Here's a thread of what I consider to be currently the best available resources on learning about Zodiacal Releasing (free and not free), and represent the people I have learned the most from on using this technique: 1. Vettius Valens - the primary source we have for this technique. You can find it on pages 71-77 in this translation of his works by Mark Riley: csus.edu/indiv/r/rileym…

Best practices for horary:
1) Is your question spurred by an external development or idle curiosity?
2) Does your question relate to you personally, on a pressing, urgent matter?
3) Are you ready to hear the answer you don't want?
4) Ask 1 astrologer other than yourself 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 Am I saying you can't ask yourself a horary about how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? No, you could do that, you're a free person. These are just best practices that reduce ambiguity and give horary the best chance to be on solid ground.

When electing a time to do something, if you can't avoid putting a malefic in an angular whole sign house, you can at least make it dynamically cadent by making sure the angle has moved as far past the malefic as possible. Similarly, if you're electing a time and you can't avoid putting a benefic in a cadent whole sign house, you can angularize it by making it form an aspect with one of the angles, or you may have the opportunity to make it dynamically succedent.

Venus-Mars copresent in Cap, 1/25-3/6/22
Venus-Mars exact conjunction at 16 Cap, 2/16/22
Venus-Mars copresent in Aqu, 3/6-4/5/22
Venus-Mars exact conjunction at 0 Aqu, 3/6/22

Venus and Mars will be within 3 degrees of each other from February 5th - March 21st 2022. 1.5 months! This happens because Venus's speed post-retrograde will be nearly equivalent to Mars' speed in this part of its cycle. The 2/16/22 conjunction occurs because Mars is actually faster than Venus, and overtakes Venus. By 3/6/22, Venus has sped up and overtakes Mars.

Planets in the 3rd can have rebellious/contrarian/activist qualities in their opposition to the 9th of institutionalized orthodoxy/leadership. The Moon's Joy is in the 3rd and the Sun's Joy is in the 9th, reflecting the tension that always exists between leaders and the people. Just some thoughts on the conflicts of the 3rd-9th axis by sign:
♈︎/♏︎ vs ♎︎/♉︎ = sovereignty/resistance vs cooperation/stability
♊︎/♍︎ vs ♐︎/♓︎ = letter of the law vs spirit of the law
♋︎/♌︎ vs ♑︎/♒︎ = community/individual vs regulation/decentralization

Mars retrograde isn't just any type of review period like a Mercury retrograde, it's when Mars goes on strike, staging mutinies and coups. The sign where Mars goes retrograde can indicate the areas of society that are likely to be particularly inflamed. Aries is the diurnal fire sign of Mars and where the Sun is exalted. So transits through Aries are relevant for societally/state-sanctioned authorities of force - the military, the police, fire departments, sports and leaders generally.

I don't know if astrology supports the idea of 'soul mates' as much as 'time mates'. We often focus on synastry between two natal charts, but these are static. It's only at a particular time we come into a contact with a significant other, and the duration of the relationship can be lifelong but still finite. So...

The Lot of Fortune doesn't mean 'fortune' as in 'good luck' or 'good fortune'. It's not a benefic. It means 'fortune' as in 'chance' or 'circumstance', what befalls you outside of your control, the roll of the dice, casting lots, picking straws, the wheel of Fortune, etc. This is because it is calculated by measuring the distance FROM the in-sect light TO the contrary-to-sect light. It represents a movement from the light in line with its nature to the one outside of it, a projection to what's contrary, unknown or undefined.

If you've heard people trash the astrological alphabet (Aries=1st house) but still wondered, "But how do the houses get their meanings then?" this big ass infographic on the traditional origins of house meanings is for you. You'll have to zoom in to read it. Enjoy and share! So here are the ways astrologers figured out what houses mean without the astrological alphabet. ::Clears throat::

The Planetary Joys answer "Which house is most like each planet?" Let's go through them. Saturn is a diurnal malefic. The diurnal malefic houses are the 12th & 8th, because they're above the horizon & in aversion to the 1st. The 12th is most diurnal because it's rising while the 8th is setting. So the 12th is a Saturnian house of isolation, suffering, enemies, etc.

Mars is a nocturnal malefic. Why? Well, why are 'daylight robberies' unusual? Because it's not expected. "The night is dark and full of terrors". Why are werewolves associated with the Moon, why do vampires hate the Sun? Darkness is dangerous, it's Mars's time of day. (thread) Aspects have benefic/malefic qualities and diurnal/nocturnal associations. As a planet is in a waning sextile with the Sun, it becomes increasingly less visible. When it's in a waxing sextile with the Sun, it's moving toward visibility but it's still less visible. (cont)