As I write this today, Monday February 19th, the world is experiencing Chiron conjunct the North Node. This signals the beginning of a deep healing process that builds toward a climax of awakening at the Jupiter/Uranus conjunction on April 20th. The North Node is the point at which the Moon rises above the ecliptic, opening a portal into the future. The ecliptic is the illusory path of the Sun around Earth. Spirit and Soul interact with our human nature at these charged points in space. Put this together with Chiron and we are blessed with an opportunity to liberate ourselves from the past by releasing our psychic burdens.
We think of Chiron as the “Wounded Healer,” but what does that mean? Liz Green in her new book on Chiron, reminds us that he was a healer long before he was wounded by an arrow that had been dipped in the lethal blood of the Hydra, the many-headed monster that Hercules was tasked to destroy as the second of his 12 labors.
Hercules discovered that the usual hacking and hewing of an adversary didn’t work with the Hydra because each time he severed one of its heads, two more would appear. Furthermore, the Hydra wrapped one of its coils around Hercules’ foot so he could neither maneuver, nor escape.
A little-known detail of this battle was that the Hydra had a companion, a gigantic crab that kept biting the trapped foot of Hercules. This adds an important dimension to Chiron’s myth, as the Crab is the symbol of the sign Cancer, which is associated with family, and the nurturance we did, or did not, receive as children. It points to our family origins as the source of our wounds, and how they eat away at us until we face them.
Hercules also had an ally, his nephew Iolaus, who began torching the neck of each severed head, preventing regeneration. After dispatching 8 of the heads, Hercules sheared off the 9th, which was immortal, buried it in the ground and placed a huge rock on top. He then dipped all of his arrows in the Hydra’s blood which brought instant death to his enemies in battle, and endless suffering to his mentor, Chiron.
Chiron doesn’t act like a miracle worker, healing our wounds and setting us free. Rather, Chiron stirs our subconscious to release memories of wounds that we tried to bury. These wounds, however, are actually gifts, because they provide the very impetus that leads us toward our spiritual path and lends mythical significance to our pilgrim quest. Our wounds begin to show up as we separate from the symbiotic relationship with mother. Usually, around age three, we awaken to our individuality through a karmic wound that sets the stage for future wounds with similar themes. Specific wounds vary – abandonment, invisibility, betrayal and the one we all share, “not good enough.” But the common denominator is separation and the loss of unconditional love.
Chiron keeps reminding us of our karmic mission so that we can address our wounds, make peace with them and learn the very lessons they provide. Just as Hercules was bound to the Hydra by the foot, we are bound to our past and the wounded inner child. None of this is random. It carries a divine purpose, not just to heal an unresolved personal issue from past lives, but to heal it for humanity. As we take responsibility for our inner child, we deposit love in the Collective Unconscious, along with a map for transformation.
Chiron uniting with the North Node, two months before the USA Chiron return, and a week before the Full Moon in Virgo, presents an opportunity to let go of the past, shed our burdens and reframe the story we have made up about who we are – flawed children of a punishing god who banished us from bliss.
For the next two months the focus will be on Wounded America. We came together originally, having escaped a life of hardship under authoritarian control. We sought freedom. We created a New World based on democratic ideals. It was a remarkable feat. Then Pluto came around in 2020 to conjunct Saturn and test the strength of our Union. In 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked what form of government the Continental Congress had chosen. He replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
Can we keep it? Even better, can we improve upon it, make it more inclusive, lock in civil rights?
How do we heal the wounds of genocide, slavery and the capitalist assault on our home planet, not to mention our Souls? That’s a tall order, but now is the time to plant seeds; a time to think about what kind of government we do want, what freedoms must be protected or added to our Constitution, to secure a democratic republic. It is also time to address our personal wounds, examine the past until we see our way clear to another point of view. We need to reframe the past.
After my mother died, I received a message that she had set me free; that my life was my own now and to make the most of it. I instantly knew that my #1 priority was to clean up the debris of my past. I determined to dig to the bottom of all my wounds, all my grievances, all my relationships and see them in a new light. Surprisingly the bulk of that work was accomplished in nine months, just in time for Mother’s memorial. For the first time, I experienced my family through the eyes of love, acceptance and gratitude.
I tell you this, because I know it can be done. We just need commitment and determination to set ourselves free. As we begin to perceive our part in creating our past, we can change it. That’s pretty dramatic! The circumstances will remain the same, but the past is transformed through our perception of it. We reframe the story of our life from victim to pilgrim on a spiritual quest. We begin to see a deeper layer of truth.
And that brings us to the Virgo Full Moon.
Full Moon in Virgo
Virgo is the sign of discernment, symbolized by the maiden carrying sheaths of wheat which she then examines closely to separate what is of value and what is chaff. That is our mission, should we choose to accept it. We’re down to fine-tuning now. We’ve probably faced down all the big monsters and are left with those nasty crab bites – painful memories popping up when least expected. I used to reject them. Sometimes they would instigate a bout of self-loathing and depression. Recently I have been instructed to stay with the memory until I see the issue behind it. Where was my agency at the time? What choice did I make and why? Just the other day I recalled a wound that brought up at least nine heads of icky feelings. I listened to my guide who kept urging me to stay with it. What was the source of this pain? Ah yes, my lack of self-worth. I allowed it, because I believed I deserved it! It was a misinterpretation of my experience. I wasn’t a victim. I had betrayed myself.
We have been talking about the potential enlightenment of humanity for years. Some are calling it an evolution of consciousness, some the “Shift” or the “Ascension.” It is definitely an awakening – a shift of perspective, a lifting out of ego-imprisoned consciousness, an expansion of perception about who we are and the realization that we are all connected, interdependent and One. When this happens, when we see the Truth, we will have the power we need to change our present and our future.
So why do we do personal work? Because it is the hydra heads buried under rocks that are still poisoning our consciousness. Our collective belief system stifles us, demeans us and sets us at odds with each other. We compete when we could cooperate. We chase gold, ignoring the gold deposits in our souls. We live on a ladder to nowhere, fighting for each step on the rung. And we poison the one true source of nourishment, our Earth.
Virgo is the 6th sign, closing out the first half of the Zodiac, giving us a pause to reflect on what we have learned. Virgo helps us sift through our experience, harvest the lessons and gifts, and eliminate whatever has exhausted its value.
With the Virgo Full Moon, we can see in the dark. We can pick through the contents of our past, ask our Higher Selves to assist us, and then greet each arrival with gratitude. That alone will shift the process because we create a context of curiosity and eagerness to free ourselves from the slavery of the mind. That isn’t Mind with a capital. That’s the little mind that rehearses our limitations, our failures, our unworthiness, constantly comparing and contrasting us with our role models, or some conditioned ideal.
I’m reading a quirky book by Martha Beck called Diana Herself. I bought it for the subtitle: An Allegory of Awakening. Our heroine is stripped down to survival mode and has to learn the steps to awakening. It’s a weird allegory involving a boar, but there are some gems in the lessons. The boar presents her with tasks and once she has learned the lesson, he sums up the spiritual law. Diana has a propensity to beat herself up internally. When she realizes that her negative self-talk is all lies, the boar tells her, “Any story can be told infinite ways, dear, but listen to me. Listen well. If a story liberates your soul, believe it. But if it imprisons you, believe its mirror image. That is the Fifth Task.”
What a perfect description of Virgo’s gift! Virgo is a genius at seeing what doesn’t work, what needs improvement, what is sabotaging us. The downside is that we can get super critical of ourselves and develop a running dialogue of our deficiencies. This is not helpful. As the boar recommends, we need to believe the stories that liberate our souls. We need to silence the inner saboteur.
The Full Moon takes place on Saturday, February 24th, 4:30 a.m. Pacific time at 5+ Virgo in our collective third house. As I was typing about the boar, I realized he is the Saturn figure in this story. The Sun at the Full Moon is at 5+ degrees of Pisces, almost exactly conjunct Gonggong and less than 4 degrees away from Saturn. I’ll add that Mercury is also in Pisces at 2+ degrees, and racing toward its Superior conjunction with the Sun on February 28th, when they also meet up with Saturn at 9+ Pisces.
The Sabian Symbol for 10 Pisces is “The aviator sails across the sky, master of high realms.” Rudhyar adds: “Transcendence of normal problems. Gaining of celestial responsibilities. Consummation of the highest ideals.”
The synchronicity is remarkable. We’re being ask to think beyond ourselves to the welfare of our collective humanity and to assume responsibilities of celestial proportion! Responsibility grows hand in hand with freedom – the more we have, the more we must take responsibility for it, and for those who do not have it.
And guess what else is at 9+ degrees? Our natal Orcus in Virgo, exactly opposite the triple conjunction, reminding us of our oaths, and urging us to look in the shadows at the discarded parts of ourselves. The USA had its Orcus return in June of 2019. That was the beginning of the epidemic, although it hadn’t yet reached our shores. We do not thrive in toxic environments, whether that is the home, the family, our own minds, or collective angst. The epidemic forced us to take a break from what we considered normal. Many of us had an opportunity to re-evaluate our lives.
How perfectly everything fits together! Chiron and the North Node charting a new course for a healthier future; Full Moon in Virgo; a superior conjunction of Mercury and the Sun, meaning that Mercury has hit the apex of this synodic cycle, a Full Mercury, if you will; Saturn on the same degree that portends transcendence of normal problems; Orcus telling us where to look! Wow, what a set up!
I might add that Saturn is the Lord of Karma. I feel he is tied in with Chiron’s mission to mentor us to freedom through the painful task of healing our psychic wounds. Saturn is a manifester. He “makes real” what preoccupies our minds. If we focus on scarcity, we get more scarcity, manifested in not being able to pay the rent. If we focus on how fat we are, he helps us gain weight. If we focus on how awful life is – you guessed it, more awful!. But when we focus on the dreams of peace, of compassion, of authenticity and truth, that’s what we’ll get more of.
When we recall that Virgo is Mercury’s domain – astute perception and discernment – we can see how this stellium in Pisces plays a big role in our awakening. The USA 3rd House contains the last four degrees of Aquarius and all of Pisces. The 3rd House is associated with Mercury’s other domain – Gemini. It’s time to put our collective thinking caps on. The focus is on the soul of America, which is in crisis right now. We are having a collective dark night of the soul.
Gonggong
I mentioned that the Sun is conjunct Gonggong at the Full Moon. The little I understand about this dwarf is his mythology of rage and repentance for the destruction it left in his wake. Alan Clay talks about being flooded with overwhelming emotions, and I’m experiencing that now with Pluto exactly on my natal Gonggong at 0 Aquarius. I’m beginning to think that I’m being trained to feel everything all at once, because when one emotion is triggered, they all come up and almost blow open my heart with simultaneous pain and love. I’m currently living in a realm of bittersweetness.
The Full Moon is also sextile our natal Venus/Jupiter conjunction in Cancer. Emphasized twice by transiting Venus and Mars square transiting Jupiter. What a great time to love ourselves and shift negative self-talk into nourishing support! The Sun is within three degrees of our natal Ceres, the ultimate nurturer. Again, perfect timing. And transiting Ceres is in our First House, helping us see ourselves more clearly. She is conjunct Ixion right now, probably a good source of trash talk! Listen to your thoughts. What is being repeated, over and over? This is ego-brainwashing. We all need to support ourselves and each other during this passage. The last thing we need is self-abuse.
I’ll return at the New Moon in Pisces on March 10th.
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