Firdaria is the Persian-Hellenistic time lord system developed by Abu Ma'shar in the 9th century. The lifespan is divided into sequential planetary periods totaling 75 years. The sequence of planets depends on the sect of the natal horoscope — day charts (Sun above horizon) and night charts (Sun below horizon) have different starting sequences. The system calculates the complete 75-year calendar with exact start and end dates for each period, identifies the current Major Lord (Firdar) and current Sub-lord modulating experience within the Major. Each planetary period activates specific themes, relationships and life challenges. You immediately see the complete timeline and current period; the detailed interpretation is delivered by email.
Where it comes from
Firdaria is a Persian time-lord system that entered Western astrology through Abu Ma'shar in the ninth century and was standard in medieval and Renaissance practice before disappearing with the rest of traditional technique. It came back with the translations of the last few decades. Its structure is close to that of the Indian dashas without being derived from them — both divide the life into planetary periods, but the lengths and the ordering are different.
How the method works
Seventy-five years are divided among the seven classical planets and the two lunar nodes, in a fixed sequence with fixed lengths — the Sun ten years, Venus eight, Mercury thirteen, the Moon nine, Saturn eleven, Jupiter twelve, Mars seven, and the nodes three and two. The sequence you start with depends on sect: a day chart, with the Sun above the horizon, begins with the Sun and runs in one order; a night chart begins with the Moon and runs in another. Getting the sect wrong makes every date in the timeline wrong, and it is the single thing to check. Each major period is subdivided into seven sub-periods ruled by the planets in the same order, so the experience of a Saturn major is inflected by whichever sub-lord is running. What a period brings is read from how its planet sits in the birth chart, not from the planet's general reputation.
What a reading covers
A reading gives the full seventy-five-year timeline with start and end dates for every period, whether your chart is day or night, your current major lord and sub-lord, and a reading of what the active combination is traditionally held to activate.
Common questions
- What happens after seventy-five?
- The sequence begins again from the start. Medieval sources take seventy-five as a full allotted span and simply repeat the cycle beyond it.
- How is this different from the Vedic dashas?
- Different lengths, a different ordering, a total of seventy-five years rather than a hundred and twenty, and the start is set by sect rather than by the Moon's nakshatra. They are parallel ideas, not the same system.
- Do I need an exact birth time?
- You need it accurately enough to know whether the Sun was above or below the horizon, which decides the sect and therefore the entire sequence. Near sunrise or sunset that requires a reliable time.