On Aspects - A Deeper Study - Part 2
Our drumbeat for this Quarter is the need to develop the habit of correctly measuring planetary influences. Among the factors to be measured, the relevance of a planet's influence by aspect in a horoscope is the least appreciated.

As we stated in our last lesson, a thorough analysis of aspects is arguably the most complex topic in natal astrology through the multitude of considerations that must be taken into account. The thrust of this lesson is to grasp the scope or breadth of a planet's influence by aspect. For us to be able to visualize the strength of a planet's influence by aspect, we must be able to discern the extent of its influence.

We can untangle the complexity of aspects and illuminate the obscureness created by the depth of the topic by focusing on the basic factors that comprise an aspect rather than trying to memorize the meanings of the myraid of combinations created by the different planets aspecting one another. By organizing the components that comprise an aspect under generic groupings, i.e., houses, planets, and aspect forms, we gain simplicity that in turn will give us great clarity into the topic.

When analyzing an aspect, the factors are categorized as follows:

• A planet is either the sender or the receiver of a planetary influence,
• A planet is either a benefic or malefic in nature, and is either in a good or bad zodiacal state,
• The aspect form involved is either harmonious or disharmonious, and
• An aspecting or aspected planet can be posited in a house considered fortunate or unfortunate.

This categorization reduces the complexity of two planets aspecting one another to seven variables or 7! (seven factorial). Instead of an unorganized and futile effort to study the millions of possible combinations that can exist between the 10 planets in various states when posited in different houses and sending any of the 5 major aspect forms to other planets in any of the other houses, we reduce the scope of our analysis to a manageable 128 possible combinations.

This simplification clarifies our understanding of the determination of a planet's influence by aspect. Specifically, it facilitates our ability to interpret the meaning of a particular aspect by making it easier to visualize the interaction between two planets.

Furthermore, the ability to automatically view an aspect in this manner is a basic and required skill if we want to successfully analyze more complex aspects patterns existing between 3, 4, or more planets. Lastly, this method demystifies Morin's seemingly paradoxical statement on page 78 of Astrosynthesis,

"...the same aspect can be at the same time good for one thing and bad for another".

We apply this method of analyzing aspects to the example horoscopes of (1) the comedienne Lucille Ball, (2) Jack Welch, ex-CEO of General Electric, and (3) Martha Stewart, the "Food and Good Taste guru" currently in the news and under investigation for stock market improprieties.

Sincerely,

Robert M. Corre
New York City