A Beginner's Guide to Annual Profections

Ever get overwhelmed with astrology and not know what to pay attention to and what to ignore? There’s so much astrology happening all the time, it can feel like you’re drowning in glyphs.

Here’s the thing—as a professional astrologer, I can confidently say that not everything happening in the sky right now needs your attention. The truth is that most of it will pass by unnoticed and won’t affect you in the slightest. I also don’t believe your whole birth chart is active all the time. Certain parts of it are “turned on” like a light switch for periods of time.

So how do you know what astrology is hot and what’s not? Enter annual profections—a traditional astrology timing technique that’s simple but profound.

I’ve used annual profections in almost every consult I’ve done over the past ten years. I find this ancient technique to not only be extremely accurate but also helpful for turning a big astrology mess into a nice tidy package.

Annual profections can help you…

• Determine which planet has the most influence over your life right now

• Figure out what themes will take center stage this year

• Know which parts of your birth chart are activated or “turned on”

• Organize and prioritize your transits so that you avoid overwhelm and astrology fear

Annual profections is a time lord system. In English: it divides your life into cosmic “chapters” and each chapter is written by a different planet. This planet is called your time lord, which is a stuffy way of saying that it’s the planet with the most influence and power in your life at the moment.

As the name suggests, in annual profections, your time lord switches every year on your birthday. When you know your time lord, you know which planet to follow in the astro news, the tone of the life season you’re in, and which parts of your birth chart are highlighted.

We need to go over a few technical points before we have fun figuring out your time lord. First, this technique works best using whole sign houses. You’re welcome to use another house system of your choice, but you’re likely to get messy results.

Second, the word profection implies forward movement or advancement. In annual profections, what we’re actually doing is advancing your ascendant one house per year. When you’re born, you start out in a first house year. When you turn one, you advance or “profect” into a second house year, and when you turn two, you advance or “profect” into a third house year and so on. This house is called your annual profected house and determines the main themes of your year.

Okay, let’s get started. Step one: figure out your annual profected house. Below is a handy table for you to use. Simply find your age and then see what house column it correlates with. For example, if you’re 42, you’re in a seventh house year.

The topics that this house represents will probably be major players for the next twelve months. In our example, seventh house themes like intimate relationships from romantic to business partnerships will take priority. For a deep dive on the houses and their meanings, listen to this episode of my podcast.

Step two: determine which zodiac sign occupies your annual profected house. For example, let’s say our 42-year-old friend is a Taurus rising. This would put Scorpio on the 7th house.

The zodiac sign of your annual profected house gives you a few clues about the mood and tone of your year—how time may feel and flow. For a deep dive on the zodiac signs, check out this episode of my podcast.

Step three: determine your time lord. Your time lord is the planet that rules the zodiac sign that occupies your profected house. In our example, the time lord would be the planet that rules Scorpio, which is Mars. You have to use traditional planetary rulerships for this, which means no outer planets. Here’s a quick list:

• The Moon rules Cancer

• Mercury rules Gemini and Virgo

• Venus rules Taurus and Libra

• The Sun rules Leo

• Mars rules Aries and Scorpio

• Jupiter rules Sagittarius and Pisces

• Saturn rules Capricorn and Aquarius

This is your time lord, the planet that’s calling the shots right now—it’s writing the pages. Its personality infuses the events and pace of your year.

Your time lord is the planet that you want to pay the most attention to. In our example, our friend would want to watch Mars in the real-time sky. Will it have a retrograde cycle? Will it do something noteworthy with another planet? Will it be particularly strong or weak at certain points?

Your time lord also highlights secondary house themes. What house is your natal time lord located in? And what other house does your time lord rule by sign? (See above.) These house themes won’t be as obvious as those of your annual profected house, but they will have some airtime for sure.

If you watch your transits, your time lord will help you figure out which transits will actually be noticeable and important. In our Mars example, our friend would pay close attention to real-time Mars transiting other planets in their birth chart, as well as transits from other planets to their natal Mars.

And finally, now that you know your profected house and time lord, have a look at your birth chart and see what parts of it are highlighted or “turned on.” Here are some things to ponder:

• Are there any other planets in your profected house? How might they factor in?

• Does your natal time lord make any important aspects? How is this aspect manifesting in your inner and outer world?

• Is your natal time lord particularly strong or weak? How is that showing up for you as challenges or opportunities?

There’s so much more I could say about annual profections, but I hope this guide got you started with the essentials. This technique really made astrology come alive for me. It has a powerful way of silencing the noise and bringing forward what truly matters. If you want to take this deeper, check out my free mini webinar Get Clear with Your Planet of the Year!