Hellenistic Time-Lord Techniques:

Annual Profections
Chris Brennan

Once you have assessed the natal potential of the planetary placements in a person’s birth chart,
the next step is to determine when those potentials will actually manifest themselves in the life of
the native. So, for example, if the chart indicates that the native will be married, the next question
that naturally follows from that is “When?” Or if the chart indicates eminence, it is natural to then
ask, “When will the native become eminent?” In order to answer these questions, the Hellenistic
astrologers employed a collection of timing procedures known as “time-lord” techniques.

Time-Lords the time-lord techniques. Western astrologers

The term “time-lord” is a literal translation may have much to gain by studying these parallels
of the Greek word chronocrator. The premise as we continue to recover these systems.
underlying the time-lord techniques is that not all
parts of a person’s chart are activated at all times, Annual Profections
but rather that the full natal potential of a specific The most widespread time-lord system in
chart placement lies dormant until that part of the Hellenistic tradition was a technique that is
the chart becomes activated. Only when a planet referred to today as Annual Profections. Almost
becomes activated or awakened as a time-lord is every major astrologer whose work survived from
it able to manifest its natal potential in the life of the Hellenistic tradition used or referred to this
the native. technique.
In what follows, I will present a time-lord In the basic version of the technique, you
technique that has been recovered from the begin from the sign that contains the Ascendant;
Hellenistic tradition, which I feel is particularly the ruler of that sign becomes the “time-lord
compelling in the way that it can be used in order of the year” for the first year of the native’s life.
to predict events in a native’s life. Many of the For example, if Gemini is rising, then Mercury
time-lord techniques were lost during the course becomes activated as the time-lord for the first
of the transmission of astrology over the past year of the native’s life. If Cancer is rising, then
2,000 years, and it is only recently that we have the Moon becomes activated for the first year of
begun to recover them through the translation of the native’s life. If Sagittarius is rising, then Jupiter
ancient texts from Greek and Latin. becomes activated, and so on.
It is worth noting that, although the time-lord After the first year of the native’s life (once
systems were lost in the West, the basic concept they reach their first birthday), the sign that
survived and has been practiced continually in follows the rising sign in zodiacal order becomes
the Indian tradition over the past 2,000 years. activated, and the ruler of that sign takes over
Indian astrologers refer to their equivalent set as the lord of the year. Once the native’s second
of techniques as dasha systems, and in some year is completed, the next sign in zodiacal order
instances the way they apply these systems is very becomes activated, and then the ruler of that sign
similar to the way the Hellenistic astrologers used becomes the lord of the year, and this process

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continues in the same manner every year, one year
for each sign. Eventually, the rising sign becomes
activated again at the age of 12, the ruler of that
sign becomes the lord of the year once more, and
the cycle begins again. Every twelve years, the
profection returns to the rising sign, first at 12
years old, then at 24, then 36, 48, 60, and so on
(Figure 1).
For example, say that there is a natal chart with
Cancer rising. For the first year of the native’s life,
the sign Cancer is activated, and thus the Moon
Figure 1. Annual Profections Diagram
©2014 Chris Brennan
becomes the lord of the year. In the second year of
the native’s life, starting on their first solar return,
the next sign in zodiacal order, Leo, is activated,
and the Sun becomes the ruler of the second year.
Fig. 1. When a person is born they start from zero, at the sign
that contains the Ascendant, which is the 1st house. This is a
1st house profection year. When they turn one year old the
profection moves to the next sign in zodiacal order, which is
the 2nd whole sign house. The profection jumps one sign per
year for each year of the native’s life, and each sign repeats
every 12 years.
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The following year, Virgo is activated, so Mercury
becomes the lord of the year, and so on.
The importance of this technique lies in this
basic premise: Whatever events or circumstances
a planet indicates will happen in a person’s
life, based on its placement and condition in
the natal chart, will occur when that planet
becomes activated as a time-lord. Within the
context of the dasha systems, Indian astrologers
often summarize this principle with the maxim:
“Whatever a planet promises in a natal chart will
be delivered in the year in which the planet is
activated,” and this is very much the spirit of the
Hellenistic approach to time-lords as well. So, if a
planet is well placed and promises good things,
then the years in which that planet is activated are
the ones in which good things will occur in the
©2014 Chris Brennan
native’s life. On the other hand, if a planet is poorly
placed and promises bad things, then the years
in which it is activated are the ones in which bad
things will occur in the native’s life. This is why it is
important to apply all of the basic concepts first
in order to come to a complete understanding of
the condition of each planet in the natal chart,
since you can’t make a prediction about what will
happen when a planet is activated unless you
understand exactly what that planet is saying
about the person’s life.
Let’s use film director Francis Ford Coppola as
an example.1 Some planets in his chart are very
well placed, and some are very poorly placed
(Chart 1). Thus, we would expect that the years
in which the well-placed planets are activated as
time-lords would be positive ones for him, and
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the years in which the poorly placed planets are
activated would be difficult ones for him. As it
turns out, there are two particular sets of years
that illustrate this point nicely.
The filming of the movie The Godfather took
place between late March and early August 1971,
followed by several months of editing and post-
production work. Most of this time coincided with
a Virgo profection year for Coppola, which began
when he turned 32 years old on April 7, 1971. This
activated his natal Mercury as the time-lord of the
year. Mercury is not the worst planet in his chart,
but it is not very well placed since it is retrograde,
under the beams of the Sun, co-present2 with
Saturn, and is being overcome by a superior
square from Mars. As it turns out, the production
of The Godfather was actually a difficult period for
him. According to Coppola:
The Godfather was a very unappreciated
movie when we were making it. They [the
film studio] were very unhappy with it. They
didn’t like the cast. They didn’t like the way
I was shooting it. I was always on the verge
of getting fired. So it was an extremely
nightmarish experience. I had two little kids,
and the third one was born during that …
[W]hen it was all over I wasn’t at all confident
that it was going to be successful, and that
I’d ever get another job.3
The movie was released the following year, in
March 1972, shortly before Coppola’s next solar
return, when he moved into his 10th-house Libra
profection year. The Libra profection activated his
natal Venus as the lord of the year, which is the most
well-placed planet in his chart, being a benefic
planet, of the sect in favor in a night chart, in the
sign of its exaltation, in one of the good houses
that are configured to the Ascendant, co-present
with Jupiter, and in aversion4 to the malefic that
is contrary to the sect (Saturn). The movie was a
great success after its release, receiving numerous
awards as well as widespread critical and public
acclaim, and firmly establishing Coppola as one of
the leading directors in Hollywood.
This theme of stark shifts in Coppola’s
experience of certain years, based on which
©2014 Chris Brennan
planets were activated, would become a pattern
for him, with the most famous example occurring
later in the same decade. Filming for the movie
Apocalypse Now began in March 1976, shortly
before Coppola turned 37 years old and moved
into an Aquarius profection year. In his chart,
Aquarius is ruled by a poorly placed Saturn, which
is a malefic planet, contrary to the sect in a night
chart, in the sign of its fall or depression, being
overcome via a superior square from Mars, in
aversion to both of the benefics, and under the
beams of the Sun. This year in which Saturn was
activated as the lord of the year is publicly known
as one of the most difficult years of Coppola’s life,
due to a widely publicized series of unfortunate
events, difficulties, and setbacks surrounding the
filming of Apocalypse Now. Shortly after filming
began, he was forced to replace one of the lead
actors. Then, a few months later, a typhoon swept
through the area of the Philippines where filming
was taking place, destroying some parts of the set
and forcing production to close down for several
weeks. Coppola also had to contend with the
theft of the cast’s payroll, a lead actor returning
from the filming hiatus so seriously overweight
that the end of the film had to be rewritten, and
finally one of the lead actors having a heart attack.
The problems surrounding the production of the
film were so numerous that Coppola’s wife later
released a documentary chronicling all of the
issues that arose.
Much of the following two years were spent
in post-production; the film was finally released
in the summer of 1979, after Coppola had moved
into a Taurus profection year, and his well-placed
natal Venus was once again activated as the lord
of the year. The film received widespread public
acclaim, reaffirming Coppola’s position as one
of Hollywood’s foremost directors, despite the
notoriously difficult production of the film.
Annual Profections and Transits
While there are sometimes similarities and
repetitions of certain themes when the same
planets are activated as time-lords according to
Annual Profections, there are also differences,
sometimes major ones, and these differences
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can usually be seen by studying the transits to a
person’s chart in a given year. This brings us to an
important point regarding Annual Profections:
When a planet becomes the lord of the year, it
becomes activated both in its natal placement
and in its transits.
What this means is that when a planet is
activated as a time-lord, it is not just that the natal
potential of that placement is being drawn out,
but also that the transits both to and from that
planet will be more significant during that time
period. For example, if Jupiter is activated as the
lord of the year in a given chart, then any transiting
aspects made to natal Jupiter in that year will be
more important than usual, and also any aspects
that transiting Jupiter himself makes will also be
more important as well.
©2014 Chris Brennan
This concept, which is missing from modern
transit theory, is crucial because it allows us to
pinpoint which transits will be most significant
and will actually coincide with specific events in
a given year. This is why astrologers often have
the experience of seeing what they think is an
important transit coming up in the near future, but
then having it go by without anything noteworthy
happening. The reason is that, in order for a transit
to result in a specific event, the planet involved
must be activated as a time-lord.
To illustrate this concept, we will use the chart
of filmmaker George Lucas, who is famous for
movies such as the Star Wars and Indiana Jones
series5 (Chart 2). Earlier in his life, before he got
into filmmaking, Lucas wanted to become a
professional racecar driver, and he spent a lot of
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time in high school driving cars and taking part
in races. However, when he turned 18, he went
into a Scorpio profection year, activating Mars as
the lord of the year. About a month later, on June
12, 1962, transiting Mars moved into an exact
conjunction with his natal Venus at 11° Taurus in
the 1st house, which is the ruler of his Ascendant,
and on that day he was involved in a major car
accident in which he almost died. In this way,
one of the most important transits of the year
was highlighted because the transiting planet
involved was Mars. Interestingly, on the same day,
transiting Venus was in the process of forming a
conjunction with his natal Mars, providing part
1. Born April 7, 1939; 1:38 a.m. EST; Detroit, MI, USA (42°N19’,
83°W02’); AA: birth certificate.
2. Co-presence is when two planets are in the same sign
together. This is essentially interpreted as a type of sign-based
conjunction.
3. Interview with Francis Ford Coppola, Academy of
Achievement, June 17, 1994, http://www.achievement.org/
autodoc/page/cop0int-3 (retrieved February 2012).
©2014 Chris Brennan
of the necessary mitigation that helped to ensure
that he would survive the wreck. After this event,
Lucas lost interest in racing cars and went to
college, where he eventually became interested
in filmmaking.
In this way, Annual Profections can be a very
powerful tool for identifying important periods
in a person’s life, especially when combined
with transits. The ability to use this technique
together with transits in order to identify the
most significant transits in a given year provides
a useful example of how Hellenistic astrology can
help to enhance techniques that are still in use
today.
4. Planets are in aversion when they are in signs that are not
configured. This is a positive instance of aversion, since Saturn
is not able to aspect Venus.
5. May 14, 1944; 5:40 a.m. PWT; Modesto, CA, USA (37°N39’,
121°W00’); AA: birth certificate
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