin a new cycle of life and you go around the chart all over again! Same with ages 24, 36, 48, and so on.
Cancer Rising Annual Profection chart from Astro-Seek
(Personally, anything under the age of 12 I wouldn’t really look at too closely)
If you are an astute student, you may have noticed that Saturn years are back-to-back. Yeah… that’s a doozy. BUT, they are book-ended by Jupiter years, which are meant to soften the more serious tone of those Saturn years, and yes, they often coincide at least partially with one’s Saturn return.
You’ll also notice that the Luminary years are back to back, the Sun and the Moon! These count as a pair the way the Saturn years do. You will have 2 separate years of each Time Lord in one full cycle. But the house they fall in might make the experiences feel pretty different in quality.
Putting It All Together
Have I lost you yet? Let’s put it into practice using me as an example. Here is my chart. I am currently in the final quarter of my 11th house year, because I don’t turn 35 until July. You can see that my 11th house is in Taurus which is ruled by Venus.
This means my 11th house year has Venus as my Time Lord. So what does that actually mean? Well it means my 34th year of life has a particular venutian lens to it, and it is showing up the strongest in my 11th house of community, networks, and friendships. I find this pretty fitting, considering that Venus has a lot to do with how we relate to others! And in Taurus it’s rather indulgent, earthly, and sensorial.
So what happened this past year? I gained a completely new circle of friends and level of public exposure because I started working with a woman I made friends with (she is a Taurus sun, Libra rising, CANCER MOON!) and together we co-host flower arranging events that are hosted by local bars and restaurants in our city. I have met literally HUNDREDS of new people through this connection and flowers were the reason why we were all coming together. She also pushed me to dig deeper into my spiritual gifts and share them more publicly. So we really have her to thank as you are reading this blog post!
Think of it like this:
1. The Taurus vibes can be seen in working with flowers, the literal Taureans, and spaces that center sensorial experiences (food/wine)
2. The Venus expression can be interpreted as feminine energy, connecting with other women (be careful not to ascribe too much gender to venus and mars though!), as well as the aesthetically pleasing, creative aspect of flower arranging
3. The 11th house energy is seen working with larger groups (events) and especially participating in larger friend groups and circles of influence
How to Incorporate Your Personal Placements
You could totally stop here and get a really good analysis to consider moving forward. However, there is another way to take this even further! To really get the most out of annual profections, you will want to find your natal placement of the Time Lord because it will also be lit up! Especially if it's aspecting the house of the year you are in. Bear with me, let’s go back to my example.
You will notice my personal Venus placement is sitting in Leo, with Mars, in the 2nd house which deals with themes of money, personal resources, values, and possessions. You might also notice that Leo and Taurus square one another. For me, this indicates there will be some tension between the two, and this tension will spur growth.
Gaining more exposure made me confront all the ways I felt uncomfortable with being seen and perceived, and overnight I was getting a lot of feedback about myself. It was all really positive but it was overwhelming at first. It made me really get to the heart of why I was so scared to make money off of something I feel comes to me so naturally, and why I wasn’t unleashing all my natural Leo energy. After a lot of personal trauma, I was really starting over again, and this period of my life pushed me to trust that who I am and that what I’m bringing to the table is highly valuable and highly desired.
Venus is not just about how we relate to others, it's how we relate to ourselves. It’s all that juicy self-love and self-reverence, but it takes a lot of work to get there. Often, our connections with others serve as mirrors and triggers that allow us to excavate a little deeper and gain a better understanding of who we are.
Did I know any of this would happen? Of course not. If you came to me with this exact placement as asked me what to expect for the year ahead I would tell you to:
• Accept and offer invites of connection - be bold with this one! Push yourself outside your comfort zone when it comes to making friends
• Develop a ritual of self-care if you don’t already have one, and lean into adornment, beauty, and positive self-talk
• Spend time in spaces that engage the senses: lots of nature and pleasure
• Network: Taurus rules money and the connections you make here can expand your professional network which may lead to open doors down the line
As I wind down this 11th house Venus year, I am eagerly awaiting my 12th house year (more on that this summer!) now that I am imbued with new skills, connections, and an elevated sense of self.
I mean it when I say: aging is the shit.
xx
Meg
