Lot of Slaves

greek: κλῆρος δούλων (Klēros doulōn)

Definition

The Lot of Slaves is a Hellenistic lot — a calculated chart point — that signifies slaves and household subordinates, credited in the tradition to Hermes. You measure from Mercury to the Moon and project that span out from the Ascendant; in the Hermetic version the formula runs the same direction by day and by night. Hephaistio of Thebes also records a variant that reverses with the sect — whether the chart is born by day or by night — and the Persian authority al-Andarzaghar passes on an alternative that puts the Lot of Fortune in the Moon's place.

In Tradition

Astrologers read the Lot of Slaves as the anchor for matters of servants and household subordinates, usually placed under the sixth house. Hephaistio tells you to look at the house the lot falls in and the planets configured with it. A note in the Project Hindsight Hephaistio points out that the reversible version of the lot turns out to be the same as the Lot of Necessity — one of the seven Hermetic lots — while the non-reversing Slaves version is treated as a separate, irreversible lot.

In Practice

You work out the Lot of Slaves by measuring the span across the zodiac from Mercury to the Moon and projecting it forward from the Ascendant. You then look at the sign and house the lot falls in and the planets configured with it: Hephaistio's rule is that benefics looking on it point to good servants serving well, malefics to the opposite. The lot's ruler is weighed for dignity, sect, and aspects. First settle which version a source means, because the tradition passes on more than one — the Hermetic Mercury-to-Moon formula, Hephaistio's sect-reversing variant, and al-Andarzaghar's Fortune-substituting alternative, which he recommends pairing with the standard form. Because the reversible Slaves formula comes out the same as the Hermetic Lot of Necessity, careful sources keep the irreversible Slaves lot distinct. The lot is read with the sixth house and its ruler as one strand of the analysis of household subordinates and labor, weighed against the whole chart.

Historical Origin

The Lot of Slaves is attested in Hephaistio of Thebes' Apotelesmatika Book II, which gives both a sect-reversing and a non-reversing form and notes that the reversible version is the same as the Hermetic Lot of Necessity. The Hermetic Mercury-to-Moon formula and al-Andarzaghar's Fortune-substituting variant are transmitted through Abu Ma'shar and al-Qabisi and reconstructed in Benjamin N. Dykes' translation of the Arabic introductions.

Etymology

Origin: Greek. Meaning: Lot of slaves.

Definition

In Tradition

In Practice

Historical Origin

Etymology

Further Reading