Chiron Returns to Aquarius ~ July 20, 2010

While retrograde, Chiron steps out of Pisces and returns to Aquarius on July 20, where he remains until February 8, 2011. Chiron represents both what is broken and how to heal it. The messenger and provocateur is on his way. The world and all the people in it will take the trip of Chiron in Aquarius. The effect will be an exposition or even explosion of the themes and issues of Aquarius -- in particular, the tension between the individual and the group.

On a personal level, Chiron's return to Aquarius (the awakener), we are awakened to what we may have been doing for the sake of doing, living life in auto-pilot and making decisions that reflect what's safe or doesn't take much effort or rock the boat. But when looking at the bigger picture, longer term effects are actually more destructive to us. Becoming aware should stir the consciousness to make changes. Transits of Chiron typically alert us to what is already happening, and raise the matter for discussion. They don't necessarily create new situations but rather drop a lens in front of perception and allow us to focus on a particular pattern. That focus thrusts it into the environment of awareness. Aquarius is the territory known as the Commons: the space we all share; what we have in common. Aquarius is also the sign of the tribe: collective values, social concerns and society itself. Society is made of individuals, and often individuals must compromise their values, beliefs, conduct and behavior for the sake of the collective. And sometimes this goes way too far, to the point where there is next to no individuality left, or where it's so rare it seems strange. Chiron will point out how wounded by tribal thinking we have become. Since tribes in the modern sense rarely accept a person for who he or she already is, the result is an injury to individuality. And there is also an injury to our ability to trust groups at all. Particularly the group known as society.

Chiron in Aquarius will be our constant companion along the way to the very doorstep of 2012, and will be one of the most palpable tone-setting transits of the era. It will provide us with tools, opportunities and challenges that speed collective evolution precisely because of the collective nature of Aquarius. Chiron in Aquarius will give us a way to approach the question.