The Lot or Part of Fortune

by Robert Hand
Copyright 1996 by Robert Hand (info@robhand.com)
Posted in the Newsgroup alt.astrology in February and March 1996.
Author's Introduction
What I am going to do here is something similar to what I have been doing on Prodigy. I am going to be
talking about the discoveries and lore of ancient and medieval astrology. The main difference between
these postings and those on Prodigy is that these will be a bit more technical. I know that not everyone on
Alt.Astrology is an expert but actually you don't need to be much of an expert to understand the old
astrology. Those who could justifiably be called "experts" in modern astrology actually have to learn as
much as the beginners. The concepts are quite simple, but become complicated in the putting together.
But this should not be a surprise. This is just as true of modern astrology. Anyhow here is my first note.
The Lot or Part of Fortune
Part 1
Most astrologers have encountered the Part (or Lot as the Greeks called it) of Fortune, but have little idea
of what to do with it. The modern literature on the subject is of little help tending to make it an extremely
abstract symbol, something "karmic." To complicate things further, it is now clear that for approximately
50% of all people the Part of Fortune is usually computed incorrectly, namely those persons born at night
between sunset and sunrise. I'll come back to that in a moment. The Part of Fortune is computed in the
following manner:
Day Births: Fortune = Ascendant + Moon - Sun
Night Births: Fortune = Ascendant + Sun - Moon
These formulae should be interpreted as in this way: compute the longitudes of the Ascendant, Moon and
Sun as measured from 0 degrees of Aries. This is done according to the table below.
Aries Add 0 . Libra Add 180
Taurus Add 30 . Scorpio Add 210
Gemini Add 60 . Sagittarius Add 240
Cancer Add 90 . Capricorn Add 270
Leo Add 120 . Aquarius Add 300
Virgo Add 150 . Pisces Add 330
Let's say someone has an Ascendant of 20 Virgo, a Moon of 4 Aries, and a Sun at 17 Aquarius. An
Ascendant of 20 Virgo means a Descendant of 20 Pisces. Since the Sun is between the Ascendant and the
Descendant, this is a night birth so we use the night birth formula.
Ascendant 20 Virgo + 150 = 170
Sun 17 Aquarius + 300 = 317
Moon 4 Aries + 0 = 4
Fortune = 170 + 317 - 4 = 483.
This is more than 360 so we subtract 360 from the total. 483 - 360 = 123. The Part of Fortune is 3 Leo.
If the Sun were at 9 Cancer with this Ascendant and Moon, the chart would be a day birth so we would
use the Day formula.
Ascendant 20 Virgo + 150 = 170
Moon 4 Aries + 0 = 4
Sun 9 Cancer + 90 = 99
Fortune = 170 + 4 - 99 = 75.
This is less than 360 so we don't need to do anything more. This gives us a Part of Fortune of 15 Gemini.
The reason why most people who are born at night have been given the wrong Part of Fortune is that
most of the modern authorities have used the day formula for night births! This is because one ancient
authority, Ptolemy, seemed to advocate doing all charts with the day formula. We are now fairly certain
from our new translation of Ptolemy and his ancient commentators that he did not intend this. Most
other ancient sources advocated using the day formula for day births and the night formulas for night
and so did the medieval astrologers. And these people knew what to do with the Part of Fortune.
Let me conclude this note by giving a very brief description of what the Part of Fortune is. The Part of
Fortune is used to describe the basic way in which the individual is physically connected with the
surrounding world. It is one of the significators of the body and health, and it is the primary significator of
prosperity, and also career as it relates to prosperity. But the method of using it will come as a bit of a
surprise. This is one of the most important discoveries that Project Hindsight has made. In my next note
I'll go into that.
The Lot or Part of Fortune
Part 2
In the first installment of this series of notes I described the method for computing the Part of Fortune
and said a bit about what it meant, that it was the key to understanding the native's prosperity and
career. In this installment I will go further into its symbolism and say more about its proper use according
to the Greeks.
As I have said, the Part of Fortune is a primary indicator of prosperity, but it is more than that. It is created
out of the longitudes of the Sun, Moon, and Ascendant, and therefore is composed out of the three of the
most important places in the chart (only the Midheaven outside of these three is as important) and as a
result becomes as important as they are. In modern astrology there is a tendency to regard the Part of
Fortune as a minor point in the chart, but this was not the case with ancient astrology.
In ancient astrology the Ascendant is the primary indicator of the physical body and health. The Moon is
also a very important secondary indicator about the body. But there is a difference between them. The
Ascendant was considered to be the body at its most physical, material level. The Moon was the living
aspect of the body, in fact soul, but soul incarnated in a physical body. The Part of Fortune, being
composed of both of these along with the Sun, is also an indicator of the living, physical body and its
relationships with the physical and social world in which the native lives. Its capacity to signify prosperity
comes from this. If the Part of Fortune is in good condition, the relationship between the native and the
physical and social world in which he or she lives is one that supports the native and enables the native to
live well. If the Part of Fortune is in poor condition, the native has a harder time living in relationship with
the world that supports the native. The same can also be said about the relationships of the Part of
Fortune and health.
However, in the case of both significations one must keep in mind that no one indication in the chart, not
even the Part of Fortune, can be taken by itself as a total indicator of any area of life. For health one must
also look at the Ascendant, its ruler, the Moon and its ruler. Also the sixth and eighth houses as indicators
of illness and death respectively have strong indications for health. For material prosperity one should
also look at the second house, the tenth house, and their rulers.
That said, however, the Part of Fortune is well placed when there are benefics or dignified planets in the
same sign with it (the fact that "sign" is referred to here is very important as will be seen later on), or
these same kinds of planets aspect the Part of Fortune. [Note: if the terms "benefic" and "dignified" are
strange to you, they will be explained at the end of this article.] Also it was said to help the Part of Fortune
if it was in a sign that was ruled by benefics, and any point in a chart is helped by being in a sign ruled by
a dignified planet.
The Part of Fortune is not so well placed if it is in a sign with malefics, especially if the malefics are
debilitated. Squares, oppositions, and conjunctions with malefics are also not considered to be very good.
As a modern astrologer I would have to say that such indications do not mean poverty or bad health so
much as they mean that the native will have to work harder or has a narrower range of possible routes to
success. But given those two considerations, the results can still be very positive.
As my concluding comment in this installment, let me say that the Part of Fortune is not merely a point
like the planets or the nodes. It is the start of a house system. The sign of the Part of Fortune is the first
house of the Fortuna system, and the first house of the Fortuna system extends from 0 degrees to 30
degrees of the sign in which the Part is located. And each of the other houses of the Fortuna system also
extend from 0 degrees to 30 degrees of their respective signs. In the next installment I will describe what
the ancients said should be done with these houses.
Terms Used:
Benefic
A planet which easily produces results which would be generally considered favorable or "good." Whether
these results really are good for the native will only become clear over time. Certainly benefics produce a
desired result more easily in most situations than malefics (see next entry). The natural benefics are
Venus, Jupiter, the Sun by trine or sextile aspects, and any planet that is well aspected and dignified (see
note).
Malefic
A planet which does not easily produce results which would be considered "good". Generally speaking
malefics are not so much "bad" as it is that they require more thought, more consciousness, and more
skill at managing life than the benefics require in most cases. In fact the two main malefics, Mars and
Saturn, are necessary for building character and strength. But either of these handled without
consciousness leads to less than fortunate results. The natural malefics are Mars, Saturn and the Sun by
conjunction only.
General Comment about Both Benefics and Malefics
Ultimately whether a planet is a malefic or a benefic depends upon a number of factors. Planets that are
naturally one or the other can be converted into their opposite by other circumstances in the chart. One
cannot assume that Venus and Jupiter will always produce good results, and that Saturn and Mars will
always produce bad results. This is a old classification and must be taken somewhat freely. In the end I
like Ptolemy's definition of the terms best. According to Ptolemy, a benefic is a planet whose natural
influence leads to moderation and balance. A malefic is a planet whose natural influence leads to
extremes and imbalance.
Dignified and Debilitated
Planets may be dignified (made stronger) and debilitated (weakened) in a variety of ways. In this article I
mainly refer to dignity and debility by signs. Planets are dignified when they are in signs in which they rule
or are exalted. They are debilitated when they are in signs opposite these. Any regular beginning text of
astrology will list these signs. There are other dignities and debilities as well. See Lee Lehman, Essential
Dignities, Whitford Press.
The Lot or Part of Fortune
Part 3
If the Part of Fortune is a first house marker, our natural tendency as modern Western astrologers is
make the degree of the Part the cusp of the first house and to set up equal houses from the Part using
the Part as an Ascendant. However, from the material we have found so far in Project Hindsight what the
ancient astrologers actually did was a bit different. And what they did was characteristic of house division
in all of the oldest texts including, we now know, Ptolemy himself. As I have already mentioned, the
houses of the Fortuna system were measured from 0 degrees to 30 degrees of the sign that the Part of
Fortune was in. This practice, which has been dubbed whole-sign house division, was not only used with
the Part of Fortune, but also with the Ascendant itself! The entire modern problem of house division did
not exist for the ancients. They did not see the signs as separate from the houses. The houses were
simply roles that the signs took on depending upon their relation to some point that marked one of the
signs as being the first house or place ("place" is the proper translation of the word that the ancients used
for house as we use the word). That marking point was called in Greek, horoskopos.
If that word sounds familiar, it should. It is the basis of the word 'horoscope', and its literal meaning is
"hour marker," not "watcher of the hour" as often stated in the texts. The hour marker was any point that
had the ability to mark a sign as a first house or place for some purpose. In modern astrology we have
sun-sign astrology, a technique not widely respected by professional astrologers. Yet in sun-sign astrology
we see an ancient practice used (simple-mindedly to be sure) in a modern context. In sun-sign astrology
the Sun is a horoskopos in exactly the ancient manner; it marks the sign of the Sun as a first house or
place. All other signs become houses or places with respect to the sign of the Sun. The only problem with
modern sun-sign astrology is that the solar horoskopos was supposed to be used to describe a native's
father, not the native, and then only if the native was born in the daytime.
The ancients in the West used the Ascendant and the Part of Fortune as the major hour markers. The
ancients of the East in India used the Ascendant and the Moon is the primary hour markers. What is
interesting here is that the Part of Fortune is a part associated with the Moon! Apparently these practices
are related.
The following is a quotation from Paulus Alexandrinus a 4th century author:
"And Fortune signifies everything that concerns the body, and what one does through the course of life. It
becomes indicative of possessions, reputation and privilege."
And Vettius Valens who lived at about the same time as Ptolemy wrote the following:
". . . the Lot itself will possess the power of the Horoskopos, that of life; the tenth zoidion [sign] from this,
the power of the Midheaven, that of reputation; the 7th, the power of the Descendant; the 4th, of the
subterraneous zoidion, and the remaining places will possess the power of the 12 regions."
In another place he wrote "We have also found the 11th place [sign counted as a house] from Fortune to
be an acquisitive place, a bestower of belongings and goods, and especially when benefics are upon it or
are testifying [aspecting]."
These statements are holding up in practice. I have found that the sign of the Part of Fortune and its ruler
give very good information on profession as it relates to making money along with the tenth house
(counted in the usual manner from the Ascendant). The tenth sign from the sign of the Part of Fortune is
also very good for helping to describe the actual social role that the occupation serves. The eleventh sign
from the Part has a special role in determining both how well and by what means one earns money.
Astrologers who actually earn money from doing astrology have been seen to have Mercury in the sign of
the Part of Fortune, or the eleventh sign from the Part of Fortune, or ruling either of these. Mercury is the
ancient ruler of astrology before Uranus was discovered. And I would have to say that it still works! The
ancient writers also said that the Part of Fortune and the houses derived from it had to with the body,
health, and actions that are done spontaneously or on an emotional basis.
Another interesting Fortuna house is the seventh. While it may have something to do with relationships,
its primary symbolism seems to derive from its being the opposition to the Part itself, and the effect is
stronger if a point in the seventh Fortuna place is closer to the exact opposition to the Part of Fortune.
One of the oldest significations of the seventh house was death because the Sun set there and its light
was extinguished. The Fortuna seventh of course is not a sunset point, but since the Part of Fortune has
something to do with the body, the opposition to the Part seems to have something to with illness and
physical problems.
Much more work needs to be on the Part of Fortune, and this can only be considered a taste. However,
we are not done with parts yet. There are many other parts as well, and many of these also serve as hour
markers. We will take up some of these in the next installment.
A final note: all the passages used in this text are from the Project Hindsight translations of the ancient
Greek texts unless otherwise noted.
The Lot or Part of Fortune
Part 4
We now come to some of the other lots. As of this writing we have found over two dozen lots which come
from Egyptian sources. This should dispel once and for all the notion that lots are Arabic. Most of them in
fact are from a book called the Panaretos which was attributed to Hermes Tresmegistes. He is no doubt a
legendary figure with no historical basis, but anything attributed to him before the Middle Ages can be
safely ascribed to Hellenistic Egyptian sources or earlier. The Lot of Fortune was attributed to the also
legendary Nechepso and Petosiris, a legendary pharaoh and his priest.
First of all several lots were assigned to the planets. Of these the Lot of Fortune, as I have mentioned, was
assigned to the Moon, the Lot of Spirit to the Sun. The Lot of Spirit is the second most important of the
lots. Its formula is very simple. It is the same as the Lot of Fortune, but with the Sun and Moon positions
in the formula reversed. Thus the formula for the Lot of Spirit by day is the same as the Lot of Fortune by
night, and vice versa. The following formulas should make this clear.
Lot of Fortune
Day Births: Fortune = Ascendant + Moon - Sun
Night Births: Fortune = Ascendant + Sun - Moon
Lot of Spirit
Day Births: Spirit = Ascendant + Sun - Moon
Night Births: Spirit = Ascendant + Moon - Sun
People who have been born at night and have been using the Lot of Fortune as computed by most
software and computer services have actually been using the Lot of Spirit! The Lot of Spirit is a point
which has strong psychological and spiritual overtones, unlike the very physical-plane based Lot of
Fortune. The Lot of Spirit has to do with the nature of the will, what you intend (as opposed to what
merely happens to you), and also has much to do with career, but apparently more your career as a
statement that you make about what you are in the world. It also has to do with illness, like the Lot of
Fortune, but it would seem that with the Lot of Spirit we are talking about the spiritual bases of illness as
opposed to the physical bases. Unlike the Lot of Fortune, the Lot of Spirit does not often seem to have
been use as a first house marker. Paulus Alexandrinus says the following about the Lot of Spirit. "Spirit
happens to be lord of soul, temper, mindfulness, and every power; and sometimes it also cooperates in
the determination concerning what one does." This is about all we can say about the Lot of Spirit at this
point.
The other planets also have lots most of which are partly composed out of the Lots of Fortune and Spirit.
In the following PF = Lot of Fortune, PS = Lot of Spirit
Mercury, Lot of Necessity
Day: Lot = Asc. + PF - Me
Night: Lot = Asc. + Me - PF
"Necessity signifies constraints, submissions, struggles, and wars, and makes enmities, hatreds,
condemnations, all the other restrictive things befalling men as a result of their birth." -- Paulus
Alexandrinus
Venus, Lot of Eros
Day Lot = Asc. + Ve - PS
Night Lot = Asc. + PS - Ve
"Eros signifies the appetites and the voluntative desires. It becomes a contributing cause of friendship
and mutual favor."-- Paulus Alexandrinus
Mars, Lot of Courage
Day Lot = Asc. + PF - Ma
Night Lot = Asc. + Ma - PF
"Courage becomes a contributing cause of boldness, treachery, might, and every villainy." -- Paulus
Alexandrinus
Jupiter, Lot of Victory
Day Lot = Asc. + Ju - PS
Night Lot = Asc. + PS - JU
"Victory becomes a contributing cause of trust, good expectation, contest, and every association; but
sometimes it contributes to penalties and rewards." -- Paulus Alexandrinus
Saturn, Lot of Nemesis
Day Lot = Asc. + PF - Sa
Night Lot = Asc. + Sa - PF
"Nemesis becomes a contributing cause of subterranean fates and of everything which is ice-cold, of
demonstration, impotence, exile, destruction, grief, and quality of death." -- Paulus Alexandrinus
These quotes from Paulus are about all we know about these lots. None of these appear to have been
used as house markers.
The next group of lots are related to family issues:
Lot of the Father
Day Lot = Asc. + Sa - Su
Night Lot = Asc. + Su - Sa
If Saturn is within 17 degrees of the Sun use this formula according to the Greek sources.
Day or Night Lot = Asc. + Ju - Ma
When Saturn is within 17 degrees of the Sun, Arabic sources used a different formula.
Day Lot = Asc. + Ju - Su
Night Lot = Asc. + Su - Ju
I don't know what happens if both Jupiter and Saturn are within 17 degrees of the Sun, but otherwise I
prefer the Arabic formula when Saturn is close to the Sun.
Lot of the Mother
Day Lot = Asc. + Mo - Ve
Night Lot = Asc. + Ve - Mo
Lot of Siblings
Day Lot = Asc. + Ju - Sa
Night Lot = Asc. + Sa - Ju
Not all sources reverse the formula for Siblings at night, and I am inclined to agree with those sources
that do not. I suggest that one start with the day formula used for both day and night charts. This may
seem inconsistent of me but there is a principle underlying my position. In any case only experiment will
tell.
Lot of Children
Day Lot = Asc. + Sa - Ju
Night Lot = Asc. + Ju - Sa
Notice that this is the reverse of the Lot of Siblings. Here again some sources do not reverse the formula
at night, and here again I agree tentatively with those that do not. Obviously persons born in the daytime
have no problem here, but persons born at night will have to experiment. This lot is for both male and
female children.
In the next installment I will give some more of these lots and some instruction on how they were
supposed to be used.
The Lot or Part of Fortune
Part 5
In addition to the general lot of children, Vettius Valens gives two other lots that pertain to children, a lot
of sons, i.e., male children, and a lot of daughters. These are as follows:
Lot of Sons
Day or Night Lot = Asc. + Me - Ju
Lot of Daughters
Day or Night Lot = Asc. + Ve - Ju
Vettius Valens makes the following statement about both these and the Lot of Children mentioned in the
previous installment.
"When, then, they are afflicted by Kronos [Saturn] and Ares [Mars], they are the causes of childlessness or
the destruction of children, but when they are assisted by Zeus [Jupiter], they are the causes of
fruitfulness."
Now we come to a group of lots that pertain to marriage, or more precisely male-female relationships. It
is not clear from the Greek material how these are to be differentiated, but we do have some assistance
from the Arabic material. First here they are:
Parts of Marriage
Lot of Marriage, Men [Hermetic]
Day or Night Lot = Asc. + Ve - Sa
Lot of Marriage, Women [Hermetic]
Day or Night Lot = Asc. + Sa - Ve
Lot of Marriage, Men [Valens]
Day or Night Lot = Asc. + Ve - Su
Lot of Marriage, Women [Valens]
Day or Night Lot = Asc. + Ma - Mo
Lot of Marriage, General
Day Lot = Asc. + Ve - Ju
Night Lot = Asc. + Ju - Ve
In Al-Biruni, an Arab era astrologer, the two lots attributed to Hermes are simply referred to as lots of
marriage. But the other two lots, the one for men and the one for women, are given additional
designations. The lot for the marriage of men using the Venus - Sun arc is called "Trickery and Deception
of Men toward Women," and "Intercourse of Men." The lot for women that uses the Mars - Moon arc is
called "Misconduct of Women," "Trickery and Deceit of Men by Women," "Intercourse of Women, " and
"Unchastity of Women." Disregarding for a moment the obvious sexism in these designations, it is quite
clear that the marital lots of Valens are not as specifically connected to marriage, but are more connected
to sexual relationships in general. But the Hermetic lots, both of which contain Saturn, seem to have
more of a connection specifically to legally sanctioned marriage. At this very early stage in my research
this principle seems to be holding up, that the Hermetic lots relate to legal marriage, and the lots of
Valens relate to male-female sexual relationships in general.
This leaves the general lot of marriage given by Valens that uses the arc from Jupiter to Venus and vice
versa. It have little experience with this one thus far, but it too would seem to be connected to general
relations between the sexes rather than specifically legal marriage. However, since Jupiter has a strong
connection with the law, we cannot rule out this lot also as referring to legal marriage.
In addition to these lots, there are other special purpose lots that are mentioned in the Greek literature.
We do not have a clear notion of what all of these may be for, but they are all interesting.
The first of these is the Lot of Basis. As the name suggests, it would seem to be something fundamental. It
appears to be a way of combining the lots of Fortune and Spirit and making something that combines
their signification. The formula is as follows:
Lot of Basis
Day or Night Lot = Asc. + PF - Sp
or Lot = Asc. + Sp - PF
Here however it is not day or night that determines the order of the formula. Instead we use whichever is
the shorter arc. IF PF - Sp is more than 180 degrees, we use Sp - PF, and vice versa. Its position is always
below the horizon or exactly on the Ascendant or Descendant because the Sp to PF arc can never be
more than 180 degrees. This may have something to do with its signification because it is always below
the earth like a foundation. Also as with Fortuna and Spirit, New Moons and Full Moons have special
significance with this lot. At the New Moon all three lots are conjunct the Ascendant, and at the Full Moon,
they are all conjunct the Descendant.
Lot of Treachery
Day Lot = Asc. + Ma - Su
Night Lot = Asc. + Su - Ma
We have little data on this lot. It is from Vettius Valens.
Lot of Debt
Day or Night Lot = Asc. + Sa - Me
This is a lot that does not look as if it would function as a first house indicator. The lore on this lot is not
abundant, but the logic of lots would indicate that whatever house it would fall into could be a source of
financial losses or debt.
Lot of Theft
Day Lot = Sa - Ma - Me
Night Lot = Sa - Me - Ma
Also a lot that does not function as a first house indicator. This is one of the few lots that does not contain
the Ascendant as a component. As such it resembles the kinds of formulas that one finds in the modern
Hamburg School of Alfred Witte.
Lot of Exaltation
Day Lot = Asc. + 19 Ar - Su
Night Lot = Asc. + 3 Ta - Mo
This lot is made out of the Sun and Moon and their exaltation degrees. This is one of the few instances in
which the exaltation degrees (as opposed to their signs) are used. It is connected to the births of eminent
and famous people.
Lot of Being in a Foreign Land
Day or Night Lot = Asc. + Ma - Sa
Lot of Accusation
Day Lot = Asc. + Ma - Sa
Night Lot = Asc. + Sa - Ma
These last two are almost the same. The Lot of Being in a Foreign Land does not switch at night, and the
Lot of Accusation does. The structure of the Lot of Being in a Foreign Land clearly tells us that we are not
talking about vacation travel here. It is more like a Lot of Exile. The Lot of Accusation indicates the house
through which the native is "likely to experience failure, dangers, or downfalls." [Valens] In later astrology
this lot became the Lot of Inseparable Illness, i.e., incurable illness, and also the Lot of Police, which
accords well with the idea of the Lot of Accusation. I have little experience with the lot as an indicator of
illness, but it does seem to indicate areas of life where someone may be accused of something, either
falsely or truthfully.
Lot of the Destroyer
Day Lot = Asc. + Mo - Ru
Night Lot = Asc. + Ru - Mo
In the above formula 'Ru' stands for the ruler of the Ascendant. This is a point that relates to death. We
have little systematic information of its use except that it seems to relate to the manner of death. I would
urge astrologers not to be careless in the use of this lot.
Robert Hand 2/16/96 - 3/20/96
Robert Hand has been doing translations of ancient and medieval astrology texts since 1993 with Project
Hindsight and that effort has published over 2000 pages of translations and commentary. If anyone is
interested in further information on Project Hindsight, they have a web page at Project Hindsight.