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Chiron's Poison

NewsScope, October 12, 2004

Last Tuesday regulators in Britain suspended the Chiron Corporation's production of flu vaccine due to a contamination problem. About 90 million Americans get flu shots each year, and since Chiron generally supplies about half of these, the country is left with a potentially huge health problem. Each year influenza kills some 36,000 people, and this number would be much higher without the vaccinations.

The Chiron Corporation's function and historical development resonates strongly with the astrological Chiron, known popularly as the Wounded Healer. The Chiron myth helps define Chiron's role in medicine and in the horoscope. His wound came accidentally from a poisonous arrow, an image readily morphed into the modern form of the vaccination shot which contains a tiny amount of the disease-causing virus.

In the U.S. Scorpio Rising horoscope, Chiron is found in the Sixth House of health, underscoring its role in the public's well-being. The sixth is also the house of the armed services, indicating some unsuspected ties between the two. In 1942 Jonas Salk first developed the influenza vaccine while under contract from the U.S. Army to help protect the troops. Today, Chiron the business continues to profit from Army contracts, most recently for a bird flu vaccine.

In late September, transiting Chiron was just turning direct when the British discovered the contamination problem. Chiron's 51-year orbit is highly elliptical, so the stressful quarter cycles take place irregularly. As it happens, Chiron turned direct at 20 degrees Capricorn while forming an exact square to the U.S. Chiron, located at 20 degrees Aries.

Chiron Advises Bush to Surge

NewsScope, December 18, 2006

Flying in the face of the bipartisan ISG report and overwhelming public opinion, President Bush is now considering military options that would increase U.S. troop levels in Iraq by 20,000 or more. The new strategy is being called a "surge", since it's meant to temporarily stabilize Baghdad while Iraq's political leaders negotiate an end to the horrific violence between the Sunnis and Shiites.

As reported here last week, from the astrological perspective, Chiron is informing Bush about his options. Transiting Chiron is heading into a conjunction with his Descendant, the beginning of his seventh house of "others". This influential aspect becomes exact on December 22, during which time Bush is fielding advice from his military planners.

Why is Chiron associated with the military? In personal charts Chiron is most popularly known as the "wounded healer", but in the Scorpio Rising U.S. horoscope, Chiron is found in the sixth house of military service. Being in assertive Aries underscores the military vibe. Also, the Pentagon's horoscope (July 26, 1947; 12:15 pm; Washington DC) features Chiron in the warrior sign of Scorpio, and in a close square to the Sun.

Chiron still correlates to the concept of wounding, but when in Aries, Scorpio, or in aspect to Mars, the fear of appearing weak or cowardly is compensated by expressing super-confidence. In American political astrology, Chiron equates to the gung-ho, can-do attitude found in the armed forces. In Bush's horoscope, Chiron's next contact is the quincunx to his Mars, exact on January 20. Under this influence, we can expect that he'll tell Americans to "not lose their nerve".

The sixth house is traditionally associated with the armed services, and since Chiron is in militant Aries, any major transit or progression to Chiron, or any significant Chiron transit, often coincides with newsworthy military action involving ground troops. Chiron is seriously afflicted by hard aspects to other planets around the horoscope, increasing its tendency to overcompensate with over-the-top efforts to prove itself militarily. This became a national psychic wound after the military failure in the Vietnam War and the 1975 evacuation of Saigon during the nation’s Chiron Return.

Chiron and The Power of Prayer

NewsScope, April 3, 2006

The most scientifically rigorous study on the power of prayer proved disappointing to researchers and mind/body advocates, when results released last week indicated that patients who knew they were being prayed for actually fared worse than those who knew they weren't being prayed for. The statistically significant difference was rationalized by researchers as "performance anxiety" due to the high expectations associated with prayers.

Astrologers have long associated the various mind/body therapies to Chiron, the planetoid named after the heroic teacher/physician in ancient Greek mythology. Last Friday, when the much-anticipated study was posted on the internet and became a lead story in newspapers across the nation, transiting Chiron was at 8º35' Aquarius, where it formed an exact square (orb 0º00') to the U.S. Scorpio Ascendant.

The square points to the disappointment felt by many religious groups and those attempting to scientifically correlate prayer with healing. Skeptics say that studying prayer is a waste of money, since it presupposes supernatural intervention, which by definition, is beyond the reach of science. However, the study did prove that prayer influenced health, the results just weren't what they expected.

Chiron turns retrograde at 9º46' Aquarius on May 16, and then squares the U.S. Scorpio Ascendant again on July 1. Chiron is therefore in a long-term square to the nation's Ascendant. In the geopolitical realm, the nation grapples with its image (Ascendant) of being "wounded" (Chiron) for creating such a mess in Iraq. In the mind/body realm, we can be assured that researchers will continue to fine-tune and improve the way science maps our multi-dimensional reality.

Bob Kerrey (August 27, 1943, at 8:00 am in Lincoln, NE) was born with Mars square Chiron in the Twelfth House of secrets and the past. Besides carrying a physical wound obtained during the Vietnam War, he has long been saddled with a traumatic psychological wound. In May 2001, as transiting Saturn passed over his natal Mars (and squared his Chiron), he was forced into confessing his role in a massacre of women and children.

Saddam Hussein was discreetly hanged shortly before sunrise on December 30, 2006 just hours before a major religious holiday began. Since Chiron is conjunct his Ascendant, this planet becomes co-ruler of his horoscope (April 28, 1937; 8:05 am; Tikrit, Iraq). Transiting Chiron was squaring his Sun when he was hanged, and transiting Pluto opposed his Chiron when American troops captured him on December 13, 2003

Ford's accidental presidency saved the nation from a major constitutional crisis and unprecedented moral decay. The celestial handwriting was on the wall when Ford replaced Nixon on August 9, 1974, and thought of his role as healing the nation. At the time, transiting Chiron, known as the "wounded healer", was squaring his Midheaven, giving him the astrological confirmation of being a healer.