Chiron in Aries and the Pandemic

Chiron in Aries’ Message Through the Pandemic 

This article was originally published in the December 2020 Journal 

of the International Society of Astrological Research, ISAR. 

     

    Two years into Aries, Chiron has embedded his message in our lives by percolating it through every pore of our human existence. In 2018, with Chiron’s first ingress in Aries, little did we know how our very human identity and existence will experience its inherent vulnerability and face the risks of survival. 

     For those new to this cosmic body, Chiron may be a ‘minor planet’ with no minor significance nonetheless. Greek Mythology tells us that Chiron was the abandoned and rejected half-human half-horse immortal son of Philyra and Chronos. However, that was not his only wound. Later in life, Heracles, his own student accidentally injures him on a leg with a poisoned arrow. Immortality has its own rules, and because of the Medusa’s poison, he couldn’t heal. From that moment on, Chiron spends the rest of his life studying and searching for his healing, thus becoming a healer himself and a Healing Master to many, including the ancient Greek God of Medicine, Asclepius. Yet, the only effective healing for him was to sacrifice his immortality for someone whose suffering was an even greater torment, Prometheus. Switching places with Prometheus, Chiron dies, and is finally liberated from his suffering.1

Pompeo Batoni – Achilles and his Teacher, the Centaur Chiron (1746)

    Chiron in Aries has activated the wounded human sense of self, our vulnerability and limitations as incarnated (Aries) spiritual beings (Pisces). We are feeling the pain of this material existence in our own flesh, which arouses the need to fight to survive. Some, instead, deny the cruel reality of our precarious physicality by freezing in place unwilling to accept the threat, strengthening their will power and claims of independence, or eluding it by fleeing into escapist behaviors (favored by Neptune in Pisces). No matter how one reacts, the reality is that we realize our fallibility. We are confronted with the concept of not being enough, strong enough, independent enough, healthy enough, perfect enough. Our very existence is being threatened. Deep down, accepted or not, our Chironic human limitations, dysmorphic traits, and shortcomings are more evident than ever. 

    Chiron, in Aries as well as in Pisces, travels through the Aphelion, the coldest part of his orbit around the Sun. As Chiron’s orbit links together Saturn and Uranus’ orbits acting as a bridge, the aphelion is the place where we are in closer contact with our ‘celestial’ of ethereal condition. Through the perceptions we receive of a vaster intangible reality, we are shown the deepest wound of all, the wound of having left behind our spiritual condition (Uranus, Lord of the Sky) to be born in the material plane (Saturn, Lord of Time and Space). We sense the pain of having been abandoned alone in this inhospitable place called Earth. In Aries, the arising questions are ‘who am I?’, ‘what to do with this fallible body?’ How will I survive? Other Aries concerns relate to how, when and where initiate action to ensure individual survival, to perpetuate the species through sexuality, and to use physical energy for protection. 

Chiron Enters the Scene 

    Reading the Chiron ingress in Aries chart, we now get a better sense of the themes that he was putting on the table in April 2018. 

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    Chiron entering Aries with Mercury is in itself a statement, he brings a message. The Sun conjunct Uranus at the critical degrees in Aries, talks about the elevation and liberation of the core essence of the human self. The Sun sheds its creative light on the shaking influence of Uranus, which is also associated with human traumatic events because of its sudden and unexpected striking shocks from unimaginable heavenly forces. Was a pandemic in someone’s mind in early 2018? The Sun then was clearly showing that the strike was coming. Yet, Uranus strikes to liberate us. In Aries, this represents a fracture from who we thought we were. Have we thought that we were the most powerful species on Earth, that we had been able to dominate and submit even Nature to our own designs? Did we have the idea that we were invincible to the extreme of toying with atomic aggressive power without thinking that it could annihilate us? Here comes the tiniest possible entity, a virus, to show us otherwise, and maybe put us in our place. 

    Moreover, the Sun Uranus combination of energy feeds the direction we are to take, indicated by the North Node in Leo ruled by the Sun, if we are to find joy in life, and able to create from the very core of our essential self. The Sun force in Aries nurtures the quest for expression and show to the world the spiritual essence (Uranus) we were given to manifest during these times. Injected into the North Node, this energy makes for prolific innovation in the preservation of life, most probably through alternative scientific findings (Chiron). 

    Mars, the ruler of Aries, in Capricorn sandwiched between Saturn and Pluto indicates the need for discipline, maturity, integrity of actions at the same time that demands a profound psychological exploration and transformation of the structures of reality built so far throughout history. This societal and institutional reality is due for revision since it dates from the last Saturn Pluto conjunction in Capricorn in 1518. 

    Mars is also conjunct Black Moon Lilith, the shadow of control. According to Laura Walker, Lilith in Capricorn fears neglect, and not being acknowledged. She explains that 

 “Lilith in Capricorn manifests as a need to control the course of events. When this shadow dominates, we have a tendency to be demanding. We can go to extreme efforts to gain attention. We have definite ideas about the way things should be and others often succumb to the force of our will. Frequently we refuse to give up until someone – anyone - acknowledges what we have to offer or agrees with what we think is best.”3 

    In addition, Chariklo, Chiron’s wife, by Pluto is the “magical healing presence” that has accompanied the whole process with her “invisible [yin] power of responsiveness and receptivity to bear with the situation, to allow, and attune with the great mystery that needs to be born”. Chariklo shows us her example of “humility, modesty and the feeling of deferring to the greater source and power of life”4. In this way, we are presented with the challenge and simultaneously given the tools to work with it. 

    Chiron is also opposing MakeMake, a recently discovered TNP that is barely entering our consciousness. Its orbit lasts 309 years around the Sun and symbolically, its name refers to the Creator God of the Rapa Nui culture of the Easter Island. Although not proven, it is thought that the Rapa Nui people became extinct due to their over exploitation of Nature, and consequent destruction of their environment. The mythology associated with MakeMake tells about a hero, the Birdman, who engages in a spiritual quest. In order to prove worthy of the feat, the first challenge the candidate faces is a “dangerous journey to fetch the first bird egg of the season and bring it back with him”. Next, “the selected Birdman would meditate” in isolation for a year and upon coming back to his community, share “the visions he [had] encountered”5. Then the MakeMake archetype in Libra opposing Chiron in Aries seems to correlate with the need to plunge into the depth of self-exploration to bring out a balance using the Venusian, more harmonious, peaceful, receptive, and gracious conciliatory energy as a counteract to our aggressive psychological tendency (Aries) that always end up wounding us even more. 

    When Chiron re-enters Pisces on September 25, 2018 for a five-month search of something that was left behind, we were thrown into deeper emotional waters for a more profound soul search. Both Pisces rulers were in Water Signs. Neptune in Pisces increasing the intensity of the Sign’s archetype in both sides of the spectrum, with heightened spirituality, escapist behaviors, and mystic bewilderment. Jupiter in Scorpio was exploring and bringing to the surface wounds and issues related to sexuality, shared resources and wealth. Like the image on a looking glass, the oceanic Piscean collective was reflecting to us the most hidden inadequate pieces of our psyche and spiritual experience. 

    Back in Aries, by February 18, 2019, Chiron rubs elbows with Eris and Uranus, the rowdiest of the Zodiac, sowing the seed of rebellion that takes root in the pain of diverse identities not being recognized, accepted and embraced. Mars in Taurus explores the values that are up for inquisitive reconsideration. In addition, Taurus looks at the animal half of Chiron, the more primal instinctive side of our existence, and discovers the wounded body. We can now clearly realize why. The pandemic represents exactly a threat to the physical condition of our life. It’s the poisoned arrow stabbed in our body, as it were, motivating us to seek all kinds of healing possibilities, till the end of our days, like Chiron did. Emulating Chiron, we would probably study, discover and develop many other scientific branches that, in the end, will reveal themselves to be of service to everyone. In the same way Chiron studied natural healing substances, Taurus suggest our increased reliance on natural resources, plants, and other products from the earth that will prove to be therapeutic. 

    Mars makes two important aspects, a sextile to the Sun in Aquarius and the opposition to Pallas Athena in Libra (both out of Sign aspects). The Sun God was Chiron protector, adoptive father and mentor. This Sun Mars connection is an opportunity to reclaim the self-worth, and use a well oriented combative spirit to defend one’s personal, cultural, ethnic, religious, innate or chosen identity. This influence is an incentive for an honorable competition or defense of one’s reputation in order to solidify one’s sense of identity. Multiple examples around the world show how people from all walks of life, from a wide range of identities, be it nationality, religious, gender, cultural, are reclaiming their value. Groups with distinct traits initiate activism in their own behalf, take opportunities for leadership in positive support of who they are, each claiming their right to be. The BLM and the LGBTQ movements among many others, are examples of the wounded healing power of Chiron, operating as an increase in identity self-confidence, and claim to be recognized as whole and not wounded. 

    Pallas in Libra opposing Mars reminds us of the need to reconcile opposites. In times of an insurmountable gap between the disenfranchised and the privileged, displaced or rejected national, religious or political identities, this energy reminds us all the inadequacies of Chiron. He can give us the perception of an over inflated or deflated self, of a victim or of a victimizer, which are also parts of his archetype. The presence of Pallas, the wise strategic woman warrior, mirroring Mars, is a hopeful reflection of a better approach used in Mars battles. As a healer, Pallas Athene works here with techniques of energy balancing, such as polarity therapy […](yin-yang) and conflict management”. Pallas “is skilled in creating harmonious designs […] defender of justice, [she] seeks to implement the arts of peace, mediation, diplomacy and legal action. [She] harmonizes and integrates polarities”. Pallas also puts in evidence our contemporary sexual traumas, also a part of Chiron in Aries archetype. It’s obvious that the pandemic raises the problematic of “sexual-creative expression or inability to actualize creative ideas”. The suggested or imposed isolation and physical distancing encumber the possibility of face to face relationship negotiation (Libra), let alone sexual contacts. 

 

“The sexual frustration can lead to feelings of sexual inadequacy and compensatory militant behavior. There may be confusion over one’s masculine sexual identity with either too little or too much masculine expression.”6

    This not only refers to masculine energy as in men, but the yang or projective energy in both sexes as well. Intimacy being the clearest expression of identity affirmation because of the necessary trust and acceptance, is also damaged by the pandemic. The social restrictions and physical distancing increase the sense of isolation and anxiety. The proximity apprehension due to the fact that it promotes the spread of the virus, has people plunge deeper into escapist behavior and addictions such as pornography to compensate for the missing intimacy. Thus, all of which hinders the possibility to reconcile extremes (Aries/Libra). 

    From these two ingress charts, the conclusion is obvious. This time around, Chiron in Aries is associated with the capacity of humans to survive in face of an unexpected health threat. In addition, there is a higher degree of vulnerability to environmental pollution of any kind affecting and threatening all forms of life. Moreover, Chiron in Aries is a symbol of the ‘boomerang’ effect of the fight to survive, as is seen in wounded warriors, and other victims of war, protests and resistance, that abound in every corner of the planet. In other instances, the wound also shows in the lack of human independence or autonomy; enslaved people, asylum seekers crowded together in inhumane camps, imprisoned refugees, or homeless citizens having to live in the streets. Since Aries relates to the head, there is a greater incidence of mental health as well with the corollary of increase suicide numbers. The healing process associated with Chiron in Aries correlates with the personal and collective introspection in isolation (MakeMake in Libra), that hopefully results in the adjustment of a higher self-consciousness, behavior changes oriented to the development of a collective identity consciousness. 

 Chiron Astrological Red Flags 

    There is no doubt that Chiron has definitely played a central role in the outbreak of this virus and consequent Pandemic. The straightforward evidence of the cycle Mars Chiron, showed from the beginning, several red flags. 

• Mars Chiron conjunction December 28, 2018 - Measles outbreak brought into USA from abroad, Israel and Ukraine (CDC source) 
• Mars first quarter square to Chiron May 23, 2019 - Measles outbreak has higher numbers of cases in decades. E-coli contaminated meat recalled in USA. 
• Mars opposite Chiron October 8, 2019 - Exact date of the Event 201, which concludes that the world is not ready for a pandemic.7
• Jupiter in Capricorn waning square to Chiron December 8, 2019 - Approximate date of a whistleblower Doctor in China warning about a new rare virus. 
• Mars in Capricorn waning square to Chiron February 21, 2020 - CDC changes the way of counting covid19 cases. 34 people test positive in USA. The virus enters the USA brought by people from abroad (Diamond Princess Cruise Ship and other repatriations). 
• Mars square the Nodal Axis in Cancer Capricorn March 13, 2020 - Just 2 days before, March 11, the Pandemic is officially recognized (CDC source). 

    Reflections on the Historical Cycle 

    Going back in history, there are significant correlations of our present Chiron cycle with the one at the end of the 13th Century. The following details are the reasons why I think that the Chiron in Aries period of 1288-1296 has relevant themes to our present Chiron in Aries period of 2018-2026, especially at the global level. First, the wounding and healing process is wide and global in both. Second, both periods belong within and immediately after the triple Jupiter Saturn Pluto conjunction in Capricorn. The only previous occurrence of Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto joining forces in Capricorn was December 20, 1284, and, like in 2020, only Saturn and Pluto were partile. It also coincided with the Renaissance, the last 200-year period of Jupiter and Saturn exact conjunctions in Air Signs. As currently, the exact Jupiter Saturn conjunction was then also in Aquarius on January 1st , 1286. Since Chiron was then in Pisces, it took two more years for him to enter Aries, but the implications are certainly similar.

Chiron entered Aries on May 5, 1288. 

    All these coincidental similarities, and considering the 735-year cycle of the three planets, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, 2020 is definitely another turning point of the Ages as it was back then. Another sign that we are currently revising this history is the fact that the meeting of those three planets has taken place over Saturn’s and Pluto’s planetary south nodes located respectively at the 19 and 20 degrees of Capricorn. In 1288, Chiron ingress into Aries is with Venus, and Mars with Neptune, definitely pointing to the refinement of human identity through artistic and harmonic expressions and actions. This chart is amazingly describing the Renaissance. Look at the North Node at the very end of Libra! Saturn in Pisces and the sensual stability provided by the Sun, Jupiter and Mercury in Taurus are beacons of a high level of creative expression. 

    Chiron’s healing operates through the wound. It is said that human beings elevate their spirituality when they are under the threatening pressure of severe pain at the edge of death. Examples of cancer patients abound, telling their spiritual awakening stories when they recover. They are ‘reborn’ (Pluto) to a new meaning of their existence (Chiron in Aries). Many studied and learned so much about their illness that, like Chiron did, they were ready and willing to share their experience with others. Some even became healers themselves in one capacity or another. 

“To will the good, one must first know it, and so there could be no true eloquence without wisdom.”8

    Similarly, the collective suffering that Covid19 has brought engenders a profound longing for renewal. The dark times of the Crusades (1096-1271) had turned European geopolitics upside down and at odds with the power of the Church. The Nobility had traveled abroad, seen other realities, accessed the forgotten ancient knowledge in the libraries that treasured it in the East. Their eyes had been opened, and many of them returned bringing back new perspectives, new knowledge of medicine, languages, philosophy and even copies of the classical books. 

“There’s no question that the years of bloody conflict brought by the Crusades had an impact on Middle East and Western European nations for many years, and still influence political and cultural views and opinions held today.”9

"Europe was on the verge of one of the most productive and creative periods in its entire history. Following this long period of darkness [Middle Ages] there came this tremendous explosion of cultural achievements."10

    In Europe, although there were still pervasive inequalities and discrimination and persecution against Jews and Muslims, a new legal system was created with innovative jurisprudence and judicial Courts. A new social contract was adopted in England, the Magna Carta, recognizing the rights of what would have been the equivalent of today’s ‘middle class’. In the degree the culture of the time was able to incorporate, there was a movement toward increased equanimity. There was a new burst of creativity not seen since the time of the Roman Empire. Kingdoms were consolidated and city-states showed signs of a certain degree of democracy. 

    The Renaissance was a time of search for higher knowledge, studying and rediscovering ancient classical knowledge from Arabic, Greek and Roman civilizations. Universities were created. Literacy was progressively spread, and with the later invention of the press, the access to knowledge was unstoppable. During the Renaissance, literature soared and the records of history were started. Affluent lay people were able to attend universities and be educated in classical languages, mathematics, arts, philosophy, and other disciplines. 

    The reason why Humanity is spiritually revisiting this historical period is probably due to the fact that Neptune’s planetary south node, symbolic of our spiritual and collective unconscious past karma, is currently in Aquarius sitting over the Jupiter Saturn conjunction of January 1st, 1286. Furthermore, Neptune correlates also with invisible enemies (i.e. germs), healing, medicine, hospitals, seclusion, and vulnerability due to poor boundaries. What developments took place in those regards at the end of the 13th Century? 

Chiron teaching magic - Giovanni Benedetto, 1609-1664.

    Chiron in Aries at the end of the 13th Century saw the renewal of medicine in Europe with Doctors studying and translating ancient Arabic works.11 However, the Catholic Church was closely involved regulating what was acceptable as ‘science’ and who was approved as ‘doctors’. Historical records show that Jewish Doctors and other ‘distinguished scholars’ earned prominence and acceptance in the eyes of the Pope.12 Medical practice was holistic and founded on Astrology, as evidenced by the use of the ‘Rx’ signature (for Radix), still alive today, meaning “I’ve seen the horoscope” (Birth Chart)13 . Remedies included the use of herbs, potions, ablutions, dressings, and often spiritual remedies, music and fine arts. Records attest of John of Gaddesden curing Edward I of England’s son from smallpox using scarlet drapery in the room and bodily dressings.14 “Religious foundations established hospitals and infirmaries attached to abbeys, monasteries, priories, and convents. Doctors and nurses in these institutions were members of religious orders and combined spiritual with physical healing.”15 However, private parties took the initiative to open hospitals as well. Mathieu Buridan and his wife established a hospital in Saint-Quentin, France, for poor women where they could give birth and receive care.16 

Chiron, Our Present Healing Journey 

While Uranus transited Aries (2011-2018), human identity was reshaped through the free access to a wide range of information on Internet. This proved to have advantages and created problems. Even though people has had the opportunity to learn so much, the individual was not always capable of digesting the huge amount of knowledge and use it for his or her own benefit. Come Chiron in the Sign that rules the head, now, Humanity discovers that knowledge without the wisdom of how to use it, can and has hurt its evolution. With this accumulation of information, human identity has changed faster than the person can understand. Chiron in Aries reveals new inadequacies, and mental vulnerabilities. The lack of discernment, critical thinking, good judgment, with excess of disorganized or manipulated information is hurting the mind to the point of insanity. 

    The Pandemic, a microscopic ‘bug’ that doesn’t even have life of its own, and the seclusive measures of protection has forced us to make a better acquaintance with the state of our mind and with the status of our most essential condition. Thanks to the potentiated Capricorn energy, every element of our reality is up for deconstruction and reconstruction. Like the patient diagnosed with a serious illness, the whole collective is engaged in the search for survival (Aries). 

Apollo Entrusting Chiron with the Education
of Aesculapius-etching-Washington,DC, NGA

    In a parallel to the 13th Century, and like Chiron, we’re seeking new knowledge in every branch of science. Like him, we will probably find no cure for the virus. And most likely there are other invisible challenges threatening our survival. Environmental natural disasters, man-made pollution, atomic catastrophes, the possibility of war are all hovering over our heads in the next few decades. Like in the darkest of the Middle Ages, it is possible that we touch rock bottom before rising up. Yet, through the enlightenment of this neo-renaissance, most definitely, we will be eager to come out of this dark state of ignorance, that has made us so vulnerable and placed us at the edge of extinction. 

    Chiron makes us aware of our orphanhood, and plunged the collective into the realization that life matters. No matter its shape, color or size, if it is vegetable, animal or human, it is the essence of existence that is at risk. Chiron in Aries represents both, fallibility and resiliency of the existence. Like Chiron, may we look up to the generosity, optimism, life sustaining energy, and enlightenment of the Sun’s symbolism, Apollo, Chiron’s adoptive father and mentor, to guide us, rescue us, and support human existence.

Endnotes

1  The Meaning of Chiron’s Myth - https://satsangatastrology.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-meaning-of-chirons-myth.html 

2  Charts by Astro.com 

3  Laura Walker, Black Moon Lilith 

4  Melanie Reinhart, Chariklo 

5 Henry Seltzer, TimePassages Planets’ reports, MakeMake 

6 Demetra George with Douglas Bloch, Asteroid Goddesses, The Mythology, Psychology and Astrology or the Reemerging Feminine. 

7  Event 201 -  

8 “Crisis, recovery, and resilience: Did the Middle Ages end?” Edward Peters in Britannica

9 The Crusades, history.com editors, The Crusades,  

10 Jim Masschaele, in video End of the Crusades 

11  1288 Santé et médecine 

12  Friedenwald, Harry. “JEWISH PHYSICIANS IN ITALY: THEIR RELATION TO THE PAPAL AND ITALIAN STATES.” Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, no. 28, 1922, pp. 133–211. JSTOR, Accessed 21 Oct. 2020. 

13  Judith Hill, Medical Astrology, A Guide to Planetary Pathology, Stellium Press, page 1. 

14  John of Gaddesden, in Wikipedia

15  Medieval and Renaissance Europe, in Britannica  

16 1288 Santé et médecine