Full Moon conjunct Chiron in Aries

Exploring the mythology of Jason & the “Terrible Father” Archetype

Jason and His Teacher, by Maxfield Parrish for Colliers magazine in 1909

I began my career as a modern psychological astrologer, and even though I am deeply informed by the classical revival, my formal education is in counseling and psychology. So I’ve always integrated mythology and depth psychology into my practice.

I had a vivid dream with a large key as a major symbol, right as Chiron was about to ingress Aries. The symbolism was unmistakable. So since then I have taken it upon myself to look much deeper into this minor planetoid that is strangely also classified as a comet. This is the latest in a series of such explorations.

I’ve never really been a fan of simplistically summing up Chiron as the “wounded healer”. It is of course true that Chiron was a great healer. And it is also true that he was grievously wounded, first by being rejected by his own mother, and later by one of his students who dropped a poisoned arrow on him. Still, I think that for astrologers to sum up Chiron as a “wounded healer” and simply leave it at that is a disservice. Even the wikipedia entry (quoted below) on Chiron's bio honors the complexity of Chiron's roles much better than that.

Chiron was notable throughout Greek mythology for his youth-nurturing nature. His personal skills tend to match those of his foster father Apollo, who taught the young centaur the art of medicine, herbs, music, archery, hunting, gymnastics, and prophecy, and made him rise above his beastly nature. Chiron was known for his knowledge and skill with medicine, and thus was credited with the discovery of botany and pharmacy, the science of herbs and medicine.

Notably, as important to Chiron's mythology as healing, were his contributions as a Teacher and Mentor (like his foster father, the Sun God Apollo, before him). And as it often goes in life with both children and students, each of Chiron's students excelled in and exemplified one or two of his traits over the others. Achilles was the greatest warrior ever known, but still knew how to tend to the wounds of his soldiers. Aristaeus became the god of rustic arts such as beekeeping and cheese-making. Asclepius became such a renowned healer that he had to be made a god, in order to stop a quarrel with Hades who felt he was robbing his kingdom of citizens (Asclepius was said to even be able to heal the dead). And Jason became the greatest explorer ever known, gathering a group of heroes around him and sailing to the ends of the Earth to retrieve the Golden Fleece.

It should also be noted that all four of these mythological figures have an asteroid named after them (588 Achilles, 2135 Aristaeus, 4581 Asclepius & 6063 Jason). And let us not forget Chiron's adoptive foster parents, Apollo & Artemis -who also happen to have asteroids named after them (1862 Apollo & 105 Artemis). Given that we have these additional indicators available to us, why should we continue to simplistically refer to Chiron as the “wounded healer” and leave it at that? I propose that rather, when Chiron is a focal point in any chart, then by adding in these asteroids we can begin to understand better what particular facets of Chiron's complex nature are being called forth, for a particular person and/or for a particular moment.

In that regard, it is notable then that as we find 3 recently significant Mundane charts where Chiron is a focal point, and each time the asteroid Jason also stands out. The first chart is for the most recent ingress of Chiron to Aries in 2018. Here the asteroid Jason (A1) is rising and sextile the Sun.

The next significant Mundane chart with Chiron as a focal point is the Solar Eclipse in Aries earlier this year. Chiron is partile conjunct the eclipse. Once again we find the asteroid Jason (A1) prominent, being sextile the Eclipse and angular, this time on the descendant.

Finally, the upcoming Full Moon in Aries is also conjunct Chiron. This particular full Moon is a bit more significant because it represent the culmination or flowering of the seed which was planted at the Aries New Moon, which was the previous Solar Eclipse. And once again, we find the asteroid Jason prominent -being square the Full Moon and angular -this time at the Imum Coeli.

What are the chances that we would find 3 significant Mundane charts with Chiron as a focal point AND each time the asteroid Jason turn up significant? This seems to be the very definition of synchronicity, as in a meaningful coincidence.

It seems there is a clear message that the mythological story of Jason is important at this time. If Chiron in the charts tells us generally about the nature of the wounding and/or the potential for a cure, then it seems the story of Jason holds the key to more particular answers at this time.

A full deep dive into the story of Jason and all of its ramifications is beyond the scope of this post. But I will be talking about this a good bit more on the next episode of my Hermetic Astrology Podcast, as well as on my social media over the next week. So be sure to check out those (Facebook) (Instagram) and follow/subscribe to join the adventure and hear more of the story.

But first let's at least introduce the mythology of Jason and its significance here. As a Chiron in Aries native, it was Liz Greene's book The Astrology of Fate (published in 1984 by Weiser) -which first touched on the Aries wound in a way that deeply resonated with me and my life experience. Because Jason was the rightful heir to the throne, but was usurped by his wicked uncle, Greene relates the wound of Aries to the fight against the “terrible Father” archetype, and the quest for the Golden Fleece becomes representative of the journey we must make in reclaiming our spiritual sovereignty.

I have a lot of personal history with this process. Because of my own experiences with the terrible Father archetype, I left on a spiritual quest in my early 20's. And the Golden Fleece that I found was the Dream whereby I became an astrologer. And when we look for the asteroid Jason in my chart -well it just happens to be on the Ascendant! And with the asteroid Jason being square the upcoming Full Moon, it would seem to be a good idea for all of us to check the location of this asteroid in our charts to see if its themes might be illuminating.

It's important to remember that even though he relied on his own courage and daring, as well as on a team of masculine heroes to get him to the location of the Golden Fleece, it was only through calling upon the powers of the Feminine (in the form of Medea) and reliance upon Magic that Jason was able to overcome the extraordinary obstacles to the Golden Fleece. In order to obtain the fleece, and win back his kingdom, Jason had to plow a field with fire-breathing oxen, then, sow the field with the teeth of a dragon, then overcome the sleepless dragon which guarded the fleece. As heroic as Jason was, he had no chance of overcoming these obstacles by himself -and that was basically the point (to get rid of him).

Fortunately for him, Hera had persuaded Aphrodite to make Medea fall in love with Jason and Medea promised to use her magical powers to help him with each of the tasks, if he would promise to marry her. She provided an herbal potion or ointment to protect him from the flames of the oxen. She warned him the teeth would sprout into warriors and told him how to turn them against one another. And finally she gave him a potion and incantation to put the dragon to sleep.

As a sorceress or witch, even in her own time Medea represented the ways of the “old gods” that were being overlooked by the cultured elite of Athenian society. So in my mind, if Jason represents the masculine heroic aspect of the personality, then Medea would represent both the feminine family/communal aspect, as well as the counter-cultural Magical aspect of our deep connection with the forces and powers of Nature (which includes both Earth and Sky). Therefore, together these two represent the alchemical or sacred marriage (hieros gamos) of masculine/feminine aspects that any hero must achieve in order to become whole, and thereby come to know their higher self—symbolized by the Golden Fleece.

As I mentioned before, with the asteroid Jason being square the upcoming Full Moon, it would seem to be a good idea to check the location of this asteroid in your chart to see if its themes might be illuminating. If Chiron is placed influentially in your natal chart, and you want the assistance of a professional guide, I will be happy to do a Chiron centered reading, where we explore the location and themes of all the previously mentioned asteroids -as well as Medea (yes -theres an asteroid named after her too! 212 Medea). My rates are due to increase at the end of the year, so now is a great time to book (before rates increase) AND as a special discount for readers, new customers can book a reading at the return customer rate when requesting this special Chiron reading.