Narrated by Marie T. Russell. Image by Remains Healthy.
Video version
A school shooting; a drunk driver taking an innocent life; the loss of a job, a loved one, or a relationship . . . now more than ever people turn to therapists, spiritual healers, and countless other professionals for support and healing. Yet those of us who work to relieve the emotional pain of humanity have shortcomings of our own—even as we serve our highest calling. By having the courage and taking the time to progressively attend to the wounded parts of myself, I continue to undergo profound transformation.
The Chiron effect is a term I developed to describe the magnetic pull or orbit we have in and around specific areas of core wounding and vulnerability. The problems we have typically cluster around core issues and themes. An orbit is a pattern that we have grown accustomed to living within, thus becoming a set frequency. Effect is defined as a change that is a result or consequence of an action or other cause. Therefore, when we change our orbit, we affect our frequency.
We are beings of habituation; ourselves orbiting our surroundings, as well as being orbit-surrounded by people, places, and things. Our routine, habits, people, places, and things make up the orbit that we inhabit through our actions and choices. Notice the people in your life, the experiences that you find yourself in consistently; this is the orbit that gravitates toward and surrounds you. We are each planets in the solar system of our own lives.
Everyone Has Wounds
Let’s take a look at ourselves through the lens of Chiron. Everyone has wounds. Everyone has experienced loss, disappointment, sadness, depression, rejection, or a taking away of or a letting go of what was once meaningful to us. We are each acquainted with suffering. We have all felt pain—whether it’s physical, emotional, mental, spiritual—or any combination thereof.
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It is our human condition to experience wounding on the earthly plane of existence. It is our celestial condition to embody healing during our earthly tenure of existence. To extrapolate from the famous philosopher and Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, because we are spiritual beings having a human experience, the dissemination of healing is administered in each of three dimensions composing the self: body, soul, and spirit.
When undertaking to heal in this way, initially it is very important to ensure that we have reliable and varied coping mechanisms, self-care strategies, and natural supports in place before and during our exploration of core wounding. We need to expose and explore these deep wounds carefully and gently while developing adequate natural supports and concrete practices of self-nurturing. Thus, a toolbox of coping strategies and an array of self-soothing behaviors and practices are some of the first things to develop and implement.
Creating a quiet and peaceful emotional environment to do this healing work is your first step. Identify a comfortable location, utilize a notebook or journal, and perhaps ensure that you have a special candle to light as you work through the stages of healing.
Healing Core Wounds
Healing your core wounds begins with allowing a space for forgiveness within yourself and is reinforced by creating a supportive external environment for your journey.
In addition to identifying and healing your specific psychoastrology of core wounding—illuminated by the sign and house placement of Chiron in your natal chart—Chiron will bring other dynamics to the forefront of your awareness. These include the shadow-aspect dynamics of self-defeating practices, patterns, and behaviors, which will be highlighted so that you may see how they have been operating in the background of your life.
Personal growth and development are a lot like baking; both are an art and a science. You can’t rush a cake to bake no matter how long you may stand over it, watching it or turning up the temperature to rush it along. Either the person watching it will become frustrated or the bottom of the cake will burn and leave the center cold. Similarly, invest the requisite time to learn about your core wounds.
As stated in William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.” I use astrology as the diagnostic tool to identify core wounding, but the prescription and remediation involve a combination of psychology, spirituality, and personal responsibility. Awareness is the first step in awakening to Chiron, the beautiful inner healer.
The Reservoir of Unlimited Potential
I want to encourage you to express your dreams. I want to inspire you to speak your voice, live into your life; this one life that you have to create on this time/space continuum. Honor your existence by completing what you came here for. Don’t cave inward for longer than the time it takes to regroup and rise to greet your challenges with the resilience that is embedded within your heart. Don’t compromise your voice, vision, or values. Do be open to new ideas and suggestions.
Refute the information of those who tell you your dream isn’t possible, it’s too costly or impractical, or they . . . simply can’t help you. Lean inward to find the reservoir of unlimited potential that you possess.
Close your eyes, and play the music in your heart. Deeply root yourself into your value and worth because you are good enough right now. Even when you don’t feel good enough or haven’t done your best, you are a spiritually perfect being and you are lovable.
Meditation and Prayer As Part Of Daily Self-Care
I personally and professionally became frustrated with lengthy assessment and treatment processes that involved years of rehashing troubling and traumatic memories. Rehashing the past only produced gnawing feelings of disempowerment. With a desire to address my own core wounding, I sought alternative assessment methods and turned to meditation.
I am conscious and respectful of the diversity within our humanity, and I want to acknowledge those differences among us now. My work is applicable to and inclusive of one’s race, ethnicity, gender identification, age, national orientation, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic background, status, religious belief, and spiritual practice.
Meditation and prayer are a part of my daily self-care, and I enjoy studying the metaphysical, spiritual, psychological, and quantum fields. I call upon God/Universal Intelligence/Source Energy/Jesus/Spirit to be with me and assist me in all aspects of my personal and professional lives. I appreciate that everyone has different belief systems. There are many names, ways, and paths that may be utilized to arrive at a common destination.
Finding Safety in an Unsafe World
When our familiar way of living (i.e., people, places, or things) falls apart there is a breakdown in trusting that we are safe and grounded. There is a fractured sense of stability in realizing that our predictable world is no more. This phenomenon is most often experienced as emotional distress, much like when grieving a loss or a death.
As the initial shock and disbelief of what’s happened begins to wear off, there is a sense of disorientation from opposing feelings of numbness alternating with a flood of emotions. Our prior operating system becomes obsolete, and we are left standing in unknown territory.
As humans we have been conditioned to react to and fear what is challenging or unfamiliar. Commonly known as “fight, flight, or freeze,” these automatic responses do not align with feelings of stability, security, and safety—all of which are needed to function optimally.
It takes courage to go within and face fear, panic, and unexpected shifts that suddenly change the landscape and the predictable knowledge of our world. However, when we move closer to our inner wounding, we come nearer to our deepest needs and desires, which have often been stuck in a holding pattern yearning to be noticed, seen, and heard. I encourage you to give yourself permission to feel into this information that is available and contained within your core wounding.
Initially, moving closer to our inner wounding feels counterintuitive, but it holds the key to our complete healing. Through this process we begin to repattern ourselves. We gain clarity and develop inner strength.
Our wounds are the way in which the Divine makes contact with us in order to wake us up to an aspect of self that needs to be excavated and healed. We experience this communication through our body. The body is a symptom bearer of how we are living. Chronic physical and emotional problems are communicating imbalances or wounds to get our attention.
These sensitive places need to be addressed and explored with compassion. Our wounding activates a deeper transpersonal process within. Often it is through pain that we focus our attention on what’s really needed. With curiosity and concern, this deeper look within is the path that actually leads us to our happiness.
Awakening: Making The Unconscious Conscious
Chiron is both the gateway for, and invitation to, the development of empathy. Carl Jung describes the wounded healer as embodying both the spirit of compassion and of selflessness. In its most positive aspect, the wounded healer symbolizes the potentially transformative power within that is ready and willing to heal our core wounds.
Unaddressed, the wounds of Chiron play like a hidden narrative running in the backdrop of our lives, creating problems that we don’t understand. Psychiatrist Carl Jung wrote in Memories, Dreams, Reflections, “until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”
Chiron encourages us to take personal responsibility for our own fate. In recognizing our shared bond of human vulnerability, we become a wellspring of compassion and support for ourselves and also for those whose lives we touch.
©2020 by Lisa Tahir. All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted with permission of the publisher.
Bear and Company, an imprint of: www.InnerTraditions.com
Article Source
The Chiron Effect: Healing Our Core Wounds through Astrology, Empathy, and Self-Forgiveness
by Lisa Tahir, LCSW
A guide to using astrology to identify your core wounds and heal them using psychological techniques, affirmations, and self-compassion. As Lisa Tahir reveals, once identified, your personal Chiron placement can become the source of your greatest healing and empowerment. By recognizing your core wounding and learning to offer yourself empathy and forgiveness, you can finally break free from suffering, end self-sabotage, and allow your life to unfold in a new way.
For more info and/or to order this book, click here. Also available as a Kindle edition, and as an Audiobook, narrated by the author.
About the Author
Lisa Tahir, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker. She is certified in EMDR Level I, in Reiki Level II, and as a thought coach through the Institute for Transformational Thinking. she has been the host of the weekly podcast All Things Therapy on LA Talk Radio since 2016. Visit her website at www.nolatherapy.com
