Spiritual Impact
with Lady LSD who opened the doors of his
perception, already ajar and ready receive
the considerable transpersonal influence
latent in his psyche.
Like many seekers from the progressive
Jewish milieu, he turned to India for a deep
dive into the Big Questions during the 1960’s
and that is where he met his Master - Neem
Karoli Baba. In 1971, at age 40 he published
the seminal book: BE HERE NOW, which
became the de facto manual for everyday
awakening for seekers everywhere during
the following decade and beyond.
His spiritual teachings took a decidedly
humane and accessible course as over the
decades he has shared his vulnerability and
humanity. He grew to emphasize a devotion
to practical, compassionate service as para-
mount in a profound spiritual life, and as
precedent to the personal cultivation of
higher states of consciousness.
A debilitating stroke in 1997 awakened
another dimension in him, the acceptance
of his guru, Neem Karoli Baba’s fierce
grace. He has emerged as one of the most
real, warm-spirited, and accessible spiritu-
al teachers of the past 50 years.
His SUN is in enterprising, independent
ARIES and is rendered Uber-excitable and
unconventional by a tight conjunction to
URANUS in the 10th house of career/public
reputation. In addition, the North Node is in
tight conjunction to the two, emphasizing
the radical, initiating imperative of this life-
time, and in the public awareness. Accenting
that emphasis, the fiery Sun is rendered
more powerful by mutual reception to an
enterprising MARS/LEO in the 1st. Mars rules
the NN.
There was little doubt that Richard Alpert
would be a person of unusual and surpris-
ing impact, one who possesses the capacity
for satori level of insights in whatever field
he embraces. The South Node is in Libra, in
the 4th house, and ruled by Venus/Pisces
9th. These signatures indicate this is a soul
coming from a place of idealism and spiritual
explorations - a more passive expression in
the world with a merging Neptunian flavor.
This lifetime calls him to express his
imperatives in the public eye (North Node
in Aries in the 10th house, conjunct the Sun
and Uranus). And so, Richard Alpert is faced
with harnessing his considerable ego in this
life towards a public service by integrating
his mystical explorations and focusing his
exploratory urgencies to that end
The North Node pull of Destiny conjuncts
his individuated Uranian public expression
and leaves little wiggle room for simply
mucking about in his own little play, while
larger destiny and karmic forces are at work.
Cancer Ascendant, Pluto,
Jupiter & Saturn
In contrast to the Aries extrovert ener-
gy, - Ram has a deeply sensitive CANCER
ASCENDANT, available for nurturing and the
caring for his world.
This is no ordinary Cancer Ascendant
though; it is tightly conjunct PLUTO, render-
ing its imperatives intense, charismatic and
even compulsively driven. Later in the article
when exploring the 1997 stroke, we can
see that Pluto on the Ascendant in T-Square
to Saturn and the Nodes has a latent and
non-negotiable message in this life of the
necessity for consciously embracing death,
with Cancerian care.
With JUPITER conjunct the ASC from the
12th house of self-effacement and collective
unconscious, there is buoyancy within him to
match that intensity. The same is enhanced
by the added ‘guardian angel effect’ of a 12th
house Jupiter in its exalted sign of Cancer,
which contributed to his being perceived
by friends and colleagues to be infectiously
upbeat (Mars & Moon contribute, as well).
Sobering the benevolent Jupiterian Cancer
configuration is Saturn/Capricorn in opposi-
tion from the 7th house cusp, which restricts
and saddens some of Cancer’s nurturing feel,
dampens some of Jupiter’s enthusiasms and
royally pisses off the Pluto there. So what
happened with Dad, anyway, we are led to
wonder? Or in himself, no matter how upbeat,
he must have and perhaps struggles with
right relationship to power and authority.
What’s Ram Dass’s
Spiritual Shtick?
Like nearly all notable and impactful
people in the spiritual domain and in any
human field, there is a notable influence
of the transpersonal planetary triad
- Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto on the
personal planetary energies in the chart.
RAM RAM - Richard is a poster boy for
those influences.
(Warning: It’s gonna get loud...)
The Sun, the Nodal Axis and Mars
The
Career
Astrologer
OPA’s Quarterly Magazine
V24 -02
JUNE SOLSTICE 2015
page
27