New year, new me… or so they say! Every year our social media feeds are filled with a long list of goals and habits people want to kick off for the new year. While I’m all for self-improvement and taking life by the horns, most New Year’s goals or resolutions are dead in the water by the end of January usually because life’s gotten busy again and the Capricorn-induced willpower (the sign the Sun is placed in at the beginning of the calendar year) has well and truly worn out. Often this is because we’ve either bitten off more than we can chew or we’ve chosen goals that aren’t actually aligned with the season of life we’re currently in. This is one of the greatest benefits of astrology. It can offer us insight into the ebbs and flows of our life so that we can adjust our expectations and plan to make the most of the cycle we’re currently in rather than swimming against the current.
Before we get into the astrology of it all, I’d like to first explore a major pitfall with setting goals or intentions: focusing too much on the goal itself and not enough on the internal shift we want to have. Sometimes our new goal becomes yet another thing on our to-do list rather than a chance to tap into something we really want for ourselves. In the popular book Atomic Habits, James Clear makes the case for aligning goals with identity rather than behaviour. He argues that when focusing on identity-based habits (reinforced by one’s self image and values) it will lead to more sustainable change. An example being, instead of setting a goal to run every morning or run five kilometres, try telling yourself “I am a runner.” This reframe is powerful because it allows you to step into alignment with the person you want to be and focuses on what you are gaining/becoming rather than just simply accomplishing something. Like anything in life, and our practice of astrology, the importance isn’t just on the data, it’s also about the mindset we have.
The most empowering part of astrology is the ability to tune into your life’s cycles and to have awareness of what, when, why and how events in life are likely to happen. There are various different astrological timing methods and they all have their place, however, in traditional astrology (and in my humble opinion) nothing beats annual profections. Profections are a traditional astrology timing technique where each year of our life, a different House of our birth chart becomes activated. This is determined by age, so each time you have a birthday your profected House will change and the House topics of the new year of age will become activated in your life.
If your birthday is in the middle of the year, you may want to either wait to set any New Year intentions or set your intentions for 2025 using last year’s House topics, then closer to your birthday, reset and refocus based on your new profection year.
In traditional astrology, Houses were often referred to as “Places” because they represent the different areas of life that planets operate in. They are the environment, situation or settings in which events happen. When considering profections, this foundational understanding of the Houses doesn’t change. We extrapolate the meaning of each profection year from what that House represents. This technique is incredibly helpful when setting intentions for the year as you can direct your energy towards an area of life that you’re naturally going to be more focused on and therefore likely to have more success with changes or effort in that area of life.
Along with a House, and therefore a particular area of life being highlighted, you’ll also have a planet that will become your Time Lord for the year. This is determined by which traditional planet rules the sign on the profected house cusp*. For example, if you’re a Scorpio rising and in a 1st House profection year, Mars will be your time lord. Your planetary time lord will give an indication as to the pace or tone of the year. While this isn’t essential to know when setting intentions, it is helpful to understand the rhythm of which events will be unfolding. Mercury-, Mars- or Moon-ruled years may be a little bit more turbulent, fast paced or have more ebbs and flows. Whereas, years ruled by the Sun, Jupiter and Venus may be steadier, more consistent and calmer.
Saturn profection years are in a league of their own as they occur back-to-back and are usually experienced as a bit of a tough slog. Things might feel a bit heavier and harder in the first year but by the time you get to the second Saturn ruled year, you’re more likely to start appreciating what the extra dose of discipline and determination can do for you.
You will be much more sensitive to the movements of your profected planet throughout the year, and when working with intention statements and manifestation. This sensitivity is something to lean into. To build a stronger and clearer connection to your profected planet, it can be incredibly helpful to have an altar or space in your home dedicated to your time lord. You may even want to decorate the area or create a vision board with images of what you’re wanting to manifest during the profection year in this space. Spend time in this space regularly or have the vision board/wall in a place where you will see it each day.
Additionally, you may want to take note of any sign ingresses or major planetary aspects your profected planet is involved in and align some specific action or effort towards your goals and intentions with the planetary movement. This isn’t to say you wait until your time lord is being activated to take action. You can and should act towards your intention statements and goals whenever and wherever possible, but it can be helpful to throw some additional effort around these points of time.
One last thing that’s worth factoring in when considering profections is that they’re essentially a 12-year cycle. Every 12 years you’re going to have the same house activated, so it may be useful to reflect back to the last time you experienced the profection year that you’re in now as it’s likely that similar themes or threads will start to reappear. Just keep in mind that not only has our age changed, and therefore our agency over our lives is different, the planets themselves are in different positions than they were 12 years ago. A Saturn profection year is going to be experienced very differently if it’s transiting Capricorn than would it would feel if it was in Aries. Just as a 2nd House profection year when we’re 13 years of age is going to look differently than when we’re 25 or 37. In saying that, there will still be some hints and threads as to what your year will hold based on what happened last time, as well as the opportunity to tie up some loose ends and kick off a new 12-year cycle in this area of life.
The Houses as Profections
1st House Years
1st House years are all about you! It’s the beginning of a fresh 12-year cycle. It’s a chance to direct and steer yourself towards what it is that you really want. You know the saying, “sometimes you have to be selfish to be selfless,” that’s a good motto for this year. You can only give to others what you can give to yourself, therefore carving out time for yourself this year is a must. This is a year where you’ll likely have more energy and vitality available to you. Intentions or goals to do with your physical body, appearance and/or the way in which you present yourself to the world are a good target this year.
2nd House Years
There is an opportunity this year to really hone in on what resources you have available and explore whether you’re maximising the value of them. This house is often associated with money and, while it is a great year to get a handle on your finances, your resources are actually so much more than mere finances. The second house is also strongly tied to our self-esteem and confidence. Our capacity to grow and earn is limited if we have a poor sense of self. While it’s not a bad idea to take a look at the budget this year, I also recommend reviewing your mindset. What’s your self-talk like? Have you identified what your core values are? Do you filter decisions in your life through those values? Doing so is