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accepted my proposal, but on the morning of the wedding she comes to her senses and runs away. No matter how close the planets get, if they do not perfect, the event will not happen. A planet turning retrograde usually shows that person changing their mind.

NB: all these points work by conjunction and all aspects. When you read Lilly's description of them and find him speaking of 'corporeal aspects', he means aspects that are body to body in contrast to those that are only orb to orb, i.e. he means that the aspects must be exact. 'Corporeal aspect' does not mean conjunc- non.

Don't get stressed about these technical terms. All we are saying here is, 'Either we can join our significators in a plausible fashion, or we can't'. The context is the key. The chart is giving us a picture of the situation: if the connec- tion in the chart makes sense in the life, it will work. The touchstone always is 'What makes sense in context?'

Preventions do not always prevent. Consider the example above, where my collision with Lord 6 shows my falling ill and so not going on the date. Perhaps I collide with Lord 6, but dose myself with remedies and go on the date anyway. Whether the prevention stops the event or not depends on three factors:

* the strength of the various planets

* the receptions

* the context. Or, in other words, common sense.

How strong are the planets? If I am strong and the illness is weak, I may well be able to shrug it off. Is the prevented planet strong enough to overcome the prevention?

What are the receptions? The receptions show attitude, and so they show how much the prevented planet wants to overcome the obstruction. Am I crazy with love for my date, or am I going out with her only because I've nothing better to do? The more the planet wants to perfect the aspect, the more it will strive to overcome the prevention.

What is the situation? It is always helpful if we can identify what the prevent- ing planet shows, although this is not always possible. Do this by looking at the houses it rules and then bouncing possibilities off the querent to find one that seems likely. The more we understand the situation, the more we can tell if the prevention will hold or not. Example: boy goes to meet girl. Is their date ten

minutes in a coffee-shop or a romantic evening on which he has already invested large amounts of time and money? The illness shown by Lord 6 might prevent the former even if it were only mild, but would need to be far stronger to prevent the latter.

Especially in long-term questions, aspects that would otherwise prevent can be regarded as events happening along the way, but which are not obstacles. So in a general enquiry of 'When will I die?' this encounter with Lord 6 could show a bout of illness, but it will not prevent me dying at some point.

The more we are able to understand the situation, which we can do by a careful analysis of the chart, the more we can suggest ways of circumventing preventions. Here horary goes beyond the merely predictive. 'Yes, she's longing for you to propose; but you'll need to act fast because she's getting tired of waiting and there's this other guy who's keen on her'. 'Yes, you will get the job. Don't let being ill stop you going to the interview.'

Bonatti says that a conjunction cannot be prohibited by an aspect.23 _It demonstrably can, but a conjunction is certainly more likely to be able to

overcome the prohibition. As discussed above, consider the planets' strengths and receptions, together with the reality of the situation, to decide whether the prohibition will prohibit.

The Moon's aspects rarely prohibit, unless it is ruling a house which would make sense of the prohibition. If Capricorn rises in the chart for 'Will I get the job?' Cancer will be on the 7th cusp, so the Moon will signify my rivals for the job. If the Moon prohibits an aspect between Lord I and Lord 10, then, this prohibition would make sense: my rival gets the job.

Note that a benefic can prohibit as much as a malefic. 'Will I get the job?' My planet is going towards the job's planet, but a strong Jupiter gets in the way. By analysing the chart I see that this means I win the lottery. This is very nice, but it still prevents me getting the job.

You may have noticed that prohibition and translation oflight can look much the same. Which is which will be shown by the context and the receptions. Consider: I am in the schoolyard, longing for the glamorous Nancy. I ask my friend to go and tell her that I am pining for her. He walks across the yardtoher. But does he give her my message, thus translating light from me to her, or does he chat her up himself, thus prohibiting my aspect to her? His physical action of walking across the yard is exactly the same in either case. Look at his planet and

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