What is Zodiacal Aphesis?
Zodiacal aphesis is a technique introduced by Vettius Valens circa 160 - 170 C.E., used to see when a planet, part or lot has dominion in the natal chart. According to Robert Schmidt, "aphesis" means releasing, and what is released is the debt of the signs significations for the native over the time period indicated. Planetary periods based upon recurrence cycles are the basis for the length of time for each period.
For instance, If the lot of fortune is in Sagittarius, then Jupiter is the major period lord for the first 12 years because these are the lesser years of Jupiter. The next major period would be Capricorn, then Aquarius, etc. in zodiacal order until the end of life for the native. These major periods are of course much too crude to pinpoint events with any accuracy. What the major periods do is set the background tone. There is some speculation that there is a form/matter (Greek - eidos/hule) relationship between the major period and its sub periods.
The function of successive sub periods is to bring an outcome to the subject matter of the major period.
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