Calculated point
Part of Fortune in astrology
The Part of Fortune is the oldest technique on this page by a long way, and it is arithmetic rather than astronomy. It combines the three most important positions in a chart, the Ascendant, the Sun and the Moon, into a single point, and the tradition reads it as where things come together with least resistance.
How old this reading is
Hellenistic, and one of the oldest techniques still in general use
Also called: Lot of Fortune, Pars Fortunae.
Part of Fortune at a glance
| What it is | A calculated point, not a body |
|---|---|
| Cycle | Moves with the Ascendant, so roughly a full circuit each day |
| Time in a sign | About two hours |
| Retrograde | Not applicable |
| Requires | An accurate birth time. Without one it is meaningless |
| Governs | Ease, wellbeing, the body, where effort is repaid |
Arithmetic rather than astronomy. These are positions derived from other positions, so they depend entirely on an accurate birth time and are meaningless without one.
How it is calculated, and why sect matters
For a daytime birth the formula is the Ascendant plus the Moon minus the Sun. For a night birth the Sun and Moon swap: the Ascendant plus the Sun minus the Moon. Day means the Sun was above the horizon, which this site determines from the chart itself rather than from the clock.
A great deal of modern software uses the day formula for everybody, which is a simplification rather than a choice, and it puts the point in the wrong place for roughly half of all charts. Astra reverses the formula for night births, which is what Hellenistic astrology actually specifies. If your Part of Fortune here does not match another site, this is the most likely reason, and it is worth checking which of the two was born at night.
What it is read as
The classical reading is bodily and practical rather than spiritual: the Lot of Fortune concerns the body, health, livelihood and the circumstances a person finds themselves in. Later tradition softened it toward luck and joy, which is where the modern name comes from.
The house it falls in is the more useful half. It is read as the area of life where effort tends to be repaid rather than absorbed, which is a modest claim and a more defensible one than the popular reading of it as a jackpot.
Frequently asked questions
- How is the Part of Fortune calculated?
- Ascendant plus Moon minus Sun for a daytime birth, and Ascendant plus Sun minus Moon for a night birth. It needs an accurate birth time, because it moves with the Ascendant at about one sign every two hours.
- Why do sites give me different positions?
- Because many use the day formula for every chart. For a night birth that puts the point somewhere else entirely. This site uses the night formula for night births, which is what the original technique specifies.
Where is your Part of Fortune?
None of this describes you until you know where your Part of Fortune actually sits. Every chart on this site now includes it, calculated from the Swiss Ephemeris alongside the ten planets.
Calculate my birth chart