The Persian/Medieval timing technique transmitted by Abu Ma'shar and Guido Bonatti. Calculate the periods and sub-periods when each planet rules your life.
Firdaria (Arabic: al-firdariyyat, of Persian origin) is a medieval Islamic astrology timing technique that divides life into planetary periods. It was first systematically described by the 9th-century Baghdad astrologer Abu Ma'shar (Albumasar), and later transmitted by Bonatti, Schoener, and William Lilly among other important figures of the European tradition.
The firdaria system assigns each segment of years to the rulership of a specific planet from birth. For diurnal births the sequence begins with the Sun, for nocturnal births with the Moon. Each major period is further divided into sub-periods, creating a more detailed timing map.
In the firdaria system, seven traditional planets and two lunar nodes form a 75-year cycle:
Diurnal births follow this sequence from the Sun, while nocturnal births begin from the Moon.
Three essential pieces of information are required for firdaria calculation:
This calculator automatically shows your current major period, sub-period, and the start dates of future periods after you enter your birth details.
Firdaria periods gain meaning when read alongside your natal chart. The ruling planet of the current major period is interpreted according to its position, house placement, and aspects in your chart. For example, a person in a Jupiter firdaria period may experience significant events in the areas of life represented by Jupiter's natal house.
Sub-periods refine the main theme. When a Venus sub-period begins within a Saturn major period, one can expect a time when themes of responsibility and structure intersect with relationships or aesthetics.
Firdaria can be used on its own, but yields much stronger results when combined with other traditional timing techniques:
When multiple techniques point to the same planet or theme, it strengthens the significance of that period.
This tool offers both the nodes-included (75-year) and nodes-excluded (70-year) calculation methods. You can switch between the two approaches and compare the results.
For night births, the place of the node periods is transmitted in two ways: in one the nodes come at the end of the sequence (this tool's default), in the other they follow immediately after Mars. Abu Maʿshar's account of the firdaria and the Latin sources that follow him (Bonatti) are the basis of this distinction, and both orders are used by practitioners today.
The default order matches the firdaria table in al-Bīrūnī's Tafhīm (§438-439, R. R. Wright translation, 1934), where the North and South Node close the sequence in night charts as well as in day charts. We could not verify from a primary source which classical author gives the order with the nodes after Mars. You can compare both orders with the “Node Periods in a Night Chart” selector in the form. In a day chart this choice does not change the result, and the full cycle is 75 years in both orders.
Yes. Whether the Sun is above or below the horizon at birth determines the sequence of periods. Without birth time, the diurnal/nocturnal distinction cannot be made, resulting in an incorrect sequence.
No period is inherently "bad." The quality of a period depends on the ruling planet's condition in the natal chart. A well-placed Mars can bring a productive and energetic Mars period.
They are different techniques. Profection shows the active house through annual progressions; firdaria defines multi-year planetary periods. When used together, they complement each other.
When the 75-year cycle is complete, according to classical sources the sequence repeats from the beginning.
The natal chart is the most common application, but some medieval astrologers also applied firdaria periods in mundane (world) astrology.
Your Periods Are Ready, But This Is Just the Beginning
Firdaria divides life into planetary chapters. What each lord promises depends on its condition in your own chart.
See annual forecastWritten report $99 · Live Zoom session $250 · Or study it yourself
About Firdaria and Persian-Arabic time-lord periods
Firdaria (Arabic firdārīya, plural firdārāt) is a Persian time-lord technique adopted and elaborated by the medieval Arabic astrologers, in which a fixed sequence of planetary periods rules successive stretches of life from birth to roughly age seventy-five. Each major period (firdar) is governed by one of the seven traditional planets, and is itself divided into seven sub-periods that share the major lord's character with that of the sub-lord. The technique appears in the works of Abu Maʿshar and reached the Latin West through translations of his books, where he was known as Albumasar.
In a diurnal (day) chart the Firdaria begin with the Sun and follow the descending Chaldean order: Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, then the Ascending Node (3 years) and Descending Node (2 years). In a nocturnal (night) chart the order begins with the Moon and proceeds Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, again followed by the lunar nodes. In another transmitted order the nodes come right after Mars in a night chart, and this tool lets you choose either. Together with the nodes the periods total seventy-five years, after which the cycle restarts. This sect-based reversal follows the Hellenistic principle that the sect light leads its own time.
The seven planetary firdar periods have fixed lengths: Sun 10 years, Venus 8, Mercury 13, Moon 9, Saturn 11, Jupiter 12, Mars 7. Each major period is divided into seven equal sub-periods of one-seventh the length, which take the major lord's planet first as their own sub-lord, then the remaining six in the same Chaldean order. The combination of major and minor lord (for example "Jupiter under Sun" or "Saturn under Mars") describes the texture of the months or years in question and is the practical heart of Firdaria interpretation.
The technique appears to have Persian Sasanian roots and was inherited and codified by ninth-century Arabic astrologers, most notably Abu Maʿshar al-Balkhi (787-886 CE), whose works became canonical for the subsequent tradition. Earlier and contemporary authors such as Sahl ibn Bishr, Mashallah and Abū ʿAlī al-Khayyāṭ also describe the method. Through the twelfth-century Latin translations of Abu Maʿshar by John of Seville and Hermann of Carinthia, Firdaria entered medieval European astrology and was used by William of England, Guido Bonatti and the Renaissance authors.
Classical practice layers time-lord techniques rather than using them in isolation: the Firdar lord describes the dominant planetary tone of a multi-year stretch of life, the annual profection narrows that tone to a particular twelve-month theme via the Lord of the Year, and the solar return and current transits trigger specific events within the year. When the Firdar lord, the Lord of the Year and an active transit converge on the same planet or house, the indications of all three are reinforced and often coincide with major life events. This stratified reading - long, medium and short term - is the predictive method recommended by Abu Maʿshar and the later Persian-Arabic authors.