The Centaur Connection: Expanding Chiron's Territory

Whenever we think or speak of Chiron, the image of the "wounded healer" invariably comes to mind. In the short space of the twenty-two years since Chiron's discovery on All Saints Day, November 1st, 1977, astrologers have eagerly embraced this particular face of the Chiron archetype. The wound dominates our Chironic landscape, as does the preoccupation with healing that wound. The purpose of this article is to attempt to expand Chiron's territory by penetrating its labyrinthine domain more deeply.

The study of Chiron has provided astrologers with the unique opportunity to learn about a newly discovered body in space from the ground up. Chiron is the only major body that has been discovered in our time, and we have been able to watch it unfold before us from the beginning (see discovery data at end of article). We are caught very much in the present with Chiron. There is no ancient body of knowledge, based on many years of empirical observation, upon which we can rely for our interpretive meanings. We must construct a new meaning in the here and now.

All this surely begs some elementary questions: How and from where do we derive the meaning of a new astrological body, and what are the sources of the meanings we attribute to Chiron? It is clear that we largely rely on the principle of synchronicity, the law of correspondences, and the notions of connectivity and relatedness to 'divine' our astrological meanings. Of course, thrown into the mix is also a substantial dollop of empirical observation, a measure of quantitative research, and sprinklings of anecdotal findings. The meanings we derive are based on the interpretation of all of the above, which, as post-modern thinking explains, is by its very nature, context-bound, subjective, and coloured by the interpreter's sociocultural biases and world view.

In Chiron's case, we have drawn meaning from numerous sources, beginning with the astronomy of the body, to come up with qualities like "the Rainbow Bridge" and "the Maverick." [1] It is the highly elliptical and eccentric nature of Chiron's orbit, and the belief on the part of some astronomers that Chiron is a temporary visitor from outside our solar system, that has led to its "Maverick" status. The peculiarities of Chiron's orbital path between Saturn and Uranus [2] have likewise prompted astrologers to conceptualize Chiron as a link or bridge between the inner or personal planets and the outer or collective planets. This theme has been reinforced by the Sabian Symbol for Chiron's position in its discovery chart: "A Pot of Gold at the end of the Rainbow", and it appears to be from here that the "Rainbow Bridge" metaphor has sprung. [3] We have also searched for correspondences with the cultural and socio-political events and trends that were active at the time of Chiron's discovery, including the emergence of the holistic healing movement and the internet, and have gleaned meanings associated with networking, healing and holism.

Most importantly, we have looked at the name chosen for the body by its discoverer, Charles Kowal, which naturally led us to explore the ancient mythology of the legendary Chiron. From this story we have drawn the meanings of wounded healer, mentor, and teacher of heroes. And from here we have extrapolated and grafted other related meanings onto our evolving Chironic body of knowledge, resulting in a smorgasboard that reads somewhat like a stream-of-consciousness brainstorming session: Problem-solving, questing, suffering, wounding, integrating, healing, networking, compassion, reconciliation, whole-maker, shaman, magician, initiator, hero, martyr, Christ figure, priest, hierophant, adept, oracle, philosopher, the astrologer's astrologer, and round and round we go. You name it, Chiron does it! And yet a common thread may link them all.

Overall, it seems that much of our current body of meaning surrounding the Chiron archetype has been distilled from the Greco-Roman myth of Chiron, wise and kindly King of the Centaurs. Interpretations of the astrological Chiron have tended to centre largely around the motif of the "Wounded Healer," an analogy drawn directly from the story of Chiron's ill-fated encounter with a wounding arrow, whether self-inflicted or at the hands of his friend Hercules. Certainly, any astrologer who has worked with Chiron cannot help but notice the correspondences between Chiron's position in the birth chart and what is frequently experienced as an area of wounding, pain, and suffering of some deep and potent sort. And yet, many will sooner or later also encounter those who do not feel wounded in that area, or those whose sense of wounding appears to be more closely associated with Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto.

If the Wounded Healer, as an astrological archetype for Chiron, does not apply to all of us, then what does? Can we find a more universal archetype for Chiron, a more essential meaning? Some have attempted to broaden the meaning base of Chiron to make allowances for those who cannot relate to the Wounded Healer archetype. The "wounded one" is transmuted into the "healer" is transmuted into the "teacher" or "mentor." We may substitute "teaching" for "healing" if the "wounded" cap doesn’t fit. We may say that the meaning of Chiron lies in going beyond our pain, embracing our pain, transcending our pain, giving meaning to our suffering, and ultimately using it to help others. We may say that Chiron is more about love and compassion and forgiveness than about wounding and suffering. (Candy Hillenbrand )