Chiron in Myth and Psyche

Chiron was said to dwell in a humble cave at the base of Mount Pelion, where he received most of the Greek heroes of great renown in their youth.  He was known for training them in many diverse arts: archery, hunting, medicine, healing, herbs, music, and prophecy.  A centaur, Chiron was described as wiser and slower than others of his species, being a child of Saturn and an apprentice of Apollo and Artemis, the Sun and the Moon.  

Chiron embodies much between-ness: human and horse; belonging and non-belonging; woundedness and healing; and in the case of the planetoid, an orbit which crosses that of Saturn and Uranus, somehow bridging the limits of form and the impulse for freedom. 

In this webinar, we too will visit the “cave” of Chironic consciousness, where we can see and feel the stories and explore the questions Chiron seems to stir in our lives when it is stimulated: the relations of instinct and rationality, the experience of being close to the ground and far from it, the nature of symptoms and healing, of wounding and being wounded, of pain and wisdom, of teaching and learning.  Especially we will consider the different heroes who visited Chiron’s cave and how their relationship with Chiron and their onward journeys depict different wounds, medicine, and teachings of Chiron that may constellate in our lives and the planets and stars that reflect them.

We will also explore Chiron’s unusual cycle and the Chiron return that happens as we cross into our 50s, and what this re-turning point in the lives of many people offers to us about the nature of this remarkable symbol.