Q: 1) During the past two years or so, I have been losing everything one by one. Love, my daughter got married, some of my health, and so on. Why is this happening?
(Jan. 23, 1952)

Q: 2) I have been going through a 'process' the last few years that has included major upheaval (sickness, death, relocation, etc.) in my family and the continuing disintegration of my marriage. I am hoping for something else.
(Sept. 18, 1952)

A:) Although different people are describing parts of their separate realities, they are both experiencing some major relationship changes. This is a good chance to see the As above, So below rule in action.

Both were born in 1952, with Chiron in the early degrees of Capricorn, and both are experiencing the Chiron return. Either one of these themes, Chiron in Capricorn or the Chiron return, is enough to send a few tremors through anyone's version of reality. It's Chiron's specialty.

Chiron is a little planet -- or maybe a comet, or maybe just an ice ball -- that was the first of the centaur planets to be discovered in 1977, making it a relative newcomer on the astrological scene. The centaurs bring the transpersonal, the cosmic, and the unknown to the point of the known. It's kind of like remembering last night's dream half way through lunch. They represent a conscious intersection of our reality with the next reality -- the world beyond.

Astrologers try to describe Chiron with terms like "wounded-healer" and "shape-shifter." I think we need to use verbs. Change. Transform. Relate. Integrate. Experience. Chiron and the Centaurs are relationship catalysts; experiential enzymes. Their evolutionary function is shifting perception through relationships. They create opportunities for you to become, or remember, more of you.

Chiron creates evolutionary reactions by helping us remember what parts of ourselves we are keeping separate from the other parts. Some of us keep our hearts separate from our heads, some of us keep our bodies separate from our spirits, and some of us keep the masculine parts separate from the feminine parts. Our relationships are Chiron laboratories. When the reaction is over, something's going to be different.

When Chiron is in Capricorn (which it is four out of every 40 years, including now), the emphasis is on shifting the structure of relationships. As a karmic catalyst, Chiron doesn't discriminate about the type of relationship. Marriage and partnerships, sexuality, career, religion, and parent/child relationships, are all fair game. Chiron in Capricorn likes to break the rules that say, "This is the way it's always done."

Chiron in Capricorn asks you to experience evolution by recreating yourself and your relationships. In Saturn, Chiron and the Centaurs, To the Edge and Beyond, Melanie Reinhart says this type of experience can be "like trying to get to the inside through the outside, always looking for the doorway in." It is an essential need to find or reconnect with your center, your foundation.

Right now, Chiron is in the early degrees (about 4) of Capricorn. Chiron entered Capricorn in January 2002. It will be in Capricorn until March 2005, and will then retrograde back into Capricorn from August through December 2005.

Everything and everybody is subject to accelerated evolution through Chiron in Capricorn. We're all going through it, but some of us are going to feel it a little faster or stronger. If you know your chart, astrologers typically use orbs of 5 - 10 degrees of difference between natal and transit positions to decide if a transit is active. With the centaurs, go with Bob Marley -- "He who feels it, knows it."

Those of you who were born from mid February to mid June 1951, and November 1951 through December 1952, are at a key point in Chiron’s cycle called the return, which usually happens around the age of 50. If you were born with Chiron in the late degrees of Sagittarius, December 1950 to early February 1951, and late June through October 1951, the Chiron return energy is still active, though it's out of sign. (You need to throw a little more Sagittarius into your mix.)

The timing of Chiron's cycles can be highly personal. The return can be active for a year or not depending on other chart placements or transits. Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, can especially extend the transformational, initiatory process beyond the "active" transit period.

If you're in the return, you probably don't need an astrologer to tell you about change. Your partner, your kids, your parents, your boss, and your bank account, have probably been doing a pretty good job. And, how's your body feeling about gravity these days.

The Chiron return, especially the Chiron return in Capricorn, is similar to the Saturn return. They are both a transition period, a coming of age. In this culture, age is not usually welcomed. It is often a challenge to come of age, and to come of wisdom. It is a challenge to remember creativity that is beyond biological. In some traditions, however, reaching the age of the Chiron return meant that you were finally an adult.

If you aren't in the return, but your current experience is pretty dramatic, or at least physically noticeable, you may also be feeling Chiron's presence. You may have a lot of planetary placements, or one of the big ones like the Sun, in the early degrees of Capricorn. For example, if you think that taking a very long nap might be the best answer to the changes in your life, you could be experiencing a hard Chiron transit. Chiron in Capricorn can be a time when depression becomes a very serious health concern. It challenges you to continue to create a life that you want to live.

If you don't know where Chiron and/or Capricorn are in your chart, ask yourself what relationships really define who you are. What parts of your life do you like to keep stable and structured? These can be areas that are under a Capricorn influence. Pay attention to how you feel physically when you image these relationships or parts of your life changing. If you actually hear the sound of a sphincter squeaking, pay attention.

You might have a little too much of your security invested in that particular area.

In her book on Chiron, Barbara Hand Clow suggests that when Chiron is in Capricorn, material achievements are questioned or dissolve. If material achievement has been given priority over human or spiritual interaction, or visa versa, I agree that Chiron will help create opportunities to change this balance. Clow also suggests that listening is one of the keys to working with Chiron in Capricorn. What is the situation or relationship telling you? Get the message.

Another way of working with the energy of Chiron in Capricorn is by examining the unwritten rules and agreements of your relationships. Look honestly at how your perceptions of identity and worth are shaped by those rules and agreements. Look at how you define being alive.