Planets and points

Chiron

Direct answer

Chiron in astrology is a centaur body associated with wounds, teaching, mentoring, repair, liminal identity, and the place where pain can become medicine.

Chiron represents the wounded teacher, repair, and liminal healing themes.

Planets & Celestial BodiesThe Great Almanac DictionaryUpdated 2026-09-26

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At a glance

In the sky: Astronomically, Chiron is a centaur object discovered in 1977 with an orbit between Saturn and Uranus.
Found in: Planets & Celestial Bodies
Related: Planetary Placement, Planetary Position, Birth Chart, Transit

Deeper Almanac guide: Chiron transit guide. This dictionary entry is a concise definition page; the linked guide remains the long-form topic page.

The planets on their engraved orbits before a brass armillary sphere — Celestial motion · visual guide **Chiron**
Chiron represents the wounded teacher, repair, and liminal healing themes.
The orbit map distinguishes physical bodies, calculated points, and symbolic cycles where possible.

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What sets Chiron apart

Chiron is neither planet nor asteroid by one label: it carries minor planet number 2060 and the comet designation 95P. Charles Kowal found it in 1977, in an orbit that runs from just inside Saturn's path almost out to that of Uranus. It takes about 50 years to circle the zodiac and its path is so lopsided that it spends under two years in some signs and about eight in others. Its name comes from the centaur who taught Asclepius and Achilles, in the myth wounded by a poisoned arrow of Heracles.

Discovered: 1977, by Charles Kowal, from photographic plates
Designations: minor planet 2060 Chiron and periodic comet 95P/Chiron
Circuit of the zodiac: about 50 years, the basis of the Chiron return
Time in a sign: from under two years to about eight, because the orbit is lopsided
Myth: the immortal centaur wounded by Heracles' arrow; tutor of Asclepius and Achilles
Rulership: none in the traditional scheme; modern proposals differ

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The Wandering Stars

How the moving planets were watched, named and found, and what a transit is.

The story behind Chiron

Chiron is named after the mythic centaur teacher and healer.

The spiritual meaning of Chiron

Spiritually, Chiron asks where compassion must be learned from lived tenderness.

Why Chiron matters

Chiron matters because it often names a tender place that cannot be solved by denial, but can become wisdom through care and practice.

How to read Chiron

Astrologers reach for Chiron when interpreting healing themes, teacher-student patterns, chronic sensitivity, initiatory pain, and Chiron returns.

Chiron in practice: an example

Chiron in the tenth house may show public vulnerability, vocational healing work, or sensitivity around authority and recognition.

Where readings of Chiron go wrong

Chiron is a symbolic wound-and-wisdom marker, not a diagnosis.

Sources and editorial method

This entry summarizes the tradition in the Almanac's own words; where no source is listed, it is an editorial summary rather than a primary text, and symbolic readings are named as the tradition's, not as fact.

Source: The Great Almanac Dictionary
Category: Planets & Celestial Bodies
Aliases: Chiron astrology, Chiron meaning
Last updated: 2026-09-26

Read your Chiron placement

Chiron in a book is one thing; Chiron in your own birth chart is your life. The Oracle casts your real chart and tells you what it means for your love, your work, and your year ahead, in conversation. It opens with the 7-day Seeker trial.

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Where Chiron moves through your own year, and what that asks of your love and your work, is written in the Cosmic Codex, month by month from your chart. Open the Cosmic Codex

Planetary PlacementPlanetary Placement is a planet's location and condition inside an astrology chart. Planetary PositionPlanetary Position is the exact zodiac location of a planet for chart calculation. Birth ChartA Birth Chart is a personal astrology map built from birth date, time, and place. TransitTransit means current planetary movement activating a chart. SunThe Sun represents identity, vitality, will, and conscious purpose. MoonThe Moon represents emotion, instinct, memory, and bodily rhythm. VenusVenus represents love, beauty, pleasure, values, and attraction. MarsMars represents action, courage, conflict, desire, and drive.

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