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The following is extracted from Al Biruni's text The Book of Instruction in the Elements of the Art of Astrology, (written at Ghaznah, 1029 AD), following the R. Ramsay Wright translation (1934).
Verse 476. Other Lots than Part of Fortune
Ptolemy recognized only one Part of Fortune, but others have introduced an excessive number of methods of casting lots at nativities. We reproduce in tables those which Abu Ma'shar has mentioned.
In each case there are three things to be attended to: place 1 - the beginning 'mubdá'; place 2 - the end 'muntahá'; and place 3 - the casting point 'malqá', which are treated as in the preceeding paragraph, the position in a figure of the heavens of the fortune or lot in question being thereby determined. [note] These three points are called respectively 'manqud' [amount subtracted], 'manqud minhu' [that from which it is subtracted] and 'muzad ralaihi' [amount added]. Sometimes the same arrangement is used for both diurnal and nocturnal nativities, but frequently points 1 and 2 are interchanged for nocturnal ones.
It is impossible to enumerate the lots which have been invented for the solution of horary questions, and for answering enquiries as to prosperous outcome or auspicious time for action; they increase in number every day, but the following 97 different lots, 7 of which belong to the planets, 80 to the houses and 10 to neither are those most commonly in use.
[The following tables present Al Biruni's data in modern format.
S = the calculation remains the same by day and night
R = the calculation is reversed by night.
The reversed formula of the first 7 parts are shown, the others follow the same procedure of reversing the order of the planets in the calculation that projects the difference between them from the ascendant]
|
Fortunes of the Seven Planets |
By Day |
By Night |
Fortune or Lunar horoscope |
Asc + Moon - Sun |
R (Asc + Sun - Moon) |
Daemon and religion
[Spirit] |
Asc + Sun - Moon |
R (Asc + Moon - Sun) |
Friendship and love |
Asc + Spirit - Fortune |
R (Asc + Fortune - Spirit) |
Despair & penury & fraud |
Asc + Fortune - Spirit |
R (Asc + Spirit - Fortune) |
Captivity, prisons and escape therefrom |
Asc + Fortune - Saturn |
R (Asc + Saturn - Fortune) |
Victory, triumph & aid |
Asc + Jupiter - Spirit |
R (Asc + Spirit - Jupiter) |
Valour and bravery |
Asc + Fortune - Mars |
R (Asc + Mars - Fortune) |
Fortunes of the Twelve Houses |
1st House |
Life |
Asc + Saturn - Jupiter | | R |
| Pillar of horoscope,
-
Nativities, permanence, constancy [1] |
Asc + Spirit - Fortune |
| R |
| Reasoning and eloquence |
Asc + Mars - Mercury |
| R |
2nd House | Property |
Asc + cusp of 2nd - lord of 2nd |
| R |
| Debt |
Asc + Mercury - Saturn |
| R |
| Treasure Trove |
Asc + Venus - Mercury |
| S |
3rd House | Brothers |
Asc + Jupiter - Saturn |
| S [2] |
| Number of brothers |
Asc + Saturn - Mercury |
| S |
| Death of brothers & sisters |
Asc + 10 Gemini - Sun |
| R |
4th House | Parents [3] |
Asc + Saturn - Sun (or Jupiter) |
| R |
| Death of parents |
Asc + Jupiter - Saturn |
| R |
| Grandparents |
Asc + Saturn - II [4] |
| R |
| Ancestors and relations |
Asc + Mars - Saturn |
| R |
| Ancestors and relations |
Asc + Mars - Saturn |
| R |
| Real estate a/t Hermes |
Asc + Moon - Saturn |
| R |
| Real estate a/t some Persians |
Asc + Jupiter - Mercury |
| R |
| Agriculture, tillage |
Asc + Saturn - Venus |
| S |
| Issue of affairs [end of matter] |
Asc + Lord of last syzygy - Saturn [5] |
| S |
5th House | Children |
Asc + Saturn - Jupiter (Venus)[6] |
| R |
| Time and number of sexes |
Asc + Jupiter - Mars [7] |
| S |
| Condition of males |
Asc + Jupiter - Mars |
| S |
| Condition of females |
Asc + Venus - Moon |
| S |
| Whether expected birth
is male or female |
Asc + Moon - lord of Moon [8] |
| R |
6th House | Disease, defects, time of onset
a/t Hermes |
Asc + Mars - Saturn [9] |
| R |
| a/t some of the ancients |
Asc + Mars - Mercury |
| S |
| Captivity |
Asc + dispositor lord of time- lord of time [10] |
| S |
| Slaves |
Asc + Moon - Mercury |
| S |
7th House | Marriage of men a/t Hermes |
Asc + Venus - Saturn |
| S |
| a/t Vettius Valens |
Asc + Venus - Sun |
| S |
| Trickery and deception
of men and women |
Asc + Venus - Sun |
| S |
| Intercourse [11] |
Asc + Venus - Sun |
| S |
| Marriage of women (Hermes) |
Asc + Saturn - Venus |
| S |
| Marriage of women (Valens) |
Asc + Mars - Moon |
| S |
| Misconduct by women |
Asc + Mars - Moon |
| S |
| Trickery and deceit of men
by women |
Asc + Mars - Moon |
| S |
| Intercourse [12] |
Asc + Mars - Moon |
| S |
| Unchastity of women |
Asc + Mars - Moon |
| S |
| Chastity of women |
Asc + Venus - Moon |
| S |
| Marriage of men and women
a/t Hermes [13] |
Asc + Cusp of 7th - Venus |
| S |
| Time of marriage (Hermes) |
Asc + Moon - Sun |
| S |
| Fraudulent marriage &
Facilitating it |
Asc + Venus - Saturn |
| S |
| Sons in law |
Asc + Venus - Saturn |
| R |
| Lawsuits |
Asc + Jupiter - Mars |
| R |
8th House | Death |
Degree of Saturn + Cusp of 8th - Moon |
| S |
| Anairetai [anareta: destroyer] |
Asc + Moon - Lord of Asc |
| R |
| Year to be feared at birth
for death, famine |
Asc + dispositor of last syzygy - Saturn [14] |
| S |
| Place of murder and sickness |
Degree of Mercury + Mars - Saturn |
| R |
| Danger of violence |
Asc + Mercury - Saturn |
| R |
9th House | Journeys |
Asc + Cusp of 9th - Lord of 9th |
| S |
| By water |
Asc + 15 Cancer - Saturn |
| R |
| Timidity and hiding |
Asc + Mercury - Moon |
| R |
| Deep reflection |
Asc + Moon - Saturn |
| R |
| Understanding and wisdom |
Asc + Sun - Saturn |
| R |
| Traditions, knowledge of affairs |
Asc + Jupiter - Sun |
| R |
| Knowledge whether true or false |
Asc + Moon - Mercury |
| S |
10th House | Noble births |
Asc + Degree of exaltation of the lord of
time - lord of time [15] |
| R |
| Kings and Sultans |
|
| R |
| Administrators, vazirs [ministers],
etc. |
Asc + Mars - Mercury |
| R |
| Sultan's victory, conquest |
Asc + Saturn - Sun |
| R |
| Of those who rise in station |
Asc + Fortune - Saturn |
| R |
| Celebrated persons of rank |
Asc + Sun - Saturn |
| S |
| Armies and police |
Asc + Saturn - Mars |
| R |
| Sultan. Those concerned
In nativities |
Asc + Moon - Saturn |
| S |
| Merchants and their work |
Asc + Venus - Mercury |
| R |
| Buying and selling |
Asc + Fortune - Spirit |
| R |
| Operations and orders in medical
Treatment |
Asc + Jupiter - Sun |
| R |
| Mothers |
Asc + Moon - Venus |
| R |
11th House | Glory |
Asc + Spirit - Fortune |
| R |
| Friendship and enmity |
Asc + Spirit - Fortune |
| R |
| Known by men and revered,
Constant in affairs |
Asc + Sun - Fortune |
| R |
| Success |
Asc + Jupiter - Fortune |
| R |
| Worldliness |
Asc + Venus - Fortune |
| R |
| Hope |
Asc + Mercury - Jupiter |
| R |
| Friends |
Asc + Mercury - Moon |
| S |
| Violence |
Asc + Mercury - Spirit |
| S |
| Abundance in house |
Asc + Sun - Moon |
| S |
| Liberty of Person |
Asc + Sun - Mercury |
| R |
| Praise and acceptation |
Asc + Venus - Jupiter |
| R |
12th House | Enmity a/t some of the ancients |
Asc + Mars - Saturn |
| S |
| Enmity a/t Hermes |
Asc + Cusp of 12th - Lord of 12th |
| S |
| Bad luck |
Asc + Fortune - Spirit |
| S |
Altogether 7 Fortunes belong to the Planets and 80 to the Houses.
Ten Fortunes not related to the Planets or Houses |
Hailaj [Hyleg, 'life-giver'] | |
Asc + Moon - degree of previous syzygy | | S |
Debilitated bodies | |
Asc + Mars - Fortune | | R |
Horsemanship, bravery | |
Asc + Moon - Saturn | | R |
Boldness, violence and murder | |
Asc + Moon - Lord of Asc | | R |
Trickery and deceit | |
Asc + Spirit - Mercury | | R |
Necessity and wish | |
Asc + Mars - Saturn | | S |
Requirements and necessities
a/t Egyptians | |
Asc + Cusp of 3rd - Mars | | S |
Realisation of needs and desires | |
Asc + Mercury - Fortune | | S |
Retribution | |
Asc + Sun - Mars | | R |
Rectitude | |
Asc + Mars - Mercury | | R |
Verse 477. Differences in Practice
There are people who adopt methods differing from the above under some circumstances; eg., with regard to the lot of parents when Saturn is under the rays of the Sun, [16] they take from Jupiter to the Sun by night or vice versa by day, and cast from the ascendant. Again in the case of the lot for grandparents, if the Sun is in Leo, they take from the beginning of Leo to Saturn by day, and by night in the opposite direction. And if it is in the domicile of Saturn then from the Sun to Saturn by day, and vice versa by night; in both cases cast from the ascendant even if Saturn is under the rays or otherwise afflicted. Should two lots indicate the same point, it is regarded as very fortunate. In some of these cases the instructions for day and night are the same, in others different as may be seen from the table; in the former event there is no advantage to be derived from a separate calculation.
Verse 478. Other Lots
This matter of casting lots is a very long one, so that one might think there is no end to it. For instance, there are those which are cast at the turn of the year (the entry of the Sun into Aries), on worldly matters and affairs of empire, and those which are cast at conjunctions and oppositions of the Moon to elicit prognostications as to weather, as to success of ventures, and other horary questions. We append in tables the opinions of others on these matters which we have derived from books on the subject.
Verse 479. Lots cast at anniversaries of the world-year and conjunctions
The Sultan's Lot | |
Jupiter + MC of the return chart - MC (or Sun) | | S |
By another way | |
Asc + Degree conj. - Deg. Asc. Conj. | | S |
Victory | |
Asc + Lord of 7th (or degree of desc) - Sun | | S |
Battle | |
Degree of Lot of Victory - Moon - Mars | | S |
Second way a/t Umar | |
Asc + Moon - Mars | | S |
Third way a/t Al Furkhan | |
Asc + Moon - Saturn | | S |
Truce between Armies | |
Asc + Mercury - Moon | | S |
Conquest | |
Asc + Mars - Sun | | S |
Triumph | |
Asc + Jupiter - Fortune | | R |
Of 1st conjunction | |
Asc + Degree conj. - Ascen. Year conj. | | S |
Of 2nd conjunction | |
Asc + Degree conj. - Ascen. Conj. | | S |
The following lots are associated with the years, the four quarters, and the conjunctions and oppositions of the Moon.
Earth | |
Asc + Jupiter - Saturn | | S |
Water | |
Asc + Venus - Moon | | S |
Air and Wind | |
Asc + dispositor of Mercury[17] - Mercury | | S |
Fire | |
Asc + Mars - Sun | | S |
Clouds | |
Asc + Saturn - Mars | | R |
Rains | |
Asc + Venus - Moon | | R |
Cold | |
Asc + Saturn - Mercury | | R |
Floods | |
Moon + Sun - Saturn | | Cast chart
at Moon-rise |
Lots as to prognostics regarding crops, &c.
Wheat | |
Asc + Jupiter - Sun | | R |
Barley meal | |
Asc + Jupiter - Moon | | R |
Rice, Millet | |
Asc + Venus - Jupiter | | R |
Maize | |
Asc + Saturn - Jupiter | | R |
Pulse | |
Asc + Mercury - Venus | | R |
Lentils and iron | |
Asc + Saturn - Mars | | R |
Beans, onions | |
Asc + Mars - Saturn | | R |
Chick peas | |
Asc + Sun - Venus | | R |
Sesame, grapes | |
Asc + Venus - Saturn | | R |
Sugar | |
Asc + Mercury - Venus | | R |
Honey | |
Asc + Sun - Moon | | R |
Oil | |
Asc + Moon - Mars | | R |
Nuts, flax | |
Asc + Venus - Mars | | R |
Olives | |
Asc + Moon - Mercury | | R |
Apricots | |
Asc + Mars - Saturn | | R |
Water melons | |
Asc + Mercury - Jupiter | | R |
Salt | |
Asc + Mars - Moon | | R |
Sweets | |
Asc + Venus - Sun | | R |
Astringents | |
Asc + Saturn - Mercury | | R |
Pungent things | |
Asc + Saturn - Mars | | R |
Raw silk, cotton | |
Asc + Venus - Mercury | | R |
Purgatives | |
Asc + Saturn - Mercury | | R |
Bitter purgatives | |
Asc + Mars - Saturn | | R |
Acid purgatives | |
Asc + Jupiter - Saturn | | R |
Lots cast in connection with horary questions
Secrets | |
Asc + Cusp of 10th - Lord of Asc | | S |
Urgent wish | |
Asc + Lord of Asc - Lord of hour | | R |
Time of attainment | |
Asc + Lord of 10th - Lord of hour | | R |
Information true or not | |
Asc + Moon - Mercury | | R |
Injury to business | |
Asc + Fortune - Lord of Asc | | S |
Freedmen and servants | |
Mercury + Saturn - Jupiter | | S |
Lords and masters | |
Moon - Saturn - Jupiter | | S |
Marriage | |
Asc + Cusp 7th - Venus | | S |
Time for action | |
Asc + Jupiter - Sun | | S |
Time occupied therein | |
Asc + Saturn - Sun | | S |
Dismissal or resignation | |
Jupiter + Jupiter - Sun | | S |
Time thereof | |
Cusp 10th + Fortune - Lord of the affair | | S |
Life or death of absent person | |
Asc + Mars - Moon | | S |
Lost animal | |
Asc + Mars - Sun | | S |
Lawsuit | |
Asc + Mercury - Mars | | S |
Successful issue [outcome] | |
Asc + Jupiter - Sun | | S |
Decapitation | |
Cusp 8th + Mars - Moon | | S |
Torture | |
Cusp 9th + Saturn - Moon | | S |
Notes & References:
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Note] |
The 'beginning' is the planet measurement is taken from; the 'end' is the planet measurement is taken to; the 'casting point' is the place from where this distance is projected - usually the ascendant.
Thus, with the Part of Fortune by day, which uses the formula: Asc + (Moon - Sun), the Sun is the beginning, the Moon the end, and the ascendant the casting point.
Al Biruni tabulated his data in the style:
Names of the Fortunes | Distance between Place
1 & Place 2 | Cast from
Place 3 | Dirunal or
Nocturnal |
Part of Fortune | Sun | Moon | Asc | Change |
It is here presented in modern format for ease of reference, but otherwise adheres strictly to his data.
Explanatory inserts or translations not found in the original text are placed within square brackets [].
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1] | This is the same formula as the part of friendship and love. Many of the parts listed by Al Biruni share the same formula because the part takes definition from the nature of the query; hence the calculation for friendship and love is used as an indication of the benefits expected from constancy of character when applied to first house matters.
In other instances the same calculation is listed under alternate but similar titles - as seen in the section on the 'fortunes of the 7th house' where the calculation Asc + Mars - Moon is known as the part of 'misconduct by women', 'trickery and deceit of men by women', 'intercourse (of women)' and 'unchastity of women'. Al Biruni appears to have collected his data from a variety of sources and included an entry for each variant title even though they all represent the same principle.
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2] |
Albiruni states that the formula remains the same by day and night. Other authors, such as Dorotheus (Carmen Astrologicum, I.19), instruct us to reverse the formula for night.
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3] |
Otherwise known as the part of the father. Albiruni explains in v.477 that the formula is normally Asc + Saturn - Sun, except when Saturn is under the Sun's rays - in this case use Asc + Saturn - Jupiter.
Al Biruni defines Saturn as under the rays of the Sun when it is within 15 degrees of the body of the Sun, (v.481).
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4] |
This entry is not very clear. Robert H. Granite in The Fortunes of Astrology: A New Complete Treatment of the Arabic Parts, (San Diego, CA: ACS Publications, 1980), uses Ascendant + Saturn - cusp of 2nd house. Ramsay Wright's translation of Al Biruni's text indicates a roman numeral II which could represent the cusp of the 2nd house, but where house cusps are integrated into the calculation elsewhere they are clearly marked 'cusp' which does not appear here. The symbol should probably be taken as the glyph for Gemini - a suggestion which gains weight from Al Biruni's comment in v. 477 that when the Sun is in Leo an alternative calculation for the part of grandparents is to take from the beginning of Leo to Saturn. He goes on to give another alternative if the Sun is in the domicile of Saturn making the calculation of this part quite complicated with logic that is difficult to understand.
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5] | The last syzygy is the new or full moon preceding the chart. The original text states "Lord of conjunction or opposition".
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6] |
We are not told under what circumstances Venus is taken as an alternative to Jupiter. Dorotheus agrees with Asc + Saturn - Jupiter, reversed at night, as the lot of children. Like most classical astrologers Dorotheus appears to have extended the influence of the lot to the whole sign/house within which it was placed, and yet it is clear that he was also making use of the degree of the part (for example, in places where he tells us to consider the ruler of its terms). His instruction on the lot of children illustrates the detail that was derived from its employment.
"
wherever it happens to be, look at its lord. Then count from the lot to its lord how many signs there are, or from its lord which follows it; whatever there is of signs between these two, that is the number of children. If you find a malefic between these two, it indicates the death of the children. If the Sun or Moon is in quartile or opposition with the lot, then the Sun will increase the male children, the Moon the female. If you find that there is no [planet] in the lot or aspecting it, then the first child will not be benefited by it because he will be miscarried or will die horribly. If you find the lot in a cardine or a good place, then it is a good indication in the matter of children. If it happens to be in the 6th or 12th place, then neither a male nor a female will be born to him, and he will suffer distress and grief from this; but if he should have children, they will not stay with him, so that they be apart from him in the cities. If the lot happens to be where none of the planets is in quartile or opposition to it, then these [natives] have a need for children. But if there are planets in opposition or quartile to the lot, then it indicates he will have a multitude of children. If the lot happens to be in a sign of few children, then it indicates a small number of children. If Saturn is with it, then it indicates he will be sterile or will have few children or will be grieved with an intense grief on account of children." (Carmen Astrologicum, II.10)
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7] | Dorotheus uses this as the lot of the time of having children: "When Jupiter transits that lot or its opposition or aspects it from quartile, then will be born children to this native. When Venus happens to transit this lot, it indicates children" (CA., II.11). He also agrees with the formula Asc + Venus - Moon for the lot of female children but uses Asc + Sun - Jupiter for the lot of male children.
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8] | In Ramsay Wright's translation the text reads that from the Moon is subtracted from "Lord of house of Moon".
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9] | Dorotheus gives detail on the use of this part in Carmen Astrologicum (IV.1.75)
"There were men among the ancient scientists who calculated by day from Saturn to Mars and by night from Mars to Saturn, then they cast their number from the ascendant; wherever their counting reached or the number was used up, they saw what was the lord of that sign, then they said to what limb of the body this sign belonged, then they predicted that the chronic illness [would be] in such and such a limb of the body according to what was named for that sign. Aries is the head, Taurus the neck
."
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10] | The Lord of time is the Sun is a diurnal chart and the Moon in a diurnal chart. The rendering of Albiruni's meaning in regard to this formula is unclear. Ramsay Wright's translation states that from the ascendant is projected the "Lord of house of Lord of time of Lord of VI" minus the position of the Lord of time. Robert H. Granite in The Fortunes of Astrology has decided upon a much simpler formula, ie., Asc + Lord of Saturn's House - Saturn.
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11] | Presumably of men with women (see below).
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12] | Presumably of women with men (see note 1).
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13] | Dorotheus refers to this as the lot of happiness and wedding (although he reverses the formula at night). He says of it
"See which [planet] is its lord and which is with it and which aspects it, as, if a malefic is in this lot or aspects it, say that the native will marry disgraced and one in whom there is no good. If the lord of this lot is in a bad place while Venus is under the rays of the Sun and the malefics aspect then most of those whose nativity is thus will never marry". (II.5)
However, he also refers to the lot of wedding as: Asc + Venus - Saturn (reversed at night) and mentions a 'lot of wedding by day and night' which is always taken as Venus + Moon - Sun (II.2 and II.6). From the context of the text, the latter appears to be taken as a lot of wedding for men, as we are advised to use Mars + Moon - Sun where the native is a female.
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14] |
Ramsay Wright's translation states the 'Lord of House in which conjunction or opposition' is subtracted from Saturn (and projected from the ascendant).
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15] | The 'lord of time' is either the Sun (in a diurnal chart) or the Moon (in a nocturnal chart).
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16] | Al Biruni defines Saturn as under the rays of the Sun when it is within 15 degrees of the body of the Sun, v.481.
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17] | The term used in the text is "Lord of his domicile".
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© Deborah Houlding. Reproduced online Dec. 2004
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