I have recently become interested in the lots (or arabic parts) and delineation of the lot of basis is proving to be very revealing about the course of life. The diagram below illustrates the intrinsic relationship of the lot of Basis with the other major significators:
The lot of basis is the shortest arc between the lot of spirit and the lot of fortune projected from the Ascendant and is said to be a "pillar of the horoscope" as it can only be below the Asc/Desc axis. It has also been called "the security of the Ascendant" which appears to suggest ones physical well being/security.
Example of calculating the lot of basis: If fortune is at 20 Scorpio and Spirit is at 20 Sagittarius, the shortest arc between the two lots is 30 degrees. Assume an Ascendant of 15 Cancer. Add 30 degrees to this and the lot falls at 15 Leo/2nd house (whole sign houses are used).

The following is considered:
1. Any planet(s) with the lot, the essential nature of the planet, its dignity/debility and the houses it rules.
2. The ruler of the lot, its condition (dignity, house, etc). Planet(s) in the same sign as the ruler, the houses these planets rule.
3. The ruler of the ruler of the lot.
4. Position of the ruler relative to the lot of Fortune (with Fortune, 10 signs from Fortune and 8th from Fortune are most important).
5. Aspects within a 3 degree orb are very important, especially harsh aspects involving the malefics.
6. House and sign position of the lot. Influence is less clear in the examples I have seen. It is supposedly better to have the lot angular for fame/eminence. Regarding sign position, the native may have some characteristics associated with the sign but this could be due to the lot of Basis also being the lot of Eros (desires) as explained by Robert Schmidt in a post down the thread.

Example 1:

John F. Kennedy was in very poor health all through his life and was given the last rites on 3 separate occasions before his assassination in 1963. His ailments are discussed in detail here: http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/g35.htm
Fortune is in Aquarius, Spirit is in Cancer. The lot of Basis is in Aries.
The ruler of the lot of basis is Mars in the 8th sign from the Ascendant. As the ruler of basis is debilitated in the sign of death for the Ascendant (8th), health throughout life was very poor and ended with a violent death. Moon/Virgo/12th separates from Venus (Ascendant ruler) and applies to Mars. Mars is conjunct Mercury (12th and 9th ruler, also lord of Venus and both lights) and Jupiter (ruler of 3rd and 6th of illness).

Example 2: George W. Bush.

Natal chart: http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Bush,_George_W.

Fortune is in Scorpio, Spirit is in Taurus and the Lot of Basis is in Aquarius/7th. Saturn/Cancer/12th is not a good placement for Bush (but the other lots do confirm eminence) and is consistent with him being an alcoholic (and probable drug user) up to the age of 40 when he "found God". The "saving grace" for Bush is the ruler of Saturn/Cancer being Moon/Libra conjunct the greater benefic Jupiter within 3 degrees.
The path to the presidency and events during his 8 year term have lots of Saturn/Cancer signatures.
Bush was first elected governor of Texas in 1994 after defeating incumbent Ann Richards. Karl Rove (a Cancer Moon), Bush's chief political strategist is believed to have spread a rumour that Ann Richards had appointed many Lesbians to positions and that "Lesbians are taking over the government in Texas". Saturn/Cancer appeals to the fears of conservative voters. A similar (effective) tactic was applied in the South Carolina primary when Bush was in danger of losing to McCain for the 2000 GOP nomination (McCain was (falsely) said to have fathered a "black love-child").
Bush ran in 2000 as a "compassionate conservative". Cancer is conservative but compassion is anathema to Saturn and events during his presidency would show this.
Saturn/Cancer-like events during the Bush presidency:
9/11 attacks: Saturn/Cancer is the exalted ruler of the IC (the homeland) and ruler of the 7th of open enemies. Saturn/Cancer is fearful and terror is extreme fear. The attack on the homeland killing almost 3,000 people changed the course of Bush's presidency and resulted in "the war on terror". Controversies over harsh treatment of enemies (waterboarding, Guantanamo Bay, Abu-Gharaib etc) raged for the latter half of Bush's term.
Hurricane Katrina was another turning point for Bush. Saturn/Cancer is consistent with a major flood due to breach of levees. Bush was accused of being indifferent to to the plight of the victims and of a slow response to the crisis.
He left office with record low approval ratings.

Example 3: Kurt Cobain

http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Cobain,_Kurt

Lot of Fortune in Taurus, Lot of spirit in Aquarius. The Lot of Basis is in Sagittarius/4th. The ruler of the lot is Jupiter/Cancer/retrograde with the sect light the Moon. Despite the ruler of the lot being exalted in a very good house (11th), the basis is problematic for Cobain because of the 1st/8th relationship between the lot and its ruler.
Cancer is the sign associated with the stomach and according to the biography "He suffered chronic undiagnosed stomach pains that he believed were relieved by his heroin use. For years, he had a mysterious stomach ailment, a burning nauseous pain in his upper abdominal cavity. The distress was inexplicable and elusive to diagnosis, at times causing him to curl up in misery for days."
In addition, Jupiter/Cancer with the Moon is delineated as the need for emotional highs and consequent extreme mood swings. The biography concludes with "Seattle Police believe Cobain died of a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head in the afternoon or evening of 4/05/1994. He left a one-page note written with a red ball point pen addressing his unhappiness, "I have felt guilty for so many years...the worst crime is faking it. I don't have any passion any more." His addictions, discomfort with celebrity status, domestic disputes and his own personal demons of anguish were made public when his body was found 4/08/1994 by an electrician contracted to install a burglar alarm in the Cobain's Seattle home. Cobain's suicide death shocked the nation and highlighted the heroin drug problem in the music industry." The ruler of Spirit Saturn/Pisces/7th conjunct Mercury in fall undermines the mental faculties (emotional turmoil, suicidal thoughts etc).

Example 4: J. Edgar Hoover.
(Data rated XX on Astrodatabank due to some conspiracy theories but the chart for 7.30am on January 1st 1895 looks good. I've slightly rectified it to 7.33am. Started work in Department of Justice on July 26th 1917 - tNN 9CP28 cnj Asc, tSaturn 4LE00 square MC. Seattle general strike begins on January 21st 1919 sparking the "red scare" which Hoover would be centrally involved in: tNN 10SA39 square POF. Kennedy assassinated, November 22nd 1963, tSN 11CP54 cnj Asc).
Lot of Fortune in Pisces, Lot of Spirit in Scorpio. Lot of Basis in Taurus.
Hoover maintained his position as FBI director for 48 years under 8 different Presidents some of whom wanted him out: Presidents Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson each considered dismissing Hoover as FBI Director.

Lot of Basis in a fixed earth sign gave Hoover great longevity in his career.
Mars/Taurus ruled by Venus/Capricorn in the Ascendent shows the manner in which Hoover preserved his career - so called "gentle blackmail" of politicians, much of it sexual in nature, where Hoover would let a politician know as his "friend" that the FBI was aware of this embarassing episode but that they would keep it confidential, thereby keeping the politician on good terms with Hoover and the FBI.
Hoover himself was also the target of sex smears and was proactive (Mars in Basis) in quashing such rumours.

Mars/Taurus (anti-capitalism) rules Saturn/Scorpio (paranoia over national security) and Hoover's fervent anticommunism was the cause of the era known as McCarthyism (McCarthy is believed to have been fed all his scaremongering information by Hoover).

The ruler of the lot, Venus/Capricorn is very strong: In the Ascendant, in the 11th sign from the lot of Fortune and in her own bounds. Positive aspects between Uranus and Jupiter or Venus are considered to bestow good luck, especially in the political arena and Hoover's partile Venus sextile Uranus was beneficial.

Example 5: Criminal who commited suicide.

Natal chart:
http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Ant ... nest_C._Jr.

Lot of Fortune in Cancer, Lot of Spirit in Virgo. Lot of Basis in Libra.
Spirit in Virgo with a Mars/Uranus/Pluto conjunction shows a volatile temper prone to violence. Libra seeks balanced and harmonious relationships but the ruler of the lot, Venus in Scorpio signifies a Jealous and tempestuous love life. Because Mars rules Venus (and Venus applies to Mars by partile sextile), Venus is the "spark" which triggers Mars' rage and violence. This leads to incarceration because the ruler of Mars, Mercury/Capricorn is with 12th ruler (and ruler of Fortune) the Moon in the 6th. Venus opposite Jupiter/10th can also be read as the love life leading to conflict with the law. Delineating suicide is tricky but if to kill is Mars, then Mars should afflict a significator of the native and have dealings with the 4th or 8th houses to indicate he will kill himself. The basis and/or its ruler should also be connected with Mars in a configuration (including dispositor trails) delineated as unfavourable. Mars rules the 4th (end of life) and is partile square the ruler of the Ascendant, Sun/Sagittarius.
In addition, Venus/Scorpio/4th (basis ruler) is the exalted ruler of the 8th of death. He killed himself at the age of 27, a 4th house profection year.

Example 6: Charles Manson (notorious leader of "The Family" involved in the Tate-LaBianca murders of August 1969).

Natal chart: http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Manson,_Charles

The Lot of Fortune is in Cancer and the Lot of Spirit is in Aquarius. The Lot of Basis is in Libra.

Understanding of this chart would not make sense without a proper delineation of Venus, also ruler of Manson's Ascendant.
Venus/Scorpio is in detriment and quickly approacing a superior conjunction to the Sun within a degree and a half. Manson "mesmerised" his followers, most of them women (Venus as a general significator for women) with liberal sex and drugs. Delineating Venus/Scorpio combust the Sun as Manson attracting and "mesmerising" young women with drugs and liberal sex can also be seen by the ruler Mars/Virgo/5th (rebelling against prudish sexual attitudes/5th house is also the house of partying, casual sex and pregnancy). Mars is also exalted ruler of 9th("God")/MC and Manson led his follwers to believe that he was Jesus. Mercury/Scorpio is in mutual reception with Mars/Virgo and Manson's bizzare interpretations of The book of Revelations and the Beatle's music fueled his "prophecy" of the "Helter Skelter" apocalypse.

The Sun rules the 4th ("The subterranean pivot", end of matter, home) and is exalted ruler of the 12th ("Evil Spirit", imprisonment). Manson (signified by Venus) spent 19 of his first 32 years behind bars and remains in Prison since his conviction for the murders in 1970/1971. The name of the 4th house - "The subterranean pivot" is intersting given Manson's belief in "The hole in the ground" in Death Valley where "The Family" would hide out during the predicted apocalypse.

Jupiter and Mercury are also in Scorpio. Jupiter rules 11th (friends, groups)
and 8th (death) and Mercury rules 2nd and 5th (already delineated above).
Manson's fireside preachings of the "Helter Skelter" prophecy led his group to carry out the Tate-LaBianca murders.

Saturn/Aquarius/10th also ruling the 9th/MC gave Manson gravitas (10th is house of "praxis" or action) as a cult leader. Saturn Aquarius rules Moon/Aquarius with the Moon ruling the 3rd/IC/Part of Fortune. There is a 1st/8th relationship between Cancer/Aquarius and Manson. Delineating Saturn/Aquarius/10th as also being the Government or authorities ties Manson's fortunes unfavourably to the whim of the authorities (i.e, a further indication of being imprisoned by the government).

Example 7: Jayne Mansfield (Sex symbol of 1950's/60's, killed in a car crash in 1967 aged 34).
Natal chart: http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Mansfield,_Jayne

The lot of Fortune is in Taurus and the lot of Spirit is in Virgo. Basis is found in Scorpio, the 5th place.
Basis in Scorpio ruled by Mars/Virgo/3rd can be delineated as challenging prudish attitudes to sexuality (Like Manson above who also has Mars/Virgo) through mainstream media, T.V and the press (3rd house). 3rd house is called "goddess" and Mansfield was referred to as "Sex queen Jayne Mansfield" (Venus/Aries combust ruling part of Fortune is a clearer indicator of what Mansfield was famous for). Lot of Spirit is in Virgo, so Mansfield maintains her fortune by this manner (i.e her motivation). Jupiter is also in Virgo, ruling 9th/MC (Religion/reputation) and 6th (Illness/accidents). Mansfield's actions were considered to be "anti-god" in the conservative era in which she lived. The ruler of Virgo is Mercury/Aries/10th. There is an unfavourable 1st/8th relationship between Virgo/Aries. Mansfield died at the age of 34 which was an 11th house profection year, therefore the profected Lot of Basis was in Virgo ruled by Mercury/Aries/8th from the lot. Also note that the ruler of the Ascendent in the 8th is 10th from the 11th house Taurus Lot of Fortune (fame marred by sudden (Moon applies to Mars) death).

Death by car accident with her children in the car (who survived): 3rd house is also house of short distance travel, i.e by motor car. Mars (general significator for violence, injury) ruling the lot of basis (and 5th house of children) in 3rd shows her cause of death. 6th lord (illness, accidents) Jupiter is also in Virgo.
(In addition, Lord of the Ascendant (Moon/Aquarius) in 8th with Saturn in domicile does not bode well for longevity.)

Example 8: Ted Bundy (Serial killer).
Natal chart: http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Bundy,_Ted

The Lot of Fortune is in Leo and the lot of Spirit is in Virgo. The lot of Basis is also in Virgo.

Murder on his mind: The ruler of Basis (and Spirit) is Mercury/Scorpio/4th/retrograde (dysfunctional thoughts about violence). Mercury is with Venus (Women, ruler of 10th (Praxis or action) and 3rd (short journeys, travel by motor car, and communications) and Jupiter/Scorpio (ruler of the 5th of sex and pleasure and the 8th of death). Putting it all together, a persuasive or charismatic Bundy bludgeoned women, drove some of his victims to isolated locations, and raped and murdered them. 4th house is "end of matter" and underground (i.e burial) in this case end of women's lives and their subsequent burial by Bundy.

Ruler of Scorpio is Mars in 5th with the Moon (ruler of 12th of "evil spirit") and the Sun (Ascendant ruler). Bundy's main motivation for killing women was because he enjoyed doing it and found it pleasurable.

Example 9: Nicole Brown Simpson (famous murder victim).
Natal chart: http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Sim ... cole_Brown

The Lot of Fortune is in Libra and The Lot of Spirit is in Cancer. The Lot of Basis is in Gemini.
An important concept necessay for correct delineation in this case is that the 8th sign from the Lot of Fortune is known as the "deadly place" according to Valens as explained here: http://www.astrology-x-files.com/x-file ... olent.html
In Nicole's case the 8th sign from Fortune is Taurus (the throat) and Mercury (Ruler of Basis/IC and 7th of the partner) and the Sun (ruler of 6th of illness/injury) are present in Taurus. The Sun exactly opposes Jupiter, ruler of the Ascendant and 10th. 7th ruler in "the deadly place" could be delineated as killed by the (marriage) partner.
The ruler of Taurus is Venus/Cancer with Mars/Cancer. Venus culminates with respect to the 8th house Moon and Lot of Fortune, is with Mars and opposed by Saturn by just over 3 degrees. This indicates that her fame comes from a violent death.
Saturn is the out of sect malefic, in domicile, square the sect light within 3 degrees and also afflicts Venus (ruler of the Moon/Fortune/8th). Saturn is also 8th from Basis. The Zodiacal aphesis from Fortune (as explained here: http://www.astrology-x-files.com/x-file ... hesis.html ) in Nicoles case is as follows: Venus governs her first 8 years, Mars the next 15, Jupiter the next 12 and beginning with Saturn at the age of 35. She was killed less than a month after her 35th birthday.

Example 10: Muhammed Ali (famous boxer, struck with Parkinson's disease in his later years).
Natal chart: http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Ali%2C_Muhammad

The Lot of Fortune is in Leo and The Lot of Spirit is in Virgo with the Lot of Basis.
Moon and Mercury are much concerned with the mental faculties. In Ali's chart they tightly conjunct with Moon (12th ruler) applying to Mercury in Aquarius in the 7th house ("the setting place" - associated with old age) and Mercury applies to Saturn. These indicate a dulling or decline of the mental faculties as he gets older.

More examples follow 12 posts down the thread...................................

Most people use 3:00 PM for the birth time, which has an A rating. I get a part of basis at 8 Taurus for 3:00 PM and 16 Taurus for 3:39 PM. Would you recheck the formula?

The result of one's actions couple with events outside the native's control ...

I am intrigued with the Aries placement though, so I hope I'm doing something wrong.

I'm not a grassy knoller. Lee Harvey Oswald did it all by himself. When you read Oswald's life and see how events seemed to conspire to put him in Dallas on Nov 22 1963, the delineation of the lot makes perfect sense. Oswald, perfectly described by Jackie Kennedy after his arrest as "just a crummy little communist" got pushed around by events seemingly on a roundabout course that made his landing in Dallas at the time of Kennedy's visit appear inevitable. Oswald made almost no attempt to gain control of his life. Kennedy of course had no knowledge of Oswald, and therefore could not have prepared for him. For those who think security was lax compared to today, you're correct. However the extensive security around today's presidents is the result of the Kennedy assassination. They weren't as cautious then.

Oswald's lot of basis is 16 Sagittarius ruled by Jupiter Rx at 1 Aries in the 10th disposited by Mars in the 8th ties together his infamy (Rx ruler of the MC and exaltation ruler of the ASC - fame that works against the native) and his own violent death.

Hi Tom,

The 3.39pm time (3.39.14pm to be precise) is from the Regulus Astrology book "a rectification manual". As you've pointed out, with either time, the ruler of the lot will be in the 8th.

Your observation about Oswald's basis ruler Jupiter and its placement on Kennedy's basis is interesting and may be an area worth exploring. Something similar may be going on with George W. Bush and his chief political operator Karl Rove (see edited post above).

Yes, the formula for the lot of fortune is reversed for nocturnal births.
The lot of basis is the shortest arc of separation between the lot of spirit and the lot of fortune, e.g if fortune is at 20 Scorpio and Spirit is at 20 Sagittarius, the shortest arc between the two lots is 30 degrees. This 30 degrees is the added to the Ascendant and all delineations done by whole sign houses.

Edited post to include another example. More to follow...

In any given chart, the Lot of Basis will be either the Lot of Eros or the Lot of Necessity, so Basis is actually not a separate lot at all. The principle of taking the shorter arc between Fortune and Spirit simply tells us whether Eros or Necessity is favored in a given chart?that is, which of these two is related to the ?foundation of the native?s fortune?. Since Eros is Spirit?s Lot of Spirit and Necessity is Fortune?s Lot of Fortune, Basis will be one of these two.

The delineations of Eros and Necessity in Book IV of Valens make it fairly clear that in either case we are talking about two subclasses of voluntary action on the part of the native. Eros concerns actions that we want to undertake but do not need to undertake; Necessity, actions we need to undertake but would rather not have to do. Thus, these two lots complement one another. As far as our actions are concerned, Eros has to do with the carrot and Necessity with the stick.

This delineation of Basis as the foundation of fortune is found in Rhetorius? Tabular Examination. To be more precise, he says that it is the lord of Basis that signifies this. Exactly what this means of course depends on how we are to understand ?fortune? here.

In the broadest sense, fortune certainly means that which befalls us and is beyond our control as Stellarum said at the beginning of this thread. However, I have reason to believe that the founders of Hellenistic astrology were of the Middle Platonic tradition. Now, some at least of these Middle Platonists seem to have appropriated the Aristotelean characterization of Fortune as the unintended consequences of our actions. Matters such as these parents, this race, this nationality, this environment, and so forth are clearly beyond our control, but in the framework of the myth of Er at the end of Plato?s Republic, these matters may be seen as the unintended consequences of the soul?s primal choice of a type of life prior to incarnating, such as the life of a tyrant, the life of an athlete, etc.

Yet during the course of our lives we continue to make choices and perform actions, and these choices and actions likewise have their consequences. I believe that the Hellenistic astrological sense of fortune also includes the unintended consequences of our ongoing actions.

Now, the types of actions that we perform out of desire or out of necessity would seem to be the ones that are most likely to have unintended consequences. And the lord of a lot generally indicates the outcome of an issue. Hence Rhetorius? delineation of Basis.

Eros and Necessity are formed from Fortune and Spirit. Such derivative lots make the meaning of Fortune and Spirit more specific. I see no reason why we cannot form many more derivative lots along the same pattern. For instance, there are two generally noxious lots formed from the two malefics, and both are reversing lots. One is counted from Saturn to Mars by day and the reverse by night; the other is counted from Mars to Saturn by day, and the reverse by night. These two lots will always be symmetrical to each other across the Asc/Dsc axis in the same manner as Fortune and Spirit, and I maintain that they will have complementary meanings in the same way that Fortune and Spirit do.

If we now form two new and more specific complementary lots from these two primary lots by counting the interval from one to the other and projecting it from the Hour-marker, we can likewise determine which of these results from taking the shorter arc. Presumably, this is the derivative lot of a complementary pair that is favored in that chart.

Robert Schmidt

Robert Schmidt wrote:In any given chart, the Lot of Basis will be either the Lot of Eros or the Lot of Necessity, so Basis is actually not a separate lot at all. The principle of taking the shorter arc between Fortune and Spirit simply tells us whether Eros or Necessity is favored in a given chart?that is, which of these two is related to the ?foundation of the native?s fortune?. Since Eros is Spirit?s Lot of Spirit and Necessity is Fortune?s Lot of Fortune, Basis will be one of these two.

The delineations of Eros and Necessity in Book IV of Valens make it fairly clear that in either case we are talking about two subclasses of voluntary action on the part of the native. Eros concerns actions that we want to undertake but do not need to undertake; Necessity, actions we need to undertake but would rather not have to do. Thus, these two lots complement one another. As far as our actions are concerned, Eros has to do with the carrot and Necessity with the stick.

...

Robert Schmidt

Explained like this - it seems so obvious now making me wonder how I could have ever missed it.

Thanks for the clarification Mr Schmidt.