Advent Calendar 2023

The Greek myth of Chiron, the king of the centaurs whose incurable wound transformed him into a healer, is deeply relevant to our understanding of human suffering. The theme of the wounded healer-priest may be found in many cultures, and forms part of the training of the shaman in African and American Indian tribes. Yet nowhere is it so vividly portrayed as in the strange figure of Chiron.

In myth, centaurs, half horse and half human, are images of the powerful forces of the instincts directed by human reason. Chiron, son of the earth god Saturn, was a denizen of forest and cave and a cunning hunter wise in plant and animal lore. He befriended the hero Hercules to his eventual misfortune, for Hercules accidently scratched him with the point of an arrow used to destroy the monster Hydra; this arrow was tainted with the monster's blood, a corrosive poison for which there was no antidote. Despite his wisdom, the centaur could not find a way to ease his agony and heal his wound.

This injury, caused by carelessness rather than any deliberate act of violence, transformed Chiron. Unable to release himself from pain, yet unable to die because he was immortal, he found meaning in his suffering through healing others. He became the wise tutor to many young Greek princes, and led his untamed tribe of centaurs into civilized habits and greater friendship with human beings.

The mythic theme of wisdom gleaned from suffering is symbolized astrology by the planet Chiron, recently discovered and now demonstrated through nearly twenty years of research to be a profoundly important dimension of the birth horoscope.

Back to the calendar