Cazimi

Cazimi (from the Arabic term meaning "in the heart") describes the rare and privileged condition of a planet located within 17 arc-minutes — less than one-third of a degree — of the Sun's exact position. William Lilly (Christian Astrology, 1647) described cazimi as the strongest positive solar condition for a planet: rather than being burned and weakened by proximity to the Sun (as in combustion), a cazimi planet is said to be fortified and protected, sitting at the very center of the Sun's power. Lilly distinguished this sharply from combustion: a planet combust is weakened by the Sun's overwhelming light; a planet cazimi is empowered by it, as if seated on the throne alongside the king. The Arabic tradition that Lilly drew on (Al-Biruni, Book of Instruction in the Elements of the Art of Astrology, 1029 CE) established this 17-minute boundary as the limit within which the planet merges its nature with solar energy rather than being subsumed by it. In horary practice, cazimi was treated as the strongest possible fortification for a planet's testimony. In natal astrology, a cazimi planet is considered to have its essential nature maximally concentrated and elevated through solar fusion. The phenomenon is brief: because the Sun moves approximately one degree per day, cazimi lasts only about 34 minutes of clock time for a given location. Mercury and Venus, as inner planets, experience cazimi most frequently due to their proximity to the Sun.