Art borrowed from the New Moon Journal. It’s good to see Huffington Post carrying some serious astrology articles like this one (not that our friend Michael Lutin, HuffPo’s usual astrological source, isn’t serious although he is quite entertaining).
Astrologer Virginia Bell has a good article on the Chiron Return as the turning point at age 50 (technically the Chiron Return occurs at age 51, but let’s not quibble). I particularly love this paragraph:
At our Chiron Return we have the power to change our story and it is not unusual for our life to take off in a new direction. The period leading up to the Chiron Return, in our late forties, is significant as ideas, plans, and projects are seeded at this time. Located between the orbit of Saturn and Uranus, Chiron is frequently described as a bridge. Often a teacher or mentor appears at this time to act as a bridge or catalyst from one life to another.
I wrote about this on my Facebook page – the fact that the role of mentor is an aspect of Chiron that often gets lost when we think of him solely as the Wounded Healer. I have found that it is not correct that Chiron’s Wound doesn’t heal – as we age, particularly as we age through the Chiron Return, the wounds CAN heal. As the wounds heal, the energy that they hold are replaced by a wisdom that goes deep into the soul and at that point we may take on the role as teacher or mentor ourselves.
Today is my birthday, and as many of you know I am in the middle of my Saturn Return right now which means that the Sun conjoins Saturn in the sky as it conjoins my own natal Sun/Saturn conjunction, embedding the combination of the Sun and Saturn in my Solar Return chart. This suggests there is a years of hard work and productivity ahead and that has certainly been the focus of my life for the past two weeks.
Chiron serves as the bridge from the discipline and structure of Saturn to the transformational outer planets and assists in the healing and evolution of the soul. It’s great to see him getting some good press in the mainstream media! Thanks to the Astrococktail news service for the article link.
Love this thank you! I am 51 and getting hammered with intense healing this year of all the old stuff. Have been pondering the question of what if I didn’t have the story I am currently repeating? What would my life look like then and what would the new story be? Thanks for the post- helpful! and Happy birthday!
I’m glad you liked it Janet – the Chironic cycle of healing necessitates moving through the painful places, releasing them, and coming out the other side. It takes courage, but is INFINITELY rewarding!
Happy Birthday, dear Lynn! It’s your Strength Tarot Year. It’s a time of renewed creativity, an upsurge of tremendous fortitude and daring, of passions ignited.
May it bring you delicious new adventures, and a deep new appreciation for the glory of living!
Much love,
~ Beth
ps: I am loving the new look of your blog!
I turned 50 in March and my Chiron Return is rocking! After circling astrology for about 13 years, I knuckled down to seriously study and the insights have helped me through the re-writing of the ‘old story’. I have also moved out of the ‘wounded healer’ interpretions of Chiron and this actually began in 1998 when I studied Sacred Contracts & Archetypes with Caroline Myss. I felt then that it wasn’t life-affirming to stay with that WH label. Thanks to astrology, I have learned about Asclepius and Hygiea and repurposed Chiron to Mentor/Teacher.
My first Saturn Return was pretty rough, yet seeds were planted then that I wasn’t aware of – beyond my wildest imagination. On a deep level, Chiron’s Return has really shown me the Truth in Joseph Campbell’s statement: ‘You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you”.
I think the tug-of-war that goes on, until you learn to leg to, is also part of the Plan. :-)
Nicely said, Anita. My first Saturn Return was horrendous. This one has been pretty easy if you call working 18 hours a day easy. But Saturn definitely rewards Saturnian behavior, so you might as well do what the doctor orders.
WOOOO! Happy Birthday, Lynn! Thanks for your astrological wisdom, you are much appreciated and loved!
I appreciate this explanation. My chiron return is a few years off and I’m scared already. So much has been bad for so long I feel like my entire being is one big open wound.
Happy Birthday! :)
Happy Birthday Lynn! I’ve had two hits on my Chiron return before my 50th birthday. I turn 50 next month 11-20-2011. Looking forward to getting a birthday reading from you then.
namaste,
Scott
Happy birthday, Lynn!
I have had an interesting Saturn return this summer. I met a new girlfriend after living alone for many years. She is 49 and I will be 59 next week, so our Chiron’s are semi-sextile. We share similar pains of childhood neglect, and I am sort of her teacher along with her best friend. Our Chiron connection has been occupying my mind recently, so thanks for the timely article! Hope all is well with you.
Greg
Thanks for the birthday greetings! Greg, you and I are about the same age then because I just turned 59. Interesting tmes …
Woah! You must know a good plastic surgeon cause you don’t look anywhere near 59!
Happy Big One! I truly enjoy your insights.
I find this to be also pretty accurate regarding:
The time around 50 or so is usually a time when old friendships are treated more warmly, and seem more worthwhile than ever before. The harsh relations with colleagues, caused by years of competition, usually begin to soften at this time. Even difficulties with relatives often begin to be less troublesome now.