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: Fortune = Ascendant + Sun - Moon
Night Births: Fortune = 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.
Robert Hand 3/11/96
Copyright 1996 © by Robert Hand.
Our thanks to tees.reitsma@astronet.idn.nl (Tees Reitsma) for initiating contact with Mr. Hand and securing his permission to post this material to the Oracle-a list. And our thanks to Mr. Hand for giving us permission to post his material here.
Mr. Hand has been doing translations of ancient and medieval astrology texts now for almost three years 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. Small warning: have your modem at maximum speed. The graphics take a long time to load.
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