Soul lessons at every age
Wouldn’t it be cool to understand the themes of your life within any given year? Astrology gives you this in so many ways. Today I’m offering an introduction to an astrological concept called annual profections. However to keep it as basic as possible so that it can be as accessible to as many people as possible I’m not going to include every angle, rather I will include links for that in the ‘Go deeper’ section. I’ll use myself in the explanations, to make the concept easier to understand.
To start, based on your age, use the graph above to see which house you fall into this year. Each house holds different lessons of our lives. Your time in the house starts on your birthday and ends at the next one. For example, I just turned 39 meaning I just entered my 4th house profection year, so one theme of the year will be what family and home means to me and how I create those things in my life. Other factors are also at play as to how the year can go, but this article will only cover the universal explanation as I said before.
The framework is this: as we all make our way around the wheel based on our age, we end up in different houses. There are 12 houses that make up the wheel. Think of the wheel as you, separated into 12 parts. Each part makes up an aspect that you need in order to be your best, most whole, most authentic self. It takes one year to go through each house (birthday to birthday) as I said and since there are 12 houses, that means every 12 years we can take inventory of all the lessons learned, helping us to further evolve.
Disclaimer: Please don’t take anything I say too literally because everything in your own personal birth chart affects what you go through each year. The below are merely my own interpretations and observations of myself and my life and may or may not apply to you. Further, our lives are comprised of both positive and negative events so don’t ever think just because a house is challenging it will go awful for you. There are many factors involved as you will see in the ‘Go deeper’ section.
1st house profection year (profound self-development, beginning of a new 12 year growth cycle)
“Write your own constitution and do not shrink from your desires and passions.” ~Crystal Clear Reflections
Our lives are ours to live and no one else’s. This first year can bring a lot of personal growth and transformation on any level-emotional, spiritual, mental, physical. For me it’s been a house of so many “firsts.” I went back to when I went through this house when I was 24, and that year one of my stories and a poem were accepted into a real journal publication for the first time - this was huge for me after getting rejected for years. I remember owning being a writer after this event and changing a lot of things in my life to try to push that forward. The second time around I was in this house I fell in love with a woman and entered into a relationship for the first time. I no longer wanted to suppress or pretend that part of me did not exist. This was a long transformative process. In addition I lost my job and dove headfirst into a creative lifestyle for the first time too, so Darkness Thriving was also birthed this year.
2nd house profection year (abundance, livelihood)
“‘True’ learning comes from questioning your ‘core’ beliefs – look deeply into the teachings and traditions which have formed your direction in life and begin the work of your Self development.” ~Crystal Clear Reflections
We take control of our lives, and then we chip away at what is not authentic for us, to begin to make our own choices and develop self-beliefs. Life experience shows we can become wise because of Gnosis, the sacred knowledge we accumulate and store out of felt experiences (see Kim Krans’ Gnosis card in the Wild Unknown Archetypes Deck). We then use this to break away from groupthink and develop our own book of knowledge. I joined a spiritual school while in this house as well as a community that would help me undo old financial beliefs. Both would lead me to my creative purpose, but this was also a time where the guidelines I formed for my own life were being tested, with others views being put on me.
3rd house profection year (communication, mindset)
“Find your inner lover, your inner “soul mate” and you will find yourself and your ‘earth mate.’ Your relationships mirror your own inner sense of worth. ” ~Crystal Clear Reflections
It is paramount to know yourself before you can know another person. What’s your self-talk like? How do you treat you. It’s how others will treat you. The last two times going through this house there was a clash for me between who I was and who other people wanted me to be. This house can shed a light on how you speak up and how your thoughts affect your communication and interpersonal relationships. It can be a lesson in “you are the root” and you always will be. It starts with you, and everything else reflects back.
4th house profection year (security, stability, home)
“Recognize that you are receptive and sensitive to emotions – you “mirror” the actions and emotional feelings of those around you. You have to put on a mask of detachment for your own self-protection.” ~Crystal Clear Reflections
What is it you are seeking, how is it that you make a home within and without? This is essential for inner and outer security. What is your living situation and how can it be improved. How do you self-protect or do you even. What family secrets are hiding and being revealed. In my experience this is where I’ve done ancestor work and deep healing, also whatever my idea of family is and how I’m building that has come into play.
5th house profection year (pleasure, excitement)
“Allow yourself to experience life passionately, yet peacefully – without being controlled or carried away by your passions.” ~Crystal Clear Reflections
Pleasure can be beautiful as long as emotional stability is in tact. When you are raised by those who’ve acted like lunatics and not known how to practice control, you too will lose your ground unless you unlearn these behaviors. Making wise decisions without losing your head, making decisions which uphold who you are, checking in with your inner children, is needed at this time. Practice self-respect and confidence, and joy will be joyful. Throughout my years in this house it’s been a challenge. Some of the most fun but also risky times. Without moderation we veer into addiction.
6th house profection year (routines, habits)
“It is essential to your self-sufficiency to perceive where you are in life and to make critical life-direction decisions by yourself.” ~Crystal Clear Reflections
What does it mean to go within? Slowing down? In a society like ours, is very difficult. You have to really shut the rest of the world out, but the world is not stopping. The 6th house teaches us how to stop everything to get in touch with what we really want and need - where if we don’t slow down, life will intervene to make us. What role does rest and withdraw play in your life? We will continue to believe life is happening to us rather than for us if we don’t go inward once in a while. This house is one of the more challenging universally. For me I was juggling a marriage proposal and addiction. The last two times going through this house I wasn’t in a place yet where I was trying to improve myself or the quality of my life either (these were my pre-2017 days), so my head was physically spinning.
7th house profection year (relationships, marriage)
“Awaken to the ‘active’ principle or you will remain a passive machine – always pushed from one event to the next – never truly understanding what causes you to do the things you do.” ~Crystal Clear Reflections
All the choices you make will eventually catch up to you, because everything has to balance out. It is like when you throw something in the air, the law of gravity says it will fall back down. This house is about relationships and partnerships. I’ve also read about how it is a pivotal house, with roads being opened due to choices made. How do you build strong, healthy connections? So much was being rearranged in my life when I went through this house the first time and second. To me it is a house of big romantic changes, but it could also be about seeking to establish a sense of fairness and justice in your relationships. Can you honor yourself, can you make decisions based on what you want and not based on how you feel. As long as we can stay aligned with our values, we can do right by ourselves and others. I highly recommend reading this Justice card interpretation in full, as it could really help you if you’re in this year.
8th house profection year (deep transformation)
“A major karmic change in your life will occur regardless of your actions – trust that it will be beneficial – accept it, prepare for it and your fears will be released.” ~Crystal Clear Reflections
Let go of control. In my experience if you do resist whatever natural conclusion is coming while you’re in this house the universe will intervene on your behalf. It wants you to shed your old psyche so you can become a whole human, for that is the only way to a better life. Becoming comfortable with death is the only way to ascend (the way up is down). And sometimes death can just mean it is time to let go of what is no longer serving you. My life took a a turn the last two times I reached this house, with colossal rebirths to follow in the next house (so hold fast to that if this is you). In particular I’ve witnessed the people I loved falling in love with someone else directly in front of me, which may be the most painful thing I can think of. My personal nightmares are not yours so please understand really anything can happen in this house, and it could have nothing to do with your relationships.
9th house profection year (wisdom, travel, open-mindedness)
“This is a mature emotional constitution, the effect of higher mind on the Emotional Plane guides us to thoughtful behavior. Recognition and practice of both give and take in equal proportion, opening the heart chakra has elevated the emotions to the higher level.” ~Crystal Clear Reflections
You can heal yourself. You may not believe it but the house to follow the 8th is the one where you help yourself revamp all you thought you knew. Spiritual knowledge abounds. Self-growth. Forgiveness. You may be a hollow shell or you may just have transitioned last year crossing the threshold into marriage or parenthood (transitions come in all forms), but the 9th house wraps you in a loving blanket (in my experience it was made of calm and peace). You’ve nothing to do but settle into your new life. For me this consisted of moving back in with my family, getting a simple job, and doing very simple things like going out on a Friday night to dance. I was rediscovering who I was, after a very traumatic 8th year the last two times. I had to find my truths and new belief systems, which I really needed. I took inventory of my past and cried a lot.
10th house profection year (public image, commitment, mastery)
“Master your demons – make them your servant – use the liberated energy they represent, rather than falling prey to it.” ~Crystal Clear Reflections
So now you learned a lot, getting to where you need to be. It is time to apply it. This is like the house of tests. What are your chains, addictions, bad habits? This is about can you overcome old obstacles, for the sake of staying aligned with your newfound self. You know who you are now, hold fast. I had many dating experiences during this time, and repeated lessons of the past planted there by the universe to ensure I was growing. They were helping me to see the difference of who I was before and who I could be now if I just made better choices, not falling into traps of illusion or temptation. Push past limited beliefs and stay attuned to the highest version of who you are becoming now, otherwise you will just keep repeating the past (the hard way). The universe does this so you can learn, but it is up to you when you will. One of the times I went through this house I somehow quit smoking after 21 years of it.
11th house profection year (connections, alliances)
“New freedom – you have come through the hard times, undergone emotional upheaval and you will now know inspiration, hope, health and spiritual gifts beyond your belief.” ~Crystal Clear Reflections
You’re at the point in the wheel where everything will rest and you can gather your rewards. What are you being rewarded for? For staying true to you. For living your own truth in every way. I remember being surrounded by very calm, soothing energies each time I rounded this house. I went to my first concert alone, I went on my first trip alone, I passed the bar exam. I took a year long spiritual class. I met people who were just so easygoing. Everything during this time for me was a gentle experience curated by the universe.
12th house profection year (subconscious patterns, inner voice)
“Move through the distortions and fears into the light of truth.” ~Crystal Clear Reflections
Now things are ready to come to the surface. It is to honor and get closer to who you really are, after a year of exploring your connections to the external. It is time for inner exploration. More than anything did I want to be a writer full time and the second time I went through this house was during COVID which we all uncovered deep subconscious things at that time. So I released my work online for the first time ever, in the public eye. I also was in the hospital, in and out for 6 months. Patterns around the way I ate, who was controlling my life and what my self-worth really was especially in terms of the primary income jobs I was taking. Things I never noticed before were coming up, and I was changing them for the better. This is the last stop and the end of your 12 year journey. You can look back now and capitalize on all the info you’ve gathered and all the lessons you’ve learned. So we begin anew again at our first stop in an effort to live more consciously, to feel deal and heal, and to understand that the wheel of life is always going up then down but it is about how you respond to the up and down. Thrvie by situating yourself into the center.
Go deeper
You can go to this website to pull up your personal annual profections chart, which will look like the image above. In the example image, the client is in their 10th house profection year, which is ruled by Virgo (the outer edge zodiac symbol) and Mercury is the planet ruler of Virgo (the inner edge planet symbol) so it also play a large part for how that year will go. To learn more, the client can google “10th house profection Virgo” to gather more info on the interpretation. In addition, the planets that are actually within that house in your birth chart will further influence what goes on, as well as aspects to and from the planets. Even further, the planet’s condition (meaning if your birth chart is a day chart or night chart certain planets play nicely or not so nicely within that framework) will influence as well. So see there are many ways you can go deeper. Here is a wonderful podcast episode by Chris Brennan (who is a leader of Hellenistic astrology) which you can listen to or read the transcript for, that explains a lot of what I talked about in this paragraph and also gives examples of famous people’s charts and life changing events coinciding. Lastly, this is a very extensive article on meanings of each house and their signs, so it can also help.
Pro-tip: When you find out the zodiac sign for the house you’re in, apply my interpretations above as well to the year by using this--> 1-Aries, 2-Taurus, 3-Gemini, 4-Cancer, 5-Leo, 6-Virgo, 7-Libra, 8-Scorpio, 9-Sagittarius, 10-Capricorn, 11-Aquarius, and 12-Pisces. For example, if I’m in 4th house profection year in Virgo I’ll consider 4th house themes PLUS 6th house themes since the 6th house is ruled by Virgo.
Jennifer Diane is a witch scholar, writer and model based out of New Jersey. She’s authored Folk Horror, Rural Horror, Devil’s Manifesto, Emotional Horrorshow, and Salvation. Book a one on one session, shop her books and zines, or find her on Instagram.
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