Channel for Ramtha
Zip Dobyns
I usually try to feature one or two gurus in the Sagittarius issue of The Mutable Dilemma. Lois Rodden has provided one that I was eager to get; the data for J. Z. Knight who was born on March 16, 1946 at two minutes after midnight in Dexter, NM, 33 N 12, 104 W 22. I have seen a few reports about Knight’s life and the Ramtha phenomena, but have not attended any of her channeling seminars. The reports are very mixed, ranging from devotees who see her as a source of final truth, to disillusioned followers who feel that she was initially sincere but has become caught in ego and the quest for money, to skeptical reporters who assume that she is a con artist.
An article in Omni magazine falls more in the last category, describing her repeated marriages, her million dollar estate and mansion which was built with the proceeds of seminars for which hundreds of people paid several hundred dollars per day, her sale of over-priced horses to followers with the claim that they were specially bred by “spiritual entities” for the purchasers, etc. Disillusioned followers report seeing her smoking and talking normally “as herself” but switching into the Ramtha role instantly when someone came in view.
I was not impressed with the book “Ramtha” which reported the teachings supposedly coming from the “evolved master” speaking through Knight. Much of the book is standard metaphysics of the “positive thinking” variety plus what I sometimes call “post-Cayce occultism.” People are assured that they create their own reality and that everything will be beautiful some day after a lot of catastrophes. Of course, Knight’s area will be safe from the catastrophes. (Shades of Edgar Cayce.) A sizable number of true believers have consequently moved up to her area of Yelm, Washington. Unfortunately, the material in the book on history, archaeology, and astrology is such nonsense, that I have to remain skeptical of the whole show. Clearly, neither Knight nor Ramtha know anything about astrology.
Unlike the book, Knight’s horoscope is fascinating, and does show the potential of genuine psychic ability. I would conclude that, as is so often the case, the personality has overwhelmed and scrambled whatever accurate spiritual insights were trying to come through it. Knight’s Sagittarius Ascendant fits her role as guru, teacher, and preacher. The rising Sagittarius can express as “I ought to be perfect or I’m no good” or as “I am already God, know final Truth, and have a right to anything I want.” Of course, the safer stance is the attitude that we are on the way to perfection, doing the best we can but encouraged to enjoy the journey rather than waiting until we are perfect to accept ourselves and life or claiming that we are already there.
In a preliminary study I did once of several hundred individuals who had experienced being “out-of-body”, the most distinctive pattern was the presence of water planets and/or Uranus close to the angles. Knight has Uranus on the Descendant. She also has aspects between all the water planets (Neptune-Moon-Pluto) and Uranus as well as aspects from them to the Ascendant and to Mercury, the planet of consciousness, further supporting the potential for psychic openness (the water) which can be channeled into action (the Ascendant) or consciousness and speech (Mercury). The Pisces Sun and planets in the water fourth and eighth houses provide additional emphasis on the importance of the unconscious side of the mind. Even the nodes of the Moon repeat the water emphasis with the south node closely conjunct Knight’s East Point which I read as an auxiliary Ascendant. She is certainly tapping her unconscious which is potentially in touch with the unconscious minds of others and with other levels of reality. The question is always whether the personal unconscious can remain a clear channel or whether personal beliefs and emotions will dominate and distort the incoming material.
We can see the importance of Knight’s parents as role models with Ceres as a key to mother very closely conjunct the Antivertex as another Ascendant (identity in action). Aries in the fourth house (more often mother but sometimes father) is another identification with the parent, and Mars conjunct Saturn brings father in as role model. Role models manifest parts of ourselves, often exaggerated, giving us a chance to see either what to do or what not to do, depending on whether they are negative or positive models. We can learn from either variety. The aspects in this horoscope suggest more negative role models with the Moon in Virgo square the Ascendant and Ceres in Capricorn octile the Ascendant. The signs would fit a working and possibly critical mother. Virgo and Capricorn both focus on doing a good job which requires attention to the flaws and an effort to correct them. The attitude is great when applied to the job but highly uncomfortable when directed at relationships. Neptune in the tenth house and Pisces in the fourth house show the other side of perfectionism; the search for the ideal. When the same principle is connected to the houses of both parents, we have either parents who are similar or one parent taking over both roles. With Pisces, the parent(s) may be artists, saviors or victims. The latter may simply be people chronically unhappy because life never matches their expectations. The fourth house Sun square the first house East Point and Moon’s south node is additional support for tension with a parent, but there are always mixed aspects so we can never be dogmatic about details. Venus and Mercury in the fourth house are trine the Ascendant, though square the first house Pallas, and Neptune in the tenth house sextiles the Ascendant and again squares Pallas. The oppositions across the fourth and tenth houses often indicate separated parents, though this may be anything from a parent who travels to parents who have different interests. Air-fire and cardinal signs or planets are more likely to make real overt changes in the life, so they tend toward actual physical separations, which often means divorce in our western society.
The placement of Mars (natural ruler) and Saturn (actual ruler of the first house since Capricorn is in the house) in the eighth house shows another familiar challenge, the danger of projecting personal power into the hands of others. We may give others the power and be dependent; we may try to keep all the power; or we may retreat from closeness to protect ourselves. On the positive side, we can share the power with compromise; we can have healthy competition; and we can help people. When the seventh and eighth houses are strongly occupied, especially with rulers of the first house, it is important to do all three of the positive potentials; to have a place for cooperation, for competition (in sports, games, business, or fighting for causes), and for helping.
The “freedom-closeness” dilemma shows in the chart in a variety of ways. The nodes are across the first and seventh houses indicating a need to integrate self-will with the desires and will of others. Aries in the fourth house, Uranus in the seventh house, Mars in the eighth house and in Cancer, the Moon in the ninth house, Venus in Aries, etc. are all combinations of the desire for commitment mixed with the desire for independence and self-will. The search for an ideal mate adds to the difficulty in sustaining a commitment. Neptune, Chiron (like Jupiter) and Jupiter are all in Libra and Juno (the marriage asteroid) is closely conjunct Jupiter. Saturn in the eighth house wants a father figure; Cancer there wants a mother figure; Uranus wants a friend with no strings; and all the Libra factors are looking for God in the mate. Venus in the fourth house, Libra in the tenth house, and Pallas in Capricorn repeat the search for a parent in the partner (or choosing someone to whom we can play parent), while Moon ruling the seventh and eighth houses and placed in the ninth house repeats the search for the perfect partner. With that much emphasis on contradictory or unreasonable expectations for the partner along with the fear of being hurt, it is pretty normal to need more than one attempt to attain a lasting partnership. Mostly, we learn by trying and trying again.
Of course, I had to calculate the asteroids for Knight’s chart and there are some interesting ones. Asmodeus, the Babylonian god of lust which has been featured in Gary Hart’s chart all year, is also strong in this one. Knight had natal Asmodeus conjunct her Ascendant within 24 minutes of longitude, and progressed (P) Asmodeus in mid-October when I got her data had retrograded back to be conjunct both its natal position and the Ascendant. It will continue within the one degree orb for some years, moving slowly back into the twelfth house. P Helio, one of the sun gods for prominence, power, the limelight etc. is also on the natal Ascendant. Natal Nike (victory), Fortuna (one of the Fates) and Pele (goddess of volcanoes and earthquakes) are all in Knight’s tenth house conjunct either natal or P Neptune. Another sun god, Amun, is on natal Vesta for fame in her work, while P Vesta is on Dodona, named for a psychic shrine in ancient Greece so fitting the psychic component in her work. P Dodona has been going over the IC for more than two years. P Pythia, named for the psychic priestesses at the oracle of Delphi in ancient Greece, is conjunct Pluto for some years. P Washingtonia is conjunct natal Uranus (I wonder if anyone in the government is consulting her?) while P Midas conjuncts P Uranus as her psychic seminars bring in the gold. P Rumpelstilz who turned straw into gold is also on her P Antivertex. The chart includes a warning note with P Hybris (variant spelling of hubris—the pride that goes before a fall) conjunct natal Mars and Saturn for some years past and due to remain on Saturn for many more years. Saturn symbolizes the limits of personal will, and its position in the eighth house marks a lesson in sharing resources and power, learning to respect the rights of others, or in self-knowledge and self-mastery.
Overall, Knight’s horoscope shows a strong positive potential for a spiritual and psychic role in the world. I hope that she handles the temptation of ego and money, (P Sun is in Taurus in its own Leo house in a quincunx to Neptune), and that she stays true to her spiritual potential.