Chiron is moving into Aries on February 18, 2019. This is a shift all of us will feel, with a very specific meaning and purpose. During 2019, Chiron will go retrograde and will strongly affect some people more than others. How will it affect you?
What is Chiron?
Chiron isn’t a planet, but a planetoid, some say a comet captured millennia ago by the gravitational pull of the Sun and probably not an original member of our solar system at all. In Greek mythology, Chiron, a centaur, was a tutor to the gods and known as the Wounded Healer. Wherever we have Chiron in our charts is where we face an ancient wound, a wound that feels primal. We can gain much wisdom by healing this pain and becoming healers to others who have been hurt in the same way. During Chiron transits, old wounds come to the surface in the area dictated by Chiron’s sign placement. New wounding may feel like it’s happening during these transits but, if you look carefully, you can recognize this current pain as a trigger pointing to a much older, not-yet-healed wound and also as an opportunity to heal that wound.
What is Aries?
Aries is the sign ruled by Mars, planet of war, passion, and individualism. The archetypes for Aries are the Warrior, the Athlete, the Pioneer, and the Hero. Aries can reflect the ‘masculine’ side of all of us, regardless of physical gender. It is the fighter instinct, as well as a very physical sign – though not the sensual side of physicality, but the more active one. Aries is inherently ‘me first’ and usually aware of their own individualism, though not necessarily aware of others.
What does it mean when Chiron is in Aries?
Chiron in Aries makes me think of this illustrative vignette: there was a sports athlete in high school who was the top gymnast in her field. She won awards and gained national recognition. She was looking forward to a professional athletic career, when she injured her back badly during try-outs. Her doctor told her that she had to be less vigorous for her back to heal, so she reluctantly ended her sports involvement. In college, she became fascinated with kinesthesiology and earned a degree in chiropractic. Years later, she ran a successful business treating athletes, as well as medical patients, by giving them the orthopedic support they needed. Reflecting back, she realized that her injury actually helped her establish a job which would outlast any sports career, and though she was disappointed that she never got to experience life as a pro athlete, she felt immensely satisfied with her work healing others.
What this transit means for us is that Chiron will trigger a sense of past wounding in the area of Mars-ruled Aries, potentially highlighting themes such as identity, militarism, assertion, ‘manhood’ and self-interest. As a point of reference, while Uranus was in Aries (2010 to 2019), there was a shift where people identified with their social media avatars. This was a blend of Uranus themes, like the internet and social media, with Aries themes, such as identity and selfhood. While ‘selfies’ have existed ever since the advent of photography, the current massive trend of selfies started in the early 2010’s. Now Chiron is moving through the sign of the Ram, and during this time perhaps people may begin to really feel how hollow online identities and self-promoting pics really are.
‘Assertion’ and ‘Manhood’ are also key Aries terms. The topic of bullying may inspire greater discourse on a national level, as well as on a personal one; present-time bullying in adulthood, at home or in the workplace, may trigger childhood memories of similar painful experiences. Another, and deadlier, example of bullying is school shootings, as a generation of children who faced the first wave of school shootings are finally old enough to see how it’s affecting their own children. Children shouldn’t have to be warriors or grow up in a war zone. What needs to be healed for this to change?
When did this last happen and what happened?
During the last transit of Chiron in Aries, the years spanned from 1968 to 1977, which witnessed the final years and conclusion of the Vietnam War. This imperialist militarism, which began in 1955, saw the meaningless deaths of legions of American men as well as many soldiers, women and children in Vietnam. The American public grew outraged by the war and its effect on the generation of youth who were—and still are—traumatized. Perhaps the rise in understanding of PTSD will allow this passage of Chiron in Aries to go differently and we will learn how to bring our wounded warriors all the way home.
Does this affect you?
If you are an Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn, this will affect you. Chiron spends 2018 and 2019 transitioning into Aries and 2026 and 2027 transitioning out of Aries into Taurus. That’s at least 6 solid years in Aries proper and if your Sun is in Aries or any of the other Cardinal signs (Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) it will aspect your Sun at some point. Check this page for more about Chiron’s movement this year and check this page to find out which birthdates are affected this year.
Don’t know whether your chart is affected? Use this to find out: How To Use Astro.com To Cast Your Free Astrology Chart
If this DOES affect you, what should you do about it?
No one looks forward to old wounds being brought back up, but there is a blessedly constructive side to this transit, since there are actionable things you can do to address the wounding. If you’ve been wounded around your ability to assert yourself, either toward bullies or just in general, find a voice for your anger. Journal it, share it with a friend or therapist, or work it out at the gym. Also, find ways of sticking up for an underdog who is being bullied by others. Chiron in Aries teaches that focusing on yourself doesn’t mean turning a blind eye to other people. Practicing ‘enlightened self-interest’ means putting yourself forward in way that promotes an awareness of others and the greater situation you find yourself in.
It’s important to remember that every bully was bullied himself at one time, when he was too small and vulnerable to defend himself. Making the decision not to pass on the pain of this experience is powerful, but even more powerful is interrupting the cycle of bullying by stopping those who are perpetuating it—and healing them, once and for all. Modeling assertion without aggression can be a healing for everyone who witnesses it. Another source of healing is found in the realization that good and evil are not the black-and-white, absolutist things we were shown in Saturday morning cartoons or superhero comics. People are made of all the shades of gray in between, and every bully has a frightened child inside, and is simply a human being, flailing while trying to remember their power.
While Chiron is in Aries, reclaim your active body. Reclaim your will and self-determination, your decisiveness. And what about your honesty and directness—have you forgotten the power of truth? Cut through the bullshit and call things as you really see them. The Warrior is agile, poised to strike in a perfect moment, like a cobra. Have you lost this clarity? Find it and heal it. Chiron, while in Aries, offers the healing gift of The Now.
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