with his two hunting dogs (Canis Major and Canis
Minor) and the rabbit they were chasing (Lepus). The
Scorpion was also put in the sky, but on the opposite
side, along with Sagittarius, the archer Centaur, Chiron,
whose arrow killed it. Aesculapius (Ophiueux, the "ser-
pent handler"') was placed right above the Scorpion.
Chiron has grown to become one of the most revered and respected beings on Mount Olympus.
Centaurs as a race were a noisy bunch that couldn't be trusted. If they show up at a wedding or a celebration, it usually ends up with their drunken behavior. However, Chiron was inherited among the centaurs. He became a philosopher, physician, herbalist, teacher, astrologer and adviser to Zeus (Jupiter). Whenever one of the gods or goddesses needed a wise vision, they came to Chiron and were sure that they were receiving great wisdom and foresight. This highly evolved being emerged from the wounds of abandonment and rejection. In our tables, Chiron represents the point at which our wounds can become part of our gift. It takes about fifty years for Chiron to return to the place it occupied in our timeline when we were born: The Return of Chiron. This time in life represents a powerful turning point. Most of us spend a small part of our lives on our wounds. We fight them, react to them, or are overwhelmed by their weight. When we reach the age of fifty, our psyche is ready to rise above the pain we experience when we are abandoned in childhood. This does not mean that we are aware of what happened or deny our pain, but it does mean that we accept not only what happened to us, but also what should have happened to us. We begin to realize that through these wounds we have learned lessons in our lives.
