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How To Use Zodiacal Releasing As A Timing Technique

This ancient timing technique from Hellenistic Astrology called Zodiacal Releasing is used to define what a period of life may involve for you, themes that may be present, and when certain chapters of your life may be more defining or standout than others.

It is based on what’s known as the Lots (mathematical equations within points in your Natal Chart), and when you will be “releasing” from them, i.e. activating different periods.

-> Read my blog post on the Hellenistic Lots here for more info.

Essentially, as Chris Brennan puts it, Zodiacal Releasing looks at your life like a book and breaks it down into different “chapters” lasting years, with certain peak “paragraphs” as more important than others, lasting months. You can get really granular and break it down into peak “sentences” lasting days as well.

The three main “books” used are the Lot of Fortune for your general life personal (body, events occurring to you etc.); the Lot of Spirit (which relates to career and life path); and the Lot of Eros (which is your relationships).

Each chapter (Level 1) in your book is defined by the Zodiac Sign it falls in. Within these larger chapters, there are the paragraphs (Level 2) broken down into smaller periods, also defined by Zodiac Signs.

Some periods will be more significant than others (reflecting the peaks and troughs of life). These will be when you change your main chapter (Level 1), and when the paragraph you are in (Level 2) is the same modality (Cardinal, Fixed, Mutable) as your Lot of Fortune (and in particular if it is the 10th Sign from your Lot of Fortune)! These are known as peak periods as we can expect more activity or significant things to occur within this area of life or our life direction to take an important turn.

Read on for a breakdown on how to use the Zodiacal Releasing time lord technique:

What Is Zodiacal Releasing?

Calculating Zodiacal Releasing is used to gauge what the energy, theme, and flavour of certain periods of our life, in different areas, may be. It was first described by 2nd Century Astrologer Vettius Valens as one of many so-called time lord techniques.

This timing technique looks at life as if it were a book broken down into main chapters lasting many years (Level 1) and then paragraphs within those chapters lasting a couple of years or months (Level 2), and even “sentences” lasting a few weeks (Level 3) and “words” lasting a few days (Level 4).

Using this method, you can gauge and plan in advance varying facets of your life (or look back and see how they played out in your life up until now). You start your life in one Zodiac Sign period (which is your Natal Lot of Fortune/Spirit/Eros Sign) and then they cycle through in Zodiacal order, getting activated at different times.

For a video lesson of me teaching this technique, get my Astrological Timing Techniques Workshop!

What are the Astrological Lots?

The Lot of Fortune was an extremely important component in ancient Astrology and is derived by calculating the distance from the Sun to the Moon (or reversed for a Night Chart) and subtracting that from the Ascendant. This mathematical point is essentially a synthesis of your Sun, Moon, and Rising Sign, and can be used as an auxiliary Rising Sign (to denote body, key features, characteristics etc.).

The Lot of Spirit is calculated as the distance from the Moon to the Sun and then from the Ascendant for a Day Chart (reversed for a Night Chart). There are many free calculators to do it for you online. If the Lot of Fortune is more of our fate and things outside of our control, the Lot of Spirit shows how we actively move through and engage with the world.

Typically, the Lot of Fortune relates to our body and personhood while the Lot of Spirit is used to denote our career and life path, active decisions we take in life.

Zodiacal Releasing Level 1

Each of us only goes through a handful of chapters (Level 1) in our lifetimes as they last several years, depending on the Zodiac Sign. These represent an overall flavour of that time period.

For example, if someone is currently releasing from the Lot of Spirit in Capricorn (Level 1), they may have spent a good portion of their recent life focussing on their career and the hard work of building long-lasting stable structures in it. If your Level 1 is in Sagittarius, you may have instead spent the last years experimenting and exploring your career options or what your calling was, learning and travelling, perhaps teaching or working with foreign markets.

Looking to which House these are in your Natal Chart is essential. In the example above, if someone is a Libra Rising, Sagittarius is their 3rd House and so this period of their career may have also involved social media, writing, or early childhood education. If this happens to be the 10th Sign from your Lot of Fortune (in this case it would be a Natal Lot of Fortune in Pisces), then this is an extra significant peak period!

Of course, an understanding of what each of the Zodiac Signs represents is necessary for this, read our post on Zodiac Characteristics for more information!

This is how long Level 1 lasts in the Zodiac Signs, based on their Ruling Planet:

Aries + Scorpio = 15 years
Taurus + Libra = 8 years
Gemini + Virgo = 20 years
Cancer = 25 years
Leo = 19 years
Sagittarius + Pisces = 12 years
Capricorn + Aquarius = 27-30 years

So if your Natal Lot of Spirit is in Taurus, you will be in a Level 1 Zodiacal Releasing chapter in Taurus until you are 8 years old, with Venus as your timelord, after which you will move on to your next chapter in Gemini, with Mercury as timelord, and so on.

When we enter a new Level 1 chapter can be seen as a major transition and new chapter in life (or our career or relationships depending on which type of Zodiacal Releasing we are looking at), the defining ones that you would likely personally delineate if you were to write out the book of your life or career.

Zodiacal Releasing Level 2

Within this main, over-arching, Level 1 theme, there is also a Level 2 that can last a few years or months, based off of how long the Level 1 lasts— it will be that amount in months (so a Level 2 Aries period lasts 15 months etc.).

Level 2 adds more detail and nuance to what the time period may include. Again, significant peak periods in your “book” occurs when your Level 2 is releasing from a Zodiac Sign that is the same modality as your Lot of Fortune.

The modalities/qualities are:

CARDINAL SIGNS = Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn
FIXED SIGNS = Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius
MUTABLE SIGNS = Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces

So if your Natal Lot of Fortune is in Pisces, all Level 2 periods in Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces will be significant for you (whether you are looking at your Zodiacal Releasing from the Lot of Fortune, Spirit, or Eros). These are your “peak periods”.

You can also just count down in 4s, including the Sign you are currently on, to find the next major peak period. Often, the peak period before the next peak period is related in some way, like a lead up, and the peak period after can act like a closure. This was called the angular triad by Robert Schmidt (who also coined the term Zodiacal Releasing when they were rediscovering it during project Hindsight).

For example, in the image above we can see that the Lot of Spirit is currently releasing from Scorpio (a Fixed Sign), which lasts from June 12th 2017 until March 5th 2032 when it will move into Sagittarius. If the native has their Lot of Fortune in Pisces, this is a Mutable Sign and so all Mutable periods will be peak periods (especially when in Gemini which is the 10th Sign from Fortune). Thus within this Scorpio Level 1 chapter, Level 2 peak periods of career activity may occur from September 2018 to August 2019; and May 2024 to May 2025 (in Pisces!), and so on.

When using Astro-seek’s calculator linked above, these peak periods are automatically highlighted for you. Using Astro.com, you can find it in the extended chart selection. If you have a PC, Solar Fire is the best software.

To get more nuance of whether a period will be more positive or challenging, you can look to Planets in that Sign Natally and the ruler of the Sign to see what condition it’s in in the Natal Chart, as well as paying attention to Planets aspecting the Sign by square or opposition. Chart Sect also comes into play for the weight of influence of the Planets (a Night Chart, for example, will be more affected by Saturn).

In the example above, we would look to the Natal Pisces House as well as where Jupiter is (and Scorpio and Mars for the overarching theme).

If you would like to get even more specific, there is also a Level 3 within the Level 2 that details the periods in a matter of weeks or days, and even a Level 4 which deals in hours and days. Using Zodiacal Releasing Level 3 is useful in your monthly scheduling of a year, such as when looking to launch a business project!

When looking at Level 3 or Level 4 peak periods we would expect smaller moments of importance— an influential email rather than a whole career change say as we might expect during a Level 1 new chapter, or a major promotion or breakthrough during a Level 2 peak paragraph.

If you are not currently in a peak period, you can still look to the chapter/paragraph/sentence you are in for a general feel. Say your Natal Lot of Fortune is in Leo (so all Fixed Sign periods will be highlighted as they are angular to it), and you are currently in a Level 3 Cancer period releasing from the Lot of Eros, you might find your relationships to feel particularly homely and nurturing. When looking back this period may not stand out, but when living it it may feel particularly Cancerian.

There is also something called a loosing of the bond, which is a particularly potent peak period that only occurs a couple of times in a life, so pay attention to them! This will usually be delineated simply as LB in the chart. Again, the peak period leading up to that a few years before and after are also important in the complete cycle and understanding what it may consist of. The “pre-loosing of the bond” period acts as a laying of the foundation, and the “culmination” period is like the crux before the main even itself.

If you would like to calculate your own Zodiacal Releasing periods for free, you can click here (an accurate birth time is needed). Chris Brennan from the Astrology Podcast also has an amazing episode on this technique with much more detail if you want to learn more.

If you would like me to personally interpret your own Zodiacal Releasing chart, it is included in my personalised Year Ahead Readings! Or, access a specialised Career + Vocation reading here instead.

So that’s an overview on how to use the Zodiacal Releasing technique, I hope it’s useful for you! Have you ever used this method before? I’m curious to hear about your experience in the comments section below, or if you have any questions or other information to add, let me know. I think it can take some getting used to the first time people try it, but it’s a really illuminating technique once you get the hang of it!

For an introduction to the world of Astrology, get our Beginner’s Guidebook to Astrology + Natal Charts, and to dive deeper get our Cosmic Guidance: Traditional Astrology 101 Course!

If you would like more predictions, check out the Zodiac Year Ahead Reports or The Whole Astrology of the Year.

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