Chiron

The mythology of Chiron is key to understanding the astrological significance of Chiron’s symbolism astrologically. Astrologers are using Chiron more and more in synastry, and he has become even more popular in psychological astrology. In the natal chart, by sign and house, Chiron will show where we are intrinsically wounded. It can show us where we can help others, yet cannot help ourselves. Like Chiron himself, this is where we are incredibly gifted because of our own shortcomings. Chiron is popularly symbolized in astrology as "The Wounded Healer."

The wounding involved where you find Chiron can come in a variety of manifestations. Because Chiron was betrayed by his family, our placement of Chiron can show us where our issues are surrounding betrayal of all kinds. Chiron can show up where we feel that we "just don’t fit in.” This is where we may doubt ourselves and find our own inadequacies. Sometimes, when in close aspect with the Sun or Moon, Saturn, the Midheaven, or IC, we may find that it has been a family member’s wounding that has touched us. This is especially true when an individual has felt incompetent and unable to help others, in a family situation, that have been ill or injured.

There is some conflict in the astrological community about rulership for Chiron. If you were to ask several astrologers what sign Chiron rules, you would get several different answers. Some feel that Chiron, living between Saturn and Uranus in the sky, has co-rulership over both Capricorn and Aquarius. This is due to the fact that Chiron has the flavor of each sign. Like Capricorn, it has a feeling of maturity through self-limitations and a Saturn-like bleakness surrounding it. At the same time, its healing side has a humanitarian focus, like Aquarius. Some astrologers relate Chiron to Sagittarius because of Chiron’s man/horse symbology and his intense psychological and philosophical side. There is also a relation to "higher learning" in association to what Chiron learned from Apollo and then passed down when being the teacher of Hercules.

Others believe that Chiron is the true ruler of Virgo. Virgo and Gemini share Mercury as their ruler, and many astrologers have felt that Virgo has a ruler all its own that has remained undiscovered. Virgo tends to be self-critical and serious, yet it is the essence of being of service to others. In this way, it does indeed show a correlation to Chiron.

However, there are too many holes in the comparable signs and symbols to find an actual rulership for this planetoid. Chiron has an orbit that is sharply elliptical, crossing the paths of its neighbor's orbits, like a comet. Some astronomers even believe that Chiron once was a comet that became trapped in our sun's gravitational pull and will one day leave our system completely. This little maverick cannot be assigned to one sign as a ruler, as he has his own individuality in astrology.

Chiron may be the one symbol in astrology that finally causes people to stand up and take notice of the individuality expressed in each natal chart, in each person. Trying to define Chiron by sign or house as a ruler negates the complex psychology Chiron shows us and limits its expression exponentially. The glyph symbol of this planetoid resembles an inverted key, showing us that the key to understanding each person’s unconscious motivations through adversity is as individual as your own psychology.