Editor’s Note: This is a new series called the Chiron Files, which focuses on astrology and health. It generally runs to the subscriber list the first Tuesday after the Inner Space horoscope is published. This was the inaugural issue from this series; the next, on keeping sane through the holidays, will be distributed to our subscribers tomorrow. — efc
Dear Friend and Reader:
Using astrology to focus on health, the first place to look is Chiron. Chiron is a minor planet — not an asteroid — discovered in 1977, which has deep connections to health and wellbeing. Chiron, the mythological figure, was a surgeon and healer, who was given his knowledge directly by the Sun-god Apollo. He in turn passed his knowledge on to Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine. So he is a pivotal figure in the history of the healing process.
In astrology, Chiron is the planet that reminds us that health is a whole-system affair. The issues we face are not strictly mental, or physical, or emotional — rather, these different facets of how we express our energy each influence the others. Chiron, which takes 51 years to move around the Sun, is currently in a gradual transition from Aquarius to Pisces. This transition finishes in February when Chiron arrives in Pisces to stay for the next eight years.
This transition emphasizes the relationship between what we think and how we feel. In recent months, we’ve been learning to observe and come to terms with environmental pollutants — whether that means an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (which happened precisely during Chiron’s brief visit to Pisces in late spring and early summer) to toxins in the mental environment (advertising, media chaos) to the psychic environment (the effects of microwaves, cell phones and mental overstimulation). Through this past September, with Mercury retrograde in Virgo, we learned the importance of our state of mind on our total health. Psychological stress can throw us out of whack, which is to say that keeping ourselves reasonably calm and rested can bring us back into alignment. The last remnants of Mercury retrograde were still wearing off through early October; with Mercury in Libra, a state of mental clarity is getting easier to grasp.