Chiron: the wound that makes us wise…maybe…

Chiron moved into Aries on 17th April 2018, settling in to go direct by February 18th 2019, just before the whole world was upended and traumatised by a world-wide pandemic, and is now half way through his journey in that sign just as we are emerging from the havoc generated by Covid-19 to the accompaniment of the worst war on European soil since the end of World War Two.

Chiron remains in Aries until his final exit in 2027. This half way point seems good timing for taking stock as covid-related deaths (upwards of 3 million at the last estimate), economic damage and social devastation take their toll with world financial stability looking less than reassuring . We are a very wounded human community at present; we seem intent in many ways on wounding rather than healing both ourselves, our communities and nations, and most seriously of all, our Mother Planet.

Image: Pablo Maringo

I find it compelling that a century ago (i), as the world was emerging traumatised from the ghastly upheaval of the First World War of 1914-18, Chiron was preparing to move into Aries on February 18th 1919, co-inciding with the deadly Spanish Flu of 1918-20 in which 25–50 million (generally accepted) people died.

As Dr Liz Greene says in her eagerly awaited new book on Chiron (ii):

“…Healing Chiron’s wound, in my understanding, doesn’t lie in trying to create a perfect society or never experiencing suffering again, but in each of us coming to terms with the roots and nature of our own individual pain, bitterness, and sense of victimisation, and finding ways of working with these experiences creatively rather than trying to make them go away or finding someone or something to blame…” (iii)

As Chiron currently moves through the middle degrees of Aries, I thought it might be apt to share my own reflections back in 2018 on the nature of Chiron, as he prepared to leave Pisces and begin his long traverse of Aries. The essay was published on Astrodienst then, offering some perspectives as well as addressing a number of questions raised in my own practice and teaching, including:

What does Chiron mean to you? Have you experienced his symbolic energy as healing? Wounding? As the ‘inconvenient benefic’, kicking open doors to places you’d never have thought to go? 

I hope you enjoy the essay – feel free to share your own thoughts and experiences of the workings of this most complex, paradoxical astrological archetype as we eagerly wait for Dr Liz Greene’s new work on Chiron.

Reflecting on Chiron, as his Aries trip begins

Endnotes

(i) The orbit of Chiron is pretty irregular, but it returns to its own place every 50 years: The last time Chiron was in Aries was from 1968–1977, and before that, it was 1918–1927.

(ii)Chiron in Love: The Astrology of Envy, Rage, Compassion and Wisdom‘ is due to be released on September 20 2023 by The Wessex Astrologer where copies can be pre-ordered. Happily, other Liz Greene titles are now also available from Wessex Astrologer including ‘The Astrologer, the Counsellor and the Priest’ by Liz Greene and Juliet Sharman-Burke. Must-have books!

(iii) Quoted from UK’s The Astrological Journal, July/Aug 2023, p15, from an extract taken from ‘Chiron in Love: The Astrology of Envy, Rage, Compassion and Wisdom‘.

550 words © Anne Whitaker 2023

“Postcards to the Future” Mercurial Musings – and Festive Greetings!

‘…As a human community

we are at a time of major epochal shift. A deadly

airborne virus upended our way of life in 2020. Major

cultural, political and environmental turbulence is

set to continue, radically altering the way we live on

planet Earth…’

(from P.S. Windows to the Future, the final essay in “Postcards to the Future” p 365)

As readers who have been following my blog in recent times can see, I have been continuing my Mercurial Musings (along with many other astrologers!), as our world situation becomes more turbulent and challenging with every month that passes: Pluto’s 2023/4 transition from Capricorn to Aquarius –which he enters on 23 March 2023 for the first time since the 1770s – is a major symbolic significator for the new world order slowly being born. No doubt I’ll be publishing a sequel to “Postcards…” before too long, at the rate I’m going! My major astrological interest these days is undoubtedly in the larger planetary cycles, which I have written about extensively in “Postcards…”, which brings 60 of my essays, articles and columns from 1995 to 2021 together. You can view the whole list HERE.

I’m writing this post – partly – for the time-honoured reason of tapping into the Festive Season market and offering my book – which has been wonderfully well reviewed, I’m happy to say! – as an ideal gift: as Juliet Sharman-Burke, psychotherapist, astrologer, tarot specialist, author and Administrator for The Centre for Psychological Astrology, said in her October 2021 review:

“Postcards to the Future” is the perfect book for the present time. Today so many people feel fragmented, too busy to concentrate on anything for long, overwhelmed and exhausted with the amount of information coming at them from the internet, the media and social network platforms and cannot face embarking a long complicated book which has to be read chapter by chapter to make any sense. “Postcards to the Future” offers a range of incredibly stimulating and wise bite-sized essays, articles, interviews and blogs covering all things astrological which can be dipped into by beginners and knowledgeable astrologers alike. There is literally something for everyone in Anne’s “ Mercurial Musings”. 

Credit for the above poster: Dawn Durrant

However, the other reason is to say a big Thank You to those of you who so generously reviewed, sold and bought “Postcards…” during this year just passing. I also want to extend thanks and welcome to the many new subscribers to my blog since the wonderful Michael Wright thoroughly re-habbed and streamlined it this autumn. About time too, after ‘Writing from the Twelfth House’s 15 years on the Net!

So – despite the harsh times our world is going through at so many levels at present, I hope you can find some happiness and inspiration both during this Festive Season and the year to come. And – I’d love it if you bought my book, recommended it, and if possible shared this post to spread the word. I’m already putting my next book together: a compendium of writings and research into The Moon’s Nodes in Action including my latest mini-study which appeared on Astrodienst last month. So – if you want to be kept up -to-date, folks, do sign up !!.

Happy Solstice!!

“Postcards to the Future” : bringing astrology to life…

Here is another lovely review of my latest book ‘ Postcards To The Future’ this time from Trish Marin of the Astrology Quarterly magazine, from the January/March 2022 Issue, Vol 86, No 4. 

“Postcards…”

Thank you, Trish!

“…Anne Whitaker’s mercurial musings weave through the last quarter century, unpicking some of the highlights of astrological patterns and mundane events. Postcards To The Future reveals the correspondences and synchronicities between our everyday lives and planetary movements in a convincing display of astrology of the moment. 

The book is an entertaining compendium of some of Anne’s prolific blog posts and articles published over the years by a wide variety of sources. Broad in scope, it whizzes authoritatively through planetary cycles, notable conjunctions, typical beginner’s questions, interview Q&A and correspondence, while scattering generous gems of astrological wisdom. 

As an astrology teacher and meticulous researcher, Anne provides clear explanations of some complex concepts presented in an engaging and memorable way. As she explains in the book, she was initially a sceptic, until her ‘encounter’, described here in humorous detail. Throughout, the astrology is brought to life with witty and amusing examples and stories from her own life experiences and those of her clients and students. Sprinkled with literary references and philosophical reflections it makes an enjoyable, illuminating read. 

I felt compelled to reach for the ephemeris and to look again at the Jupiter/Uranus conjunctions and the part they played in my own past adventures. Secondary progressions had always seemed a rather subtle, internal influence but I was prompted to re-examine their impact with some unexpected insights. 

Anne admits to being obsessed by Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, and has written of her synastry with Dolly the Sheep, as Frankenstein’s real-life enactment. Furthermore, Mary Shelley has a twenty-first century counterpart who, like her, is sounding a siren for the future of the earth; Greta Thunberg, born nearly two hundred years later, carries her message forward. 

A mercurial book, suitable for both beginners and experienced astrologers, delivered in bite sized chunks it can be dipped into or savoured in larger portions. I highly recommend it to all our readers…” 

To read more five star reviews, click HERE

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‘Postcards to the Future: Mercurial Musings 1995-2021…’ is available everywhere on Amazon, here in UK for Amazon UK , locally in Glasgow G20 at the lovely Opal Moon, in London at The Astrology Shop and Watkins Books – and from The Wessex Astrologer,

‘Postcards…’

400 words copyright Anne Whitaker 2022

Licensed under Creative Commons – for conditions see Home Page of Writing from the Twelfth House

Dissing the Dismissers…an astrologer speaks out…

I know of what I speak, being a reformed dismisser myself. Readers of this blog may recall the tale of my being stopped in my dismissive tracks by a startling prediction – made as a result of a chance encounter with astrologers in a launderette in Bath, England – that I would in fact become an astrologer, too. They were right. You can find the full story in the Fate section of my latest book “Postcards to the Future”.

Moving from ignorant dismissal of a tradition going back at least six thousand years, to gradual acceptance of its validity based on study and experience, was one of the most profound and humbling processes of my entire life.

In this 8 minute reading, “Astrology is a load of rubbish!” Please, NOT that tedious old trope again…” I present the third spoken extract from “Postcards’ … sixty essays, articles and columns I’ve had published in a range of websites, magazines and journals since 1995 including Astrodienst, The Mountain Astrologer, Dell Horoscope, and the UK’s Astrological Journal: my ‘Mercurial Musings’.

I hope you enjoy what I have to say!

I’m so pleased that “Postcards to the Future” has been collecting great reviews so far – all five stars. Here is the most recent one, from master astrologer Steven Forrest, USA:

Like a long talk with a wise friend . . .

Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2022

Verified Purchase

…Reading Anne Whitaker’s book felt like having lunch and a wide-ranging, fascinating conversation with a friend, only to look down at my watch and realizing that cocktail hour had arrived. Time flies, in other words. I’ve been in the world of serious astrology for a long time and most of what I read are things I have heard before. Such books serve a purpose, but at this point I don’t get much out of reading them myself. Not Anne’s book! I found myself turning the pages as if it were a novel, and rarely did ten pages go by without me learning something new or thinking of something in a new way. She’s not only had a lot of experience, she’s has digested it and turned it to real wisdom. My only frustration was that she wasn’t sitting there with me so I could interrupt and say, “You know what THAT makes me think of!” Thank you, Anne — with these luminous pages, you have advanced our cause…’

Steven Forrest and
“Postcards…”

Thank you so very much, everyone who has reviewed, promoted in various ways, and purchased “Postcards…”. I am so grateful to you all!

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550 words copyright Anne Whitaker 2022

Licensed under Creative Commons – for conditions see Home Page of Writing from the Twelfth House