Chiron Active

Over the next week, Chiron will move to an exact conjunction with my Ascendant. It will reach exactitude on May 7th when it will also be joined by fast moving Mercury. See Figure 1.

Figure 1

Now Chiron has an orbital period of 50.71 years but, because its orbit is highly elliptical, the time it spends in the various astrological signs varies considerably. It spends the most time in Aries (about eight years) and the least amount of time in Libra (less than two years). This conjunction with my Ascendant is the second such conjunction during my lifetime. The last occurred in July of 1974 (before Chiron's discovery) when it turned stationary retrograde dead on my Ascendant. After retrograding into Aries it crossed again in late April of 1975 when it was also conjunct Ceres. This period, from July of 1974 to April of 1975, marked my transition to life in Sydney (in late April 1974 Raelene and I moved from Adelaide to Sydney).

This time around transiting Chiron will continue to move forward until it turns stationary retrograde in 27º10' of Aries in late July of 2025 before retrograding and crossing my Ascendant again on October 22nd 2025. It will turn stationary direct in 22º36' of Aries and then cross my Ascendant for the last time on March 9th 2026 with Ceres again close by. However, even in January of 2027, it will be conjunct the North Node of my Moon. Chiron is important in my chart because of the very close trine that natal Chiron forms with my natal Mars-Venus conjunction. It is also closely sesquiquadrate my Ascendant (less than a degree) and it is located firmly in the centre of my eighth house. Suffice to say that this astrological body will be influential over the coming year and even beyond.

Looking at late May there are some interesting aspects in addition to the previously mentioned Chiron. See Figure 2.

Figure 2

We see the following:

• Transiting Chiron is conjunct my Ascendant and sesquiquadrate its natal position
• Transiting Mercury, the Sun and Uranus are very close to my natal Moon
• Transiting Jupiter is conjunct natal Uranus
• Transiting Venus in Aries is trine transiting Mars that is conjunct my natal Pluto
• Transiting Moon is conjunct transiting Saturn in 29º Pisces close to transiting Ceres and Neptune in 1º of Aries conjunct my natal Mercury

This looks like a very active time with nearly all transiting planets active. I've tended to fixate on June 22nd because that is when transiting Uranus will be exactly conjunct my natal Moon but really Uranus even now (May 1st 2025) is only two degrees away from the Moon's position. Uranus will retrograde when it passes into Gemini and then it will pass over my natal Moon twice again during the coming twelve months, once when retrograde and once again when moving forward. 

74th Solar Return

Figure 1 shows the chart cast for my 74th solar return that will occur on my birthday April 3rd 2023 at 2:17 am in Jakarta. Often the solar return occurs on April 2nd, the day before my official birthday, but this year the two coincide.

Figure 1: created using Astrolog

The chart is noticeable for its preponderance of planets in Aries. Apart from the Sun, there is Chiron in 15°41', Jupiter in 19°33' and Mercury in 28°32'. Jupiter will cross my Ascendant around April 26th so promises to be an expansive month where I have the opportunity to set my sights on new horizons and explore hitherto unrealised possibilities. Chiron remains behind in my twelfth house, maintaining a focus on healing, behind the scenes, both physically and psychically.

Figure 2 shows the transits to my natal chart at the time of the solar return.

Figure 2: created using Astrolog

The T-square formed by transiting Saturn's opposition to its natal position with the natal Moon at its apex is a dominant influence as I've discussed in related posts.

Neptune into Aries

Looking ahead to July of 2025, I noticed that Neptune turns stationary retrograde in 2°10' of Aries, right on my natal Mercury. However, transiting Saturn is also conjunct in 1°52' of Aries. Transiting Ceres in 12°55' of Aries is conjunct my natal Sun and transiting Chiron in 26°52' of Aries is conjunct the North Node of my Moon. Furthermore, transiting Uranus in 29°53' of Taurus is conjunct my natal Moon with transiting Venus close by in 0°10' of Gemini. Pluto in 3°03' of Aquarius is in sextile aspect to the Saturn-Neptune reaction.

This promises to be an intense time and what it presages I'm not sure. Perhaps my powers of communication (Mercury) will be affected. After all the Saturn/Neptune conjunction is aspecting the Uranus/Venus conjunction on the cusp of the Second House. Pluto promises it may be transformational. This is purely speculative so I'll have to wait and see.

Figure 1 shows a chart cast to the time that Neptune turns stationary retrograde.

Figure 1

By that date I'll be 76 years old and one can't help but wonder if this configuration could portend my end. That's clearly a worse case scenario. Looking at Desy's chart, it can be seen that the Saturn-Neptune conjunction sits right on her Ascendant. See Figure 2.

Figure 2

Whatever happens will clearly affect her as well. Many of these aspects will be ongoing. For example, Saturn and Neptune will again be conjunct in 0°45' of Aries in late February of 2026 while Uranus will continue to hover around my natal Moon. See Figure 3.

Figure 3

I get the feeling that whatever happens it will be ongoing. With Neptune already on the cusp of my twelfth house, the prospect of some sort of Neptunian healing has been playing on my mind. Chiron, the wounded healer, is currently transiting my twelfth house and will remain there for some time. The injunction, "physician heal thyself", is relevant as my thymoma remains an ongoing problem and I'd certainly like to cure myself of that affliction.

I've dabbled in finding a cure before or at least diagnosing why the problem had arisen in the first place. In November of 2021, I asked the following question:

Why did my thymus gland malfunction in the first place and create my current thymoma?

You have a hollow heart and you're trying to fill up the gap that has been created. The thymus gland is associated with the Heart Chakra, a centre of unconditional love and forgiveness. Since a falling out with a family member a couple of years back I've been containing a lot of resentment and anger. In a sense, I've been hollowing out my heart and ridding it of compassion and understanding for the family member concerned. 

This answer suggested some sort of meditation but I never took action of any kind to fill my "hollow heart" with "compassion and understanding". Perhaps it's time that I did. The practice of meditation has also been shown to be helpful in improving remote viewing proficiency, something else that I've recently become interested in. 

Neptune has a period of revolution of 165 years and so this is the first time that Neptune has been on the cusp of my twelfth house. In my natal chart, Neptune is strongly aspecting my Sun and Mars/Venus conjunction by opposition. I've always been interested in mysticism and spirituality and so Neptune's passage through this house will likely see a burgeoning of my interest and understanding of such matters.

Mars Attacks

I'd woken late, a couple of minutes before 10am, and made my way to the kitchen carrying the bucket of accumulated dishes to wash from yesterday's meals. As I stepped to the kitchen sink, I stepped on the shard of a broken cup that I'd broken on the day before. I thought I'd picked up all the fragments but this one had escaped me. 

The shard sliced my right foot and I began bleeding immediately and profusely. I don't think I've ever lost so much blood. Eventually I stemmed the bleeding, applied a bandaid and all was well, although I think I was in mild shock. The time was a little after 10am and I've set the chart time to 10:10am which is pretty close to the time the accident occurred. The date is January 22nd 2023 and the location is Jakarta.

I suspected the involvement of Mars of course and I wasn't wrong. Figure 1 shows my natal chart with the transit superimposed on the outer ring.

Figure 1

As can be seen, Mars about midway through my second house in 8°39' of Gemini almost exactly opposite my natal Chiron in 8°57'R of Sagittarius. Mercury is in 8°57' of Capricorn and so is exactly semisextile natal Chiron and quincunx transiting Mars. Of course, my natal Mars-Venus conjunction, with midpoint in 9°14' of Aries is involved as well. 

The designation of Chiron as the wounded healer comes to mind. I was definitely wounded in the leg, like the centaur Chiron, and this quote from Wikipedia is relevant:

In Greek mythology, the centaur Chiron was a "Wounded Healer", after being poisoned with an incurable wound by one of Hercules's arrows. Jung mentioned the Chiron myth "wounding by one's own arrow means, first of all, the state of introversion".

For Jung, "a good half of every treatment that probes at all deeply consists in the doctor's examining himself... it is his own hurt that gives a measure of his power to heal. This, and nothing else, is the meaning of the Greek myth of the wounded physician."

Jung felt that depth psychology can be potentially dangerous, because the analyst is vulnerable to being infected by his analysand's wounds by having his own wounds reopened. To avoid this, the analyst must have an ongoing relationship with the unconscious, otherwise he or she could identify with the "healer archetype", and create an inflated ego.

Withdrawal of both projections may however ultimately activate the powers of the inner healer in the patients themselves.

Jung’s closest colleague, Marie Louise Von Franz, said “the wounded healer IS the archetype of the Self [our wholeness, the God within] and is at the bottom of all genuine healing procedures.”

Jungians warn of the dangers of inflation and splitting in the helping professions, involving projection of the 'wounded' pole of the archetype onto the patient alone, with the analyst safely separated off as 'healer'.

I don't want to make too much of such a transient event but it was impactful psychologically to see one's life blood spilling so profusely and dramatically on the white tiles underfoot. I was reminded that, given my disillusionment with the medical mafia, I need to be my own healer and treat my own wounds, both psychological and physical. 

Transiting North Node of Moon

At the moment (mid-afternoon of December 20th 2021), Ceres (retrograde) and the North Node of the Moon are almost conjunct in the first degree of Gemini. On January 2nd, the transiting node will be conjunct my natal Moon. See Figure 1.

Figure 1

This is a largely positive influence. Ceres will retrograde until it reaches 27°50' on January 14th and so for the next month or so Ceres will be "dancing" over my natal Moon and the transiting North Node of the Moon. Figure 2 shows a painting that depicts Ceres.

Figure 2: source

The accompanying commentary is:

Goddess of grains and the harvest, Ceres holds some corn cobs in her right hand while, with the left, she holds a horn of plenty. Two nymphs fill the cornucopia with fruits, symbolizing the Earth's generosity. The subject is inspired by Ovid's mythological tales. In this collaboration between two artists, something quite frequent among Flemish painters, Rubens made the figures of the goddess and her companions, while Snyders, a specialist in still lifes and animals, depicted the fruit, the monkey at the bottom, and the birds. Rubens himself brought this work to Spain in 1628. In 1636, it was already hanging on the walls of Madrid's Alcázar Palace.

It would seem to indicate a time of material well-being.

Chiron is still very active as it moves forward through 8° of Aries. It will form a trine with natal Chiron on January 22nd 2022 before reaching the conjunction with my Mars-Venus on January 31st. Pluto continues to move toward a conjunction with my MC on January 6th of 2022.

Chiron Station

Figure 1 shows the transits affecting my chart on July 15th 2021. What caught my attention initially was that yesterday transiting Chiron stationed in 12°56' Aries and today it has turned retrograde. It will station again in 8°26' Aries on December 19th 2021. See the post on my Astrology blog titled A Closer Look at Chiron that was created in anticipation of Chiron's entry into Aries on April 17th 2018. Chiron spends about eight years in Aries but only about 1.5 years in Libra.

Figure 1

There are other activity that I've also marked in Figure 1. These are:

• Sun approaching my IC in about three days
• Ceres in very close semi-sextile aspect to my Ascendant
• Uranus exactly square my natal Pluto
• Jupiter retrograding toward an exact opposition to my natal Saturn in late July
• Mars and Venus separating after their exact conjunction a few days ago

Pluto of course hovers over my MC and will be doing so for quite some time.

Depression

This morning I woke up feeling distinctly depressed, which is not all that common for me. I thought I'd look to the stars to find out why. Figure 1 shows my early morning transits:

Figure 1: created in Astrolog

The almost exact opposition of transiting Saturn to the midpoint of my natal Ceres-Pluto in the 4th house could have been a contributing factor. As I marked on the chart, transiting Chiron and Ceres are in sensitive positions as well. As the day has worn on, the depression has lifted and been replaced by a feeling of ill-humour.

Pluto contains to backtrack toward my MC which it will pass over on June 24th 2021. The planet will later station in 24°19' of Capricorn on October 6th (Sabina's birthday and my half birthday). This position of course is closely square my Ascendant-Descendant axis.