Chiron: the wounded healer
Chiron is a small body orbiting between Saturn and Uranus, discovered in 1977. In astrology it shows a place of old hurt that, once understood, becomes a source of wisdom and a gift for helping others.
The full deep dive
What Chiron is
Chiron is a small icy body, sometimes called a comet or a minor planet, that orbits the Sun between Saturn and Uranus about every 50 years. Its orbit is very uneven, so it spends anywhere from under two years to about eight years in a sign.
The myth
In Greek myth Chiron was a wise centaur, a teacher of heroes and a gifted healer. Wounded by a poisoned arrow that could not be cured, he spent his life healing others. That is why astrologers call him the wounded healer.
What it means in your chart
Chiron’s sign and house point to a tender spot: something that hurt early on, or a place where you have always felt not quite good enough. The idea is not that this wound disappears, but that by understanding it you gain compassion and insight, and often become especially good at helping others with the very same thing.
The Chiron return
Around age 50 Chiron comes back to its birth position. Many people find this a time of making peace with the past and sharing what they have learned.
Sources and perspectives
- Robert Hand, Planets in Transit