Synastry Studies  ✦  Dawn Bodrogi  ✦  The Inner Wheel

In an episode of the TV series “Angel”, the character Fred is dying of a mystical disease brought in via an ancient sarcophagus. She is the only girl left in the bunch, and the boys are left to save the day. They follow their clues to a secret entrance — the tomb of The Old Ones, gods who once walked the earth.

The guardian at the gate tells them that one of these ancients has escaped back into ordinary reality. It needs a body, a vehicle — and that is why Fred is dying. The boys are given a choice: let Fred die, or save her at the cost of wreaking havoc in the world.

Fred is taken over by the god Illyria, who rails about being trapped in a feeble human body. She is full of disdain. Yet eventually she becomes the key figure in the battle for good — but only after sacrificing some of her power.

The story reminds me of our experience of Chiron. Fred has messed with the gods. An Old One — read Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto — has other plans for her. The genie will not go back into the bottle. Fred has to die to herself in order for the god to live. Often, where the outer planets touch us, we experience a little death. It leaves us changed, often with great insight. And then what?

It is so much that it freezes us in our path. Wounds can be healed, but what is known cannot become unknown. One of the harder truths about Chiron is that we continue to feel abandoned because we know more than we should. It is a place where we press our noses against the glass of divinity and are allowed a glimpse of what god-like achievements we might be capable of. It taunts us with possibility, gives us a sense of life beyond the ordinary — and then pulls that life away.

Chiron, the hero-maker, demands that we use our hard-won outer planet wisdom in the world. It demands skills. To exist in this world, Illyria had to give up her ability to transcend dimensions. Without that sacrifice, she would die. Wherever Chiron resides, we have to make peace with our earth-bound selves.

It is through this hole that outer planetary energies release into the material world. What we do with them belongs to Saturn’s realm. It is Saturn’s work to ground Chiron’s gathered skills. Leaden, practical Saturn must do the work so that the life becomes a conduit for divine purpose. In mythology, Chiron is a child of Saturn.

If we don’t focus our outer planet energies into the world — if we cling to self-loathing — we can become destructive. But if we concentrate on putting our hardest lessons to good use, we allow our lives to become a vessel for the gods. The god-energy must be limited to this physical plane in order to be useful.

Go deeper

The Foundations Book by Dawn Bodrogi

For a deeper understanding of how Chiron integrates with Saturn, the outer planets, and the full structural blueprint of a chart — Dawn’s Foundations Book is the essential companion for anyone serious about chart synthesis.

→ The Foundations Book — all ebook retailers

If we put our hardest lessons to good use, we allow our lives to become a vessel for the gods.