This is an article on Chiron in aspect to Mars. For general comments on Chiron, please see “Chiron, an Overview.”
I’ve always thought that too much has been made of Chiron’s infamous wound, and not enough of his wisdom, his teaching, his skill, his role as guide to the muses, and his crucial role as the maker of heroes. Chiron is not a schmoe who happened to get poisoned with his own dart, like some ancient member of The Three Stooges. Chiron was a divine being fated to live as a mortal, yet in spite of that he spent his life in purposeful and meaningful action. He didn’t spend his time bitching and complaining about not being able to party with the gods, not even when the fateful arrow bit him and his suffering became unbearable. It was at that point, and at that point only, that Chiron’s wound entered the picture. It prevented him from practicing his skill, and it was at that point he surrendered his immortality and fully expected to die a mortal death in exchange for the release of Prometheus. Because of his sacrifice, the gods awarded Chiron his proper divinity. The point of Chiron’s suffering is the transcendence of suffering. The key is not the wound itself, but the limited existence that Chiron gives up willingly, for which the unexpected reward is divine immortality.
It is this conscious sacrifice that gives meaning and purpose to the Chiron myth. Note I say conscious sacrifice. Our Judeo-Christian world is keen on the idea that suffering itself gives life meaning. And this allows folks to get the wrong end of the stick as far as Chiron is concerned. It’s not about the suffering. Chiron’s wound is the initiator, the instigator of Chiron’s transcendence. It is part of a process, the dramatic twist at the end of a story. It is not an end in itself. As someone here said recently in the comments column, “Wound Schmound…” (Thank you, Donna.)
Too many of us get stuck at the ‘wound’ stage We can be a bit hypnotized by it. Chiron in the seventh longs for partnership. In the fifth thinks writing that book or getting that part or having a child will provide the answers. Chiron in the third wishes she could express the depths of her mind, or just learn how things work. Everything gets blamed on Chiron because it’s the pain that never heals, the one thing that we want to do but can’t do. Or is it? Funny thing about Chiron. Remember whose son he is. Chiron is fathered by Kronos, otherwise known as Saturn. And Saturn rules Time.
Often, where Chiron is, we build a life of ‘limited divinity.’ We know that we’re of the gods, that we’re immortal, we sense a greatness within us that never manifests. This is a world where we live without the help of the gods, and without recognition for the god within us. Life can be dull, mundane, full of effort where it resides, and we long to be delivered. We tell ourselves that there is a key, just one thing that’s missing, and if we only had it, we could play up there on Olympus, too. Everyone would see who we really are, and we will be welcomed home where we belong. In the meantime we starve, isolated, lonely, with our noses pressed against the bakery window.
Problem is, where Chiron is, we can also build a false god, a false idea of what immortality means. Chiron may represent a hunger we create in our isolation and abandonment, and it may be a false hunger. It may cause us to think the answer is outside of ourselves, that we need validity of our immortality from the outside world. If only things would shift in our direction, we would be saved. People have tried to associate Chiron with a number of different signs, and I don’t really ascribe to any of them, but there is certainly something of the Virgo/Pisces polarity in Chiron, and I believe he guides the whole journey of the mutable signs: from knowledge (Gemini), to skill and mastery (Virgo), to wisdom and understanding (Sag), to universality (Pisces). If we stumble at any of these crossroads, we have a difficult time connecting our divine knowledge in any relevant way to the world around us. The only way to attain universality is to allow it to flow through us and filter it through an endless cycle of human experience.
It seems to me that Chiron is intrinsically tied to the Mars principle. Chiron is related to Mars through the infamous cut. Mars is all about arrows (look at the glyph) and the wounds we can receive from arrows. (Ask an Aries if he has shot himself in the foot more than once or twice.) In the same way you cannot tell the story of Chiron without discussing the arrow, you cannot tell the story of Chiron without discussing Mars. Mars represents what we do in the world, how we go after what we desire. It was a mis-aimed act of aggression that wounded Chiron. Mars/Chiron is the story of the way our actions and our focus must be honed and altered in order for us to transcend our limitations. Chiron’s ‘wounds’ take many faces, but in the end it comes down to whether or not we can act on what we know in order to bypass our mortal stumbling blocks.
Chiron becomes a centaur by an accident of birth: he is the son of Kronos (Saturn) and the half-brother of Zeus. The story goes that Kronos tried to rape the nymph Philyra. In an attempt to avoid Kronos, Philyra turns herself into a horse. Ha ha, says Kronos, I can do that, too—so Chiron is born a centaur. His mother, thinking him hideous, rejects him (Whatever house Chiron resides in, some early, cruel rejection has taken place.). The stories vary, but eventually He is adopted by Apollo, who teaches him all he knows. (We are also inclined to be taken under a god’s wing where Chiron is, and find a great teacher, but we must first recognize a god when we see one.) Chiron instructs the heroes of mythology, teaches the great Asclepius how to heal, he teaches the Muses how to strut their stuff. So far, so good. Chiron’s own Mars was definitely intact.
The symbol for Mars itself is arrow-shaped, a masculine symbol, a symbol of one pointed energy, strength and virility. Look at Chiron’s own symbol. It’s called a key. Is it? Is the familiar “K” at the top the point of penetration? The center, the circle, is askew. And it is this inward turning that most frustrates and resonates with Chiron/Mars. Chiron/Mars understands that it must develop in stages, something that an active Mars is not keen on. It takes time, Saturn, to bring Chiron’s gifts to ripeness. Time, and darkness.
Part Two of “The Cave and the Arrow” next time.
I’ve got Chiron in the 12th in a T-Square with Mars in the 10th and Neptune in the 6th.
I’ve looked to occult wisdom and practices to heal myself.
Wow, this post was very timely, thanks (chiron in aries in the 10th house is part of a mystic rectangle that includes saturn in gemini in the 11th house, uranus in libra in the 4th house, and moon in sagittarius in the 5th house)
Hi Dawn – I like what you say about “conscious sacrifice” (I often use the word “surrender”) and the need to move beyond the identification with our wound. Either that or we become bitter and disillusioned. Or maybe we pretend to be invulnerable and victimize others in the very same way.
I think the point you make about not glorifying suffering for suffering’s sake is a good one, although it’s my personal belief, based on my understanding of Jesus’ teachings, that LOVE is what gives life meaning. Part of what makes the Chiron myth and the biblical story of Jesus so widely appealing is not that they suffered, but that they understood the human experience with all of its accompanying challenges – practical and spiritual. Both Chiron and Jesus had a deep understanding of suffering, not as some abstract concept studied from on high, but through direct experience. Maybe in this same way, our own suffering (as indicated by Chiron’s natal placement) can serve a divine purpose if we’re willing to surrender to the experience – nothing like a little pain to teach us humility and compassion, not to mention a few alternative remedies! Then when we reach out to others to share our wisdom and skills, they intuitively sense our empathic connection and feel better.
Thanks, LB, for your thoughtful response. When compassion is the result of suffering, it elevates us. My point was that, too often, suffering becomes a defense. Without the requisite opening of the heart, suffering can be a mantle we wear to avoid change. We all know people who wear their suffering on their sleeve and refuse to make the required changes in perspective needed. The more open we are where Chiron is concerned, the more we understand that the world we walk in is a divine creation, and so are we.
Thanks, Dawn. I know what you mean. Looking forward to Part Two. 🙂
Well, with Chiron Pluto North Node in 7th House Virgo; I must say you are absolutely ‘right on’. Great insights. The most difficult part of all these configurations has been the ‘illusions’ that these and a Neptune midheaven create. Have had to learn patience and an understanding that perhaps comes from those Piscean past lives that teaches that the whole world is an illusion itself. Which then brings everything down to ‘acceptance’. Acceptance that the ‘missing piece’ may never materialize, and that indeed it is the little things in life that are present each day: the smell of the rose, the touch given the pet etc etc etc are the only real things that anyone has. That is difficult some days, but not always… a great teacher this Bodhisattva Chiron is.
to heal some wounds we have to recieve them without the response of Mars.
Oh, dear, my Chiron is conjunct my Venus both of them in an opposition to the Moon and all of them having a party along the nodal axis (NN in Libra)
The way you write is fascinating. It resonates very strongly with the way I see/feel things.
I just remembered that I was charmed by Ancient Greek mythology at a very early age. Then later in high school I wrote an essay comparing Jesus and Prometheus who also accepted immortal endless suffering for the sake of humans.
Don–yes, absolutely. Acceptance plays a huge part in gaining the wisdom and power of Chiron’s position.
Dawn, my FB friend, astrologer Ann Clancy, made the following point after reading the article, which I think is a valid point:
“Linking it to Mars is a focus on the wound… sure, Mars severs (wounds)… but imo that really isn’t what Chiron is really about… Mars doesn’t (know how… can’t) acknowledge the healing side, or the empathic and martyr potential side.
(My vote is Mercury via Virgo… master healer and teacher… the place where we are better at teaching or helping others than we can do for ourselves)
Chiron’s orbit weaves between Saturn, and Uranus… the points where the inner visible planets end and collective planets begin. Saturn hints to the idea that time might be involved somehow… Uranus, the sudden shocks inherent to having others around us (an element of “control”/Saturn is sacrificed).
It is like the story of the frog and the scorpion (Mars being the scorpion of course… lol) Mars is going to need help of other planetary energies for the individual to access healing. Mars on its own will “fight back”… even if it is to the death… the Mars that refuses the help is the scorpion who lashes out/ stings his frog helper instead of accepting help across the river all the way to the other side (healing).”
Hello Monty,
I agree with Ann entirely–the mistake here is that this is not an article about Chiron in general, but specifically one in a series of articles about Chiron in aspect with other planets. This article focuses on what happens when Mars and Chiron are in aspect, either natally or between charts. You might want to read the article, “Chiron, an Overview” (https://theinnerwheel.com/2010/10/01/synastry-studies-chiron-an-overview/) and the one on Chiron in aspect to Venus. The ‘Overview’ article is in line with what Ann articulated in her comments. There are a number of articles on this site which address Chiron in general.
Thanks for your clarification, Dawn. I’ll check out the articles you’ve mentioned.
Best wishes,
Monty
Thanks for an excellent article Dawn, I have always felt that Chiron is the true ruler of Virgo, I know how Mercury resonates having four planets in Gemini but the five I have in Virgo resonate much more to the Chironic energy than that of Mercury…then again maybe I just mix ’em up.
I do love the way you write, so clear and with so much heart, I’m looking forward to part two.
Thank you, Dawn. This two articles are tailormade for my natal. I’ve always had certain issues that I couldn’t explain and this adresses them point by point. The only interaction of Mars (3rd, Sag) that I have is a trine with Chiron in my 7th (aries), Also chiron is the only planet there.
Very helpful.
…”take time and darkness…” a very profound statement. i agree… no wonder only until i got my first saturn return that i got the chance to involve myself into arts… i never realized i can paint, i can cook and sing and etc…. only until now i am able to do this… or i guess having mars squaring sun also makes it difficult for me.
Dawn can you please help me interpret Composite
Mars- Chiron conjunction in 4th near IC? Esp regarding the houses Mars rules?
This conjunction aspects back to our respective natals too and I wanted to know what it is bringing..
Thankyou
Often in a composite chart Mars/Chiron in the fourth or on the IC can mean troubles with the families. The families can have a hard time accepting the validity of the relationship. If the issue is not about the tribe, then the couple may have issues with establishing the relationship–we just can’t get it going, somehow, perhaps neither party wants to be the aggressive one, or the one to make the commitment. The energy of the relationship can fizzle, particularly the sexual energy. Sometimes we want very much to establish a home and family, but things always get in the way. The worst of this aspect can be an unresolved, buried or subconscious anger that undermines the relationship–there can be secret competition or resentments that get in the way of the strength of the relationship. The house Mars rules may describe the source of the conflict.
Hmm..the family not validating rings really true…we’ll probabely have to keep it a secret..:-/ Aries rules 12th
Thank you!