Everyone has wounds: deep hurts that exist below the surface of our existence. We may not like to think about these wounds; we may try to sweep them under the rug and pretend that we can go about our days as if they don’t exist.
When we come close to these wounds, we may be tempted to shrug them off, or abstract them, or use intellect to acknowledge that “everyone feels this” as a way of keeping ourselves at a distance.
The problem with this approach is that these deep wounds, when unacknowledged and unaddressed, swim around in our subconscious, often driving our decisions and actions.
Unaddressed, these wounds lead us to self-sabotage, to withdraw from life, to hold ourselves at a distance from true joy.
The only way around them is to move through them. Healing comes when we can look at our wounds, see where they came from, feel their impact, and then hold compassion for ourselves.
Some moments are especially ripe for this work.
Today’s conjunction between Venus and Chiron, which occurs in the sign of Aries, is one of those moments.
This conjunction illuminates the source of our deepest wounds and the path to healing.
The Archetypes of Venus and Chiron
You’re likely familiar with Venus, the planet of love and relationships (among other significations).
Chiron is a minor planet — discovered in 1977 and originally labelled as an asteroid — that falls between Saturn and Uranus in the solar system. In mythology, Chiron was the “wounded healer.” Chiron was a centaur, half-horse/half-man, who was able to heal everyone except himself.
Chiron speaks to our deepest wounds and how we can heal them and use the medicine from our healing to help others heal.
The Message of Venus Conjunct Chiron
A Venus and Chiron conjunction invites us to examine our deepest wounds, and their origination.
What we learn when we go deep is that all wounds originate in relationship.
Nobody is born with the beliefs that they are not good enough, or that they don’t deserve to be loved. Nobody is born with the fear of rejection.
These beliefs and fears, and others that may exist in our deepest wounds, are learned in the context of relationships. Often, through the closest relationships — the people most responsible for instilling us with confidence and self-assurance.
The other message of Venus/Chiron is that our healing also comes through relationships.
We heal through being witnessed, by feeling seen and heard. We heal when we feel safe to fully express ourselves. We heal when we feel accepted unconditionally for who we are.
This healing cannot happen alone.
Yes, we can witness ourselves. We can see and hear ourselves, and learn to accept ourselves. This is a necessary step in the process, but it’s not the only step.
The circle closes when we experience unconditional acceptance in relationship.