The Annual Profections Series: My 1H Profection Year
As I further my astrological practice, I tend to find myself reflecting on my past through an astrological lens. One of the ways I’ve done this is looking at my past profection years, and seeing what themes popped up during a given solar year. Since I am halfway through my 2H year currently, I’ve had time to reflect on my 1H year more clearly, and thought I’d share my personal experiences on here. This will be the first of a series of written works that I will be publishing after each profection year. But before we get into that, let’s take a look at what annual profections are and how to calculate them.
Annual profections is a timing technique used to see which house in the natal chart will be activated during a given year of the native’s life. If the profection year is ruled by a benefic (Jupiter/Venus), the year will overall be a favourable one; if the year is ruled by a malefic (Saturn/Mars), the year will overall be a challenging one. When your profection year is ruled by one of the luminaries (Sun/Moon) or Mercury, it’ll be a more neutral one. However, we can use the condition of the planetary ruler of the house and placements within the activated house to gain more context. Each house has certain topics/themes attached to it, and those themes will be playing out during the entirety of that profection year.
To figure out which profection year you’re in, you can look at an annual profections chart to see what house is activated given your current age, or you can also use an online calculator like the one pictured, found on Astro Seeks's website. Once you know what house is activated, take a look at your chart and the activated house. Whichever planet rules the sign occupying that house, is the one that will be most activated during the profection year. Using my chart as an example, I’m an Aquarius rising, meaning that at 24 I would be in a 1H Saturn-ruled year. This means that Saturn will have the most impact on me for my 24th year. This also implies that my 1H year was a challenging one, given that it’s ruled by a malefic.
Now that we know which planet is the most significant in the chart, it’s time to look at what that planet is doing in my natal chart. My Saturn is located in my 4H, and is also the ruler of my chart. Since it’s in the sign of Taurus, Saturn is bonified as its lord — a Libra Venus — is a fortunate one. My natal 2H Jupiter (benefic of sect) makes a sign based sextile with my Saturn, so there’s an additional benefic influence on this planet. The fact that Saturn is in an angular house is also favourable, as the angular houses (1H/4H/7H/10H) “ were thought to be supportive of the life and physical vitality of the native” (Brennan, 2017, p. 332). So even though I have a malefic ruling my 1H year, there are elements in my chart that demonstrate an easing of these challenges. That being said, Saturn is averse its domicile lord Venus (aka Venus is in Saturn’s blindspot and can’t be as supportive as she could be) and also squaring my 7H Mars by sign, so we also have elements that may heighten or aggravate certain themes/challenges I face during my 1H year. Saturn also rules over my 12H. Taking into consideration everything I’ve mentioned above, we can say that the house themes coming up during this 1H year will be coming not only from the 1H, but the 2H, 4H, 7H, 9H and 12H as well.
So what actually ended up happening during my 1H year? Well to start off, transiting Saturn was in Aquarius at the start of my 1H year, meaning that it was transiting my 1H and squaring my 4H Saturn by sign. Eight days before my 1H year started, I moved to France for work and started a new chapter of my life, that I was building up to for over a decade. When looking at the 1H and its themes, ancient astrologers all say that this house signifies one’s way of life, the soul/self, and the physical body, among other significations. The 4H on the other hand, signifies things like one’s roots, family life, the home, and is known to be the darkest/most private part of the natal chart. This is a very literal manifestation of this transit, as I uprooted myself from my hometown (4H) in order to follow my own vision (1H) and settle down somewhere where I could see myself living long-term (4H). This theme of moving abroad to settle down somewhere else can be explained by my 9H Venus ruling Saturn; I want to plant my roots (4H) in a foreign country (9H).
As you can imagine this shift was a massive one, and naturally came with its own challenges. Though I fluently speak French, found a lovely place to live, and have been to France many times before, I still experienced many delays and blockages while settling into my new environment. It felt like any time I was fixing a problem I had, 5 new ones showed up and I had to start all over again. This constant need to revisit, rework, revise and reconsider, is very Saturnian in nature; especially given how repetitive it is. However, looking back I can see that these challenges were necessary in order for me to reap the rewards of my efforts in the long-term. Saturn doesn’t let you cut corners, and it felt like every time I tried to it would blow up in my face - Saturn really doesn’t play!! But I kept persisting and eventually, I found myself with more solutions than problems.
Another big part of my 1H year was teaching, so having Saturn’s ruler in domicile in the 9H of teaching, astrology, higher learning, etc., was very fitting. I started by job as an English teaching assistant two days before my 1H year, where I was placed at a vocational high school with a very rough reputation. Teaching turned out to be a lot more difficult than I anticipated, especially as someone with prior teaching experience in languages. I felt totally out of my depths, and I could tell that the students’ inability or disinterest in learning stemmed from things far outside of academia. I learned to be a stable pillar for my students, and approach teaching with a more flexible and accommodating approach. I also realized that the way I present myself to my students (1H) has an impact on them and how they move in the world given the role at my job (7H, 9H). Of course I’ve been in the position of the student in the past, but having the roles be reversed in a school setting was eye-opening and humbling. Being an educator is a huge responsibility, and it definitely fits the bill in terms of a Saturnian lesson during my 1H year.
As you might have guessed by now, learning myself personally, was also a big theme for my 1H year. I dove deeper into the study of hellenistic astrology, and found myself with an abundance of resources and even connected with members of the astrology community. After a very mentally tiring 12H year, I felt like I was finally able to dedicate a good chunk of my energy to learning, and with that my knowledge and appreciation for the hellenistic practice grew. I got more into astrological materia and talismans, and it helped me develop a better practice and connection to the cosmos. I got really into planetary hours, and would recite orphic hymns in accordance. This part of me really flourished during my 1H year, and it helped me understand that astrology wasn’t only an interest or hobby, but also something I could see myself doing as a career long-term. Of course it wouldn’t be until 1.5 years later that I would finally feel confident enough to share my knowledge and perspectives with the world. Though astrology isn’t exclusively a Saturnian topic, the act of creating a regimented routine with both learning and my personal astrological practice definitely is; I was creating a stable foundation for a structure I wished to build upon, and did.
With Saturn in my 4H of home, themes like delayed stability and resources were big for me, as a secretary at my work incorrectly filed my information and created major issues and delays with administrative procedures at my work. This inherently affected my life outside of work and of course was a massive source of stress for me. These issues did get resolved with time for the most part, but it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that I was getting delays thrown my way left and right and most of it was simply out of my control. Though my Saturn isn’t in the worst of conditions, it is still a malefic and does rule over thinks like administrative work and procedures. Since Saturn also rules over my 12H, it’s no surprise that these delays also created blockages regarding my mental health and coping mechanisms surrounding a lack of resources (2H topic).
I could go on and on about the many experiences I had for this Saturn year, but it would be far too long of a post. All in all this was a major year of growth for me, and though it might’ve been unpleasant at times, it was far from a bad year overall. I finally bet on myself and my abilities and took a lot of risks, knowing that they couldn’t yield immediate results, but knowing it would be worth it in the long-run. Though it’ll take time for the seeds I planted to bloom, I’m glad I finally started the work on my goals and dreams. My 1H year was about honouring who I am and who I wanted to become, which is something I never gave myself the chance to fully explore before; it was quite liberating!
Thank you for taking the time to read all the way through! My 1H year was a lot more blurry going through it versus looking back on it in hindsight, so I at the very least hope this can help somebody understand and/or navigate their own 1H year a little bit better. Annual profections is a technique I use for Year Ahead/Solar Return readings, so if you’d like to understand more about your current /upcoming profection year, you can always book a consultation with me!
Sources:
Brennan, C. (2017). Hellenistic Astrology: The Study of Fate and Fortune. Amor Fati Publications.
Dykes, B. N. (2010). Persian Nativities Vol. III: On Solar Revolutions. The Cazimi Press.
