Lot of Hostility

Definition

Valens names the Lot of Hostility (Greek klēros echthras) as one of three lots — with Justice and Necessity — that he uses to diagnose threats to a person's standing. The passage that attests it here preserves no calculation; he reads the lot by how it is configured, not by an arc cast to find it. It signifies enmity and conflict.

In Tradition

Valens treats Hostility, Justice, and Necessity as a cluster. When any of the three forms a hard configuration with the Lot of Standing or with a lunation (a new or full moon), it marks upheaval and damage to social rank. The lot belongs to his wider set of conflict-and-impediment points used in rank diagnosis. No computation for it survives in the passage that names it.

In Practice

Since the source gives no formula, you read this lot by configuration, not by casting an arc. Watch whether the Lot of Hostility joins, opposes, or squares the Lot of Standing or a lunation (a new or full moon). For any of the three lots in the cluster, Valens reads that combination as great upheavals and harm to standing. Examine it as one of a triad — with Justice and Necessity — when judging conflict and the security of rank, never as a point computed in isolation.

Historical Origin

Vettius Valens names the lot in his Anthology (Book II), in Mark Riley's translation, within the cluster of three that triggers upheavals to standing. The passage gives the diagnostic use but preserves no computation here. It belongs to the wider Hellenistic catalogue of topical lots.

Etymology

Origin: Greek. Meaning: lot of enmity or hostility.

Further Reading

• Vettius Valens, Anthology
• Chris Brennan, Hellenistic Astrology