FEBRUARY THEME: THE GIFT IN THE WOUND
by Simone Butler

I was raised Methodist. As Christian churches go, it is among the most liberal. Sunday school teachers taught me to practice the Golden Rule and to steward the earth. Yet the older I got, the more I squirmed at services. Viewing the Scriptures as the ultimate word of God struck me as unrealistic. And, the assumption that I was born a sinner and required redemption just didn't ring true. Some primal, pre-Christian part of me knew that my true birthright was original innocence--not original sin.

My church attendance halted the day our minister, ostensibly God's chosen one, visited our home to "lay his hands" on my mother's sprained ankle--and caressed her leg a bit too fondly. Mom ignored his indiscretion, but I could not. I saw that going to church--even dedicating one's life to religion--was no guarantee of leading an authentic life. So, I broke up with God and found the Goddess. Over the years, I have built my life--even my career--on my deep connection with the Divine Feminine.

And then I fell in love with a man raised in the Pentecostal faith. When Cupid shot his fateful arrow through both our hearts this past November at the grocery store, I had no idea that my appointed love saw the Bible as the inspired word of God, and believed that those who aren't "saved" are doomed to eternal damnation. He was even taught that dancing is a sin, though he's since rethought that one.

When my beloved discovered that I was an astrologer, alarm flickered across his handsome face. Yet he has been remarkably accepting of my beliefs--he even watched and appreciated The Secret, and is learning to salsa dance. The challenge lies with my 9th house Chiron, my religious wound. We all have a primary wound from childhood or past lives; the placement of Chiron in our charts shows the area of life that's affected. The 9th house is religion and higher truth. When my man talks about his beliefs, panic clutches my heart. It triggers my anger at the church; I fear his precepts will drive us apart.

Recently, he confronted me about my intolerance. "If you were really secure in your beliefs," he pointed out, "then you wouldn't be threatened by mine." Suddenly I saw that our situation reflected an inner conflict between my childhood and adult beliefs. This revelation gave me an opportunity to heal the old wound by shining a flashlight on it. Now it's up to me to own both sides of the conflict and learn what it has to teach me.

We will all have an opportunity to heal old wounds as Chiron, the "wounded healer," aligns with the Sun in a solar eclipse in Aquarius on February 6. During this extra-powerful New Moon eclipse, a time when electromagnetic patterns get short-circuited and rerouted in the heavens, a giant leap in awareness is possible. Whichever house and/or planets in our charts fall at or near 18 degrees of Aquarius are about to be triggered for the purpose of healing and growth. Old wounds reflecting our natal Chiron placement may also be activated. We're asked to move past our knee-jerk reactions, reflect deeply on the conflicts revealed within our own psyches and find the unity and healing that lies beneath them.

Aquarius (sign of equality and humanitarianism) reminds us that all sentient beings are part of a collective field. This universal web knits us together. It enables us to learn from one another and attain universal knowledge by accepting our differences. This process is intensified by Mercury's retrograde journey in Aquarius (January 28 to February 18). As the messenger planet, Mercury, dives deeply into the collective mind, we're encouraged to remember that we're all one, and not judge one another too harshly. We'll also need to be patient with any misunderstandings that may occur during this retrograde, as it occurs in an air sign that emphasizes communication. (Read more about this retrograde in my AOL article).

Chiron lances personal, social and political wounds, releasing whatever has been repressed. We can see this at work in the fight between the front-running Democratic presidential candidates. How perfectly Aquarian is it that two "underdogs"--a white Scorpio woman and a black Leo man--would square off against each other in 22 key primaries on February 5, just hours before the New Moon/Chiron convergence in Aquarius? Mudslinging notwithstanding, it shows how far our society has come.

With Chiron's close proximity to both the solar eclipse and retrograde Mercury, we're challenged to transcend differences of gender, race, nationality and religious affiliation. To heal, we must find that which unites, rather than divides. On a broader scale, Chiron's passage through Aquarius (2005 to 2011) demands that we transcend self-interest and consider the needs of our planetary tribe. Chiron in Aquarius also represents the return of Isis, the Divine Feminine, to the planet (see related article) as she takes her rightful place alongside the Divine Masculine. This means taking a compassionate look at where we have disowned or shut down the feminine parts of ourselves--particularly those places that are "weak," angry or vulnerable--and bringing them back into the fold.

It's particularly poignant that this opportunity for healing would come during the month that's dedicated to love. As Valentine's Day approaches, let's open our hearts to embrace the alien or different within ourselves and each other. Chiron promises that when we have the courage to look unflinchingly at our wounds, we'll find the gift within them.

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