We find ourselves at this Full Moon a week away from Mercury going direct. Now is the perfect time to assess what has arisen for you in the last few weeks. It has been especially stormy for some, the currents exceptionally turbulent.
What truths have been revealed?
What has been released (by choice, or not) so something new can emerge?
Because every beginning requires an ending.
We are reminded of this as green buds speckle once barren branches, petals that start to unfurl, and with every grain of pollen that begins to dust the landscape.
The rebirth of spring always follows the cessation of winter. This Full Moon happens a day after the Spring Equinox on the 20th gifting us with a sense of hope, balance, and optimism as longer spring days usher in more light and life.
It is time to start again.
Very likely, we are feeling a need to find some Libran equilibrium and harmony as well as, some answers after surfing the Piscean waters of uncertainty.
Enter Chiron.
Chiron stands with the Aries Sun, directly opposite this Full Moon, shining its full illumination on the Libran part of your life (Find 0° Libra and Aries in your chart or contact me for a reading).
Chiron is a comet-like celestial body that travels erratically between Saturn and Uranus, uniting both the need for structure and disciple with our need for freedom and individuation. The mythology of Chiron is both layered and fraught with tragedy (as most Greek/Roman myths often are), and thus represents the many complicated layers we personally carry.
Symbolically, Chiron is labeled the “wounded healer” and in astro language is represented by a key. In many ways, understanding our Chiron placement (wounds) is the key to genuinely healing ourselves.
To understand why it helps to understand the myth.
Chiron himself was born from rape (a hefty story to carry). His wood nymph mother was assaulted by Cronos (Romans called him Saturn) disguised as a horse to hide his identity from his inquisitive wife. Thus, Chiron was born from this union as a centaur, half man and half horse, half god and half mortal. He was instantly rejected by his mother and sent to live with Apollo and his sister Diana. They taught him the healing arts of medicine and nature. He differed significantly from other centaurs in both his wisdom and lust for peace (most centaurs were a rowdy and boisterous bunch). He became known for his impeccable expertise in the healing arts. Unfortunately, in a playful tussle with Hercules, Chiron was accidentally nipped by a poisoned arrow. The poison made him suffer, but being immortal, he could not die. Finally, he gave his own life to free Prometheus from the punishment cast upon him for stealing fire. Thus, his sacrifice not only set him free but also gave fire back to the world. He was revered for his act of courage and given prominence to live forever in the sky.
The location of Chiron in our chart shows us where our deepest shame-wounds are found, where we feel rejected, where we are cast out for simply being who we are.
The difference between guilt and shame is subtle, yet distinct.
Guilt says, “I did something bad.”
Shame says, “I am bad.”
This is Chiron wounding.
Energetically, shame has been labeled the lowest of emotions (Check out David Hawkins book Power Vs. Force for the entire emotional frequency scale).
Shame denies the very relevance of our existence.
Shame says…
“There is something fundamentally wrong with me.”
“I am unworthy of being.”
Dense and unyielding, unresolved shame can consolidate in our physical bodies, relationships, occupations, and self-image in powerfully dysfunctional ways.
Is it any wonder Chiron is represented by a key?
Transforming our shame is the key to our most profound healing.
In doing so, we find our own resurrection.
The location of Chiron in our charts does represent an area of profound sensitivity in our lives. A place we tend to hide via overcompensation, denial, hustling, and projection. It is one of deep insecurity, pain, possible trauma, and often avoidance. Secrecy is to shame what light is to life. You cannot have one without the other. Chiron’s placement signifies an area of life that is challenged habitually, reflective of common themes that emerge and reemerge as dark nights on repeat.
(Note: If you are around 49-51 years old this energy is especially ripe, as Chiron has made one full orbit around the sun and is coming back to its origin. This is known as a “Chiron return”).
Chiron’s shame was passed to him from his own mother who could not handle the story herself. The gravity of shame is so massive, so concentrated, it is often passed along through family DNA, untouched, unclaimed, covertly hidden, but powerfully conceiving our thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
Often our shame is transferred through generations, cultures, genders, and religions.
Our shame though is not meant to keep us stuck. It is meant to set us free.
Shame’s power is not in its validity but in its tenacity.
It is not in its precision but its gravity.
It is not in its accuracy but its intensity.
This Full Moon we are asked to look deeply at the shame we carry, to illuminate it, to bring it out of the shadows, and share our story, so we can then unlock the potential we have hiding behind it.
Because in the light of revelation and empathy shame burns to ash.
“If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can’t survive. “ Brene Brown
Who would you be without your shame?
That is the living question of this healing full moon.
Chiron is a healer and shaman, after all, going between the lower and higher chakras. Therein lays its magic. Chiron was set free when he sacrificed himself to a higher cause. The root definition of sacrifice means to “make sacred”. When we make our pain sacred, we surround it with compassion, understanding, and radical acceptance. Shame’s power is in its secrecy not its story. When we make it sacred, we bless it with truth. We baptize it with empathy. We honor it with tenderness. Only then can we let it go.
Our shame may represent a deep wound, but it is also our greatest strength. When we unlock the potential energy trapped in consolidated shame, we can heal on fundamental levels. We can literally be reborn, free and authentically shining. We have the ability to shift generations of inherited handcuffs, and we can dance freely once again.