From my Postbag 1 – The Part of Fortune
Q: What exactly is the Part of Fortune and what does it signify?
A: It is an Arabian Part calculation, based on the geometric angle between the Sun and the Moon; placing the Sun on the Ascendant, where the Moon would be is where you find the Part of Fortune.
Traditionally, it is your Pot of Gold at the end of the Rainbow.
Martin Schulman in “Joy and the Part of Fortune” says it is where you find your Joy, and you usually find it around the middle of life. His book was twice in my life lifted from me, and finally I recently bought a second hand copy from the internet – it is currently out of print.
My own interpretation is that it is the refining of one’s philosophy of life that you build up through life and gets you by, but at the same time is a subtle joie de vivre or joy of existence which you can catch sometimes, like a bubble, spontaneously and sometimes out of dimension. I see it as the zest of life, and it can also point to talents which can become a career doing what you love to do.
A friend of mine has the Part of Fortune exactly on her Midheaven (Careerpoint) and a sustaining feature of her life has been using her talents in competitions, regularly winning holidays and household goods using her amazing facility for writing slogans.
The actress Jennifer Aniston has her Part of Fortune exactly on the cusp between her 10th House of Career and 11th House of Friendships and Groups, and her big breakthrough as an actress came through a television show named “Friends”.
The Part of Fortune is a uniquely fascinating feature in Astrology. If you do not know a person’s time of birth, you can still find out which House the Part of Fortune occupies in their chart, even though the planetary House positions are a mystery. Thus it can be the only House position known in that case.
When you have a transit of a natal planet to your Part of Fortune, dramatic changes can occur in your life, often for the better, e.g. dreams can come true, long-standing problems can be lifted.
Each day the Part of Fortune makes a revolution round your chart, and at certain moments when it is transiting sensitive areas in your chart, it can produce breakthrough thoughts which help you look at life differently. However, because it has a very subtle influence, you can blink and miss it.
People born under a New Moon are “Part of Fortune” people! This is because the Part of Fortune is always to be found natally on their Ascendant, and influences their personality in a positive way – they can always start afresh on a New Moon with a new outlook, and have a useful key to living.
An example of a singer whose inspiration for songwriting is continually self-renewing is Joan Armatrading. She was born on a New Moon and has always written her own material. I went to a concert of hers a few years ago, and the atmosphere at her gig was devotional.
My own Part of Fortune is trine with my Uranus (representing Astrology), and I have spent a few days thinking about this topic, since I was asked the question. As I completed this reply, Chiron (providing a solution) was exactly sextile with the Part of Fortune. Transiting Part of Fortune is very fleeting, so I am now on to my next question…