ASTROLOGY: Chiron Return at Age 50!

Hi Everyone!

One of my athenians said she was going to have a birthday shortly and would turn 50! That is known as the Chiron age. And 50 becomes a turning point in many ways, in our life.


Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Well, I think this is appropriate for tonight's topic! Buzzards are about dying and they symbolize the carrying of the soul to heaven or the Other Side. Here they are at dusk, high on the wall of Echo Canyon, circling. They do this often. When the sun comes up, they open their wings and allow the sun to dry them off. Then, they take off on individual sky trails and the clan of about twenty doesn't see one another until they come back to our canyon at dusk to gather and sit together as a family. Often, it's as if they are joyous at seeing one another after being alone all day and they circle and 'play' in spirals of updrafts. It's beautiful to watch. I hope you can see them in this photo!

And synchronistically,magically, guess who showed up on my mother’s red tile step that leads up to her sun deck and into her mobile home while I was writing this? Why, a green rattlesnake, of course!! And Mercury being retrograde and me being a Gemini (Gemini’s and Virgos are always doubly dogged when Mercury,their ruling planet, is retrograde--we’re more or less brain dead during those times...duh....), I grabbed my trusty camera once Dave got the snake bagger equipment--but there was no card in it. So, I snapped photos of the snake being released up at Dead Man’s corner, about 1.5 miles from our house, and no photos. Drats. Well, that will teach me to always put the card back IN the camera and don’t leave it laying on my desk near my computer.

Anyway, I had gone out at 5:15 p.m. tonight to tell Dave, who was putting gravel from the truck in front of my Mom’s house, on the road, that there had been a tornado warning for the Sedona area--and we’re only eight miles south of Sedona. As I told him, I started to go around the truck to run up to my Mom’s stairs to tell her. I screeched to a halt. There, laid out was a beautiful green rattler about 2.5 feet long and it had seven rattles on its tail. It was just laying there and wasn’t fussed up or rattling because of the noise or us being so near it.

I called Dave immediately and told him to run and get the snake bagger kit. He handed me the shovel because I didn’t want the rattler to get away. And sure enough, the snake started to move and I had to put the shovel between it and the slats between the stairs where he was headed. That did get him upset and he rattled and coiled and flicked his black tongue. I kept telling it telepathically that we weren’t going to hurt it and waited for Dave to arrive.

Snake Dave, as we call ‘em, put the gentle jaws on the back of the snake’s head and expertly put him in the double muslin cloth snake bag. I got the keys to the truck and started it. Dave wrapped the bag and set it in the truck bed and off we drove!

Up at Dead Man’s Corner, (this is a 90 degree bend in the dirt road where you cannot see who is coming) we parked and I peeked inside the bag. The rattler was climbing the sides and wanting out. So, Dave obliged him. We took more photos and let him slither off over the edge and down into a nice rocky ravine where he can live in peace without human encroachment.

I laughed on the way back to our place when I told Dave I was writing about ‘wounds’/Chiron and the fact that Chiron got severely wounded by the Hydra, a 9-headed snake/dragon with its poisonous blood. And who shows up? Why, the most poisonous rattlesnake in Arizona to reflect this!! I just love it! I feel such harmony when we’re talking about something and nearly instantaneously, it is reflected back to us through Nature. Helluva phone line if you asked me!

I’m bummed there are no photos...but it wasn’t meant to be. And by the way, this was NOT the rattlesnake we found in the horse barn last week, either--it was much darker looking, much bigger than this one. So, we keep watch out for it too--but it has not been back into the barn...but we stay alert...


Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
On tonight's two mile walk, I was hoping to find some flowers in bloom because of the two monsoons we've had in the last two weeks. All the Chaparral is in bloom. They have five petaled flowers. You can see that they are making the little green seed pods after being pollinated.

Back to wounding and Chiron!

In order to understand what Chiron is, we need to know three things. First of all, Chiron is the name of an asteroid out in space that is used by astrologers when they cast a natal chart for a client.

Chiron is also known as the Centaur constellation up in the sky--but has no impact directly on the Chiron Return (50 year orbit around the sun). So, don’t confuse the constellation with the asteroid! Astrologers use the asteroid.

Thirdly, Chiron is a myth from the time of the Greeks and without knowing the myth, you won’t understand about your Chiron return, so let’s look at one website that has an excellent way of putting all of this into a fairly digestible chunk to swallow--and then we’ll get on with how all this impacts us at 50 today, in the 21st Century.

Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
What do you see out on the desert? Anything? The desert is very good at camoflauging things. You learn to develop a different set of eyes as you walk in it. To your right is the Desert Four O'Clock plant!

THE MYTH OF CHIRON:


Chiron In Mythology
Chiron was known as a wise teacher, healer, and prophet. Chiron's father was Kronus (Saturn) and his mother was a beautiful nymph named Philyra. Kronus was a harsh, devouring father god – and he met the nymph Philyra while on one of his many searches to find and then destroy his (at that time) baby son, Zeus.

Upon seeing Philyra, Kronus was instantaneously was filled with desire (i.e. he got serious case of the hots). But the nymph Philyra did not share in his feelings and desires. So Philyra turned herself into a mare in the attempt to flee the desirous advances of Kronus. But Kronus likewise transformed himself into a stallion and thus was able to consummate his overwhelming desire to mate with the nymph, Philyra.


Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Here's what you would have missed if you had been not looking real hard. Walking the desert and really seeing things you must be grounded and focused. Aren't these beautiful? These are Desert Four O'Clocks. They open up at dusk, stay open all night and usually, around nine a.m., are closed back up. That way, they can weather the heat of the day and take advantage of the coolness of the desert nights. These flowers are completely dependent upon rain. They did not bloom this Spring because we had no rain. But, two monsoons two weeks in a row--and here they are! Our road is like an avenue paved with them on the northern side of it. There are huge moths, about the size of hummingbirds, that pollinate them and they go whizzing around and you'd swear you're getting dive bombed--but you really aren't.

Initial Wounding
By the time Chiron is born, Kronus is gone. Philyra, upon seeing her newborn son Chiron (obviously a centaur - half man and half horse), is so disgusted and appalled that she rejects and abandons her child. That's the really bad, tragic news for young Chiron…. Abandoned and rejected by his parents, the very ones who should have been there to love and nurture young Chiron.

The redeeming news is Chiron was then adopted by the sun god Apollo. (Time and chronology in Greek Mythology is often a little... er… unusual – since Kronus was Apollo's grandfather and Chiron's father. So Apollo is actually Chiron's nephew. So go figure….)

Upon becoming Chiron's foster parent, Apollo (god of music, prophecy, poetry, and healing) taught Chiron all that he knew. As a result, Chiron became mentor to the sons of kings and many of the most famous Greek heroes, including Jason (of the original Jason and the Argonauts), Asclepius (who became a famous healer in his own right), Achilles, and Hercules.


Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
If I hadn't been keeping a keen eye out, I'd have missed this important gift from Spirit tonight: a Red Tail Hawk feather! There it was, in the middle of the road! I was amazed! It was very old and pretty tattered and beat up by the weather over the years, I would estimate. It must have fallen out of our Red Tail years earlier up above on the hill above the road and tonight, it found its way to my feet. We consider feathers messengers. So, indeed, a pretty important message will arrived in a day or two to me, I'm sure.

Second Wounding
Speaking of Hercules (Herakles, for you Greek mythology purists)... Hercules tragically plays the next starring role in the saga of how his mentor Chiron came to be known as a "wounded healer."

Second Wounding
Hercules always seemed to be at odds with the centaurs (and it was eventually to be a centaur who destroyed Hercules). During a skirmish with a rowdy bunch of centaurs (who were all scattering and heading for the hills) – Hercules carelessly, accidentally wounded his friend and mentor, Chiron, in the knee with one of his arrows. The arrows Hercules had chosen to use on this particular day were arrows coated with the blood of the monster Hydra
(Hydra (mythology), in Greek mythology, nine-headed monster that dwelled in a marsh near Lerna, Greece. A menace to all of Árgos, it had fatally poisonous breath and when one head was severed, grew two in its place; its central head was immortal. Hercules, sent to kill the serpent as the second of his 12 labors, succeeded in slaying it by burning off the eight mortal heads and burying the ninth, immortal head under a huge rock. The term hydra is commonly applied to any complex situation or problem that continually poses compounded difficulties.--ENCARTA RESOURCE ).

Arrows coated with the blood of the Hydra were known to cause painful wounds that would never heal. And being an immortal, Chiron having a wound that would never heal was a way serious problem.... Chiron would never be able to heal from the wound caused by Hercules, and being immortal he could never die...

Catch 22...
And so after a long passing of time, with no relief, the wound caused Chiron much severe pain... Hercules (who had been the one responsible for wounding Chiron in the first place) then worked out a bargain with the gods.

The Deal
Here's the bargain that Hercules worked out... The Titan god, Prometheus, had been chained to a rock by the chief ruling god of Olympia, Zeus. Being bound to the rock was Prometheus' punishment for the crime of stealing holy fire from Olympia and giving the holy fire to humanity.

Each day (some versions say every other day) the eagle was sent by Zeus. The eagle would come and eat Prometheus' liver. At night Prometheus' liver would heal itself. So the eagle would come back again the next day for his daily liver snacks.

As stipulated by Zeus - Prometheus could only be released if (and when) an immortal offered to go to Tartarus (i.e. a Greek version of hell) and take his place. Going to Tartarus would mean the immortal was giving up his status as an immortal and would die.

The immortal (but wounded) centaur, Chiron, agreed to take the place of Prometheus in Tartarus. So when Chiron traveled to Tartarus, he was eventually able to die. Upon Chiron's death, he was finally released from the painful wound that would never heal. Chiron was then honored with the constellation of Centaurus.

Chiron In Astrology
In the birth chart, Chiron reflects the archetypal energies of the shamanic wounded healer and teacher who potentially lives within each one of us. Chiron's placement in the birth chart reflects an accidental wounding we received (most often, but not always, in early childhood). This Chironian wounding is an injury to our instinctual nature and a wounding of trust.

The wounding was generally brought about as the result of a stupid, careless, thoughtless accident... so normally there's no one who can be blamed with purposely, intentionally, maliciously wounding us. The wounding was generally done by someone close to us... someone we thought well of and trusted.

So the wounding is a wounding of trust... And, further... a Chironian wound is an injury that will never, ever totally heal. We learn, suffer, and grow from dealing with this sensitive area of wounded instinct and trust... but the wounding will never totally heal and go away.

This Chironian wounding can, later in life and after much personal struggle, then become a special area where we can help others by sharing our healing and teaching abilities.
SOURCE: http://astrology.about.com/library/weekly/aa031300b.htm

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?

There are several things that occur on your 50th birthday that astrologersr call your Chiron Return. It takes this asteroid in the asteroid belt, fifty years to make one circuit around the sun. Most of us have one Chiron Return, although we can have two if we live to be one-hundred!! For some people, it’s a time of release, freedom and celebration. For others, it’s a dark cloud on the horizon that is menacing and threatening. Still, for others, it’s a time of deciding what to do with the rest of your life! You will find yourself somewhere below.


Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Looking East over the canyon wall, there was a beautiful dying thunderstorm; and I loved the play of light with dark in the dusk sky.

1. Have you noticed how many men die of heart attacks at age 50? It’s an amazing number! Or, you hear of a man or woman (friend, relative, spouse) who succumbs to a chronic disease at this year in their life?

There’s a reason for this--and one that is totally avoidable in my opinion as a medical astrologer who has done thousands of charts, worldwide, over the years. Those who do not address and work through their wound(s)--whatever they are--then they’ve not fulfilled their learning contract to work on said wounding....and so the wound ends up crippling them for the rest of their life (just as Chiron was shot in the knee with the poison tipped arrow and could not die...but suffered terribly on and on...) until they do die from it, eventully...but it’s usually a long, slow descent to dying.

We need to define ‘wound’ here. In the astrology info above they say it’s about trust. But if you look at Chiron’s mythology....it was about stupid Hercules, the teenage dolt who is all hormones and no brains...accidentally shooting his mentor and teacher. We can say that one of your parents may have accidentally put you as a baby or young child, without thinking...into some situation where you were traumatized (fear/shock/ect)...and were wounded. This wound burned into your soul, even if your unthinking parent didn’t realize it...they will soon enough. Or, it could have been a kindergarten teacher. Or a care giver at a place where children too young for school are kept during the day so both parents can work--and the caregiver did something just as unthinking to you. Or, it could have been a grade school teacher--same type of situation--unthinking/distracted/not grounded--and you paid for it with being wounded as a result.

And we all know we all get wounded. Wounds, to me, are like a poison or a toxin within us that we need to discharge. The sooner the better. We all know we WILL get wounded because that’s the name of the game down here. If we aren’t wounded, we don’t struggle, grow, learn, become stronger despite the wound, and mature despite whatever odds are sitting/blocking us. It is more important we know WHAT our wounds are. Not who did it--although we will have to work through that, too, and learn to try and forgive them if we can. Sometimes, that is possible. Sometimes, it is not.

So,we all got wounds! The wound could be abandonment issues (just as Chiron, as a baby, was abandoned by his mother because he was less than perfect, i.e., half horse, half human), trust issues, selfishness, narcism, jealousy, competitiveness, humiliation, lack of self-esteem, victim mentality, abused, sexually molested/raped, rejection, caregiving, anger, lack of belief in abilities, ect.,ect.

And the person who has AVOIDED dealing with their wounding for fifty years--well, the jig’s up at fifty from an astrological viewpoint. And people take on a chronic illness to give them the time to focus on what is eating them up from the inside out....or what darkness is within them that has been infecting and destroying them from the inside out. Chronic disease always gives one a long, long time to sit and think and work on things they wouldn’t ordinarily if they were health. It’s a path some choose to take. One way or another, our WOUNDS to get our attention. It just becomes then, a question of how they get our attention. You can ignore them until fifty and get good and ill to deal with them at this time, is one way.

I sincerely believe if these people had realized that their wounds don’t go away just because they suppress or repress them, they’d have started working on them a soon as they ‘got it’ that a wound can bring on disease. No one likes to be sick. And having a chronic illness is the pits. But it is a heavy duty teacher and it will change us. The second way....

3. There are those who have been working through their wounds from the time they received it/them. To me, this is the smart decision to make. These people may get therapy, for example, to help them work through their wounds. Or, they be conscious of their wounds and make a conerted effort to heal them. Another example would be someone who was abused as a child. As they grow up, they see they are becoming just like the abuser parent. They make a choice NOT to be like that and do not take out the abuse pattern on anyone--rather--they make up their minds to change and not be like that. By the time they are 50, they have usually worked through the bulk of it (but this does not mean they’ve worked through all of it), so they are going to have good health until the day they decide to transit this place and move on (die).

4. Another phenomena takes place at age 50: We realize we are no longer immortal. In our youth, we think we’ll live forever. Actually, we don’t ever think about getting OLD, much less, DYING. At 50, we realize all of this in a pretty heavy, in-your-face realization. How we adjust to it really depends upon a ton of things like your view on life, your belief system, whether you’re a glass half full or half empty kind of person. At the most positive, this is a kick in the butt to start up the second half of your life and have a lot of fun doing things you wanted to do earlier--but could not due to a lot of other responsibilities like making a living, getting married, having children, raising them, ect. At some point, you kick the kids out (hopefully at 18) and you get on with YOUR life, then!

5. If you’ve been working diligently on your wounds and you hit 50, then you usually get a hiatus/rest for awhile....but generally speaking, around 58 to 60, your second Saturn Return (another blog another time), you get a chance to work on that worst wound once more. And usually, in a 2.5 year period, you will be challenged with a situation/event/person that will trigger that wound fully so that you can finally clean it all out, get rid/discharge the rest of it, and then at around 60-61--really be able to truly enjoy the rest of your life--sorta like a cosmic party ongoing until you decide to transit! I the multi-headed hydra (i love this 9 heads...) raises its head at you one more time, take the bull by the horns, or the dragon by its horns, and deal with it like you did the rest of your wounds in the past. You will be successful and then you can move past this last bit of discharge.

6. Your Chiron Return also makes you realize what you have done in your life by looking backward over it. And, it makes you realize what you have not accomplished and what you want to do before you transit this plane. Often, at age 50, many people quit their day job and move into a hobby or another career they REALLY wanted, but didn’t think they could ever have. They may retire. They may get divorced. They may get remarried. They may move. They will do something big to change up the quality of their life and lifestyle. At 50, it looks feasible and so people make these huge turns on their path to head in a new, vigorous, exciting and rewarding direction with their life! Many menopausal women get out of the house frau routine and cut loose and plug into their awesome creativity. That may mean starting up a cottage business, or a big business, or some creative pursuit or going to college or....the list is endless!

You should look forward to your 50th birthday! It’s a great place, after living here a half a century, and good to look forward to see what you want to do with the other half of your life!

HOW CAN I KNOW IF MY CHIRON RETURN IS GOING TO BE GOOD OR NOT?

You can hire a professional astrologer. They can plot, via the ephemeris,where Chiron is at in your natal chart. By looking at the aspects (mathematical distance) between Chiron and other planets or positions in your chart, you can get a very good idea of what you’re Chiron Return is going to be like.

I suggest the following professional astrologers:

Rosemarie Brown

Gracee Verte

Gail Carswell

You can't go wrong with any of these professional astrologers. They can help you plot your course with your Chiron Return and even plan a party for it and yourself!


Copyright Eileen Nauman 2006
Our sunset tonight

In Spirit....