​The first batch of 5 degrees having been transited and to some extent assimilated into consciousness, Chiron enters the second expression of Aries. The name given to this Expression is ‘Direction’. The thrust of desire began with self-centred action – and the five stages of this process are outlined already. Now the focus becomes making some accommodation within ourselves in order to relate to society, and thus benefit from the support and fellowship that that offers. Cultural norms impact upon us in an emotional way – we are offered both opportunity and penalty and are subject to the ups and downs of our feelings according to whether our expectations and desires are being met or disappointed. 

​Jones called this particular degree A SQUARE BRIGHTLY LIGHTED ON ONE SIDE, whose keyword is ‘SET’. This image employs traditional symbolism: a square indicates materiality, and the light is spirituality. It focuses upon the need to bring steadiness into our lives and settle the emotional ups and downs to an acceptable level. This occurs when, and only when, we adopt a spiritual code of some sort, in other words by SETTING STABLE LIFE PRINCIPLES.

​Because we have a desire to establish ourselves as a unique person, the need exists to resist the force that tends to pull us back into the undifferentiated state of pre-existence; this force of resistance is seen as our urge to be diverse in our self-expression, to be a creative individual. 

​Being different begins first at the level of family and tribe – WE are not like THEM – so we adopt the behaviours, beliefs and practices of our fellows to underline how different WE are from THEM. 

​Yet our yearning to be expressive as an individual bubbles up as the drive to achieve our own special goals and have our own special attitudes to life, which give rise to our own unique set of experiences. 

​We are, however, confronted with the need to understand that without the gift of knowledge experience is meaningless. We are all challenged to set ourselves upon an enlightened path as we struggle with physicality.

​Understanding our life is only possible when we give meaning to our experiences; a path must have meaning, or events are disconnected and lack depth of purpose. Without knowledge, experience is meaningless, yet without experience, knowledge is two-dimensional. Can we see that knowledge is the symbol of experience, and experience the symbol of knowledge? Each is the meaning of the other, and neither has meaning alone.

​With the 5th degree of any batch of 5 degrees we look for a synthesis of the wisdom suggested by the previous 4 of the set. In this example, Chiron is taking us through a process of reviewing what we are doing and who we are as we embark on another cycle of shifting perception. 

​If we were able to bring ourselves in Aries 4 to a heightened awareness of ‘the other’ we can step into Aries 5 with an advanced level of consciousness, wherein all polarities are reconciled, all ambiguities are resolved, and harmony is found. As was made strikingly clear during the Brexit process, it is very difficult to see things from the other’s point of view.

​Nonetheless, on a personal level, some of us aspire to do exactly that – to practice the ‘Golden Rule’ and see things simultaneously from two points of perception. We need to do to others what we would have them do to us. This teaching is not just for Christians, it is present in all spiritual belief everywhere and throughout history. 

​When we do then a higher state of being unfolds for us, and we can see more, understand more and feel more empathy. We can even expect occasionally to touch into transcendental states of consciousness. 

​Aries 5 is called A TRIANGLE WITH WINGS. “Through processes of development and refinement, our impulses lead us towards self-realisation”.

​We come to see ourselves differently, as parts of the whole, and totally enthusiastic about reconnecting with the Source, which means having access to the transcendental aspect of self. We come to recognise that this is the essence of our life journey.

​We learn of three fundamental aspects of who we are and what we are made of. Described by Marc Jones in terms of our skills, loyalties and values, these three bits of us relate to the animal, human and angelic components of self. The animal part is motivated by the four features of the gene’s survival imperatives: fight, flight, feed and fecundate. We develop skills so that we can survive in a harsh environment. Loyalties connect us with the two bloodlines of our roots and so connect to the push of family goals. Values speak to our soul’s sense of what is the right thing to do.

Chiron’s complete zodiac journey, which began as it entered Aries recently, is mapping out the individual steps through the 360 degrees. Each step can be studied by examining closely its Sabian Symbol.

Between April 11th and May 30th Chiron will transit through the 4th degree of Aries. This degree is called ‘Two lovers strolling through a secluded walk’ and the keyword Jones uses is ‘Enjoyment’ whereas Rudhyar suggests ‘Polarisation’.
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Jones’s keywords tend to be more to do with our personal experience and speak to the qualities that can be developed; Rudhyar’s have more to do with lessons for a seeker on the path to realisation.

Chiron’s teaching is basically that a perceptual shift is necessary and sufficient condition for healing. To put this differently, Chiron teaches us how better to see things. We can, for example, see that our enjoyment reaches spiritual heights when we hold on to our awareness of both aspects of any polarised position.
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This attitude is the essence of the fundamental principle of spiritual awareness, the Golden Rule, reflexive self-consciousness, ‘Do as you’d be done by’.

It differs completely from the selfish principle of pleasure. Pleasure is the hollow echo of joy. If we simply take our pleasure, for example in casual sex, in ruthless ambition, in manipulation of others, in excessive food-lust, then the momentary buzz soon fades and one day soon turns into its opposite emotion of disappointment.

Joy, however, is sustainable and wholesome. It may lack the exciting temporary buzz but it builds an grows and becomes a solid foundation of life.

The essential difference between pleasure and joy is that pleasure is for me and joy is for us. When we find that our own pleasure is optimised though another, then we are closer to joy. Think of how we are with babies or a new romance – we get so much more joy through sharing our experience. This is general truth that doesn’t always require offspring or a lover. When we care for another, joy deepens.

The more mystical, philosophical aspect of Aries 4 is that we will be able to know how to experience this level of joy only when we recognise, acknowledge and celebrate our own polarities – the masculine and feminine, the light and the shadow, certainty and doubt, love and fear – and embrace both sides with awareness.
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Having accepted and healed our inner polarities it becomes inevitable that our relationships with others are also healed. The reverse is also true that we cannot hope for a deep and peaceful, joyful connection with another until we have found such qualities within ourselves.

Chiron’s new initiative in Aries 1, met by a contrasting response in Aries 2 and an understanding, in Aries 3, of the importance of responding to community needs, now, in Aries 4, shows up our own personal inner ambiguities. We come to see that we have been wanting two things that cannot be reconciled, to be both involved and free, to have our cake and eat it or, during the Brexit fiasco, to enjoy Europe’s wealth and yet be free of responsibility to share its problems.

In the name of a higher, joyful, shared purpose, lovers resolve such ambiguities with caring compromise.