Refrenation

latin: refrenatio

Definition

Refrenation is the horary doctrine describing the configuration in which planet A is applying toward an aspect with planet B, but before A can perfect the aspect, A turns retrograde and pulls back. The joining is broken; the aspect is never completed. The matter signified by the would-be perfection is denied or aborted before fruition.

In Tradition

In the Arabic-Latin horary tradition, refrenation is one of the standard ways a promising aspect can fail to perfect. Bonatti enumerates it under the Six Basic Terms of aspect formation in *Liber Astronomiae* Tractatus III, with Hand's translation defining it as 'A is joining toward B, but before A can perform an aspect, A turns retrograde. The joining is broken and the aspect is not perfected.' It is paired with prohibition and abscission as the canonical aspect-blockers in horary judgment.

In Practice

Horary practitioners track refrenation when a chart shows the significators in applying aspect but without perfection. The procedure: identify the two relevant significators (usually the Lord of the Ascendant and the Lord of the quesited house, or the Moon and the next applied planet). Compute whether the applying planet will turn retrograde before reaching exact aspect — most reliably by inspecting the ephemeris for the date the applying planet stations. If retrogradation occurs before exactitude, the aspect refrenes and the matter is judged not to come about. Refrenation is distinguished from related blockers: prohibition involves a third planet completing an aspect first; abscission involves the faster planet's light being cut off by a faster aspect; eviratio involves the receiving planet turning retrograde and joining the applying planet from behind. Bonatti's worked enumeration treats each blocker as a separate case requiring its own ephemeris-check.

Historical Origin

Refrenation is medieval Arabic-Latin in canonical form, transmitted through Sahl ibn Bishr and Masha'allah and worked into systematic form by Bonatti in *Liber Astronomiae* Tractatus III (13th c.), where it appears both under the Six Basic Terms of Part I and within the Different Kinds of Joining typology of Part II. Hand's Project Hindsight translation (Vol XI, 1995) preserves the technical vocabulary. The doctrine reaches Lilly's *Christian Astrology* (1647) where it remains a standard horary impediment.

Etymology

Origin: Latin. Meaning: Drawing back; restraint.

Further Reading