Let’s discuss THAT cazimi.
In a very Scorpio Venus retrograde cazimi twist, those of us of a Twitch-fluent persuasion awoke or fell asleep to news that a certain notorious, loud, litigious, extremely online American genocide-defender cheated on, and was subsequently publicly dumped, by his IOF soldier-wife. This public figure (let’s call him EK) reposted social media updates by his wife and life/business partner of 20 years, mother of his three kids (let’s call her HK). The updates revealed that EK had surreptitiously engaged in a half-year-long affair, rumoured to be with a member of their production team, a fan reportedly 15 years younger than EK.
This all took place during the weekend of the Scorpio Venus retrograde cazimi. Venus retrogrades in the same sign every eight years, which speaks to the momentousness of this transit. Venus in Scorpio is Venus in its detriment, opposite the safety of her home sign. In Scorpio, Venus can struggle with insecure attachment, trust issues, paranoia and validation seeking. To be clear having this Venus placement natally doesn’t mean your love life will be rocky in these same ways: I would delineate a client’s relationship patterns in relation to the seventh house, its ruler and relevant aspects, and current trends based on transits, rather than the Venus placement alone.
When a planet is at the exact same degree as the sun, and within roughly 17 minutes of arc according to some astrologers, this is called a cazimi. “Cazimi” means a planet is at the heart of the sun. In classical Western astrology, a planet being within 15 degrees of the sun is under the beams, and much closer than this, a planet is combust. Both conditions are forms of closeness to the sun where their power is reduced because of the overwhelming proximity to the sun’s light and heat. However when a planet is at the same degree as the sun, in a special conjunction known as the cazimi, the planet’s impact becomes amplified. Think of a stack of guitar amplifiers boosting that signal so it’s unmissable. The sun is a visibility-desiring entity while Venus governs relating, civility, culture, pleasure and aesthetics. A detriment Venus in cazimi magnifies that which is not working in these areas by a hundredfold.
Below is EK’s chart based off a publicly available birth time:
Profections: The Timing of the Affair
Born in Cancer season 1985, EK is currently 41 years old. He has just entered a sixth house profection year. The affair supposedly commenced six months ago, which would have occurred during the last months of his being in a fifth house profection year. If you’re new to the concept, profections are a Hellenistic timing technique where a house, its ruler and its themes, become more pronounced in your life based on your age. All 41-year-olds are in a sixth house profection year, and all 40-year-olds are in a fifth house profection year, making those houses and their rulers more impactful—this is why some years of your life feel more tethered to certain themes than others, e.g., people moving house during a fourth house profection.
At the time of the reported affair EK was 40 and in a fifth house profection year. The fifth house is associated with sex, dating, bodily pleasure and play. EK’s fifth house is Aquarius ruled by his natal Saturn retrograde in Scorpio. At that point, transiting Pluto in Aquarius in the fifth house of sex was separating from a square to his natal Pluto retrograde in Scorpio (Pluto = deep long-term transformation often in relation to ruthlessness, corruption and long-running issues rumbling beneath the surface). Astrologically the timing tracks with how HK describes the duration of the affair. Transiting Saturn in Aries (Saturn rules his fifth house) is in the seventh house of long-term relationships and in the sign of its fall, and is separating from a conjunction with a domicile Aries Mars. This can be literally interpreted as “A fifth house encounter signals a downfall in the seventh house, leading to an ending.” The affair, discovered and confirmed after EK’s persistent denials, resulted in HK publicly announcing a romantic separation and the end of their business partnership.
EK’s birth chart (inner wheel) with transits at the time the alleged affair began (outer wheel)
Fast forward to six months later. EK is now 41 and in a sixth house profection year. The sixth house is the daily grind, classically associated with slavery, contemporarily linked to the workplace, rituals and routines, and states of ill health. His sixth house is Pisces ruled by Jupiter. His natal Jupiter is in the fifth house (sex linked with the workplace, previously with HK his wife/business partner, now with his new junior staff member). Transiting Jupiter is in Leo in the eleventh house. Jupiter in the eleventh house is favourable, and if evaluated separately from the rest of the sky you’d think this should be an awesome sixth house year for him.
EK’s birth chart (inside) and the Venus cazimi in Scorpio (outer wheel)
Venus Cazimi and EK’s Libra Rising
But look at his Ascendant. EK was born with Libra Rising, with his Ascendant Ruler Venus in Taurus in the eighth house of resources shared with a partner. Just looking at the natal placement, this seems to be a promising placement: Venus in Taurus is Venus at home, a Venus that cherishes stability, slow and steady growth, material abundance, and safety. The eighth house is a dark house, classically linked with death but also associated with the economic benefits of partnership. With Venus in Taurus here conjoined with the north node (a moon-led chart point with an embiggening effect), ruling his Ascendant, steering his chart, there are shared investments with a partner that prove fruitful (I’ve heard the business they built together is worth well over a million USD).
However his chart ruler Venus is currently in Scorpio, retrograde, cazimi, and opposite the house of his otherwise dignified natal Venus. The illicit affair that began during the fifth house profection year has now come to light. The sun has just entered Scorpio, the cazimi with Venus is its first aspect: the repeatedly denied affair is now undeniably in the very public limelight, screenshotted, viral, generating several hours’ worth of reaction videos by the many public figures EK harassed through various deployments of lawfare. This cazimi is conjunct his natal Pluto in Scorpio: what’s buried is now impossible to cover up.
Transiting Mars in Leo in the eleventh house opposes EK’s natal Jupiter in Aquarius in the fifth. The eleventh house is about hopes and wishes, social and public good, community based on shared values and enthusiasms, industry and impact. After the news of the affair broke, EK’s crew put out a statement supporting HK, withdrawing from their roles. EK’s fanbase expressed shock and horror and vocally sided with HK. As many have pointed out, the crew and fans were willing to overlook EK’s very public anti-Palestinian racism but drew the line at him cheating on his genocide-approving wife.
EK’s Cancer Sun in the Tenth House
I could go on but in closing, let’s look at his Cancer tenth house where his sun is. The tenth house is the house of status, reputation, public selfhood. The sun in Cancer in the tenth suggests prestige and esteem of a more lunar nature: not so much shining through his skill, charisma or personal charms alone, but expressing his light through his relationships. The moon, which rules Cancer, is a luminary that catches and reflects the light of the other, a receiver and a mirror, a vessel for others’ expression. His public identity and portfolio of work are inseparable from his past and present collaborators, his friendships and enemies. This is why if you look at the Cancer suns in your life, they are often buoyed by their closely knit networks; they’re not always the most interesting, attractive or talented people (though some certainly are!) but they know how to build and cultivate intense loyalties. Cancer-led houses, like the other water houses are relationship-based.
EK’s Cancer tenth house is ruled by the Libra Moon in the first house. His public life is inextricably bound to his character, his choices, and how he is received by the world. The Libra Moon separates from a square to the sun, suggesting tension between his solar and lunar expression. While the Cancer Sun presents as family-orientated and sensitive, the Libra Moon (the sign where the sun falls) is indecisive and non-committal. His Natal Mars is in Cancer in the tenth house, quite close to the Midheaven. Mars in Cancer is fallen, prone to defensiveness, self-pity, struggles with emotional regulation, tantrums, and a vain need to be coddled. Near the Midheaven, these Mars traits are expressed in his public professional life. Born in the daytime, EK’s Mars is the out-of-sect malefic so we’re prone to see the more challenging expressions of this already undignified Mars placement. Cheating on his business partner/wife (while sporting a tattoo of her face on his body) suggests he sought to fulfil his Mars in Cancer needs through his “emotional affair” with a much younger, adoring female employee to soothe his disappointment in how more prominent Internet personalities aren’t bending their principles to accommodate his Zionist feelings. This Mondoweiss in-depth in-conversation video illuminates the peculiar phenomenon of Zionist feelings.
To be clear, the point of the essay is NOT “the astrology made him do it.” The astrology reflects what took place but does not replace his agency or judgment. EK and all parties involved are responsible for their choices—whether the choice was to be unfaithful to a partner of 20 years, to be a genocide apologist, and to viciously and relentlessly attack those speaking up for justice for Palestinians.
The Moon is in Aries (EK’s seventh house, opposite his natal Moon) as I write this. In this week’s incoming Full Moon in Taurus in EK’s eighth house, transiting Venus will have retrograded into Libra, EK’s first house. It will be interesting to see if further news about this matter emerges at that time. May the children, who did not choose this madness but are inevitably marked by it, find a pathway into a future independent of the fuckery.
In more important and less widely covered news, Gaza is still under attack and Palestinians are still getting killed and injured by Israeli strikes despite a supposed ceasefire and Hebron in the West Bank is under siege. International journalists in the West Bank are being arrested, detained and deported for reporting on the olive tree harvest.
Discuss your cazimi experience or anything else in a 1:1 birth chart reading with me
