Author: Ingrid

The healing power of the threshold

When I was four years old, I remember standing in the doorway of the hallway speaking to my father, very directly and clearly about something that was on my four-year-old mind. His response was immediate. It was anger… I was not to speak to him like that. I remember feeling very confused. My four-year-old mind could not figure out what was so offensive – I was just speaking my mind. Nonetheless, his response left me confused and fearful to speak up again. Worse, because I could not identify what was so offensive, I shut up about everything. Shortly after, I developed tonsillitis. It got so bad that I had to have my tonsils removed.

I remember being in the hospital, lying in the bed, the doctor asking me to count. I don’t know if I even reached seven, but when I woke up, I was in the corner of the surgery room inside what I can only describe as an incubator. I screamed in fear – a painful wrong move for my newly tonsil-free throat.

These were some of my earliest memories. The year was 1975, and Chiron was at 27 degrees of Aries transiting in my second house (the house of self-worth and physically, the throat) in a sextile with my ascendant and trine with my 6th house (house of health) Sun1.

Chiron is the wounded healer and teacher. In myth, Chiron taught war, hunting, archery, medicine and music. Astrologically, Chiron is often prominent during illness and surgery, and that was the case for me. Chiron has a 50-year cycle. It is now 50 years later, and Chiron is again sextile to my ascendant and trine my Sun. And you guessed it, another surgery. This time, my Venus-ruled throat was not the issue; it was my Venus-ruled uterus.

Oh, I forgot to say, natally, my Aries Chiron in the first house is opposite my Venus in Libra in the 7th house. Aries is ruled by Mars, which is our will, actions, motivation and drive, and Venus is our worth and self-esteem. It rules the throat and the womb. Nothing embodies the wounds of the Mars/masculine and Venus/Feminine more than this alignment.

It’s also timely to share this experience, because on June 19th, Chiron will move from Aries to Taurus. It will dip in and out. And it’s this dipping in and out of Aries and Taurus that I want to speak about because it brings up the collective masculine/feminine, male/female, Mars/Venus wounds.

The last eight years of Chiron in Aries has been all about the wounds around our movement and actions. Medically, Aries rules the head (the corona), self-expression, the individual, small businesses – especially entrepreneurs. Chiron in Aries coincided with the coronavirus, but the wounds extended beyond the medical expressions of illness. Our movements were limited, and our self-expression and individuality were thwarted as a result. Some faired better with this than others, happy to merge with the hive mind, while if you were freedom-leaning, you felt the wound profoundly. All small entrepreneurial enterprises were negatively affected and many lost their business. In fact, it was one of the greatest wealth transfers (to the 1%) of all time… Some healing came out of it, too… Locked up in our houses, the tables were turned, and we became the zoo for animals to roam around, curiously peering in our windows. The air cleared from reduced pollution, and we slowed down and baked bread. What a metaphor that was…active yeast. And when that ran out, we learned how to ferment sourdough…. a Mars expression to be sure.

So what can we expect as Chiron moves into Taurus? It will bring up wounds around our sense of worth, security, and food. It will also bring up wounds around beauty. Medically, it rules the throat and the womb. I will talk more about that in a moment. Finally, it rules women’s issues…

When Chiron was in Aries in the 1970’s, the famous Roe vs Wade decision was made in 1973, which constitutionalized the right to abortion at the federal level in the United States. Chiron was only discovered in 1977. It was there, of course, in 1973, but was not in our awareness, so when this decision was made, we didn’t have the benefit of Chironic understanding at the time. During Chiron’s return to Aries in 2022, that decision was reversed on June 24, 2022, in the landmark decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (Chiron was square Ceres in Cancer). It removed it from the Constitution, making abortion to the State level perogative. Similarly, a law decriminalizing abortion occurred in Canada at the beginning of Chiron in Aries in 1969. But it came with strict criteria. Dr. Henry Morgentaler ignored that criteria and ended up with a criminal charge. But in 1984 at the very end of Chiron in Aries, Dr. Henry Morgentaler was acquitted by a jury. That ruling opened up abortion in Canada completely. Nothing changed in Canada around abortion during the recent Chiron in Aries transit. Instead, Canada saw the expansion of laws around assisted suicide.

The Chiron in Aries wound… the right to bodily autonomy vs the right to life (or, as the case may be, death). While this may seem like a Venus issue having to do with the womb and what happens inside of it, it’s the energy of Mars – of initiation and action and the Aries energy of beginning and putting something in motion that became the crux of the wound.

The impact of Chiron in Aries was huge… but it didn’t make the blockbusting aspects that Chiron will make while it is in Taurus. While Chiron is in Taurus, it will be conjunct with Saturn, and it will square Pluto in Aquarius… and it will do so at the same time. This will happen in 2028. While it is difficult, likely painful energy. It falls within the context of a lot of other astrological help.

I want to return to my story, because it will help to explain the movement from Aries to Taurus. As I mentioned, the second time around, the issue manifested in my uterus instead of my throat… why was this so?

The Aries glyph ♈looks like the uterus and the throat. And I find it amazing that when a baby is forming in the womb, a link to the throat and uterus shows up during the first days of formation… day 15. How strange to learn that they are connected.

Here’s what an AI Search say:

Embryological Link: Both the throat and the reproductive organs (including the uterus) develop from similar embryonic tissue during early development. Around day 15 of embryogenesis, two depressions form—one at the head end (leading to the mouth and throat) and one at the tail end (forming the urogenital and anal regions).

Anatomical and Functional Similarities: The Latin word cervix means “neck”—referring both to the cervical spine (neck) and the cervix of the uterus. The tissues of the throat and cervix/vagina share structural and functional similarities, including responsiveness to hormonal changes and involvement in passage regulation (e.g., swallowing vs. childbirth).

Nervous System Connection: The vagus nerve, known as the “wanderer,” travels from the brainstem down through the neck and thorax and has sensory branches that extend to the cervix and uterus. This nerve connects bodily functions across distant regions, influencing both vocalization (throat) and pelvic organ activity.

Muscular and Respiratory Coordination: The diaphragm and pelvic floor move in coordination with breathing. Relaxation of the throat and jaw during vocal toning (e.g., humming, sighing) can promote relaxation of the pelvic floor and cervix, commonly used in labour and birthing practices.

Energetic and Holistic Perspectives: In some holistic and yogic traditions, the throat (site of expression) and womb (site of creation) are seen as energetically linked, with vocal expression believed to influence pelvic tension and emotional release.

In medical astrology, Mars initiates all activity in the womb, including menstruation and fertility. An imbalance with Mars will lead to imbalances in the womb: heavy bleeding, inflammation, fibroids, and issues with fertility and inflammation. Venus can also affect these areas, but often Mars is too little or too much. It is easy to see these issues in the womb, but they also show up in the throat as they did early in my life… if we stifle (a mars-related activity) our voice (our throat) or our sexuality (uterus), we stifle creativity. And we know the next step is mercury-ruled communication. It is through sex (via mercurial DNA) or words that we create.

If we take out the politically charged womb side of things and focus on the throat, where we can find a comfortable metaphor…

The question we need to answer for us to heal… do we initiate too much, or not enough? Do we stifle initiation, abort actions… AND, when is it healthy to do so? And in what measure? What needs to be vocalized and fertilized? And what internal or external limits are being imposed on that vocalization?

I want to take this post a little deeper because, as Chiron moves into Taurus, we have him holding hands with his wife, Asteroid Chiroklo.

I’ve been deeply experiencing her energy because in her 63-year orbit, she is currently at 26 degrees of Aquarius, conjunct my ascendant. She made a sextile to Chiron in April of this year, and as Chiron moves into Taurus, she will be there to hold his hand several more times as Chiron moves back and forth in Aries and Taurus. Chiroklo brings support and an innovative and loving container for the back-and-forth motion.

Melanie Rehnhart has done a lot of work on Chiroklo and her discovery chart. Discovery charts are the moment when a planetary body comes into our awareness. Chiroklo’s is amazing. When she was discovered, the planets, including Chiroklo, formed a Merkaba. A Merkaba is also called a star of David in astrology and forms a 6-pointed star. In astrology, this represents balanced energy. Interpreted through the Egyptian root of the word, Mer (light), Ka (spirit), and Ba (body), it represents the union of these forces. It’s the masculine represented by the upward triangle (fire) and the feminine represented by the downward triangle (water) combined. When they unite, they bring together all of the elements and create movement.

As Chiron moves back and forth in the Mars energy of Aries and the Taurus wounds of Taurus, Chiroklo lends her balanced support.

I’ll tell you how Chiroklo showed up in my surgery. I was given the option of being put under, inhaling anesthesia, local freezing and/or regular pain killers. I opted to move forward without any drugs, with the option to gauge my needs along the way and take drugs if required. There was the doctor, and about 60 degrees away from her on one side was the nurse. About 60 degrees on the other side was the “chaperon” who ended up coaching me through the pain and being a quiet and cheerful support…. she was my Chiroklo.

There is a benefit to feeling through the pain. I was able to see on the camera what was surgically going on, and it helped me to connect with my body and with the energy of what was going on, and strangely, with the healing beyond the physical that needed to be acknowledged and healed.

Similarly, as we move back and forth through the Chiron in Aries and Chiron in Taurus energy, we will have Chiroklo’s support through whatever wounds arise, whether they are physical, emotional or societal wounds.