The Scoop on Study Groups
Dean’s Update, April 2022
April greetings, everyone! This month we move from fiery Aries into Taurus season. Here at the FCEA, our wonderful staff have been very busy, updating the school’s website with new features and helpful tools. We have taken our social media presence to a new level. Aries helps us put into action our strategies to build a bigger and better school. An exciting time for the FCEA!
Meanwhile, I’d like to share some positive thoughts I have about our fun and engaging study groups, our weekly gatherings where community and connection take place.
These are available for our students in the fully guided program. Under the springtime Taurus Sun, my focus turns to places I can find peace and calm, center myself and relax. Our study groups at the FCEA are the place where the “rubber meets the road.” Conversations provide a means to listen, to absorb, to reflect, to practice and to share what we have learned and how we are building our sacred craft as evolutionary astrologers. But they are also a source of relaxation. A place to connect.
For folks who have not yet joined a study group or for our loyal members, I’ll fill you in briefly about these practical – but fun! – educational group gatherings. Our study groups happen each Tuesday when classes are in session. We hold two study groups, one at 8:00 am and then another at 5:00 pm Pacific time. The 8:00 am time is designed to best reach our students based in Europe, 5:00 pm for our students in Asia. Each is led by two of our tutors or myself, with master wizard, Steven, joining us once a month. We use breakout rooms on the Zoom call to help students feel comfortable working in a small cohort of fellow astrologers enrolled in the same level of instruction. A “mystery chart” or two are shared.
The tutors and I make every effort to visit each and every breakout room and help the group talk through chart analysis. We end by meeting all together and revealing our insights, taking a guess at the mystery person’s identity. In sum, the study groups are a practice opportunity and a great place to just “be” with our work and colleagues, to do our craft, and sharpen our skills.
Steven often emphasizes his wise words, “All aspects are about integration.” Of course, he is describing best practices in evolutionary astrology in this quote. But the same advice applies beautifully to education, the ways in which we best learn, grow and develop our skill set. Integration involves not only sitting at the master’s feet and absorbing each lesson each step of the way. Integration of what we are learning takes active participation and loving engagement as we come together in dialog via the study groups. We get to know each other, listen and respond, and empower each person by mastering the ins and outs of reading a chart.
