Comet Chiron in Astrology


Chiron is a comet with an inconsistent orbit, spending several years in one sign before entering the next. It is also able to enter retrograde, doing so every so often. Thus, it has been accepted into astrological practice: calculate your Chiron here.

Everyone has a wounded area buried deep within their psyches, able to manifest consciously and unconsciously. Events, circumstances, issues and people that we feel were more painful or unfair, and things which were wrong that need healing: this sum total of perceptions combine into the wound. Chiron, named after the wisest of the Centaurs, and known as the Wounded Healer of Greek mythology, is the indicator of this aspect within ourselves. He represents our emotional and physical scars. This placement reveals a part of us that is hurt, small and vulnerable. We are encouraged to heal our wounds, and then look beyond personal realms, to see the suffering of others, and to become teachers and healers ourselves.

Chiron's message is the same for everyone- no matter what happens in life, it is nothing but a learning experience that should not be seen as failure. Everything that happens has purpose, and the more that you can acknowledge this, the more attuned you become to the universe and the people around you, and the more you will heal- physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

It is vital that we consider how the mythological Chiron, despite being a legendary healer, could not heal himself willingly, which ultimately led to his death. If we choose to ignore our areas of pain, we only suffer, holding onto unreasonable levels of guilt. But like our mythological example, because of our sensitivities, we hold tremendous and unique wisdom in those areas. We should watch for unreasonable expectations of ourselves in those areas, and watch for overcompensating in them.

On the bright side, we can understand Chiron to help heal ourselves. We must remember we all have our pain to carry. Chiron calls for acceptance of that wound, to allow it to scar and wear it to battle with pride. Sometimes it will have bad days, it will burn and hurt to the bottom of your soul. Some days you can look at it and be proud of how far you have come- regardless of the pain.


Thoughts: Duality in Sagittarius


I choose to look at Chiron as the teacher of his disciples Achilles, Jason, and Asclepios, moreso than the usual naming of him as the Wounded Healer, which in recent times has been used frequently by astrologers, post-Jungians and others. Not because I think this aspect of Chiron is invalid, but because his teaching aspect is just as interesting, and it is not mentioned to the same degree today. According to Ovid's Fasti, Chiron was honored in the constellation Centaurus.

The Greek god of medicine par excellence, Asclepios, owed his proficiency to Chiron. Iliad IV: 217-219 reads that Machaon, a son of Asclepios and chief surgeon of the Achaean army, "sucked the blood and skillfully laid healing medicines on it that Chiron in friendship long ago had given to his father." It may seem unfamiliar to think of Achilles in the role of a surgeon and physician, but he, too, like many other strong heroes and gallant warriors, preserved in his character something of this nature having been taught by the centaur.

There are two parts to Chiron: the animal and the divine. There is one earthbound, instinctive part of him, and another which has to do with the search for recognition and betterment. Together we can see something of the dilemma in being human. In Sagittarius, this latter side is strong; he wants to roam free of earthly bounds and reach new levels of knowledge, but as soon as he stretches too far, he feels the pain from the wound in the animal part of his being. It calls him back to the mundane experience of existence, and he can never be free enough to expand and discover all that his soul hungers for.

This duality underlies the lives of many Sagittarians where there seems to be an eternal task of juggling it into an endurable compromise. The wisdom they gain stems from their wounds, and this is their gift to humanity. It is like an offering in that it has to be given without thought of recompense; for in essence, it belongs to that kind of knowledge which is grown out of a natural attunement with life's inner workings, and as such it belongs to all of humankind. It is not owned by Sagittarius, it is only a loan to be passed on. There is only one way towards wisdom and it goes through the domains of pain and suffering. In short, there is something in Sagittarius that suggests a service to humankind, often on a social level. What is gained must be shared to be of lasting value.
Sign Placings and Interpretations


You are welcome to interpret for yourself a particular sign as though it is representative as a house; i.e. you may read Taurus Chiron as 2nd house Chiron if you wish, though actual house specific interpretations are listed further below.

Chiron in Aries

There is no way to experience a full healing alone. You feel as though your entire existence is smothered by something greater, or that growing up you have been an easy target. You reject your inner guidance because you do not trust yourself: this is shown in the way you lift others' spirits but reject your own.

Chiron in Taurus

Damage is apparent in your brittle self-worth and your lack of power. Additionally, you struggle valuing things for yourself; self comfort and materialism are major sources of guilt. However, they are where you excel in others, as you easily help them understand their worth.

Chiron in Gemini

There is a lonely struggle with blockages in communication. You have experienced strain in your partner relationships: either with a close friend or siblings, or with a romantic partner. You have lacked the ability to speak with them heart to heart, or seriously at all. This is an extreme area of difficulty within yourself that is not entirely your fault. You wrongfully are inclined to keep your thoughts to yourself.

Chiron in Cancer

The superficial interpretation would be that there were childhood troubles with the mother. Brilliant deduction. Who didn't have some childhood problems with both parents? But even in adulthood, an unhappy childhood is your deepest, unhealed injury. There is a wounded sense of identity within the family. Feeling unloved, uncared for, and rejected are extreme sources of discomfort as they are sore spots which harken back to those unhealed experiences. You intuitively know how to comfort others for their uncomfortable home lives.

Chiron in Leo

You are drawn to sentiments such as "dance like nobody's watching," but are frozen in self-consciousness. You were meant to bask in comfort and joy but this was taken away. You feel worst when feeling awkward and untalented, additionally believing that simply expressing your efforts is equal to bragging. You frequently become stunted in creativity and believe your art or creative works are dissatisfactory despite your real talent.

Chiron in Virgo

Disorganization and incomplete tasks haunt you. You are hurt by criticism, either through being overly critical to yourself or by others. The expectations you hold are unreasonable and contribute to harming your view of life. Anxieties spread through your body violently and must be healed from; all you see are flaws in the mirror.

Chiron in Libra

You staunchly believe in seeing the other side of a story and meeting people halfway; though this is not always the solution, and nor do you succeed to apply it in your own personal relationships. Intrapersonal conflicts become a major source of stress, where a lack of distributing proper equality or fairness in the situation only brings you guilt. Only when one waters his own garden can he bask in those of others'.

Chiron in Scorpio

The traumas which you have faced transformed you. You have become obsessed with preventing loss; making you a jealous individual, but also wary to attach yourself. There is an anxiety over one's own desires deep in the psyche and a tendency to draw pain inward, away from the sight of others, to the point of becoming outwardly hostile or passive-aggressive.

Chiron in Sagittarius

Living is one long, continuous spiritual crisis. This placing indicates a character which is both the eternal student- a position which should be enjoyable and not stressful, yet it is- and the lost teacher. You are pressured to find a unique meaning in life when you worry there is none. The insecurities you hold over your ideas and belief systems are what cause a sense of disconnect with them. It is too easy for you to lose your morals and change your mind about things when you are swayed by another's influence.

Chiron in Capricorn

There is an innate and complete lacking of self worth in relation to society. You feel as though you are working harder than everyone else, to no avail. The truth is that you either bet too much of your ability and fail at something, or that you close up and refuse to attempt something you'd actually excel at. Ice is your shield which you use to guard your emotions; you easily accept others into your arms, but cannot open up to them yourself.

Chiron in Aquarius

You were either isolated or estranged in your youth, a problem which has followed you into adulthood. Social rejection has stunted your ability to connect with others and made you hate the sound of your own voice; you can't stand your own skin. Only by accepting individuality can you progress.

Chiron in Pisces

Your soul hides in the mist, but it cannot escape its own eternal discomfort. You often feel like you've lost faith in humanity and this is why you shut yourself off from people and take on too much self-pity. On the other hand, you forgive too easily.
House Placings and Interpretations


1st House Chiron

You are impacted in speaking or learning to some particular degree, because you lack the diplomacy there which you must nurture. The steering oar in your ship of life is seldom under your own control. There lies an inequality between your physical and spiritual worlds.

2nd House Chiron

You attempt supporting the manners of others while you cannot support yourself. There are problems with harvesting the fruits of your labor, or with the gain of wealth. Everything born of your efforts returns too quickly to where it came from. It hurts that you lack the support structure to feel like you have a place to fall on a rainy day.

3rd House Chiron

There is a wound between you and your sibling(s). This causes a deep hurt within you. If you are religious or spiritual, you are aware that divine communication has been clouded in your life; this is the 3rd house challenging you, and may also be the result of your lack of staying votive. Because you have a strong difficulty discussing your pain, you must practice balancing gut instinct with logic. Hardship follows you when you move short and far, it follows you in routine, and destructs your ability to travel. Possible speech or learning hardships. Teachers or neighbors may have singled you out just to be needlessly harsh on you.

4th House Chiron

The most private areas of your life are uprooted beyond your control, to your discomfort. It may often occur, in times when you are extremely upset and conflicted, that you feel the same way as you felt when you were a child. That, helplessly, you can never escape your young inner self whom you tried to bury. Maybe your relatives have big problems that affected you. The family may have been too weak to defend and take care of you.

5th House Chiron

A hypersensitivity to rejection and judgement plagues your soul. You may want children but are unable to have them or believe that realistically, you would not be able to properly raise and care for them. Alternatively an existing parent with this placing is too emotionally aware of this fear, and goes to many lengths to avoid their children experiencing the same pains which they had felt as a child. You have been betrayed or otherwise wounded by sexual or romantic partners. You may have received backlashes from people when expressing yourself. You have pain around your creative impulse and individuality. Something may have happened when you were letting your guard down.

6th House Chiron

Mars brings much malice to you. Problems detrimental to your health are of note with this placing— disease, illness or injury. This is because the 6th house was traditionally seen as bad fortune. You may have been banished from your home or feel estranged from the way you once grew up. You have pain about being of service to other people. Maybe daily chores and things that seem mundane cause you a lot of anxiety. The pain is around getting things done and worrying about health.

7th House Chiron

If the 1st house is the self, the logical opposite of the self is the other— this is where the 7th house is primarily concerned. On the one hand, your important partnership, bond, or marriage may be challenged, and you may be open to your enemies. Your ability to work appropriately as a team with others is therefore flawed. But on the other hand, you might emotionally merge with your partner to the point of losing that sense of self or feeling as though you must sacrifice it in order to save a relationship. You seek too much approval from other people when in a low place.

8th House Chiron

Your pain does not cooperate with you when trying to heal. You are stricken by laziness and inactivity, and not the good kind. You're either fearful of loss and death or have been too surrounded by it.

9th House Chiron

You may fall into spiritual crises that you just can't seem to figure out, holding onto the need to find an external God which exists outside of and separately from yourself. You may have struggled throughout your life to find somewhere you truly belong, or never felt as though you fit into your family, cultures, or personal communities. You attempt using the 9th house as a way to escape your wounds. Authority figures are real threats to you.

10th House Chiron

You try too hard to force success. Your creativity, work, and innovations have been shut down by others, possibly in your childhood. Even when you feel as though you are at the summit of your life, you are still followed by those wounds. Often you are too afflicted to even try new things because of your deep-seated fears.

11th House Chiron

Unfortunately, the good spirit of the 11th house is afflicted here. You have taken up a quest for your own enlightenment; likely based on your career, but without reconciling individual needs with those of others, you continue to fail. You have trouble avoiding extremes, trouble with friends and hopes. You are an underdog. Groups cause anxiety.

12th House Chiron

The most misfortunate placing of Chiron in my opinion, as the house of dangers and the Bad Daimon. Mesopotamian and Egyptian demons often attacked humans through disease and death; in Egypt, spells to ward off illness caused by demons were commonplace. But unlike the 6th house of physical sickness, this is a spiritual anguish; it may be a problem of the nous, the mind. The cacodaimon carries you away in times when you have not made up your mind. You have pain about society and some unknown truth. Fears that come through the veil of existence.
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