Astrology
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What Is An Annual Profection? How To Calculate Yours For The New Year

Astrology’s best kept secret, explained.

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Have you ever wondered how astrologers are able to forecast major life events? It may sound a little far-fetched, but astrology can predict big moments like when you’ll get married, have kids, or experience a career change, all through one main technique referred to as an annual profection. Astrologers have been using this predictive tool since around the second century BCE (about 4,000 years ago), so I guess you could say it’s been around for quite some time. The good thing about this tool is that you don’t have to be a professional astrologer like myself to utilize it; all you need is your age, and you can calculate what your annual profection will be for the new year.

What Is An Annual Profection In Astrology?

Annual profections are a timing technique that pinpoints a specific area of your birth chart that is essentially “turned on” once you reach a certain age.

  • For example, the moment you’re born, you enter into a first house year (aka the same sign as your rising sign, which correlates to the self and the body). Once you make it to your 1st birthday, you enter into a second house year; once you turn 2, you enter into a third house year, and so on. One easy thing to remember about annual profections is that they go in order through the astrological houses of your birth chart, so once you make it to your 12th year of life, you will automatically be taken back to a first house year.

As you move into a new profection every year on your birthday, the topics of the house associated with your age become emphasized for that entire period. So, that’s why age 19 (an eighth house year, ruler of birth, taboos, and transformation) and 23 (a 12th house year, ruler of dreams, secrets, and emotions) can be difficult ages for many people across the board.

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How To Calculate Your 2022 Annual Profection

First, pull up an annual profections chart — either via a dedicated astrology site or even on Google images — and locate your age. The annual profections chart will let you know what house is being activated based on how old you are, making the themes associated with this house pretty significant until your next birthday.

To take it a step further, pull up your own birth chart next, and locate that house in your birth chart.

  • For example, if you’re 24 years old, you’re automatically in a first house year — but the sign your first house falls in can tell you a lot about how you’ll likely see your first house year unfold. So, if you’re a 24-year-old Aries rising, your first house (Aries) will be highlighted.
  • In addition to that, the planet that rules your first house (in this case, Mars), would be your profected ruler. Understanding the significations of the sign Aries, and its ruling planet, Mars, can tell you a lot about the year you’re stepping into. This would likely be an assertive, direct, action-based year, where your primary focus is on self-expression (first house topics).
  • Understanding the role that the profected planet plays in your chart can deepen your understanding of your profected year too, so if you’re a 24-year-old Aries rising with your natal Mars in Taurus in your second house of money and resources, these topics will also likely be emphasized for the year. This can also add context into why it may be a more challenging year for you, because Mars is essentially pretty uncomfortable in the Venus-ruled earth sign of Taurus.

While there’s many layers to understanding annual profections, every year of life that you experience has many layers — and annual profections can be used as a supportive guide as you navigate the ups and downs of every age.

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