Chiron in the Natal Chart
May 14, 2009 by cafeastro
Filed under Annie's Blog
I think interpreting Chiron in the natal chart can be very revealing, especially, of course, if it makes some strong aspects or is otherwise prominent. There are quite a few excellent resources for learning about Chiron available. I’ve leafed through a number of books on Chiron over the years, and different authors focus more heavily on different Chiron themes, but they’re all very interesting and useful. I’ve written a few articles about Chiron, including Chiron in Aspect.
Where Chiron is in the natal chart is where we might feel ineffective, wounded, guilty, or otherwise unable to express ourselves naturally and confidently (without some work). Often it has to do with early and painful experiences, but there are people with Chiron “issues” who can’t pinpoint a particular incident or experience in childhood to explain them, and really it’s not necessary to do so. Chiron as the Wounded Healer often does push a person towards healing others, through personal experience and deep sensitivity to the particular planet’s energy that it aspects. Wisdom that is often associated with Chiron comes from this sensitivity and the lifelong learning process. I have a friend who is a marriage counselor by profession (he has Venus conjunct Chiron), and is considered to be a very good one. He’s in his forties and on his third marriage, and you can imagine, takes some flak for this fact. However, he is learning from his own personal struggles, and is able to bring what he learns into his work with couples, and very effectively at that.
Early expression of Chiron hard aspects is often choppy, unnatural, and ineffective. As we learn to accept this part of ourselves as valid and deserving, it becomes easier to express it without consequent feelings of guilt or shame.
As an example: Chiron-Mars. The ability to assert ourselves and our desires, and to express anger, come into play with Mars. With Chiron in hard aspect to Mars, we are somehow ashamed of expressing our desires directly and confidently. Perhaps we don’t expect our desires to be met. My friend has a child who would rarely ask for anything from his parents directly. Instead, he would convince his sisters to ask his parents for what he wanted. Although mostly even-tempered, he would sometimes have huge angry outbursts with tears following the outbursts–nothing violent or alarming, but nevertheless choppy. When asked by his mother why he always seemed to enlist the help of a sibling to ask for something that he wanted, he replied that “you wouldn’t do it if I asked”. The mother didn’t think that was true, but the issue here is that it is a personal reality for him–that’s how he perceives things. He has Mars in Pisces conjunct Saturn and opposite Chiron. Mars in Pisces on its own can be roundabout, but I think Chiron complicates matters considerably.
Another child I know who has Mercury conjunct Chiron in Libra (and widely opposing Saturn) asked why it seems that every time she has the courage to state her opinion on something, it seems to completely backfire. She feels that others around her can easily express an opinion without negative feedback, but when she says something even slightly provocative, it’s met with raised eyebrows. It’s hard to say whether it is due to extreme sensitivity to feedback (where Chiron is, there is usually extreme sensitivity to others’ responses, and sometimes imagined negative feedback), or if it’s because others sense her fear of expressing herself. If we don’t feel that our needs or feelings are valid when we express an energy, it can most certainly come out the wrong way, with a tone that almost invites negative feedback.
It reminds me of the interplay of two of my cats that I had years ago. They were brothers, and one was terrified of the other. The scared one wouldn’t just walk past the tough one normally, he would slink past him. I watched this interplay and wished that the scaredy cat would walk confidently past the tougher cat, because by slinking he would get the very negative attention that he was fearful of. A fight would then ensue. There were a few times when the scared cat didn’t notice the tough cat was around and he was able to pass him without incident. No slinking=no fight.
So it’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg thing, and can very much be a vicious circle. If we’re scared of expressing ourselves, when we do summon up the courage to do it, it can come out either too aggressively or too emotionally–unnaturally–and is thus somehow ineffective. This then feeds the very feeling of ineffectiveness that is at the root of the unnatural expression. Something that stands out for me (with Sun opposite Chiron) was an incident that really shouldn’t have been considered an incident at all. However, the sensitivity of Chiron can be extreme, especially in our early years. I was with a group of friends at a birthday party as a young child, and although I was typically rather shy, I was feeling goofy, and did a silly little dance. My mother said, “stop showing off”, likely in a playful tone, because she is not a vindictive person. I shrunk–I felt like a complete idiot. Another person might take it for what it was–playfulness–and it’s unlikely they would carry this memory to adulthood, either. I can’t imagine my mother was putting me down, but I perceived it as such. With Sun-Chiron in hard aspect, there can be a feeling of embarrassment following a Sun-style expression of “shining”–of strutting your stuff.
Chiron is closely conjunct my Moon (in Pisces, within one degree) and opposes my Sun-Uranus-Pluto. I think it’s one of the reasons why I spent a good portion of my life feeling guilty for almost everything I did (or didn’t do)! Moon conjunct Chiron in Pisces, I believe, is “responsible” for spontaneous tears at anything remotely touching or moving (amongst many other things). As a kid, I hated this tendency of mine with a passion, finding it embarrassing and awkward, and making every attempt to cover it up. I blamed it on migraines (the pain is tearing me up), on remembering my cat’s death, on anything I could, really. Many times I would cry for no particular reason. I have a memory of one of my teachers in elementary school approaching me in class and asking me why I had tears in my eyes, and I said, quite honestly, “I don’t know”. This wonderful woman took me out of the class and talked to me in the teacher’s lounge at length. I loved her for it, just because she seemed to sincerely care, but I truly didn’t know what it was that moved me to tears. It was perhaps a fleeting thought or feeling that caused me to cry that I sincerely didn’t remember. Finally, in true Piscean fashion, I offered her a story for why I was sad, entirely fictional, but just because she seemed so eager to want to know and help, and I didn’t want to let her down!
As I grew older, I learned to accept it–I stopped fighting it–and now I can just let the tears flow without having to apologize or cover up. My kids and I went to a movie (a pretty corny but entertaining one) just the other day and my youngest made a game out of it, counting how many times I teared up. I also possess the ability to laugh and cry at once, which is most of the time. And, the up side to this story is that I can just as readily laugh and smile as I do cry, often without reason, too. While laughing at anything even remotely absurd or “off” was also a problem growing up (when I had laughing fits at totally inappropriate moments), it was easier to accept than the spontaneous crying.
I don’t think crying spontaneously is necessarily a signature of Moon-Chiron, but there is a deep emotional sensitivity there that is unmistakable and expressed in different ways. Similar to the outbursts of temper with hard Mars-Chiron I mentioned above, one of the challenges of hard Moon-Chiron aspects is to express the emotions naturally and evenly, instead of holding onto them in fear, bottling them up, until emotions come out in a dramatic moment, after which there is embarrassment and awkwardness. With Moon-Chiron, we can have a real feeling that others don’t care about our emotions, but this feeling is on some level self-fulfilling. It’s the vicious circle thing again. Holding onto your feelings to the point that when you express them, it comes out as an outburst, is baffling to others. They don’t know how to react, and this feeds the feeling of ineffectiveness or lack of validation that caused the pattern.
I think of Chiron energy as similar to the nature of the inconjunct (quincunx) when it comes to feelings of guilt–of not doing enough. People with Chiron strong in their charts will often give a lot, but never feel satisfied with how much they’ve done. They have to stop from time to time to remind themselves just how much they have given, because otherwise they won’t necessarily see it, or believe it. There is often a strong need to help, to be useful, to teach or enlighten. And the ones who do teach or heal in some manner generally totally throw themselves into the process. Venus-Chiron people might attach themselves to partners who need help, or who demand a lot from them. With the hard aspects, their need for affection and fear of rejection can be tremendous. At the heart of Chiron “wounds” is a feeling that we’re just not good enough or deserving enough. It’s humility, but unhealthy humility borne of low self-esteem. Humility is also found when Chiron is strong and mostly flowing in the chart, but it’s healthy and confident.
With Chiron, there is often a quest and sincere motivation to learn, grow, and heal, and this is why Chiron’s conjunction with Neptune (and Jupiter) this month is so interesting. It brings with it an opportunity period for understanding our addictions, whether they are addictions to substances, dreams, concepts, or relationships. I’ve personally been experiencing unusual psychic/intuitive prompts and pokes by the scores that I have yet to completely make sense of, although some things can’t and possibly shouldn’t be defined. It’s a period of great psychic openness, which can be fabulously healing on one level, and challenging on another in terms of the possibility of being led astray. Hard Chiron transits can sometimes coincide with periods when we seek a teacher, guru, or leader, because of our own uncertainty or feelings of ineffectiveness/unworthiness, so we need to be wary of attaching ourselves to the wrong person or cause. On the other hand, maybe it’s exactly what we need to do in order to learn. I know quite a few people born close to me with Jupiter square Neptune natally, including myself, and we have all sorts of interesting plans, visions, and dreams. What’s missing is the will to make them happen. There’s a lot of procrastination and avoidance, and in some cases, a bending of personal philosophies to explain what is probably essentially a lack of motivation and follow-through. With Chiron in the mix, there may be a little more motivation to do something productive with our ideas and plans.
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I hope you don’t mind that I have forwarded this post to the Seers and Seekers Yahoo group. Having Chiron natally conjunct my Asc., square (cross-sign) my Moon my Pluto, I can really relate to the whole feeling inadequate thing.
I have Sun/Chiron, Moon/Chiron, and Mars/Chiron and I can’t argue with any of this. (Though since my moon is Sag, there’s no crying for fun here.)
Libramoon, I’m glad you found the post worthy of a forward!
Chiron conjunct the Ascendant is a little like Chiron-Mars, except the insecurity has more to do with spontaneous self-expression. How does this play out for you? Jennifer, I can’t say it’s crying for fun exactly, but there’s a fine line between laughter and tears for me, and it could be a defense mechanism that I developed. Perhaps it sounds a little psycho. 
It’s interesting how it has evolved from embarrassment to acceptance with age, though, and I do believe that Chiron “issues” do get easier to deal with over time.
I have a cancer Venus/Jupiter/Chiron conjuction (with Saturn opposing all of them) in my 5th house. I’m confused how Chiron mixed in the Venus/Jupiter would might play out – would this give a healing aspect to the conjunction? And since I have saturn opposing all of them, the healing is painful in the process? Eek, I’m so confused! Thanks.
Venus/Jupiter/Chiron in Cancer is an extremely giving, generous, compassionate, and idealistic combination. You might find you’re often attracted to people who you feel are needy or who seem to be rejected by others, such as loners or outcasts. The (great) need with Venus-Jupiter in Cancer is to love and care for a person wholeheartedly and to receive the same kind of love, as well as appreciation, in return. The presence of Chiron there is going to intensify this need, and the fear of rejection, is going to be strong in youth. Saturn’s opposition suggests challenges in getting this need fulfilled. You might “fall for” unattainable people, or put your heart and soul into unfulfilling relationships, or put your heart and soul into people who seem to put you down, thwart your needs, “rain on your parade”, or dampen your enthusiasm, and thus “feed” your insecurities. I think it’s helpful to consider that frustrating experiences with Chiron might be self-fulfilling in terms of negative expectations (”I will never be loved the way I want to be loved”), and that changing our attitude towards ourselves and adjusting our expectations from others (realistically) is really the key to
managing these relationship problems. If you find you’re constantly giving to a relationship and not receiving, then you’re allowing yourself to be taken advantage of. The secret to gaining respect from others is to respect ourselves, and that can take a lot of work. Like for example with my Moon-Chiron in Pisces, in youth I had an attitude that “nobody understands me” or “nobody cares”, and when I realized that it was because I wasn’t allowing them to, due to a fear of expressing my feelings and not getting the feedback that I craved, that was the first step to managing the problem.
With Venus-Jupiter-Chiron, the “appetite” for love and affection is enormous, and Saturn is there trying to tame that appetite, perhaps giving you some lean periods as part of his lesson, which doesn’t always feel good. Saturn is going to be trying to control that appetite until you adjust your expectations and perhaps realize that your appetite for love and affection is much like a bottomless pit.
Saturn opposition Chiron was in and out of orb (mostly in) from 1986 to 1995, so it’s present in a lot of people’s natal charts born in those nine years. When it’s tied up with personal planets, however, it is going to play out on more personal levels.
I just love Chiron, I so relate to him/it/her. Its in my 12th in Aquarius conj the Ascendant sq Moon Gemini in 4th, opp Uranus & Pluto in 7th. Let’s talk intense communication about pain, wounds, passion, sex, distance, suffocation, abandonment all to do with my mother! I am seeing so much of this playing out right now, my wounds are being peeled back and debrided! My partner of 10 years has been having an affair and its all come out, thanks to the help of Venus Rx some month ago going direct. Pain beyond belief, the emotional wound was there to start of course, she has just pushed the pain button. Thank you for a fabulous article, love this blog! x
Wow, Annie, I felt like I was reading about myself in your post, and also in your response to Taurusgal! I also have Chiron conjunct (one degree!) Moon in Pisces in the 7th. Saturn is also there, albeit 5-6 degrees away. The tearing up at anything really got me laughing. I cry at commercials! And often, I get this overwhelming burst of emotion at inappropriate moments, I do my best to hide it. As you can imagine I have had a lot of learning experiences in the area of relationships. Anyway, thank you for the fantastic information, I enjoy reading your blog, and your site, too. I feel a bit like your twin, every time you write about a personal aspect that you have, it seems to be the same as mine
), like venus Rx, moon in Pisces, your sun sign is my ascendant etc… small world! Blessings to you.
Excellent post. I’ve also been very aware of the Chiron/Neptune/Jupiter connection and as it’s all playing out in my 7th house it has been an eventful time! Natally I have Chiron in the 8th opposite Uranus and I’m watching closely as transitting Uranus moves through this house. Whilst not a major aspect, I do also have Mars semi-square Chiron and can the relate to sometimes feeling like I don’t expect my desires to be met.
Sorry for the late replies, but a whole lot has been going on in my life this past week that has kept me from doing more than the necessities for the site.
Carmilla, dealing with infidelity can be one of the most painful things, and my heart goes out to you. What you have is not an easy configuration, by all means, especially with Chiron conjunct an angle. I’ve found that a planet/body conjunct the Ascendant but on the “other” side (in the 12th) is extremely powerful in a person’s life, not to be underestimated. The need to express it is urgent, yet it’s in the 12th and the urge to keep it “undercover” is just as strong, so there are a lot of conflicting feelings there.
Mary, very interesting parallels! You should send me an email. What about Venus-Neptune — do you have that natal aspect as well?? I have a LOT to say about that aspect, although I am not sure if I have written much about it yet…but I will, I can feel it.
Lua, I do think of the semi-square as an important aspect. I’m glad that you and others could relate to my post, as it was one of my more personal ones, and I am still to this day a little shy about sharing my “inner world”. Getting bolder as the years go by, though.
This Chiron-Jupiter-Neptune transit has already been a very potent influence, and it’s only just begun.
I have Chiron at 29 degrees in my 7th, opposing a Mars (28′55″) Sun/Moon midpoint (29′04) conjuction in Gemini in my first. I just got divorced from my husband of 37 years, who was having an affair. I didn’t realize how oppressive my marriage was until after we seperated and I felt so relieved. I recently met someone who’s Venus at 3′ cancer is opposing Chiron and conjucting my Mar, Sun/Moon midpoint. I’m hoping this means that this relationship will prove to be a soothing one. Or is it just going to activate all my wounds again and make me miserable.
Hi, my chiron is conjunct my MC in pisces oposing pluto which is conjunct my IC in virgo, what does this mean? By the way, my uranus is only two degrees away from my pluto…And, for a little spice, my sun is 26 aquarious
the same degree that today’s conjunction of jupiter-neptun-chiron is taking place!
Thank you Annie so much for your reply
I have the transiting chiron/jupiter/neptune combination conjuncting my MC 26 degrees aquarius and it also trines my Pluto 26 degrees libra in the 5th house (also natal saturn in the 5th @ 22 degrees libra) and sextiles my neptune 25 degrees sagittarius in the 7th house! I have been trying to interpret all the pieces of the puzzle, but could sure use some help. What does all of this mean?
Moon/Chiron/Saturn/Pallas 7H 23-25Pisces … I’m usually a crier-outta-nowhere too. Transiting UranusRx sitting on it right now and I’m actually not very tearful lately. Too tired probably. Between Saturn sawing over the mid-60’s Uranus/Pluto conjunction in Virgo and Uranus sawing on the other side…I AM POOPED.
Hope you are hanging in there ok : )
K
K,
Are you too tired, or temporarily divorced from the situation! I have to say I am pooped too but hanging in.
Saturn opposite my Moon-Chiron right now. Thanks so much for your comment!
I really enjoy this blog. I have Venus opposite Chiron. I totally relate to the crying thing, but I just always blamed it on my Cancer ASC! And Kaden, yes, I am too pooped for such emotional excesses now as well. I’m also experiencing Saturn opposite Chiron (which conjunct my MC and Saturn). It sounds like we are about the same age. What do you think of your current Saturn opposition with good old Uranaus thrown in? Any career issues? Ha ha ha . . . it’s been non-stop for me! I’d love to hear what someone else is going through!
What a great blog…after reading so much on astrology, i must say this is one of the best pieces on chiron i read untill now..
I was looking for some answers… at the moment chiron/neptune is squaring my girlfriend 27deg taurus sun.
my girlfriend has a 2deg pisces moon, and next year chiron and neptune will conjunct it… And she has ASC cancer (along with jupiter and chiron in cancer but in the 12th) so it will have a major impact
along with me! chiron/neptune wil square my ASC 0deg Gemini and at the same time opposite mercury at 0 deg virgo….
so i think this will be a extremely difficult time, and i am trying to understand before i hits me next year…
Do you have some advice on transitting chiron/neptune conjunct the moon(in the 9th), ruler of the ascendant..??? hurt and confused feelings i would guess
BY THE WAY….
it is great we came together at this time, almost seems fated with jupiter/neptune/chiron in the sky.. i have a natal jupiter/neptune conjunction and she has a natal jupiter/chiron conjunction.
also we are both very chiron type people…… i have ascendant conjunct chiron/northnode… sextile to my sun, square mercury, and opposite uranus..
she has chiron conjunct jupiter in the 12th (7 deg from her ASC) , opposite uranus/neptune and square venus, trine mars,trine pluto…..
and then her chiron falls exactly on my moon(same degree even!), and composite chart we have asc/sun conjunct chiron……