Full Spectrum Women~ Chiron & the Peacock in the Alchemy of Menopause.

As far as I know, there are no myths from the ancient world that connect Chiron with the peacock, the peacock is Hera’s sacred bird. In exploring the “Alchemy of Menopause” however, I see a link. There is a stage at the tail end of the Negredo, and just before the Albedo, when the blackness begins to change and reveals a spectrum of iridescent colours. This is known as the Peacock stage or the Cauda Pavonis. Within the chaos of the Negredo, we may have experienced depression, hopelessness, confusion, or even a dark night of the soul. As attachments to false identities dissolve, it can feel as if we are stripped of all that was previously familiar.

In the midlife transition of menopause, women sometimes report feeling lost to themselves. While the old identity still clings on and the new identity has not yet taken shape, a metamorphosis is in process. Through the darkness colours begin to emerge, at first faint but gradually growing stronger. These colours represent treasures that have been hidden in the unconscious, that are ready to add to the spectrum of wholeness that we are becoming. The things we have cast to the underworld are not always the shadow, the hurt places, or the trauma too painful to remember, they can also include the parts of us that shone too brightly, the gifts that felt too dangerous to claim, or the joys that felt too full for the restrictive world we found ourselves in.

In Christianity, the peacock represents immortality and resurrection. The tough skin of the Peacock remains intact for a longtime after death, and the peacock’s splendid feathers fall out every year in the autumn before growing again. The beautiful pattern on the feathers is said to represent the eye of God, or the all-seeing eye.

Peacocks can eat plants that are toxic to humans. In Buddhism it is believed that peacocks can ingest and transmute the toxins of life while continuing the path to enlightenment. The fanned feathers are also said to symbolise spiritual openness and acceptance.

These qualities of the peacock also belong to the centaur Chiron: the ability to transmute poison, the capacity for spiritual renewal and resurrection. The extra sensory perceptions that let us see and feel into the deeper stratum of life.

For most women, the Chiron return coincides to a greater or lesser extent with the menopause journey. Both the Chiron return and menopause can be seen as initiatory thresholds of death, rebirth, and renewal.

This is an exciting aspect of menopause that I personally feel relates to reclaiming the inner child, the one who reignites our wonder, joy, creativity, and excitement for life. The one who invites us to switch off the computer and get lost in the magic of Nature for a few hours, or the one who has us going into an art shop for the first time in years to buy some paints.

Spiritually, peacock symbolizes confidence and the ability to transform negativity into something beautiful. The same can be said of Chiron’s wounds, once we have transmuted the pain, the wound becomes a gift. It can be a hard medicine to swallow, but through accepting Chiron’s wounds and integrating them into our life, we are made more whole. In menopause we likewise become whole with the full spectrum of feminine experience and wisdom.