Combust

kuhm-BUST

latin: Combustus

Definition

A planet is combust when it sits very close to the Sun along the zodiac and is weakened by it. By Lilly’s standard orb that means between roughly 17 minutes of arc (the cazimi edge) and 8°30' from the Sun, in the same sign or within crossing distance. The planet is read as swamped by the Sun’s light — it cannot be seen with the naked eye in this range, "burned" by the Sun’s rays. Combust is a situational condition, judged apart from a planet’s sign-based strength (domicile, exaltation, triplicity, bound, and face).

In Tradition

For Hellenistic, Arabic-Persian, and traditional Western astrologers, combust is one of the most serious situational weaknesses: the planet cannot act on its own, and whatever it stands for is read as blocked, hidden, or kept secret. Lilly’s *Christian Astrology* (1647) gives combust a -5 score on the same tally where cazimi, within about 17 minutes, earns +5. Modern psychological practice sometimes recasts combust as a merging with the Sun’s purpose, but horary, electional, and traditional natal work all keep the older weakness reading.

In Practice

The astrologer measures how far each planet sits from the Sun and flags any within roughly 8°30', with the tighter cazimi sub-condition narrowed to within about 17 minutes. In horary, the question-answering branch, a combust significator is read as weakened, hidden, or unable to act well, so the matter it stands for is blocked to the same degree. In a birth chart, a combust planet works quietly or in the Sun’s shadow, coming through best when your sense of purpose is what is at stake. Lehman teaches the example of the Confederate Mercury combust 4° from the Sun — "Mercury is combust, conjunct the Sun, within 4 degrees" — reading the planet as able to act only in service of the Sun’s topic.

Historical Origin

The graded solar-proximity scheme is attested in Hellenistic sources under hupaugē / hypaugos (Ptolemy, Valens) and consolidated in the Arabic transmission under iḥtirāq ("burning"). Sahl ibn Bishr (9th century) treats the condition in his *Introduction to Astrology* §5; al-Qabīṣī and Bonatti carry it forward; medieval Latin translators render the term as *combustus* (12th c.). Lilly’s *Christian Astrology* (1647) fixed the ~8°30' boundary and -5 score in English, and Lehman’s *Essential Dignities* keeps the doctrine in the modern traditional revival.

Etymology

Origin: Latin. Meaning: From Latin combustus (burned), via medieval Arabic astrology. The Arabic term ihtiraq (burning) was translated to Latin in the 12th century..

Further Reading