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According to Greek mythology, Chiron was a healer, philosopher, and teacher who, ironically, could not heal himself. Chiron’s placement in your natal chart can reveal a core wound that may take a lifetime to work through. But don’t distress: Our Chiron placement is also our secret power! As we grapple with pain, we gain wisdom that we can pass on to others like a magical salve. In fact, the symbol for Chiron is shaped like a key since unlocking his powers opens up a portal to deep, inner peace.

Chiron orbits between two intensely oppositional planets—uptight, restrictive Saturn and liberated, revolutionary Uranus. His role as the metaphysical mediator can help us synthesize the energy of both. Where do we hold ourselves back (Saturn), and where can we be destructively rebellious (Uranus)? We must understand both extremes in order to find the middle ground. In Astrology and the Rising of Kundalini, author Barbara Hand Clow refers to Chiron as the "rainbow bridge" between Saturn and Uranus. Aptly named, since integrating the full spectrum of emotions is the key to wholeness.

While Chiron generally stays in a single zodiac sign for eight years, when he enters Saturn’s orbit, he can buzz through a single sign in under two years. (It’s up to him whether he wants to undergo outpatient surgery or opt for a longer course of therapy.) Since Chiron takes approximate 49 years to journey through all 12 zodiac signs, we all go through a "Chiron return" near our 50th birthdays. At this point, our core wounds may rear up for another round of therapy, especially if we’ve resisted doing any deeper self-examination. Of course, there’s always further to go! Between ages 49 and 51, the "Chiron return" (when Chiron returns to the sign it was in when you were born) will certainly insist upon soul searching. If we’ve "done our work," we may be called into leadership roles that allow us to spread our wisdom and flex our healing gifts at this time.

Interestingly, Chiron was originally classified as an asteroid but has gone through an identity crisis of his own. He’s now considered a Centaur—part of a class of bodies orbiting between the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt—and has been leveled up to "minor planet" status while simultaneously being categorized as a comet. Meanwhile, there are talks of calling him a dwarf planet, like his brother, karmic Pluto. But whatever his planetary pedigree, understanding his influence can be downright medicinal.

From April 17, 2018, until April 14, 2027, Chiron will visit assertive Aries, making a couple of pit stops in Pisces and Taurus along the way. Isn’t it (Ch)ironic? Aries is the sign of the self, while Chiron is a benevolent giver. For the next nine years, we must use the Aries traits of righteous anger, self-confidence, and putting ourselves first in service of a bigger goal. With gun violence at a staggering high and the world more polarized than ever, perhaps Chiron in Aries will help heal the divide.

Note that due to several retrogrades (Rx), Chiron will weave in and out of Pisces and Taurus during its transit:

Apr 17, 2018, Aries

Sep 25, 2018, Rx into Pisces

Feb 18, 2019, Aries

Jun 19, 2026, Taurus

Sep 17, 2026, Rx Aries

Apr 14, 2027, Taurus

Find your natal Chiron sign (Chiron’s placement in your chart) in the tables at the bottom of this page. Then read on to understand Chiron’s influence in your chart.

Wounds: Anger management, lack of self-worth, aloofness and isolationism, cutthroat competition style—needing to be No. 1 or refusing to participate, comparing and despairing

Healing Gifts: Empowering people to embrace their individuality, channeling anger into creative expression, fearless individuality, modeling independence

Wounds: Stubborn resistance to (and fear of) change, following the flock instead of forming your own values and beliefs, addiction to comforts like eating and drinking, materialism and money struggles

Healing Gifts: Creating serene environments, savvy financial planning, holding down the fort during turbulent times, calm in the storm, practical magic, teaching/modeling traditional wisdom

Wounds: Fear of being alone (without a "Twin"), approval-seeking, nervous chatter or addiction to gossip, constant pivoting that makes it impossible to finish what you start (Sparklepony Syndrome), anxiety about being judged, sibling rivalry

Healing Gifts: Play-based learning, communication arts, cooperation and mediation, using wit and humor as a tool for connection, putting people at ease/inclusivity

Wounds: Trouble feeling "at home" or safe—both in your body and in the world, hoarding resources and money, emotional eating, xenophobia and "stranger danger," family dysfunction (possibly with the mother)

Healing Gifts: Creating a safe haven for community, empowering women, nutritional wisdom/nourishing with food, savvy financial planning

Wounds: Need for validation, attention, and approval; presenting a false front; addiction to drama and intensity; romance/love addiction; chasing the high

Healing Gifts: Empowering others through authentic self-expression, playfulness and healthy hedonism, using the arts to uplift and spread a positive message

Wounds: Debilitating perfectionism, people-pleasing, distorted self-image (body image), anxiety about people’s judgments, being excessively critical of others, hypochondria

Healing Gifts: Creating structures to help people improve their lives (from home organization to wellness), being a storehouse of practical wisdom, creating empowering media

Wounds: Inability to commit to relationships, paralyzing indecision, romanticizing, trying to force peace at any price, trouble ending relationships

Healing Gifts: Fostering peaceful communication and harmonious compromises, diplomacy, creating beauty and heart-opening experiences, being a messenger for Cupid

Wounds: Nihilism, sexual addiction (possibly springing from childhood sexual abuse), power struggles, jealousy and obsession, trouble leaving bad relationships

Healing Gifts: Soul-deep sexual healing, alchemy (turning "trash" into treasure), helping people through extreme life passages such as births, deaths, and other transitions

Wounds: Fanatical or zealous beliefs, disruptive nomadic tendencies, aggressive or tactless communication style, chasing the "high" of the next big thing

Healing Gifts: Revealing higher truths with compassion, fostering diversity and inclusivity, creating conscious media, laughter as medicine

Wounds: Obsessive ambition, using career as an escape, fixation on gaining status and approval, family dysfunction (possibly showing up as daddy issues)

Healing Gifts: Levelheaded leadership, environmental consciousness, utilizing resources to provide for everyone

Wounds: Destructive rebellion, scientific detachment from emotions, trying to "fit in"

Healing Gifts: Social justice/activism, fostering utopian communities and a sharing economy both online and IRL, uplifting idealism

Wounds: Fear of asserting boundaries, escapism, addiction, denial/not living in reality, having a parent with an addiction or who was mentally ill

Healing Gifts: Helping people let go of limiting beliefs, spiritual and esoteric leadership, psychic/metaphysical/shamanic powers, helping people live out their fantasies.

Next up: Look into what your Mercury sign says about your communication style and what your Venus sign says about your romantic attractions.