Lot of Marriage

greek: κλῆρος γάμου (klēros gamou) · arabic: sahm al-tazwīj (سهم التزويج) · latin: pars matrimonii

Definition

The Lot of Marriage (Greek κλῆρος γάμου / klēros gamou; Arabic sahm al-tazwīj) is a calculated point used in Hellenistic and Arabic-Persian natal practice to refine partnership readings beyond what the seventh house alone supplies. In Dorotheus's *Carmen Astrologicum* II.3,1 the Lot has the distinctive non-standard formula 'Venus to the degree of the seventh' — one endpoint is the seventh-house cusp rather than a planet. The Hermetic tradition preserves an additional Lot of Marriage configuration recorded in Olympiodorus's commentary on Paulus Alexandrinus.

In Tradition

Across the Hellenistic-through-medieval Lot doctrine the Lot of Marriage operates as a topical refinement of the seventh house — its sign and degree, the planets aspecting it, and its ruler's condition are read together with the seventh-house cusp to characterize relational themes and the timing of marriage. The doctrine survives in modern revival traditional practice (Brennan, Dykes, George) and in the Hermetic-cited form preserved by Greenbaum.

In Practice

When you compute the Lot of Marriage by the Dorothean Carmen II.3,1 formula, you measure from Venus to the degree of the seventh-house cusp and project the same arc from the Ascendant. Dykes argues the axial degree of the Descendant (the seventh cusp) is intended, not 0° of the seventh sign — and that this class of Lot (calculated from a planet to a sign or place) is NOT reversed by night, unlike the planet-to-planet Lots which traditionally are. Once located, you read the Lot's sign, its house, its ruler's condition, and aspects to the Lot itself by transit, profection, and direction for marriage-related timing. The Hermetic-tradition variant (Jupiter-Mars square configuration) preserved by Olympiodorus is a separate doctrinal stream.

Historical Origin

The Lot of Marriage is named in Dorotheus *Carmen Astrologicum* II.3,1 (1st c. CE Greek original; surviving Arabic recension translated by Pingree 1976 and Dykes 2017). Olympiodorus's commentary on Paulus Alexandrinus (6th c. CE) preserves the Hermetic-tradition variant on Zeus-Ares. The Arabic-Persian tradition transmits the doctrine through al-Biruni's *Tafhīm* and the broader Lot-corpus (sihām) preserved in medieval Latin translations. Modern revival traditional practice (Brennan, Dykes, Greenbaum, George) restores the Lot to natal procedure.

Etymology

Origin: Greek. Meaning: κλῆρος γάμου (klēros gamou) — 'lot of marriage'; klēros literally means 'lot, allotment, portion' (the root sense of allocation by lottery); gamou is the genitive of gamos, 'marriage.'.

Definition

In Tradition

In Practice

Historical Origin

Etymology

Further Reading