Astrology
Lot of Exaltation
Direct answer
Lot of Exaltation: The Lot of Exaltation is a calculated point found by day from the Sun to 19 degrees of Aries and by night from the Moon to 3 degrees of Taurus, the degrees where each light is exalted, laid off from the Ascendant, and read for rank and recognition.
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At a glance
- Also called
- part of exaltation, lot of honor
- In astrology
- An exaltation is the sign, and in the older texts the degree, where a planet is most honored: the Sun at 19 Aries, the Moon at 3 Taurus.
- Found in
- Astrology
- Related
- Exaltation, Lot of Basis, Part of Fortune, Hermetic Lots
The Lot of Exaltation is a calculated point found by day from the Sun to 19 degrees of Aries and by night from the Moon to 3 degrees of Taurus, the degrees where each light is exalted, laid off from the Ascendant, and read for rank and recognition.
A structural orientation; exact placements depend on the chart or technique being discussed.
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What is the Lot of Exaltation?
The Lot of Exaltation measures how far the light of the chart's sect stands from the degree of its own exaltation. By day, take the arc from the Sun to 19 degrees of Aries; by night, from the Moon to 3 degrees of Taurus; lay the arc off from the Ascendant.
Those are the exaltation degrees the old textbooks give the two lights, so the lot ties a person's chart to the place where its leading light would be most honored. The old authors read it for rank, standing and recognition.
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The formula
The worked example, the same invented day chart on every lot page (longitudes counted from 0 Aries in brackets): Ascendant 10 Libra (190), Sun 20 Aries (20), Moon 5 Gemini (65), Mercury 2 Aries (2), Venus 14 Taurus (44), Mars 8 Leo (128), Jupiter 25 Sagittarius (265) and Saturn 12 Capricorn (282). The Sun is above the horizon, so it is a day chart. In longitude, 19 degrees of Aries is 19 and 3 degrees of Taurus is 33.
- Day chart, from the Sun to 19 Aries: Ascendant 190 + 19 Aries, which is 19 - Sun 20 = 189, which is 9 degrees of Libra.
- Night chart, from the Moon to 3 Taurus: Ascendant 190 + 3 Taurus, which is 33 - Moon 65 = 158, which is 8 degrees of Virgo.
When the light is near its exaltation
When the Sun of a day chart stands close to 19 degrees of Aries, the arc is small and the lot falls close to the Ascendant itself. In the worked example the Sun is one degree past its exaltation, so the arc runs almost the whole way round and the lot lands just before the Ascendant. The lot measures a distance, not a dignity: it says nothing about whether the Sun is actually exalted in the chart.
The story behind Lot of Exaltation
The formula is given by Vettius Valens in the second century. It is not in the Almanac's library and is given in its usual modern form; the exaltation degrees themselves, 19 Aries for the Sun and 3 Taurus for the Moon, are in Abu Ma'shar and al-Qabisi, which the library does hold.
Lot of Exaltation in astrology
The lot uses only the light that leads the chart, the Sun by day and the Moon by night.
Lot of Exaltation in practice: an example
In the worked example, a day chart with the Sun at 20 degrees of Aries, the Sun has just passed its exaltation degree, and the Lot of Exaltation falls at 9 degrees of Libra.
Sources and editorial method
This entry summarizes the tradition in the Almanac's own words; where no source is listed, it is an editorial summary rather than a primary text, and symbolic readings are named as the tradition's, not as fact.
- Source
- The Great Almanac Dictionary
- Category
- Astrology
- Aliases
- part of exaltation, lot of honor, exaltation lot astrology
- Last updated
- 2026-09-26
See Lot of Exaltation in your personal almanac
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Related terms
More in Astrology
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- Quadruplicity
- Splay Chart Shape
- Zodiacal Aphesis
- Besiegement
- Cradle Aspect
- Enclosure
- Hayz
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Common questions
What is the Lot of Exaltation?
The Lot of Exaltation is a calculated point found by day from the Sun to 19 degrees of Aries and by night from the Moon to 3 degrees of Taurus, the degrees where each light is exalted, laid off from the Ascendant, and read for rank and recognition.
Why 19 Aries and 3 Taurus?
They are the exaltation degrees the old textbooks give the Sun and the Moon.
What does the Lot of Exaltation mean?
The old authors read it for rank, standing and recognition. The Almanac reads it as a topic, never as a promise of status.
