Minderwiz
1. Calculation of the Lot of Fortune
e.g: My birth data (day birth) has Asc at 24 Gemini, Moon at 28 Libra and Sun at 26 Sagittiarius
Since the modern (? from Ptolemy? just guessing) 'day birth formula' for PoF calculation is "Ascendant +Moon – Sun" (see http://www.skyscript.co.uk/gl/fortuna.html) I get 26 Aries as PoF, thus giving Mars as the Lord (http://www.astro.com/astrology/in_fortune_e.htm has the same formula for day births has the same formula for day births)
Using Valens' method
"Next in order, it will be necessary (for day nativities) to count accurately the
distance from the Sun to the Moon, then to measure off in the opposite
direction an equal distance from the Ascendant, and to inspect the resulting
place: which star is its ruler and which star or stars are at this point and all
the square or trine asterisms of this place. "
So for my chart, (24 Gemini Rising)
Sun to Moon distance = 26 Sag to 28 Libra == 58 degrees clockwise (using a modern circular chart)
"measure off in opposite direction an equal distance from the Ascendant" gives 58 degrees **counter** clockwise from the ascendant and so
I get my Lot of Fortune in 22 Leo, with Sun as Lord.
This would seem equivalent to the modern (?) '**night** birth formula '
"Ascendant + Sun – Moon".
Interesting since there is a "(for day nativities)" qualifier in the text.
Did these two formulae flip over the years?
Or maybe I'm just interpreting wrong?
Solar Fire on its default settings does show PoF at 26 Aries for my birth Chart, and not Valens Method's 22 Leo.
This may well be a translation error, because I've checked a couple of Valens' charts later on and he calculates in the proper fashion. Like you, I'm surprised at the use of the word opposite here, as it's clear elsewhere and from other authors, as well, that the projection goes in the same direction as you counted. Thus for the Lot of Spirit, you would start with the Moon and count to the Sun (in your case, in the order of Signs or anti-clockwise). The projection from the Ascendant is, therefore, also in the direction of Signs.
In your case the Moon lies in the fifth place of Libra and the Sun in the seventh place of Sagittarius. Counting from Sun to Moon is indeed clockwise (or against the order of Signs). So the projection from the Gemini Ascendant should also be against the order of Signs, that is the Lot ends up in Aries.
That is certainly the way it's calculated in the first couple of example charts that provided clear enough information on the Ascendant and whether it was a Day or Night birth.
RohanMenon said:2. Then in (the next) section 4 titled "The Star Which Holds the Ascendant or the Lot"
we have language like "If Saturn is allotted the hour or the Lot [of Fortune] and is in the Ascendant, with Mars not in opposition, the native will be fortunate "
I think what this means is something like "if Saturn is the Lord of the Ascendant *or the Lot of Fortune* (or both) and is in the ascendant ... etc" I assume "allotted the hour" is the same as 'lord of the sign rising at birth'.
In other words, having Lord of the Ascendant *or* Lord of the in the first house is good, with the following paragraphs detailing the effects of having each planet be either Ascendant Lord or Lot of Fortune Lord , and also be in the first house.
Correct?
My text reads:
If Saturn is allotted the hour of the Lot [of Fortune] and is in the Ascendant, with Mars not in opposition, the native will be fortunate in activities controlled by Saturn
Which means that Saturn rules the Lot and is in the Ascendant. This isn't an either/or situation By hour Valens is reminding you that 'Horoscope' is derived from the word for hour. The Ascendant is often referred to as the Hour Marker and of course, as the Lot depends on the Ascendant, it too has an horary quality (See a link to Lilly and the Horary thread - horary is an adjective relating to hours or measurement of time).