The Chiron myth- short version:
- Chiron was a centaur, son of Saturn and the nymph Philyra, rejected by both parents.
- Chiron was a healer, astrologer, oracle, teacher, mentor, wise man- taught many famous heroes.
- During a scuffle, one of Chiron’s students, Heracles, accidentally wounded his mentor, Chiron, with an arrow dipped in the poison blood of the Hydra which created a wound that couldn’t be healed.
- Chiron, despite being a wise healer, couldn’t heal his own wound.
- Later, Chiron agreed to give up his immortality and take Prometheus’s place, chained to a rock. Eventually Chiron died and no longer suffered from his wound.
The blood of the Hydra as the catalyst for the myth:
Today “Hydra-like problem” or “hydra’” refers to a multifaceted problem that seems incapable of step-by-step solution, or to one that worsens upon conventional attempts to solve it… (Source)
Chiron received his wound from his own pupil, Heracles. In one version of the myth, it is Chiron’s words of wisdom that come to Heracles’s aid to defeat the Hydra:
“We rise by kneeling; we conquer by surrendering; we gain by giving up.”
All his other weapons having failed, Heracles remembered his mentor’s words and knelt down in the swamp and lifted up the monster by one of her heads into the light of day, where she began to wilt. Heracles then cut off each of her heads, dipping his arrows in the Hydra’s poisonous blood at the same time. (Source)
No Outlet for Anger
In astrology, Chiron represents the type of wound that becomes nearly impossible to get truly angry about because:
Our own behavior, actions, words and deeds are complicit in bringing about the incurable wound.
How can Chiron get angry with with Heracles, his own student, for inflicting the injury?
Wasn’t it Chiron’s own advice that enabled Heracles to slay the Hydra?
At least if Chiron had been injured by an enemy there would have been an outlet for bitterness, resentment and anger, right?
*Chiron in the birth chart can show a place of deep anger and resentment because there is no one to blame.
*Chiron in the birth chart can show a place where we must accept the consequences of our words and actions, however convoluted the path.
It’s the Very Essence of Who We are that Leads to the Wound
Chirotic wounds can give rise to, “If I had a chance to do it all over again…” type of thinking.
Really? What if you had a chance to do it all again? Would you really have done anything differently?
If Chiron had a chance to do it all over again, what would he have changed?
- Would he have not become a healer?
- Would he have not become a mentor?
- Would he not have given advice to Heracles?
- Would he have let Heracles die?
- Would he have skipped the party that led to being poked with the arrow?
- Would he have lived his entire life in denial of who he really was?
To change one part of his mythic journey Chiron would have had to change the entire nature of his being. His very nature led to his wound.
*Chiron’s essence and Chiron’s wound are inextricably bound together.
“If Only…”
It’s not so much that Chiron receives a wound, it’s that he receives this particular wound. This one wound from this one particular animal whose blood has no antidote. This one wound, on one fateful day, given by a friend- not an enemy. An arrow dipped in the blood of a Minotaur, for example, would not have had this effect. If only Chiron had not been the one to give the advice to Heracles on how to defeat the Hydra, he would not have been struck by a poison arrow- there would be no poison, there would be no arrow. If only he hadn’t gone to the party. If only…
*Chiron in the birth chart can show a place where we give in to “If only…” type of thinking.
Chiron-Venus, for example, might always think of a lost love, trying to soothe a wounded heart by thinking of ways that she could have held onto that love, “If only…I had done this… if only I had known that… if only I hadn’t said that… if only circumstances had been different….then it would have worked out.”
Chiron couldn’t heal his wound- and neither could anyone else!
The Chirotic wound is likely to be one that is not talked about in mainstream conversation. The fact is, Chiron couldn’t heal his wound, and neither could anyone else. No one had the cure to his particular problem. Chirotic problems are those that are unlikely to have a ready-made, store-bought solution. Because of this, people with Chiron problems are likely to explore alternative therapies in an attempt to find a solution to what ails them.
Upcoming posts (subject to tweaking):
Chiron: Testing Your “Words of Wisdom”
Chiron: Giving Up on Knowing it All
Chiron: Focusing on the Pain
Chiron: The Key to What?
For more info on Chiron:
