It’s been an intense year, y’all!
The summer and autumn seasons have been super-busy with planetary retrogrades!
In the midst of all that, did you notice Chiron?
Not even classed as a planet, Chiron – also known in astrology and beyond as the “Wounded Healer” – was once thought to be an asteroid but has since been downgraded even further, and been given comet status. Pretty insignificant right? Wrong. Chiron packs a mighty punch and even if you didn’t know you were feeling it drag its heels through your emotional landscape, you’ll feel it when it finally cuts loose this month.
Chiron’s Story of Victimhood (or Not)
Named after the wisest of mythic Greek centaurs, Chiron was probably as unlucky as they come. He was the illegitimate product of a violent and lusty encounter between his father – Cronus, or as the Romans named him, Saturn – and a sea nymph named Philyra. Halfway through the act, to avoid being caught by his actual wife, Cronus turned himself into a horse, so when Philyra gave birth to her offspring, he was a centaur – half man, half horse. Seeing him, she was so repulsed, and on top of the shame she felt at the memory of her violation, that she abandoned the baby.
But let’s not forget that the child – and future Wounded Healer extraordinaire – was descended from royalty! His wit, wisdom, and acumen so impressed the (other) Gods that Apollo and his twin sister Artemis took him under their wing, and taught him about art, music, medicine and other such finery. One of his many apprentices was Hercules – the hero of pretty much everything – and the two became good friends.
And here the story turns to tragedy again. One day (skipping through the details – there was a lot going on, as is the way with Greek Myths) Hercules accidentally shot him in the thigh with a poisoned arrow. Despite being trained in medicine and an astrologer and healer of high reputation, the Wounded Healer was unable to heal the wound caused by the arrow. And ironically, being an immortal demigod, he couldn’t even escape the pain of said wound, through death. So he continued, stoically teaching others to overcome their greatest pain through sheer strength and perseverance, until finally a deal was struck and Chiron was, at last, allowed to die and escape his pain.
What’s your Story of Victimhood?
So why’s it worth knowing this backstory?
Well, Chiron retrograde has been the astrological equivalent of walking us each down our own personal memory lane, and through the stories of our own biggest trauma. Consider your own astrology and wherever Chiron sits in your natal chart, is the area of your life that this trauma most heavily features. (You can read more about this HERE). And during its retrograde, Chiron, and the wounding it represents for you, is going to jump up and bite you where it hurts. OR probably slowly chew you up, in a longer, more drawn out and soulfully excruciating way.
Chiron Retrograde Been Making You Feel Sorry for Yourself?
Chiron Retrograde Dates
Chiron stationed retrograde in Aries on July 15th, 2021.
It will station direct on December 19th, 2021.
So for the last 5 months, we’ve all been there. Walking in our best wounded-soldier shoes, feeling sorry for ourselves, acting every part the victim of own drama. Retrace your steps since July and think back to whether you’ve been feeling your top-dollar self, or have you been feeling a little, hmmm, tender around the edges?
It’s common when Chiron comes into play, that feelings of shame also rise. The story of his mother – Philyra – and her violent rape at the hands of Cronus echoes through many of our lives today, especially as women all over the world work to unearth and heal their own ancestral histories of sexual trauma and shame.
But this IS all necessary – in order to heal, you have to feel. And feeling pain isn’t easy, it makes you mope, sulk, brood and just feel a little crappy. Or angry – let’s not pretend this doesn’t get ugly. Chiron’s gift is his strength, but unfortunately, it’s SO hard to summon this when he’s retrograde, and all you’re feeling are re-runs of your own tired, old pain, and fending off trigger after trigger, that just seems to reinforce the hurt.
So instead of straight-down-the-line healing, what’s more likely to have been happening for you (as it has for me) is projection.
Chiron Retrograde Been Making You Project?
Projection is when, in a bid to deny a feeling of your own, you attribute it to somebody else.
Hell, it’s the guy who cut you up in traffic’s fault that you’re angry! He’s so impatient, he needs to chill out! Or it’s your partner because they’re SO damn disorganized, that life’s always in such a muddle in the mornings! Or (my personal favorite) it’s the planets! It’s Saturn and Pluto and Mercury, yes, it’s Mercury’s fault that it’s all going wrong!
Projection is like the easy way out. Because by shifting blame or pain onto somebody or something else, you don’t have to take any responsibility for it. And whilst the invitation has been there, since Chiron stationed retrograde on July 15th, I wonder how many of us actually dug in deep when the going got tough, and looked within? Or did you take the more pain-free path, blame the world for your problems and play the victim card?
Chiron Stations Direct – Put that Victim Card Down!
The game’s over.
On December 12th, Chiron stations direct which means that any projection, any blame, any guise of victimhood has to end. Re-feeling your pain and sinking back into your trauma – to heal it or not – has no currency any longer, and stepping up into sovereignty is the only way ahead.
Just like Chiron, the wounds keep bleeding.
Just like Philyra, the shame is real.
But they’re no excuse. You must take responsibility for your story, from this point onward – and now that Chiron moves forward on his path, you get to re-write the narrative exactly as YOU choose it!
We live in a world of polarity – the light and the dark will always exist here, and will always exist within each of us. Accepting this – just like Chiron accepted his pain – and then, crucially, using both the light and the dark as stepping stones forward, is the only way to evolve.
Your chance is now.
Have you been playing the victim card? (Go on – be brave, you can be vulnerable with our community!) And what are you planning to change, now the Wounded Healer’s moving forward?
