Astrology Twelve Lots - The Athla [The 'Arabic' Parts] © Dr Shepherd Simpson

Astrological Lots: [Astrological Houses] The Twelve Lots in Classical astrology govern fate or fortune, via the interaction of the twelve aspects of life with the astrological signs.

The Powers of the Lots: The Twelve Lots have power of fixing the elements of life's fate or fortune under the 'decree' of the various Zodiac Signs. They determine 'all the Fortune of Mankind.'

How the Lots are Assigned to the Zodiac Signs: At the 'first minute of birth', the Lots are assigned to the Zodiac Signs, always in the order given above; starting with the first Lot, Fortune. The Lots are then assigned in anticlockwise order around the Zodiac Wheel. Each Lot is given to only one Zodiac Sign. Hence, the modern controversy about the size of houses did not form part of this aspect of classical astrology.

The method for assigning the position of the first Lot, is completely different from that of modern astrology, which seems to have muddled in the classical method for assigning the first Temple to become the method for assigning the first house. There are two different rules for finding the position of the first Lot, the Lot of Fortune, depending on whether it is day or night at the birth.

If the Sun is still above the horizon at the start of a birth, the day rule says that the position of Lot of Fortune is calculated as follows:

(a) First, find the Sun's position and then the Moon's positions against the Zodiac Wheel;
(b) Then count - clockwise - the number of degrees of the Zodiac Wheel between the Sun and the Moon;
(c) Next, locate the place of the eastern horizon at the time of birth on the Zodiac Wheel, i.e. the horoscopic point;
(d) Then count - clockwise - from the eastern horizon the number of degrees that were measured between Sun and Moon;
(e) This is the position of the Lot of Fortune and the Lot of Fortune should be assigned to whichever Zodiac Sign lies at this point;
(f) Finally, assign all the other Lots to Zodiac Wheel - anticlockwise - around the Zodiac Wheel.

This is relatively easy to do, nowadays, with modern astrological computer programs, but must have taken some skill, when the astrologer had only his or her eyes and tables of planetary and Zodiac Wheel movements as an aid.

If the Sun is below the horizon at the start of a birth, the night rule says that the position of Lot of Fortune is calculated as above, except for step (b) where the number of the degrees on the Zodiac Wheel - clockwise - between the Moon and the Sun should be measured [not the Sun to the Moon as above.] The Lot of Fortune is to be found this number of degrees away from the horoscope point, as before.

Are the Lots the Same as the 'Arabic Parts'? No, but the Lots seem to form the original root from which the 'Arabic Parts' then grew. The 'Arabic Parts' follow the same planet, planet, Cardinal Point rules for assigning their places as do the classical Lots, but use the other planets and Cardinal Points as well as the Sun, Moon and Ascendant. This can get awfully complicated, with almost a hundred Parts being present in the final Arabic system as described by Al-Biruni [ c 973 - 1048 AD]. So much so that most modern astrologers consider them unusable. [There is for example the Part of being in a foreign land...!]

'Arabic Parts' is a misleading term, as this process of using other planets can already be seen in the work of Vettius Valens [c 120 to 175 AD] a century and a half after Manilius. However, like much of late classical and early medieval astrology there is no justification presented by these later astrologers for the ever more complex and arcane systems they are proposing. And no evidence that they actually work. Like much of the rest of Classical knowledge, astrology became more and more debased as the Roman Empire declined and then fell in the first half of the fifth century AD.

The Description of the System of Lots from Astronomica

Thy Mind well purg'd from vainer cares compose,
For now my Muse is eager to disclose,
The nicest Secrets; which observ'd, impart
Fates Laws, and prove the surest Guides to Art.

When Nature order'd this vast Frame to rise,
Nature, the Guardian of these Mysteries,
And scatter'd Lucid Bodies o'er the Skies;
When she the Concave, whence directly fall
Streight Lines of Influence round the solid Ball,
Had fill'd with Stars; and made Earth, Water, Air,
And Fire, each other mutually repair;
That Concord might these differing parts controul,
And Leagues of mutual Aid support the whole;
That nothing which the Skies embrace might be
From Heaven's supreme Command and Guidance free,
On Man the chiefest Object of her Cares
Long time she thought, then hung his Fates on Stars;
Those Stars, which plac'd i'th' Heart of Heaven, display
The brightest Beams, and shape the greatest sway;
Which keep a constant Course, and now restrain
A Planet's Power, now yield to them again;
Thus sometimes ruling, sometimes rul'd create
The strange and curious Intercourse of Fate.

Astronomica, Book III Chapter 1, Verse 5 - 6, Marcus Manilius c 10 - 20 AD. Thomas Creech Translation 1697 AD.

To these her Poers wise Nature's Laws dispense
Submitting all things to their Influence;
But then as Emperours their Realms divide,
And every Province hath its proper Guide,
So 'tis in Signs, they have not equal Shares
Of Common Power, each Fortune claims its Stars;
Our Studies, Poverty, Wealth, Joy and Grief,
With all the other Accidents of Life
She parcels out; to proper Stars confines
The Lots, in equal number to the Signs.
These grac'd with proper Names and Place contain
The various Fortunes incident to Man,
Yet so contriv'd, that they are always found
In the same Order in the fatal Round.

Yet are not Lots thus fixt to Signs to lie
Possessing the same Station in the Sky,
And from one place directing down to Earth
An equal Influence work on every Birth
But still the Time of every Birth confines
These Lots to Seats, and makes them change their Signs,
That every Lot, from every Sign may flow,
And vary the nativity below.
But lest Confusion too much Change produce,
And make the Art too intricate for Use;
'Tis order'd thus: -----
That when the Birth's first Minute hath decreed
The First Lot's Station, then the rest succeed
In Following Signs; each Fortune takes its Seat
In proper Order, till the Roi nd's compleat:
Take these short rules till flowing Verse dilate,
Unfolding all the Mysteries of Fate.

These Lots which thus decreed to Signs contain
The various Fortunes incident to Man;
As Planets joyn with a malignant Ray,
Or Kind; or as the rolling skies convey
To different Hinges, so the Fortune spreads,
And well or ill the Whole Design succeeds.

Astronomica, Book III Chapter 2, Verse 1 - 3, Marcus Manilius c 10 - 20 AD. Thomas Creech Translation 1697 AD.

Their Names and Kinds obliging Muse rehearse,
And sing their Titles in no vulgar Verse,
That late Posterity with joy may throng
To Themes unknown, and crowd to learn thy Song.

Astronomica, Book III Chapter 3, Verse 1, Marcus Manilius c 10 - 20 AD. Thomas Creech Translation 1697 AD.
Manilius follows this, in verses 2 - 13, with a description of each Lot. Follow the Twelve Houses link to read these.

These Planets Powers, and how their Rays infuse,
Or Good, or Bad, shall then engage my Muse,
When their Effects she Sings -----
(What Greece calls Athla,
Distract they Mind, and discompose they Thought;
Let Verse in Method orderly impart
The single naked Elements of Art:

And since my ventrous Muse hath bound in Rhime,
The various Labours of the Round of Time,
(What Greece calls Athla, happy Greece in Song,
Are now call'd Labours in a meaner Tongue)
Which to the Twelve Lots conveniently assign'd
Determine all the Fortune of Mankind:

Astronomica, Book III Chapter 3, Verse 14 - 15, Marcus Manilius c 10 - 20 AD. Thomas Creech Translation 1697 AD.

Her Theme pursuing, she will next comprise
The several Signs with which Labours rise;
For to one Seat they are not always ty'd,
Nor from one Sign at every Birth preside;
They change their Station, as the Round they move,
Yet still their Order is the same above.

But lest you should imperfect Schemes compleat,
Now justly suit each Labour to its Seat;
First find the place by Fortune's Lot possest,
(Fortune the first, and Leader of the rest)
That done, to following Signs in order join
The Lots, and give each Labour to its Sign:
And to secure thy search for Fortune's place
Two Rules shall guide thee, and enfold the Maze.

The moment known when first the Birth began,
The Planets join'd to Signs to form the Plan,
And Scheme erected for the future Man;
If then the Sun with an exalted Ray
Above the East and West commands his way,
Then safely fix, and give Birth to Day:
But if through lower Skies he wheels the Light,
The Day resigns, and yields the Birth to Night.

This settled, if the Birth belongs to Day,
The Rule is short, and not obscure the Way;
From that Degree, where then the Sun presides,
To that degree where gloomy Luna rides:
Count thro' the following Signs, and as you pass,
Exactly mark what Numbers fill the space;
Thence from the Eastern point which artful Greece
Hath stil'd the Horoscope, and equal number of Degrees,
Following the circling Zodiack as it bends,
Count thro' the Signs; and where the Number ends,
There fix the Seat of Fortune: thence confine
In order, every Labor to its Sign.

But if when Night her fable Wings hath spread,
The Birth* starts forward from his Genial Bed;
In different manner, then thy Numbers range,
With Nature's Order, let thy Method change;
The Moon, who imitates her Brother's Light,
And governs her own Dominion, Night,
Observe: Thence thro' the Signs in order run,
To find how far she's distant from the Sun.
The Native's Horoscope be next they Care,
And from that Point, begin to count as far
As those Degrees permit thy Thoughts to pass;
And where they stop, there settle Fortune's place.
And then to following Signs the rest confine
In order, every Labor to its Sign.

Astronomica, Book III Chapter 4, Verse 1 - 5, Marcus Manilius c 10 - 20 AD. Thomas Creech Translation 1697 AD.
* Text difficult to read here: 'Birth' is a best guess.

The Twelve Lots of of Classical Astrology - The Athla