Outer Planets

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OUTERPLANETARY (EXTRAORDINARY) PEOPLE

Living with the Outer Planets Prominent

Part I

 

by Joyce Mason

Extraordinary Times

We live in extraordinary times. I call them outerplanetary times, marked by the

discovery in 1977 of a new outer planet, Chiron. Chiron is trans-Saturnian. It

orbits, acts like, and has an impact equivalent to any other outer planet.

Chiron’s discovery heralded a helping hand for human consciousness. (Hand is

what the “chir” in Chiron means.) As Barbara Hand Clow declared in her book

title, Chiron is the Rainbow Bridge Between the Inner and Outer Planets. In its

orbit between Saturn and Uranus, Chiron signifies transitions and the process of

evolution, both as individuals and as a collective. (The rainbow refers to the

seven colors of our invisible energy centers or chakras. Evolution at the

personal level takes place in the etheric body, as the kundalini rises, causing

amplification of energy. As we grow, we literally get a "tune Up." We vibrate

on a higher frequency, ultimately, on the same wavelength with All That Is.)

Chiron’s transitional role is marked further by a common thread in its mythology

and astronomy. For years, astronomers could not classify Chiron as either a

small planet (asteroid or planetoid) or as a comet. Chiron has characteristics

of both, like the mythical centaur (half man and half horse) after which it was

named. For awhile, some of us used the composite term cometoid, until the

American Astronomical Union came up with a new classification called centaurs

in Chiron’s honor. To astound us even further, astronomers have discovered that

Chiron is the first of perhaps thousands of similar centaurs beyond Neptune,

heretofore unknown to us, hence, the need for a whole new class of planetary

objects. Clearly, Chiron is the precursor of what’s even beyond our current

grasp and astronomical knowledge. Chiron is giving us a glimmer of deeper

space, literally and metaphorically, in terms of our own capacity for inner

growth and evolution.

For ages, prophets like Nostradamus and Edgar Cayce prophesied that the cusp of

the Third Millennium would be a major turning-point. If the outer planets are

traditionally linked with major cultural shifts, then understanding the planets

beyond Saturn has never been more important. Chiron was discovered, and we

became aware of it, when the time was ripe for us to see the personal influence

of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto--how they will change us at a cellular level to

become, quite literally, a new species. This is why I call Chiron the harbinger

of homo improvement. The improvement called for is for us to parallel Chiron’s

composite nature--to merge our intellect and instincts, which Chiron’s human

and horse halves respectively symbolize. Saturn has a heavy energy, and,

therefore, represents dense substances, like the Earth and the physical body.

If Chiron is the Bridge to the Beyond and its discovery heralds our readiness

for change, the Neptune/Uranus conjunctions of recent years further signaled

the time for a quantum leap in conscious-ness, as the Earthbound cross the

Bridge to new dimensions. While Neptune and Uranus were in Capricorn, we were

preparing for this change of consciousness in our institutions and day-to-day

reality. When the Saturn/Pluto square overlapped during this period, added to

Chiron’s decade-long dance of opposition with Saturn, this brought all the

trans-Saturnian planets into some form of dialogue with Saturn, Capricorn, or

Scorpio. Symbolically, structural transfiguration was being set up on a grand

scale. When everything familiar is yanked out from underneath us (the economy,

the American dream, the family as we’ve known it, old encrusted forms of

government, the patriarchal health care system), at long last new paradigms

have room to move in. Now the energy has shifted--Uranus is in its home sign of

Aquarius and Pluto in Sagittarius. Expect to see the changes the

Saturn/Capricorn groundbreaking and the Pluto square Saturn groundshaking were

preparing at the reconstruction site. (The metaphors of excavation and

demolition teams are only too real, remembering the Oklahoma City bombing, when

Pluto stationed before its retrograde dip back into Scorpio.)

As individuals, we may have tense aspects to any one of the outer planets that

make their meanings very personal to us, but being an "outerplanetary person"

means much more than that to me. It means that through our individual

struggles and victories with these archetypes, we experience microcosmically

(usually just one step ahead of everyone else) what's coming in the macrocosm

of changes in awareness. I call this "channeling the outer planets."

Extraordinary People

I finally realized "why I am the way I am" and the source of my own complexity

the day I got the implications of having a close square between each of the

outer planets and my Big Three: Pluto square Ascendant; Neptune square Moon;

and Uranus square Sun. Add to this newcomer Chiron’s sextile to my Moon and

opposition to Ceres, both by less than a degree, and Chiron square Pluto

(forming with Ceres a T-square focal to Pluto). In astrological circles, I am

hardly alone with this type of contact with “outer space.” More likely than

not, if you are reading this article, you have intimate natal chart contacts

with these planets. We are what I call outerplanetary people. We channel

change. Not long after my own epiphany about the outer planets, I heard a

woman with Uranus conjunct Ascendant say that the outer planets were personal

to her. She couldn't understand the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars until

she studied Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. This makes sense, for people with these

planets prominent are the ambassadors for the collective to these exotic places.

(They go where others do not tread.) They are the ones who directly experience

and take Chiron, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto personally. They are not only in

constant change (and therefore are unlike their “normal” change-resistant

counterparts); they are also messengers, running ahead to get information.

People with strong outerplanetary emphasis bring news from the fringe, back to

the rest of the people. They also hold out their hand to others as they cross

from Old to New (over the deep abyss of the Unknown). It's not an easy job

(it's lonely out-front), but someone has to do it. The good news for

outerplanetary types: Our time has come and our life’s purpose is to act now on

the knowledge we have gained by constantly interacting with tomorrow. (If we do,

we will literally change the world.) My sense of humor revolves around word

play, so for years, I have been unable to resist calling myself and others who

share a powerful and close relationship with the outer planets PUN people

(Plutonian, Uranian, and Neptunian). Add Chiron and we’re PUNCs with a

purpose. (Consider how Saturnine elders often scoff at “young punks” with their

far-out ideas, and the PUNC pun is perfect.) Of course, evolutionary

conscious-ness can happen for anyone who is one outer planet prominent, but my

observation is that the PUNCs--people with close aspects to them all--are even

hanging off the edge out on a limb and have the strong accent on, and

assignment to, catalyze change. Any close aspect to Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto

could mean a tendency to sense the tide of the times. I am sure that trines,

sextiles, and minor aspects "count," but the tension of squares, the awareness

(like it or not) of oppositions, and the sometimes overwhelming power of a

conjunction between the inner planets and the outers tend to produce the most

extreme cases.

What's it like to live on the edge when the whole world's on edge (and on the

brink of change)? Just what are we precursor types to homo improvement supposed

to be doing to ease these transitional times (and offer that helping hand)?

The Job at Hand

Sorry, you can’t just sit there silently. You have been groomed to:

Share what you have learned from these outer planetary forces. If you think

you're a little shook up these days with life’s uncertainties and crackpots on

every corner, imagine how those poor folks in the middle of the bell curve of

consciousness feel (probably clueless.) I've heard it said of myself and other

PUNC types that we are light workers, as in enlightenment. Our work is to tell

all, and what we are to tell people is: how to become whole (Chiron ) and free

(Uranus) through networking, sharing information, and breaking out of the bonds

of the encrusted Establish-ment; how to be compassionate/One (Neptune); while

cleansing and transforming (Pluto) down to the core of ourselves and our Earth.

 

For myself, the message of the outers has been: Get it or die, evolve or be

destroyed. That sounds pretty dismal at first (like Luke Skywalker meeting the

mega-Plutonian Emperor that Struck Back), but in retrospect, it has actually

been an incredibly gratifying process to be forced to grow by these powers.

After more than four decades on the planet, constant irritation by the PUNC

planets has led me down a long path to a place where, now, I am finally

beginning to reap the rewards of being astrologically unusual. This pain for

gain feels somewhat akin to how oysters give birth to pearls. Hopefully, you

will find some gems in these ideas. (Perhaps they will comfort me, too, when I

reread them during a phase when the more negative aspects of the outerplanetary

archetypes rear their ugly heads, and I temporarily forget everything I know.)

The Best of the Outer Planets: What We Can Learn and Share About Them

Since Chiron, by its astronomical position, is a bridge between the inner and

outer planets, let’s start on the Bridge--and come back to it later, in the

concluding article in this series--full circle. As I share what I’ve learned

from channeling the outer planets, I will focus on what I’ve found to be their

most positive expression, while contrasting the pluses to the pitfalls (which

most of us know only too well).

Chiron--Mentor, Wounded Healer, and a New Astrology.Most people are stuck in the

“wounded healer” dimension of the Chiron myth--as stuck as Chiron was by the

wound itself. We forget that Chiron had a big job he continued to perform and

take seriously, even after, and in spite of, his lingering wound. Chiron was a

great astrologer who mentored countless heroes, among them Jason, Hercules, and

Aesclepius. His students included some of the strongest, most talented, and

most altruistic human beings in Greek mythology. We can reasonably assume that

Chiron knew how to accomplish the formidable task of turning his “young punks”

into heroes (most of them came to him as adolescents) by casting the charts of

his young charges and crafting the equivalent of individual development plans.

As a mentor, Chiron is known for his well-rounded education--everything from

the martial arts and warrior training to the fine arts, including music. (He

mesmerized others by playing the kithara, an early lyre that is the predecessor

to the guitar.) [1] In the gamut between the more Martian and Venusian pursuits

(clearly encompassing the full range of what we consider yin and yang or

masculine and feminine), the right “dose” of teaching had to match the talents

and interests of each wound-be hero. The right blend of training was customized

to round them out as individuals.

One implication to us as human beings and astrologers is that we are to mentor

the hero, within ourselves and others. Heroism is not a selfish role, although

heroes obviously become heroes doing what they love. I define hero: Someone who

acts unselfishly from his or her Higher Self in urgent circumstances. Today,

everything is urgent. Time is running out to heal our ecological crisis. The

New American Heritage Dictionary defines mentor as a wise and trusted

counselor or teacher. Our job is to bring out the best in people. Here are

some examples of how to do it (and how not to do it): Positive Chiron: Gives

to the collective (helps others) despite his or her own pain. Through

vulnerability and willingness to serve despite “lingering wounds,” the Chironic

individual demonstrates, by example, that healing comes first from acknowledging

pain and offering up to the community both the suffering, and the learning that

comes from it. This is one meaning of Chiron’s offer, in the myth, to trade

places with Prometheus, who represents Uranus or the collective. Without being

egocentric or an emotional exhibitionist, the most positive expression of

Chiron is to openly admit to being “a work in progress” and to help others on

their own quest for self-fulfillment. They say the best teachers are just a

few steps ahead of their students in their learning. Positive Chiron represents

the epitome of this nonhierarchical way of helping others. In her book, Chiron

and the Healing Journey, Melanie Reinhart conveys the concept that a shaman is

not a really a shaman unless the community accepts that s/he has gone to the

underworld and survived. [2] Unless a Chironic type (the modern-day version of

a tribal shaman archetype) can overtly convey to others having “been there,” he

or she will not be well-accepted as a healer. Chironic astrologers recognize

this healing, process-oriented, eye-to-eye, mentoring style of helping others.

Positive Chironic astrologers see that astrology is simply a head-trip unless

intuition and practical application is part of their practice. Chart reading

must be customized and in the moment with the real person behind the chart. The

Chironic astrologer not only empowers, s/he offers tools and teachings, so that

in any of life’s emergencies, the skills to handle them have been fostered.

Last but not least, this breed of astrologer is not puffed up, thinks of him-

or herself as a midwife more than an authority (a position which slips so

easily into know-it-all), and knows s/he is as much a learner as a teacher in a

privileged position—sharing another’s intimate struggles with being successfully

human.

Negative Chiron. Gail Fairfield does a wonderful job of describing the flip

side of Chiron in her book, Choice Centered Astrology. [3] She says Chiron as

likes to fix things (and people), and negative Chiron fixes things (and people)

that aren’t really broken. (Our need to fix-it is so strong, we create dramas

or dilemmas to keep ourselves in business.) Negative Chiron applies Band-Aids®

or administers major surgery, often without permission and/or welcome. (If you

are a positive Chiron type now, you can probably remember a time in your life

when it felt like your phone number was 911.) Negative Chiron also stays

stuck in woundedness and “woe is me” to the point of near nausea to those

around him or her. Chiron teaches us to go on despite our pain, to keep

working (presumably, on healing it), and ultimately, to realize that a certain

modicum of pain goes with the territory of bringing our spirits into a body.

To be human is to run the full gamut of experience that Chiron drew from in

mentoring his students. We have to expect a little pain mixed in with the

pleasure here. It takes all the heroism and guts we can muster to deal with the

emotional trauma of bringing that spirit into this dense dimension. Imagine the

loss of freedom (to float around, for one thing) and why freeing Prometheus

(Uranus) Bound is a key part of the Chiron story. Chiron is relieved from his

immortality (gets to die) only after this altruistic act, implying that as long

as we are here, we must serve humanity and expect that some pain is the price of

a place where we can grow so fully. (If you can be spiritual on Earth, you can

be in great spirits anywhere.) We can learn to release pain--a glorious

goal--but to eliminate it completely is incongruous with being human, which is

to feel. (Feeling badly is the appropriate reaction to many things that happen

here on Earth, especially lately.)

There is another important cue for spotting a negative use of Chiron is the

anti-hero. This is the person who can assemble a rag-tag group of misfits and

put them up to no good, like the militia movement or other anti-social

“heroes.” (Both Timothy McVeigh, accused in the Oklahoma City bombing, and

David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidians, had prominent Chirons.)

On balance, the greatest thing we can hope to achieve as astrologers is to give

our clients a different perspective on their lives (a Chironic key phrase) and

to help them learn how to express and clear feelings rather then suppress them,

since the latter leads to disempowerment. When we can’t do something, when we

are the most immobilized, we say, “I don’t feel like it.” Doing it, whatever

“it” is, doesn’t feel good. Often, the blockage is from old feelings never

released that the current event activates—our Chironic wound. Unless we learn

the technique of releasing emotions and emotional blockages, we are as stuck as

Chiron was by that arrow and just as helpless, short of dying, to do anything

about it.

NOTES

[1] O’Brien, Dale, The Myth of Chiron, audiotape, recorded at The Mountain

Astrologer’s Planet Camp (1991), Contact: Dale O’Brien, 1817 Grove Rd.,

Atlanta, GA 30308. [2] Reinhart, Melanie, Chiron and the Healing Journey,

Arakana (1989), p. 17.[3] Fairfield, Gail, Choice Centered Astrology

(Smithville, IN: Ramp Creek Press, 1990), p. 209.

Next: Part II, Outerplanetary (Extraordinary) People: Uranians Fire Up the

Brotherhood Network. (This article is the first of a five-part series)

1996-1997 by Joyce Mason All rights reserved

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: JOYCE MASON is an eclectic astrologer, writer, metaphysician,

and certified flower essence practitioner with a BA in Social Work from the

University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA). She has over 30 years' combined casework

and astrological counseling experience. Her star studies began in 1980 and

quickened in 1988 when she discovered Chiron. The missing link to understanding

herself and the bigger cosmic picture, Chiron quickly became her passion and

life’s work. Joyce was editor of the international newsletter on Chiron called

Chironicles from 1992-95. Joyce lives in the Sacramento, California area.

Contact her by e-mail: chironicle (AT) aol (DOT) com

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