Welcome to your Chiron retrograde guide! Here you'll find all the details of the retrograde itself, including the station dates, sign/degree of the station, and the astrological energy of the asteroid as a whole. You'll also find your personalized retrograde guide based on your rising sign! This guide is meant to help you navigate the retrograde energy and see it as an opportunity for growth. Chiron retrogrades are a time of applying salve to wounds and harvesting the wisdom that Chiron yields. We may be pushed to assess our wounds deeper, heal previous hurts, replay detrimental situations with better outcomes, and generally reflect on what the pain in our lives is pointing towards. These guides are meant to be just that, guides. They aren't going to tell you how to escape the retrograde or dodge its influence. What they will do though is give you a better understanding of the energy at hand. I hope they help you to see retrogrades as opportunities rather than obstacles.
I'll also be including advice from my tarot cards in each of the guides. The card for each rising sign will further refine as to how we can make the best of this astrological event. So, sit back, relax, and don't fear the retrograde. I promise we'll get through it together. Also, "Rx" means retrograde and "Dx" means direct. That's just some shorthand you'll see me use throughout the post.
The Conditions of Chiron
Just a couple months ago I was talking about how Chiron was finally stationing direct. Now, here we are, at another stationing point. Chiron retrogrades last about 6-8 months at a time and it stations Rx roughly once a year, depending on the sign it’s transiting. When the wounded healer goes retrograde, we can bet we’re going to be flushing our wounds and applying new bandages. We’re at a turning point in the healing process and we need to assess what the wound looks like. This can mean getting our hands a little dirty. Maybe the wound wasn’t bandaged properly in the first place and now we have little infection going on. Maybe the splint was applied crooked and now we’re needing to break the bones in order to set them properly. Sometimes we get lucky and we take the bandages off and see things are healing nicely. Regardless of where you are in the healing process, you’ll gain wisdom and insight as to how you can better work with your shadows and shortcomings. Throughout this transit, remember that healing is not linear. If you experience setbacks or are still feeling pain from something that you thought was healed long ago, remain steadfast. Use it as an opportunity to apply your skills and knowledge that you’ve been building throughout the entirety of this transit. Chiron has been in Aries since 2019, so we’ve been working with this energy in our lives for a minute. There is no magic bullet to cure the ailments of Chiron in Aries; hard work and determination are the ultimate prescriptions.
Now let’s discuss the energy of Chiron in Aries. Like I said, we’ve been dealing with this energy for a while now, so we should have a good understanding of what’s to come. I have a dedicated podcast episode to Chiron in Aries, so feel free to go back and listen to that if you’re really wanting to dive deep. Otherwise, Chiron in Aries isn’t just about working with anger or aggression. It’s about healing the wounds of Mars and working with the masculine polarity in healthy way. Mars slices, dices, and severs, so it’s likely that we’ll be losing something or parting ways with something throughout the transit. This can be literal, like an unhealthy relationship dynamic, or more figurative like the cessation of a detrimental cycle. We’re all working with the wounds of the Father archetype right now. This can be our actual father or fathering experience, but it can also be people who embody authority or oppressive energy. We’re working through a degradation of power and fighting against making fear-based decisions. This retrograde is going to be testing our courage and wisdom. What have we learned so far since 2019 in the realm of Chiron? Are we actually healing or are we pushing through pain in ways that don’t serve us?
The ruling planet of the Rx is Mars, because Chiron is in Aries and Aries is ruled by Mars. This means we should take a look at where Mars is and what’s going on with it during the the time of the Rx. Again, this Rx isn’t just about anger and violence. You need to look at where your natal Mars placement is to get the full picture. It could be that you’ve dealt with the wounds of the house of Chiron, but not the ones in the house of Mars. The sign and house placement of your natal Mars will speak to wounds that also need to be tended to, but also a place where you can derive strength and wisdom should you choose to lean in. No matter what the sign or house placement is, healing Mars is no easy task. The masculine polarity is wounded and scared, which creates fear and incites a lack of confidence. Wherever Chiron and Mars are in your chart, you may feel a lack of confidence or drained of your vitality. The Rx will be a chance to dig in and remove anything that’s attempting to hold you back. Easier said than done a lot of the time, but there’s no better time to do surgery on ourselves than a Chiron retrograde.
Below are both charts for when Chiron stations Rx and Dx: