Apr 6: Richard Alpert & Sally Eaton

[Jim Eshelman]

Alpert, Richard (Ram Dass). April 6, 1931, 10:40 AM EST, Boston, MA (B).
Eaton, Sally. April 6, 1947, 3:58 AM, Great Lakes, IL (A).

[Jim Eshelman]

Ram Dass' chart features Pluto in the exact degree of Ascendant square a partile Sun-Uranus conjunction - all fitting within his core Piscian temperament. This is a remarkable and simple identification of one of the great figures of enlightenment of the last century (and one who lived it primarily withdrawn from the world at large).

One of the great things that comes from examining all of these charts with a fresh eye is reminding me how simple and straightforward astrological natal analysis can be. This is probably the first thing that attracted me about Cyril Fagan's way of looking at horoscopes. In Ram Dass' case, the chart speaks to a radical life lived outside the mainstream with a Piscean thrust to his character. The other strong factors primarily reflect what a warm, gracious person he was personally, plus his brilliance.

Of great interest - and a worthy start for deeper study (something that would have made a fabulous basis for an article in the era of monthly astrology magazines) - is that he had the same Sun, Moon, and Ascendant signs as Albert Einstein. (Yes, if I'd seen this in the '70s or '80s, the article name would have been "Albert & Alpert." Van Gogh had the same three as well. Perhaps a start of the contrast would be Alpert's Mars in Cancer and Einstein's Mars in Capricorn - might we be comfortable with the idea that the energies of one went primarily to the field of consciousness and the other to the physical universe? How important are the lesser sign placements, e.g., Alpert's MC was in Pisces, Einstein's in Aquarius; yet Alpert had Mercury in matter-of-fact Aries while Einstein had it in Pisces.