Chiron: Why The “Wounded” Healer

“Badu, 24.
Probably the last time I ever looked out of myself thru eyes that knew nothing of pain..dreamy & blissful.”

– Erykah Badu

The most commonly known short descriptor of the asteroid Chiron as an archetype is “the wounded healer”. Though Chiron is much more than that – essentially serving as a bridge between the outer planets and the inner planets, or the invisible (subtle) realms and the visible realm.

Those who are Chirotic in nature (strong Chiron in chart, or particularly interested in healing) would be more likely to see pain as a gateway into new levels of awareness and consciousness. Pain is not, in this case, a high to be sought either – it is just a pointed moment of realizing that one is in separation, that one is suffering, and that there is always a medicine or an antidote to that suffering. Or that perhaps the pain itself is the first moment of embarking on a journey of deeper holistic connection to oneself and one’s spiritual life, i.e. “the answer to the pain is through the pain.”

Those on the Chiron path are adventurers in the world of medicine: they hurt and they heal, and they gather knowledge in the process about how to heal both themselves and others. They become an initiator for others into a deepened intimacy with life itself because of their ability to transmute pain into divine connection (suturing up the gaps from separation). This is what we feel when we have done healing work with someone and the pain we felt evaporates, like a cloud blown gently into the ether. Or what it feels like when something is so soothing or comforting and we can relax into it, that we realize that we were so tense and disconnected while thinking that was just the normal way to exist.

The wound is just an impetus for Chiron to become a seeker for greater truths. It’s not only that experiencing hardship gives the Chirotic figure extra empathy, but that Chiron’s wound brings one beyond complacency – one who suffers and is determined to no longer suffer who then finds an answer has discovered an invisible treasure. Invisible treasures which Chiron has a bridge to bring back into the visible dimension.

The “wound” that Chiron carries may not always be visible and can operate more like a scab, given a lot of the harshness of the reality we find on this plane of existence, where there is such a thing as normalized violence. The suffering found in Chiron’s realm can be bittersweet – like a sudden realization that life is precious and beautiful, after one had been spending years in self-destruction or abusive relationships. On a Chiron path (whether we find ourselves on it by nature, or by transit, or however else we do), we find a deeper connection through our sensitivity. The risk is just like falling in love – there is always that potential to get hurt. But pain is not a scary thing to avoid at all costs anymore. It’s just a signifier of there being a new point of entry into being at home, despite the fragility of life. Not a scab, it becomes a different kind of strength.

~Sabrina Monarch

(Image: image and quote from Erykah Badu’s twitter)

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