The Aries New Moon bounces us into spring with a chain of four planets – Sun, Moon, Venus, Mercury, and two asteroids — Chiron, and Ceres – in Aries.
April 11-12 – Aries New Moon
7:30 PM PDT (2:30 AM GMT) Sun and Moon at 22º
The Aries New Moon is an appropriate time to take a deep look at the evolutionary process of healing our personal wounds. The asteroid Chiron, known as the wounded healer, passes through Aries once every 50 years. Chiron currently resides in Aries from April 17, 2018 to June 19, 2026. Because Chiron’s orbit is very elliptical, it spends 8 years in Aries and only 1 ½ years in Libra. Chiron actually spends the longest time in Aries and the shortest time in Libra. Its extended stay in Aries provides ample time to go deep into healing our identity issues related to
- developing our free will,
- taking responsibly for our lives,
- establishing appropriate boundaries, and
- celebrating our unique soul self.
The placement of Chiron in our birth chart is where we are challenged to develop and offer our unique contribution to the world. We may have to break stereo types, dare to operate outside accepted norms, and be labeled a non-conformist. Chiron obliges us to do what is uncomfortable, but necessary, to claim our power and function as a self-directed being.
Chiron, Duality, and Polarities
The Chiron archetype represents the healing that must take place to reconcile duality and polarities. What more striking symbol than the Centaur — half-man, half-horse. The Centaur highlights our attempts to make peace between our human and animal natures and to find integrated wholeness. No matter how we try to refocus our perception on the Centaur, the upper body will always be that of a human and the lower body will be an animal.
In mythology, Chiron’s mother was so disappointed and shocked at the physical body of her son, that she abandoned him at birth. Chiron’s primal wound is the wound of rejection. Chiron was rejected for being himself, thus suffering from a primal identity wound.
Chiron was adopted by Apollo (the Greek Sun god), from whom he learned many things including the art of healing and self-acceptance. Chiron’s dual nature (animal that connected him to nature, and human that motivated him to quest for the Infinite) made it possible for him to become the greatest healer and teacher of his time. Chiron shows us that our deepest wound is the source of our greatest gifts.
It’s important to remember that Chiron was wounded at birth. As a newborn, we are not mentally or emotionally equipped to handle the pain of rejection. Thus childhood wounds are deeply imprinted in our subconscious. Chiron represents the evolutionary process of digging to identify our wounds and the healing transformation that opens us to connect with our gifts and experience our identity as an integrated being.
Awakening of the Soul Self
The healing that Chiron represents is about the self-growth process where we
- resolve traumas that we experienced in the past,
- connect our human personality with our divine nature, and
- learn to connect with and trust our soul and a higher power.
This maturation process involves much more than a one time quick fix solution. It is a lifelong journey to discover the purpose of our life and to experience living at deeper and more meaningful levels of being.
If Chiron had not been abandoned at birth, he would not have been adopted by Apollo and he would not have been taught the great wisdom by the sky god. Thus it is important to recognize and accept that ‘unfortunate’ circumstances and traumas are the seeds that make us special. Our ‘healing’ involves much more than finding relief from our pain and accepting our ‘shadow side.’
When memories trigger our wounded emotional body, Chiron teaches us to love ourselves at a deeper level. Instead of numbing ourselves or trying to convince ourselves that it isn’t important, we acknowledge the hurt and honor our resilience and perseverance. It really is amazing what we go through and still survive! Give yourself a big congratulatory hug!
Our life challenges continue to get our attention so that we can understand and appreciate life with more joy and peace. Our hidden gifts are revealed as we develop the skills to integrate the special features of our animal, human, and divine natures. As we wake up to the relationship between our wounds and our gifts, we heal, and we excel. Our treasures materialize as we align with our divine nature and allow the divine to work through us.
We can find excuses and blame who or whatever we want, but the fact is that we are a victim of our own conflicted mind and subversive thoughts that keep us spinning out of control. We can quit abusing ourselves by calming our nervous system and being honest about the fear and anger that consume our emotional body. We can win our own self-victimization battle, if we seek peace over being right and cease fighting and judging ourselves.
Our individualized awakening is really a miraculous process! No matter what happened, no matter what it has taken to get to this moment, there is a way that we can let go of the past, love ourselves and our lives, and be fulfilled, happy, and free.
Chiron Is the Connecting Link
Chiron orbits between Saturn and Uranus, and is the link between the physical world (Saturn) and the mysteries and infinite possibilities of non-physical dimensions of reality. Chiron brings these two worlds together.
Chiron prods us to find wholeness through connection. Chiron helps us establish the connecting link between our conscious self (human ego personality) and the qualities of our soul self, which are further awakened by the penetrating messages from the outer planets starting with Uranus (then Neptune and Pluto.)
Chiron is about doing what it takes to bridge the gap between material and spirit realities. We have to leave our comfort zone and make ourselves vulnerable to know the unknown.
Chiron is the force that pushes us beyond our existing boundaries, so we can connect with our soul, open our hearts to ourselves and the world, and excel as divinely guided beings. Our wounds are what initially get in the way. However, the compelling drive to ‘heal’ them directs us on our path of self-mastery.
Our wounds appear in some form of pain and suffering, from which we desire an exit strategy. We need Aries’ courage and bravery and Libra compassion to dare to consistently pursue the gold of Self.
The Gift of Self
Our individual soul is born in a human body with the instinct to manifest itself and to offer its gifts so that the world is a better place when we leave. Our divine mission is accomplished through our uniqueness. No one else can offer our gift, fulfill our assignment, or be who we are.
Chiron in Aries teaches us that our greatest gift is the gift of Self. Our Chiron healing is the alchemical process of actualizing our soul Self and tapping into our soul gifts by transforming our wounds into skills ad powers. The transformation happens through self care, self love. No one can do this job for us. To engage in the process is our contribution to the world and our legacy.
We always want to know, how long will it take. Enjoy incremental progress. Monitor the relaxation (vs anxiety) in your body and the extent to which you feel happier, more alive, and more grateful.
How many people depart this earth fully actualized beings? Not many. But we don’t have to be a Buddha, Nanak, or Christ to make our contribution. Whatever progress we can make to carry the light and love of the heart within ourselves is valuable beyond measure and serves the collective in ways that we cannot even know.
These special times remind us that while we are usually motivated by pain, our personal and collective healing happens through love.
