Turn and Face the Strange

Get out of your comfort zone…Astrology insights by Wendy K.

“Turn and face the strange.” David Bowie, Changes

This will be the mantra of 2024 and the way forward. We have a potentially challenging year ahead but it doesn't have to be, as long as we are willing to get out of our comfort zones and push ourselves to our highest and divine goals.

If you don’t know the story of Chiron, I suggest looking it up because there are many lessons in his story. Chiron was a centaur in Greek mythology. The Centaurs were half man and half horse and they had a reputation of being hooligans or untamed, often drinking and brawling. Chiron's mother was an Ocean nymph named Philyra, one of the daughters of Oceanus or Neptune in Roman myths, and his father was Cronus or Saturn in Roman myths who had changed himself into a horse in order to seduce Philyra. When Chiron was born as a centaur Philyra was disgusted and abandoned him. He was taken in by Apollo and Artemis and taught the healing arts, poetry, hunting and astrology and unlike the other centaurs he became a part of society as both an oracle and a teacher. Some of his students included Achilles and Hercules. It was a poisoned arrow from Hercules, which Chiron had taught him to prepare, that accidentally killed Chiron.

In astrology, Chiron is an asteroid that represents our wounds and the parts of ourselves that we reject. The north node of the moon will meet with Chiron in February 2024 in Aries, so we are looking at the wounds of our ego and where we feel like we never measure up. The glyph for Chiron looks like a skeleton key and thus integrating our wounds is the key to fulfilling our destiny. Look for signs and synchronicities to point you in the right direction during this transit and avoid getting bogged down in the stories that have blocked you from your desires. Mars which rules Aries will be with Venus and Pluto in Aquarius at the time of this transit so our power is tied to our values and we are being asked to innovate those energies in order to move forward.

We have a total solar eclipse in Aries on April 8th, which will be conjunct Chiron. During this eclipse we can either continue to reject these parts of ourselves and hide them in the darkness of the eclipse, or we can look at those parts of ourselves and learn how to integrate them into our story. Mars will be conjunct Saturn in Pisces at the time of this eclipse so in order to move forward we need to have a solid foundation and not leap before we look. The energy of Mars and Saturn transits can be frustrating as Mars wants to march forward and Saturn wants to make sure all of the plans are in place. Mars is exalted in Saturn’s home of Capricorn because Mars likes to execute a plan of action, which Saturn always has. This eclipse would be a good time to create a plan even if it is just a list of your first steps or what you need to move forward.

On April 20th, Jupiter will meet with Uranus in Taurus, which is a 14-year cycle that asks you to literally turn and face the strange. Jupiter is tied to your journey or adventure of this lifetime and Uranus, well that, is the strange. Wherever you have Taurus in your chart will determine where you need to innovate. Uranus rules Aquarius and at the time of this transit the only planet that will be in Aquarius will be Pluto so there will be power in stepping out of your comfort zone and being able to innovate your own way forward. Don’t follow a prescribed path. Having the understanding of our wounds from the Chiron transits and not letting them hold us back from making bold moves will be key to working effectively with this energy.

Mercury will be retrograding in the fire signs in this next year, meaning we will be reviewing our passions and what drives us. If you are driven by your wounds instead of your destiny this year can be difficult. It is time to turn and face that strange, which we all have in order to move forward.

If you need help navigating these energies I am available for readings and can be found at wendykenneally.com where I turn and face my own strange.

Wendy Kenneally