Dean’s Update, May 2026

I can’t believe that two weeks have gone by since our retreat, Exploring the Moon’s Sacred Power in San Diego. What a gift to be with so many of you, our FCEA family, and with Steven in person. Our time in Southern California felt like a true homecoming! I hope we can reunite again and that those who missed the event can be with us heart-to-heart for a real hug in the future. In this month’s article, I would like to share an insight I received from Steven at a different live event, one I feel is worth writing to you about because I believe it needs more attention and application in our work as evolutionary astrologers. 

There is something about Steven’s live events that seem to result in a kind of educational “download.” Of course, completion of our online curriculum is critical to learning the A, B, Cs, the technical rules and methods of evolutionary astrology. But seeing Steven in person brings us an opportunity to feel through the wisdom of his teaching. Case in point: The progressed lunation cycle is covered in depth in our advanced course, FCEA 301, and in The Book of the Moon. Those who already work with clients know what a crucial tool our understanding of this cycle is. Recently, of course, Steven included this rich topic in the San Diego retreat lectures.

It is one thing to know well the workings of the progressed lunation cycle and yet another thing to grasp more fully its value in terms of the larger growth in self-awareness the soul faces in a lifetime. What I am referring to is something I heard Steven share, just a quick momentary comment, at a different, though similar, live event than the one in San Diego. Not a calculation, nor a fact in a book or course module. It came rather like a flash of insight in just a few words, “At the Progressed Full Moon phase, the karma of the life is made manifest.” 

I have been meditating upon this notion for months, partly because I am in this phase currently. But I also believe knowing this simple statement in my heart helps me when counseling others. Is it the habits of the south node and the possibilities of the north node that we face “on steroids” under the bright light of the progressed Full Moon? Or is it only the seed we planted under the New Moon that we experience in full bloom roughly fifteen years later? 

Before writing to you in this article, I asked our master teacher for some clarification. Let’s hear from Steven in his words, “It’s the current condition of the karma that’s on the table — i.e., we might have made progress toward the north node since birth (or not!). The underlying idea is that at the progressed Full Moon, everything is revealed and manifest, for good or for ill: “the full catastrophe,” if you know your Zorba the Greek.” Leave it to Steve to add a bit of humor about Zorba!

I suppose we can ask when are we not facing the south node karma of our lives? And certainly the seed of the New Moon vision is fully ripened at the Full Moon phase, as Steven explains in The Book of the Moon. But, for me, the subtle realization made manifest in Steven’s few words brought home a deeper reality. The karma of the south node, and the remedy of the north, ebb and flow through our lives. The progressed Full Moon phase pulls the nodal axis yet again into the limelight. Now we see it for what it is in a way that is so palpable, so clear. Or at least it seems we have the rich potential for such a viewing! 

Wouldn’t it assist our clients (or others we may help through chart readings) to hear such revelations at this step in a life’s journey? 

Learning Steven’s methods and wisdom can come from many directions: his books, his lectures, our FCEA curriculum, for example. But if we are lucky enough to experience the rare moments we have to connect with Steven in person, let’s record and share these brief, but often profound, insights. We are all in this together. Let’s share heart-to-heart conversations with each other so we can continue the legacy of Steven’s teachings. Then we can all grow to be the best at what we do.

If you have recollection of such a moment, please feel welcome to share it with us.

Catie Cadge, PhD
May 2026