Margaret Runyan (November 14, 1921 – December 24, 2011)
[Margaret Runyan Castaneda, whose book about ex-husband Carlos Castaneda punctured some of the mystique surrounding the bestselling author once touted as the godfather of the New Age, has died. She was 90. Family photo.] *** []
If you believe everything that has been written about Carlos Castaneda over the years, you come to a certain point where you realize that his life was a series of ‘magical passes’ accompanied by smoke and mirrors. Such is the case of Margaret Runyan Castaneda.
To suggest that they were married in 1960 and divorced in 1973, and yet their son has never found any divorce papers, seems to imply the long-held rumour that he ‘escaped’ from his past life in South America (in which he had a wife and infant daughter) is true. He would not have been free to marry anyone else, except as a bigamist. Nothing surprises me anymore.
The timing of this chart is rectified, based on Runyan meeting ‘the man of her dreams’ at age 34 (Mars and Saturn). Notice how there are two double inconjuncts from these planets in aspect to the Uranus/Ascendant conjunction @ 6° Pisces. Sparks must have flown. And the Mateus wine must have flowed, too.
She theorized that Carlos came up with the name Don Juan Matus because of their mutual enjoyment of Mateus wine, which, she wrote, “he jokingly referred to as his most valuable teacher.”
Chicago Tribune obit
The other inconjunct connects the Moon and Jupiter.
The Two of Them
Looking at their combined charts it is easy to see why Castaneda achieved success in the world of fiction (for that is what most people think his books about Don Juan are). In truth, he may have been ‘talking to himself’ as she suggests, and the dialogue has turned into a kind of “Conversations with God” story. The Yods are evidence of that. Their joint Moons are within 1° of each other in Taurus. Her Sun is conjunct his Saturn in Scorpio. The slower planets did not move very far in the 4 years between their births. Their relationship is the prime mover of his writing (her Moon and Pluto are forming a Yod pointing at his Mercury @ 12° Sagittarius).
If you want to know more, I suggest you read her book:
Carlos Castaneda (December 25, 1925 – April 27, 1998)
Courtesy of WordPress
What was I thinking for all these years? Of course, it is possible to chart this man‘s birth. Most astrology sites have 9:00 am as his birth time. And when you see the result, you can understand why that time may be very accurate, indeed.
Three Fingers of God (Yods)! The apex of one of those Yods is opposite the tail end of another.
Moon Inconjunct Mercury
As you grew older, you will have to learn to make your feelings and your reason work together. The problem is not so much that they come into conflict with each other, but that your reason and feelings represent two very different sides of your personality. When you are calm and collected and able to reflect carefully, you make decisions in one way. But when you are emotionally involved in a situation, you are likely to make up your mind very differently, which could cause you to seem inconsistent to others and make it difficult for them to understand you.
Mercury Inconjunct Pluto
You have a rather complicated and sometimes tricky mind. You usually prefer to do things in roundabout and involved ways instead of being simple and direct.
On another level, this aspect can mean that at certain times in your life you will go through tremendous psychological changes. All your thoughts and opinions will change completely. These stages may seem difficult, but you will be much better off if you let go of the past and welcome the new ideas.
Venus Inconjunct Pluto
This aspect may mean that you are very possessive and demanding of your loved ones. You may not want to accept the fact that your friends can love other people besides yourself. Let your friends be themselves freely when they are with you, and try not to be too demanding of their time. Love for friends and relatives should be given freely, not used as a way to control them. If you do that, you will lose their love.
Jupiter Inconjunct Neptune
You are an idealist with very vivid dreams about how you want your life to be, and at certain times in your life you will follow those dreams with all your energy. But sometimes those idealistic dreams will let you down, because you are not concerned enough with what is real and possible.
Your idealism can be a source of much creative imagination, leading to profound insights and realizations, but only if you remain connected with the actual day-to-day universe in which the rest of the human race lives.
Uranus Inconjunct Neptune
This aspect indicates a generation that had mixed feelings about its ideals and how to implement them. They often felt very confused about their ideals and when they found that their ideals failed because they were badly formulated, this group became disillusioned. States of consciousness beyond the ordinary are very confusing to them, and they prefer not to get involved with such matters.
Pluto Inconjunct Ascendant
This can be an indication that through experiences with others, you will be forced to undergo many significant changes in life. At times the crises may be quite unpleasant, but for the most part the results will be very positive, although for some people, they may be less constructive. But you must be very careful about the kind of people you get involved with. Choose your friends with great care and try to find people who have a healthy outlook on life and who seem reasonably well balanced. People who are driven to extreme behavior or who act compulsively, as if they could not plan anything in advance, are not very good for you. They will get you into difficult situation that you do not need.
(You may have noticed that I did not highlight any of these sentences: that is because all the words seem to apply to Castaneda’s life as a nagual.)
Yesterday, I took my first increased dose of Ozempic (.5 mg) and suffered from indigestion, nausea and diarrhea all afternoon. I thought, last night, that a good night’s sleep would sort me out. Really?!
You know that I dream every night. Last night was no exception. Because the night air was a bit chillier that normal, Susan added an extra blanket. That must have made my body warmer than usual. My extended dream reflected that feeling.
Yes, you got it! I dreamed that I set my house on fire, on purpose. Strangely enough, I was able to walk around the inside of the building while the fire was starting, and I was calmly observing what was taking place before my eyes. And, even in my dream, I knew this image was a metaphor for how my body was getting on with the Ozempic medication:
I’m almost halfway through this book. It’s not a dull read, by any means, but it seems to go on and on, especially when describing the information she received from the White Brotherhood.
But, she’s had some visions along the way, and I believe this one will be seen for what it is:
A dream-vision I had toward morning on October 31, 1913, which was accompanied by an unusually strong feeling of spiritual exaltation:
I am walking along a lighted corridor and come to a door, open it, and enter a large light-filled room with no windows. Then I look around for the next door so that I can proceed further. When I look to the right, the wall disappears, and a red-pink sphere opens up before my eyes. In the middle of it, there is a broad, tall staircase, narrowing in perspective toward the top, which is lost from sight in the pink glow. On both sides of the stairway, on every step, people are standing in groups, wearing garments of the same style. Near the bottom of the ladder, the groups are dressed in red, and ugly black spots cover their faces and garments. On the following steps upward, people have fewer and fewer spots, so that the higher toward the top they are, the lighter in color the people and their garments; and at the top all have merged into a pure pink glow.
On the very top of the staircase, a beautiful, giant figure emerges in a red garment, with a dark coat over his shoulder. He has beautiful facial features and long, black hair that reaches down to his shoulders. This Being quickly descends the stairs, his dark coat flapping like wings behind him, but at the very bottom of the staircase, he stops as if some obstacle has suddenly risen up in front of him. Exhausted, he leans against the barrier, his dark hair hanging down in unusually pretty waves, and his garment hangs in beautiful folds.
When I turn to the opposite wall, I see the same phenomenon—the wall disappears, and in its place there is a radiant rainbow sphere. There is the same kind of staircase in the middle, its top lost from sight in the sunlight. Similar groups of people are standing on both sides, on every step. At the bottom their garments are light blue, but up toward the top, both people and their garments gradually became lighter in color, more silvery, merging at the top into a radiant light. As with the first sphere, a Magnificent Image emerges at the very top, against a background of blinding sunlight. His face is impossible to discern due to the light, but the heart-consciousness suggests that it is the Christ Image.
Slowly, awfully slowly, He begins to descend, stretching in turn His right and left arm to touch groups of the standing people. Upon His touch, tongues of flame burst over people’s heads, and each group has its specific color, all those flames forming a rainbow of the most delicate hues.
Full of admiration, I watch this beauty, when suddenly a whirlwind lifts me upward, leaving my mourning dress (which I wore after my mother’s death) behind on the floor, and I am being lifted up in a light-colored gown, carried toward the bottom of the staircase and placed among the lower group. I agonizingly wait to see whether Christ will approach me, whether His Hand will touch me, and what kind of light will be kindled over my head. . . . He does approach and stretches out His right Hand, and I feel and know with a rapture that a flame is bursting out of the top of my head and is burning with a silvery blue Fire.
Roerich, Helena . At the Threshold of the New World: Dreams, Visions and Letters of Helena Roerich (pp. 47-48). Kindle Edition.
This is obviously a Stairway to Heaven, as well as a Stairway to Hell. In other words, a vision of the chakras and their individual limitations (the Heart chakra being the dividing line). She looks to the right and sees the lower chakras (they would be on the left side facing her) and on the other side, she sees the upper chakras. Interesting. Reminds me of Jacob’s Ladder by Blake.
The Vision Chart
I’m not surprised there’s a Finger of God (Yod) pointing at Pluto. This represents a spiritual revelation, and, it would be fair to say, a complete reorientation of her very soul.
Moon Inconjunct Pluto
This aspect means that your emotions are very intense and not always easy to deal with. Often your feelings make you want to do or say something without knowing why. Also you may have very intense moods in which you withdraw from those around you into a world of your own. This should not be a very serious problem unless you have been brought up to have all sorts of fears and worries. In that case your actions will be driven by your fears, and you may behave quite strangely.
You probably enjoy exploring the mysterious and probing hidden secrets. Even while you are young, you will understand human nature better than most people, but to use this ability positively, you must be reasonable calm about your feelings.
Mercury Inconjunct Pluto
The challenge of this aspect is to make your thinking and communication with others more clear. Your rational mind is strongly influenced by your sensitivity, imagination and ideals, although you aren’t always sure how this happens. You tend to spend too much time in your own imaginary world that no one else can share, and this confuses your dealings with others. You will have to learn to face reality, so that you can at least communicate with people. Otherwise you will have a very lonely life.
Uranus Inconjunct Pluto
This aspect indicates changes in the world of the people who were born at these times, changes that were difficult to understand because they were very revolutionary but subtle in many ways.
Climbing Up to Heaven or Bringing Heaven Down to Earth?
In the opening chapter of this book, the same vision is discussed by the editor:
That scene-vision carried in itself the most profound philosophical meaning. It showed that in every Cosmic phenomenon there are two principles, two opposites: Christ radiant with light and good, and another entity opposite to Christ. Each has its own path and its own ladder of ascent and descent. Those paths pass through the Cosmos, through worlds of various dimensions. The dense world is at the beginning of the path or at the foot of the ladder. That ladder, besides linking Heaven and Earth into a united energy system, contains in itself another important meaning. It may be used to either ascend or descend, for evolution and involution are also two opposite polarities that exist only in their mutual connection. The energy situation in the Cosmos is such that there is no evolution without involution. Evolution begins with involution in both general and particular senses. We speak a lot about evolution, while involution either goes unmentioned or is understood in a very narrow fashion: as a downfall, an inability to keep on a certain level of ascent, and thus a descent to a lower level. We fail to take into account the dialectics of interaction between evolution and involution in their broad cosmic meanings, and to take into consideration the energy aspect of that interaction. There is no evolution without involution—without appreciating this truth, it would be difficult or simply impossible to grasp the essence of the evolutionary energies.
In order for evolution to take place, the fiery spark of the spirit must enter the inert matter or descend into it. For spirit, it is an involution, while for matter, it marks the beginning of an evolution. There are many “beginnings” of this sort, for on every evolutionary stage, there is its own type of matter and its own frequency of vibration of spirit. For every transition to a new turn of ascent, there is an involutionary impulse, or, in other words, a new spark of spirit enters its corresponding matter. According to its energy and its frequency of vibration, the spark will create a difference in potentials of the two fundamental opposites, necessary for the energy of ascent to be set into action. It is the interaction between involution and evolution that generates the very conditions necessary for ascent. But what is the spark of the spirit? It is well-known that the spirit as such, which is to say, in a pure state, is nonexistent in nature. Therefore, the role of that spark, as a rule, is played by a High Entity.
In order for matter of a lower world to acquire an ability for further evolution and further advancement, the High Entity, or the Cosmic Hierarch, has to descend, that is, to enter the involution. The vision that appeared before Helena Roerich’s eyes reflected in accessible and vivid images that most important and complex moment of cosmic evolution. Recall that Christ slowly descends, going past those who have already achieved a certain degree of ascent. He proceeds to the foot of the ladder where those stand who did not ascend yet to a necessary level. Over their heads there were not yet those fires that were radiated by those who had ascended. Helena Roerich herself was found at the foot of the ladder. Christ stretched His hand, and a Fire burst out above her, the Fire so desperately needed by all those standing nearby. Thus, a Great Mystery of the Cosmic Evolution was accomplished, and its creation, previously unheard of, began.
After completion of the cycle of his or her earthly incarnations, a subject of evolution, a High Entity, a Cosmic Hierarch, or a Mahatma, as they call such people in India, may keep ascending in Higher Worlds. But some of them voluntarily return to Earth. Having mastered evolutionary energy mechanisms, they, with the sparks of their spirits, initiate a new stage, or a new turn, of the cosmic evolution of humanity. By sacrificing themselves, deliberately embarking on involution, they lay the foundation for the evolution of humanity.
Roerich, Helena . At the Threshold of the New World: Dreams, Visions and Letters of Helena Roerich (pp. 15-16). Kindle Edition.
“The Whole World’s [not] Watching” August 29, 1968
You had to be there, I guess. And I suspect the starter of this rumour was conflating two separate events, one of which happened the day before in Chicago, and the other that took place more than 9 years later in the UK. (I’ll come to that one in a minute.)
Here’s the prompt for my curiosity:
I’ve written about the trial of the Chicago 7 previously. The recording of the crowd chanting “the whole world is watching” took place on August 28, 1968 when the Chicago police surrounded the anti-war protestors outside the Conrad Hilton Hotel where the 1968 Democratic National Convention was being held. Only, there was no live TV coverage of the protest, possibly due to Mayor Daley’s actions. That may be where the blackout idea comes from. So, I’ve set up a chart for the ‘supposed’ blackout/interruption for the middle of the noon hour on the 29th.
Now, isn’t that interesting? A Finger of God (Yod) pointing at Saturn @ 25° Aries (Mayor Daley) with inconjuncts from the Mercury/Venus conjunction in Virgo (the protestors) and Neptune (deception) in a conjunction to the Moon and Scorpio Rising (the popular press).
Admittedly, the time of 3:30 pm CDT the day before would have seen the Moon and the Ascendant in a different location, but the Mercury/Venus/Saturn/Neptune inconjuncts would have been fairly static. So the Yod was in effect for most of the convention.
Since we are actually discussing a TV interruption, these inconjuncts might not make sense.
Mercury Inconjunct Saturn
This aspect can have several different meanings. First of all, you may have hidden fears that are difficult to express, but they cause you to do things that others can’t understand. These may include fear of the dark or of certain places or people. Or this aspect can mean that you often feel depressed and sad for no apparent reason. You tend to see the serious side of life, and it weighs on you more than on most people.
It is possible that your thinking will become unnaturally rigid for someone of your age. You may get into routines or habits that you are afraid to break, for you prefer familiar paths of life and known ways of doing things.
Venus Inconjunct Saturn
You need and want love, but you may not be able to get it easily. You may feel that your parents, teachers or other persons in authority make demands on you that you must fulfill before they will give you any love and support. If hat is true, it is unfortunate, because you deserve respect and love as much as anyone. Although everyone must fulfill certain social demands, this should not be the condition for being loved. If this demand is carried to an extreme in your case, you will become cold-hearted and unable to love others even when you want to. You may also feel that you cannot indulge yourself in any pleasure or even love. When you are older, you may feel that duty and ambition must come before love and human relationships. Unfortunately, if you follow that path, you will become very lonely, and when you realize that you belong to no one and nothing, you will go through a spiritual crisis.
Saturn Inconjunct Neptune
This aspect is strongest when either of these planets is also conjunct or opposition the Ascendant or Midheaven. It can have a variety of effects, one of which may be difficulty in relating fantasy and imagination, on one hand, to reality, duty, obligation and work, on the other. Usually the reality, duty and work aspect of the combination is dominant, at least at first. Your imaginative side tends to be transformed into nervousness, fear and irrational anxieties. The most negative manifestation of this aspect is a feeling that you have to keep a tight lid on yourself and that if you look inside yourself too closely, you will find only emptiness and disintegration. It is difficult for you to realize that this is not the truth about your inner self.
(Yes, this Yod is definitely about the anti-war demonstration.)
This is the voice of Vrillon, a representative of the Ashtar Galactic Command, speaking to you. For many years you have seen us as lights in the skies. We speak to you now in peace and wisdom as we have done to your brothers and sisters all over this, your planet Earth. We come to warn you of the destiny of your race and your world so that you may communicate to your fellow beings the course you must take to avoid the disaster which threatens your world, and the beings on our worlds around you.
This is in order that you may share in the great awakening, as the planet passes into the New Age of Aquarius. The New Age can be a time of great peace and evolution for your race, but only if your rulers are made aware of the evil forces that can overshadow their judgments.
Be still now and listen, for your chance may not come again. All your weapons of evil must be removed. The time for conflict is now past and the race of which you are a part may proceed to the higher stages of its evolution if you show yourselves worthy to do this. You have but a short time to learn to live together in peace and goodwill. Small groups all over the planet are learning this, and exist to pass on the light of the dawning New Age to you all.
You are free to accept or reject their teachings, but only those who learn to live in peace will pass to the higher realms of spiritual evolution. Hear now the voice of Vrillon, a representative of the Ashtar Galactic Command, speaking to you. Be aware also that there are many false prophets and guides at present operating on your world. They will suck your energy from you – the energy you call money and will put it to evil ends and give you worthless dross in return.
Your inner divine self will protect you from this. You must learn to be sensitive to the voice within that can tell you what is truth, and what is confusion, chaos and untruth. Learn to listen to the voice of truth which is within you and you will lead yourselves onto the path of evolution. This is our message to our dear friends. We have watched you growing for many years as you too have watched our lights in your skies.
You know now that we are here, and that there are more beings on and around your Earth than your scientists admit. We are deeply concerned about you and your path towards the light and will do all we can to help you. Have no fear, seek only to know yourselves, and live in harmony with the ways of your planet Earth.
We here at the Ashtar Galactic Command thank you for your attention. We are now leaving the planes of your existence. May you be blessed by the supreme love and truth of the cosmos.
But, knowing what I know, and thinking what I think, today, this may have been an actual ‘alien’ message…
That Grand Trine involving the Moon, Pluto and the Midheaven is my first clue that it might be interstellar in nature. The crossed lines of two inconjuncts may be ‘how’ it was done.
Sun Inconjunct Jupiter
This aspect has possibilities for positive and helpful energy. You may be a very optimistic person who helps people in need at the critical moment. If so, others will help you when you need it. If you can control yourself and keep from going overboard, you will find that you can be quite lucky. But don’t assume that luck will always carry you through. Work as hard as you can to get what you want and act fairly and honestly with others; then the luck will be there.
Moon Inconjunct Uranus
Your relationship with your mother may be rather unstable. She may be very involved in her own interests, which prevent her from being as close to you as she would be otherwise. She may be an unconventional person, a real free spirit. The problem is that your feelings about her are mixed, both loving and unloving. You may secretly resent her. Probably you don’t feel that you can express this consciously, but it could come out when you are angry or upset.
Lucky or unlucky? Loved or unloved? It really comes down to our own emotional responses.
There are no more words that I can add to this recording.
