Chiron’s Way
Chiron Horse Whispering Workshop article by Alison McCabe
As an Astrologer it was incredibly exciting and pioneering to be given the opportunity to work alongside horse whisperer Amanda Oates and the In Harmony with Horses Herd in West Yorkshire, with the asteroid body Chiron who is a centaur. Chiron was discovered in 1977 and in astrology represents the Wounded Healer Archetype. Following his discovery there was indeed a revival of many ancient healing methods with a modern twist. Chiron was unlike any planetary body ever discovered, somewhere between a comet and a planet and so was termed an ‘asteroid’ which means ‘wonderer’.
The first workshop took place in the summer of 2014 and intuitively I decided to work with the orbit of Chiron which is also very different to any other planetary bodies known at the time, crossing over the orbits of Saturn and Uranus. Metaphorically this represents in the Chiron journey a descent into the ‘underworld’ in Saturn and emergence and liberation in Uranus. In the 1990s a whole herd of other Centaurs were found in the Kuiper Belt with equally fascinating orbits.
Chiron’s orbit is very much the journey of a Wounded Healer. There is a period where the actual illness or event is happening and the person is literally in the ‘underworld’ experiencing something very challenging. However this experience leads them on to have great empathy and compassion for others and to have a unique gift for helping others in a particular way. Nelson Mandela had Chiron accentuated in his birth chart and his life typifies the Wounded Healer archetype. Mandela spent most of his life in prison which is a very Saturn experience. However rather than making him bitter and full of self-pity he became one of the greatest leaders of our time, his compassion affecting millions worldwide.
At the first workshop after a discussion about the astrology of Chiron, 3 horses were picked out the hat; Millie a thoroughbred of excellent racing horse stock with a lifelong wounded leg which led her into healing, Laddie a gypsy cob with ‘royal’ soul and herd leader and Zan a painted horse and youngest of the herd. Amanda asked everybody to stand in the round pen wherever they felt drawn and I was amazed as Millie and Laddie moved into an altered state approaching different people in the group giving them one to one healing. I noticed, as did Amanda, that a couple of people had placed themselves right on the outer edge of the circle and I felt intuitively that these women felt alienated in this group but probably generally in their lives. Zan was circling the outer edge of the round pen and was not being particularly respectful to the other horses and so they were keeping him out. They were reflecting human behaviours of why we sometimes don’t include people and perhaps mirroring to us how important respecting boundaries is for group harmony.
It was at this point I noticed Silver, a small white Welsh Class A pony, was sending a powerful healing wave from out beyond the round pen. I am particularly fascinated by Silver, who since developing many health issues, has evolved from riding school pony to healer and wow is she good at it! Also she refuses to be in a stable and I love her spirit of independence which Amanda also respects and lets her roam free. I remember thinking that it was like she was out at the edge of Chiron’s orbit in the Uranus Liberation Zone. Shortly after this the women at the outer edge who perhaps had received the most horse healing were gently pushed into the centre of the ring in a rather magical move by Laddie and Zan.
At the end of the workshop there was a huge storm and water flowed for about 20 minutes right through the stables, again very unusual. It reminded me of the story of the cleaning of the Aegian stables, one of Hercules labours associated with Aquarius. When we opened the barn doors after the storm there was a beautiful rainbow arching right across the sky.
The second workshop took place in autumn 2014 and this time I was drawn to the particular facet of Chiron in healing ancestral family patterns. Our starting point therefore is that our family, for better or worse, has a very big influence on many of our thoughts, feelings and behaviours. The astrology part of the workshop revealed undercurrents of family issues affecting those present. Once again we picked horses out of the hat and this time we got Laddie, Zan and Silver in the ring. The two male horses were being quite bullying towards Silver (who is female) and this was a theme which revealed itself over the day. Chiron is also very much about healing the male and female within ourselves and in relationships.
Standing in the centre of the ring I felt a strong urge to sit down but resisted. As a workshop leader I did not really want to do this. However the voice in my head was insistent and my limbs started to feel like lead so I did. Then I had the strong feeling to lie down which I resisted too, thinking of a horse stepping on me or how people would react to the astrologer taking a nap. However I did in the end listen to my intuition and it was at this moment as I lay back in the sand and looked up at the sky that I perceived the round pen as a reflection of the zodiac! Amanda later said she thought this too as the horses were moving round the outside of the pen which is quite unusual for them and sending healing in, like planetary bodies.
Silver gave me a quite awesome healing going up and down my spine with her equine electro-magnetic field in sitting position. It’s very hard to say exactly what happened but I know something very special did and it is always so heart opening that the horses care so much about us humans and see us warts and all with such compassion.
I have my own horse Sappho Lola and we have had many very special moments together. Once she lay down with me in a field and fell asleep with her head on my shoulder snoring gently in my ear. This was quite possibly the best moment of my entire life! I knew the healing power of horses but I was amazed at the way they worked as a herd together creating this incredible energy field around the group. What completely blew me away even more is that they appeared to understand that we were doing astrology and knew exactly how to join in.
We have 2 more workshops planned for 2015. On May 23rd and 3rd July we will be working with Chiron and another centaur body Elatus who represents the Inner Sabateur as these bodies make a rare opposition. We will also be working with a labyrinth big enough for horse and human in the summer which will be very exciting.
Contact us if you would like to find out more or join us on one of these amazing and unique experiences. Alternatively, please contact:-
astroalison@gmail.com (07963167649) or:-
amanda@inharmonywithhorses.co.uk (07815318866)