The Hermetic Lots Beyond Fortune and Spirit: Necessity, Courage, and Victory
The Lots of Fortune and Spirit have enjoyed a significant revival within traditional astrology. Fortune is commonly associated with circumstances that befall us, particularly those connected with the body and material life, while Spirit concerns intention, action and the direction in which we consciously apply ourselves.
But Hellenistic astrology did not stop there. A system transmitted by the fourth-century astrologer Paulus Alexandrinus describes seven planetary lots attributed to Hermes: Fortune, Spirit, Eros, Necessity, Courage, Victory and Nemesis. Each corresponds to one of the seven traditional planets. A surviving horoscope from 319 CE even contains seven lots calculated in a way consistent with Paulus's formulae, demonstrating that sophisticated use of multiple lots was not merely theoretical. Research by Dorian Greenbaum and Alexander Jones discusses this remarkable chart and its relationship to the tradition.
Three of the less familiar lots , Necessity, Courage and Victory , show particularly well why the system is richer than simply adding extra mathematical points to a horoscope.
What Exactly Is a Hermetic Lot?
A lot is a calculated position rather than a physical object in the sky. Its location is produced by measuring the zodiacal distance between two chart factors and projecting that distance from the Ascendant.
Paulus's system assigns one lot to each traditional planet: the Moon corresponds with Fortune, the Sun with Spirit, Venus with Eros, Mercury with Necessity, Mars with Courage, Jupiter with Victory and Saturn with Nemesis. His method also reverses the direction of calculation between day and night charts. A modern translation of Paulus's chapter on the seven lots preserves his description of this underlying method.
This planetary correspondence matters because the lots were not conceived as seven unrelated topics. They form a system.
The Lot of Necessity: What Cannot Simply Be Avoided
The Lot of Necessity belongs to Mercury, but its traditional meaning is rather less comfortable than modern associations with communication, curiosity and intellect might suggest.
Paulus associates Necessity with constraint, conflict, submission and circumstances that bind a person. The idea is not simply "responsibility" in the everyday sense. It concerns situations in which choices become restricted , obligations, disputes or conditions with which we are compelled to engage.
For a day chart, Paulus calculates it by measuring from Mercury to the Lot of Fortune and projecting the same distance from the Ascendant; the direction reverses for a night chart. Chris Brennan and Kira Ryberg's detailed discussion of the Hermetic lots explores the significance of this relationship between the planetary lots and Fortune or Spirit.
The connection with Mercury becomes more understandable if we remember the planet's traditional role as negotiator, messenger, trader and intermediary. Necessity describes situations that require navigation: agreements that bind us, difficult choices, contests of reasoning or circumstances in which we must work within conditions we did not create.
Vettius Valens also discusses a Lot of Necessity, although researchers caution that his formula is not necessarily identical to the later Mercury lot described by Paulus. This distinction is important because different Hellenistic authors sometimes transmitted different systems under the same or similar names. The differences between the Valens and Paulus traditions are explored in detail by Seven Stars Astrology.
The Lot of Courage: Where We Meet Conflict
Courage, or Tolma , a Greek word carrying the sense of daring or boldness , corresponds to Mars.
For those born during the day, Paulus measures from Mars to Fortune and casts that distance from the Ascendant; for night births the calculation is reversed. The formula is preserved explicitly in translations of his Introductory Matters. Research into the theoretical structure of the seven Hermetic lots reproduces Paulus's calculations and examines why the lots were constructed in this particular way.
The English word "courage" can make this sound unambiguously positive. The ancient concept is sharper than that.
Mars is the planet of conflict, severing, force, danger and competitive action. The Lot of Courage can therefore be interpreted astrologically as describing where boldness, confrontation or risk enters a person's life , the territory in which circumstances may demand a willingness to fight, push through resistance or act despite danger.
This does not necessarily mean somebody with a prominent Lot of Courage is personally fearless. As with the other lots, its sign, house and ruler have to be examined. A well-supported ruler may describe constructive resolve, while a badly afflicted configuration could potentially point towards conflict expressed less productively.
The distinction between Courage and Victory is particularly useful. Courage describes willingness to enter the struggle. It does not promise that the struggle will be won.
The Lot of Victory: Success Through Action
Victory belongs to Jupiter and has a different foundation from Necessity and Courage.
In a day chart, Paulus directs the calculation from the Lot of Spirit to Jupiter; the direction reverses at night. This is significant because Spirit itself was associated with intentional action and what the individual does, rather than circumstances imposed from outside.
Jupiter traditionally signifies growth, beneficence, honours, justice, abundance and support. The Lot of Victory therefore concerns success, achievement and the circumstances through which purposeful action can bring favourable results.
This does not turn it into a simple "good luck point". Hellenistic astrology generally requires us to examine the ruler of the lot, its condition, planets occupying or aspecting its sign and its relationship with the rest of the nativity.
A strong Victory placement could, within the astrological framework, indicate an area where deliberate effort more readily leads towards recognition or success. Difficult configurations may complicate that promise, potentially showing victories that require substantial effort or ambitions that meet resistance.
Why Some Lots Begin With Fortune and Others With Spirit
One of the most interesting features of Paulus's scheme is its internal structure.
Necessity, Courage and Nemesis are constructed using the Lot of Fortune, whereas Eros and Victory derive from the Lot of Spirit. Modern researchers of Hellenistic astrology have suggested that this division reflects the fundamental distinction between what happens to us and what proceeds from our own choices.
Fortune represents embodied circumstance: the conditions into which we are thrown. It is therefore striking that the lots connected with constraint, conflict and adversity emerge from Fortune.
Spirit represents volition and purposeful action. Eros , desire and attraction , and Victory are instead connected with Spirit. Brennan and Ryberg discuss this philosophical distinction as one of the most revealing features of the system.
The architecture of the calculations is therefore part of their interpretation. The formula is not merely the mechanism used to obtain a degree.
How to Read Them in Your Own Chart
Once the lots have been calculated using an accurate birth time, finding their zodiacal degree is only the beginning.
- Identify the whole-sign house containing the lot and consider the topics of that house.
- Examine the planet ruling the lot's zodiac sign.
- Assess that ruler's house, dignity, sect and overall condition.
- Look for planets occupying the same sign as the lot or forming important configurations with it.
- Interpret the lot alongside its corresponding planet rather than in isolation.
This is one reason ancient lots can be misleading when reduced to modern one-line interpretations. A Lot of Victory in the tenth house does not automatically guarantee professional success, just as a prominent Lot of Necessity does not condemn someone to a life of hardship.
They operate as part of the wider chart.
At Wilfred Hazelwood Astrology, the Hermetic lots offer a fascinating route into the deeper architecture of Hellenistic astrology. Fortune and Spirit establish a fundamental polarity between circumstance and intention; Necessity, Courage and Victory then begin to show how that polarity unfolds into particular areas of human experience.
Necessity asks what binds us. Courage asks what we are prepared to confront. Victory asks where intentional action can prevail.
Together, they reveal why the ancient doctrine of lots was considerably more sophisticated than the familiar "Part of Fortune" alone might suggest.
