Fortunes

greek: ἀγαθοποιοί (agathopoioi) — Jupiter as Greater Fortune, Venus as Lesser Fortune · latin: fortunae (Greater = Jupiter; Lesser = Venus) · arabic: السعادتان (al-saʿādatān, 'the two felicities') — Jupiter and Venus

Definition

The class of planets traditionally read as benefic — Jupiter as the Greater Fortune and Venus as the Lesser Fortune. The Sun and Moon are sometimes added to the class as the luminaries when their condition is favourable. Fortunes are paired with their structural opposite, the Infortunes (Saturn and Mars), to form the two-planet-class scheme that organises most of the traditional aspect, besiegement, and reception doctrines. Mercury is read as convertible — its class depends on its aspect-partner.

In Tradition

Across Hellenistic and Arabic-Latin traditions, 'fortunes' names the benefic-planet class — Jupiter and Venus as the canonical pair. Carmen Astrologicum preserves the Greek terminology layer through ʿUmar al-Tabarī's Arabic translation: 'Greek ἀγαθοποιός/κακοποιός = fortune/infortune.' Bonatti's Vol XI Part III Second Part Ch. XXI defines 'Veneration' as the good form of besieging — 'when a planet is between two fortunes (or their rays)' — making the Jupiter-Venus benefic pair the structural anchor of the canonical good-besieging doctrine.

In Practice

Practitioners use the Fortunes as the benefic-class designators in every Hellenistic and traditional-Western technique that distinguishes benefic from malefic action. In aspect doctrine the Fortunes' applying aspects to a significator are read as favourable; their separating aspects as carrying past benefit. In besiegement doctrine the canonical good-besieging case is a planet between Jupiter and Venus (Bonatti's Veneration) — a configuration in which the besieged planet receives 'reverence' or 'reception-with-honor' from the surrounding benefic pair. In sect doctrine the Fortunes split by sect: Jupiter is the diurnal benefic, Venus the nocturnal benefic; the in-sect benefic acts more strongly in its native diurnal-or-nocturnal chart. In the Lot system the Lots of Fortune, Spirit, Eros, and so on form a further superstructure whose name itself ('Lot of Fortune,' the most basic Lot) preserves the linguistic root. Modern practice retains the Jupiter-Venus benefic pair as a baseline reference even when post-Pluto outer-planet astrology revises the benefic-malefic terminology toward more neutral language.

Historical Origin

The benefic-class designation is documented from Hellenistic-era horoscopic astrology — Carmen Astrologicum Book 1 Ch. 1.3 preserves the Greek ἀγαθοποιός/κακοποιός fortune-infortune classification through ʿUmar's Arabic. Ptolemy's *Tetrabiblos* uses agathopoios for the same scheme. The Arabic-Persian tradition (Sahl, Abu Ma'shar, Masha'allah) preserves the two-class division. Bonatti's *Liber Astronomiae* (13th c.) codifies the Latin 'Veneration' for benefic-besieging; Lilly's *Christian Astrology* (1647) carries the English label 'Fortunes' for the Jupiter-Venus pair.

Etymology

Origin: Latin. Meaning: Bringer of good, benefic.

Further Reading