Anthony Louis's Blog, page 46

The Birth Chart of Vettius Valens

The second century CE astrologer Vettius Valens in his Anthology  left us one of the most important books extant about the theory and practice of Hellenistic astrology. Replete with  many dozens of sample charts of individual clients, Valens makes available to the modern astrologer many techniques that had been previously unavailable prior to the translation of his text into English during the past few decades.

In a critical edition of Valens writings, the scholar David Pingree noted that one of the most commonly utilized charts was cast for the date 8 February 0120 CE and suggested that, like many astrologers of the period, Valens was likely to use his own chart to illustrate the ideas in his text.  Many others who have studied Valens agreed that there is a high likelihood that Valens was born on 8 Feb 120.  His birthplace is known to be , Turkey (36° 14′ 40″ N, 36° 12′ 04″ E).  He traveled to Alexandria to further his knowledge of astrology and remained there to practice the art.

Here is how Valens describes the chart which scholars assume to be his own (from the Mark Riley translation, bold mine).  Here Valens is discussing the annual profections of this chart:

Book IV:

“/165P/ Let us take an example so that we may make an intelligent beginning: sun, Mercury in Aquarius, moon in Scorpio, Saturn in Cancer, Jupiter in Libra, Venus in Capricorn, Mars, Ascendant in Virgo. We are investigating the 35th year. I divide by 12, for a result of 24, remainder 11. We note which stars are separated by 11 signs: we find 11 signs from the Ascendant and Mars to Saturn in Cancer; additionally 11 signs from the moon to Mars, or from Venus to the moon. All of these transmissions are effective in the 35th year. Whatever predictive force each star has, it will predict appropriately, good or bad, in the transmissions which we have outlined in the preceding discussion.

Whenever there are many transmissions, it is necessary to take into account whether benefics or malefics predominate. Award the prize to whichever group does predominate. If neither does, the year should be judged as varied and changeable.

To find the overall influence in any nativity, it will be necessary to count the years from the sun, the moon, and the Ascendant, and if the count ends at an empty place, then they will be transmitting to the rulers of these signs. These three figures have great influence, whether the transmission is to benefics, to malefics, to the angles or operative places, or to places not at the angles.”

The early Hellenistic astrologers most likely used a sidereal zodiac, so I experimented with several ayanasmas and came up with the following chart, which corresponds with Valens description.  Note that he was born just after sunset on a Sun day during a Sun hour, the first hour of the night.

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This chart is cast in the sidereal zodiac (Raman ayanasma) for 8 February 120 CE at 6:27 PM LMT in Antakya, Turkey.  The chart data is the same as given by Valens in his Anthology:

Sun and Mercury in Aquarius
Moon in Scorpio
Saturn in Cancer
Jupiter in Libra
Venus in Capricorn (Venus would be in Aquarius in the tropical zodiac and in the sidereal zodiac with a different ayanasma.)
Mars and Ascendant in Virgo

Valens does not specify the degree of the Ascendant, but in Book VII when he discusses “conception” charts he mentions what may be his own chart when he writes (Mark Riley translation, bold mine):

Book VII:

“For example, so that my readers may understand the determination: Hadrian year 4, Mechir 13/14, hour 1 of the night; the moon in Scorpio 7°, the Ascendant in Virgo 7°.  Since the moon is found to be in the hemisphere beneath the earth, I take the degrees from the Ascendant to the moon; this is 60°. To each 30° I assign 2 1/2, for a result of 5 days. I add this to the mean factor (273), and the result is 278. The conception was that many days ago. /51P/ I count back days from the hour of birth; the conception day is Pachon 11.

Alternatively, I subtract the 5 days of the distance from 92, for a result of 87. (The mean factor is 273, which leaves a remainder of 92 when subtracted from 365 days.) If we add 87 to Mechir 14 and count this off from the birth date, we come to Pachon 11.

If you calculate the degrees from the moon to the Descendant, i.e. Pisces 7°, the total is 120°. Take 2 1/2 for each 30°, for a total of 10 days. Now if I subtract this from the maximum factor (288), the result is 278. If you count this amount back from the day of birth and calculate the moon, you will find it to have been in the Ascendant at the delivery.”

In this section Valens is calculating the hypothetical conception chart for someone born during the first hour of the night (as he was) and who has Moon in Scorpio and Ascendant in Virgo (as he does). If this is indeed his own birth chart, then Valens is telling us that his Ascendant lies in the 7th degree of Virgo and his Moon lies in the 7th degree of Scorpio.  These values are very close the the chart calculated above, which has the Ascendant in the 4th degree of Virgo (rather than the 7th) and the Moon in the 6th degree of Virgo (rather than the 7th as mentioned in the text).

If we count back 278 days from 8 February 120 CE, as Valens suggests, we arrive at 6 May 119 CE as his date of conception. According to Valens, on this date the Moon should lie in the Ascendant of the 8 February 120 birth chart.  Here is the conception chart calculated in the sidereal zodiac (Raman ayanasma) according to Valens instructions:

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As you can see, the Moon in this conception chart lies in early Virgo, which the the Ascendant of the nativity.  In addition, the Ascendant of this conception chart lies in Scorpio, which is the sign of the Moon in the nativity.

What about Valens’ Midheaven degree? On page 105 of Riley’s translation the following passage, which may relate to Valens’ own chart, appears:

p.105: “An example: Mars, Ascendant in Virgo, moon in Scorpio at IC, MC in Taurus. It is necessary to investigate the 34th year. 34 divided by 12 gives 2, with a remainder of 10. The transmission can go from the moon to Mars, since they are both at angles , and from the Ascendant and Mars to Taurus (i.e. to MC). During this period the client worked abroad, was a friend of great men, was in mortal danger because of a woman, and suffered cuts and bleeding. Other transmissions were operative at this time, but they did not reveal the crisis.”

If this passage does relate to Valens’ chart, then it tells us that he has Mars and the Ascendant in Virgo and the Moon in Scorpio (which most scholars agree on).  What is new is that it indicates that the degree of the MC lies in Taurus and the IC lies in Taurus where the Moon is located.  If such is the case, the Valens could not have been born much after 6:27 pm LMT because the MC would shift into Gemini, making an Ascendant in the 7th degree of Virgo impossible at his birthplace. Specifically:

The MC enters Gemini at 6:29:20 pm LMT in this chart.
The ASC shifts back to Leo at 6:09:22 pm LMT in this chart

Thus, Valens must have been born during the 20-minute interval between about 6:09 pm and 6:29 pm LMT.  I chose a time close to 6:29 pm LMT for the chart to keep the MC in Taurus and the ASC close to the 7th degree of Virgo reported in the text.

Further reading:

Gregory Rozek has a discussion of the Rx planets in Valens’ chart at http://gregoryrozek.com/en/valens-and-retrograde-planets/

Chris Brennan gives an overview of Valens contributions at http://www.hellenisticastrology.com/astrologers/vettius-valens/.  On this page it states that “If Valens was born on February 8, 120, then he also included his own conception chart in the Anthology, which was on May 13, 119 CE.”  This latter date may be a typo because Valens instructs us to subtract 278 days from the 8 Feb 120 CE birth day, which takes us to 6 May 119  (as opposed to 13 May 119).  In addition, the Moon on 13 May 119 was in Sagittarius and not in Virgo as the text indicates.

Here is the same chart showing the Rx planets and a table of information about the chart, calculated by Solar Fire:

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An interesting horary

I had posted this chart in a horary group in Facebook but thought it might be of interest to others, so here it is with some additional comments about the use of 12th-parts and of the lord of the hour from the method of Masha’allah.

Where are the missing prescription sunglasses?

On a recent Saturday my wife told me she was unable to find her prescription sunglasses which she had worn the day before. She uses them for driving or otherwise being out in bright sunlight. We both searched the house and the car and they were nowhere to be found, so she asked me to cast a chart to horary find the missing glasses. Data: Orange, CT USA, 12:08 pm EDT, 23 Sep 2017. It is a Saturn day during a Mercury hour. Below is the chart with Regio Houses.

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My wife is the querent. Her rulers are Jupiter (Sag rising) and the Moon (co-ruler of querent). The missing possession is shown by the 2nd house of movable goods: Capricorn, ruled by Saturn. The “modern” planet Pluto is Rx in Capricorn in the 2nd house and describes the missing item.  Both Pluto and Capricorn are associated with dark places, and sunglasses essentially shield the eyes from the sun, creating the equivalent of a dark place. The fact that Pluto in the 2nd is Rx suggests that the item will return. In addition, my wife’s co-ruler Moon mutually applies to a trine with Pluto in the 2nd, suggesting the return.

The 12th-part of the Ascendant lies at 18 Capricorn 17 in the 2nd house. This makes sense because her intention (shown by the 12th part) is to find a missing movable possession which she hopes will return to her in the 1st house (Saturn, ruler of the 2nd, lies in the 1st.  Interestingly, Mercury (ruler of the 7th, me, her husband) at 18 Virgo 29 is in partill trine with the 12th-part of the Ascendant at 18 Capricorn 17, and she hopes that I will be able to help her find the missing glasses by means of astrology.

Saturn (the glasses) lies in the 1st house and is disposed by Jupiter, ruler of the 1st. I took this to mean that the glasses would return to her, but there is no applying aspect between Jupiter or the Moon (the querent’s rulers) and Saturn (the glasses). However, Saturn lies in Sagittarius (ruled by Jupiter) and Jupiter lies in Libra (the exaltation of Saturn), so there is a mutual reception between 2nd ruler Saturn and 1st ruler Jupiter.

The 4th house can indicate the location of the missing item. The 4th cusp is ruled by Jupiter (the querent’s ruler also) which occupies Libra in the 11th of friends. Jupiter is disposed by Venus which rules the 11th cusp, so the glasses could be with a friend.

We had visited some friends the night before, so I suggested that she call to see if she left her glasses at their house. Sure enough our friend found the glasses on top of the sideboard in the dining room. Initially my wife was reluctant to call our friend because she was convinced that the sunglasses were in our home. She couldn’t imagine having worn her outdoor sunglasses in our friend’s house the evening before. In fact, she was surprised when our friend told her he had found her glasses, as probably indicated by Jupiter in the 11th of friends mutually applying to oppose Uranus in the 5th of fun times with friends. This opposition perfected in 1 degree 5 minutes, which equates to an hour and 5 minutes after the time of the question (12:08 pm), that is, 1:13 pm, which is about the time she made the phone call to our friend.

The Moon’s trine to Neptune probably shows my wife’s inattention or forgetfulness in mislaying the glasses. In addition, because a retrograde Neptune (which is not used in traditional horary) lies in the 4th Whole Sign house, it could signify the returning missing glasses, in which case the Moon’s applying trine to Neptune in under 1 degree could symbolize her locating the glasses within about an hour.  Furthermore, the Moon applies to sextile the Part of Fortune in the 2nd of movable goods. Many traditional authors regard Fortuna as as an indicator of missing possessions.

I’m still a little puzzled about why there are not clearer indications via an aspect between significators about the return of the glasses.  It must be that the mutual reception between Saturn and Jupiter, with 2nd ruler Saturn placed in the 1st house, is sufficiently strong evidence of their return.  In addition, the hour ruler Mercury is quite strong conjunct the MC and applies to trine Saturn in the 1st, which is an indicator of their recovery. Futhermore, the Sun and Moon are both above the horizon, and the Sun sextiles the Ascendant from the 10th Regiomontanus house.

She asked the question at 12:08 pm and called our friend within 2 hours of asking the question. I was unable to cast the chart right away because we were busy doing something. Unfortunately I did not note the time when she called our friend and located the missing glasses, but it was most likely between 1 pm and 1:30 pm.

The Lord of the Hour

Masha’allah makes use of the Lord of the Hour to find hidden or misplaced things. In Ben Dykes translation of Masha’allah on horary, he writes about the discovery of a hidden or lost thing (italics mine):

“If someone were to ask you about a lost or hidden thing, whether he would find it or not, look at the Ascendant, to its Lord, and the Lord of the hour. If the Lord of the Ascendant and the Lord of the hour were in angles, he will find his thing. But if they were in the dark domiciles—that is, in domiciles which do not aspect the Ascendant—he will not find it. And if the Lord of the hour or the Lord of the Ascendant were in the Ascendant, his thing is already with him, and not lost. But if one or both of them were in the seventh, he will find it after several days. And if the Lord of the hour or the Lord of the Ascendant aspected the Sun, he will find it. And if the Moon aspected him, it will be better; and wherever the Lord of the hour is, there will be the things.”

In this chart, the Lord of the hour is Mercury, which is angular (conjunct the Virgo MC). Mercury aspects the 1st house by a Whole Sign square, and it applies to trine Saturn (2nd ruler) in the 1st house within about 3 degrees. The Moon in Scorpio applies to sextile the Lord of the hour in Virgo.

Interestingly, Masha’allah also says that if the hidden thing is in the house, then the astrologer should look to the sign on the Ascendant to determine the place where it is located: air signs = the roof; fire signs = walls; water signs = the foundation of the house; and earth signs = the floor. In this chart, fiery Sagittarius rises, suggesting that the sunglasses are near a wall.  I had initially read Jupiter, ruler of the 4th, in Libra (an air sign) to mean that the eyeglasses were on a shelf or tabletop in the house of a friend. In fact they were found on top of a sideboard which was situated against a wall of the dining room.

Further use of 12th-parts:

Out of curiosity I calculated the 12th parts of the 2nd house cusp (movable goods) and 4th house cusp (hidden or buried valuables):

12th-part of 2nd cusp at 2 Cap 14 = 26 Capricorn 56. Note the Asc-ruler Jupiter (the querent) applies by partill square to this 12th-part of the 2nd house cusp. Jupiter in Libra is also received by Saturn, ruler of this 12th-part, in Saturn’s exaltation. This is an indication that the querent will quickly locate the missing item. Jupiter also rules the 4th cusp of buried treasure.
12th-part of 4th cusp at 20 Pis 56 = 11 Scorpio 11. Thus, the 12th-part of the 4th cusp of hidden treasure is in partill trine with both the Moon (co-ruler of the querent) and the Regiomontanus 12th house cusp, which symbolizes hidden places and locations distant from the home. This appears to indicate that the querent (Moon) will locate the missing valuable in a place outside the home.

 

 

The Sorrows of Young Werther and Zodiacal Releasing

After reading the previous post, which is a translation of an article from Argentina about zodiacal releasing, several people have asked me to provide an example of the method in practice. I decided to look at the life of the German author and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who is perhaps best known for his Faust which has inspired countless operas and other works of art. Interestingly, Goethe begins his famous autobiography with a description of his own natal chart.

According to astro.com, Goethe was born on 28 August 1749 at 12:30 pm in Frankfurt am Main. The Frankfurt city archive states that he was born “between 12 and 1 o’clock,” so a birth time of 12:30 pm is within 30 minutes of his actual birth time. In his autobiography Goethe says that he came into the world at midday, as the clock was striking twelve; this may have been written more for dramatic effect than historical accuracy.

At Noon he would have an Ascendant of 17 Scorpio 38, a PF of 24 Taurus 20, and a Lot of Spirit of 10 Taurus 56.
At 1 pm he would have an Ascendant of 28 Scorpio 28, a PF of 5 Gemini 46, and a Lot of Spirit of 21 Taurus 11.
We can be certain the his Ascendant lies in Scorpio and his Lot of Spirit in Taurus.
His Lot of Fortune lies in Taurus before 12:30 pm and switches to Gemini after 12:30 pm.  Thus, his “peak” periods will lie in fixed signs before 12:30 pm and in mutable signs after 12:30 pm.

Here is the whole sign chart for 12:30 pm.

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This is a day chart, and Mercury rises before the Sun. Thus, the members of the day sect are the Sun, Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury.

Jupiter is the benefic of the sect in effect and thus the most beneficial planet. Because Jupiter lies in Pisces, the mutable signs are generally favorable for the native.
Mars is the malefic of the contrary sect and thus the most problematic planet. Because Mars lies in Capricorn, the cardinal signs are the most difficult.
The Part of Spirit is definitely in Taurus, ruled by Venus, so we will begin zodiacal releasing from Spirit in Taurus.

Goethe became a literary celebrity by the age of 25 as a result of his novel Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (The Sorrows of Young Werther), which was written in just six weeks in the period from January to March, 1774 and published on 29 September 1774. The novel is about a sensitive young artist who becomes involved in a love triangle and ends up committing suicide to resolve the matter. The book had a powerful cultural impact which rocketed Goethe to super-stardom as a popular author by the age of 25. According to wikipedia:

“The Sorrows of Young Werther turned Goethe, previously an unknown author, into a celebrated one almost overnight. Napoleon Bonaparte considered it one of the great works of European literature, having written a Goethe-inspired soliloquy in his youth and carried Werther with him on his campaigning to Egypt. It also started the phenomenon known as the “Werther Fever”, which caused young men throughout Europe to dress in the clothing style described for Werther in the novel. … The book reputedly also led to some of the first known examples of copycat suicide.”

Zodiacal Releasing from Spirit:

To study Goethe’s career we look at the Lot of Spirit, which lies in Taurus. The first 8 years of his life are ruled by Venus which then turns over chronocraterhip to Gemini/Mercury for a period of 20 years. Goethe’s rise to fame as a novelist occurred during this Gemini/Mercury period. In the 12:30 pm birth chart the Part of Fortune lies in Gemini, making this period one of intense activity and accomplishment in professional matters. Here is the tabulation of releasing from Spirit:

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In 1774 Goethe was in a 25-year Cancer/Moon period on Level 1. Cancer rules his 9th house of higher learning and publishing. The activation of Cancer stimulates Neptune in Cancer in the 9th, a modern planet associated with creative imagination and with suicide, which is the end of young Werther. The Moon occupies Pisces where she is co-present with Jupiter. In addition, Pisces is the 10th sign from the Part of Fortune in Gemini. The Moon activates the degree of his MC and his 11th house planets (Sun, Venus) by opposition.

On level 2 Goethe is in a Taurus/Venus period from 20 March – 15 Nov 1774. During this time Goethe has just finished writing his novel and is in the process of getting it published, which occurs on 29 September 1774.

On level 2 Goethe enters a “Loosing of the Bond” Sagittarius/Jupiter period from 15 Nov 1774 – 10 Nov 1775. During this time Goethe achieves rock-star fame for his novel about young Werther.  His young readers begin to dress like Werther and there are a number of copycat suicides, which causes the authorities to ban the Werther style of clothing in some regions and to ban the sale of the book entirely in others. This is a period of major transition in Goethe’s professional life.

The book is published on 29 September 1774 during a Virgo/Mercury period on level 3. This is a “peak” period because Virgo is square to the Part of Fortune in Gemini. Virgo activates his natal 11th house which contains the degree of his MC, the Sun and Venus — the ruler of his Lot of Spirit. Robert Schmidt remarks that when the sign containing the ruler of Spirit is activated, it often involves finding one’s life work or vocation. The Sun rules the 10th house of vocation and Mercury occupies the 10th, so there is a strong emphasis on career advancement at this time.

The book is published on 29 September 1774 during the few days of a Capricorn/Saturn period on level 4. Capricorn activates the 3rd house, which is the 8th of death from Fortune. Mars occupies Capricorn and is the malefic of the contrary sect. One effect of the book was the suicide of several of his young readers, which is not was Goethe intended. Saturn, which rules this period, lies in Scorpio with Pluto and is in square to Uranus in Aquarius — again possibly symbolizing the unexpected deadly effect the book would have on some readers. Capricorn is also the 6th house of ailments from Fortune.

There is a lot more to the symbolism which we could unpack, but let me stop here to avoid overwhelming the reader with too much detail.

I think this is an excellent example of the power of zodiacal releasing from Spirit and the nature of a Loosing of the Bond period in the life of a famous cultural icon.

 

A brief overview of Zodiacal Releasing

I came across this blog post about Zodiacal Releasing on the Argentinian site Cosmoazul and asked the author, Alex, for permission to translate and repost it here. Alex kindly consented so here is his 2012 article about Aphesis.  Any mis-translations are purely my own. I have added subheadings, not in the original, to make different sections of the text easier to identify.

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Zodiacal Releasing – Vettius Valens

By Alex at COSMOAZUL in Argentina

03 MAY 2012

http://astrosur.blogspot.com/2012/05/liberacion-zodiacalvittus-valens.html

Vettius Valens (8 Feb 120 – 175 CE) was a Hellenistic astrologer born during the 2nd century CE in Antioquia, which is modern-day Ankara, Turkey. Valens is the author of several texts written in Greek, called the Anthology, which consists of nine books composed between 150 CE and the time of his death. The most complete and extensive treatise on astrology that has survived from that time, the Anthology has been translated in a joint effort called Project Hindsight, which deals with Hellenistic astrology – the form of astrology that developed in Egypt and the area surrounding the Mediterranean after the conquest of Alexandria and the primary source of all Western astrology as we know it.

Valens was a contemporary of Ptolemy, who was an Egyptian by birth and Roman by adoption. Ptolemy was the author of several works, the best known of which is the Tetrabiblos; he was the first to reconceptualize astrology in terms of Natural Philosophy. The curious thing about Ptolemy is that despite writing about astrology, he was not a practicing astrologer. His work is considered as the completion of Aristotelian physics at a sublunary level. Ptolemy’s work cannot be considered representative of Hellenistic astrology since, apart from being a theoretical revisionist, he rejected much of the astrological tradition which he inherited. Phases of the Fixed Stars was another well-known work of Ptolemy in which he deals with the prediction of the climate by means of astrology.

Vettius Valens, for his part, is the one of the best representatives of the astrology of his time. In his work he cites a large number of astrologers who would never have been known but for him. Valens traveled extensively in the Middle East, pursuing the sources of astrological knowledge and thanks to his work and detailed writings, served as the basis for many Arabic Arab astrologers of the Middle Ages who translated part of his works into Persian.

In this presentation I would like to highlight one of the techniques described by Valens in his fourth book about the different systems of “chronocrators” or “time lords”, known as Zodiacal Aphesis or Zodiacal Releasing.

Chronocrators: Lords of Time Periods

The term “chronocrator” refers to any celestial body or point in the zodiac that is an indicator of time or a period of time. The word is known from the periodic conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn every 20 years, which is known as the Great Chronocrator. The technique of Zodiacal Releasing is described by Vettius Valens as one of the most precise and powerful and is attributed to a Hellenistic astrologer named Abraham. The time lords or Chronocrators are the Western equivalent of the Hindu Dasa system, in which the planets serve in turn as regents of a given period of time, usually including a series of sub-regents serving under the principal one for shorter periods of time.

Some of these methods are general, investigating life as a whole, whereas others are more specific and deal with particular topics.

Releasing or Aphesis

“Releasing” is a term that applies to general methods of Time Lords, where a significant point is set free from its position in the chart and moves through it in one way or another. In methods like the primary directions, the released signifier moves through successive degrees of the natal chart in a continuous arc, whereas in the Zodiacal Releasing technique the signifier moves from one sign to the next in discrete jumps.

The nature of the significator determines the type of information that is revealed by a given time-lord system. Zodiacal Releasing typically uses the “Arabic parts” or Lots as signifiers whose signs become points of departure. Valens typically uses either of the two main Lots of Hellenistic astrology, that of Fortune and that of Spirit, but in principle there is no reason why the sign containing any other Lot could not serve as a starting point for releasing.

Transits

The position about the transits in ancient times was that for an event to happen, the transiting planet had to be a chronocrator for the period of time and the questions that were posed. In other words, a planet in transit needed to be a time lord in order to give testimony regarding the life of the native and to be able to be heard. In part, this approach can explain why certain transits do not produce events on some occasions, that is to say, why the planet is considered “mute” for not manifesting itself in any evident way.

Planetary Periods

The periods obtained under this method of zodiacal releasing can be subdivided up to 4 nested levels, representing years, months, days and hours. This allows you to determine very precisely on what day and at what time the particular time lord goes into effect and for how long.

The planetary periods used in Hellenistic astrology are a kind of recurring cycle involving a reference planet (usually the Sun) and the planet in question. On a given date, for example, the Sun will be in one degree and Mercury in another. The next time Mercury occupies the same degree and the Sun is also in its original location relative to Mercury, a Mercury cycle ends (20 years in this example).

All the planets have periods during which they give testimony regarding the life of the native and these periods are derived from the so-called “minor years” of the planets, also called cycles of recurrence. In this regard, it is necessary to take into account that the length of these years is not as we know it today but rather the Egyptian year of 360 days. Thus, the duration of the “minor years” of the planets is:

Sun 19 years
Moon 25 years
Mercury 20 years
Venus 8 years
Mars 15 years
Jupiter 12 years
Saturn 30 years

Thus, the Moon takes 25 Egyptian years (of 360 days each) to return to the same degree it had in relation to the Sun, Venus take 8 years in “recurring” with the Sun, etc. At the time a chronocrator reaches the end of its period, the chronocratorship is said to “pass” to the next sign in zodiacal order.

Subperiods as one-twelfth of the higher-level period

Now, the primary or dominant period of the planets was considered the most important and gave the general overview of that time in the life of an individual, but in order to fully understand the different possible variations within that general time frame, the primary period was divided into subperiods equivalent to 1/12 (one twelfth) of the length of the general period. This value likely derives from considering the two luminaries as principals in the sky, the apparent lunar motion being 12 times that of the Sun. By the same reasoning, one can understand why the Lot of Fortune (Moon) and the Lot of Spirit (Sun) are taken as the primary starting points for this technique of Zodiacal Releasing.

For Vettius Valens, the Lot of Fortune was the key for analyzing and studying matters related to the body, physical happiness, health, financial stability, etc., while the Lot of Spirit was taken into consideration for the things that one does, for example, work, employment, career, etc.

The Lord of the first period is the ruler of the domicile of the sign where the Lot or specific point is located. Thus, if the Part of Fortune lies in the sign of Leo, then the first 19 years of the person’s life will be ruled by the Sun, after which “chronocratorship” would be passed on or delivered to Virgo, administered by Mercury for the next 20 years.

The subperiods follow the same principle as above but their duration is in months, preserving the ratio of 1/12. This means that if the Sun is the regent of the first 19 years, it will also be the sub-regent of the first 19 months, after which it passes to Mercury during the next 20 months due to its regency of Virgo, then Venus the next 8 months due to Libra, etc.

Thus, the periods known as the “minor years” of the planets are the values used in the Zodiacal Releasing to determine the duration of the epochs or general periods of life, with the exception of Saturn. In classical astrology Saturn rules both Aquarius and Capricorn, and if the Lot or point in question lies in (or passes to) Aquarius, its duration will be 30 years, but it will be reduced to 27 years if it lies in Capricorn.

Egyptian years of 360 days

For the major or general periods, these values are taken as years of exactly 360 days. In the subperiods, a month of 30 days is 1/12 of the year of 360 days. To reach the third subperiod level (days), the monthly value is divided by 12. In the case of Mercury, for example, its subperiod is 20 months and the sublevel period would be 1 / 12th of that, which calculates to 50 days. The last sub-level or Lord of Time of 4th level, would take the 50 days and calculate 1/12 of it, which gives a result of 4 1/6 days, that is, 4 days and 4 hours.

An explanatory table would appear as follows:

Four Levels of Time Periods

Planet
First & Second Levels

Years/Months
Third Level
Fourth Level


Sun
19
47.5 days
3 days 23 hours


Moon
25
62.5 days
5 days 5 hours


Mercury
20
50 days
4 days 4 hours


Venus
8
20 days
1 día 16 hours


Mars
15
37.5 days
3 days 3 hours


Jupiter
12
30 days
2 days 12hours


Saturn (Aquarius)
30
75 days
6 days 6 hours


Saturn (Capricorn)
27
67.5 days
5 days 15 hours

 

Loosing of the Bond (“La pérdida de la atadura”)

For the second level subperiods, which utilize the planetary periods as months, a complete cycle through the 12 signs of the zodiac takes 17 years 7 months (in 360-day years). Since the Sun, Moon, Mercury and Saturn have periods longer than that, the 6 signs that they govern will have more than 12 subdivisions. When dividing these 6 signs (Leo, Cancer, Gemini, Virgo, Capricorn and Aquarius), after twelve subperiods have been completed, instead of with the sign that served to initiate the subperiod, the releasing jumps to the opposite sign and continues from there. For example, when Cancer as a major period is subdivided, the first subperiod is Cancer and the twelfth subperiod is Gemini. The thirteenth subperiod instead of going back to Cancer is, instead, the opposite sign Capricorn. Aquarius is the fourteenth subperiod, Pisces the fifteenth and so on until the end of the 25 year cycle of Cancer under the Moon.

In Leo this occurs when the second level period changes from Cancer to Aquarius; in Virgo, when it changes from Leo to Pisces; in Capricorn, from Sagittarius to Cancer; in Aquarius, from Capricorn to Leo; and in Gemini, from Taurus to Sagittarius.

The time or moment that this jump happens is called the “Loosing of the bond”” and marks a significant point in the cycle.

With this technique one must keep in mind that the years to which each planet refers do not correspond to current dates. As was previously mentioned, this technique makes use of the 360-day Egyptian year. If one begins a period on 1/1/2012 in Cancer, instead of ending the period after 25 years as the Moon indicates, the Leo period would begin on 8/22/2036 instead of 1/1/2037. This occurs because Zodiacal Releasing uses a year of 360 days and not the solar year of 365.25 days. The months are exactly 1/12 of a year of 360 days or exactly 30 days, which corresponds to the duration of the signs as 30 degrees within a 360° wheel. If one does the calculation mentally, one can ignore the difference because it would take 70 years to accumulate an inequality of 1 year. One would maintain a one-month lag for every 5 years and 10 months.

To convert an ancient Egyptian year of 360 days to the current calendar year of 365 days is very simple. Just multiply the number of 360 days per year by 360 to get the result in days, then divide that result by 365.25 to get the number in normal years (365.22422 for a better approximation). A problem may arise when dealing with leap years and the uneven months of our calendar, but nothing that cannot be solved by a couple of calculations.

The Hellenistic Lots

In Hellenistic astrology the Lots (Arabic Parts) were a very important component of the original system. The most widely used were the Lot of Fortune and the Lot of Spirit. The most common Lots are found by taking the ecliptic arc between two planets and projecting an equal arc from the Ascendant. The Lot is the other end of this arc. For many Lots, the calculation differs for daytime or night births. Unlike the planets which each have several meanings, the Lots are very specific and specialized: Lot of death, marriage, father, disease, prosecution, trial, etc. A Lot represents the power of a planet in a specific sense. The system of Lots generated by taking one of the planets in relation to each of the remaining six classical planets represents the distribution of the multiple meanings of that planet in different places of the chart, in this way the planetary meanings can be studied separately.

The Lot of Fortune is found taking the ecliptic arc from the Sun forward in the direction of the signs to the Moon and projecting an equal arc from the degree of the Ascendant. For a nocturnal birth, the ecliptic arc of the Moon is taken forward to the Sun and projected from the Ascending degree. Of course, for these calculations it is necessary to have a natal hour as exact as possible to determine the right degree of the Ascendant. Another method is to invert the direction of projection that extends from the Ascendant in the opposite direction. Either way it gives the same result.

The Lot of Spirit is calculated by taking the ecliptic degree from the Moon forward in the order of the signs to the Sun, and then an equal arc is projected from the degree of the Ascendant. For a night chart, the arc is taken from the Sun to the Moon and projected from the Ascendant.

Thus, it can be seen that the algorithm for the Lot of Fortune in a diurnal chart is the same as that of the Spirit for a nocturnal nativity, and vice versa. It can be seen that there is a direct relationship between one Lot and the other, and in fact their positions are symmetrical to each other with reference to the Ascendant-Descendant axis. This reveals to us that under a birth during the New Moon, the Lot of Spirit and Fortune are both on the degree of the Ascendant and they are on the Descendant for a birth during a full moon.

The Lot of Fortune singles out the meaning of the Moon’s fortune and represents the total allocation of good or bad things that befall us as physical organisms or biological entities, or that enter into our human lives independently of our actions. Thus, Zodiacal Releasing can be used with this Lot to investigate one’s health and injuries of the body as well as the result of the actions we take in response to what happens to us or that we suffer. The Lot of Fortune is also called the Lunar Ascendant and is used to establish an alternative system of whole sign houses different from the natal houses (unless Fortune is located in the Ascending sign, in which case they would be equal). For this, the first house is the sign where the Fortune is. Hellenistic practice studies the Lots or Arabic Parts in the system of houses of the Fortune.

On the other hand, the Lot of Spirit isolates the meaning of the Spirit of the Sun, and refers to the power of the Sun to rise or awaken us to action. Zodiacal Releasing from this Lot can be used to study one’s work or career and the outcome of actions carried out as a result of conscious choices or the exercise of one’s will in general.

The importance of the 10th sign from the Lot of Fortune

In this technique the most important consideration is the location of the sign representing the epoch or time period, and whether it is angular, succeedent or cadent from the Lot of Spirit or Fortune. This is particularly important for releasing from Spirit because it denotes the periods of success, distinguished appointments, recognition, fame or notoriety that happens when the Aphesis reaches the tenth sign from the Lot of Fortune. Another important consideration is the state of the domicile of the Time Lord in question. Valens used the word “chrematistikos” which in Schmidt’s translation means “busy” or “speaking”. Thus we find periods that are naturally busier or that say more things than others. Signs in particular may not have much to say unless a “malefic” is involved. Valens said that the malefics are more powerful than the benefices. Perhaps the lack of knowledge regarding the psychological causes behind this is the reason for such an assertion.

With this technique one can divide life into climes of each planet according to its nature.

Thank you,

Alex

 

Some useful free resources for traditional astrologers

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Several people have asked me recently for links to free resources about traditional astrology. Many student astrologers can’t afford commercial programs, and fortunately there is much available online for those who wish to experiment with  traditional techniques.

My favorite free programs for traditional astrology are:

Morinus freeware Traditional:  https://sites.google.com/site/tradmorinus/morinus (I think there may have been some copyright problems with the font used and this may no longer be available.)
Traditional Morinus revised by Elías D. Molins: https://sourceforge.net/projects/morinus/ (This is freeware, generously provided by Elías to the astrological community.)
Planetdance:  http://www.jcremers.com/?id=Home&lan=en  (This program from the Netherlands is a real gem.  (I think only the computer program does Zodiacal Releasing.  Sadly the android app does not have this feature.)
ZET Lite (v.9): http://www.zaytsev.com/downloads.html  This freeware program does a lot of useful calculations.  It provides a list of firdaria (both Hand and Zoller methods) and allows for a wide range of houses including whole sign and Draconic.
Curtis Manwaring’s program Aphesis at http://www.astrology-x-files.com/downloads.html.  You can download either the Apple or the PC verision (aphesis.zip).

For calculating charts online:

https://horoscopes.astro-seek.com/ has a good traditional option.
https://www.astro.com/

For Zodiacal Releasing:

Curtis Manwaring’s program Aphesis at http://www.astrology-x-files.com/downloads.html.  You can download either the Apple or the PC verision (aphesis.zip).
http://nataltransits.com/timelord.html to calculate zodiacal releasing online.
Planetdance:  http://www.jcremers.com/?id=Home&lan=en  (This freeware program from the Netherlands is a real gem.  (I think only the computer program does Zodiacal Releasing.)

If you know of other free resources, please post them in the comments below.

 

 

Should annual profections be measured in “years” of 360 days — a 5-degree rule for years?

To quote wikipedia: “The ancient Egyptian calendar was a solar calendar with a 365-day year. The year consisted of three seasons of 120 days each, plus an intercalary month of 5 epagomenal days treated as outside of the year proper. … Each month was divided into three 10-day periods known as decans or decades.”

The Hellenistic astrologer Vettius Valens, who learned his technique and practiced in Egypt, used only 360 days per year in the method of zodiacal releasing. The example in my previous post made me wonder whether we should also use the “360-day year” in the time-lord method of profections.

Ever since I first learned profections some three decades ago I have been puzzled why they did not show clearly the death of my mother, which I discussed in the previous post.  My mother, who had a heart value problem, died suddenly and unexpectedly in the middle of the night of 29 August 1953, that is, very early in the morning of 30 August 1953.  In writing the previous post it occurred to me that the 5-day period from 29 August to 3 September (my birthday) corresponds exactly to the length of the ancient Egyptian intercalary month of 5 epagomenal days, which were treated apart from the 360-day year proper.

In other words, if the proper year ended after 360 days, then there would be a change of sign by profection on the 361st day after the birthday at the start of the intercalary month.  Perhaps the 5 epagomenal days were a period of transition and handing over governance from one time-lord to the next.  Here is my chart:

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In Hellenistic profections the sign of the Ascendant corresponds to the first year of life.  My mother died 5 days before I turned 8 years old.  Using a 365-day year, my profected Ascendant would have been in Taurus in the natal 8th house at the time of her demise.  If we use the 360-day Egyptian year , however, then the profection would move into Gemini precisely on 30 August 1953 (the day my mother died) and the sign Gemini, which activates malefic Mars and disruptive Uranus.  The symbolism fits the unexpected death of my mother.  Gemini here is the unfortunate 12th house of the 10th house mother.

Of course one case does not prove a hypothesis, but it does raise an interesting question.

Addendum (19 Sep 2017):

In thinking more about the ancient Egyptian calendar with its intercalary month of 5 epagomenal days treated as outside of the year proper, I wondered when these extra 5 days outside the bounds of the ideal 360-day year could be the origin or the so-called “5-degree rule” in astrology.  The underlying assumption is that the Sun should complete a perfect cycle of 360 degrees in 360 days, but in empirical reality it requires 365 days.  What to do with these extra 5 days?  They don’t fit into the perfect 360 days of the ideal year and yet they are not properly part of the following year, so they have a kind of intermediate status.

In a similar way, when a planet reaches the last 5 degrees of a house, especially if it approaches an angle, it acts as if it belongs in the house that it is approaching even though it is 5 degrees away from the official boundary of the house it is about to enter.

Should profections be measured in “years” of 360 days?

To quote wikipedia: “The ancient Egyptian calendar was a solar calendar with a 365-day year. The year consisted of three seasons of 120 days each, plus an intercalary month of 5 epagomenal days treated as outside of the year proper. … Each month was divided into three 10-day periods known as decans or decades.”

The Hellenistic astrologer Vettius Valens, who learned his technique and practiced in Egypt, used only 360 days per year in the method of zodiacal releasing. The example in my previous post made me wonder whether we should also use the “360-day year” in the time-lord method of profections.

Ever since I first learned profections some three decades ago I have been puzzled why they did not show clearly the death of my mother, which I discussed in the previous post.  My mother, who had a heart value problem, died suddenly and unexpectedly in the middle of the night of 29 August 1953, that is, very early in the morning of 30 August 1953.  In writing the previous post it occurred to me that the 5-day period from 29 August to 3 September (my birthday) corresponds exactly to the length of the ancient Egyptian intercalary month of 5 epagomenal days, which were treated apart from the 360-day year proper.

In other words, if the proper year ended after 360 days, then there would be a change of sign by profection on the 361st day after the birthday at the start of the intercalary month.  Perhaps the 5 epagomenal days were a period of transition and handing over governance from one time-lord to the next.  Here is my chart:

[image error]

In Hellenistic profections the sign of the Ascendant corresponds to the first year of life.  My mother died 5 days before I turned 8 years old.  Using a 365-day year, my profected Ascendant would have been in Taurus in the natal 8th house at the time of her demise.  If we use the 360-day Egyptian year , however, then the profection would move into Gemini precisely on 30 August 1953 (the day my mother died) and the sign Gemini, which activates malefic Mars and disruptive Uranus.  The symbolism fits the unexpected death of my mother.  Gemini here is the unfortunate 12th house of the 10th house mother.

Of course one case does not prove a hypothesis, but it does raise an interesting question.

Zodiacal Releasing from the Ascendant

In his text Vettius Valens tended to do zodiacal releasing (aphesis) from the Lot of Spirit or the Lot of Fortune. Theoretically there is no reason why we can’t begin the releasing from any of the twelve signs to study the development of their significations over the life of the native, according to this technique.

Many other time-lord systems, such as profections, routinely begin at the Ascendant, so I decided to experiment with aphesis from the Ascendant, which is the crucial house (place) in the Hellenistic tradition. Previously I had studied zodiacal releasing in my own chart from the various Hellenistic lots and found that it produced significant results, but I had never done the aphesis from the Ascendant.

Here is my birthchart:

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As you can see, it has Libra rising, so I decided to do zodiacal releasing from Libra.  This is a day chart, so it is of the diurnal sect.  The members of this section are the Sun, Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury (because it rises before the Sun).  The members of the night sect, which theoretically should be more problematic in my life, are the Moon, Venus and Mars.

The most memorable and difficult period of my childhood occurred in the summer of 1953 when I was turning from 7 to 8 years old.  My mother, who had a heart value problem, died suddenly and unexpectedly in the middle of the night of 29 August 1953, that is, very early in the morning of 30 August 1953.

Here is the ZR for that period:

[image error]

With Libra rising, the beginning period of my life is ruled by Venus as time-lord.  Libra/Venus has a period of 8 Hellenistic years of 360 days each, so that Venus ends her rule and passes it over to Scorpio/Mars at the end of her 8-year term on 23 July 1953.  A month later my mother dies after the lord of the time has shifted from Venus to Mars on Levels 1, 2 and 3.

Mars will rule for the next 15 years as the lord of the major period (Level 1) and will rule for 15 months on Level 2  (until October of 1954).  Because Mars is the malefic of the nocturnal sect in this day chart, the red planet has  the potential to be especially malefic.

On the evening of 29 August 1953, a few hours before my mother’s death, the rulership of Level 3 shifted from Mars/Scorpio to Jupiter/Sagittarius, and Level 4 shifted from Leo/Sun to Jupiter/Sagittarius.

Interpretively, the activation of Scorpio activates its ruler Mars (the malefic of the opposite sect).  Mars occupies my natal 9th house (which is the 12th of the 10th of my mother).  Mars also squares the Sun by whole sign, and the sun rules the 11th of the death of a parent (8th of the 4th).

The activation of Leo on Level 4 toward the end of August also activates the 11th of the death of a parent.  When Sagittarius is activated on the night of 29 August, it stimulates Mars in Gemini by opposition.  Jupiter which rules Sagittarius lies in the 1st, which is the 4th of the end of life of the 10th house mother.

Hellenistic astrology also looked at the chart from the point of the Part of Fortune as the Ascendant.  In this case, with the Part of Fortune in Virgo, Gemini (where Mars resides) becomes the 10th house of the mother, Sagittarius becomes the 4th house of home and parents, and Leo becomes the 12th house of grief and misfortune. In addition, the houses that are angular to the  Part of Fortune are quite prominent and active when they are stimulated during zodiacal releasing.

Based on this personal example, it does appear that zodiacal releasing from the Ascendant can meaningfully describe the course of one’s life. It is also quite striking how well the natal chart adjusted for the Part of Fortune acting as the Ascendant describes the events that occurred. To illustrate this last point, here is the chart with the Part of Fortune moved to the Ascendant:

[image error]As you can see, when Mars is activated, it acts in the 10th house from Pars Fortunae, which is the house of the mother. Because the lordship of time has passed from Libra to Scorpio, the 3rd house is activated, which is the 6th of illness of the mother. When Leo is activated (Level 4), it brings grief to the native (Sun rules the 12th and occupies the 1st). Finally when Sagittarius is activated, it stimulates malefic Mars in the 10th of the mother from the 4th place of home, family and endings.

The curious case of “not-reception”

Astrologers love to talk about how one planet receives another in one of its dignities, including the wonderful situation of mutual reception in which each planet occupies a major dignity of the other, for example, Venus in Cancer (ruled by the Moon) and the Moon in Taurus (ruled by Venus).

Curiously, the 9th century astrologer Sahl ibn Bishr al-Israili, often known as Zahel or Zael, utilized what he called “not-receptions” in his work. Lilly studied Sahl and incorporated many of his horary principles into Christian Astrology (1647).

What did Sahl mean by a not-reception? In his translation of Sahl’s text (Introduct. §5.9), Ben Dykes cites the following example.  Suppose the Moon lies in Aries, which is the sign of “fall” or “descension” of Saturn, and furthermore that the Moon is applying to an aspect with Saturn. According to Dykes’ translation, “in such a case, the Moon would be like someone approaching Saturn from the house of his enemies, and he [Saturn] will neither receive nor esteem her.”  In other words, the Moon may be very fond of Saturn, but Saturn will view her through the tainted lens of the place of his fall and will neither receive nor esteem her.

Sahl’s idea seems to be that because the Moon occupies the sign of Saturn’s fall, an inimical place where the ringed planet is held is very low esteem, then the Moon can only beam scornful, degrading rays toward Saturn from such a toxic location. If Saturn were Superman, the the Moon in Aries would be like someone on a planet laden with Kryptonite who can only send items contaminated with the toxic substance back to the superhero. Saturn will avoid any approach made by the Moon.

Here is a hypothetical horary chart.  Suppose a querent asked about the possibility of a relationship with someone she just met.

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With Cancer rising, the Moon signifies the querent.  The Moon occupies Aries, the fall of Saturn which rules the 7th house of her potential partner.  The Moon nicely applies within orb to trine Saturn in Sagittarius from her location in Aries. What could go wrong?

Sahl suggests that because the Moon (querent) approaches Saturn (potential boyfriend) from Saturn’s fall, that Saturn (the guy) will avoid receiving her. He takes one look at what she has to offer and says to himself “she’s not for me” because she’s hanging out in a place where the scorn and disrespect me.

Not only is the Moon applying to Saturn without traditional reception, but the Moon is also applying to Saturn (albeit by a nice trine) from Saturn’s fall — a degrading place that he would rather avoid at all costs.

I will not discuss the other factors in this chart that suggest a non-relationship, because the purpose of this article is to focus on Sahl’s concept of “not-reception.”

The Theft of my Work

Recently someone notified by that one of my ebooks was posted illegally on a site called Scribd.com.  Even though this ebook is on sale for a modest price on amazon.com, someone who calls him- or herself “lucentum56” uploaded my copyrighted text for anyone to download for free.  Needless to say, I am not happy about being ripped off in this manner.  The book took many hours or research and preparation, and costs about the price of a cup of coffee at Starbucks because I feel committed to making reading material affordable to the average reader.  Here is a screenshot of the site.

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And in more detail:

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I have emailed ScribD.com and asked them to remove my copyrighted material from their site.  If lucentum56 happens to read this post, I want you to know that I do not appreciate being robbed by you.