Chiron
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Symbol
Astronomy
The first centaur among the minor planets to be discovered. The status of the centaurs is somewhere between comets and asteroids. Chiron's elliptical orbit extends between that of Saturn and Uranus. It was discovered by Charles T. Kowal on 18. October 1977 in Palomar in the United States. It has an estimated diameter of 288 km and orbits the Sun at an average distance of 2036 million km. Its strongly elliptic and rather eccentric orbit of the Sun takes on average 50.2 years and due to its eccentric orbit spends a varying amount of time in each sign of the zodiac.[1] For example, it spends seven to eight years in the sign of Pisces as opposed to one and a half to two in Virgo and Aries.
Mythology
In ancient mythology, Chiron is the leader, wise man and healer among the centaurs – creatures with the upper-body of a human and the lower of a horse. Like Pholus, he has overcome his animal urges, and his lineage is different to those of the other centaurs. He was the son of Kronos Saturn and the nymph Philyra. Chiron's bodily form came about because Kronos transformed into a stallion while trying to mate with Philyra who had taken on the form of a mare to escape him. When he was born, Philyra was so revolted that she rejected him. Chiron was educated by the Sun god Apollo and the Moon goddess Artemis. He proved to be wise and to possess healing capabilities. So the disfigured Chiron came to teach many gods and heroes not only the arts of healing and warfare, but also those of prophecy, hunting and music.
When Heracles fought the centaurs, he unintentionally wounded Chiron with one of his poisoned arrows. The wound caused Chiron to suffer terribly. The poison caused agony without leading to death because of Chiron's divine ancestry. But although he continued to heal others, he was unable to heal himself, and so became the wounded healer. He found salvation when Heracles told him of the fate of Prometheus who, because of his defiance of Zeus' will, was chained to a rock in the Caucasus. During the day Zeus sent an eagle which tore at his liver, but he too did not die because every night the wounds healed again. The only way he could be released from this fate was if one of the immortals was prepared to sacrifice himself and take his place in the Underworld. Chiron agreed, and by sacrificing his immortality, he released Prometheus from his suffering. Zeus was so moved that he adopted Chiron who was allowed to leave Hades and return to the gods in heaven where he can be seen as the star constellation Sagittarius.
Interpretation
The themes associated with Chiron are the ambivalent relationship between spiritual strength and bodily imperfection, being able to heal others coupled with the inability to heal oneself, and the dichotomy of being both victim and saviour. In addition, Chiron's location in the solar system and place in mythology suggests a role as mediator between the material (body of a horse, the planet Saturn) and spiritual (human wisdom, the planet Uranus) worlds. He knows both poles while at the same time being unable to escape from being caught between them. If he attempts to ignore the material and physical side of his nature, his agony reminds him of this fact, and although Chiron is a great healer, he is powerless to prevent this. Salvation can only be experienced when he is able to accept the material side of his nature and willing to give up his divine origins.
The German astrologer Eva Stangenberg makes the following summary of these various themes:
"Chiron's position in the natal chart shows us where we experience this division, this wound. However, it also represents our greatest chance to overcome it and become whole. And with the spiritual insight of Uranus we can recognise the unity of body and soul not only in ourselves but in everything that exists... Chiron is not about achieving mastery through diligence and hard work as is the case with Saturn, or by releasing the energy bound to traumatic experiences as is the case with Pluto, but simply by accepting the deficit of not being "whole"... Only through our experiences with this feeling and the acceptance of not being "whole" can we begin to understand this problem in others... We share with others our compassion, our understanding, our experiences, and by doing this we can help them. This doesn't entail sacrificing something which makes us "poorer", on the contrary, we "achieve" a connection, create a wholeness where before there was division."[2]
There is no unanimity over the domicile of Chiron. It is generally considered to be the ruler of either Sagittarius or Virgo.
Sources and References
- ↑ Source of the astronomical data: http://www.robertvonheeren.de, Das Kentauren Forschungsprojekt (The Centaurs' Research Project)
- ↑ Eva Stangenberg: Chiron, der verwundete Heiler. In: Meridian 4/98, p. 43ff. (German astrology magazine)
