Meet Chiron, Astrology’s Wounded Healer

To understand this small but powerful planet more fully, I spoke with three astrologers: Celeste Brooks, Briana Saussy, and Meghan Rose.

What is Chiron?

In Greek mythology, Chiron is a centaur—half human and half horse—known for his wisdom, compassion, and extraordinary healing abilities. While most centaurs were depicted as wild or unruly, Chiron stood apart as a teacher and guide to heroes, including Asclepius, who would become the god of medicine.

Asclepius ultimately carries Chiron’s teachings even further; his symbol, the Rod of Asclepius—a staff entwined with a single serpent—remains a universal emblem of medicine and emergency care today. It’s a perfect illustration of Chiron’s deeper meaning: the wound becomes wisdom, and that wisdom becomes medicine and healing for others.

Chiron, the celestial object, was discovered in 1977 by astronomer Charles Kowal. It was initially labeled an asteroid but later reclassified as a minor planet—a centaur, which we call a group of bodies that behave like both asteroids and comets. Its unusual orbit made the name a natural fit.

The Myth of Chiron

Centaurs are known to be wild and uncivilized. But Chiron was different. He was revered for his kindness, wisdom, and intelligence. Chiron was a teacher, astrologer, musician, and great healer. One day, he was accidentally wounded by his student, Hercules. Unfortunately, he was unable to heal himself, so although immortal, he gave up his life for Prometheus. Because of his great sacrifice, Zeus placed him in the cosmos, where his legend could live on.

According to Briana, “In the myth, Chiron is immortal, so he can’t die from his wound, but he also can’t fully recover from it. He has to live with it. And rather than letting that suffering turn him bitter or inward, he becomes the teacher of heroes, the one who shows others how to navigate their own pain and power.” 

She shares, “Personally, this showed up for me in the form of a cleft palate when I was born. I had Chiron in opposition to my natal Mercury in Scorpio at the time of my birth (and Pluto on my Sun for fun!), and I underwent two major surgeries before the age of three and really couldn’t speak (in a way that could be understood by anyone but my mom) until around 4 to 5 years old. I also had to undergo extensive speech therapy. Now, so much of my work centers on my voice and my ability to communicate. Chiron is a hard ally, but a true one.”

The myth of Chiron forms the foundation for how astrologers understand his role in a birth chart.

Chiron in Astrology

In astrology, Chiron represents the unhealed wound that becomes a source of strength when you lean into it. “Chiron doesn’t heal despite his wound; he heals through it. The wound becomes the source of his wisdom. I think that’s the invitation Chiron extends in a chart: not “here’s what’s broken that you need to fix,” but “here’s where your deepest teaching lives, if you’re willing to stay present with the ache.” Briana adds.

Depending on where Chiron lands in your astrology chart, it can show where you suffer, make sacrifices, or need to heal. Once you do the work, you can use that wisdom to help others. Celeste affirms, “These wounds carry the potential for deep healing. Chiron is both a healer and a teacher. The process is rarely quick, but it can be transformative.”

Using myself as an example, Chiron resides in my fifth house, which rules romance, creativity, and children. I come from a dysfunctional family, so I had a lot of work to do around the theme of parenting. The old scars from childhood needed tending if I didn’t want to repeat my parents’ errors. Needless to say, I have a much different, healthier relationship with my children. That’s the beauty of Chiron—if you go into the wounded areas, you can change yourself and future generations.

Chiron isn’t all heavy work. Briana states, “There’s real tenderness there, yes, but also profound humor, humility, and eventually a strange kind of freedom that comes from no longer running from the places where you feel most vulnerable.”

Chiron Versus Saturn, Pluto, and the Nodes of Fate

Chiron isn’t the only challenging planet in the cosmos. Saturn, Pluto, and the Lunar Nodes are also associated with lessons, karma, transformation, and hard work. So what is the difference? “Compared to the task-master Saturn or Secrets-and-Power-Plays Pluto—and even the South Node of Karma versus the North Node of Destiny—Chiron feels like the wounds we were born with, our blind spot.” Megan Rose teaches.

What Does Chiron Mean in Your Birth Chart

Once you understand Chiron’s mythology and meaning, the next step is seeing how it shows up in your own birth chart.

The zodiac signs and astrological houses in your natal chart reveal how and where you’re wounded. Here is a brief rundown:

• Aries/First House: Issues around independence, confidence, individuality, self-image, and personal responsibility.

• Taurus/Second House: Issues around security, possessions, values, money, self-worth.

• Gemini/Third House: Issues around communication, siblings, mental processes, and early education.

• Cancer/Fourth House: Issues around mother, roots, home, family, early life.

• Leo/Fifth House: Issues around creativity, pleasure, children, inner child, feeling loved.

• Virgo/Sixth House: Issues around work, criticism, health, service, and perfectionism.

• Libra/Seventh House: Issues around relationships, fairness, objectivity, and codependency.

• Scorpio/Eighth House: Issues around intimacy, power, control, legacies, money, and debts.

• Sagittarius/Nine House: Issues around higher education, philosophy, religion, freedom, hypocrisy.

• Capricorn/Tenth House: Issues around authority figures, career, father, reputation, visibility, and a desire for recognition.

• Aquarius/Eleventh House: Issues around friendships, groups, belonging, ideals, innovation, and being different.

• Pisces/Twelfth House: Issues around sacrifice, introspection, karma, spirituality, self-care, isolation, prisons, hospitals, secrets.

Again, using my example above, my Chiron is not only in the 5th but also in Pisces. My goal was to break the karmic cycles of my parents so my children would have a different experience. It meant a lot of introspection, sacrifice, and faith.

How do you find your Chiron placement? An astrologer can cast a chart for you, or you can find it by using a website such as astro.com. Once you find the sign and house, you can determine Chiron’s impact and where you need to do the work to heal.

Chiron in Transit

Chiron is a slow mover. This means the transits may not be felt immediately but instead gradually. “Chiron transits unfold slowly and usually occur in stages. The first exact contact often corresponds to the event or realization that opens the wound. The retrograde pass can bring the pain back into emotional or psychological awareness. The final pass tends to be about integration, reflection, and meaning making.” replies Celeste.

As Chiron tours the zodiac, it will also travel through the houses of your birth chart, interacting with your natal planets. This can reopen wounds but also provide opportunities to address those issues.

Meghan Rose advises, “I highly recommend self-acceptance practices during Chiron’s transits. Instead of looking at our weaknesses as something we’re ashamed of, need to change, or have to improve in order to be happy, lovable, or content—what if we started enjoying the way that things are? A wabi sabi-type practice where we find the beauty in the off-kilter parts of ourselves, and life in general, I believe, is the quickest way to true joy.”

Around the age of 50, you’ll experience a Chiron return, which happens when transiting Chiron returns to the same sign as your natal chart. This can be a time of profound awakening, although it often brings pain. Use this period to reflect, review, and initiate healing.

My Chiron return coincided with the publication of my first book. Needless to say, I had to break through some creative blocks along with a side of imposter syndrome. Easy? Not at all. But since that time, I’ve written multiple books. I’m not sure if that means I passed that transit with flying colors, but I sure leaned into it!

Chiron’s Move Into Taurus

Chiron has been stationed in Aries since 2019.  During this transit, we’ve had opportunities to explore and work on themes of individuality, courage, selfishness, leadership, and personal responsibility. “It’s asked: Where have you abandoned yourself? Where do you need to fight for your own becoming?” says Briana.

The centaur planet steps into Taurus in June of 2026, where it remains until 2033. This puts self-worth, security, and financial habits on full blast. Briana continues, “It’s moving from ‘Who am I?’ to ‘What sustains me? What am I building? What do I actually deserve to have and hold?”

According to Meghan Rose, “We’re going to start to see where a lot of our behaviors are rooted in a lack of self-love, self-worth, and inherent value. If you constantly find yourself in debt, under-earning, in unrequited relationships, moving homes, or simply lacking a sense of groundedness, this transit is going to bring a level of clarity and mirroring to help you understand how you and your beliefs may be perpetuating some of this.”

She further shares that issues around “economic shifts, recession indicators, changes in economic power, further monopolization, the stark difference between classes causing a true class war” are possible and that “realization of how ‘out of touch’ some people are (we’re already seeing this with influencer culture—’check out my designer bag collection!’—while most people are struggling to pay their bills)” could change the conversation around overconsumption and “aspirational lifestyles.”

Because Taurus is an earth sign, we might also see more interest in healing the planet. Mother Earth has provided us with abundance, so it might be time to give back and become good stewards of the land. An interest in gardening, simple living, ecology, and preserving wildlife refuges or protected lands could become priorities.

In other words, a complete reset of values is possible during this transit. It’s about time!

So what can we do to make the most of this transit? Meghan Rose has a wise list of actions we can take:

• Don’t shy away from enjoying your flaws. Don’t forget to touch grass.

• My favorite artists are people.

• There are “beautiful photos of a waterfall” readily available on Google, and with photographers who share their work online for free, we don’t need to type every question, prompt, or idea into ChatGPT while it’s using up water and killing the planet.

• We don’t need to be perfect in order to be happy.

• We don’t need to be whole in order to feel worthy of love or a good life.

• Get out into the world and don’t let the opinions and behaviors of others release you from feeling grounded in reality.

Although Chiron comes with a lot of baggage, it allows for profound growth. When you face the past and let it go, your healing becomes medicine for others—and the world.