Chiron

Our recent discovery of Chiron suggests a messenger sent to promote our need to know and understand ourselves individually before we focus attention on others. We may prefer to blame others for our pain but Chiron gently teaches us to take responsibility for our own lives. I believe Chiron carries the truth which begins in the consciousness of each individual. No teacher can teach understanding. Understanding is located within the makeup of the student; when we hear a lesson, we hear what our experience tells us. I believe that Chiron, more than any other astrological body, is dealing with this potential disconnect between understanding and experience.

A strong Chiron is likely to produce a maverick that lives outside the norm of society. They are individuals who have the courage to break new ground. Now that we have discovered Chiron, each of us has new responsibility to convey our experience in the way we live, more definitively presenting our unique individual perspective. Our society may look more and more disjointed and disconnected as we incorporate this new responsibility. However, we are encouraged to break the bonds that have bound us by the need to belong to a society. Rules of society are set to make things run smoothly. We are just beginning to realize and understand that freedom also brings a sense of responsibility. As we insist on more and more freedom, we also open the door to realizing the true cost of being inconsiderate of others.

For centuries, we have been taught that if we take care of someone else they will take care of us. But things aren’t working the same way. Certainly, it isn’t right to ignore the comfort of other people. But it is also important to understand and tend to our own needs. It has been Saturn’s function to build walls around what already exists: society, culture, tribes, partnerships, etc. Saturn enforces the rules and the boundaries. It has been the function of Uranus to break the rules and challenge the boundaries in order to expand our consciousness and envision new boundaries. As this process develops, Saturn once again provides the structure to maintain the new boundaries. Chiron steps into this process to teach us that this process must involve individuals who are able to stand alone in order to be true participants. In this kind of society, it may be impossible to pass the buck of responsibility to someone else. This includes the demands of the society as well as the demands of individual relationships. Every bit of progress that has been made by society has been fostered by individuals who went against what was thought to be the limits. As we begin to see that what we have relied on is not working, it breaks down the boundaries, making room for something else to move in with a better plan. I believe Chiron is the symbol for this better plan. Chiron presents these principles to each of us as individuals who must understand what we are taught in order to be true participants in our society, community and personal relationships.