Is it Your Chiron Return?

Chiron moves into Aries on April 17 2018 (4:09AM Eastern Standard Time). Except for a few forays into Pisces and Taurus, Chiron stays until April 14 2027.  It then travels onto Taurus for its next sojourn. Are you having your Chiron Return?

What is Chiron About?

The comet/minor planet Chiron takes approximately 50 years to orbit the Sun and because of its highly elliptical path, Chiron does not spend equal time in each of the zodiac sign, about 7 to 8 years in Aries and Pisces and only one to two years in Virgo and Libra. This means that many people will have their natal Chiron in Aries and Pisces and will be experiencing their Chiron Return soon.

Where Chiron is in our astrological birth chart is where we find our core wound. It is also the theme of self-wounding and one of the most powerful healing lessons on the personal and collective levels. Understanding Chiron can propel us to a life-changing transformation.

A point to note from mythology is that Chiron’s wound is both a direct and indirect action on his part. It was Chiron himself who taught Hercules how to make these arrows. In this way we are reminded that it is us who wound and re-wound ourselves. Perhaps we do this so that we can really understand. It is also us who heal ourselves, sharing the wisdom of what we learn in this journey to help others.

The Gift of the Wound

Part of the wisdom we gain is about imperfection and contribution. So many people feel they must perfect their art and craft, be it healing or their writing, before they share it with the world. Mythology’s Chiron never healed completely and yet he was a renowned healer and teacher. Do we define ourselves by our wound? Do we use our wound to limit our dreams or use it as an excuse to stay small and hidden? Or do we accept that we are radiant and magnificent, in spite of and because of our wound? That we have something to contribute even in all our imperfection?

In learning to heal our wound, we grow in many ways and ignite our inner wisdom. What we discover can help others. Chiron is also called the Maverick – it is our rebel so it is important to be okay with experiencing our healing journey – any journey – our own unique way.

Our Chiron Return

As we travel through our life, Chiron moves from its natal placement in our astrological chart through each zodiac sign and house. We face different kinds of challenges and growth opportunities, coloured by the flavours of the sign and house Chiron transits through. When we are around 49 to 51 years old, we experience our Chiron Return. It’s done one round. At this time, we face a tremendous and most likely once-in-a-lifetime window to step fully into ourselves. So many people have found their true calling, or have come comfortably into their own skin around this time.

What this means is that we stop writing our story from the perspective of a wounded person, a victim. We stop unconsciously and consciously project our wounds and our fears about them onto other people. We stop wounding and re-wounding ourselves and other people in the process. Whatever choices we make during this time can change the trajectory of the rest of our lives.

Of course, we can make this quantum leap at any time so if you are past your Chiron Return, you can enter your Chiros energy and make the conscious choice anytime. Chiron time is outside of “normal” and linear time.

 

One has the greater free will under Chiros than under ordinary chronological time – but still one must make the choice.1

 

Chiron and Cycles

Because of its orbit, Chiron spends a disproportionately long time in the last (Pisces) and the first (Aries) signs of the zodiac. This is an important point to ponder as Chiron moves into Aries until 2027. Closing a cycle and beginning a new one can be challenging. It calls for the dissolution of attachments, old habits, comfortable yet stagnating ways of being, limiting thoughts, and other escapes.  These safety and defensive devices were designed for a reason – they worked at one time.  They are however an illusion. Dismantling them means we have to face our fears, our power, and our truth.

When we can integrate what we learned from Chiron being in every sign and house, we move up an octave in vibration and we spiral up to a new cycle. If we fail to do so, we continue in a circle. This is not a race, so no judgment. Again, consciousness and conscientiousness together can transform our point of awareness and perspective, just like that. Plus this “extra” time in Pisces and Aries is additional cosmic support for us to do so.

The Chiron Return is our soul’s need to completely wipe away all those toxicities that have potentially been holding us back on our life path.2

Chiron in Mythology

Chiron is the son of Kronos (Saturn). To escape detection for his adultery with the sea nymph Phylia, he transformed himself into a horse and hence Chiron is half-horse and half-man. Some say unicorn. He is also half-earth and half-sea. He represents duality – right/left hemispheres of the brain, masculine/feminine, lower and higher self.

Chiron is thus a bridge between the animal instincts and our higher self. Because Chiron travels between Uranus and Saturn, touching on both orbits at some point, we also see it as a mediator between these two planets, archetypes, and energies.

Uranus is about freedom, sudden change, rebirth, genius. Saturn is about structure, material, time, and limits. How do we incorporate these energies into our daily life and in fulfilling our dreams?

How did Chiron get wounded? He dropped one of Hercules’ poisonous arrows on his foot. Because Chiron was immortal, he did not perish though the wound never fully healed.

In the end, he offered to die in exchange for the freedom of Prometheus who was being punished for stealing fire for humankind.

After his death, he was placed in the skies as the constellation Sagittarius.

Even though he suffered greatly from his wound, Chiron did not wallow.

Chiron was a renowned healer and wise teacher, with students including Jason, Achilles, Hercules, and Asclepius. He taught astrology, healing music, medicine, archery, for example.

Is it your Chiron Return?

We all have a Chiron return between 49 and 51 years old. For those born between 1968 and 1977, you will have your Chiron Return in the next several years. You can check with an astrologer for the timing. Check the table below to see the dates when Chiron was in Aries as Chiron did move out of Aries twice in this time span.

Chiron’s Movement Date Time (Eastern Standard Time)
Enters Aries April 1 1968 2:08AM Retrogrades in Pisces October 18 1968 6:36PM Enters Aries January 30 1969 3:12AM Enters Taurus May 28 1976 7:10AM Retrogrades in Aries October 13 1976 6:46PM Enters Taurus March 28 1977 2:05PM

Chiron in Sign info is from Cafe Astrology2. You can find where your Chiron is by looking at your natal chart (which you can get free on many astrology websites including Cafe Astrology), checking with an astrologer, or referring to the information in this article by Cafe Astrology which lists Chiron’s movement from 1926 (Chiron in Taurus) to 2045.

Chiron returning to Aries means that a whole new generation of Chiron in Aries folks are being born now. The preoccupations the parents experience during conception and pregnancy will be imprinted on the child as an urgent and priority problem to resolve in his/her lifetime as it relates to “Who am I”. Read on to understand what Chiron in Aries means and to see how you may better support your child’s evolutionary journey.

Chiron’s Movement Date Time (Eastern Standard Time
Enters Aries April 17 2018 4:09AM
Retrograde in Pisces September 25 2018 8:12PM
Enters Aries February 18 2019 4:07AM
Enters Taurus June 19 2026 5:17PM
Retrograde in Aries September 17 2026 9:54PM
Enters Taurus April 14 2017 10:56AM

What Does Chiron in Aries Mean?

The focus of the generation with Chiron in Aries is the question of “who am I?” The wound is around the sense of self and self-worth. This may manifest as worthlessness, doubt, a fear of being frail and dependent, a sense of misunderstood, rejected, abandoned, not good enough or unloved, self-pity, and self-judgment.

To hide these perceived vulnerabilities, a Chiron in Aries native may focus on being different and/or first at everything, which can mean sacrificing quality of experience. Perhaps they don’t spend time discovering their true loves in their focus to prove you wrong. They can also overcompensate by always needing to prove themselves.

When we align with Chiron’s principles and live beyond the wound, we are empowered personally and energetically. Those with Chiron in Aries can become gifted, unique, and creative healers, teachers, leaders, pioneers, and catalysts.

About Aries

The energy of Aries is initiating, quick, creative, direct, bold, and driven. It’s about the new – new patterns, new paths, new projects… This is the trailblazer of the zodiac.

Aries rules the head and the wound needing our attention may be a physical one. This may be a head trauma, headaches and migraines, and concussions.

Aries is also associated with the planet Mars and the element of Fire. Chiron teaches the ways of the sacred warrior. We come to understand what we are truly fighting for and why we are called to be brave and decisive.

 

The key to warriorship and the first principle of Shambhala vision is not being afraid of who you are. Ultimately, that is the definition of bravery: not being afraid of yourself.

Chogyam Trungpa, Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior

 

People with Chiron in Aries include Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Carl Jung, Edgar Cayce, Queen Elizabeth II, Judy Garland, Gene Roddenberry, Margaret Thatcher, Rock Hudson, Bernie Sanders, Jules Verne, Winston Churchill, Louis Pasteur, Immanuel Kant, Nancy Reagan, Aleister Crowley, Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Angelina Jolie, Leonard DiCaprio (and most of the most famous actors of this same age group).4

The nature of Chiron in Aries also depends on what house Chiron is and what aspects exist within the chart. The table below gives you a brief glimpse of each of the houses. 5

House Keywords Gift
1 Physical self & self-expression Magnificent expressive Potential
2 Material self-worth Valuing oneself on inner worth
3 Educational self-esteem, being heard Power of Speech
4 Roots of identity – family, tradition Truth of Identity
5 Creative relevance Creative recognition and realization
6 Work and Health mattering Calling to become a healer
7 Feeling meaningless within relationships Awareness of own significance
8 Impotence, sexual infidelity, power vacuum Transformation
9 Low self-esteem through vocational life Finding true vocation
10 Unrecognized or marginalized relating to reputation, career or authority, fear visible to others, not follow dreams Discipline and realization of dream job
11 Uniqueness not recognized in social circle, organization or collective, fear visible to others, not follow dreams Calling to become a healer
12 Pain of selflessness and feeling irrelevant Finding Spiritual Self

There is a sense of destiny when we experience Chiron Return. If we do the work of living in the moment, letting go of the past and wound, forgiving others for “causing” us to feel a certain way, we can free ourselves from self-punishing and self-rejection. Chiron Return is like this door in the wall we have built and through this doorway, we can step into a different life, the life we are meant to live.


1 Chiron by Zane Stein
2 Chiron in Aries Transit by CrystalBAstrology.com
3 Chiron Sign Tables CafeAstrology.com
4 Celebrities with Chiron in Aries www.Astrotheme.com
5 This table is based primarily on these two articles Chiron in Aries Through the Houses Part 1 and Chiron in Aries Through the Houses Part 2