Chiron in Pisces: The bliss of the healing journey

 Chiron is an interesting planetary body whose orbit lies in the Kuiper belt.  But just as Chiron was not an ordinary Centaur even though he was half horse and half man, Chiron is not just an ordinary KBO (Kuiper Belt Object).  For more information on the planetary properties of Chiron visit this earlier article, and here you'll find more information on the astrological Chiron.

On April 21 Chiron leaves Aquarius for the sign of Pisces.  In its role as the Wounded Healer, Chiron shows where are deepest wounds lie, and where we will find the keys to healing.  A soul that has experienced the intensity of experience in emotional or physical pain has an opportunity to gain greater wisdom and a depth of consciousness and awareness by delving deep into the wound that is not available without these experiences. Chiron is the guide on this journey, giving us the courage to open our hearts despite the fear and pain that may make this process excrutiatingly difficult in some cases.

While Chiron was in Aquarius from 2005 until next year (Chiron will retrograde back into Aquarius in July to complete the process) we have seen the ways in which technology, one of the domains of Aquarius, has created wounds and intensified experiences of loneliness and isolation in the midst of 1,000 Facebook friends.  Aquarius, with its double rulership of Saturn (rules and isolation) and Uranus (the collective) has a tendency to become somewhat disconnected from the heart and soul, living primarily in the head and the realm of thoughts and ideas.

The period of Chiron traveling through Aquarius completes itself with an opposition between those two planets (Saturn and Uranus), intensifying the stress between the solid forms that hold society together (Saturn) and the revolutionary new ideas that bring about change (Uranus).  Under this influence we have seen both an obsessive need to change the status quo, and a fear of change that results in violent backlash.

Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac, and it represents a completion of sorts.  In Pisces, everything is thrown into the "celestial dustbin," as Liz Greene says, and we surrender to the mists of an experience that dissolves both Saturnian and Uranian reality into something more transcendent and, ideally, more pure. Under the Pisces influence we often throw ourselves to the winds, eagerly willing to sacrifice our individual pain for the bliss of Universal consciousness.  This urge for self-sacrifice can, at its worst, exalt the concept of martyrdom and convert it to victimhood.  The challenge is to find the rapture of transcendence and surrender without losing ourselves in the process.

Chiron was last in Pisces from 1962-1968, and it's impossible to separate the effects of this planetary cycle from the conjunction of Uranus and Pluto which occurred during the same time period.  But we can certainly see how the growing drug culture at that time (Chiron in Pisces)  affected the social transformation of the era (Uranus/Pluto).   Chiron in Pisces runs the risk of addictive behavior which may appear as a shortcut to the desired transcendent experience that helps to dissolve pain and sufering.

With Chiron in Pisces for the next nine years or so, the last stage of healing occurs at the soul level.  This process began last year with the conjunction of Chiron and Neptune, the ruler of Pisces.  Under this combination many of us were intensely aware of the longings of the soul within.  Memories of past loves; mourning for those we've lost -- all took on a more profound meaning as the doorway to the soul opened under Neptune's guidance so that the healing of Chiron could begin to do its work. The Chironic healing process involves going back to the core wounds and exposing them to the air so that they can become healed.  It's not an easy process and requires a fair amount of courage, but when the healing is complete we gain a level of wisdom and cellular integration that is not otherwise possible.

While Chiron travels through Pisces there is a danger of falling into Piscean illusion which we often attempt as a shortcut on the way to spiritual bliss.  Because of the tendency of Pisces to seek martyrdom and sacrifice, there is the danger of becoming lost IN the pain during the Chironic healing process rather than going THROUGH the pain as required. The Neptunian influence of Pisces tends to blur the boundaries of our relationships with others, so another danger of Chiron's trip through Pisces is that of a codependent process of healing others rather than ourselves.  

Chiron represents the wound that we carry with us throughout our life - it never leaves us, which makes it tempting to try to heal the wounds of others instead.  This kind of transference is not only ineffective, it can be dangerous and pollutes our relationships while preventing the soul integration that is necessary for our own healing. If we are careful not to get lost in the glamour that makes up the realm of Pisces and Neptune, there is tremendous potential during the Chiron trip through Pisces for a growing spiritual awareness and an integration of Universal consciousness into our own beings.  This is the process that will carry us through any stress that results in the Cardinal alignments coming up over the next three years.  

As our world shifts and changes around us, Chiron continues to facilitate the growing conversation between our inner Selves and the person that we think we are, enhancing our own experience of wholeness and, ultimately, bliss.