Dean’s Update, June 2023

Our Evolving FCEA Curriculum

Greetings, FCEA community! During the long days of June, I have been working with Steven to put the final touches on a new course we are opening mid-month. FCEA 305: Chiron and Eris is the last 300-level class prior to the masters-level practicum. I have to admit it is a bittersweet moment for me as FCEA Dean. I have enjoyed working alongside Steven, slowly writing our curriculum, one course at a time. We started back in 2019, continued through the pandemic and then kept going, even as the FCEA was growing as a new school. It has been such an enriching experience for me.

There is something about the learning that takes place when writing class content that is hard to replace as a method for polishing one’s own skills as an astrologer. Now that most of the classes are written and the school is flourishing, I can look back and take stock of what we have created. I sincerely hope it provides a good, solid education in evolutionary astrology. We tried our best and I think we succeeded!

My ever-curious and inquisitive Gemini Moon recognizes the FCEA curricular projects may never quite end. Curriculum development is always on-going and certainly other topics will surface. But at least the main foundation of the FCEA masters program is now in place.

We end the 300-level in-depth focused study of the planets with little comet-like Chiron and mysterious, slow-moving Eris, just barely a newborn in our expanding concept of our solar system.

 Why cover Chiron, the wounded healer, in the FCEA program, when so many asteroids compete for our attention? Steven argues Chiron’s popularity might be partly a product of current trends, but the little rock in the sky does seem to carry a punch. Personally, I feel we are always creating and expanding our astrological language, simply through our usage of the archetypes that then become part of our shared collective consciousness. We will them into being through our creative minds and hearts. Either way you look at it, Chiron is definitely a valid player and worthy of addition to our astrological toolboxes. 

Why not add Chariklo, the wife of Chiron in Greek mythology and a planetary object larger than Chiron? Many astrologers do add Chariklo to chart analysis. Nothing wrong with that. But we decided to focus upon what Steven’s experience merits our attention and study. And Steven and I wish our students all the best in doing their own investigations and research into what astrological frontiers lay ahead.