Saturn’s Joy
Saturn rejoices in the darkest space of the natal chart
The 12th house, the blindspot to the native, the house of shadows, the space of hidden enemies, the place of self-undoing, dwelling of sorrows. Ancient astrologers referred to this house as the place of bad spirit, the space where Saturn rejoices in his melancholic joy. This specific chart location stirs up foreboding hesitation, fears, and anxieties. Anxious clients hesitantly inquire on planet placements there and even the most non-alarmist astrologers cannot ignore internal intuitive prods towards more sensitive interpretations.
None of us escape a 12th house activation in our chart, some of us have louder and more prickly planetary placements, others have zero natal astro-trigger points in their chart. At some point though, our 12th house is activated, whether it be a major outer planet transit trudging slowly through the 12th, an eclipse cycle setting tidal waves back and forth from the 12th to the 6th, or an annual profection cycling through every 12 years. There will be points in our life that we have to zero in on the 12th house, and this will look different for everyone. One guarantee though, is that each of us will become more reflective, at times withdrawn, and could even experience bouts of melancholy. On the other side of a 12th house period lies hard fought wisdom and even spiritual enlightement.
It's the time of the season
When you think about leavin', oh, oh
I knew that you would
I knew that you would
In the season of strangers
When we were in danger, oh-oh
I reached out to you like you knew that I would
Like you knew that I would
It's a season of change
And if you feel strange
It's probably good
I want to focus specifically on the timing technique of annual profections to the 12th house. Personally, I began a 12th house annual profection on June 26th of this year, my birthday. The last time my 12th house was seriously activated would be 12 years prior, age 35 and before that would be around age 29 which also included a brutal double feature featuring my first Saturn return. My natal Saturn also resides in the 12th house, the nature of Saturn is leaded constraint, melancholic notions, and isolated retreats.
Defining Technique
Now would be a good time to explain what an annual profection is, for those unaware. Ancient Hellenistic astrologers first used this symbolic timing technique to highlight what areas in your zodiacal chart will be a focus in the next coming year, this technique allows one to sense upcoming themes.
The word profection means to “move forward or progress”, and this is exactly what astrologers are doing. Each year of life is associated with a specific house, and it moves along in counter-clockwise order beginning with Ascendant degree or rising sign. Starting with the rising sign, this would indicate your first year from 0 to 1, at age 1 the profection year moves into the 2nd house of the chart. Age 2, the chart would profect or move forward into the 3rd house. For example, if you are a Virgo Rising, after your first year birthday, the natal chart would turn counterclockwise by one house. Virgo would then symbolically move to the 12th house and the 2nd house Libra would symbolically move to the first house and become the focus of the year. The cycle continues for each year after, the 3rd house would assume a sense of focus for age 2 and so on it goes. The cycle restarts every 12 years, since there are 12 houses in the whole sign chart.
There is a handy wheel, as shown below, that maps out which age correlates with each house, making the math much more friendly. I also included general themes associated with each house, though this is a very abbreviated list.
Profection-to progress or move forward. Each birthday, we move our Ascendant sign one step further in a counter-clockwise direction. Each age equates a new focus for the year.
A 12th house profection will always correlate with the ages: 11, 23, 35, 47, 59, 71, 83, 95.
The second thing to note about annual profections, is you want to look at the planetary ruler of the house in question. For me, my 12th house is Leo, which would then make the Sun (ruler of Leo) the activated ruler for the year also known as the “time lord”.
The Sun would play a significant role for the year ahead, and we would want to look at Sun themes such as vitality, leadership, life direction etc. The Sun’s movement in the year would also play a vital role in the upcoming energy of the year, including transits and aspects. Eclipses and lunation’s may also have a stronger influence in the coming year. It is also important to look at the natal position of the Sun, and take into consideration the dignity of the time lord.
In the year of the rabbit
I picked up the habit of waiting on you
In the year of the snake, I made a clean break
And tried something new
I fly in my Aerostar
I picked up a new scar
I tried to be good
And I'm a real boy, my heart's full of love
It's not made out of wood
So do what's true, don't do what you should
It's a season of change
And if you feel strange
It's probably good
Returning to the 12th house focus, an annual profection in this zodiacal arrangement could encourage us to turn more inward and even ask us to dissolve old identities. The 12th house has been known as a place of solitude at best, and isolation at worse. This could be an active chosen solitude, or one that leaves you isolated, an example would be a hospital stay.
The 12th house can induce feelings of melancholy, sadness, anxiety, and overall heaviness. This is the place where Saturn holds planetary joy and these are very similar traits to the leaden planet Saturn. Lucky for me, I also natally have Saturn in this house, as well as Venus.
A Personal Study of Saturn’s Joy
I reflect on these attributes because shortly after my 12th house year began, I really felt the urge to turn inward for the month of July, which also happens to be Leo season and the 12th house in my chart. Coming off a 11th house profection, which is really focused on social groups/collectives, peers, I was feeling the need to go off grid for a moment. Realistically, off-grid meant a month hiatus on all social media sites. Social media is an energetic slippery slope for me. I use it to post astrological content, and it was the reason I ever acquired any. I had made it to the ripe age of 44 without even a Facebook page. When I launched Analog Sky in 2022, right around my 9th house profection year, ruled by creative Venus, I acquired both Facebook and Instagram. What started as business eventually slid into personal posts, which is fine and useful at times, yet the lines quickly became blurred. I also joined a very active running group under my 11th house profection year, which utilizes Facebook as our main communication page. A great resource for staying up-to-date on all running events. and yet also requires me to log in more often than I had. What became a quick checkup, became an infinite scroll on my entire personal page, and quickly minutes gathered into hours in the week, and I could feel my mind in desperate need to reset my own algorithm.
The 12th house is known as a cadent house, or a house that has very little energy. Hellenistic astrologers valued it as a bad house, along with houses 2, 6 and 8. This value was assigned due to the lack of geometrical aspect to the 1st house. The first house has no aspectual line of sight, such as a sextile, trine, opposition or square to cadent houses.
This lack of sight suggests a native may hold blindspots, and the 12th house is weighed down with personal shadows that lurk behind us stirring trouble. These could be unhealthy patterns of thought, action, addiction.
Season of change
If you feel strange
It's probably good
Let your heart break
Let the earth quake
Let the stars of Texas fall in the lake
Just do what's true
You ain't gotta be fake
Let the fire blaze
Let the light change
Let the heavenly body fall out of phase
It's a new age
Don't do what you should
The same day I gave up social media, I also paused on any alcohol. To make it clear, I am not an alcoholic (and yes I get the irony of even stating that). Enjoying regularly a beer or two a day can quickly snowball into mindlessness moving me out of mindfulness. It is my relaxing tool when the sun is sinking and that was a pattern I really wanted to reset.
It wasn’t hard not reaching for a cold beer at the end of a hot summer’s day, I actually really enjoyed the pause. I also replaced it with meditation sessions, kava tea and evening run sessions. I soon found myself craving quieter meditative sessions and my body was also loving naps! I’ve never been a napper, I am a mover! During this self-enforced pause, I found myself sneaking off nearly daily for a mid-day snooze. One day, I even passed out for two hours! It was like my brain was doing a hard reset from two items I reached for that would normally move me into a state of “relaxation”, scrolling and sipping. Both of the tools had been removed, and I think my entire nervous system was remapping and rewiring.
August is now upon us, and as we pull out of Leo season, my 12th house, I find my own energy starting to return. Unsurprisingly, I have Mars, my engine, on my Virgo Ascendant. I have found myself ready to establish firmer boundaries around personal blindspots and getting clear on what this new structure looks like.
I have returned to social media, admittedly a bit begrudgingly. I come back with clear intentions of its usage and limiting my own time interfacing. Drinking has also been reset, and find myself still loving consecutive alcohol free days.
My meditations are still present, and I have been playing around with different programs. Journaling and reading has replaced scrolling, which has been such a welcome relief. I am also finding myself returning to writing in general, with new ideas sparked.
Season of change
If you feel strange
It's probably good
It's the year of the snake
So let your heart break
-Year of the Snake, Arcade Fire
A Progression of Time
I am looking forward to this 12th house year, even though it could still steam roll me. It is important to remember that the 12th house prepares us for a 1st house profection the next year. I envision this as the balsamic phase of the moon, where I am releasing what is no longer providing my life sustenance, that which feeds off me but offers no nourishment back. I look forward to longer periods of chosen solitude, meditative sessions that help me reconnect my spirit to soul and the goals I have set out for myself. The 12th house eventually delivers us back to the 1st house of self. This to me is a New Moon period that awaits, where our spirit and soul, sun and moon reunite with future intentions to grow into.
For now my own Sun, my own focus and extroverted direction is taking a bit of a backseat from being in the spotlight. Similar to the tarot card the Hermit, a 12th house activation is time for retreat and silent growth. Led only by the lantern of the star, we follow the intuitive light into more liminal spaces of curiosity, wonder, and at times discomfort. The Hermit is on a journey, and it is one that requires first retreat and solitude, but it also requires a return. He cannot stay on the mountain top forever. There is a recalibration in the 12th house and one that can be uncomfortable at times. The 12th house will ask us to look at our own shadows that pull us constantly into the confusing darkness. If you find yourself in a 12th house profection year, allow yourself an honest examination to what is holding you back, holding you down from living a more dedicated, purposeful life. It may be another person, a system, but it might be your own decisions and patterns. A 12th house activation signals it is time to acknowledge and release. It is also time to prepare for a fresh return to the self, the 1st house.
What is your current profected year? What themes hit so far? I use more layered techniques to dive deeper into annual profections, if you are curious what is in store for your upcoming birthday, reach out for a consultation. Together we will navigate the stars, to orient your life.