This Year’s Stations of Chiron

Stations are pivotal days when Chiron goes retrograde or direct
Chiron is currently direct (i.e. moving forwards)

What is a “station?”

You may have heard of Mercury retrograde and wondered what that means astronomically.  “Retrograde” means “moving backwards,” so when Mercury is retrograde, it is moving backwards in apparent motion from our viewpoint here on Earth.  This means that instead of progressing forward through the zodiac, from one sign to another, Mercury is actually backing up.  It’s a visual illusion, but a meaningful and measurable one.

Chiron goes retrograde too.  Chiron spends more than half of every year moving forwards (astrologers call that “direct” motion), but when Chiron slows, stops, and turns backwards or forwards, we call that a “station.”  An astrologer might say, “Chiron is stationary and turning retrograde today,” or “Chiron is stationary retrograde” when Chiron is in the process of turning backwards.  When Chiron is in the process of turning forwards, we say “Chiron is stationary and turning direct today,” or “Chiron is stationary direct.”

I call these stations “pivotal days,” because the planet we’re talking about is literally pivoting—and also because stations tend to lead to pivotal events for those of us Earthlings who are being affected by them.  Those pivotal events will trigger changes in us, and that will happen according to the nature of the transiting planet, in this case, Chiron.

How does Chiron change us?  By healing us, once and for all, and by restoring us to wholeness.

During a Chiron transit, you may feel that you are having a wounding experience.  Often it feels that a fresh wound is being laid in in the present, that you are being broken open.  But if you examine it more deeply, you will find that it reminds you of something painful from the past and that the past has surged up to blend with the present.  You are experiencing both wounds at once, but that may not be apparent until you look at the situation more deeply.  To become fully present again, you need healing, and Chiron has brought your awareness to that.

Chiron’s purpose is to restore wholeness—Chiron reconnects things that have been separated or broken apart, in order that they may be mended and ultimately, reintegrated with each other.  When this happens in your psyche, some call it soul retrieval, but Chiron can also mend broken homes (Moon), broken reputations (Saturn), or broken relationships (Venus).  To do this, Chiron must remind us of the earlier time when the thing got broken, so the healing can happen.  The beauty of it is that, if you allow it to happen instead of fighting it, you can come away more integrated, more whole in that area than you’ve ever been before.

One of the most important Chiron transits is the Chiron Return, which is when Chiron has travelled all the way around the zodiac and returns to where it was when you were born.  This happens to everyone the year they turn 50, and might serve to explain why 50 tends to be such a painful age, fraught with regret.  But for true healers, integrators, whole-makers and bridge-builders, it is a coming of age.

Movement of Chiron this year:

In 2023, Chiron travels forward to 19 degrees of Aries, then turns retrograde and travels backward to 15 degrees of Aries, turns direct and travels forward through 19 degrees of Aries again. Then it moves into the next patch of degrees, where it will do the same thing next year.

How does this affect you?

This means that if you have any planet in 15 to 19 degrees of Aries, you are having a Chiron transit to that planet this year. Because Chiron in Aries forms a challenging aspect to Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, if you have any planet in 15 to 19 degrees of any of those signs, that planet is also having a Chiron transit.

Peaks in the intensity of this transit:

You’ll feel a transit the most strongly when it’s exact and also during its stations, or pivotal days. So if you have Mars at 17 degrees of Capricorn, you’ll feel Chiron’s influence the most strongly when Chiron is passing through 17 degrees of Aries, and also on the days it turns retrograde and direct. In a reading with a Pandora astrologer you can get a diagram of this that’s personalized for you and shows the exact dates to watch for. It shows you which of your own planets is being triggered by Chiron and we talk about what it means for you and where in your life to look for its effects. This gives you a chance to see what’s coming and plan how to respond to it. Getting this kind of personally timed information is the main reason people consult astrologers.

How to handle your Chiron transit:

Welcome the discomfort.  Invite it in like an old friend.  Some part of you or of your life is ready to be restored.  Set a place at your table for it.  Ask yourself, “how did this part get cut off in the first place?  And what have I been missing out on as a result?”  If you’ve been repressing the pain, let it wash over you now.  Really take time for this.  And because Chiron transits can be accompanied by physical illness, take especially good care of your health right now.  Your body may be trying to tell you something and any illness you experience might have deeper meaning than it appears to.  At the end of it all, you will be a bigger person, with access to more of yourself than you did before.

If you’d like to find out whether
you’re having a Chiron transit this year,
and you want to thrive with it,
Contact Pandora Astrology for a reading.

Find out What Is Chiron Anyway?
Learn about Chiron in Aries.
Learn about all the transiting planets in signs this year.
Here’s how to know if you’re having a transit this year:  Are You Currently In Transition?
Read my Frequently Asked Questions about astrology.