How the Lots are to be suited to the Signs
How to set the lots in a chart, by day and by night.
[p. 103] Her Theme pursuing, she will next compriseThe several Signs with which the Labours rise;For to one Seat they are not always ty'd,Nor from one Sign at every Birth preside;They change their station, as the Round they move,Yet still their Order is the same above.But lest you should imperfect Schemes compleat,Nor justly suit each Labour to its Seat;First find the place by Fortune's Lot possest,(Fortune the first, and Leader of the rest)That done, to following Signs in order joinThe Lots, and give each Labour to its Sign:And to secure thy search for Fortune's placeTwo Rules shall guide thee, and enfold the Mase.
[p. 104] The moment known when first the Birth began,The Planets join'd to Signs to form the Plan,And Scheme erected for the future Man;If then the Sun with an exalted RayAbove the East and West commands his way,Then safely fix, and give the Birth to Day:But if through lower Skies he wheels the Light,The Day resigns, and yields the Birth to Night.
This settled, if the Birth belongs to Day,The Rule is short, and not obscure the Way;From that Degree, where then the ⁹Sun presides,To that Degree where gloomy Luna rides:Count thro' the following Signs, and as you pass,Exactly mark what Numbers fill the space:Thence from the Eastern point, which artful GreeceHath stil'd the Horoscope, an equal number of DegreesFollowing the circling Zodiack as it bends,Count thro' the Signs; and where the Number ends,There fix the Seat of Fortune; thence confineIn order, every Labor to its Sign.
But if when Night her sable Wings hath spread,The Birth starts forward from his Genial Bed;In different manner, then thy Numbers range,With Nature's Order, let thy ¹⁰Method change;The Moon, who imitates her Brother's Light,And governs in her own Dominion, Night,Observe: Thence thro' the Signs in order run,To find how far she's distant from the Sun.The Native's Horoscope be next thy Care,And from that Point, begin to count as farAs those Degrees permit thy Thoughts to pass;And where they stop, there settle Fortune's place.And then to following Signs the rest confineIn order, every Labor to its Sign.
The notes
⁹ For instance, let the Sun be in the 20th Degree of Aries, the Moon in the 10th Degree of Libra; from the 20th Degree of Aries (counting thro' the following Signs Taurus, Gemini, &c) to the 10th Degree of Libra; are 170 Degrees: Let the Horoscope be the 10th Degree of Cancer; from that 10th Degree of Cancer, count thro' the following Signs, viz. Leo, Virgo, &c. and you will find the Number 170 to end in the 10th Degree of Capricorn: Therefore in the 10th Degree of Capricorn place the Lot of Fortune: This I take to be the meaning of Manilius. (Creech’s note, 1697)
¹⁰ Suppose the Sun to be in the 21, 49' of Leo, the Moon in the 26, 31' of Virgo; the Horoscope in the 1, 0' of Leo; The Moon is distant from the Sun 325, 18', which number being distributed amongst the Antecedent Signs, viz. Cancer, Gemini, Taurus, &c. ends in the 5, 42' of Virgo, that there is the place of the Lot of Fortune. (Creech’s note, 1697)
Old words on this page
- exalted
- an honoured guest: the sign where a planet is treated like royalty, though it does not live there.
- native
- the person whose birth chart it is.
In the app the old words open a note in the margin when you tap them, the old books read the planets of your own chart, and each book opens where you left it. Free, no account, no email.
14160+ people cast their chart here in the last 30 days.
Keep reading
The text is Thomas Creech's 1697 verse translation, checked word by word between three scans of the same type (the 1697 printing, the 1700 printing and a third copy). The long s is printed as s; every other spelling is Creech's. Pages are cited as the 1697 printing numbers them. The portrait is William Marshall’s engraving of Lilly from the front of the 1659 printing (Wellcome Library, public domain).