gold soul
07-12-2011, 05:19 PM
Alan Oken is an internationally renowned master astrologer and teacher of the Ancient Wisdom. He began his astrological and metaphysical studies in 1967 and has been an internationally known speaker, teacher, and lecturer for the past 35 years. Since the mid-1970’s, Alan Oken has lectured and taught extensively both in the USA and abroad. He has spoken in over 30 countries and almost all of the United States. During the past 35 years, he has on average 26 weeks on lecture tour and teaching engagements annually.
He was born in New York City and he studied Romance Languages in the context of his PhD thesis at NY University. He works and lectures in seven languages, including English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. He is also conversationally fluent in German and Indonesian and has a foundational knowledge of the Scandinavian languages. He is the author of a dozen titles, including Soul-Centered Astrology, Rulers of the Horoscope, and Alan Oken’s Complete Astrology. In addition he has written hundreds of articles for Dell Horoscope Magazine and many other national and international journals.
He was the Director of The Wisdom School (Santa Fe, NM), is co-founder of the Australian Institute for the Development of Consciousness, was Director of Esoteric Studies (Quiron Center, Lisbon), and co-founder of www. InfiniteQuest_Balance and Empowerment. Alan Oken is devoted to the Path of Spiritual Consciousness and a dedicated student of human nature. His sense of humor is as profound as his teachings. Most importantly, he is a member of the New Group of World Servers and a life-long student of the Work and Teachings of the Tibetan Master, Djwhal Khul.
http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac244/hryssa-p/selebrities/oken_2.jpg
MyHoroscope: Let’s start with a rather common question, though very special for each interviewee. At what point of your life did you become convinced that there was "something" in Astrology and under which circumstances you were directed to esoteric astrology?
Alan Oken: I was 23 years old, this was in 1967 in the height of the 60’s social phenomena and I, like many young people had “tuned in and dropped out.” In my case this was from a Ph.D. program in Romance Languages. I was living in a commune in the East Village area of Manhattan with a number of other friends. On October 24th at around 10.00pm I was meditating and in my meditation a Tibetan monk appeared and he said to me: “Become an astrologer and this will lead you to your Path.” I bowed low to the ground and said, “Yes, sir. I will do this.” The next day I returned to my mother’s house to live, borrowed some money from the dear lady and went to an astrology bookshop and purchased my first astrology books and withdrew for four months to study them. I emerged from my retreat and started to do charts for friends and then friends of friends. I never stopped studying and never stopped doing charts from that day to this. As for being led to esoteric astrology and The Ancient Wisdom, well that sort of happened at the same time as one of the books I purchased on that first shopping mission on October 25, 1967 was Alan Leo’s wonderful work, “Esoteric Astrology.” I became fully involved with the esoteric teachings especially the Work of the Tibetan Master, DK and Alice Bailey after another series of special events and another visit from a beautiful Messenger.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: For those readers who are not very familiar with esoteric astrology, how would you explain in a few words the higher purpose and the basic differences compared to traditional astrology, so as they will be able to gain a more profound and practical understanding of applied esoteric astrology?
Alan Oken: First it is absolutely necessary to be totally familiar with exoteric, traditional astrology before embarking on the journey to the more esoteric facets of this ancient science. As for the difference between the two, I will share a brief story with you. I was in Rhodes on my way to Crete. This was on my first journey to Greece and was in I the winter of 1988-1989. I was late arriving at the airport and in a great hurry. Although I do not speak your language, I do know the Greek alphabet and found myself standing between two doors. One one was written the word “Exoteriki” and on the other “Esoteriki.” “How lovely,” I said allowed and walked through the “Esoteriki” door because I knew that this was for domestic flights as I would be staying “inside” Greece. So there you have the difference, taking the “exoteriki” door to astrology will lead you to the external life of the personality while taking the “esoteriki” door will lead you to the internal life of the soul.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: Any chart has the potential for the development that would lead to a more enlightened being, although -due to some conditions or other factors- many people do not reclaim this potential. What kind of astrological indicators could show a person who is actually driven in this way?
Alan Oken: The chart does not reveal the “soul age” of a person, nor the level of aspiration to the “Feet of the Masters” which requires the urge to serve as fundamental to life’s motivations. But if the higher octave planets are in strong aspect to the luminaries, there is a good chance that (if the intellectual faculties are intact and the moral quality of the heart leads to genuine aspiration to the Higher Life) there will be that transcendental perspective alive in one’s consciousness that will lead one to the Way. In addition, there should be indications of enough existential crises in the life to help one climb out of patterns of instinctual desire. These will be revealed by the positions of Mars and Pluto as well as their aspects to the ruler of the 8th house and the condition of the 8th house in general. If there is a strong connection between the ruler of the 1st house and the ruler of the 8th and these are connected to Mars and Pluto by aspect or are indeed Mars and/or Pluto then such crises are likely to come about.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: By which way do you perceive the karmic factor in a chart? Would you like to explain it to us in a few words?
Alan Oken: The entire chart is the result of karma. Which type of karma do you speak. Karma with children—look to the 5th house and the ruler of the 5th especially as it aspects the Sun. Karma with sex—look to the 8th house and the ruler of the 8th especially as it aspects Mars, Pluto and the Moon. The question of karma and the reading of same in the horoscope require much discussion and study.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: Have you conducted any research on the potential function of prenatal eclipses? If so, would you like to share your conclusions with our readers? What is your opinion about the idea that claims that we have to focus our research in the period of the last 88 days before birth?
Alan Oken: In the 1970’s I took a course on pre-natal eclipses with a very scholarly astrologer, Charles Jayne. Unfortunately, my own path took me away from this research and into other areas and I cannot answer your question with any sense of personal authority.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: What do you think is your greatest strength as an astrologer? Are there any areas where you feel your work is particularly innovative or different?
Alan Oken: I think my heart is open to my clients and students and I offer the compassion of a certain achieved degree of understanding both astrology and life. After all I have been a practicing astrologer for 45 years and am now nearly 68. I am also backed up by thousands of years of collected astrological knowledge and I hope that in my time here on this planet, I have in some small way contributed to that wonderful body of wisdom. My work I believe has its particular impact by the fact that I have devoted myself to the Work of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom Teachings and I endeavor to bring that contact into my readings, writings, and seminars. On the very personal level, in terms of my own personality, I have never been afraid of life and have always demonstrated a certain degree of courage when confronted by obstacles and set-backs. I try to share this quality of my own being with others. I am an Aries with Scorpio rising afterall…
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: Being a student of the Tibetan Master Djwahl Khul, what is your experience you gained from such a spiritual figure?
Alan Oken: But now you go to the depths of my heart! I am so very grateful to be a student of this Great One, and so humbled (yes, humble even for me with Jupiter in Leo trine the Sun!). I have learned from His Work about the nature of consciousness and that consciousness is love and love is consciousness. I have learned that the Path to Home is the Path of Service, service to humanity and service to all the kingdoms living on this planet. I have come to understand and experience that there is but One Life and that we are all atoms in the Body of that One Cosmic Atom and that this Atom is alive and conscious. I have learned from my contact with the Master DK that Life is truly eternal and that I personally lead my own life without the fear of death for that is only a change of state and not a change of Essence. I have learned not to be attached to forms or possessions so that this change of state, and all the little deaths that happen while we are still alive, are easier to pass through and from which to grow and evolve.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: How could people with no specialized training use astrology to help them with their lives? Can you explain to a novice reader few simple ways by which an astrologer interprets a chart that are beyond what many perceive to be a rigid set of rules for interpreting a chart? In other words, could we have some of Alan Oken’s clever tips?
Alan Oken: They cannot use astrology personally without any training. For this they must see an astrologer and/or obtain that training for themselves. There are no short cuts to learning an ancient science. A little astrological knowledge in the wrong hands or heads can be quite dangerous. There are so many uneducated “Sister Sophias” out there in the world saying they are astrologers when they are just making fools of themselves and harming people. If a person wants to begin their journey through the occult sciences, an easier and quicker path is that of numerology.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: Some people, when they want to alter a difficult situation that they have predicted for a coming year, they resorting to the solution of relocation. In this case, is it enough just to have our birthday in a chosen place and come back or is it required to spend there the whole year for the annual chart of the relocation to get activated? When we make such a prediction, is it really avoidable anyway? Surely, you must have predicted some difficult or really provocative situations for yourself as well, so how do you manage this in advance knowledge?
Alan Oken: There is no escape from your destiny. There are only ways to raise that destiny to a higher level of manifestation or lower the expression of that destiny into a sewer. The choices that we make only mutate the level of manifestation. Energy is energy. Now if you want to relocate to try to mitigate a particular destiny viewed in the solar return chart, this can be done, especially if you have the money and time for such an enterprise. Most people do not. So there you are in the middle of the Plaka stuck with a gyros and your destiny. Happy Birthday and enjoy the gyros. My suggestion: stay where you are but learn to spice the meat differently so it goes down better and is easier to digest. It is in the choice of spices that you have your freedom.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: Are there any emerging astrological themes in the coming years that have caught your attention, and if so why is that?
Alan Oken: Yes, all this nonsense about the end of the Maya calendar meaning the end of the world. The world changes have never stopped—it is the type of change. Human consciousness took a HUGE leap from about 1964 to around 1972 and then changed from Light Supernal to disco lights. We have been blinded by disco lights ever since but lately certain world governments have changed from disco lights to the lights coming from weapons, bullets, rockets, and bombs. World climate changes are definitely upon us, world economic changes (especially to your own precious and ancient Hellas) plague billions of people….there is too much to say, I will leave it like this. I would just ask my brothers and sisters to be kind to one another, to try to cooperate with the message of the Heart given out by One who incarnated the Heart of the One God and Who still lives among us.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: Your interest for Greece is well known. Where from do you believe that this special connection is emanating? What is your opinion about the relation of ancient Greece and astrology?
Alan Oken: How can one be a civilized man or woman and not love and respect the many gifts of Greece? How can a person have any real passion in their blood without responding to the sound of a Greek Chorus, the taste of a Greek wine, or the experience of a Greek Island at sunset? I am a civilized man and of course I love Greece. Your ancient ones lived on those intuitive levels that brought out into consciousness those archetypes that the planets and signs represent and which are Living Energies in the heart and soul of humanity. Yours was the primary anchor founded in ancient times that has evolved into modern astrology. The difficulty I find in Greece is however in the legacy of the city-states and the profound egocentricity in the character of the Greek personality that still exists and drives the Greeks apart.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: You have published a series of some very interesting books (Books written by Alan Oken (http://www.alanoken.com/books.htm)) and you keep providing mentorships (Mentorship and Study Classes with Alan Oken (http://www.alanoken.com/mentorship.htm)) to anyone interested. What are your future plans? Are you currently working on any new project?
Alan Oken: I am returning in the middle of October to the country of my soul—Portugal to live and teach for 6 months. (America is the country of my body, and in the island of Bali I have found that body and soul join together.) I am then returning on April 3, 2012 back to the USA to teach at two major conferences (NORWAC in Seattle and UAC in New Orleans), remaining in Seattle for three months so that I may be close to my son and two teenage grandsons for a while. I then will be taking off to Bali from July 1 to at least September 30 where I hope to do a lot of writing (and swimming and resting). After October 1, 2012 I have not made any firm plans but will either return to Portugal, the USA, or remain in Bali. My destiny at that point remains to be seen.
BUT, I do have some important projects. I have four astrology books in manuscript form that will take me about a year to edit into published volumes. I then pray to write a fifth book about the evolution of consciousness which I hope will be helpful to people. I will continue with my mentorship program with my private students and my wide consultancy practice with my clients and travel about this planet teaching and learning.
He was born in New York City and he studied Romance Languages in the context of his PhD thesis at NY University. He works and lectures in seven languages, including English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. He is also conversationally fluent in German and Indonesian and has a foundational knowledge of the Scandinavian languages. He is the author of a dozen titles, including Soul-Centered Astrology, Rulers of the Horoscope, and Alan Oken’s Complete Astrology. In addition he has written hundreds of articles for Dell Horoscope Magazine and many other national and international journals.
He was the Director of The Wisdom School (Santa Fe, NM), is co-founder of the Australian Institute for the Development of Consciousness, was Director of Esoteric Studies (Quiron Center, Lisbon), and co-founder of www. InfiniteQuest_Balance and Empowerment. Alan Oken is devoted to the Path of Spiritual Consciousness and a dedicated student of human nature. His sense of humor is as profound as his teachings. Most importantly, he is a member of the New Group of World Servers and a life-long student of the Work and Teachings of the Tibetan Master, Djwhal Khul.
http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac244/hryssa-p/selebrities/oken_2.jpg
MyHoroscope: Let’s start with a rather common question, though very special for each interviewee. At what point of your life did you become convinced that there was "something" in Astrology and under which circumstances you were directed to esoteric astrology?
Alan Oken: I was 23 years old, this was in 1967 in the height of the 60’s social phenomena and I, like many young people had “tuned in and dropped out.” In my case this was from a Ph.D. program in Romance Languages. I was living in a commune in the East Village area of Manhattan with a number of other friends. On October 24th at around 10.00pm I was meditating and in my meditation a Tibetan monk appeared and he said to me: “Become an astrologer and this will lead you to your Path.” I bowed low to the ground and said, “Yes, sir. I will do this.” The next day I returned to my mother’s house to live, borrowed some money from the dear lady and went to an astrology bookshop and purchased my first astrology books and withdrew for four months to study them. I emerged from my retreat and started to do charts for friends and then friends of friends. I never stopped studying and never stopped doing charts from that day to this. As for being led to esoteric astrology and The Ancient Wisdom, well that sort of happened at the same time as one of the books I purchased on that first shopping mission on October 25, 1967 was Alan Leo’s wonderful work, “Esoteric Astrology.” I became fully involved with the esoteric teachings especially the Work of the Tibetan Master, DK and Alice Bailey after another series of special events and another visit from a beautiful Messenger.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: For those readers who are not very familiar with esoteric astrology, how would you explain in a few words the higher purpose and the basic differences compared to traditional astrology, so as they will be able to gain a more profound and practical understanding of applied esoteric astrology?
Alan Oken: First it is absolutely necessary to be totally familiar with exoteric, traditional astrology before embarking on the journey to the more esoteric facets of this ancient science. As for the difference between the two, I will share a brief story with you. I was in Rhodes on my way to Crete. This was on my first journey to Greece and was in I the winter of 1988-1989. I was late arriving at the airport and in a great hurry. Although I do not speak your language, I do know the Greek alphabet and found myself standing between two doors. One one was written the word “Exoteriki” and on the other “Esoteriki.” “How lovely,” I said allowed and walked through the “Esoteriki” door because I knew that this was for domestic flights as I would be staying “inside” Greece. So there you have the difference, taking the “exoteriki” door to astrology will lead you to the external life of the personality while taking the “esoteriki” door will lead you to the internal life of the soul.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: Any chart has the potential for the development that would lead to a more enlightened being, although -due to some conditions or other factors- many people do not reclaim this potential. What kind of astrological indicators could show a person who is actually driven in this way?
Alan Oken: The chart does not reveal the “soul age” of a person, nor the level of aspiration to the “Feet of the Masters” which requires the urge to serve as fundamental to life’s motivations. But if the higher octave planets are in strong aspect to the luminaries, there is a good chance that (if the intellectual faculties are intact and the moral quality of the heart leads to genuine aspiration to the Higher Life) there will be that transcendental perspective alive in one’s consciousness that will lead one to the Way. In addition, there should be indications of enough existential crises in the life to help one climb out of patterns of instinctual desire. These will be revealed by the positions of Mars and Pluto as well as their aspects to the ruler of the 8th house and the condition of the 8th house in general. If there is a strong connection between the ruler of the 1st house and the ruler of the 8th and these are connected to Mars and Pluto by aspect or are indeed Mars and/or Pluto then such crises are likely to come about.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: By which way do you perceive the karmic factor in a chart? Would you like to explain it to us in a few words?
Alan Oken: The entire chart is the result of karma. Which type of karma do you speak. Karma with children—look to the 5th house and the ruler of the 5th especially as it aspects the Sun. Karma with sex—look to the 8th house and the ruler of the 8th especially as it aspects Mars, Pluto and the Moon. The question of karma and the reading of same in the horoscope require much discussion and study.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: Have you conducted any research on the potential function of prenatal eclipses? If so, would you like to share your conclusions with our readers? What is your opinion about the idea that claims that we have to focus our research in the period of the last 88 days before birth?
Alan Oken: In the 1970’s I took a course on pre-natal eclipses with a very scholarly astrologer, Charles Jayne. Unfortunately, my own path took me away from this research and into other areas and I cannot answer your question with any sense of personal authority.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: What do you think is your greatest strength as an astrologer? Are there any areas where you feel your work is particularly innovative or different?
Alan Oken: I think my heart is open to my clients and students and I offer the compassion of a certain achieved degree of understanding both astrology and life. After all I have been a practicing astrologer for 45 years and am now nearly 68. I am also backed up by thousands of years of collected astrological knowledge and I hope that in my time here on this planet, I have in some small way contributed to that wonderful body of wisdom. My work I believe has its particular impact by the fact that I have devoted myself to the Work of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom Teachings and I endeavor to bring that contact into my readings, writings, and seminars. On the very personal level, in terms of my own personality, I have never been afraid of life and have always demonstrated a certain degree of courage when confronted by obstacles and set-backs. I try to share this quality of my own being with others. I am an Aries with Scorpio rising afterall…
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: Being a student of the Tibetan Master Djwahl Khul, what is your experience you gained from such a spiritual figure?
Alan Oken: But now you go to the depths of my heart! I am so very grateful to be a student of this Great One, and so humbled (yes, humble even for me with Jupiter in Leo trine the Sun!). I have learned from His Work about the nature of consciousness and that consciousness is love and love is consciousness. I have learned that the Path to Home is the Path of Service, service to humanity and service to all the kingdoms living on this planet. I have come to understand and experience that there is but One Life and that we are all atoms in the Body of that One Cosmic Atom and that this Atom is alive and conscious. I have learned from my contact with the Master DK that Life is truly eternal and that I personally lead my own life without the fear of death for that is only a change of state and not a change of Essence. I have learned not to be attached to forms or possessions so that this change of state, and all the little deaths that happen while we are still alive, are easier to pass through and from which to grow and evolve.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: How could people with no specialized training use astrology to help them with their lives? Can you explain to a novice reader few simple ways by which an astrologer interprets a chart that are beyond what many perceive to be a rigid set of rules for interpreting a chart? In other words, could we have some of Alan Oken’s clever tips?
Alan Oken: They cannot use astrology personally without any training. For this they must see an astrologer and/or obtain that training for themselves. There are no short cuts to learning an ancient science. A little astrological knowledge in the wrong hands or heads can be quite dangerous. There are so many uneducated “Sister Sophias” out there in the world saying they are astrologers when they are just making fools of themselves and harming people. If a person wants to begin their journey through the occult sciences, an easier and quicker path is that of numerology.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: Some people, when they want to alter a difficult situation that they have predicted for a coming year, they resorting to the solution of relocation. In this case, is it enough just to have our birthday in a chosen place and come back or is it required to spend there the whole year for the annual chart of the relocation to get activated? When we make such a prediction, is it really avoidable anyway? Surely, you must have predicted some difficult or really provocative situations for yourself as well, so how do you manage this in advance knowledge?
Alan Oken: There is no escape from your destiny. There are only ways to raise that destiny to a higher level of manifestation or lower the expression of that destiny into a sewer. The choices that we make only mutate the level of manifestation. Energy is energy. Now if you want to relocate to try to mitigate a particular destiny viewed in the solar return chart, this can be done, especially if you have the money and time for such an enterprise. Most people do not. So there you are in the middle of the Plaka stuck with a gyros and your destiny. Happy Birthday and enjoy the gyros. My suggestion: stay where you are but learn to spice the meat differently so it goes down better and is easier to digest. It is in the choice of spices that you have your freedom.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: Are there any emerging astrological themes in the coming years that have caught your attention, and if so why is that?
Alan Oken: Yes, all this nonsense about the end of the Maya calendar meaning the end of the world. The world changes have never stopped—it is the type of change. Human consciousness took a HUGE leap from about 1964 to around 1972 and then changed from Light Supernal to disco lights. We have been blinded by disco lights ever since but lately certain world governments have changed from disco lights to the lights coming from weapons, bullets, rockets, and bombs. World climate changes are definitely upon us, world economic changes (especially to your own precious and ancient Hellas) plague billions of people….there is too much to say, I will leave it like this. I would just ask my brothers and sisters to be kind to one another, to try to cooperate with the message of the Heart given out by One who incarnated the Heart of the One God and Who still lives among us.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: Your interest for Greece is well known. Where from do you believe that this special connection is emanating? What is your opinion about the relation of ancient Greece and astrology?
Alan Oken: How can one be a civilized man or woman and not love and respect the many gifts of Greece? How can a person have any real passion in their blood without responding to the sound of a Greek Chorus, the taste of a Greek wine, or the experience of a Greek Island at sunset? I am a civilized man and of course I love Greece. Your ancient ones lived on those intuitive levels that brought out into consciousness those archetypes that the planets and signs represent and which are Living Energies in the heart and soul of humanity. Yours was the primary anchor founded in ancient times that has evolved into modern astrology. The difficulty I find in Greece is however in the legacy of the city-states and the profound egocentricity in the character of the Greek personality that still exists and drives the Greeks apart.
http://myhoroscope.gr/articles/borders/3tr.gif
MyHoroscope: You have published a series of some very interesting books (Books written by Alan Oken (http://www.alanoken.com/books.htm)) and you keep providing mentorships (Mentorship and Study Classes with Alan Oken (http://www.alanoken.com/mentorship.htm)) to anyone interested. What are your future plans? Are you currently working on any new project?
Alan Oken: I am returning in the middle of October to the country of my soul—Portugal to live and teach for 6 months. (America is the country of my body, and in the island of Bali I have found that body and soul join together.) I am then returning on April 3, 2012 back to the USA to teach at two major conferences (NORWAC in Seattle and UAC in New Orleans), remaining in Seattle for three months so that I may be close to my son and two teenage grandsons for a while. I then will be taking off to Bali from July 1 to at least September 30 where I hope to do a lot of writing (and swimming and resting). After October 1, 2012 I have not made any firm plans but will either return to Portugal, the USA, or remain in Bali. My destiny at that point remains to be seen.
BUT, I do have some important projects. I have four astrology books in manuscript form that will take me about a year to edit into published volumes. I then pray to write a fifth book about the evolution of consciousness which I hope will be helpful to people. I will continue with my mentorship program with my private students and my wide consultancy practice with my clients and travel about this planet teaching and learning.