Chiron Opposite Jupiter: the Wounding and the Healing

B.A. Vierling artist

I am sometimes overwhelmed by the sheer scale of  human suffering on the planet right now.  With the inter-net it is now possible to bear witness to more tribulations than ever before in nearly every corner of the globe if one wants to search for it.  One of the astrological signatures that seems to represent this for me, besides the Saturn/Neptune square, is the opposition of Chiron and Jupiter which will zig-zag back and forth until August of 2016.  That seems like an interminably long time, but it is because Jupiter will turn retrograde in February and then Chiron will turn retrograde again in July.  The tightest opposition between these two hovers around 18 to 24 degrees, but giving a wide orb of 5 to even 10 degrees, they are polarized for most of these next nine months.

Healing is obviously needed to antidote the wounds that we humans inflict on each other.  We’ve had a good start with Neptune conjoining Chiron in Pisces for a couple of years meaning that we need a host of healing modalities to address all the ills as we become more and more conscious of our potential oneness and thus wholeness.

The chart for February 23rd, 2016 shows an exact opposition with Chiron joining the South Node and Jupiter joining the North Node while both ends solidly square Saturn in Sagittarius.  This Mutable T-square also includes Neptune in Pisces.  It would appear we are heading for quite a decisive moment in that month that represents all of the meanings we can possibly conjure up.  For now I”ll try to break things down a bit so you can see where it all fits in your life.  I’ll also give just one example that personifies the meaning of this aspect.

Jupiter in Virgo has been described by me in my August 7th article.  In its most positive form Jupiter represents expansive problem solving capabilities and getting things done pragmatically that need attending to in daily life or in the running of daily matters and routines.  Picking apart, sorting out, attending to details are all the specialities of Virgo.  What can become an issue is when too much detail is called for that is time-consuming or there is simply an over-whelm of tasks to be accomplished.

Jupiter is also representative of a belief system, a philosophy to live by.  In Virgo the focus may move to the rituals involved (Virgo rules daily rituals), in other words getting focused only on the ‘letters of the law’ rather than the ‘spirit of the law’ whether we are dealing with legal issues or issues of belief.  Jupiter in Virgo could become terribly tyrannical and fanatical in this mode.  The eye-for-an-eye Old Testament type formula could be applied to the projections of any mind set on finding evil outside itself rather than examining the flaws from within.  This certainly applies to the socio-political climate as well where projections are rampant in this ‘good and evil’ polarity which continues to justify the other old paradigm of ‘divide and conquer’.  There isn’t a whole lot of self-reflection visible where collective issues are concerned right now and that only spreads the polarization theme as well as the conflagration that Jupiter is so good at.  A fiery planet in an earth sign isn’t the easiest of combinations.

Chiron in Pisces often may represent deep spiritual wounds where one is deeply angry at God at a very core level.  Many under this signature feel like martyrs who then become victims in the bargain dying at the hands of ‘the enemy’.  Of course now we have those committing suicide for what they believe in while blowing up the enemy.  We may also be witnessing coerced victims who are forced to do so like slaves to the cause.  One aspect of the wound of Chiron in Pisces is being a psychic sponge soaking up all the ills and griefs of others and not knowing any longer what belongs and what doesn’t to one’s individual soul immersed in such suffering.

So Chiron in Pisces individuals need to learn good psychic boundaries so that they are not invaded and taken over by the collective unconscious.  We now living through this phase also need to be aware of how we are invaded, how our privacies are stripped away, how we are left vulnerable to what we often can’t see, hear, or even sense.

The healing of this signature is also gained by moving beyond boundaries.  Tremendous spiritual healing is possible now in a variety of energetic ways.  Along with Neptune, Chiron in Pisces has furthered the move towards oneness that many are experiencing.  This more mystical experience of union doesn’t violate ones core or center however.  Within this sphere a healthy ego can remain intact just as our bones and skin provide structure and definition to our own separate bodies.

The last time Chiron was in Pisces was in the ’60s during the Viet Nam war.  Many of the souls born at that time have Chiron with Saturn opposite Uranus and Pluto in Virgo.  Some of these special souls are now emerging as powerful healers and teachers using spiritual laws and truths to guide them.

The meaning of Chiron in general stems both from the mythological story as well as the discovery date of this ‘planetoid’ back in 1977.  People with strong Chiron in their birth charts often identify strongly with the story-line.  A quick review is that Chiron was the illegitimate and abandoned son of Kronos (Saturn) and Rhea, who had turned herself into the form of a horse to try and escape the the lecherous advances of Kronos.  Chiron was thus born half-human, half-horse/animal, and an immortal.  Unlike his half-brother, Zeus, he ended up raising himself and lived much of the time in his cave, only emerging to teach all the heroes how to fight and how to heal when wounded.  It was his fate that one day he was wounded by his own medicine, a potent poison designed to ward off the marauding Centaurs who descended upon a wedding feast that his friend Hercules was guarding.  The arrow meant to prevent the bride from being raped accidentally hit Chiron in his heel (this is one version of the story) and Chiron suffered endlessly from a wound he could not heal himself.

Later, in his abject misery, he plead with his half-brother, Zeus, to allow him to trade places with Prometheus, who was being punished for stealing the fire from the gods and giving it to the humans.  Zeus obliged and Chiron became a mortal, died, and went into the Underworld.  Zeus, however, took pity on his brother and eventually released him back out into the ‘stars’ from which he had originally come.  Remember, he was an immortal!

The planetoid discovered in 1977 by astronomer Kowal has been thought to perhaps be a comet that got lodged in our solar system some time during the paleothenic age when horses were beginning to evolve on our planet.  The year 1977 marked an important time of major development in the world of computers as well as holistic healing, so the two have often been linked when interpreting Chiron.

Several of the meanings now ascribed to this body which orbits between Saturn and Uranus are ‘the wounded healer’, the maverick, the shaman, the bridge.  Any or all of these meanings mark the individual possessing this signature as uniquely suited to working as a healer/teacher/activist/warrior in some form.

The opposition of Chiron and Jupiter can be viewed in several ways.  I find that Barbara Hand Clow and Melanie Reinhart both write eloquently about this aspect from markedly different points of view.  Clow takes the more esoteric and metaphysical approach, while Reinhart is more psychologically oriented towards a Jungian approach.  Liz Greene would also align with Reinhart but she basically feels that Chiron represents the wound we all share of being mortals. (Chiron has a 50/51-year orbit around the Sun.  That 50th year is often when we realize that we truly ARE a mortal and have only so many years left in our physical body.)

Clow states that the opposition may stimulate occult perceptions in such a way as to gain access to the deeper mysteries of existence.  She feels that people born with this aspect may have minds like later beams penetrating the veils of these mysteries.

Reinhart, on the other hand, writes of messianic tendencies emerging in the natives born with this aspect.  These may be seekers with grandiose aspirations, and like Prometheus, they feel the right to ‘steal the fire from the gods’ and thus are punished by Zeus (Jupiter) for over-stepping their boundaries and thus must submit to great suffering.  Following a cause zealously one may inflict such pain on others or feel the inner pain when such heavy investment of energies doesn’t produce the desired heavenly rewards.

And aren’t we now bearing witness to a great number of zealous bigots parading their misguided beliefs for the world to see while sometimes amassing followers who are either captured and brainwashed or deluded into believing because they don’t want to work at making the conscious choices that critical thinking would demand.

Reinhardt states that with this opposition ‘our capacity to symbolize and internalize meaning is itself wounded……..OR we experience quests, journeys, and pilgrimages that are immensely productive of healing and inner growth.’  She goes on to state that ‘the crucial factor is our willingness to reflect deeply on our experiences, and to balance our expansion with enough stillness and introversion where some inner synthesis (Jupiter) can be reached.’

All oppositions show a polarity between a spectrum of experiences.  It is important not to be overly identified with either end of the spectrum but rather to see the different band-widths as representing parts of a living whole.  Another way to look at this would be to see Chiron and Jupiter joined together in the middle.  How would you experience that union?  Think about it. Another word for Chiron is ‘maverick’ and perhaps it is best to build a belief system where diversity is included in the whole.  After all, what kind of dull world would we have if there was only one variety of vegetable to eat?  Or fruit?  Or only one kind of flower to look at?  Or tree?  Do we really want to be a carbon copy of everyone else?  If a monopoly of belief runs the show what kind of monotony would dominate our lives?  What if all males were rubber stamps of Mr. Trump as a current example of someone with most emphatic beliefs trumpeted as the only valid ones to have?

So the messianic mania is upon us from both ends of the spectrum.  Devotion enters into this equation of extremes and Virgo and Pisces both love devotion.  Let’s think before we devote however.  Critical thinking is called for more than ever right now, because the stamp of ‘I am right and you are dead wrong’ is upon us whether it is issues of racism, religious dogma, the political ‘right’, or any belief that states ‘I’m in and you are out.’

With Saturn in Sagittarius about to enter the dialogue through it’s square to each end we’ll have quite a time sorting out these various opposing ideologies that are plaguing us now rather than lending to an enjoyable experience of diversity.  Who will be the authority who dictates or leads us to greater wholeness or greater polarization?  In America the election madness will continue until November of 2016 with this dynamic highly activated.  It would be refreshing not to have such a crazy circus, but thus far it’s not looking too promising.

I’m now going to give just one example of what I consider to be a good fit for this Chiron opposite Jupiter dynamic:  Doctors Without Borders.  The name itself implies the signature of Chiron in Pisces and Jupiter in Virgo.  We have here a marvelous organization of people from all over the globe coming together to heal rather than wound.

Areas served by Doctors without Borders

Not only that, but they are going directly to the places were most of the woundings are going on for the most number of people.

Bombed Hospital

These are brave, warrior-like souls indeed to face death themselves in their effort to help the wounded.

In this final month of 2015 when we traditionally give to charitable organizations, I can think of no finer one to support than these people who truly combine the best of both Chiron and Jupiter in their humanitarian endeavors.

PLEASE SEE KATHY’S DECEMBER FORECAST IN THE SIDEBAR!!