Arabic lots – spiritual components of the natal chart (part one)

By definition, Arabic lots represent astrological factors found by mathematical calculations that include three other factors in the horoscope such as planets or angles. The distance between the two factors is added to the third (usually the ascendant), thus obtaining the position of a certain Arabic lot. It is one of the most important astrological concepts, although the most mysterious. The lots are thought to be more closely related to the spiritual part of human existence, so they are ascribed deeper meanings in the interpretation of the natal chart topics. In Hellenistic astrology, they were primarily used to give additional meanings to signs and houses in the interpretation of certain topics in the chart, e.g. if the lot of marriage falls into the second house and Scorpio, that house and its ruler add some significations concerning marriage, although these places would not be observed in connection with the said subject in some ordinary procedure. Furthermore, in practical terms, lots could also be regarded as that third point that astrologers would interpret in the context of a particular natal chart topic, such as offspring, marriage, career, etc. The first step would be to analyze a suitable planet, such as Venus concerning marriage. Then the respective house and its ruler would be considered, in this case, that would be the seventh house, and finally, the third step would be to analyze the appropriate lot, in this example, the lot of marriage. This is also implicit in the “threefold rule”, that is, if something is indicated in one area of ​​life through only one of these three factors, then the outcome is possible, if two factors point to the same, then the outcome is probable, and if confirmed through all three, then the outcome is certain. By far the most famous is the lot of Fortune, also known as the lot of fate, but there are innumerable lots and it can be said that they flourished in medieval astrological practice. But the topic of this two-part study are seven hermetic lots, with special reference to the four lots that Hellenistic astrologer Vettius Valens pointed out as the most important, namely the aforementioned Fortuna, Spirit, Eros (Love), and Necessity, and these are dealt in detail in the part two.

Arabic lots originate from the Babylonian astrological concept of the relationship between the Sun and Moon through the arc of the longitudinal distance between them projected from the point of the horizon (Ascendant). Although some claim that their origins are Egyptian, it seems that, like everything in astrology, two basic astrological factors have been derived and conceived from this original order. In contrast to their commonly known name, Arabic lots have been developed methodologically for the most part in Hellenistic astrology. The Arabs added a large number of new ones to this method while retaining Greek heritage. Arabic lots serve for deeper natal analysis and to uncover the intrinsic meaning of the horoscope. The seven basic Arabic lots are the points of the soul, or those pillars of the soul, derived by analogy from the seven planets of the horoscope. These seven planets are related to Pythagoras’ numerical week and even earlier before him, with dualistic ancient Persian Mithraism, that is, Persian mysteries of the sevenfold initiation of worship, as well as the seven steps of the fall of the soul, which, on the way to the earthly embodiment, passes through 7 planetary spheres and to ascend through them back to one of the four celestial gates after death: Aldebaran – east, Regulus – north, Antares – west and Fomalhaut – south, which are therefore referred to as the royal stars and guardians of the heavenly gates. Plato’s interpretation of the fall (descent) of the soul seems to be inspired by the Persian mysteries. Plato speaks of the eighth sphere, the sphere of the stars, that is, the zodiac, which is considered to be the place where souls originate from and from which everyone, individually, on its journey to Earth, passes through seven planetary spheres in the Chaldean order from Saturn to the Moon. On this journey, the soul is enriched by each sphere, endowed (blessed) with the pure planetary essence of each planetary principle, which is more or less corrupted by earthly incarnation. After the death, the soul ascends in the reverse order of the journey (from the Moon to Saturn) to purify itself from earthly flaws through each sphere individually according to the type of flaw (about them later). The more it rises through the spheres and the cosmic purification, the soul becomes easier and purer to enter the eighth sphere of bliss perfected. Aristotle adopted this theory from his teacher. St. Thomas Aquinas, a worshiper of Aristotle, was familiar with this theory of the connection between soul and planet. There is speculation that this theory is closely related to the seven virtues and the seven deadly sins of Christian theology. The first three virtues: hope, faith, and mercy are known as theological virtues, while the other four (wisdom, steadfastness, temperance, and righteousness) are called natural virtues. These virtues are thus related to the planetary virtues and vices so that we have:

 

Planet Virtue Sin
Moon Hope Gluttony
Sun Faith Pride
Mercury Wisdom Envy
Venus Mercy Lust
Mars Courage Rage
Jupiter Temperance Greed
Saturn Justice Laziness

 

Virtues and sins are thus brought into correlation with the lots of the soul. This is especially notable if we observe that each planet has its “own” lot. Specifically, in Chapter 23 of his „Introduction to Astrology“, Paulus of Alexandria presented a method of calculating seven lots that are related to traditional planets, while citing the work known as “Panaretus”, whose authorship is associated with Hermes Trismegistos. These are called “hermetic lots”. In the picture below you can also see the method of calculating these points (all distances are projected from the ascendant):

 

arabic lots
Arabic Lots calculation table

 

The first thing that we can see here is that only the lots of Fortune and Spirit are calculated based on the distance between the luminaries (Sun and Moon), while in other cases, the lots are calculated from the distance between the corresponding planet and either the lot of Fortune or the lot of Spirit or vice versa. When it comes to this calculation, and in connection with the foregoing, we can observe certain important hermetic principles that are coming to light here. First, the ratio in these calculations seems to take into account the ruling luminary, or luminary of the sect. Thus we see that the calculation for the lot of Fortune always starts from the ruling luminary to the other, that is, in day births (where the Sun is the ruling luminary), this lot is calculated by measuring the distance from the Sun to the Moon, that is, the starting point is the Sun, whereas at night births it is the Moon, as the ruling luminary. Such a measurement seems to imply the idea of ​​moving from light to darkness since the calculation literally moves from a dominant luminary at certain times of day or night to the luminary that is somehow obscured at the time observed. This can be related to a deeper hermetic conceptualization that darkness is associated with matter and physical incarnation. In contrast, we see that the math for the lot of Spirit is opposite, that is, it always starts with the luminary that is opposite to the ruling sect, or to the luminary that is dominant at a given time – i.e. from the Moon to the Sun in day births. This also implies a hermetic relation of light with spirit and intellect.

Some other patterns can be observed concerning other lots. As it can be seen in the diagram above, lots associated with positive significations, such as the lot of Eros and the lot of Victory (Jupiter), are both calculated from the lot of the Spirit. The others, which have negative implications, are calculated from a lot of Fortune. It is obvious, then, that the lots of the benefic planets are related to the concept of spirit and light, and therefore to the lot of the Spirit, while the lots of malefic are linked to the concept of darkness and matter, and hence to the lot of Fortune. It seems possible that these assignments were made simply due to the apparent brightness of each of the planets involved, with Venus and Jupiter being the two brightest visible planets, and Mars and Saturn being the darker visible planets.

It is also interesting to note that some lots are calculated from the lot (Spirit or Fortune) to the planet, and some from the planet to the lot, both in the day or night nativities. The possible rationale behind this may again have something to do with the dominant luminary. Namely, the lot of Spirit is also called the lot of the Sun, and the lot of Fortune is considered as the lot of the Moon. As we can see, during the day, the lots of Venus and Jupiter are calculated from the lot of Spirit towards Venus and Jupiter, respectively, or vice versa at night. The concept behind this comes from the principle that the Sun is the one that emits light by day, so his lot assumes the same principle, while at night it behaves more closely to the nature of the Moon, that is, it receives light. In other words, this calculation is based on which of the two luminaries is more dominant in the calculation for lot of Spirit. Therefore, in day births the calculation moves from the lot of the Spirit towards the corresponding planet, imitating the principle of emitting light similar to the Sun, while in night births this calculation will go from the planet to the lot, which now plays the role of “recipient” since the Moon is a dominant luminary. This applies only to these two points since it’s only them that include the lot of the Spirit. However, the same principle seems to apply to the lots that include the Lot of Fortune. As in the daytime, the Moon is the dominant luminary in calculating the Lot of Fortune, and just like the lot of the Moon is opposite to the dominant luminary, the Sun, it acts as the recipient of the light, so the calculation starts from the planet towards Fortune. At night, when the Moon is the ruling luminary and the Sun is the dominant planet in the calculation of the Lot of Fortune, Fortuna is the one that “emits” light, so the calculation goes from it to the corresponding planet. We will return to these observations when we talk about the lots of Eros and Necessity mentioned by Valens, which are calculated differently than described here.

Since the lots calculation methods are given in the diagram above, in the rest of the text we will focus on the description of enumerated hermetic lots according to Paulus of Alexandria:

Paulus connects the lot of Fortune with the Moon and points out that it signifies the body, the things that native does to acquire possessions, reputation, and privileges.

As stated, the lot of the Spirit is connected with the Sun, hence it signifies the soul, intelligence, the exercise of all power (dunasteia), and is sometimes relevant in determining the career of the native or his profession (praxis).

The lot of Eros is associated with Venus and signifies desire and appetites as well as friendships and services.

The lot of Necessity associated with Mercury signifies restrictions, oppression, fighting, wars, hostilities, hatred, condemnation, and other limiting circumstances.

The lot of Courage is associated with Mars, thus denoting boldness, betrayal, strength (or raw power) and all evil deeds.

The lot of Victory is associated with Jupiter, thus signifying faith, good hope, competition, all kinds of benevolence, enterprise, and success.

The Lot of Nemesis is related to Saturn, so it refers to the ghosts of the underworld, things that are hidden, weakness, sadness, and the quality of death.


 

Izvori korišćeni u tekstu:

  • Chris Brennan – Hellenistic Astrology: The study of Fate and Fortune
  • Chris Brennan –  The Theoretical Rationale Underlying the Seven Hermetic Lots
  • Robert Zoller – Arabic parts in Medieval Astrology (a lesson from DMA course)
  • Nataša Karalić Koprivica – traditional astrology blog link

 

Interview: The only way to know your fate is natal chart interpretation

From all the astrological terms, retrograde Mercury has definitely gained increasing publicity. Everyone knows that the period when this planet retrograde is a period when communication problems and misunderstandings are common, so it is not recommendable to sign a contract, bad assessments, and decisions seem inevitable, traffic jams, while some important documents, such as personal ones, can be lost. To this list, and the obviously poor publicity of retrograde Mercury, I have to add another from my recent experience – don’t do interviews when Mercury is retrograde! 🙂

Namely, about 10 days ago, I talked to a journalist from the local newspaper “Dnevne novine”, answering questions whose purpose was to bring astrology to a better understanding of a wider audience. However, when the interview was published, it came out with numerous and serious shortcomings, which not only thwarted the original intention but could cause additional confusion among the readers, despite the undoubtedly good intention of the journalist. For these reasons, but also to protect my integrity and approach to astrology that I nurture on this site, I decided to publish that conversation in its integral form here.

 

  • Why did you choose astrology?

    I can freely say that I have always been fascinated by one of the basic premises of astrology, and that is that each of us lives his uniquely own “piece of heaven”. It also inspired me to explore this thesis as thoroughly as possible. Confirming it through practice, I also discovered the beauty of astrological language that has written a wide variety of different natures and destinies, so this Art found a strong foothold in my spirit and being, already imbued by the research of Hermeticism. I was especially interested in this synchronicity connexion through which this “piece of heaven” is manifested in real life, and whose essence lies in the simultaneity of changes and cycles that take place in the sky, in the form of planetary movements, and in man, which excludes the cause-and-effect relationship between them (heaven and man). Thus, the planets and the celestial sphere move in parallel with the inner development of man, so, in that sense, it is incorrect to claim that the “stars” influence man and determine his destiny by that influence. Stars are just indicators and do not cause anything. Because of all this, the astrological connexion between heaven and Earth cannot be characterized as causal as it is often explained today, but as symbolic and mystical, acausal if you will, as it has been explained for thousands of years. The totality of these and many other insights have convinced me that astrology really “works” on many other levels, in addition to the initial thesis.

 

  • What are the most usual questions you get?

The questions are really diverse and their variety has convinced me that through astrological symbolism,     virtually every question can be properly answered. From questions about lost things, through emotional troubles and joys to some that we could characterize as philosophical, the answer was always hidden in the mystical connection I mentioned in the previous question, which is shown through the appropriate horoscope. Although I initially assumed that “matters of the heart” would be the most frequent, in practice it turned out different, so in addition to these, questions about work and career, litigation, health, and even death are very common.

 

  • Could you give us some comparison of what people are interested in now and before?

It is almost impossible to draw a significant parallel in interests since the interests are quite similar. However, it is worth mentioning that lately, people are increasingly coming up with questions about choosing the best time to start an activity, even regarding the birth of a child, although such interventionism is very limited here, there were such requests. This fact can certainly be taken as an indicator of the growing trust in astrology and its scope because people tend to provide a “cosmic stamp” to their endeavors.

 

  • What questions can a horoscope answer?

Following the above, the horoscope can give really all kinds of answers. Questions like “which career suits me best,” “when is the best time to start my own business,” or “will I have children” are practical questions to which astrology can give specific answers. But besides, astrology can answer deeper doubts, such as “how  to achieve my purpose in life.” All these answers are obtained through specific horoscopes that have their own “specialization”. Thus, the natal chart, also known as the “life horoscope”, provides information on various areas of life such as predispositions for educational and professional development, choice of occupation and career; business and financial opportunities; talents; love and marriage life; offspring and relationship with children; health opportunities and hazards… The annual horoscope covers the same areas at the level of one year, usually from birthday to birthday, and is based on the natal chart. The comparison horoscope analyzes a certain relationship and provides valuable information about how compatible certain people are and what is the level of that compatibility, which leads to the conclusion of how important and permanent the relationship observed is. The widest range of questions is covered by horary horoscopes, which are an extremely convenient astrological tool for providing precise answers to a clear and specific question. Will I get a job at that company? Will I marry him? Does she love me? Should I go on that trip? Will I pass this exam? Will he pay me back? Unlike natal, which is useful for a more general overview of natives’ life, horary astrology seeks to provide practical answers to these and many other questions on a “yes or no” basis.

 

  • Can a horoscope answer questions concerning society as a whole and the future of the state and/or the world?

Yes, there is a special branch of astrology, known as mundane astrology that deals with these issues. It deals with general events such as the destinies of countries, wars, revolutions, states, climate change, economic progress, social events, and all the like that affect a larger group of people. Sometimes some events can be read easily because they are really striking, but sometimes there are more subtle variants of prediction. The beginnings of mundane astrology can be found in Ptolemy’s book “Tetrabiblos” where the author describes the differences of peoples and how and why are they symbolized by a particular zodiac sign, claiming that the characteristics of peoples and customs of countries originate from their longitudinal and latitudinal position and their connection to the Sun. The methods of this branch of astrology are very unique and these interpretations are very complex and involve consulting several different horoscopes, such as the ingress of the Sun in the sign of Aries for the appropriate territory, but also to other equinoctial points. Solar and lunar eclipses are very important, but also the conjunction of the chronocrators Saturn and Jupiter is observed, which takes place every 20 years, but they also have other more important cycles, such as that of triplicity change, where the smallest cycle is somewhere around 200 years and the largest close to 800 years. Only through such a detailed analysis can predictions be made for a state or people.

 

  • The most interesting horoscope you worked on, a detail you remember?

There were really various curiosities and interesting situations, but here I would like to single out a kind of project that was a special challenge for me. Namely, I had a client who dealt with the stock exchange business, trying to predict periods of growth and decline of currencies and commodities on the Forex stock exchange. Although this was a completely new field of astrological interpretations and predictions, we still managed to develop a certain system that had a high success rate, since these predictions were done very often. I intentionally say “we” because it is one of the situations from which it can be seen how client experiences can help the astrologer in developing such special astrological systems. The degree of accuracy at one point was so good that the above-mentioned stock exchange company gave the client even opposite investment recommendations than the decisions he made based on our predictions, amazed by his investments and consequential profits.

interview astrology

 

  • Is there a relativization in the reading of the horoscope and a tendency for some statements to seem true to us, and in fact they can refer to almost everything?

We can “thank for” this tendency to modern astrology present in the daily press, which certainly relativizes things, starting with the fact that 1/12 of humanity falls under the same sign to whom the same things will happen. Such “predictions” must be made on such a broad basis and through claims that can really be applied to everyone because their basic premise is wrong. Namely, what they are doing here is an interpretation of the current transits, setting a certain zodiac sign as the ascendant of that hypothetical horoscope. Only in very rare cases, these predictions could be true, but most usually they are wrong and worthless and that is why we get interpretations full of the so-called “commonplaces” and uncertainties. Predictions that will be specific and true only for us as individuals can only be obtained from our natal horoscope, and the relevant prognostic techniques that arise from it. Only things that exist in our unique natal chart can happen to us as individuals when the time comes for them, that is when they are activated by predictive techniques. Therefore, it is wisest that we ignore these so-called daily, weekly and similar so-called horoscopes, and if we are already interested in the future through astrology, the only right way is the interpretation of our own natal chart.

 

  • How did the zodiac signs emerge and how were the characteristics of the signs determined?

The characteristics of the signs that we encounter most often today are also the product of the so-called “reformation” of astrology, and in fact, it is a mere degradation of the astrological object to make it somewhat more appealing to the masses. So today, when you meet someone, it is almost impossible to elude the question: what is your horoscope sign? As if that simple answer will provide you with some better insight into the character of a certain person. This is how I often hear people say to me “I am a Sagittarius” or “we are Aquarians like that” etc., which reduces the personality not only to this incorrect correlation but also only to some zodiac sign. And not only to the sign but on our imperfect (and often wrong) idea about it. These are pure speculations, without any astrological basis.

Traditionally, the zodiac signs never had any “personality” that would automatically be applied to all those born on a certain date. The approach was different. Authors from tradition do not give “descriptions” of signs, ie. they do not attribute some characteristics to them. In general, the qualities of the signs are listed, and then the things with which the signs are associated, ie which are symbolically corresponding to them (professions, animals, places, colors, etc.). For example, Aquarius is a fixed, airy (hence both hot and moist), diurnal (as opposed to nocturnal), male, human (not animal like Aries or Leo, etc.), loud (not mute like water signs), the primary house of Saturn, etc. It is these qualities that lead us to further associations and conclusions, which must be in accordance with them. Therefore, Aquarius would be chatty (human and loud sign), stubborn (fixed quality), intellectual (airy and human), striving to structure (Saturn), and so on. Since it is a masculine, aerial, human/intellectual sign, this will make Aquarius more forward-looking and forward-moving than, say, Capricorn (second house of Saturn), but that doesn’t strip them of the fixed, Saturnian nature, so they can’t be so rebellious or independent as they are often portrayed. This is the only purely astrological method that can be used to delineate some features of the zodiac signs. How all these qualities are attributed to the signs stems from the complex but coherent and clear system of true astrology, and whose further elaboration goes beyond the scope of this interview.

In addition, I enclose the text that was finally published. To put aside the editorial policy, as I said before, the published version is obviously incomplete, with additions that I am not the author of, especially the introduction and conclusion.

astrology interview
The published interview pg.1
astrology interview
The published interview pg. 2