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Firdar, Alfridaria, or Alfridaries: An Astrological Time Lord System
Firdar, Alfridaria, or Alfridaries: An Astrological Time Lord System
http://www.astrologycom.com/firdar.html
Firdar, Alfridaria, or Alfridaries
an astrological Time Lord system
This article was written by leading traditional astrologer, Robert Hand. He also translated the source
material from Johannes Schoener and other ancient authorities.
All material is copyright Robert Hand and may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
The system of firdar as we have them is an extremely simple system, so much so that
my immediate reaction was one of disbelief that something so simple could be effective.
However, use of the system has convinced me that they have considerable merit
although much work needs to be done to determine exactly what kind of predictive
purpose the firdar most ably serve. So far I have been using them for general purpose
prediction.
zodiac, thus:
Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon.
In day charts one starts with the firdar of the Sun, in night charts with the firdar of the
Moon. And when one reaches the end of the planets in the Chaldean order, one simply
starts over at the other end until one has reached the planet just before the starting
planet. After seven periods using the seven classical planets as rulers, there are two
periods which come at the end both in day and night charts, three years for the N. Node
followed by 2 years for the S. Node. All nine of these periods make a total of 75 years.
After the 75 years, the cycle starts over again with the first planetary period that ruled
at birth.
Nocturnal Charts
Period
Ending
Age
Sun
Venus
Mercury
Moon
Saturn
Jupiter
Mars
N. Node
S. Node
10
8
13
9
11
12
7
3
2
10
18
31
40
51
63
70
73
75
Total
75
Ruler
Period
Ending
Age
Moon
Saturn
Jupiter
Mars
Sun
Venus
Mercury
N. Node
S. Node
9
11
12
7
10
8
13
3
2
9
20
32
39
49
57
70
73
75
Total
75
Each of these long periods is in turn divided into seven short periods,
each of which is exactly one-seventh of the long period. Each short
period is ruled by the same planet which rules the long period, then
each short period that follows is ruled by the planets which follow the
long-period ruler in the Chaldean order.
The following table illustrates the order of sub-period rulers.
Long-Period Rulers
Sa
Ju
Ma
Su
Ve
Me
Short-Period Rulers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Sa
Ju
Ma
Su
Ve
Me
Mo
Ju
Ma
Su
Ve
Me
Mo
Sa
Ma
Su
Ve
Me
Mo
Sa
Ju
Su
Ve
Me
Mo
Sa
Ju
Ma
Ve
Me
Mo
Sa
Ju
Ma
Su
Me
Mo
Sa
Ju
Ma
Su
Ve
Mo
Mo
Sa
Ju
Ma
Su
Ve
Me
Period
11 yrs.
12 yrs.
7 yrs.
10 yrs.
8 yrs.
13 yrs.
9 yrs.
Subperiod
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
yr.
yr.
yr.
yr.
yr.
yr.
yr.
6 mos. 26 days
8 mos. 17 days
0 mos. 0 days
5 mos. 4 days
1 mo. 22 days
10 mos. 9 days
3 mos. 13 days
While the basic idea of firdar is simple, one might find computing the
rulerships a bit clumsy. However, as an aid to computing one's current
period rulership, we will provide a bit further on a table derived from
Schoener's Three Books on the Judgment of Nativities. But before we get
to the practical application of firdar, there is an issue of controversy that
has to be dealt with concerning the order of the major periods.
Most sources give the order of the long-periods just as we have here.
These include Johannes Schoener, Al Biruni, Ibn Ezra, and the Liber
Aristotilis, among others. However, there are two sources which seem to
contradict this view. These two sources have been interpreted as
requiring that the two periods associated with the North and South
Nodes respectively should be placed not at the ends of the seventy-five
periods, but should be placed between the periods of Mars and the Sun:
thus, the diurnal sequence would be
Sun
Venus
Mercury
Moon
Saturn
Jupiter
N. Node
S. Node
Moon
Saturn
Jupiter
Mars
N. Node
S. Node
Sun
Venus
Mercury
Moon
Saturn
Jupiter
Mars
Sun
Venus
Mercury
N. Node
S. Node
The sequence is obviously true for day births, because the Sun is the
first period and Mars is the last period of the ones ruled by the planets.
Clearly the periods of the nodes follow that of Mars, and when they are
finished, one starts over again with the period of the Sun. The question
concerns night births.
The first of these two sources is Alcabitius's Introduction to Astrology.
Here is the entire section from the fourth section of the book.
"And the arrangement of the firdar is according to this: This is if the
nativity is diurnal. In the beginning of life the Sun has rulership by
Years Days
Years Days
Years Days
Su
Su
Ve
Su
Me
1
2
4
156
313
104
Ju
Ju Ma
Ju Su
52
54
56
260
156
52
Mo
Mo
Sa
Mo Ju
1
2
3
104
208
313
Ve
Ve
Me
Ve
Mo
50
51
52
52
104
156
Su
Mo
Su
Sa
Su Ju
5
7
8
260
52
208
Ju Ve
Ju Me
Ju Mo
57
59
61
313
208
104
Mo
Ma
Mo
Su
Mo
Ve
5
6
7
52
156
260
Ve
Sa
Ve Ju
Ve
Ma
53
54
55
208
260
312
10
Ju Sa
63
Mo
Ve
57
Su
Ma
Ve
Ve
Me
11
12
52
104
Ma
Ma
Su
64
65
0
0
Me
10
Sa
12
Sa Ju
208
52
Su
Me
Me
Mo
58
60
313
260
Ve
13
Mo
14
Ve
15
Sa
Ve Ju
156
208
260
Ma
Ve
Ma
Me
Ma
Mo
66
67
68
0
0
0
Sa
Ma
Sa
Su
Sa
Ve
13
15
16
260
104
313
Me
Sa
Me Ju
Me
Ma
62
64
66
208
156
104
Ve
Ma
Ve
Su
Me
16
18
19
313
0
313
Ma
Sa
Ma Ju
NN
69
70
73
0
0
0
Sa
Me
Sa
Mo
Ju
18
20
21
156
0
260
Me
Su
Me
Ve
NN
68
70
73
52
0
0
Me
21
Mo
23
Me
25
Sa
Me Ju
260
208
156
SN
Su
Su
Ve
75
76
77
0
156
313
Ju Ma 23
Ju Su 25
Ju Ve 26
156
52
313
SN
Mo
Mo
Sa
74
76
77
0
104
208
Me
Ma
Me
Su
Me
Ve
27
29
31
104
52
0
Su
Me
Su
Mo
Su
Sa
79
80
82
104
260
52
Ju Me 28
Ju Mo 30
Ju Sa 32
208
104
0
Mo Ju
Mo
Ma
Mo
Su
78
80
81
313
52
156
Mo
32
Mo
33
Sa
34
Mo Ju
104
208
313
Su Ju
Su
Ma
Ve
83
85
86
208
0
52
Ma
Ma
Su
Ma
Ve
33
34
35
0
0
0
Mo
Ve
Mo
Me
Sa
82
84
85
260
0
208
Mo
Ma
Mo
Su
Mo
Ve
36
37
38
52
156
260
Ve
Me
Ve
Mo
Ve
Sa
87
88
89
104
156
208
Ma
Me
Ma
Mo
Ma
Sa
36
37
38
0
0
0
Sa Ju
Sa
Ma
Sa
Su
87
88
90
52
260
104
Mo
40
Me
41
Sa
43
Sa Ju
0
208
52
Ve Ju
Ve
Ma
Ve
Su
90
91
93
260
313
0
Ma Ju 39
Su
40
Su
41
Ve
0
156
313
Sa
Ve
Sa
Me
Sa
Mo
91
93
95
313
156
0
Sa
Ma
Sa
Su
Sa
Ve
44
46
47
260
104
313
Me
Me
Mo
Me
Sa
94
96
98
313
260
208
Su
Me
Su
Mo
Su
Sa
43
44
46
104
260
52
Ju
96
Ju Ma 98
Ju Su 100
260
156
52
Sa
Me
Sa
Mo
49
51
156
0
Me Ju 100
156
Su Ju 47
Su
49
Ma
208
0
http://horoscopicastrologyblog.com/2007/10/16/firdaria-a-medieval-timelord-system/
came
across
an
interesting
website
today
called firdaria.comwhich provides free calculations for the medieval-era time-lord system
known as Firdaria (Firdariyyah). This system, like all time-lord systems, breaks up a persons
life into specific sections or chapters that are each ruled by one of the seven traditional
planets. The nature of the planet and its condition in a persons natal chart determines how
well the period will go for the native when that planet becomes activated at various points in
their life.
The 9th century Muslim astrologer Abu Mashar, who appears to be the principal source for
Firdaria, outlines this time-lord system in his book known as On Solar Revolutions:
Each of the seven stars, and the Ascending and Descending Nodes, has certain determinate
times, and each star administers to the native in accordance with its proper firdar. The firdar
of the Sun, then, is 10 years; of Aphrodite, 8; of Hermes, 13; of the Moon, 9; of Kronos, 11; of
Zeus, 12; of Ares, 7; of the Ascending Node, 3; of the Descending Node, 2 altogether, they
are 75. In the case of a diurnal nativity, then, the Sun takes the governorship of the first
firdar, whether it should be present, then Aphrodite, then Hermes, then the Moon, then
Kronos, in accordance with the order of their zones. In the case of nocturnal nativities, the
Moon takes the first firdar, then Kronos, then Zeus, then Ares, in accordance with the prior
order. (Abu Mashar, On Solar Revolutions, part 2, trans. Robert Schmidt, The Phaser
Foundation, Cumberland, MD, 1999, pg. 42.)
So in this system you are starting with either the Sun or the Moon depending on if it is a day
or night chart, and then you are assigning each of the planets a certain number of years. This
is where Firdaria.com comes in handy because they will calculate the Firdar periods of each
planet for you.
In the ancient traditions of astrology these time-lord systems were usually employed first in
any delineation because they give the astrologer information about broad spans of time, and
they let you know which planets will be activated during certain periods in the natives life,
for better or worse. Transits are then used as the very last line in predictive work in order to
act as triggers, or as more precise timing indicators. This is somewhat different than the
modern approach to prediction which usually employs transits as the initial and primary
means of forecasting.
The Firdaria are basically the medieval western equivalent of the Indian dasha systems, or
the Hellenistic time-lord systems. Although there are some similar time-lord techniques in
the Hellenistic tradition, at this point there isnt any evidence that the Firdaria system
originated in the Hellenistic period. Most people seem to think that the system was
developed by Persian astrologers at some point during the Medieval period. A Persian or
Indian origin seems plausible to me since the nodes are assigned years in the timing scheme
of this system, and for the majority of the Hellenistic tradition the nodes appear to have been
somewhat neglected or downplayed. It was in the Indian tradition and then later the Persian
tradition that the nodes were given great emphasis as particularly important bodies or points
in the chart.
Firdaria.com will calculate your Firdar periods for you and even provide some general
interpretations of certain periods. It looks like they just launched the site earlier this year and
they plan to expand it in the future in order to include some additional techniques and
systems, so we will have to keep an eye on them.
For more background information on the Firdaria you can check out this great paper
by Steven Birchfield, as well as this other article by Rob Hand.