One of the big astrological events for 2009 is the triple conjunction of Chiron and Neptune with Jupiter that will culminate at the end of May when all three planets are within 1 degree of each other in Aquarius.  Although the exact conjunction won’t occur until February 17, 2010, Chiron and Neptune are within a degree of a conjunction now, so this planetary event is definitely well underway. 

So what will this mean for us?  Chiron teaches us to face the old wounds of our past and allow ourselves to be healed, opening us up to greater wisdom and understanding that we can then pass along to others.  Neptune inspires us towards a more transcendent experience of our lives that encourages us to recognize the impermanence of life’s mysteries.  However, each of those planets have a darker face as well that can arise.  If we resist the Chiron experience we can become stuck in our own wounds, unable to see that they are of our own making and unable to let go.  If we resist the Neptune experience we can feel confused or become deluded by our fantasies and illusions.

Both Chiron and Neptune pose difficulty for the expression of the ego.  Chiron requires that we process the wounds of the psyche before the ego can manifest in a truly healthy form, and Neptune calls for the transcendence of the ego into the divine unconscious: “from a drop of water to the endless sea.”  In Aquarius that transcendence of the ego is even more important as Aquarius is a transpersonal sign; the sign that loves mankind but isn’t so crazy about people as individuals.  The new “transhumanism” is a signature of Aquarius, in which technology and innovation are used to perfect the human being. 

Because of this transpersonal nature of Aquarius, it is not the sign best suited to the kind of emotional processing that is required by Chiron.  Where Scorpio will delve deep into a rich depression and excavate the psychological wisdom that can be found there, Chiron in Aquarius may instead retreat into a world of technology where life is more easily managed and the emotional component is less compelling.  The result of this can be a core loneliness and isolation that is not easily rectified. On the other hand, there is also a brilliant innovation at work under the influence of Aquarius, and Chiron in Aquarius can bring about new and unique healing modalities that occur as conventional wisdom is rejected and new ideas brought forth.  Aquarius is doubly ruled by Saturn and Uranus, and Chiron is the bridge between them so with Chiron in Aquarius we have a linkage between form (Saturn) and trans-form (Uranus).

In the conjunction, we sometimes get the best of the planets involved and sometimes their more difficult faces, depending on how we approach them and how they affect the rest of our charts.  With Chiron and Neptune working in tandem, we are being called to deepen our spiritual experience of life in a body (Neptune) through feeling and releasing the pain of being human (Chiron).  Barbara Hand Clow, whose book Chiron: Rainbow Bridge Between the Inner & Outer Planets
is a wonderful resource, says that Chiron and Neptune serve to “bring the higher self into space and time” where we can become both grounded into our true natures under Chiron’s influence, and fully aligned with our higher self (Neptune) at the same time.