Transits & cycles

Zodiacal releasing

Also known as: zodiacal releasingzodiacal releasereleasing from fortunereleasing from spiritaphesisloosing of the bondloosing of the bond zodiacal releasingpeak periodsvalens zodiacal releasingzodiacal releasing calculatorzodiacal releasing from the lot of fortunezodiacal releasing from the lot of spiritzodiacal releasing levelsminor yearsplanetary years signschris brennan zodiacal releasinghellenistic timing techniquevettius valens anthology book iv

Zodiacal releasing is a Hellenistic timing technique described by Vettius Valens in Book IV of his Anthology. Starting from a lot, usually the Lot of Fortune or the Lot of Spirit, it divides life into periods that follow the signs of the zodiac, each sign lasting a fixed number of years, with sub-periods inside each one.

Zodiacal releasing is one of the most distinctive timing techniques of Hellenistic astrology. It is described by Vettius Valens in Book IV of his Anthology. The Greek word for release, aphesis, gives the method its name: a lot is released, and its period passes from sign to sign along the zodiac. Valens used the technique from two starting points. Releasing from the Lot of Fortune is linked in the tradition with the body, health and circumstances, and releasing from the Lot of Spirit with career, actions and what a person sets out to do.

The first level of the method is a sequence of general periods. The period begins in the sign where the lot lies at birth and then follows the signs in zodiacal order. Each sign lasts a fixed number of years, which are the minor years of its ruler: Aries 15, Taurus 8, Gemini 20, Cancer 25, Leo 19, Virgo 20, Libra 8, Scorpio 15, Sagittarius 12, Capricorn 27, Aquarius 30 and Pisces 12. When the last sign is finished the sequence continues from Aries.

The second level divides each general period into sub-periods. The same numbers are used, but now as months: a sub-period of Aries lasts 15 months, a sub-period of Taurus 8 months, and so on. The first sub-period belongs to the sign of the general period, and the next ones follow the zodiacal order. Valens counted with a 360-day year and a 30-day month, which is not the same as the calendar, so the dates calculated in this way are approximate by design.

The loosing of the bond is a special rule for long periods. If a general period is longer than about 17.5 years, the sub-periods can run through all twelve signs before the period ends. When that happens, the sequence does not simply start again. It jumps to the sign opposite the sign of the general period and carries on from there until the period is complete. This applies only to the long signs such as Cancer, Leo, Capricorn and Aquarius.

The signs angular to the Lot of Fortune, that is the first, fourth, seventh and tenth from it, are given special weight. Chris Brennan, who revived the technique in modern practice, calls the periods in those signs peak periods, and describes them as times when the topic of the lot is more visible. In the tradition this is a description of emphasis, not a statement that something specific will happen.

Zodiacal releasing is a tradition, not a science, and it gives neither advice nor forecasts. It shows how ancient astrologers divided a life into chapters.

AstroSensus calculates levels 1 and 2 of zodiacal releasing from both the Lot of Fortune and the Lot of Spirit, marks the loosing of the bond and marks the signs that are angular to the lot. Levels 3 and 4 are not shown. The tool is part of the free traditional chart, which needs a birth time and uses no AI and no account.