Mercury cazimi in Aquarius, and Full Moon in Leo: Exposing and Confronting Fraud and Theft
Mercury Cazimi is a relatively common event astrologically, happening halfway between the point where Mercury stations direct and when it stations retrograde, when Mercury is perfectly placed between Earth and Sun, or exactly behind the Sun.
Being relatively common does not make it unimportant.
Mercury is both an intermediary and a psychopomp, and as such he brings together the celestial and the chthonic; Mercury facilitates, translates, reflects, interprets and re-interprets, all in order to make a profit. Mercury is the god of language, perhaps the most powerful and dangerous tool that man has created.
Above all other gods, Mercury is the patron of the skills that we need to master our environment and thrive. My book, Venus in Virgo: Archetypes of Goddess Consciousness in Astrology, describes in great detail the relationship between Mercury and the Goddess who gives us abundance, or adversity.
Mercury is agile and gymnastic, cerebral and bombastic, the god of games, and of fraud.
Mercury cazimi is considered to be perhaps the most enhanced and exalted position for Mercury in a birth chart, in a different category than dignities coming from position in the chart, or from rulership, exaltation, triplicity, face or bounds (or his decreased dignities by house or sign).
Traditional astrology holds that planets too close to the Sun suffer from a condition called combustion when they are close to the Sun: this weakens their unique archetypal expression: since they cannot be seen, they enter a type of Underworld of excessive and blinding illumination. However, when they enter a tiny window of exact synod with the Sun, their power is radically enhanced.
Of all the archetypes, Mercury is most aware of and respondent to his surroundings, and Mercury cazimi will give us excellent insights into the final decan of Aquarius.
The third decan is ruled by Venus (by triplicity) and the Moon (by descending Chaldean order). Venus and Moon are the 2 fertile aspects of the feminine Trinity. When these two Goddesses are brought together, there is something valuable at stake, though it may not always be tangible.
The rulership of 2 night sect planets in a Saturnian masculine air sign gives the decan a distinctly unsettled character, a sense of ill-at-ease, lack of safety and even danger. The prior 2 decans have been an education for the Fool (or the Life Force), much has been revealed about the structure and true nature of the social network, or society. The Fool has been through a very unique section of his journey here, showing us the some of the developmental phases groups go through.
The Ryder Waite tarot deck image for this minor arcana is of a sly and soft-pedaling man looking stealthily behind him, perhaps a thief, making off with 5 swords while two are close behind him (Seven of Swords). Mercury cazimi in this territory bring focus to this archetype and the story behind it. There are several possibilities or storylines implicit here- and this decan demands that we determine how to navigate this.
We can see this as an act of disarmament. This could be a good thing, or it could be very bad: when we lack physical weapons, we may be forced to solve our conflicts through our wits alone. The thief could be defusing a potentially violent situation by removing all the weapons, from all sides, while emotions run high.
However, the thief may also be leaving us open to attack at a time when an enemy is advancing. Worse yet, the thief may have convinced us to give up our defenses of our own accord, as he quietly absconds before we realize how vulnerable we have left ourselves.
Air signs deal with ideas, and the 3rd decan of Aquarius leaves us to question if we are safe in our social milieu. Is it time to be like the thief, and make a quiet exit? Has fraud been exposed, and what do we do about it?
Mercury is the patron of thieves: fraud is his specialty. But he is also the archetype of the sleuth, the gumshoe who sees everything, can think like a criminal and builds the ultimate mousetrap: one you can’t see, and you don’t realize you’re trapped. The Saturnian knowledge of the rules, gleaned through the Aquarian territories, is preparing us to take our leave of Saturn’s domain and immerse ourselves in the confusing, hormonal, cathartic waters of Pisces.
But here, in the last decan of Aquarius, we are on the precipice. We have the information we need, we know the rules, we know how the people behave- our boundaries are being tested, and we can see where all of this is going.
FULL MOON IN LEO
The Full Moon on 2/12 comes on the heels of this cazimi and further emphasizes the polarity of the Leo/ Aquarius axis. The Leo Full Moon is received by the Sun in Aquarius, reminding us that these polarities bind the opposites in the eternal quest for balance. The beleaguered Sun longs for its home, while slowly traversing the Celestial See, the cold and collectivizing territory of Saturn. The Moon reflects back to the Sun its clarity and individuating warmth.
Any Saturn ruled sign demands that we acknowledge tradition, and the costs associated with breaking with the status quo cannot be denied here. If a paradigmatic shift has taken hold, even if it is only embraced by a vocal minority, no matter how unsustainable, vile or destructive, there will be a price to pay for violating it. As the Sun and Moon come into balance, the face of the Moon becomes fully exposed, but this can quickly become a memory, drowned out in the din of political gamesmanship and entrenched propaganda.