Chronocrator

kro-no-KRA-tor

greek: χρονοκράτωρ (Chronokratōr)

Definition

A Chronocrator (Greek chronokrátōr, "time-lord" or "ruler of time") is any planet that governs a marked-off stretch of life under one of the predictive systems. It is the umbrella idea behind several of them — profections, zodiacal releasing, decennials, the Seven Ages of Man scheme, and the later Persian-Arabic firdaria — and each system has its own rules for which planet becomes chronocrator and for how long.

In Tradition

Astrologers think of the chronocrator as the planet that delivers a chart's themes into a particular slice of time. A planet's natal condition fixes what it has to give; becoming the time-lord decides when it gives it. A planet in good condition, activated as time-lord, tends to mark a productive period; one in poor condition, activated the same way, tends to mark a hard one.

In Practice

You identify the active chronocrator at any age by running the relevant time-lord method. In annual profections, the ruler of the sign you profect to is the Lord of the Year. In zodiacal releasing from the Lot of Fortune or Spirit, the ruler of the active period-sign is chronocrator at each nesting level — L1, L2, L3, and L4, from the longest periods down to the shortest. In the decennials, the sect light — the Sun by day or Moon by night — opens a 75-year sequence built from lesser-year sub-periods. Whether a planet was helped or harmed in the natal chart, its sect status, and the aspects it picks up during its chronocratorship together set the quality of the period.

Historical Origin

Firmicus Maternus (Mathesis IV, 4th century CE) names the chronocrator directly, identifying it from the Sun in day charts and the Moon in night charts. Vettius Valens (Anthologiae IV-V) treats chronocratorship at length under aphesis. The term and the technique pass into Arabic-Persian astrology as the firdaria system, preserved in Abu Ma'shar and Bonatti.

Etymology

Origin: Greek. Meaning: Time-lord, ruler of time.

Further Reading

  • Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis
  • Vettius Valens, Anthologiae
  • Joseph Crane, Astrological Roots: The Hellenistic Legacy