What an almuten is — al-mubtazz, the one who prevails
Every degree of the zodiac has several planets with a claim on it. One owns the sign, one may be exalted there, one rules the element by day or by night, one holds the term and another the face. The almuten is the planet whose claims add up to the most — in Arabic al-mubtazz, the one who prevails. An almuten calculator does nothing more mysterious than this. It counts those claims and names the planet that wins them, for a single degree or for the whole nativity.
The word reached Latin Europe through translations of Arabic astrology, where al-mubtazz became almuten, and the method travelled with it. Its authorities are the ones who shaped so much of the art — Abū Maʿshar in ninth-century Baghdad, al-Qabīṣī in his tenth-century Introduction, al-Bīrūnī in his Book of Instruction (al-Tafhīm, 1029), and Abraham Ibn Ezra, who carried the Arabic teaching into his own books in the twelfth century. The Greek-writing astrologers before them had asked a related question under the name oikodespotēs, literally the master of the house — the master of the nativity. The methods differ, and the names are often used loosely for one another.
Counting the dignities — the almuten of a single degree
The count rests on the five essential dignities, each worth a fixed number of points in the scheme handed down in the Arabic introductions: domicile 5, exaltation 4, triplicity 3, term 2, face 1. At any degree, each of the seven planets collects the points of every dignity it holds there. Debilities are not subtracted in this tally; it measures claim, not weakness. The planet with the highest score is the almuten of that degree.
Take 5° Aries in a day chart. Mars owns Aries for 5 and holds its opening face for 1, making 6. The Sun is exalted in Aries for 4 and, by day, rules the fire triplicity for 3, making 7. Jupiter holds the term of the opening degrees in the Egyptian terms, for 2. The Sun prevails. Move the same degree into a night chart and the fire triplicity passes to Jupiter, who now has 5, while the Sun keeps 4; Mars, with 6, prevails. The almuten of a degree therefore depends on sect — on whether the chart is diurnal or nocturnal.
Authors differ on finer points, such as Egyptian or Ptolemaic terms and which triplicity lords to use. Those choices can change a close result, which is why a careful reading states its conventions. The same count, applied to the degree that begins a house, gives the almuten of that house, the planet with most say over its matters.
The almuten of the nativity and the lord of the geniture
A single degree answers a single question. The larger question — which planet prevails over the whole life — is answered by repeating the count at five places that the tradition regarded as the roots of a nativity: the rising degree; the Sun; the Moon; the Lot of Fortune; and the prenatal syzygy, the last new moon (ijtimāʿ) or full moon (istiqbāl) before birth. For a full moon, following Ptolemy, the degree taken is that of whichever luminary was above the horizon at birth.
Most authors add the points from all five places together, and the planet with the largest total is the lord of the nativity — in Arabic mubtazz al-mawlid, often written today as the almuten figuris, the almuten of the figure. Another reading counts how many of the five places each planet wins outright and gives the lordship to the planet that wins the most. The two methods do not always agree.
Later European writers, William Lilly among them, used lord of the geniture for a related judgment that also weighed a planet's house and other accidental strengths. So almuten figuris, lord of the geniture and master of the nativity are often treated as one thing when the methods behind them do not quite agree. When you ask what your almuten planet is, it helps to know which of these you are asking for.
Sun, Moon and rising — three of the five places
Sun vs rising vs Moon is a modern contest: which of three signs describes you best. The tradition asked a different question, which planet has the most say over all of them, and three of the five places it counted from are the ones people already know. The rising degree was the Greek hōroskopos, the watcher of the hour, and in Arabic it is al-ṭāliʿ, the one that rises. The Sun and the Moon are the two lights, al-nayyirān: the Sun leads a chart cast by day and the Moon one cast by night, and whether the Sun is above or below the horizon decides which triplicity lord takes the 3 points at every place.
In astrology rising and Moon signs are usually read for character; in the count they are simply places, and when places fall together the count shows it. For a birth at dawn just after a new moon, the Moon and rising Sun lie close together near the Ascendant; the Lot of Fortune, measured from the Ascendant by the distance between the lights, falls close to them; and the new moon itself sits just behind the Sun. All five places can then fall in a single sign, and when they do, the planet that owns that sign takes 5 points for domicile at every one.
On the Overview of your natal chart in Canopy, your Rising, Sun and Moon signs sit side by side under the wheel, each with its Arabic name, and with them your temperament and your almuten: three of the places, and the planet elected over all five.
The almuten and the chart ruler — three offices, and the condition of the lord
Modern readers usually meet a single chart ruler, the planet that owns the rising sign. The Arabic tradition kept that ruler but did not stop there. It also elected a lord of the nativity over the five places, and that lord speaks for the course of the life: its work, its fortune, what it is for. With the rising sign in Scorpio, for instance, Mars is lord of the Ascendant in the traditional scheme, yet the almuten of the nativity may be another planet. When the chart ruler and the lord of the nativity are the same planet the chart speaks with one voice; when they differ, each is read in its own sphere. Each of the other houses has as its lord the planet that owns its sign: Gemini rising puts the Descendant in Sagittarius, so in the whole-sign houses Canopy uses, Jupiter rules the seventh house, the house of partners.
Finding the lord is half the work. The tradition then asks how well it is placed to rule: whether it stands in its own dignities or in debility, whether it is angular or has fallen into the sixth, eighth or twelfth house, whether it is retrograde, combust or under the Sun's beams, whether the malefics strike it or the benefics support it, and whether it belongs to the chart's sect. A strong lord carries out its office freely; a weak one does so with effort.
Where the lord is weak, the talismanic literature, rather than the natal manuals, offers remedies — its day and its hours, and the stars of its nature, among them the Behenian stars of the talisman-makers described on the fixed stars page. Read this way, the almuten is a lens for reflection on the shape of a life, not a forecast of its events.
Is there a best sign? Put it to the planets
Ask around and you will hear that Libras are the best, that Geminis are the best, that Virgos are the best, and lists of the top star signs rarely agree on which comes first. The traditional astrologers crowned no sign. A sign, to them, was a place, as good as the planets standing in it and the planet that rules it, and the question worth asking was which planet prevails in your own chart: the almuten, al-mubtazz. Put the boasts to the dignity table and each one gets a split vote from the planets.
- Libra. Venus, at home there, and Saturn, exalted at his noble degree of 21°, would both say Libra is the best sign, and they are the planets that serve Libra best. Mars, in detriment there, would not, and nor would the Sun, in fall, which means every Libra Sun is in fall.
- Gemini. Mercury, at home there, would vouch for it; Jupiter, the greater benefic, is in detriment there and would not; no planet is exalted or falls in Gemini. The good and bad qualities of a Gemini, measured this way, come down to one strength and one weakness.
- Virgo. Mercury would call Virgo the best zodiac sign without hesitation: it is the only sign where one planet holds both domicile and exaltation, and he is that planet. Jupiter and Venus would not, for Virgo is also the only sign where both benefics are weak, Jupiter in detriment and Venus in fall. The best Virgo, by this reckoning, is one whose Mercury is well placed, since he is host to everything in the sign.
- Pisces. Jupiter and Venus would say Pisces is the best zodiac sign, the only one where both benefics hold a major dignity: Jupiter at home, Venus exalted at her noble degree of 27°. Mercury, in both detriment and fall there, would say otherwise.
- Scorpio. Ask Mars and he will call Scorpio the best zodiac sign, for he is at home there. Venus, in detriment in Scorpio, and the Moon, in fall, would not agree, and no planet is exalted there.
No sign wins the vote outright: every sign is a home to one planet and a hardship for another. So the tradition moves the question from your sign to your planets, and above all to the one that prevails over the whole chart. That is the almuten, which Canopy elects from five places in your chart, as the next section explains.
How Canopy finds your almuten
Canopy works out your almuten from your chart, so there is no table of shares to tally by hand. It elects the lord of your nativity from five places: the rising degree, the Sun, the Moon, the Lot of Fortune, and the last new or full moon before your birth.
At each place, the planets that rule its degree take shares — 5 for domicile, 4 for exaltation, 3 for triplicity, 2 for term and 1 for face. The planet with the most shares across all five places is your lord. A full breakdown sets out the scoring, and if two planets tie, the rules that settle it are set out there too.
The reading sets out three offices: the course of the life, ruled by the lord of your nativity; the mind, by the planet that owns your rising sign, with Mercury as a second witness; and the body, by your rising sign and your Moon. It also suggests remedies to strengthen or honor the lord — among them, for every lord but the Sun, the Behenian stars of its nature. If your birth time is unknown, Canopy reckons a provisional lord over the Sun, the Moon and the last new or full moon, and says so. As throughout the app, every reading is drawn from classical sources. Canopy is available on iPhone and Android.
Your strongest and weakest planets — Saturn returns and retrogrades
Understanding your strongest and weakest planets and their dignities provides tools and remediation options to navigate difficult periods in your life, such as your Saturn return, or planetary retrogrades. The strongest stand in their own domicile or exaltation; the weakest are in detriment or fall, or peregrine, holding no dignity where they stand; and presiding over them all is the almuten, the planet with the strongest claim on the chart. Read together, they show what you have to meet a hard season with, and where it may press hardest.
Saturn's revolution through the zodiac takes about twenty-nine and a half years, so it comes back to its place at your birth near age 29 or 30 and again near 58 or 59. Read in the traditional way, how that return is felt depends on Saturn's standing in the nativity. In its own signs of Capricorn and Aquarius, or exalted in Libra, Saturn was held to give its better gifts of patience and endurance; in detriment in Cancer or Leo, or in its fall in Aries, its harder ones. As a diurnal planet it was counted milder in a day birth than in a night one, and if Saturn is your almuten, its return brings the lord of your nativity back to its own place.
Retrogrades are read the same way. A retrograde planet keeps its essential dignity but is hampered in its condition, so a planet strong by sign has more to carry it through than one already in detriment or fall. In Canopy, the Planets page of your natal chart marks each planet that was retrograde at your birth, and the daily reading flags those retrograde now. Your chart gives natal Saturn's sign, house and dignity, and the daily reading follows its transit through your whole-sign houses. The Almuten section adds remedies for the lord of your nativity: its day and its hours, its metal, gemstone, color and incense. On the daily reading, when your birth time is known, the Almuten card follows that lord through the sky: its dignity that day, whether it is retrograde or combust, and the transits that reach its natal place.
Questions
What is an almuten in astrology?
The almuten, from the Arabic al-mubtazz, the one who prevails, is the planet with the strongest claim on a point of the chart. Its claim is measured by essential dignity: 5 points for domicile, 4 for exaltation, 3 for triplicity, 2 for term and 1 for face. Applied to one degree, the count gives the almuten of that degree; applied across five places, it gives the almuten of the nativity, the lord of the whole chart.
How do I find the almuten of my chart?
Score the seven planets at five places: the rising degree, the Sun, the Moon, the Lot of Fortune, and the last new or full moon before birth. At each place, give every planet the points of the dignities it holds there, remembering that the triplicity lord changes between day and night births. Add the totals across the five places; the planet with the highest sum is the lord of your nativity.
Is the almuten the same as the chart ruler?
Not necessarily. In modern usage the chart ruler is the planet that owns the rising sign. The lord of the nativity is elected over five places — the rising degree, the Sun, the Moon, the Lot of Fortune and the last new or full moon before birth — and it can be a different planet. In Canopy the lord of the nativity speaks for the course of the life, the owner of the rising sign for the mind, and the rising sign with the Moon for the body.
Sun sign vs Moon sign vs rising: which one rules the chart?
None of them alone. The tradition elected a lord of the nativity over all three, adding the Lot of Fortune and the last new or full moon before birth, and gave the chart to the planet with the strongest claim across the five. That planet can be one that owns none of your three signs, which is why Canopy shows your almuten just below your Rising, Sun and Moon signs.
Is your Sun sign your rising sign?
Only if you were born around sunrise, while the Sun's own sign was climbing over the eastern horizon; otherwise the two differ. When they coincide, two of the five places from which the lord of the nativity is elected fall in one sign, so the planets that hold that sign by domicile, exaltation or triplicity score there twice. Canopy's full breakdown shows which planet wins each place, and with how many points.
Moon vs Sun sign: which counts for more?
In the almuten count, neither: each light is one of the five places, and every place is scored by the same shares. They part ways in the reading. In Canopy it is the Moon, not the Sun, that joins your rising sign as a significator of the body, and the old authors gave each light its own sect, the Sun ruling by day and the Moon by night. That is the traditional Sun sign and Moon sign meaning: two lights with different offices, not just two personality labels.
Is there a best ascendant sign?
The traditional astrologers did not hold any one rising sign to be the best. They judged the Ascendant by the planets in it or aspecting it and by the condition of its lord, and then looked to the planet that prevails over the whole chart: the almuten, which Canopy calculates from five places.
What are the pros and cons of Taurus rising?
With a rising sign in Taurus, Venus is lord of the Ascendant, so the tradition weighs her condition, wherever she stands; Canopy reads her for the mind, with Mercury as a second witness. The planets in the sign itself count too: the Moon, exalted in Taurus, is strong if she rises there, and Mars, in detriment there, works against his own nature. Venus is not necessarily your almuten, though. At the rising degree she takes 5 points for domicile and the Moon 4 for exaltation, and four more places remain to be counted.
Aquarius best zodiac sign: is it true?
Saturn would say so: he is at home in Aquarius, and if Aquarius is the best, he deserves the credit. The Sun would not, being in detriment there, and no planet is exalted or falls in Aquarius, so the pros and cons of Aquarius come down to Saturn's strength and the Sun's weakness. The tradition crowns no sign; it asks which planet prevails in your chart, your almuten.
Can the bad traits of Cancer be remedied?
The tradition remedies planets, not signs, and Canopy reads more than Sun-sign traits: your temperament, your rising sign and its lord, your Moon and your almuten. In Cancer the planets that struggle are Saturn, in detriment, and Mars, in fall, and that weakness touches your chart only if one of them stands there. If either is also the lord of your nativity, Canopy's Almuten section weighs its condition and suggests remedies to strengthen or honor it, among them the Behenian stars of its nature.
Does a day or night birth change the almuten?
It can. Each element has a day lord and a night lord of its triplicity, and the 3 triplicity points go to the lord of the chart's sect. In the fire signs the Sun takes them in a day chart and Jupiter in a night chart. Because the almuten is a sum of small differences, moving 3 points from one planet to another is often enough to change the result.
When's my Saturn return, or when was it?
A when is my Saturn return calculator and a when was my Saturn return calculator do the same sum, forwards or back: Saturn circles the zodiac in about twenty-nine and a half years, so it returns to its place at your birth near age 29 or 30 and again near 58 or 59. What the sum cannot tell you is what kind of Saturn is returning, which rests on its dignity in your chart and on whether it is your almuten. Canopy shows natal Saturn's degree, sign, house and dignity, and follows its transit through your whole-sign houses.
Is there a progressed chart astrology calculator in Canopy?
No. While modern Western astrology times a life with the progressed chart, the Arabian astrologers began from the chart you were born with, asking which planets are strong in their dignities, which are weak and which prevails as the almuten. A free progressed birth chart usually rests on secondary progressions, a day after birth for each year of life, a method that, as commonly practiced today, developed in Europe long after the Abbasid astrologers. Of their own timing methods, Canopy keeps the transits, reading the day's transits through your houses and following the lord of your nativity through the sky.
Is there an app that calculates the almuten?
Canopy, on iPhone and Android, works out the almuten of your nativity from your chart. It elects the lord over the rising degree, the Sun, the Moon, the Lot of Fortune and the last new or full moon before your birth, scoring each place by domicile, exaltation, triplicity, term and face. A full breakdown sets out the scoring, and the readings are drawn from classical sources.