Almuten Figuris calculation

By Eric Purdue
Aug 10, 2014

Almutens in medieval astrology is where you assign a ruling planet for a certain
degree based on a point value. For the purpose of illustrating this, we will begin with a
simple almuten for a single degree. One common application of this was to find the “true”
ruler for a house cusp. This ruler or almuten may or may not be the sign ruler.
At some point in the medieval Arabic period essential dignities were assigned point
values:
Ruler 5
Exaltation 4
Triplicity 3
Term or Bounds 2
Decan 1

Here is an essential dignities chart using Egyptian terms and Dorothean triplicities:

Notes about the table:

• In the bounds column, the number next to each planet represents the LAST degree
for that bound. For instance the first bound of Aries is Jupiter from 0.01’ Aries to 6.
The next bound is Venus at 6.01’ to 12, and so on.
• Decans are 10 degree divisions. For instance the first decan of Aries is Mars from
0.01 Aries to 10, the next is the Sun from 10.01 to 20, and so on.
The basic idea is to add up ALL the points for ALL of the dignities for that degree. The
planet with the most points is the almuten. Ignore fall and detriment. It isn’t clear from
sources whether you add three points for all three triplicity lords. Robert Zoller used all
three, but I have found in my practice that my results seem to be more consistent using the
sect triplicity ruler (day ruler for a diurnal chart, night for nocturnal).

Here’s an example:

Take a certain degree. For example, let’s say a particular house cusp is a day chart at 5 Aries.
Here is a chart showing the almuten for that degree:

Planet W V U Q T S R
Points 2 5, 1 4, 3
Totals 2 6 7

Give Mars 5 points since it is the ruler of Aries. The Sun gets 4 points as exaltation ruler, the
Sun gets another 3 points as triplicity ruler for a diurnal chart, Jupiter gets 2 as bound ruler,
and Mars gets one more point as decan ruler.

Here is the same table giving three points to each triplicity ruler:

Planet W V U Q T S R
Points 3 2, 3 5, 1 4, 3
Totals 3 5 6 7

In this example the almuten is the same.

So here, although Mars rules Aries, the Sun will have a greater testimony in this particular
degree.

Compound almutens
This brings us to the Almuten Figuris.

The Almuten Figuris is a compound almuten, which means you take the almutens for several
degrees and add them together to find the almuten for all of the combined degrees together.

The Almuten Figuris starts by including the degrees for the 5 hylegical points, which are
points in the chart that are required for life. These are:

• The degree for the Sun

• The Moon
• Part of Fortune
• The Ascendant
• The pre-natal lunation (sometimes called the SAN or syzygy ante-nativitatem)
In addition it adds the following point values:

• 7 points for the planetary ruler of the day

• 6 points to the planetary ruler of the hour
• 1-12 points for the houses each of the planets are placed in. These are also called
accidental placements.

Here is a table for the accidental placements:

One thing about house placements: if using quadrant houses, make sure to use the “5 degree
rule”. If a planet is less than 5 degrees away from the next house cusp, consider the planet to
be in that house.

Example:

We’ll use William Burroughs’ chart as an example. This is a diurnal chart and I’m using
Alchabitius houses.
It’s easiest to make a table as below. I’ve added the appropriate point values.

W V U Q T S R
Q 15K56 5, 3 2 1
R 10C08 3 2 1 5
Asc 27K20 5, 3, 2 1
I21C32 3 2 1 5
SAN 5K29 5, 3 1 2
Acc Dig 9 2 7 2 2 12 9
Day 7
Hour 6
Totals 41 19 10 3 3 25 10

Notes:

• In this example there are only two signs represented – Aquarius and Gemini. Neither
have exalted rulers.
 • The Moon and Mercury are within 5 degrees of the following house cusp, so they fall
in the next house. The Moon is posited in the 3rd but counted as the 4th, and
Mercury is posited in the 12th and counted as the 1st.
• I have astrology software to calculate the day and hour rulers. In this case, both are
Jupiter.

In this chart, Saturn is the Almuten Figuris by a long shot.