Dear Readers,
In the beginning, before the universe was created was the void. Out of the void came Gaia—Mother Earth, along with Tartarus—the abyss of suffering, Eros—desire, Erebus—darkness, and Nyx—night. Gaia then gave birth to Uranus—Father Sky, who became both her son and consort. From their union was born the Titans. Among the Titans were Cronos (the Roman name for Saturn), Rhea and Prometheus. Cronos and Rhea were thus the parents of the first generation of Olympian Gods including Zeus (Roman: Jupiter). Both Zeus and Cronos were in the habit of indulging their carnal appetites with various nymphs, demi-gods and goddesses as well as mortals, which resulted in numerous offspring, one of whom was the centaur Chiron.
As the story goes, Cronos took a fancy to the water nymph Philyra, chased her down and had his way with her on Mt. Pelion. Meanwhile, Rhea, ever vigilant, got wind of what was happening and appeared on the scene. Cronos then turned himself into a stallion and galloped off into the distance. Philyra became pregnant and eventually gave birth to Chiron. When she saw him—half human, half horse, she was horrified and wanted nothing to do with him. As was often done with unwanted infants in the myths, she abandoned Chiron on the mountain where he was discovered by Apollo, who brought him home to raise. Apollo and his sister Artemis, god of the Sun and goddess of the Moon and the hunt thus became Chiron’s foster parents and teachers. Along with general infant centaur care, they taught him the arts of archery, music, astrology, prophecy, warfare, and healing.
In time, Chiron came to excel in all of these. As an adult, he lived in a cave on Mt. Pelion away from civilization and away from his kin—the other centaurs, who were generally known as a drunken, rowdy group of wild, rude and brutal troublemakers. Chiron on the other hand became known far and wide for his goodness and wisdom. As his reputation spread, the kings and princes of the ancient world sent their sons to be tutored by him, and many of the great heroes of Ancient Greece became his students, including Achilles, Jason, Actaeon, Heracles (Hercules) and the father of modern medicine Aesclepius—son of Apollo.
Ultimately, it was his former student Heracles who brought about Chiron’s ruin when he inadvertently shot Chiron in the leg with an arrow that had been dipped in the poison blood of a serpentine monster called the Hydra1 during a brawl with the other centaurs.
Due to the poison, the wound wouldn’t heal. Though a great healer, Chiron couldn’t heal himself and even his former student Aesclepius could do nothing to help him. He sought near and far for a cure until he was so sick and tired that he could no longer travel, but as the son of a god, he was immortal, and unable to die and thus lived in constant agony.
Seeking relief and peace, he offered to exchange places with Prometheus who was also living in eternal torment having been punished by Zeus for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to humanity.2 For his crime, Prometheus had been chained to a rock where by day an eagle pecked out his liver, and by night it regenerated, only to be once again pecked out by the eagle the next day. Zeus wasn’t keen on changing this arrangement. Ultimately however, he relented and had mercy on his half-brother, Chiron. So Chiron gave up his immortality and took Prometheus’ place, where he was allowed to die. After his death, Zeus honored Chiron by placing him among the stars. In some versions of the story he is the constellation Sagittarius, and in others Centaurus.
So here we are in the liminal space between eclipses. The south node lunar eclipse in Libra on March 25th is behind us, with the north node solar eclipse in Aries on the horizon.
All eclipse periods herald accelerated times of change and growth, pushing us out of our comfort zones, demanding that we step out of outworn patterns or into new and perhaps awkward ways of being or both. The Libra eclipse last week asked us to acknowledge that something had come to completion and it was time to reap the harvest, to let go of a relationship or relationships, change our patterns of relating or all of the above.
The North Node Aries eclipse on April 8 fairly screams NEW. First of all, it’s a New Moon—always the beginning of a new lunar cycle. Aries is a fire sign and the first sign of the zodiac, the sign of identity; of “I am”. It’s the infant of the zodiac. As newborns, we come into the world only aware of own needs. We gradually become aware of our I am-ness before anything else, and even then, our first discoveries are fingers and toes. Aries season is the beginning of the astrological year and the beginning of spring. It’s the first spark that ignites a fire, the first sprout as a seed emerges from the earth, the pioneer of new directions and a call to courage.
Our thoughts and images that accompany the words “I am” dictate how we show up in the world. This next eclipse with the Moon, Sun and Chiron all at exactly 19° 24’ of Aries will be working with these ideas. Eclipses obscure. There’s support here for birthing a new identity—a rebirth of self. Chiron teaches that it is through perceiving, acknowledging and accepting our inner wounds that we find healing and wholeness, just as he came into his wholeness and power including his own wounds. Perhaps this eclipse will bring a new opportunity to recognize a wounded or damaged sense of self and a breakthrough to do whatever is needed to heal and step into an identity more generous than we knew was possible that sees our wholeness beyond our wounded sense of self.
Chiron is widely known in astrology as the wounded healer, but in the story, and in my experience, he’s far more. His reputation in the ancient world showed him to be the great teacher and healer who though unable to heal himself was able to transcend his suffering through mentoring the boys and young men who passed through his tutelage. At the eclipse, Chiron’s placement, exactly conjunct the Sun and Moon harkens back to the beginning of his life—the abandoned and rejected infant taken in by Artemis and Apollo. Aries is the sign of the warrior, thus we must also consider the wounds of war, which rarely completely heal, but out of which some are reborn as healers or teachers of peace.
This eclipse is ruled by Mars, and on April 8, Mars will be conjunct Saturn in Pisces—not a strong placement for either, meaning both are underresourced and likely to feel defensive. When Mars and Saturn come together it can feel like pressing the accelerator and brake at the same time. Mars says go; Saturn says stop. It’s a fight as they vie for the same space. Mars can’t move as fast as he’d like in a water sign and Saturn can’t make or enforce boundaries as he would like. It’s a frustrating set up for both and likely to bring hot tempers and volatility to the mix. We must be careful here not to stoke the fire. Healing the wounds of war requires that we first not add to them.
Finally, Mercury turns retrograde tomorrow, April 1, and we can expect the usual shenanigans, particularly if we’re in an Aries frame of mind like rushing, pushing forward or acting impulsively. More importantly however, Mercury is part of the eclipse story as we find him only five degrees away—close enough to notice. He will then retrograde back across the eclipse point, then cross it again in direct motion. This will likely keep that point and the energy of the eclipse activated for an extended period of time—through early May. Mercury is our messenger planet. To me, this suggests that we will not be likely to “miss the point” of this eclipse for each of us personally. If the eclipse is an accelerator, this retrograde Mercury might feel a little like we’re trying to birth a new identity while at the same time rethinking, adjusting and revising based on our internal sense of who we are and what might be required of us, all while recognizing that whatever setbacks or detours we encounter are part of the journey, not a departure from it.
Today is Easter and we celebrate the season of rebirth. The eclipse seems to be driving home this point. It may not be a gentle push, but there can be no doubt that we are being asked to find our I am-ness inside, find healing for our wounded places, and do whatever it takes to bring our medicine forth and become the healing forces our world needs.
We’re in the midst of eclipse season, the wild astrology of April is upon us, and we’re all in the throes of big change. If you’d like to know how this is likely to land in relation to you personally, I’d be delighted to serve as your guide to the star map known as your birth chart. Email me for details: camelliablossoms@gmail.com or…
I wish you all peace, healing and courage.
Thank you for reading,
Cami
The Twelve Labors of Heracles: https://www.theoi.com/articles/what-were-the-12-labors-of-hercules/
Prometheus stealing fire: https://meet-the-myths.com/greek-mythology/prometheus/
This is kind of random but as I was reading this I was thinking: Chiron was the first centaur. Is that right? If so, it’s just interesting to me to think of all the other centaurs as being his descendants, and none of them (that I know of) following in his footsteps or studying with him in his cave…