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Claire-France Perez and The
Antoine
Garth,
astrologers
Five Hidden Pillars of Fate, 2008 Antoine Garth, Claire-France Perez
AncientSky.com, present:
Antoine Garth
Astrologer
scholar of Vettius Valens, Second Century Astrologer
1
INTR0DUCTION:
"The Five Hidden Pillars of Fate"
Fate? or Destiny?
There are two types of charts: 1) those
which portray a Destiny, exalted or
otherwise, and 2) those that force the native
to pursue a Fortune.
An imaginative way to describe the
difference is taken from the fairy tale of the
The circle is divided into 360 "lots."
fortune. To their surprise, the least of them, the "fool," returns with a Destiny. It could be said
that a fortune is pursued, but a destiny is imposed, or at least given.
A world leader or celebrity is born with a destiny. Although he also pursues a fortune, (gets a
job, pays his expenses, somehow pursues self-sufficiency) his chart presents indicators for
exalted status, life in the public eye, and possibly power over life and death. Proof that such a
destiny may be indicated in a chart is provided by planetary time cycles which must support the
natal indicators. These time cycles introduce the auspicious planetary period, for the timing of
events which manifest from the natal indicators and come to full fruition. (This discussion of
cycles goes beyond the current scope, and will be developed more thoroughly in later chapters.)
Such destined personalities are among the minority in a population. The majority of us are not
dogged--though we may wish it otherwise--by destiny.
The more common situation belonging to you or I, is a pursuit of fortune. By this, we must
create the means of our existence, and beat the pavement as required to maintain the roof over
our heads. We all have a destiny as well, but a larger, publicly recognized destiny is not what
defines our lives. An exalted destiny is not bestowed upon us.
We may or may not be happy with that, but it's what weve been
given--that's our lot. Take great care to avoid judging those who
attain to wealth and fame; it is not our place to judge. Obviously
some larger pattern sets about and decides who gets what.
We mortals obviously have no control over the allotment of fate.
We may impotently stare injustice in the face, observing the
noble ones who are extinguished like flies, while lesser or more
evil, even twisted ones, advance. If we've lived long enough,
we've had plenty of opportunity to observe such distortions of
justice. Some of us are on the receiving end of the same
Michael Jackson's life can
be divided into three distinct
cycles, or periods: child
performer, "Thriller," and
lawsuits
and absorbing these concepts and techniques we must also discuss determinism: Is Fate or is
Free Will determining the turns in life? Are we humans living within a deterministic system, or
a "Free Will" system?
This second century style of astrology is completely deterministic, only recognizing the wheels
which turn our situations, and reconfirms fates binding aspect of apportionment. In our modern
era, this is rejected out of hand, so no one is really watching, except astrologers and
playwrights, so play along for the while of this inquiry into a deeper insight.
How are we to balance determinism and Free Will? Modern astrology has plenty of experience
with Free Will systems. Most astrology as it is practiced right now is all about Free Will belief;
but this modern style still doesn't produce accuracy in the way the Mediterranean World View
finds satisfying. But in this technique, we have visceral, sometimes shattering results.
Disappointingly, modern astrological practice has developed progressively more complex
techniques without yielding greater accuracy of delineation, for all the trouble. In a contrast of
simplicity, the whole-sign style of understanding the Zoidia--the Zodiac--when coupled with
Valens interpretive tools, our Five Pillars, go directly to the heart of the natives fate and can
describe what is known as their Fortune.
Vettius Valens, like others of his era, confidently predicted fame, fortune and riches. Now,
modern astrologers may attempt the same and succeed using his techniques. Indeed, the karmic
record may be knowable, and a fortune may be told.
For this work, let's relax our Egos and experiment with some
very different points of view, and not only examine the
deterministic system, but inhabit it. To best teach this, I will
embody it without equivocating. There will be no claiming
either, "We all have Free Will," or, "This is absolutely
destined."
The second century point of view provides another way to
perceive a person's destiny and observe that which is "fated"
for that person. Thus, determinism is the binding legislation
Slot Machine: Slots, Lots,
Lottery and Plot share an
etymological root.
Fate
Hellenistic astrology revolves around the concept of fate. Moira, which means fate, is the name
of the goddess that later became the Moirae; The Three Fates. Robert Schmidt defines fate as
The cosmic principle of binding apportionment." (fate is the root of "fatality," and "femme
fatale.")
The Three Fates are in charge of our allotment. Robert Schmidt calls the planets "Instruments of
fate." In this work we are assigning the same instruments as theHidden Pillars of fate or
destiny. Thus, even the Olympian gods work to carry out the edict of the Moirae. The Three
Fates represent the personification of the "inescapable destiny of man."
5
Within the word "apportionment" is contained the word "portion," meaning: "lot." "Binding is
defined as that to which we are tied, bound, or committed. Governmental laws provide an
example of this, as we have binding and non-binding contracts or legislation. If the legislation
is binding, citizens must follow the mandate. If it is not binding, there is no mandate, and it can
mostly be ignored. Yet, fate presents a mandate in which there is no wiggle room: All contracts
with fate are binding.
A typical example of binding apportionment
is found in the experience of someone born
with a congenital health disorder, inherited
as part of their family's genetic history. This
part of the natives fate included being born
with this specific health disorder, the image
par excellence of fates bindinglegislation, partly for the ancestral lineage,
Fates work within the area of life that represents marriage, a marriage thread is spun out by
Clothos, portioned out, wound down by Atropos, and then terminated by Lachesis. Each life has
a specific and individual marriage or relationship narrative. In every area of life each persons
story has spun a different thread or outcome. Take the money region of life, and there we
find everyone has a different money narrative, spun out, apportioned, and finally cut off.
In the case of Donald Trump we find many instances of the fates cutting off his financial
prosperity as his destiny unfolded from "failure" to fantastic wealth and then back to financial
loss and back again to fantastic wealth. He started out with very little, made lots and lots (lots!)
of money, and then lost almost everything, only to start over from scratch. We can examine
these "cut offs" and wonder, "Is this part of Trumps financial apportionment? This is how the
fated money narrative plays out for The Donald.
Fate & Fortune
Lachesis: Greek, to apportion by
lot; one of the three deities, the
other being Clotho and Atropos.
The three fatal goddesses who,
according to the poets, reside in
the palace of Pluto; or the
Destinies, who did appoint to
every one the several adventures
of his life; what they had
decreed, according to the
judgement of the gods, could not
be altered: They were more
especially occupied in handing
the thread of man's life; the
youngest held the distaff and did
draw the thread; the next in age
wound it about the spindle or
reel, and the third being old and
decrepit, cut it off; and this is
followed by the immediate death
of the person living.
The universal etymological
English dictionary, by Nathan
Bailey, 1733
Yet, at this point, we astrologers have as resources, the required psychological knowledge and
foundations. We have Freud and Jung to provide the insights from the point of view of analysis.
But, we haven't really been looking at how the chart can show us the fate, or the portion that we
must bear in each part of our life, which may then beg the question:
"Who is fortunate?"
I once worked in an upscale gym where membership dues were a monthly $1200. It was high
class. All the paying members received an evaluation and were set up with a special trainer. It
was their questionnaire that was memorable. One of the questions was: "How would you rate
your support system? Would you say you have a strong support system?"
When taking the questionnaire I answered without hesitation, "Absolutely yes, I have a fantastic
support system." I couldn't even believe that it was a question. And then I asked the resident
expert, "Does anyone ever say no?" She responded by explaining that a majority of the clients
declared for themselves a sorry support system. So then
followed the question again:
"Who is fortunate?"
Was it I, the poor, struggling artist working there at the front
desk for eleven dollars an hour handing out towels, at these
people's disposal for eight hours, then going home to a fabulous
support system? Or, was it the wealthy, influential people who
could use their power, wealth and influence at their whim and
disposal but without a support system and nobody upon whom they could depend or consider an
ally?
I clearly felt that I was the more fortunate in that comparison. They were more fortunate than I
for their disposable wealth, but I was more fortunate in the "good will towards men" department
of life. That was an instructive moment.
It can also be instructive therefore, to partition life into regions of Fortune. Good health is
The East Indian chart looks like a tic-tac-toe board, with diagonals cut through the corners to
create the twelve houses. With Vedic astrology, there are certain chart types where the houses
move and certain chart types where the zodiac signs move. There's been discussions about
whether Vedic astrology originated from the Greek, and in talking to a good friend who lives in
India, I learned that there were Greeks who
lived in India during the Alexandrian time
period which of course would be right around
the time that we're talking about, the second
century, so here was a way that these
astrological traditions might have blended.
There's always anxiety around with working
with house systems: which system is better, and
why I don't use that one, etc. However, you will
never see a Western astrologer dissemble more
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What is a lot?
The most common noun form of lot denotes an empty
space on which something can be built. The lot is empty, but not for long. It will hold
something soon. This makes it dynamic, not just a notch. We will look at these positions as lots,
not as parts. These places are not mere mathematical summations but spaces pregnant with
meaning and potential. The word lottery also comes from the word lot, and sheds more
interesting insight into how fate determines a person's fortune. Of course, you must buy the
11
correct ticket, meaning that you are fated to buy it. On winning, you receive a previously allot-ted amount. So, we find that the concept of portion underlies the meaning of the word lot
as we examine it further.
Lot of Spirit
3.
Place of Acquisition
4.
Place of Exaltation
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5. Lot of Basis
These are our instruments, our Pillars, but they are
essentially portals, markers to point the way on our
investigation as we attempt to exhume the
sarcophagus of the natives fate and fortune.
However, to really read the record, so to speak, one
must take note of the rulers of these Pillars which
will tell the story of the natives fate.
To illustrate, take Robert Schmidts quote, the planets are the instruments of fate. It is not the
zodiacal position of the five places that reveals the full information we seek. It is the position of
the rulers of those places. These degrees, once located, are entirely dependent on the ruler of
that lot or that places sign. This will become more evident when we discuss the Ten Rules.
of the Ascendant, that of life itself. The tenth zoidia from this (they call them zoidia, not signs)
the power of the midheaven, that of reputation, the seventh, the power of the descendant, the
fourth of the subterranean zoidia, and the remaining places will possess the power of the twelve
regions."
"For some have mystically established the universal ascendant and its squares to be the cosmic
pivot points, but the lot, and its squares to be the genethlialogical pivot points."
Genethlialogy is defined by Nicholas Devore in his Encyclopedia of Astrology as "that
department of astrology which deals with the birth of individuals whereby one forms a
judgment of the characteristics of a person from a map of the heavens cast for his given birth
moment."
The above is an important statement, because he says that the natal chart as you're looking at it
is not as specific as it might be until you view it with the Lot of Fortune as the ascendant. He is
saying our "every day ascendant" the usual cusp of the first house, which for me (see page 23)
would be Sagittarius, gives an excellent general picture of what is going to happen in the
natives life. But if you want to get "genethlialogical," i.e., with greater specificity to the birth,
and more specific to the genesis, the beginning: you will want to see the chart using the Lot of
Fortune as an Ascendant.
Vedic astrology and the Hellenistic system are obviously related
because Vedic astrology has been using alternative ascendants and
derivative houses since time immemorial, and we now realize so has
Western astrology. The next step, if we want to really understand what's
going on with a person's fate, is to become familiar with the concept of
derivative houses.
As a medieval or renaissance-style astrologer, if you had a client who
wanted to know about their sibling, you would rotate the chart to the
third house, and its cusp would become the ascendant of the brother. You may then read the
chart as though it were your clients brothers natal chart. That's one aspect of derivative
houses. But here we intend to use derivative houses with our own chart.
14
Not only do we look at our own natal ascendant, but we also interpret our Lot of Fortune as an
ascendant and read the chart from that direction. Hindu
astrologers have long been practicing this technique. When
you look at a Vedic chart, you look at the natal chart three
ways: 1) taking the Ascendant as the first house, 2) taking
the house of the Sun as the First House, and 3) taking the
house of the moon as the First House. As a Vedic
astrologer, looking at the chart from these three ways
supports already noted chart indicators, reveals different
facets of interpretation and helps provide accurate
predictions.
For instance, In my Vedic (see page 23) chart I have
Sagittarius rising with the moon in the fifth. To use the
house of the Moon as the ascendant, we would use (in my case) the 5th house as the first house.
We would read the chart with Sagittarius (see page 23) rising with the moon in the 5th, and then
we would read the chart with the moon in the 5th as the first (Moon in this case is in Aries).
As Western astrologers we are invited to become flexible with the wheel, turning it like a
steering wheel, and judging it with the idea of derivative houses revealing something new, and
to the astrologer's great advantage: something accurate about the life being lived by the chart.
Spirit or the Daimon, represents a kind of cosmic substance. Thus, Spirit represents that
vivifying force that arouses man towards action. That inherent
thing within us is a spirit or soul which cannot be seen. The soul is
also called anima, root of "animate." This impulse is something
not yet considered in modern astrology. Spirit represents the
animating substance of the native. The stuff of which he is made
and from which he will act. For example, The Right Stuff is a
movie which highlights the character of astronaut John Glenn,
listing his motivation of excellence, as he responds to something
inherent in his nature which contributes to his role as an American
hero.
One of the things that is known about the Lots of Spirit and
Fortune is that the Lot of Fortune is the lot of the Moon, and considered the ascendant of the
Moon, while the lot of the Spirit is considered the Ascendant of the Sun, or the lot of the Sun.
To the Sun is attributed "the cause of action and motion." The Sun, according to Valens,
"...arouses the souls of men for undertaking."
We make the distinction here that the Spirit is that which animates the body and creates a sense
of personification and identification. So, we can identify the person by their Part of Spirit by
noting the nature of this person and his beingness.
We have the body, our vehicle, and know that it has its own specific inclinations. But then we
also have the spirit, which enlivens
this body and creates a sense of
personification or self-identification;
that which people looking at us from
the outside would probably call
The Fortune is derived from the Moon. A lunar
"orientation" is to cause the Moon to face the East, or place
of "rising" and thus find its
genethlialogical pivot points, or origins.
16
the self.
The Part of Spirit defines the internal cosmic substance which identifies us and which propels
us towards our decisions, choices and future actions. Valens says, "Whence the Lot of Fortune
and the Spirit will have much power over the imposing and turning back of actions. For one
shows matters concerning the body and handicrafts, The Spirit and its ruler (govern) matters
concerning the soul, intellect and actions through discourse and through giving and receiving."
is one way we can discern the difference between a person's fate - whether they have an exalted
fate-- and a person's financial or material status. The planet on the Place of Acquisition and the
lord of the Place of Acquisition are going to give us a greater assessment, and fill out the
picture. So, when we see charts that show an exalted fortune but indicate difficult financial
situations, we will see that the ruler of the Place of Acquisition may be in decrepit condition. It
may be badly positioned, even with other markers indicating fame and renown.
19
By comparing the two, a better test of motivations can be brought forward, informing the
astrologer of a someone who benefits others from a nature founded on good
will, or one who takes advantage of others for his own benefit.
How long can fortune hold? Many a millionaire made by the lottery have lost
their fortune and returned to or worsened their previous situation. Bonatti
described The Place of Basis as the fiduciae ascendantae, meaning roughly
Judy Garland
the self-sustaining powers written in her chart that West had. How much we
wish that astrology could provide exactly that sort of imagination for a client,
ancestral heritage being the Basis of her position in life makes Elizabeth II a servant to the
Crown and to her ancestral obligation.
Mae West had a long, circuitous journey to icon status." She experienced equivocal success as a
Vaudevillian of the "low and raunchy" type and in Broadway during the 1910s. In the '20s
Mae's fortune started changing for the better shortly after she began writing and starring in her
own material, which led to scandal, notoriety and fame on the Broadway stage. The Lot of
Basis occupies the sign of Virgo in the 5th place of "Good Fortune" with Mercury present.
Mercury rules the tongue and Mercury is with Saturn a cold, dry planet in Virgo a cold dry sign,
indicative of her dry, understated delivery and her deliberate usage of languor in her movement,
in contrast to the other players.
Paulus Alexandrinas says of the Place of Basis, "It is like
Breath. It is a contributing cause to one's ALL, it has
governance over the Entirety."
On what do you stand? The foundation of your life is found
with the Place of Basis.
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email:
Antoine Garth: agarth@ancientsky.com
Claire-France Perez: cf@ancientsky.com
22
Use this form for your own chart, and complete the rules for finding each lot.
Pillar
Glyph
1
2
3
4
5
M
)
,
&
3)
page
Lot of Fortune
13
Lot of Spirit
15
Place of
Acquisition
17
Place of
Exaltation
18
Place of
Basis
20
SIGN
RULER
Place of previous
4,
To find exaltation: Discern whether the
chart diurnal or nocturnal.
Take the shortest arc in both cases:
&
6k
23
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