April 17, 2018 —Today, Chiron, the dwarf planet, moves into Aries for the first time since 1968. He will then leave Aries for a short time and return on February 18, 2019. Following an elliptical orbit, Chiron remains in Aries for a whole eight years—longer than any other sign. Representing the Wounded Healer, Chiron’s shift into the first sign of the zodiac triggers a whole new phase of healing. He draws our pain to the surface, helping us work with it more consciously—both individually and as a collective.

As we actively relate to our destructive patterns, harmful conditioning, traumas, and injustices, we can find clarity and courage, taking a stand for what we know to be true. We are cutting ties with the past where it no longer serves us,  thinking for ourselves, and finding our own way forward. As we begin this eight-year cycle, we can emerge from the mulch of our suffering, more energized and awake—ready to heal our hearts, the environment, and, ultimately, the world.

Chiron embodies our tenderness and vulnerability. He's our deepest wounds, which become a source of empathy for others. As he moves into the sign of leadership, we are leaping ahead in pioneering new modalities of healing, calling on the power of the Earth—of things like mushrooms, plant medicines, herbalism, and nutrition—to cure physical and mental imbalances. As we realign with nature, we're also uncovering more holistic cures for all types of disease, along with social and environmental dilemmas. At the same time, leaders are ready to step up who understand suffering—those who have been marginalized, disregarded, or mistreated in the past. Women, people of color, and those who are gay or transgendered are ready to be recognized and empowered.

Since Aries rules the self, our self-reliance also stands to increase over the next eight years. We’re relying less on saviors and gurus, more on our own internal resources. Healing abilities are opening up in many of us. We’re learning to work with energy so we can heal ourselves, then help others do the same.

Since Aries is ruled by Mars, we now have the chance to soften the masculine within each of us. It’s time to work through our issues around anger and aggression, easing the parts of ourselves that are prone to fighting and attacking others. Through this transit, we’re ready to heal divides. We’re inhabiting our vulnerability with much greater tenderness and depth, drawing on our courage to face inner turmoil and self-liberate.

As we continue to dismantle the patriarchy and move into an age of the empowered feminine, we’re beginning to see that we cannot have a healthy feminine with a wounded masculine, and vice versa. A new movement around masculinity could now arise alongside the #MeToo movement, dismantling harmful conditioning from our culture and upbringing. Aries in Chiron teaches us that we are all worthy. We all deserve to express our feelings and have our desires met. Each of us has inner strength that can emanate from a balanced sense of self-love. New role models may now surface who embody this wisdom, leading us toward deep and healthy change in the realms of masculinity and beyond.

Aries rules violence while Chiron, again, is the Wounded Healer. Historically, inspiring figures have been killed during this transit, becoming martyrs that led to significant cultural shifts. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated within three days of Chiron’s last transit into Aries, and Robert F. Kennedy faced the same fate of few months later. Just as Chiron prepared to enter Aries, the children of Parkland became powerful martyrs, blazing the way toward revolution, policy change, and political reform, which could ultimately shift our culture and save lives.

As we feel the effects of this transit—our suffering hearts, tender and exposed—we might ask ourselves: How do we handle our pain and vulnerability? Do we shut people out and self-pity? Or do we open to greater empathy for others? It’s now time to harness our tenderness to connect with each other more meaningfully. We could notice other people's raw hearts as we walk down the street—making eye contact as we share in mutual humanity. Surrendering to our pain, barriers between us can now dissolve as we open to greater intimacy and interconnection.

As Chiron moves into Aries, may we embrace our pain, celebrating the richness of our expanded hearts. As we heal, may we be of benefit to others, stepping up as courageous warriors of tenderness and light.

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