February brings Valentine’s Day and with it such existential questions as, “why is the day honoring romantic love smack dab in the midst of cool and (abstractly) calculating Aquarius season?”
Well, at least that’s my existentially astrological Valentine’s Day question; other people’s questions are usually about the state of affairs in their romantic lives (or the state of their literal affairs, as the case may be).
Whatever your current relationship status, Valentine’s Day usually brings with it some sort of reflection on relationships in our lives.
Why am I still single? Is this the one? Am I getting in over my head? Can we regain our spark? Is this relationship over? Why do I always fall for hot dummies?
Whatever the specifics of your love life currently, there’s nothing like the societal pressure of a date night — with everyone else in the world in attendance — to spark an aquarian bout of ruminative overthinking. (With Mercury recently entered into Aquarius, no less.)
Of course, astrology offers many insights into how relationships play out in our lives. We can analyze the placement of Venus in a natal chart, or what the seventh house of relationships has to say, or the fifth house of romance and pleasure, about our partners and proclivities.
There are many techniques related to synastry — how two natal charts interact — as well as ways to incorporate transits, progressions, composite charts, and more to unpack the topic of relationships in a person’s life.
Yet there is one key relationship indicator that is often underutilized by astrologers, in my opinion, unless they have studied ancient astrology: the Lot of Eros.
Lots to Learn About Love
The Lot of Eros is one of the so-called hermetic lots from ancient Hellenistic astrology. Basically, lots are points in the natal chart derived by taking the distance between two planets (or other points in the chart) and then projecting them out from the Ascendant (rising sign). Because they are connected to the degree of the Ascendant, which changes almost by the minute, lots are highly personalized points.
The Lot of Eros is derived by determining the distance between Venus and the Lot of Spirit and projecting out from the Ascendant. (You can calculate the Lot of Eros here.)
The lots are a key part of the Hellenistic technique of zodaical releasing, which breaks down a person’s life into chapters of years, months, and days with various qualities, providing a bird’s eye view of a life. Using this technique from the Lot of Eros can yield an overview of how relationships are experienced in a person’s entire life.
But beyond zodaical releasing, I’ve found the Lot of Eros to be a sort of shortcut into the heart of a person’s relationship journey as represented in a natal chart. While we can glean much important information from the relationship indicators described above, the Lot of Eros has a way of cutting through the noise and getting to the heart of, well, eros in a person’s life.
Mischievous Eros
In mythology, Eros was, of course, the son of Aphrodite, goddess of love, and Ares, god of war. He was the fruit of what we might call an affair, since Aphrodite was technically married to Hephaestus, the blacksmith god. As such, Eros symbolizes erotic love.
Recall that Eros, often portrayed in ancient art as a cherubic young boy or a handsome youth, was always causing trouble with his pesky arrows of love, shooting them into unsuspecting hearts and leaving romantic mayhem in his wake.
Eros, as it happens, has a way of shaking up things in our lives: stable marriages, reputation, jobs, money, parenthood, conceptions of self (indeed, many of the core topics of life as represented by the houses in a natal chart).
Eros can sneak up on us and upend everything, as anyone who’s ever fallen in love knows.
Yet, paradoxically, our lives are defined, in many ways, by the decisions we make while under the influence of Eros, from who we marry (or don’t), who we have children with (or don’t), to (sometimes) where we live and what we do (or don’t — how many times have you heard someone lamenting a path not taken because of a romantic relationship?).
Happy Eros/ Challenged Eros
Analyzing the Lot of Eros in a natal chart can provide insight into how romantic love plays out for the chart native.
I look at how the Lot of Eros is situated by sign and house using a traditional framework (good house vs. challenging houses, for example) to get an idea of how this topic manifests in the person’s life.
Examining the ruler of the Lot of Eros and its position in the chart draws in more information and often other topics in the chart.
Finally, looking at the aspects the Lot of Eros makes with other planets in the chart, even by whole sign, helps to see what connections are made with other areas of life and whether these are experienced as positive or challenging.
A Missing Piece of the Puzzle
In my experience, the Lot of Eros can provide answers to some relationship puzzles of the natal chart.
Why does one person, with Venus and Mars in fire signs, find themselves drawn to quiet, intense water signs, including their long-term partner? It turns out that their Lot of Eros is in one of these water signs, conjunct their partner’s stellium, making this the type of person they’re continually drawn to romantically, even as other relationship indicators suggest other types.
Sometimes the Lot of Eros shares the same sign as the Lot of Spirit, which describes our purpose in life and often correlates with activities in which we feel a calling. In this situation, romantic love can become part of a life’s work, in which we often see romantic and professional lives proceed on a similar track or timeline.
So, while it’s important to take into consideration a range of indicators when considering the question of relationships in a natal chart, the Lot of Eros provides special insight into these matters in a way that is often surprising.