Wherever There’s A Wound, The Potential To Wound Always Exists.
The tale of Chiron teaches us how to find our power and heal ourself.
In Astrology, the asteroid Chiron is one of the most complex and misunderstood symbols in the birth chart. Chiron circulates in a perpendicular, elliptical orbit that glides between the planets Saturn and Uranus. Its orbit as well as its “non-planet” status are only the beginning of the mystery of Chiron.
Let’s look at the story of Chiron in Greek mythology. Chiron is also known as the “Wounded Healer.” It is a story about a centaur abandoned at birth, but fostered by Apollo, God of Light, and Artemis, the goddess of the moon and hunting. Under their guidance, Chiron became an amazing scholar, teacher, healer, and a master of many forms of medicine and arts.
In the story of how Chiron came to be, his first meeting with reality is inseparable from the abandonment he experienced by both his mother and father. The theme of abandonment is central to understanding the meaning of Chiron. It represents a legacy where the parental abandonment of the child sets the stage for a psychological complexity that is based on the fear of abandonment as the dominant theme in our relationship with others…and with the world in general.
The understanding of suffering is defined in the myth of Chiron. It reminds us that tragedy is in some respects a complex part of life, for which there is no “fix,” because we have no control over the ways our wound manifests in our lives.
In an astrology chart, Chiron represents a sacred “soul” wound that our soul wants to alchemize into medicine to share and help heal others. In each of us, Chiron represents our primal soul wound of separation. Our Chiron wound points to a place in our life where we feel most vulnerable, inadequate, unworthy, and unlovable. It is what is “within us” that causes us to feel the most alone in our physical experience. In our personal birth chart, Chiron will show our imprinting and patterning around a soul wound of rejection and separation, and at the same time reveal the keys to unlock our talents and healing gifts.
Our evolutionary Chiron journey will ask each of us to take responsibility for healing our own wounds, and to experience alchemy that comes out of feeling our way through the pain all the while holding ourselves with deep compassion. Through our wounding, we put up barriers for protection around our heart and soul. This gives us a the perception of safety and security. This is nothing but an illusion. Overtime, this only holds us back and keeps us stuck in a sense of separation. Chiron healing comes out of the broken-open heart that allows us to experience our “Oneness” with Source/Spirit. This heals the split. The broken-open heart is how the light of Spirit flows freely from the depths within each of us out into the world, and how we also receive the light of Spirit flowing freely “from without to within.” It opens up the channels for an unobstructed flow of healing energy.
Chiron healing isn’t something that we can force. It happens in its own time and over your entire lifetime. We do not have to do it alone either. Seeking support from a trusted friend, counselor or mentor can help each of us move along faster.
To understand more…look at Chiron’s orbit. Chiron’s orbit is located between the planets Saturn and Uranus. Chiron is viewed as the bridge between the known and the unknown. It represents the span between our perceived earthly restrictions, limitations, and barriers (Saturn) and the liberated, Great Awakener (Uranus). Chiron is a key to transcending our limitations and tapping into infinite possibilities all while liberating us (Uranus).
I want to swing back around to the Promethean myth. The gods decided to punish Prometheus (Uranus) for stealing the fire and giving it to humans. Zeus chained Prometheus to a rock where an eagle slowly ate his liver. Prometheus was immortal, he couldn’t die, so the ordeal would repeat every day, for eternity.
His salvation came from Chiron. Chiron (being a demi-god…half god/half horse) traded his own immortality to save Prometheus. The myth of Chiron is a metaphor for the work we need to do as individuals to transcend the pain of separation and therefor find true freedom. Chiron was half-man, half-horse, which is a metaphor for the dual nature of our existence. We are half matter, half spirit.
When we fail to integrate our animal and our godly side, this is when we polarize the good and the bad… and in turn, end up with the ‘positive vs. the negative.’
It is only when we integrate this duality, that we can recognize that all of these qualities – both positive and negative – can each be found within each of us. That we are no longer triggered by division, and witness humanity…in ourselves and in others.
In the same way, you first have to bring whatever it is that is hurt, or repressed about yourself to the surface… so you can deal with it. If you want to heal and grow, there is no other way around it. You have to face the pain.
When we process pain, we, in fact, accept that pain is part of us, and ultimately, embrace that part of us that we were trying to hide. This is how we heal. Chiron shows us what is hurt inside of us, and also what we need to do to bring these broken parts to the surface so they can heal and become whole.
Just like Chiron was half-human, half-horse, half-mortal, half immortal, we too are a sum of our broken parts. There are parts of us we accept and identify with, and parts of us we attempt to reject. When you feel shame, guilt, or inadequacy, ask yourself… which part of myself am I trying to conceal or heal? That is exactly that part of you that you must in turn learn to love.
When Chiron is moving direct we look for answers outside. We go to the doctor, to the shaman, to the spiritual practitioner, or to the counselor. We travel to faraway places. We find mentors and people who can teach us things we don’t know.
When Chiron is retrograde, you are Chiron. When Chiron stations retrograde, the search for healing means going within and becoming your own medicine. This is where we have the opportunity to heal ourselves. These ‘Chiron’ feelings of sensitivity, pain, and vulnerability are a symptom of a “healing crisis.” The bandage covering our wound has been torn away and an opportunity for healing is about to happen.
When Chiron is retrograde, we apply what we’ve learned while Chiron was direct, and we heal. Chiron retrograde is when we make sense of everything we’ve learned on our own terms.
Chiron is a nonconformist. His knowledge goes beyond our limited Mercurial knowledge. When you’re ready, your inner Chiron will help you heal your physical, psychological, emotional, or spiritual illness.
Chiron spends almost half a year in retrograde motion. Chiron, like the other outer planets, the healing needs to take time to integrate. We need more time to process its energy and heal.
This is when you take the time to bring all of your broken parts together… including those wounds that hurt the most. This is not about a quick fix, but over time an opportunity to make peace with hurt. Accept yourself fully. When you own your shadow, this is when you become whole, and this is when you heal.
Where Chiron falls in our Birth Charts—by sign, house and the aspects it forms to other planets in the Chart—is an area in which we feel vulnerable, weak or one that evokes feelings of low self-esteem.
Acceptance of his mortal self was ultimately what freed Chiron, relinquishing his immortality by submitting to a mortal death. Chiron’s story teaches us that only through acceptance of our own fate can we become the Healer. And suddenly we forget our woundedness…
Interested in the different houses of astrology? Check out our post about the 2nd house of astrology here. You can also check out some of our videos here.