Maya del Mar's Daykeeper Journal: Astrology, Consciousness and Transformation

R E T R O G R A D E   W A T C H

Retrograde Watch
April has only one planetary station. Chiron turns retrograde on April 16-17.

A station, which is when a planet is making its turn, intensifies a planet’s action. Chiron’s work is to realign energies so that we can receive, or tune into, a higher vibrational frequency. Its orbit is between those of Saturn and Uranus, and it acts as a bridge between those two influences. Saturn is very earthy, very heavy and solid. It rules, for instance, bones. Uranus is the night sky god, and takes us beyond earth, into new dimensions. It rules the electrical nervous system. We mght say that Chiron quickens Saturn, and grounds Uranus.

A strong Chiron dynamic accompanies the process of initiation, which is when we open the door to a noticeable step in our evolution. We can visualize it as allowing those higher frequencies to move through our bodies, to embody them. It realigns our vibrational system, and our bodies themselves. Chiron is thus a healer, a teacher, a mentor, and an explorer of new dimensions.

Capricorn is Saturn’s sign. Its domain is traditional social structures. We might expect, then, that Capricorn would resist Chiron’s shakeups, just as Congress and the Administration are resisting probes into corporate activities.

Around these days, April 16-17, we can expect to see more things which shake up the establishment—for the purpose of healing, or realigning. Chiron is also connected with technology and space exploration, and we might experience situations which move us into new realms.

The Catholic Church is Capricornian. We now see Chiron opening windows of healing through exposure of the sex scandals. We also see the Church resisting.

Capricorn also rules knees, and chronic health problems, and for each of us, these days provide a special opportunity to move such healing ahead.

Chiron will be retrograde until September 7. It turns direct as Rosh Hashanah begins, and this suggests that the Israeli-Palestine question may find some resolution then, after a retrograde healing period.

A planet traveling retrograde acts more on inner than on outer levels. Past and future become as accessible as present, and the planet’s activity becomes much more complex. For instance, while Chiron is retrograde in Capricorn, penetration of the whole history of corporations, their functions, and their future possibilities, becomes more likely. This is also true of the Jewish-Arab conflict, the Catholic Church, and other institutions now undergoing Chiron’s realignment.

Chiron will be traveling through Capricorn through 2005. Countries with their Suns at this station degree of 10 Capricorn are Syria, Lebanon, and the UK.