A Rare Triple Cazimi in Pisces
Saturn and Mercury are closing out their cycles in a fiery conjunction this week, and the hidden misery of our status quo might burn up with them.
What is happening?!
One massive transit will be affecting life on earth from 2.27 - 3.3; a major transit that, I suspect, has already been affecting us collectively in stunning, tragic capacity. Beginning on Wednesday, 2.28.24, Mercury and Saturn will meet in a three-way cazimi, a rare astrological event that is far less sexy than it sounds, and that has intense implications for our collective and individual experience this week.
A cazimi is an exceptionally fancy word for a conjunction with the sun, and a conjunction is a regularly fancy word for 2 or more celestial bodies passing through the same zodiacal sign. In this instance, Mercury and Saturn meet the sun in Pisces, the thoughtful, emotionally mature grandmother-fish of the zodiac who closes out our astrological journey with winter, release, and empathy.
Pisces is the water sign in charge of heavy shit, and a stellium in this esoteric aquarium means a bunch of that weighty crap is, in fact, being thrown at us, and will continue to fly at us throughout this weekend and into next week. (You know, because everything has felt so light-hearted, lately. Light-hearted as an anvil.) The cazimi themes of fire, burning, and ash have shown up in our communal forms of communication, in news coverage, and most horrifyingly, in stunning acts of individual protest, all of which seem to coalesce around themes of endings, revisions, upheaval, and yes, death.
We will probably continue to experience visceral examples of expiration; old ideas loudly proving how painfully narrow and outdated they have become. Endings of various kinds could dominate publicly and privately, involving anything from relationships to employment to personal belief systems; the common denominator, regardless of how we all experience this cazimi, is that something is flaming out in a painful, long-overdue manner, and the subsequent excision of this thing from our lives could make us feel simultaneously bereft and relieved.
This moment is a metaphysical and social equivalent of finally throwing your ex’s shit into a bonfire, months after the actual break-up; yes, you liked to wear that concert t-shirt they gave you, but you are also really, really ready to be done with anything that remotely reminds you of them because they were ultimately an unhealthy asshole. So the tee goes up in flames.
Why would this affect me?
Unless you have been of late exploring technology-free cave living, (and if you have been able to retreat to a cave, please email me the rent and security deposit details) remaining blissfully ignorant regarding socio-political global events has been difficult. The fire aspect of this cazimi is making itself known in acts of protest as well as random weather and climate events, and the impact of both our communicator planet and our authority planet symbolically burning could be both melancholic and punishing.
Cazimis on their own are not harbingers of distress - in fact, cazimis often bring increased vibrance and clarity to situations that may lack such things. The word ‘cazimi’ translates to “heart of the sun”, and indicates that a planetary archetype, as well as the areas of our lives under the rulership of said planet, will undergo amplification and purification when thrust into the lava-filled diameter of our one, volcanic super star.
The concept making this triple cazimi more of a bummer than other conjunctions of the recent past has to do with something called the synodic cycle, a movement pattern in which every planet engages. Basically, a synodic cycle is the orbit of a planet relative to the sun from our viewpoint here on Earth, i.e., the difference between a planet looking like it is ‘rising’ versus a planet that looks like it is ‘setting’. In most ancient mythology, rising is equated with birthing and setting with death, so when a planet or object is setting, the topics ruled by said planet may also be experiencing some form of death, ending, or maturing.
A brief refresher on the major players:
Mercury/Hermes - This flighty, gender-fluid information deity likes to poke holes in arguments and challenge the status quo. Hates going over to the house of Pisces because it’s slow, boring, and people cry a lot there.
Sun/Apollo/Helios - Big, blonde, flaming pretty boy who represents the ideal self and takes all the air out of every room he’s ever in. Truly. He loves being in every zodiacal sign and always has a good time, because of course he does.
Saturn/Kronos - Taskmaster, time-keeper, and authority figure who also really hates being in the house of Pisces because there are no rules and it smells like weed. This is your scary Grandpa who is always proven right and he’s a huge dick about it. Ate his own kids to maintain power.
House/Sign of Pisces - Full of very pleasant stoners, artists, and serial procrastinators who always seem to be hugging someone, this house also includes people that have seen some shit, and emerged from the experience changed, or ‘touched’ in some metaphysical way.
So - fearsome Saturn, our problematic zaddy who teaches us about consequences, earned wisdom, and the necessity of failure, is burning out and ‘dying’ in Pisces, a sign that lacks for neither maturity nor melancholy. The sun is amplifying this heaviness - lighting it on fire, almost as a signal to the great beyond that something important can be gleaned from tragedy. Mercury (also in Pisces) will speed toward their synodic ‘death’, resonating with the strains of terse arguments, whispered fantasies, and final goodbyes. When our god of communication and our god of ultimatums meet at around 9 degrees, an important certainty descends upon us. It may be that something fraught is finally over, or that an unsavory suspicion confirms itself to be true. Beware of extreme beliefs solidifying, like refusing to hire anyone named Brittany because the last Brittany ate other people’s lunches. Just because last Brittany was a bitch doesn’t mean all Brittanys are bitches! And just because this hurts doesn’t mean it isn’t useful. We’ll likely feel raw at the outcome, but it will refine both our intention and our process as we internalize this truth.
When do I have to deal with this?
Unfortunately, we could be feeling this from 2.28 up through 3.3, collectively or quietly. For the quiet among us, we may simply feel withdrawn and mournful, unrelated to any particular one thing. Louder moments could include things like closures, unexpected announcements, changing of leadership, or public firings. Do not lose sight of the fact that Saturn and Mercury are the teachers of the universe; they are forging us into wiser versions of ourselves.
Cool, what does the Tarot say about this?
We may have begun the week relying on logic to navigate certain conflicts while simultaneously avoiding or ignoring things that are spiritually or emotionally important, according to the one/two punch of the King of Swords and Judgement reversed. We can only hide from our feelings for so long before they force their way into the conversation.
We are engulfed in a modern trend of small, compartmentalized thinking that leads to the rank materialism of the Queen of Pentacles reversed. The dichotomy that people refuse to release is simply not real, and we do not automatically win when other people lose.
Unbound From Lost Love asks us to wade through the past a bit and examine our behavior - if it passes muster, then we can sleep soundly in the knowledge that our decision was the right one. Sometimes endings need to be talked out.
We are either a bully, or the bullied, later in the week, but Strength reversed becomes clearer when we examine the reasons behind the reasons; bullies are always cowards. The decisions causing annoyance, pain, anxiety, and despair are increasingly revealed to be due to fear and insecurity. This revelation could massively transform how we deal with these external forces - in fact, intellectualizing some of our recent frustrations leads to unexpected joy and contentment once Saturday hits. Gathering with friends or family reminds us of what we still have, materially, emotionally, and spiritually, and the powerful combination of the 10 of Pentacles and the 3 of Cups indicates that we may actually see gains in these areas, as long as we are willing to extend ourselves.
By Sunday, the mature influence of the King of Cups wades into the fray and reminds us that empathy and diplomacy can still achieve things, and the past week doesn’t need to strip such things from us. Without empathy, even for our opposition, what are we even doing here?
Visit @alectochaos on IG for the full, wordy breakdown of each card. If you are into that sort of thing.
I will be doing readings at Ghost Gallery from 3 - 7pm on 3.2.24, where you can also find these cosmic prints from Alaskan artist Counsel Langley. Is it Chaos? Ouranos? the Big Bang? Whatever our tiny human minds can comprehend as the beginning of experience, it is beautiful. Visit ghostgallery.org to soothe yourself with cool cosmic art, or contact me at info@alectochaos.com to schedule a reading.
Definitely had my share of goodbyes last night.
♥️