Zodiacal releasing

Zodiacal releasing is a Hellenistic time-lord technique that unfolds periods from a Lot, usually Spirit for career and Fortune for the body and circumstance, dividing a life into nested chapters.

Periods begin at the sign of the Lot and advance sign by sign, each sign contributing the number of years its ruler is assigned. Within each major period the same division repeats at a smaller scale, so a life reads as chapters, sections and paragraphs.

Vettius Valens is the source, and its distinguishing feature is the loosing of the bond, a jump forward in the sequence that the tradition treats as a turning point.