This article is dedicated to Chiron, a celestial body that has significantly impacted astrological observations over the last 50 years.
Understanding Chiron’s origins and symbolic influence enhance a chart interpretation’s esoteric value. If you are curious to discover why Chiron has been granted a symbol and placement in your chart and how that influences you, please keep reading!
Astronomical facts about Chiron
Classified as both an asteroid and a comet because of its exhibited properties of both celestial types, Chiron is a planetoid that was only recently discovered in 1977 by an astronomer named Charles Kowal. Its average 50.3-year orbit is rather steep and travels between the orbits of Uranus and Saturn, speeding up when reaching Saturn’s orbit.
It temporarily surpasses the cross border of Uranus’ orbit further towards the outer
spiritual planets and does the same with stern Saturn’s orbit, causing Chiron to occasionally enter the realm of the mundane inner planets.
Due to its eccentric orbit, Chiron travels far longer through certain zodiacal signs and spends a varying amount of time in each. All these variables strongly affect Chiron’s influence and indicated value in astrological observations.
Chiron’s mythological story
Returned to the heavens where He can be seen as the star
constellation of
Sagittarius, Chiron is named after the mythological figure of the wise leader, teacher, and healer among the usually unruly, indulgent, and violent centaurs in Greek mythology. He was a maverick who overcame his animal urges and carried a different lineage than other centaurs.
As the son of the titan Kronos (whose name is Saturn in Roman mythology) and the nymph Philyra, Chiron was born a centaur with the upper body of a human and the lower part that of a horse because Kronos transformed into a stallion when he tried to mate with Philyra who had taken the form of a mare to escape him. His mother rejected Chiron because of his deformed body, so he was raised by the
Sun god Apollo and Artemis, the
Moon goddess.
With the teachings of the arts, healing, medicine, archery, and hunting provided by his foster parents, Chiron became the first healer and astrologer because his observant qualities allowed him to study the night sky expansively. He also deepened his studies on various healing methods, such as herbalism, and became a teacher of many gods and heroes. Not just on the arts of healing and warfare but also about the vast potential of prophecy, philosophy, music, crafts, and other forms of higher education. He was the first creature that embodied the human traits of primal physicality and divine understanding. He could be among the animals and teach the gods, even though those realms were kept separate.
Despite his exceptional upbringing and civilized nature, he still lived among the centaurs during much of his life. Unfortunately, when the centaurs faced a battle with Heracles, Chiron got struck by a poisoned arrow that was unintentionally shot. Many centaurs died in that battle, but Chiron could not die despite his wound due to the immortal gift from his divine ancestry.
Ironically, he could not heal himself from his wound, so the title of ‘wounded healer’ came into existence. In his terrible suffering, Chiron still healed others, and for his virtue and honor, Heracles brought him salvation by telling him of Prometheus’ fate. He was chained to a rock in the Caucasus and had a raven eating his insides every day without causing death. Prometheus could only be released from his punishment from Zeus if an immortal was prepared to sacrifice himself and take place in the Underworld.
Chiron, who, just like Prometheus, was fated to live in infinite suffering without the release of death, decided to be the one to release him. This heroic action moved Zeus, who then adopted Chiron and allowed him to leave Hades and return to the Gods. That is how he returned to the sky and became the star constellation of Sagittarius or Centaurus.
He let go of his immortality to become then mortal and yet was rewarded with divine immortality because of his willingness to sacrifice. With this balance between the mortal and immortal world and the divine and primal nature of his centaur body, Chiron represents perhaps the most human figure in mythology. Bound to exist physically while also being connected with the spiritual realm.
The astrological interpretation of Chiron
Chiron is believed to be a maverick and not assigned to any particular sign. Yet his influence on human life is being examined by many astrologers who unite the aspects of Chiron’s power as Saturn’s son and define them as follows:
The several themes associated with Chiron’s astronomical position and mythological story unite in one value: Chiron is a bridge between the inner (material) and outer (spiritual) planets.
Its orbit, for example, is between Saturn, the last of the inner planets, and Uranus, the start of the outer planets. Mythologically, Chiron is half human and half horse. Half of Him is divine wisdom, and the other half is material, primal, and animalistic.
He is aware of both polarities and has a sophisticated understanding of healing techniques, yet remains unable to escape from being caught between those realms. Ignoring the physical side of his nature causes him to remember his imperfections in this realm and the agony of not being able to heal those despite his spiritual abilities. As most beings might experience their humanness, it comes with flaws. Life, therefore, becomes a path of evolution that requires growth, learning, and improvement.
Being part of nature means that evolution is created when perfection becomes beauty evolving itself. When something is good but could be improved, the innovative side of our nature allows us to change rules, structures, and systems so they work more efficiently. This is symbolically associated with Uranus, the
planet of rebellion, human wisdom, and innovation. It is the planet that invites us to source information in the form of wisdom that comes from the spiritual realm. It is creative, controversial and breaks down the old ways to make room for new and improved ones. Yet this is not based on factual knowledge but instead on faith, idealism, and rebellion. It is the start of the spiritual world that resides in the unseen and has no proven validity other than trust.
Other times, growth comes with learning from mistakes in the past and not repeating them, or even improving ourselves by reflecting on the flaws of our design and transcending transgenerational trauma or innocent unknowing that caused us to make mistakes unintentionally. Saturn is the planet that governs this aspect of life.
Chiron’s location in the solar system builds a bridge between those worlds; the spiritual outer planets that fuel us with wisdom and integrity and the inner planets that teach us how to function in the material realm with intelligence.
As the mediator between those realms, Chiron is the celestial body that reminds us to find salvation in the acceptance of both the material side of nature and a willingness to detach from our divine origins in the time of life where newness can be created and we are bound to face challenges of being a physical form with vulnerabilities in the material realm.
On the other hand, detaching too much from the spiritual realm can cause people to lose their creative abilities and healing powers, which often come from the source through intuitive moments of knowing.
A balance between both realms is essential for a harmonious evolution. If we were perfect beings, we would be one with the source and thus not an individualized expression of it that has a certain amount of time and space to figure out how to return to the essence of
spirit or soul.
Whether people are on a spiritual path or not, one thing unites every human being; they un-, sub-, or consciously seek inner peace. And the path of finding that is unique for every person but always requires growth and the healing of old wounds. The journey back to the source, therefore, is what shows us that human life inherently comes with flaws, challenges, and growth before one finds ultimate peace in the release of death.
The position of Chiron in one’s chart shows where one experiences the division (wound) of our divine essence and primal nature. It is an appointed opportunity to embrace our inabilities and imperfections so we can overcome the ways in which we hurt ourselves and instead become whole. Uranus’ spiritual insight allows us to recognize the unity of body and soul in ourselves and existence as a whole.
Saturn is the king of Karma and teaches us self-responsibility as the critical factor in attaining freedom. Through diligence, focus, and integrity, we can work on ourselves, but for that to be a loving path and not one based on punishment, Chiron helps us to accept the deficit of not being whole yet.
The bridge between the spiritual and material realms is that of compassion. Because when we can acknowledge our own imperfections with integrity and let those motivate us to improve and work on our intelligence, we can understand this in others. This leads to cooperation, co-creation, and support for one another in this journey of peace, instead of competition and comparison with who is more enlightened (spiritual achievement) or successful (material achievement).
By sharing experiences, lessons, and whatever else we have attained in our healing journey, we can help heal others. And doing so does not make one ‘poorer’; it actually creates a connection. And this connection between self and others brings wholeness where there was division before. Chiron, therefore, redefines wholeness. Saturn is the ultimate teacher but tends to be unforgiving. Chiron as his son brings in the aspect that gives learning the purpose of divine transcendence; to create compassion and forgiveness.
There is no need to be insecure about human flaws, nor is there a need to get on a high horse, stay within the spirit realm, and pretend to be all-knowing. The spirit realm is there to serve the material and vice versa. So when one can create this bridge, there is no reason to feel bad for missing out on either of those realms. The creative aspect of human life can be fueled by spiritual insight, and the divine essence of the spirit realm continues to expand when the material realm does.
Chiron is the bridge between two polarized realms because it reminds us to be humble, human, and peaceful about not being whole by ourselves. Together and united, people can be whole because what one may lack, another adds on, and vice versa. So when there is a connection between the opposing world of self and others, matter and spirit, or victim and savior, there is no division with Chiron between those realms that cause separation.
He is the wounded healer because when one is wounded, one can heal others. This is the integration of the outer teacher or authority and one’s inner wisdom.
Another way to see it is as follows;
Whatever wounds we deal with in life, we learn to heal ourselves. Yet everyone experiences problems in unique and personal ways, so there is never only one formula that works. When we each learn specific tools to deal with and repair our wounds, we can offer those to others so they don’t have to go through the whole process of learning themselves. Deep spiritual wounds take a lot of work to overcome and thus bring potent healing abilities.
The excellent knowledge, experience, talent, and wisdom of these places come from problematic issues that inform us and make everyone excellent guides and counselors in these areas of life.
We can help one another and always remember that everyone has imperfections to deal with, so there is no reason to judge others for whatever wound they may have to deal with. It is part of being human, which Chiron reminds us of. To stay humble, caring, and equally aware of the ability to source from the divine and work with the flaws within the material realm. They are not mistakes or ‘wrong’ in essence; they are places of improvement that keep us caring about the evolution of life and its expansion.
Chiron in your chart
The glyph for Chiron strongly resembles a key because its sign and the house placement within the birth chart unlock our point of most significant pain and ultimate potential. Chiron’s position in the chart indicates a person’s deepest wounds that must be reconciled. The healing, spiritual teaching, and enlightenment from this can be achieved by the victim, healer, or even the perpetrator.
The paradoxes Chiron unites indicate his placement as that which must be integrated into and eliminated from life in order for an individual to achieve wholeness. When we meet our wounds, we meet those of others, which unites all humans. This turns everyone’s flaw into a symbiotic system where flaws or wounds simply become the parts one can heal in others as they heal oneself.
As the first astrologer, Chiron was not accepted by the general society, which was focused on earthly, mundane needs. Chiron concentrates on healing and reaching enlightenment by living a more celestial existence. We must all make a bridge to the universal to achieve true fulfillment and personal wholeness, so being stuck in accepting the normal without realizing the possible can be released with awareness of Chiron in our chart.
Chiron expresses its wound and potential to heal through a sign in an area of life indicated by the house of his placement. There is a clear distinction between the interpretation of Chiron in specific signs and houses, even though each sign rules a particular place. The two should not be conflated because Chiron in
Aries, for example, indicates wounding and healing devoted to independent maverick behavior. In contrast, Chiron in the first house (which is naturally ruled by Aries) suggests a way of wounding and healing dedicated to figuring oneself out and working through identity issues.
The house Chiron is in indicates where in life we need to close the gap between bringing in wisdom and pushing away instinctive reactions. We can help others in this area of life, even if we can not make our own pains go away. Where we hurt, we can listen and learn how to overcome ourselves and empower others. How we meet our hardships is how we attain liberation from suffering.
The signs and houses are divided into four
elements. When Chiron resides in a
fire sign, there are wounds to be healed in the ego, heart, and one’s self-expression. In an
air sign, Chiron carries wounds in communication, relationships with others, and being accepted by society.
When Chiron is in an
earth sign, one deals with wounds associated with the body, a sense of safety, perfectionism, and authoritarianism. And lastly, in a
water sign, Chiron carries wounds in emotions, death-related trauma, and separation of the soul and the source (spirit, divine, or universe).
