Arabic Parts Calculator

Arabic Parts Calculator - v1.1

By Paul Vachier




This is a calculator I built for determining Arabic Parts in astrological calculations. The Arabic Parts (sometimes referred to as "Lots") have a pretty long and important history in astrology, stretching at least until ancient Greek times. In more modern days their influence has waned a bit, but their peak of development occured during the Muslim scientific rennaisance of the early middle ages, hence their name. On of their greatest proponents was Al Biruni, a mathematician, astronomer and scholar, who lived in the 11th century. He listed a total of 97 Arabic Parts, which at the time were widely used for astrological consultations. All of the Arabic Parts consist of mathematical calculations of planetary positions (usually 3 planets) which speak to specific areas of interest in the human chart. Examining these Parts enables astrologers to gain further insight into the "inner" meaning of the personal horoscope, going beyond the "outer" evaluations indicated by the arrangement of the planets, signs and houses.

The science behind Arabic Parts is based upon the numerical relationships between points within the horoscope. While there are many parts, the best known today is the Part of Fortune (Pars Fortuna in Latin), due to its involvement of the Sun and Moon (the primary planets reflecting the psyche of the individual). Many other Parts, however, are distinctly useful in predictive astrology and are increasingly used by modern astrologers who are rediscovering this ancient and precise science. One of the drawbacks of working with Parts has always been the need to do tedious mathematical calculations - but no more! This calculator enables you to easily calculate a vast listing of Arabic parts, provided you have access to the respective planetary positions in degrees and minutes.

Abu Arrayhan Muhammad
ibn Ahmad al-Biruni


Part:
Personal Point + Significator - Trigger = Arabic Part
Sign:
Deg./Min.
d m
d m
d m
d m

Instructions:

  1. Select an Arabic Part from the pull-down menu. Each part is composed of a 3-part formula consisting of a Personal Point (usually the Ascendant), a Significator and a Trigger.
  2. Enter the sign, degree and minute (optional) for each part of the formula by looking them up in the natal chart for the person in question. Some formulas listed here have both an AM and PM version. The PM version is a reverse of the AM version and when indicated, persons born in the daytime (Sun in 7th - 12th houses) should use the AM formula while persons born in the evening (Sun in 1st - 6th houses) should use the PM formula. Sometimes it's best to try both formulas.
  3. Press the "Find Arabic Part" button to view the Arabic Part. The result is a point on the chart listed as degrees and minutes of a particular sign.

Now what?? Let's say you run the Part of Marriage and end up with a part equivalent to 10 deg, 18min of Libra. Since the Part of Marriage relates to all matters dealing with marriage, you could use this as a starting point to examine a host of marriage related questions for an individual. Beginning astrologers can lookup the meaning of Libra and see that it is indeed a sign well-suited to marriage and partnerships in general (as opposed to say, Aries, which is more of a loner-type sign). Advanced astrologers can use the degrees and minutes to cast comparison and composite charts of individuals and events against the parts data to acheive highly informative results. For example, an excellent day to get married would be a day in which favorable aspects are made to the natal Part of Marriage. Or an excellent partner would be someone whose Part of Marriage makes favorable aspects to that of his/her partner.

Note: this calculator will NOT work in Netscape Navigator 4 or earlier browsers, we recommend using more recent browsers such as Firefox/Mozilla, Opera or Internet Explorer 4+.




Please send feedback on this calculator to: . Be sure to also try the Midpoint calculator or the Coin Flipper if you're just looking for a simple yes or no answer to a question.

More online information about Arabic Parts:
Arabic Parts more info
Arabic Parts on Wikipedia
Calculating Parts when the ascendant isn't known
Large listing of Arabic Parts and their formulas
The Arabic Parts in Astrology: A Lost Key to Prediction - Robert Zoller (book)
Another online calculator for Arabic Parts