As we all know, it’s a world full of hard choices out there. For the school, one of them has revolved around the whole question of how we can most effectively keep students’ birth data and other personal information safe from any kind of Internet jeopardy. After much discussion and a lot of feedback from both students and tutors, we have decided to relax our anonymity policies – carefully.

• Loudly and clearly, students, members and anyone participating in FCEA programs and activities are never required to share their personal information. The sharing of personal information is completely voluntary. Those who prefer to keep their birth data private, as well as any other personal information, are still free to do so, no questions asked. Students are free to use a pseudonym, if they choose.

While making the point in “bold caps” that privacy remains an OPTION for anyone who chooses it, we are no longer going to formally require it.

Personally, I am delighted by this change in policy. I should add that I’m very confident that many of you share the same delight – and perhaps a little bit of befuddlement too. That’s because we know that such sharing has been happening anyway. There’s obviously been some “space” between our official policy and reality, which gives you some idea of how little comfort we’ve had with this policy – despite the legal advice we had received when we were structuring the school.

Evolutionary astrology aims to delve deeply into the very private, often totally invisible, soul-processes that drive everyone’s life-journey. When it comes to learning how those profoundly subjective changes and breakthroughs are reflected in astrological symbolism, here’s the hierarchy of what is helpful to us as students of astrology, in descending order.

1. An honest – and possibly totally private – talk with yourself in the light of what’s going on in your chart. Nothing can top that.
2. Intimate conversations with people you know and about whom you care while looking at them through the lens of astrology. (That works even better if they speak the language of astrology too, but that’s not necessary.)
3. Looking at events in the lives of people whom you don’t know – in other words, the charts of famous people.

Obviously in the FCEA curriculum, we have relied heavily on #3 – the widely-known stories of public figures, past and present. Emphatically, that approach works! We can learn a lot of astrology that way. 

There’s another compelling reason to go down that third road. For better or worse, these folks are “public property,” at least to some extent. Unlike total strangers – or a fellow student in the school who is basically a stranger to you – most of us know something about them. Looking at that shared set of biographical facts and personal impressions through the lens of astrology can be profoundly instructive. That’s why we use that approach so extensively in our school.

The trouble with that method is that it subtly enforces a kind of superficial focus on outward facts. Knowing, for example, that Saturn was transiting through Kamala Harris’s 10th house when she was nominated for president is obviously helpful and relevant. We can even make some good guesses about what it felt like to her. We could counsel her. But as evolutionary astrologers, we know that every astrological event represents a spectrum of possibilities. Where on that spectrum has she landed?

Wouldn’t it be illuminating to actually talk with her about it?

That kind of deeply personal exchange is what we have been sacrificing in the FCEA. We’re not going to sacrifice it any longer. 

In my old apprenticeship programs, the “Sorting Hat” was always a basic teaching tool, one upon which we came to depend. Invariably, I’d spend a day or two exploring some dimension of astrological theory, then we would reach into the hat and draw the name of a volunteer from the class and see how the theory fit his or her chart and actual experience.

Afterwards, the student – again only voluntarily – would get up before the group and share his or her responses, plus something about how it had worked out for them personally. 

To me, the Sorting Hat was the soul of the apprenticeship groups.

Because of that personal sharing . . .

• We learned the astrology of the inner life rather than being subtly seduced into focussing on the mere outward facts of biography – although of course we learned about them too.
• Little so forges a bond between human beings as the intimate sharing of matters of the heart. Over the years, the Sorting Hat helped to create a precious mood of trust and true friendship in the groups. And what a profound path of learning that was for everyone, myself included!
• The very format of this kind of personal revelation compelled us to think like astrological counselors rather than like “talking head” theoreticians holding forth at some conference.
• By carefully cherry-picking the charts of famous people, you can prove anything you want with astrology. Not so with the Sorting Hat! Our unwavering string of successful, meaningful chart interpretations enhanced everyone’s faith in astrology itself. That confidence is precious.

HOW IT WILL WORK

Once again, the essence of all that I am saying here is simply that everyone in the school is now welcome to share their charts, their names, and their own personal experiences wherever it feels appropriate to them. But with the implicit understanding that it is completely voluntary, and that they agree to our privacy policy and understand the risks associated with sharing that information. That principle now holds throughout the entire FCEA structure – class discussions, Circle community forum, and in our Zoom Q & A events. 

Let’s underscore once again that such sharing is 100% voluntary. I can’t say it enough. We want to be vigilant about not creating a culture of coercion about it. We support anyone’s decision to remain private, no questions asked. Those that choose to share can even use a pseudonym, if they choose.

One example of that principle in practice is that we forbid any student or tutor from requiring anyone to provide their birth data or to share any other personal matters. We want everyone to be comfortable with whatever level of self-revelation they choose.

Let me add one more point: I encourage you to be judicious about what personal information you reveal. Remember, everything is being recorded. Other students – even future students and staff – may have access to the recordings. I feel confident saying that we’ve got a fine bunch of people in our school and generally I trust them all . . . note the word “generally.” 

I am optimistic that we will never have a breach of anyone’s confidentiality, but it would be dishonest and unrealistic of me to promise that. 

Back in the apprenticeship programs, a young woman shared how she had happened unexpectedly to come by carnal knowledge of the partner of a relative of hers. It was an upsetting story and it would have been totally appropriate for us to dive into it in the context of private astrological counsel. But this was a semi-public event. When she realized that her “confession” had been recorded, and might become available to the “public”, she understandably became nervous. We took good care of her – we wound up editing the recording to delete that section, which was quite a lot of trouble. So, be aware that all of our classes and calls are recorded, and as such, please be judicious and careful in what you choose to reveal.

It’s also worth mentioning here that our website is fully encrypted, and that we take safeguarding data seriously and have measures in place to prevent unauthorized access. However, we do rely completely on the security of 3rd parties to protect most of our files, which include all of our videos and discussion forums that are stored on sites including, but not limited to, Google Drive, Circle, Moodle and Vimeo. And, of course, we must defer to their privacy policies and security measures, over which we have no control.

THEREFORE…

In order to formalize our policy on voluntarily sharing personal information, we will be making the following updates:

• We will update our Privacy Policy so that it reads: You are not required to reveal your birth data or share any personal information as part of any FCEA course, program, forum or event. This includes, but is not limited to course sessions, course assignments, forums, discussions, Q & A sessions, the Circle community forums, or as part of any other FCEA discussion forum or platform. I understand that if I choose to share birth data or personal information, I will be offering it voluntarily and at my own risk. I recognize that others, including students, staff, anyone with access to the servers on which such data is stored, and potentially AI or other non-authorized entities, may gain access to information about my identity and any other personal information which I have chosen to share.”

• We will add a mandatory checkbox to our shopping cart so that when a student enrolls in a course, they agree that they “have read and agree to the FCEA Privacy Policy.”
• We will require teachers/tutors to state a “disclaimer reminder” to students at every course orientation. We will provide them with a short script they will be required to read at the orientation. 

All of this sounds terribly legalistic, and it is! We live in a litigious age as well as in a digitally-dangerous one, even with the tightest of security measures in place. As a school, we need to be realistic about all of that. Still, we’ve agreed that we’ve swung too far in the direction of letting fear and caution rob us of a precious chance to get to know each other more deeply – and through that (voluntary!) sharing, we know that we can help each other better understand this sacred language that we are learning. 

So: be kind. Be respectful of everyone’s boundaries. Be judicious – when it comes to any personal information, “when in doubt, leave it out.” 

And within that framework, please be as generous with self-revelation as you feel comfortable being.