Points that are cast, not seen
Most of a birth chart is made of things you could, in principle, point a telescope at: the Sun, the Moon, the five visible planets. The Lots are different. A lot is a point that is calculated — the astrologer measures the arc between two significant places in the chart, then projects that same distance from the Ascendant. The result is a new, invisible point on the zodiac, carrying a meaning of its own.
The method is ancient. The Hellenistic astrologers of the Greek-speaking world knew these points as klēroi — "lots", in the sense of an allotted portion. The astrologers of the Islamic world inherited the technique, systematized it, and multiplied it with such enthusiasm that when the material returned to Latin Europe, the whole family became known as the partes Arabicae — the "Arabic Parts". In Arabic they are the sihām, the "arrows": each one shot from the Ascendant toward a particular question — fortune, spirit, marriage, illness, victory.
al-Bīrūnī, laying out the whole of the art in his Book of Instruction (al-Tafhīm), devotes a substantial section to the lots, tabulating dozens of them with their formulas — evidence of how central they had become to Arabic astrology by the eleventh century.
The Lot of Fortune
First among the lots — the one every chart was expected to carry — is the Lot of Fortune, Sahm al-Saʿāda. Long before lucky horoscopes, this was the point where the tradition looked for a person's luck. Its construction is the model for all the others, built from the three great anchors of the chart: the Sun, the Moon, and the Ascendant.
For a day birth, with the Sun above the horizon, take the arc from the Sun to the Moon, and project it from the Ascendant. For a night birth, with the Sun below it, the formula reverses: the arc from the Moon to the Sun, projected from the Ascendant. The reversal is deliberate — the tradition treats day charts and night charts as mirrored worlds, and the Lot of Fortune respects that symmetry (a doctrine called sect).
What does it signify? The tradition reads Fortune as the point of the body and of worldly circumstance — livelihood, health, prosperity, the tide of material life. Its sign, its ruler, and the dignities of that ruler tell the astrologer how the native's fortunes are carried; some methods go further and count houses from the Lot of Fortune itself, as if it were a second Ascendant for worldly matters.
Ten lots, one chart
Canopy computes ten classical lots for every natal chart, each with the correct day-and-night reversal and each placed precisely on your zodiac. The Lot of Fortune leads; alongside it stands the Lot of Victory (Sahm al-Ẓafar), the point the tradition consulted for success, triumph, and the favorable outcome of undertakings — a natural companion to Canopy's electional tools.
Why ten, when al-Bīrūnī tabulates dozens? Because the tradition itself treated a small core of lots as essential and the rest as situational — points to be cast when a particular question demanded them. A working chart needs the lots that answer the durable questions, read carefully, rather than a hundred points scattered across the wheel. Canopy keeps to that older discipline: a compact set, correctly computed, each one explained.
Every lot in Canopy carries a reading drawn from the classical corpus, drawn from al-Bīrūnī's tables rather than a modern paraphrase. The lots appear in your natal chart beside the planets, the dignities, and the whole-sign houses, woven into the same fabric the court astrologers worked with.
Chiron, Juno and the lots
While Western astrology uses Chiron, traditional Arabic astrology uses a sophisticated system that calculates and weighs individual Arabic lots. Chiron, a small body that orbits between Saturn and Uranus, was discovered in 1977, so every Chiron birth chart reading belongs to the last fifty years; the astrologers of Baghdad put their questions to points cast from the planets and the Ascendant instead. Canopy will not find your Chiron, but it will cast your ten lots and give each one its reading.
The asteroids tell the same story. An asteroid in birth chart work is a real body you could find with a telescope; a lot is a point that is cast, not seen. Juno, the asteroid modern astrologers give to marriage, was discovered in 1804, yet the tradition already had a point for that question: the Lot of Marriage, Sahm al-Tazwīj. Where you might look for a Juno birth chart placement, Canopy casts the Lot of Marriage beside Fortune, Spirit, Piety, Eros, Victory, Necessity, Nemesis, Courage and Children.
The lots move into the day as well. The Lot Activation card in Canopy's daily reading names any of your lots the Moon joins today, with the time it goes exact, or else the day of the next crossing.
Love in the lots: Eros and Marriage
Two of the ten lots speak directly to love. The Lot of Eros, Sahm al-ʿIshq, is one of the seven Hermetic lots that Paulus Alexandrinus set out in the fourth century: by day it runs from the Lot of Spirit to Venus and is projected from the Ascendant, and by night the direction reverses. It shows what you desire and reach for. The Lot of Marriage is made from Venus and Saturn, the planet of affection and the planet that binds it into a lasting covenant; Canopy casts it by day as the arc from Saturn to Venus, projected from the Ascendant, and reverses it by night. Where Eros shows desire, Marriage shows how you commit. In Canopy both stand among the Key Lots of your natal chart, and tapping either marks it on your natal wheel and opens its reading for the sign it falls in.
Neither lot is read alone, and neither depends on your Sun sign. For love, Canopy looks past the Sun to the whole person: your temperament (al-mizāj), your rising sign and its lord, your Moon, and above all Venus and Mars, each in its dignity. Because Canopy casts whole-sign houses, your fifth house, of children and delight, where Venus has her joy, and your seventh, of marriage and the other, are each a whole sign counted from your rising sign, shown with its lord and any planets within.
Love by sign, read through Venus and the lots
A Sun-sign love column gives each sign one romantic temperament. The tradition placed love elsewhere: in the signs that hold Venus and Mars, and in the signs where your Lot of Eros and Lot of Marriage fall, each judged by the lord of its sign. Here is each sign's standing among the planets, and what Canopy's reading, drawn from the classical sources, describes when one of your love lots falls there.
- Aries — the domicile of Mars and the exaltation of the Sun, where Venus is in detriment and Saturn falls. Aries love, read through these lords, runs hot and direct: with the Lot of Eros here, Canopy describes attraction that strikes suddenly, quickens against obstacle, and thrives when it is met with equal fire.
- Taurus — Venus's own domicile and the Moon's exaltation, where Mars is in detriment. A Lot of Eros in Taurus, Canopy's reading says, loves slowly and with the whole of the senses, and does not easily take back what it has given.
- Gemini — the domicile of Mercury and the detriment of Jupiter. With the Lot of Marriage here, Canopy's reading makes conversation the lifeblood of the bond and looks for a partner who is also a companion in thought.
- Cancer — the Moon's domicile and Jupiter's exaltation, the detriment of Saturn and the fall of Mars. The Cancer zodiac sign in relationships is known for tenderness, and Canopy's reading for the Lot of Marriage in Cancer agrees in its own terms: a bond made to build a home, a sanctuary in which to belong.
- Leo — the domicile of the Sun and the detriment of Saturn. The Leo zodiac sign in love is pictured as proud and generous; with the Lot of Eros in Leo, Canopy describes a love given grandly and loyally, expressed openly and asking to be met with visible devotion.
- Virgo — Mercury's domicile and exaltation, the detriment of Jupiter, and the sign where Venus falls. Here, Canopy's reading says, love is reticent and careful, shown through service and attention to small things rather than grand declaration.
- Libra — Venus's second domicile and Saturn's exaltation, the detriment of Mars and the fall of the Sun. Libra and relationships belong together in the tradition too: Canopy calls Libra the most fitting seat of all for the Lot of Marriage, since Venus and Saturn, which make that lot, are both dignified there. In Canopy's reading, the love Libra looks for is the balanced meeting of two equals.
- Scorpio — the domicile of Mars, the detriment of Venus and the fall of the Moon. Canopy calls a Lot of Eros here a powerful but perilous seat, intense and admitting no half-measure.
- Sagittarius — Jupiter's domicile and Mercury's detriment. The Sagittarius personality in love is said to prize freedom, and with the Lot of Marriage here Canopy reads a Sagittarius relationship as a search for a companion on the journey rather than a keeper of the hearth, at its best where liberty and loyalty are held together.
- Capricorn — Saturn's domicile and the exaltation of Mars, the detriment of the Moon and the fall of Jupiter. A Lot of Eros in Capricorn, in Canopy's reading, is slow to kindle but does not fade, with Mars's exaltation keeping a steady flame beneath a sober surface.
- Aquarius — Saturn's second domicile and the detriment of the Sun. With the Lot of Eros here, Canopy reads a love that takes friendship as its ground and freedom as its condition.
- Pisces — Jupiter's second domicile and the exaltation of Venus, her noble degree at 27°, where Mercury is in detriment and fall. With the Lot of Eros in Pisces, Canopy describes a self-giving love that seeks union of the soul as much as the body, and cautions against loving an ideal rather than a person.
Questions
Day chart vs night chart: what is the difference?
A chart is a day chart when the Sun is above the horizon at the moment of birth, and a night chart when it is below; the tradition calls this division sect. Sect reverses most lots: by day the Lot of Fortune runs from the Sun to the Moon and the Lot of Spirit from the Moon to the Sun, and by night the two swap, as al-Bīrūnī sets out. Canopy reads your sect from the Sun's position above or below the horizon at your birth time and place, and applies it to every lot and to the day and night rulers of the triplicities.
Is the Lot of Fortune about luck?
In part. Its Arabic name, Sahm al-Saʿāda, speaks of good fortune, but the tradition read it as the point of the body and of worldly circumstance — livelihood, health, prosperity — judged through its sign, its ruler, and the condition of that ruler. It describes how material life is carried rather than promising a lucky day.
What does the 8th house show, and can Canopy calculate it?
The tradition gave the eighth house to death and inheritance: legacies, the partner's goods, and matters of fear and loss. In the app, Canopy's natal chart works as an 8th house calculator — it casts all twelve whole-sign houses, so your eighth is the eighth sign counted from your rising sign, and its house screen shows the sign, its ruler, any planets there, what the house governs in the Arabian tradition, and what each planet signifies as it transits it.
Does Canopy have a Chiron calculator, and can I calculate my Chiron sign?
Not for Chiron itself: Canopy is an iPhone and Android app rather than a web calculator, and it plots neither Chiron nor any asteroid. If you already know your birth chart Chiron placement, Canopy adds the older layer beneath it: your ten classical lots, each placed by sign and degree, reversed for a night birth, and given a reading drawn from the classical sources.
Can Canopy calculate Juno sign and house, like a Juno placement calculator?
Not Juno, but the lot the tradition cast for marriage. Most Juno calculator astrology tools place the asteroid by sign and house; Canopy plots no asteroids and instead casts the Lot of Marriage in your natal chart's Key Lots, by sign and degree. To time the marriage itself, its Elections tool scores windows for Wedding Day & Marriage and for Proposals & Engagements, and chart compatibility is coming soon.
How do I find my Lilith sign, and can Canopy calculate Lilith sign and house?
Not Lilith, but the lunar point the tradition cast. Canopy plots no Lilith, so it is neither a Lilith placement calculator nor a Lilith house calculator. Black Moon Lilith, the Moon's apogee, is a point calculated rather than seen, much like a lot; the Arabic astrologers cast their own points from the Moon, above all the Lot of Fortune, measured between the Sun and the Moon. Canopy places your Lot of Fortune by sign and degree, and its Lot Activation card shows when the Moon next joins it or another of your lots.
Is traditional love astrology free of Sun-sign stereotypes?
Largely, yes. The traditional astrologers did not judge love from the Sun's sign alone: they looked to Venus and her dignity, to Mars and the Moon, to the fifth house of delight and the seventh of marriage, and to the Lots of Eros and Marriage, each read through the lord of its sign. Canopy casts every one of these from your birth date, time and place, so two people born under one Sun sign can receive very different readings of love.
What are Libras in relationships really like?
More varied than one sign allows. Canopy reads not only the superficial Sun-sign Libra personality traits, the charm and the gift for partnership, but the whole person: temperament, the rising sign and its lord, the Moon, the almuten and each planet's dignity. Venus never strays more than about 47° from the Sun, so for a Libra in a relationship she may stand at home in Libra, fallen in Virgo or in detriment in Scorpio, among other places. With Venus in Virgo, Canopy's reading describes modest affections shown through practical help; with Venus in Libra, charm and harmony in partnership.
What does traditional astrology make of Gemini sexuality?
It looks past the Sun's sign to Venus, Mars and the Lot of Eros, wherever they stand, but Gemini still has a character of its own: it is Mercury's domicile, an airy, double-bodied sign, and the detriment of Jupiter. When your Lot of Eros falls there, Canopy's reading describes desire that moves through the mind before the body, where love begins in words and looks for a partner quick enough to keep pace.
Cancer zodiac and sexuality: what shapes the Cancer zodiac sex drive?
Planets more than a sign. The tradition did not read zodiac Cancer sexuality from the Sun's sign: desire belonged to Venus and Mars, and Cancer's own nature to the Moon, its lord; Cancer is also the sign where Mars has his fall. So an astrologer of the old school looked at where Venus, Mars and the Moon stand in a chart, and in what dignity and condition, and Canopy shows all three in your natal chart, with combust, retrograde and debilitated planets named in its Dignity Analysis. When your Lot of Eros falls in Cancer, Canopy's reading turns on the Moon: waxing and strong, she gives a generous, protective love; diminished or afflicted, moods and the fear of abandonment can trouble even a fortunate one. As for sex with a Cancer zodiac partner, a birth chart speaks for the person it belongs to: their Venus, Mars and Lot of Eros are in their chart, and yours are in yours.
Are there Leo sex traits or Pisces sex traits in traditional astrology?
Not as fixed lists, but each sign has a standing for Venus, the planet of desire and delight. Leo is the Sun's domicile, where Venus holds neither domicile nor exaltation, and with Venus there Canopy's reading describes generous, dramatic affections that seek admiration. Pisces is Venus's exaltation, and with Venus there it speaks of compassionate, romantic affections and a transcendent love. Your Sun may be in Leo or Pisces while your Venus stands elsewhere, and Canopy reads her where she actually is.
In love with a Capricorn, or in a relationship with Pisces: can Canopy compare our charts?
Chart compatibility is coming soon. Until then, Canopy reads your own side with care: Venus and her dignity, Mars, your seventh house of marriage and its lord, and your Lot of Marriage. Capricorn is the domicile of Saturn, the planet of the lasting bond, and the exaltation of Mars; Pisces is the sign where Venus is exalted. When it is time to act, the Planning Romantic Dates, Proposals & Engagements and Wedding Day & Marriage elections search the dates you set for the strongest windows.
What does the January 5th zodiac in love look like?
January 5 falls in Capricorn in the tropical zodiac Canopy uses, with the Sun around the middle of Saturn's sign. For love, though, the tradition looked to Venus and the seventh house. Venus keeps within about 47° of the Sun, so on a January 5 birthday she can stand anywhere from the end of Scorpio, her detriment, to the first degrees of Pisces, her exaltation; and the seventh house is the sign opposite your rising sign, which needs your birth time. Canopy casts both from your birth details.