Chiron in Aries

The astrology of Anne Heche, RIP

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Anne Heche first came to my attention when she began dating Ellen deGeneres back in 1997. I had seen her in a couple of films but it was that relationship that put her in the public eye, especially since Ellen came out as a lesbian while in that relationship – a somewhat shocking event for that time.

Heche and deGeneres broke up in August 2000, and hours later Heche was found in the desert waiting for a spaceship. She later revealed that she had taken ecstasy and went on a bender following the breakup, but tales of her mental breakdown followed her for years and the scandal of her relationship with deGeneres (it was a different time back then!) put limitations on what would have been a brilliant career.

Anne Heche had the Sun conjunct Mercury in the sign of Mercury-ruled Gemini – a triple whammy of Mercury influence. Mercury is curious and changeable, eager to learn about all facets of life including different aspects of love.  Mercurial factors in the natal chart of actors imply the ability to disappear into a role, and we certainly saw that with Anne Heche.

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Her Venus (relationships) was in the independent sign of Aries and opposed her Libra ascendant, suggesting that the need to balance autonomy (Aries) with compromise and relationship (Venus/Libra) was a theme in her life and chart which we can see in her fierce independence (Aries) combined with serial monogamous relationships (Venus/Libra).  Still, ideally these polarities need to be reconciled and balanced, something which few of us manage to do successfully.

At the time Heche met Ellen deGeneres, transformational Pluto was opposite her Sun and Mercury, likely forcing long-buried trauma into consciousness. […]

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By |2022-08-13T07:35:09-04:00August 13th, 2022|People|6 Comments
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Will Smith and the Chironic wound

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Will Smith has been having a bit of a breakdown lately.  In the fall of 2021 he published his memoir and came out with a YouTube documentary called “The Best Shape of my Life” which also showed him writing the memoir and facing some emotionally painful memories and truths including the fact that he had considered suicide.  And this week the breakdown spilled out in a very public way when he slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars for insulting his wife Jada Pinkett.

Smith was born under the Sun in Libra in a very tight opposition aspect (180 degrees) to Chiron in Aries. Chiron, a small planet with comet-like properties, was discovered in 1977 and is associated with wounding and healing. Often called the “wounded healer” (a name I personally dislike because of the negative connotations of a wounded psyche attempting to heal others instead of themselves), I think of Chiron as the “soul healer.” Chiron’s role is to expose old wounds when the psyche is prepared to digest and release the trauma – physical, mental or spiritual – that is held energetically in the body.  When Chiron is strongly aspecting one of the personal planets or the Sun and Moon we are often hyper-sensitive and carrying a greater number of wounds from old traumas than the average person. (Not everyone with a strong Chiron aspect has experienced trauma, but the emotional hypersensitivity is present in any case.)

Chiron in Smith’s chart is in Aries, so between 2019 and 2021 or so transiting Chiron hit his natal Chiron. The Chironic wound in Aries is a wound to the ability to establish an identity. “Who am I?” is the question asked by Chiron in Aries, especially when it is opposite the Sun in Libra which seeks to establish […]

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By |2022-03-31T07:19:53-04:00March 28th, 2022|People|8 Comments
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Chiron in Aries, the Wounded Self: 2018-2026

What is Chiron? 

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Chiron is a relatively minor player in the astrological pantheon, but it has been an important part of my work for over 25 years.  Chiron has been variously called a comet, a planetoid, and an asteroid (see more about this here), and is now classified astronomically as a “minor planet.”

The sound bite definition for Chiron is that it represents the “wounded healer,”  a term that originates in psychiatry where a wounded individual attempts to heal others.  But that doesn’t really reflect the impetus that Chiron offers to heal the wounds of the soul that create energy blockages which cause psychological, emotional and physical distress.  Chiron in the natal chart shows where those wounds can be found, and the key to healing.  Chiron is also associated with mentorship since having healed the wounds of the soul, we often find ourselves inspired to help others.

Chiron archetype

Chiron is often associated in common mythology with the primitive race of the Centaurs (Kentauri), bestial creatures who represent the animal nature of man.  But Chiron (Kheiron) has a completely different lineage –  as the illegitimate son of Saturn with Philyra he was half divine and half mortal – and not of the Centaur race which were the offspring of a cloud and a king. Originally described as mere monsters, they only in later accounts took on the horse-man shape.