This is the second entry of a two-part series. Here is the first.
Today the Earth aligns with the Sun and Chiron to form a conjunction in Pisces. The conjunction is an extension of Tuesday’s New Moon, which was at the Neptune-Chiron midpoint. So today’s aspect is a kind of culmination. Whatever it represents has been brewing a while, and we will see different manifestations through the weekend and in truth for much longer.
The Sun is the only star used by many contemporary astrologers, and Leo is the only sign 'ruled' by a star. In this image, a huge loop of material shooting up from the solar surface in March was one of the first events witnessed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Known as a prominence eruption, the loop was born from a relatively cold cloud of plasma, or charged gas, tenuously tethered to the Sun's surface by magnetic forces. Such clouds can erupt dramatically when they break free of the Sun's unstable hold. We live in a extraordinary era when it's possible to actually see these detailed images of something previously invisible.
In astrology, the Sun represents the adult ego. The ruling body of Leo and the one exalted in Aries, the Sun is the expressive principle — the big I Am. Egos come in all shapes and sizes. The adult ego is supposed to have a sense of both self and other; it wants a role in the world; it wants to shine out. It’s the basic statement of existence, but many more processes are operating that help that ego/I Am to mature — and those are usually represented by the outer planets (spending most of its orbit outside of Saturn’s orbit, Chiron has that property and in many ways exemplifies it).
As we mentioned yesterday, Sun-Chiron aspects can come with a struggle around maleness and around father. We live in a culture that doesn’t produce so many emotionally mature men. Whatever we can say about women, we might say that our culture specializes in the man-child — and the warrior.
We’re really great a creating warriors, who possess qualities which we then conflate with male maturity and extol as heroism. When you add Chiron to the Sun, by aspect or by transit, that hero can take a fall or be exposed as something less. Consider all the scandals involving corrupt cops and politicians previously venerated as heroes. For psychology heads, this is where the concept ‘shadow material’ comes into the picture, and the question of how we process it.
Taken another way, Sun-Chiron aspects can represent the very conditions that allow an immature man to grow into an expressive and responsible one. Often the way that happens is that a man gets hurt at some stage early in life, or experiences a sense of injury or of being outcast, and as a result of that injury or sense of injury goes through a healing process that allows him to gather power. What we think of as ego begins to express something deeper — that elusive quality we describe as soul, or in non-religious terms, you might say authentic personhood. Typically there is, however, little appreciation in our culture for the long process of initiation that it takes to get there.
One thing that stands out about Sun-Chiron in Pisces is how as part of this process, men must make contact with their feminine side and their emotional nature, but without sacrificing their maleness. This is like walking a razor’s edge, especially with all of the frantic homophobia projected onto men and that they project onto one another.
So, with this aspect, we encounter a whole bunch of contemporary gender issues that influence everyone on the spectrum. If our society spent half its time addressing its family issues, that would be a good start. Summing up Sun-Chiron themes, here is how Melanie Reinhart put it in her book Chiron and the Healing Journey (recently issued in a new edition):
When Chiron aspects the Sun, we may feel wounded in the solar masculine principle, and our experience of individuality, ‘soloness’, vitality and purpose. Our sense of being at the creative centre of our own world falters, and we may seek to make someone else the centre of our universe. … Conversely, we may be charismatic, and shine brightly; we succeed in becoming the centre of attention, being loved and admired by many, but may be unable to recognize and enjoy it. … The key theme here is that Chiron-Sun aspects prompt us to become aware of our deeper self, as various layers of ‘identity’ are peeled back. We are not given the luxury of basking in the glory of a strong ego, but instead are forced to find our own deeper centre.
Dale O’Brien, one of the early astrologers to catch on to Chiron, described Sun-Chiron contact this way:
Astrological Sun without Chiron is complete, whole, and consistent, as reliable as the daily rising and overhead culmination in the sky of the physical Sun. For those individuals who tend to not fully own their own solar nature, there is a natural tendency to see someone else in her or his life as the ‘Shining One’, the Special One, the V.I.P. Where the Sun appears in a particular house will tell us in what area of one’s life where this assumption/association is likely to be made. Life goes on in this context until Chiron aspects that Sun by transit, particularly by square, opposition, or conjunction. Of these three aspects, the conjunction is the most significant, implying a significant new start.
This is to say, when the Sun contacts Chiron, we can make contact with our true solar nature, but often this implies something much deeper — an initiation that puts us in contact with our soul.
Reinhart adds, “Women with Chiron aspecting the Sun may define themselves by the man they are with, and serve as his reflection. In this way they may live vicariously their own masculine side, and take their sense of identity, purpose and achievement from the relationship.” And that may shift when there is a Chiron transit from the Sun. To find out when these transits happen in your natal chart, you may need to consult an astrologer. Yet when they happen as mutual aspects (that is to say, in the current sky, as is happening now), we all get a taste of the energy and an invitation to awakening.
Weekend Astrology Overview
Let’s take a quick look at the rest of the weekend. There’s actually a lot of feminine sexual energy that’s going to be rising up in the wake of Sun-Chiron. On Saturday, Vesta ingresses Aries. Vesta is devotional energy, the kind that you use to tend a fire, to tend to someone who is growing or healing, or to tend your own creative process. In the article ‘Sacred Space of Self’, Eric describes Vesta as “the incarnation of the goddess as fire; the living spirit of the element.” Vesta gives us fire and passion when she is in Aries, so plan to be fully expressive of your passions this weekend.
Also, since the Aries Point is where the personal becomes the political, we may be looking at another level of controversy (beyond what came to light with Ceres on the Aries Point) regarding women and sexuality. Who knows -– somewhere in the current race to deny women the right to control their bodies, we may discover that independent women and free choices about sex are something we really want.
Saturday there will be a Venus/Moon conjunction stirring up your ambitions around love and sex. The Pisces Moon was nice and cuddly and nourishing; Aries is bold about what it wants. And the next day, Sunday, Venus conjoins Eris. The goddess of love and sex meets the personality on a quest for identity, and asks: Who am I as a sexual being? And how do I connect sexuality with self-love?
All these goddesses meeting in the very masculine sign of Aries make an interesting counterpoint to the very masculine energies of Sun and Chiron currently in feminine Pisces. Given the sexual energies and relational questions at play, it may be perfect timing to feel your way in from Sol to Soul, and to take your place in the Sun with your feminine and masculine halves fully present and accounted for.
