All the Myths of Chiron say he was a centaur (Half man and half horse). He was a great healer, astrologer and an oracle. Chiron rules crystals and healing and was suppose to be the teacher of heroes to help them discover their destiny.

Chiron’s pupils came to him to learn the pragmatic way to fulfill their highest potential. He taught Jason (golden fleece) how to undertake the quest, and he taught Achilles to be a sacred runner and to play the Kithara. Asclepios was taught the art of healing and thus Chiron is actually the father of Medicine and is mostly associated with ancient medicine. Chiron founded the Chironium, a healing temple on Mt. Pellius.

The Chiron mythology on death is particularly fascinating. The centaurs were party animals (literally) drinking and having fun was their main goal in life. As time went on, the centaurs seemed to have overdone the partying and were becoming extinct. Chiron became the only one left. His staying alive was crucial to their being any centaurs in the world. His death was a tribute to mankind. Chiron gave himself willingly so that the fire could be released from the Underworld by Prometheus. This was done so that humankind would learn to use power in the right way. In the process of obtaining fire, Chiron had to die. The teacher/healer took a poisoned arrow of Hercules and dropped it on his foot, poisoning himself. This poison was the very one that the teacher had given to the student. Chiron gave his life for the greater good of humanity. Chiron was a teacher who taught healing by means of clearing and bravery and then letting go without fear when the time came.

So powerful was his influence on the legends and myths of the ancient world that today many of the root words of the ancient healing arts are connected. Chiral means the polarization of light from one hand to the other; chiromancy is reading of the hand or palmistry. Chiropracty is healing of the joints and bones by means of manipulation, Chirothesia is energy in the hands during sacred rites, a blessing without hands is Chirotony and another word, Chirurgery is an ancient word which later became surgery. And even the magical divination form of chiron is chiromancy, which is the Tarot. The Tarot is a way into understanding how Chiron rules the search for the exact place and time of awareness which then is the gateway to its opposite.

Text from Creative Minds: The Mythology Page Library, ©1997, V.Hamby: create@create.org