Lot of Basis

Definition

The Lot of Basis is a calculated point — a "lot" is a sensitive spot worked out by formula — built from the Lots of Fortune and Spirit to give the chart a third foundation-point. Its Greek name, klēros tēs basēs, means "Lot of the Foundation" or "Substrate." The formula is the same by day or night: take the shorter distance between Fortune and Spirit and project it from the Ascendant. Crane notes that someone born near a New or Full Moon has it land close to the Ascendant. Firmicus Maternus gives another version in Mathesis Book IV.

In Tradition

Hellenistic astrologers treat the Lot of Basis as the chart's third anchor-lot — it completes the Fortune-Spirit pair by adding a foundation-point that ties together the lot of bodily circumstance (Fortune) and the lot of will and intention (Spirit). Crane and Greenbaum read its sign, house, and ruling planet as the groundwork on which a life is built. Modern revivalists — Brennan, Hand, Demetra George — keep it as a clearly definable anchor, even if it is consulted less often than Fortune or Spirit.

In Practice

You first work out the Lots of Fortune and Spirit, measure the shorter arc of zodiac between them, and project that arc forward from the Ascendant degree to find the Lot of Basis. Its sign, its house, and the planet that rules its sign are read as foundational signs of someone's underlying disposition and the shape their life tends to take. Aspects to the lot from Fortune, Spirit, and the Sun and Moon carry extra weight. Astrologers usually look at it alongside the Fortune-Spirit pair when reading the overall structure of a chart, and some modern practitioners turn to it as a tie-breaker when Fortune and Spirit point in different directions.

Historical Origin

The Lot of Basis appears in Vettius Valens' Anthologiae Book II (c. 145-175 CE) under the name klēros tēs basēs, with an alternative formulation in Firmicus Maternus' Mathesis Book IV (4th century CE). It returned to working practice through Project Hindsight's Schmidt translations, Joseph Crane's Astrological Roots, and Dorian Greenbaum's The Daimon in Hellenistic Astrology (2016).

Etymology

Origin: Greek. Meaning: Lot of the Foundation / Substrate.

Definition

In Tradition

In Practice

Historical Origin

Etymology

Further Reading