Philip K Dick (December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982)

There is a lot of controversy surrounding PKD. For one thing, people think he was a mad genius who could see the future. For another, he has had a mystical experience of remembering his life as an early Christian named Thomas in Rome, trying to escape detection by the Romans. So which is it? Both!

As I suggested in the title, PKD may have been suffering from survivor guilt.

The science-fiction writer Philip K Dick puzzled over the distinction between mental illness and religious experience after he had one himself. He claimed that, while he was recovering from dental surgery in February 1974, his consciousness was awakened by a mysterious flash of pink light. After the pink flash, he had visions of abstract paintings and unfamiliar engineering blueprints. Streams of fiery energy – of ‘liquid fire’, he said – seemed to weave through his environment and inhabit his body. He saw scenes of ancient Rome superimposed over his neighbourhood: ‘I looked around and saw Rome! Rome everywhere! Power and force, stone walls, iron bars.’

The Divine Fire of Philip K Dick’s Religious Visions

I’ve written about this experience before. The Ichthys pendant triggered the remembrance of a past life in 1st century Rome. Now, on its own, this would seem to be a ‘pink’ bolt of light out of the blue.

I knew that by charting this event, I would get a clue: that Venus on the Descendant speaks volumes. So many of his stories have an internalized element, which can only be understood as a feeling of having one’s twin living inside your body. Does that seem strange? It makes sense to me, since we internalize so much of our feelings, sometimes without even knowing it. The clue? Thomas, signifying the Twin.

Let’s look at his birth chart when combined with the event chart:

Do you see the event Sun lining up almost exactly with his natal Moon? At the same time the event Moon is transiting his natal Mars. Meanwhile the event North Node is triggering his natal Sun/Mercury/Saturn conjunction. In other words, it was time to act, to get his life straight again.