Arabic Parts (Lots) are mathematically calculated points in the natal chart revealing hidden dimensions of destiny. Originating in Hellenistic astrology and developed by Arab astronomers of the 8th–12th centuries, Lots are computed by combining three natal points: typically the Ascendant, a planet and another planet. The most famous is the Part of Fortune showing where life most naturally brings material happiness. Day and night charts are distinguished as the formula changes depending on whether the Sun is above or below the horizon. The analysis covers Part of Fortune, Part of Spirit, Part of Love, Part of Career, Part of Courage and Part of Spirituality — each in its sign and house.
Where it comes from
The lots are Hellenistic, not Arabic — the name is a historical accident of how they reached medieval Europe, through Arabic translations of Greek texts. Dozens of them appear in Paulus Alexandrinus and Vettius Valens, and Arabic astronomers of the eighth to twelfth centuries extended the list considerably. They fell out of Western use with the rest of traditional technique and came back with the revival of Hellenistic astrology in the last forty years.
How the method works
A lot is an arc measured from the Ascendant. The Part of Fortune, the best known, is the distance from the Sun to the Moon projected from the Ascendant — and the formula reverses for a night chart, where the Sun is below the horizon. That reversal is not a detail: the tradition treats day and night charts as different in kind, and using the day formula on a night birth puts the lot in the wrong place entirely. Every other lot works the same way, taking two significators and the Ascendant: Spirit reverses Fortune, Eros is built from Fortune and Spirit, Courage from Mars, and so on. The resulting point is read by sign and house like a planet, but with no body and no motion of its own.
What a reading covers
A reading gives the Part of Fortune, Spirit, Love, Career, Courage and Spirituality, each by sign and house, with whether your chart is day or night and what each lot points to in that placement.
Common questions
- Why does my Part of Fortune differ from another site's?
- Most likely the day/night reversal. Many calculators use the day formula for every chart, which puts a night-born Part of Fortune in the wrong sign.
- Do I need an exact birth time?
- Yes. Every lot is measured from the Ascendant, which moves a degree every four minutes, so the lots move with it.
- Are they as important as planets?
- No, and the tradition does not treat them that way. They are secondary points that sharpen a reading already made from the planets, not a substitute for it.