What Zodiacal Releasing is: the chapters of your life according to Hellenistic astrology
Zodiacal Releasing is a time-lord technique of Hellenistic astrology, systematised by Vettius Valens. It releases periods from a Lot —above all that of Spirit (vocation and action) and that of Fortune (body and circumstances)— running through the signs. Each period opens a chapter; the nested levels let you see from decades down to days.
Zodiacal Releasing is probably the most sophisticated predictive technique of Hellenistic astrology. It was lost for centuries and recovered in recent decades thanks to the translation of the ancient texts. Its aim is to identify the periods of greatest activity and the "peaks" of a life: the moments when energy concentrates and external achievements are most possible.
From which point are the periods released?
It starts from a Lot, not a planet. The Lot of Spirit narrates vocation, career and what you do deliberately; the Lot of Fortune speaks of the body, health and the circumstances that come to you. From the sign of the Lot, the periods advance through the zodiac, and the ruler of each sign governs its chapter.
It starts not from the planets, but from calculated points called Lots, in particular the Lot of Fortune and the Lot of Spirit, obtained from the relationship between the Sun, the Moon and the Ascendant. The Lot of Fortune speaks of circumstances, the body, what happens to us. The Lot of Spirit speaks of action, decisions, what we do actively —and is the most revealing for the vocational and creative path.
It is an advanced technique that needs the exact position of the Lots to be calculated —it allows no shortcuts. AstroAtlas 3i calculates it on your real chart.
How is the duration of each period measured?
Each sign lasts the minor years of its ruler: Saturn 30, Jupiter 12, Mars 15, Sun 19, Venus 8, Mercury 20 and Moon 25. The technique works at four nested levels, from the longest to the shortest, which lets you zoom from a chapter of decades down to a sub-stage of days. AstroAtlas 3i releases from Spirit and Fortune.
The system distributes time into periods that run through the signs in sequence, each with an assigned duration, and subdivides them into finer levels.
What are the peak periods?
They are the stages of greatest visibility and performance, which appear when a period reaches an angular sign relative to the Lot —especially the tenth from it. They mark stretches in which the theme of the Lot rises in intensity: promotions, public exposure, achievements. They do not promise automatic success, but they do signal where the momentum concentrates.
Those who have studied this technique find notable correlations between those peaks and the moments of greatest achievement and recognition in a biography.
What it is for: Zodiacal Releasing does not tell you what to do, but when you have the wind at your back. Recognising a peak period —past or to come— helps to understand when life becomes active and when it is time to consolidate. The non-peak periods are not bad: they are stages of preparation, learning or settling. The alternation between the two is the natural structure of time according to this technique.
What is the "Loosing of the Bond"?
It is a structural turning point in the sequence: when the run reaches the signs ruled by Saturn, the period jumps to another place in the zodiac instead of continuing in order. It often coincides with strong reorientations —changes of course, the closing and opening of stages. It is one of the finest markers of the technique.
With the profection, the Firdaria and Zodiacal Releasing you have the three views of time of traditional astrology: the year, the stage and the peak. Three different clocks for a single life.
How AstroAtlas 3i calculates your Zodiacal Releasing
In your profile, AstroAtlas 3i releases your Zodiacal Releasing from Spirit and Fortune, and SELENE reads to you in plain language which chapter you are passing through, alongside the other eleven schools. Discover which life period you are in.