Arabic parts

Maria Tarot

Could anybody tell me what is arabic parts.
thank you
 

Minderwiz

Hi Maria,

The Arabic Parts are calculated points used in the delineation of charts and in divination.

They are a later version of the Greek Lots - 'Lots' in the sense of drawing lots. Although the Greeks appear to have used a fairly limited set of Lots, the medieval Arab Astrologers increased the number to well over 100, so I'm going to confine myself to a few general comments. In all cases we calculate the distance between two positions (planets, points, other lots) and add this distance to a third position (again planet, point, or other lot)

For some Lots, the calculation is a little different depending on whether the chart was cast for a time during the day (Sun above the horizon) or during the night (Sun below the horizon). The Greeks called this 'sect' and the day sect is ruled by the Sun and the night sect is ruled by the Moon.

Many Astrologers still use the Lot of Fortune in chart interpretation - it originally related to a person's body and physical health and as wealth was often determined by our health, it also came to include our material wellbeing.

The Greeks and Arabs calculated this as:

Distance of Sun to Moon by Day added to the Ascendant
Distance of Moon to Sun by Night added to the Ascendant

The modern (but still gives the same result) is

Asc + Moon - Sun during the Day
Asc + Sun - Moon during the Night

A lot of modern Astrologers ignore the difference and use the day calcuation for both night and day charts. Indeed the Lot of Fortune is the ONLY Lot still in common use. However there is a growing group of Astrologers that are exploring traditional methods and they do use some of the other Lots.

Other ones of Note are:

The Lot of Spirit - this is the 'mirror' image of the Lot of Fortune - i.e. the Lot of Spirit by Day = Lot of Fortune by night (In terms of calculation). The Lot of Spirit is used for information about our mind and soul - the non-material side of life.

There are also a series of Hermetic Lots, which use the Lot of Fortune or the Lot of Spirit together with the positions of one of the other planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn). If you are interested in Hermeticism and its origins these may also be of interest to you.)

Other Lots deal with marriage and family relationships.

All lots are interpreted according to the condition of their ruler (Planet ruling the sign they are in), their House position, and aspects to them (this is the least important of the three).

If you like I can give you a longer and more detailed explanation but I'm assuming here you just want a general answer.
 

Libra8ca

I find arabic parts fascinating. I've found that the part of fortune in my horoscope is very sensitive to transits; however other midpoints and arabic parts fall on the same spot and I have many other planets in the same degree so it may be because of the convergence of many factors that it is sensitive to transits.
Arabic parts are based on geometry and was a visual technique; the four points will make an equal trapezoid shape. One problem with arabic parts is that there are so many that is can get hard to keep track of all of them....
 

Minderwiz

Sadly they rather discredited themselves when the Arabs extended the list to over 100 and you got Astrologers of the time complaining about the ever increasing creation of new Parts. One of the lessons of Astrology should be that just because something is possible doesn't mean that it is actually useful and this is as true today as it was 1,000 years ago.

If you are going to use these (and I do) it's best to keep to a fairly tight number of them. Around 7 (the Hermetic Lots) to around 15 should be sufficient for most purposes. Only go beyond that if there is an extremely good reason.

I looked at the 7 Hermetic Lots for Bill Clinton in the Traditional Approach thread

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=135390&page=6&pp=5

Page 5 I think going on to page 6 looking at the Lots of Marriage.
 

Maria Tarot

Hi, thank you for the info.
I must say that i found astrology difficult of learning.
I never take a course, I just pick up some books at the bookstore or at the library and read in some forums about it.
I've discover this link http://www.noendpress.com/pvachier/arabicparts/index.php
I hope it helps who want to try :)
 

Minderwiz

Thanks for the link


The site also has some further links that might be of interest to readers of this thread. I have two reservations on the calculator. The first of which is minor, given the footnotes.

On the drop down box there is reference to AM and PM for Parts that are reversed by Night. The footnotes clearly give the right usage - if you were born during day time (Sun above the horizon) you use the AM and if you were born at night (Sun below the horizon) you use the PM. However I suspect that some users will not read the footnotes and assume the normal meaning of AM - born between midnight and Noon - which may well give the wrong result, especially if you were a Winter birth.

The second point is a little more worrying - quite a few of the listed parts have calculations including Uranus, Neptune and Pluto and this site is by no means unusal in this, my copy of Solar Fire also lists them. Now the Arabs were unaware of these three planets (Arguably the Greeks knew of Uranus but thought it was a fixed star). So those parts are not genuine Arabic Parts but modern derivatives.

I would suggest that you are very wary in using them, not just because of their incongruous nature but also because they imply a much later view that would not reflect the philosophical view of the designers of the system and might not even reflect current philosophies.

Take the listed 'Part of Homosexuality' as an example:

Asc + Mars - Uranus

What symbolism does this imply - Mars is a symbol of violence and assertion not love - it is a malefic

Uranus is the modern planet of the unusual and 'queer'

That symbolism is not positive to homosexuals and I'm sure a lot of modern Astrologers would not use it You have to think about the philosophy of the person(s) who set it, not just the mathematics.

As far as I know both Arabic and Greek Astrology did not contain such a lot, so it seems that they did not consider it an important distinction to make at that time. So you need to think about these Parts before using them (and indeed you might want to think about the philosophy behind the other genuine Lots and Parts.
 

Maria Tarot

Minderwiz, I can understand what you mean.
I don't use the calculater. I'm a beginner in astrology.
By now I still have a lot of doubts.
 

Minderwiz

Maria Tarot said:
Minderwiz, I can understand what you mean.
I don't use the calculater. I'm a beginner in astrology.
By now I still have a lot of doubts.

Hi Maria,

I'm not trying to put you off the Arabic Parts, merely trying to give some context and also make the point that there's a lot more to them than simply the maths.

I'd suggest that you follow some of the links on the calculator page and even do some Google searches on Arabic Parts. As you learn more about them you will be able to judge whether they have a useful role to play in your Astrology.

The calculator is a useful resource - I'm not trying to say that it is suspect in it's entirety, Just make sure you (and of course anyone else who wants to try it) takes note of the meaning of AM & PM in the options offered. The issue of the modern Parts (using the outers) is one of personal choice and approach. My point is not that they are 'wrong' but that they certainly are not 'Arabic' or Traditional in any way and that they contain symbolism that you might not think is appropriate. I'm sure there are similar philosophical or cultural issues with the 'genuine' Parts but again that doesn't make them wrong - it simply suggests that you bear that in mind and decide whether any particular measure is meaningful for you - that's one of the joys of exploring Astrology.

However, Arabian Parts are not the first thing you should learn about Astrology - the Planets, Houses and Signs are far more important and only when you feel happy that you've got a reasonable grasp of those, that you should explore further. If you go down the modern Astrology route then you might find midpoints are a more rewarding progression from the basics than Arabic Parts (though there are some parallels).

Don't worry about the doubts - they will always be there, they help you to think about what you know and how much trust you can place in things. Every Astrologer, even noted professionals has doubts, the process of learning will reduce the area of doubt but never remove it - it's why even great Astrologers like William Lilly described himself as a 'student' and not a 'master' but he also said that Astrology allows you to 'converse with the Angels'
 

Maria Tarot

Thank you Dear Minderwiz,

I'm learning about the houses, the planets and the aspects, but it's difficult :)

When i began to study astrology, i could felt some kind of peace, because the interpretation that astrology gives made a lot of sence in my case.

Do you study astrology a long time ago?