Mercury Cazimi: 2026 Dates, Meaning, and Natal Lookup

Cazimi (from the Arabic kasmimi, 'as if in the heart') describes a planet within 17 arcminutes of the Sun. Rhetorius marked this as a special condition where the planet, rather than being burned by solar rays, is absorbed into the heart of the Sun and acts with maximum clarity and authority. It is one of the most powerful conditions in traditional astrology.

Both describe a planet near the Sun, but the orbs and meanings differ sharply. Cazimi (within 17 arcminutes) is a strengthening condition where the planet acts at full force. Combust (within roughly 8.5 degrees) is a weakening condition where the planet's significations are burnt or hidden. Under the beams (within 17 degrees) is the broader obscuring band that contains both.

Take the longitude of the planet, take the longitude of the Sun, and compute the smaller of the two angular distances between them. If the result is less than 17 arcminutes (about 0.28 degrees), the planet is cazimi. This calculator does the math for every body in your chart and classifies each into cazimi, heart of the Sun, under the beams, or clear.

Mercury cazimi happens about six times per year. Venus and Mars cazimi happen roughly twice per synodic cycle (every 18 months for Venus, every two years for Mars). Jupiter cazimi happens once per year. Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto cazimi happen once per Sun-planet synodic cycle, which lengthens with distance: Saturn yearly, Uranus once every 84 years, Neptune once every 165 years, Pluto once every 248 years.

Technically the Moon is conjunct the Sun at every new moon, which is the lunar equivalent of cazimi. However, the traditional cazimi doctrine applies to the five visible planets plus, in modern practice, the outer bodies. New moons are treated as their own category (lunation) rather than as cazimi events.

Some Hellenistic sources, notably Rhetorius, describe a band between 17 arcminutes and 1 degree from the Sun as a strengthening condition just outside cazimi. We display this as a separate 'heart of the Sun' tier so you can see when a planet is close to cazimi without quite reaching exact union.

Cazimi is generally read as strengthening regardless of the planet's natural benefic or malefic character. A cazimi Saturn is still Saturn, but its discipline, structure, and authority operate with unusual clarity. Many traditional astrologers consider cazimi malefics to be among the most consequential placements in a chart.

Calculations use NASA's ANISE/JPL ephemeris through the Augurine astro-service for arc-second precision. Cazimi orb is computed to one tenth of an arcminute. The calendar uses daily ephemeris steps and reports the closest approach within each cazimi window.

Switch to the Calendar tab on this page. It shows every upcoming cazimi event per planet over the next 12 months, sorted by date, with the exact sign, degree, and minimum orb at the moment of closest approach.

Cazimi is a Hellenistic concept and does not have a direct equivalent in classical Vedic astrology, which uses a related doctrine called combustion (asta) with different orbs and effects. Some modern Vedic astrologers do borrow the cazimi concept, particularly for Mercury, but the strict 17-arcminute Hellenistic orb is not part of the traditional Jyotish toolkit.