Rajneesh Update

Zip Dobyns

An article on Rajneesh was presented in the Virgo 1982 issue of The Mutable Dilemma, but in light of recent developments, we thought our readers might like an update with a copy of the chart for new readers.

[Note: this chart was run for a different longitude based on later data.]

As was suggested in the original article, the handling of power and possessions and sensuality is a lesson area shown by Saturn and its sign, Capricorn being placed in the houses of peer relationships. Regular readers by this time will have memorized the six possible ways of handling the placement of keys to personal “self-will in action” (letter one in our astrological alphabet) in these houses of other people. Rajneesh has Mars, the natural form of letter one, in addition to Mercury and Moon, both ruling the first house (Gemini and Cancer in the first house) all placed in the seventh or eighth houses.

The six ways to handle this possible projection of personal power into the hands of others include giving it away, trying to keep it all, and retreating from closeness as painful alternatives, and sharing the power (compromise), healthy competition, and helping people as the positive alternatives. Rajneesh demonstrates the urge to help people, but his life also demonstrates a need to keep more than his share (manifested in Rolls Royce and Cadillac cars along with expensive jewelry) and a retreat from closeness achieved by his religious position. The latter also permits him to maintain power and to avoid dealing with compromise or equality.

But the lessons of Saturn and its sign are not so easily escaped. He has been forced to recognize the limits of his power in several forms. His associates claim they were turned off by his greed. He claims they wanted power over him. We may never know the full story, but the power-struggle with former comrades is a displacement of healthy competition into fighting with members of one’s team where we should have cooperation. The shift from encouraging sexual license to urging celibacy marks another of the swings that are often found when we have not learned the eighth house lesson of mastery over the appetites and moderation. AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) has cast a long shadow over the advocates of “free love” who saw commitment as prudish and old-fashioned. Pluto in Scorpio is pointing to the need to return to lifetime commitment where sex is concerned, as well as reminding us of the urgent need to learn to share the resources of the planet and deal with debts of both countries and individuals; debts which had become as excessive as the sensual license. If the reports are accurate, Rajneesh was involved in medical drugs and possessions and money to the point of extreme excess, while his followers were encouraged to indulge in sensual pleasure.

Saturn and Capricorn symbolize the “rules of the game,” the limits to our own wills, whether those limits are met through natural law in the form of body illness, or in confrontations with authority figures and the laws of the country. Rajneesh left India because the traditions of his native country were opposed to the sexual license and nudity which he encouraged. Now that AIDS has taught him the limits of sensual license and the wisdom of moderation, he may be able to remain in his native land. Or he may seek a country which will allow him to reign over his private kingdom.

There were many interesting aspects at the time of his confrontation with the authorities in Oregon, followed by the attempt to flee the country, the capture and jail in Charlotte, N.C., the return to Oregon, and his final plea of guilt in arranging marriages to get followers into the U.S., payment of a fine, and departure for India. Aspects showing personal faith which could lead to over-reach but also to success, included a long trine of secondary progressed Jupiter to his natal Sun, and shorter trines of progressed Sun and Mars in the ninth house to the natal Ascendant. But he also had progressed Chiron (which I interpret as another Jupiter) in Taurus in the twelfth house in a long square to progressed Jupiter and a quincunx to natal Sun in Sagittarius. The combination includes a form of letter nine at all three corners, so indicative of inner conflicts between goals and values. The fire emphasis is intense, with Jupiter in the sign of the Sun and vice versa, as well as Sun and Mars conjunct in the Jupiter house, aspecting Ascendant which is equivalent to Mars. Remember that fire symbolizes “I know what I want, and I have the right and the power to get it right now.”

While the fire side of his nature was assuring him that he could have what he wanted and do what he pleased, the Saturn principle of limits to our personal will was also present. Progressed Mercury was conjunct progressed Saturn. Progressed East Point was conjunct natal Pluto opposite natal Saturn. Progressed Moon had just returned to Capricorn shortly before the current uproar began, and progressed Ceres had some time earlier entered Capricorn and was maintaining a square to the nodes of the Moon, one of them in the Capricorn (tenth) house. It is fascinating to note that in the place he picked to change or refuel planes for the flight overseas, his progressed local Ascendant was conjunct progressed Saturn. His progressed Antivertex (like another Ascendant) in Charlotte was conjunct his natal MC (another Saturn in the chart). Other aspects pointing to the fire (self-will) struggle against the limits of the earth world included progressed Sun and Saturn octile (semisquare) the progressed north node in the tenth house, with Sun exact to the mean node while Mars was exact to the true node. I find both forms of the nodes important. Uranus in Aries in the eleventh house had also remained in an octile to the natal MC all of Rajneesh’ life, as a lasting indication of his struggle between his innovative, non-conventional ideas and the establishment.

Other interesting aspects supporting the importance of local angles included the progressed local East Point conjunct progressed Sun, and, as additional support for the personal prominence (newspaper headlines all over the country) the local quotidian (daily) angles included Ascendant on the natal Sun and East Point on the progressed Moon. The progressed MC in Charlotte opposed Chiron and squared progressed Jupiter, to reemphasize the conflict over beliefs, values, morals, etc.

During the Oregon years, when the Ashram members were fighting the local people in Oregon, Rajneesh had progressed Atlantis (so often found in power struggles) on his natal Antivertex, and progressed Sun and Mars on Vesta (often associated with achievement of work goals at the expense of alienation of associates). Another of the new asteroids which I have found connected to power is Dembowska. It seems much like another Saturn in charts, and Rajneesh had it exactly conjunct his natal MC to further repeat the issue of learning to deal with power. Progressed Ascendant had just entered Leo to form a quincunx to natal MC and Dembowska, suggesting a change of status and/or home. The message was repeated by progressed Venus in the tenth house square natal Sun and quincunx progressed Jupiter as well as octile natal Antivertex. Progressed Antivertex was conjunct natal Phaethon (a potential over-reach key) and progressed Urania (like another Uranus). The potential for a major change was certainly there in the chart.

One of my newest projects, as mentioned in the Virgo issue, is an exploration of the Horizon Coordinate System, or what astrologers call Local Space charts. I tried the system on Rajneesh, locating him in Antelope, Oregon, the site of his Ashram, and looking toward Charlotte. The town of his arrest and first experience of jail proved to be conjunct his Antivertex, square his MC, opposite his Chiron, octile his Saturn and his Neptune, quincunx his north node, semisextile south node, and trioctile Pluto. It is fascinating how many times and in how many ways the sky gives us the message. Character produces destiny, and we see our character, our issues, in the mirror in the sky.

Copyright © 1985 Los Angeles Community Church of Religious Science, Inc.

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