The Collective Awakening: Playing Our Part

The Collective Awakening: Playing Our Part

Dean’s Update, July 2022

 
July greetings to my dear FCEA community! I hope those in the northern hemisphere are enjoying pleasant weather and some time for rest and relaxation. For our students and members “down under,” wishing you warm and comfortable winter days. I just returned from a few days “off grid,” at a beautiful, hot springs in the Pacific northwest. Healing waters, warm sunshine, a cool mountain river and nothing to do, but bathe in the forest and under a carpet of many, many stars at night. The Milky Way was in her full glory! 
Most memorable for me was meeting a woman, while we soaked in the mineral waters, and bonding with her through passionate conversation about evolutionary astrology and the FCEA. In the midst of her Uranian opposition and a big Jupiter time for her, “Annie” was just awakening to the potential power of astrology as a tool for life’s journey. Such a joy to see her eyes light up and to feel her enthusiasm and open heart. So often we have these encounters when we meet a soul who now “gets it,” who makes the cosmic connections and sees what a sacred gift understanding our natal chart can be.

 

 

To me, the main mission of our work at the FCEA is to bring these very kinds of awakenings to not only our clients, through our job as professional astrologers, but to those special souls we meet in our daily lives who are ready to learn, evolve and share. This is how we can contribute, as a school, to a world sorely in need of change and healing.
 

How can we best play a part in this collective awakening? This potential for astrology to reach a bigger audience, to touch the hearts of people like “Annie”?

 
Not all will choose a professional path. Some may integrate evolutionary astrology into other healing modalities or perhaps a counseling career. When Steven and I wrote the course curriculum together in 2020, we began with the very basics, anticipating some students would be “newbies,” just starting out with little knowledge, but a passionate drive to learn. We hoped to serve our “Annie”s. But running a school day in and day out, I have come to realize the FCEA is like a living, breathing entity, morphing in form and composition from one group of students entering the program to the next. 
Summertime here in California always provides me a time to take stock of the bigger picture of what I am working and striving for; a good time to reassess where our school is headed and what structural changes we may need to make in the months ahead. The FCEA is growing. I am in the process of training three new tutors this summer. We look forward to welcoming a brand-new cohort of 100-level students in the fall. What needs to change to best accommodate our growing student body, diverse in levels of knowledge and practical skills? 
First up for reevaluation is our study group calls. How can we work harder and make the road smoother for “Annie”? These are the questions I am wrestling with addressing this summer, as I work with our tutors and staff. In the 300-level advanced course, FCEA 301, we will have a trial run this month testing weekly Zoom meetups with tutors. I am excited to see this new development in course structure unfold! If successful, we will explore similar options in our courses in the months ahead. Meanwhile, gradual change and modification will occur with our study group format.
What an exciting time! I ask you all for patience as we fine-tune and work through the best possible avenues for comprehensive learning for everyone. In the meantime, please do share feedback through our course evaluations. We want to hear your suggestions! We are also planning more added features for members in the months ahead, along with our on-going expansion, visual makeover and improvement of our website. Expect more changes! I am so thankful for the hard work and effort of our FCEA staff for the care and love they have given to building a better website, a better school and a top-notch learning experience. And a huge thank you to our students and members for your constant love and commitment. Let’s open the heart of every “Annie” and make evolutionary astrology a household word! I don’t feel it is too bold to say this. I believe that the world needs us. Blessings, everyone!
 
Catie Cadge, PhD
July 2022
 

Solstice Reflections & Our FCEA Family

Summer Solstice Reflections

Dean’s Update ~ June 2022

Catie Cadge

Summer Solstice Reflections
& Our FCEA Family

Solstice is right around the corner and I am savoring the long days of summer here in the northern hemisphere. The warmth of the sun feels good and there seems to be hope in the air. I am happy to report the FCEA community is growing strong. Four classes are up and running this summer! I hope all our students are enjoying their new classes that just opened in early June. We are planning a solstice celebration as a part of our student Q and A call this month with a special conversation with Steven at 8 am Pacific time on June 21st. Steven will be giving us a little taste of his thoughts about the planet Eris, a new topic in recent astrology, guiding us in our understanding of the evolutionary meaning of the “planet of discord.” Please join us! Look for our FCEA announcement about the call in mid-June. 

 

 ~

Solstice always reminds me of the seasonal gatherings at Stonehenge. As the sun rises and lights up the majestic sarsen stones, the celebratory rituals seem like such magical times of shared sacred space. In some ways, I see our community at the FCEA in a similar way.

 

We come together to learn and share our passion in a sacred celestial art based upon the sky and the changing seasons. We are also a solstice community, a circle, a family. Before I dive into the main topic of my Dean’s update this month, I want to thank Teal Rowe, our dear tutor and friend, who is leaving our solstice circle, our FCEA community. Like we so often hear, running a school really does “take a village,” and I am so grateful for Teal’s love, hard work and commitment to help birth the FCEA.  Teal has been a constant source of emotional support and guidance through recent years of developing the FCEA. We could not have done this work without her. She will be sorely missed. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors! 

Returning to what I have called our solstice family, our circle, I wanted to share with you a few recent reflections I had after attending a popular in-person astrology conference, NORWAC (Northwest Astrological Conference) in Seattle, Washington, this past May. The NORWAC conference always stimulates my mind and curiosity. I must say my Gemini Moon thoroughly enjoys the diversity of approaches and techniques, a true smorgasbord of methodologies! Oh, my, there is always so much to digest and ponder. Astrology conferences offer us fresh perspectives and a wealth of astrological knowledge that can be so rewarding, not to mention the joy and love of the downtime when we come together during the after-hour parties and gatherings. Like our own solstice circle, the NORWAC tribe is a family and I am grateful for all the connections I have made over the years at the conference. We hope to meet some of you at the ISAR conference in Westminister, Colorado, this summer (August 25 through 29th, visit https://isar2022.org/ for more information). Steven will be a presenter. Let’s gather together those who can attend.

For me, one of the topics that seems to come up each year when attending NORWAC is how and in what ways I might use my new insights. I must admit my Capricorn Sun loves strategy and working through rules and the many technical details of how astrology can be approached. What can I say, I am the type of person who loves board games and mind puzzles. And I have a competitive side – I like to get things right! The ins and outs of practicing various forms of astrology, such as the rich world of traditional, Hellenistic and Jyotish (Indian astrology), not to mention more recent vibrational or Uranian astrology, pose such exciting challenges for my personal passion for figuring out “how things work.”  

But one of the strong bonds of connection we share at the FCEA is our love for Steven’s particular methods of reading charts. Something about that basic common thread we all share strengthens us as a school and in our developing roles as counselors. I respect my colleagues at NORWAC and thrive when I open to the ideas and methods they share. But when I return to my daily work in the counseling office, I am a purist. I practice evolutionary astrology and the Steven Forrest method, because I know it works for my clients. My readings already cover enough material! Astrological “fusion” may have its place in our research and in our shared conference circle, but finding a method that works for you, and applying a focused approach to learning evolutionary astrology through that chosen method, builds a solid foundation as a counselor. 

So, I’ll end with a little summary of my two-cents as the FCEA Dean. The best way forward to become the most skilled and gifted astrologer lies in finding a path, a particular method and sticking to it. Broadening our astrological wisdom is never to be frowned upon. Open doors when they appear; learn, explore, and appreciate the diversity of our astrological family! Yet, recognize, in actual practice, the value of a strong focus and a fine-tuned set of skills.

Happy solstice everyone! Much love to our solstice circle!

 
Catie Cadge, PhD
June 2022
 

 

 

Learning About Lunar Phases

Learning About Lunar Phases in FCEA-301

Dean’s Update, May 2022

Catie Cadge
 
Each month, when I write the Dean’s Update, I take a moment to think ahead and look to see what is on the horizon for the FCEA. Once again, I have this summer’s 300-level Moon course on my mind. I am really looking forward to this particular course. It teaches some core techniques about lunar phases every astrologer needs to know. These are fundamental cards in our astrological hand that we include in every reading with our clients. Why have we waited so long to teach these critical tools we use in evolutionary astrology? Steven and I believe patience is required in order to absorb, reflect, and develop our skill sets. Our advanced students are now ready to take in the rich layer of meaning evident when we consider the lunar phase in chart analysis. And what a rich layer it is!
 

“All aspects are about integration.” —Steven Forrest

 
But there is more to the lunar picture. In addition to learning about and applying interpretation of the phases of the Moon in the natal chart, students also practice working with the progressed lunation cycle, in FCEA 301, The Moon. How can we best speak to the client’s heart in a reading? Where in the progressed lunation cycle, almost three decades in length, is the soul in life’s long journey? The Moon phase by progression captures so well “the mood” of the life at the moment for a client. The sign and house location of the progressed Moon provides the emotional feeling, the core needs and values, while the lunar phase by progression helps us understand possible strategies, ones that are instinctual and attitudinal, for fulfilling these needs. Advanced students already studied the progressed lunar return in FCEA 203, The Biopsychic Script. Now we take on the progressed Moon in all her stages of lunar beauty! Building upon our 200-level curriculum, we hone our practical skills in analysis of the “current sky” to create a full, integrative chart reading.

 
Summer promises to be fun and engaging as we open our minds and hearts in FCEA 301: The Moon. We are excited to run this course on its maiden voyage. We also look forward to eventually sharing lunar wisdom and insight with all FCEA students at the appropriate level of advanced Craftsperson. What progressed lunar phase will you be in at that time? Let’s hope we all bask and shine in the moonlight!
 
Catie Cadge, PhD
May 2022
 

The Scoop on Study Groups

The Scoop on Study Groups

Dean’s Update, April 2022

Catie CadgeApril 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.
 
Catie Cadge presents the mystery chart of "John Cippolino"
Presenting the Mystery Chart of “John Cippolino” at the End of the Study Group Hour
 
The French use two different verbs “to know.” Savoir – to know a fact – and connaitre – to know through experience. The best education integrates both, ça je sais. This I know! Steven and I and the tutors feel blessed to get to really know each of you and to learn together every week in our study group meetups. Je connais ce sentiment. And I know and experience the feeling. We all work together to make our learning grounded and real.
I hope I provided a little taste of an important part of our school’s educational offerings. I thank the students and tutors who join our study groups each week. The study groups are a great advantage of registering for the fully guided program at the FCEA. It is a time of “rubber meets the road” for me as Dean as well. When we each use our minds, hearts and intuition and articulate aspects and interpretations we see most meaningful. A space we hold for each other. A place to learn and apply our gifts, our talents.
 
Catie Cadge, PhD
April 2022
 

Imagination & the Bigger FCEA Picture

Imagination & The Bigger Picture

Dean’s Update, March 2022

Catie CadgeToday’s third birthday of the FCEA is on my mind as I sit writing my monthly Dean’s Update on March 6th. Happy Solar Return, dear FCEA!
What a year it has been. Jupiter by transit is conjunct the school’s Sun and my ascendant at the moment. Lots of hope is in the air. But I must admit it feels as if there is a lot to meditate upon as well. Our Piscean school still seems fuzzy around the edges at moments. Time to get my Capricorn sleeves rolled up once again and reinforce the FCEA’s solid structure, the firm foundation in what it will take our students to reach completion. Does one ever become a “master”?

 

Strive for something real, a level of achievement, and let perfection be a lifetime journey.  
 
Capricorns are known to be the type to want a strategy, a goal, a clear mountain path to climb. I always tell my sea-goat clients that it might feel good to have a plan or an orderly approach. Get one’s “ducks in a row” so to speak. I think many of you know that Steven Forrest and I are both Capricorn Suns and we both have natal Mercury in Capricorn as well. From the very start of the FCEA, Steven and I worked to make a school curriculum with clear objectives and a structure that made sense. We were always so careful to not push students into material too advanced or confusing. We both have been trying to gradually open classes at one level at a time and to calculate growth in logical and realistic ways.

 

So what is the next step for the Dean in growing our school and supporting our students?

 

 
This spring, Steven and I are organizing our advanced courses at the 300 to 600-level into possible time frames for completion. In other words, we hope to move toward defining the Craftsperson and Master certification, along with developing electives so our students can choose their own best track of study.
Both Jupiter and Neptune, conjunct this spring by transit, are moving through the school’s 11th house and squaring the FCEA natal Jupiter in Sagittarius. We want a mystical school that honors our sacred craft! Some of those “fuzzy edges” have been a necessary part of dreaming our school into being. Imagining a picture of our changing goals and aspirations. Such Piscean windows into our imagination make the dream happen. But now we also need some Saturnian discipline and structure. The months ahead provide a step toward practical planning and building.
Steven and I will meet this April during the “big” conjunction of Jupiter and Neptune in an exact square to our school’s Sagittarius Jupiter in the 7th house. Please wish us luck in creating the BEST degree program in evolutionary astrology—and keep an eye out for our 2022 Course Catalog and Calendar, to be posted by the end of this month!
Long live the FCEA! Happy International Astrology Day, March 20, and many blessings on the vernal equinox!
 
Catie Cadge, PhD
March 2022
 

The Wonders of Synastry

Synastry

The Wonders of Synastry

Dean’s Update, February 2022

Greetings, FCEA community!
Love is in our hearts and minds this month of February, when folks in the northern hemisphere escape the cold, wintry winds by seeking a warm embrace on Valentine’s Day. To our students and members in parts of Asia, we wish you blessings on the Lunar New Year. Happy year of the Tiger to all! But turning back to February’s topic of love, I’d like to share with everyone a little bit of the excitement in my own heart for our next new course opening in early March. I’m working with Steven in the weeks ahead to fine-tune FCEA 204 and 205, our introduction to the sacred art of astrological counseling through synastry: chart comparison and the composite chart.
On one of our recent FCEA Zoom calls, some of us swapped stories about last month’s Venus retrograde in Capricorn. We shared the journey of reassessing and reimagining how we best flow with grace together and with our closest partners. Venus stationed direct conjunct my own south node in Capricorn. It was like the universe offered me a mirror to see my own faults and weaknesses, where I need to grow and change in the cosmic dance I do with others. Learning to balance love, trust and encouragement, while keeping my own boundaries and needs in check, is a challenging step in understanding synastry for this particular Dean. Let’s face it. Synastry is not purely all about romantic love and marriage. It touches every facet of our lives.
Synastry
As we see throughout the FCEA curriculum, the individual birthchart is the fundamental foundation in all branches of evolutionary astrology. Synastry is no different. Please indulge me for a minute. I want to share one of the ways I have been coming to terms with the mirror of myself I see in those I work closely with, my one-on-one comrades in life’s sacred work. Two weeks ago, I adopted a very sweet and tiny little kitten I named “Vesta.” Vesta is the one who maintains the sacred flame in the temple; she carries a lineage forward into the future. The asteroid is currently conjunct my natal Sun by transit. We will learn about these asteroids later in the FCEA coursework. Let me use my own family dynamics to illustrate my point.
Fuzzy and black, playful and full of zest, Vesta is the “queen” of my home. I love how she bounces into the room with confidence and joy! I watch closely as she rubs up next to my older cat, Io (He is named after a moon of Jupiter). Much larger, Io is the boss in my eyes. I am careful to give him extra love and affection at the time of changing family dynamics. Despite his wisdom of age and maturity, Io, at first, feared Vesta and the little one chased my poor old cat around the house. What a lesson in synastry for me! Why does Io not see his own strength, his size? Claim his own right to be in this universe? Why does he project his own power onto this little, tiny kitten?
“When we observe the things we attribute to the other person, we see our own depth and meaning. Our gold goes first from us to them. Eventually it will come back to us. Projecting our inner gold offers us the best chance for an advance in consciousness.” —Robert Johnson, Inner Gold
Ok, well, I suppose I am anthropomorphizing my poor cats in my feeble attempts to grasp my own life dramas in synastry: How do I see myself in others? How can I grow and learn to assert and declare my own needs and potential, while opening my heart to listen, love and truly see those who, as Steven would say, “venusify” my life? 
This spring, at the FCEA, we venture into the broader territory of synastry in evolutionary astrology, building upon our work with the birthchart and the changing sky. Synastry is about any kind of relationship, not just romantic ones — although of course we’ll pay a lot of attention to those too. For those lucky students ready to dive in, pull your Skymates and Skymates 2 from your bookshelves, get ready to read, reflect, grow and change together in the sacred craft of loving counsel through comparing charts in synastry. Mother and child, lovers, co-workers, even bandmates and cats, form the complex web of astrological connection we all share and need. Have a beautiful Valentine’s Day everyone!

Catie Cadge, PhD
February 2022

The Blessings of Jupiter in Pisces

The Blessings of Jupiter in Pisces

Greetings FCEA community!
2022 has arrived and we usher in the new year with several new classes opening in January, along with some fun and engaging Zoom calls planned with Steven and the FCEA tutors. Jupiter in Pisces is moving through the 10th house of our school’s chart, headed towards the 11th house Sun and Moon. The FCEA was “born” on a New Moon in Pisces in 2019 and with this year’s Pisces New Moon in early March, Jupiter joins up as well. So much to aspire to! A time for us to set our goals as a community of learning and a community of friendship and love.
When discussing birthcharts of individuals, Steven so often describes 11th house planets as being “on a long fuse,” taking time to develop in the life. Does this useful aphorism apply to the FCEA’s stellium of Sun, Moon, Mercury and Neptune, all in Pisces and the 11th? Where does transiting Jupiter ask us to take a chance on ourselves as a school and roll the dice in the months ahead? Certainly, it is time for a gradual expansion. But I would say perhaps the most meaningful growth we can do now is to build a compassionate community of support with a solid sense of what we can accomplish together, a generous Jupiterian spirit of “We CAN do this!” We are a family, a team. Do we need a Jupiter mascot?
We are thrilled to say we are ready to begin our next 100-level program with the opening of 101B, our guided introductory course. A brand-new cohort of students will become apprentices to Steven’s methods throughout the year! I want to offer them a heartfelt “welcome” as they embark on a new journey in evolutionary astrology. Throughout last year, I loved to watch and listen to each class of apprentices. It is so moving to see such love and camaraderie! May Jupiter in Pisces bring creative minds and open hearts as our new 100-level apprentices form a bond together as fellow students in our sacred craft. Please greet them and welcome them when you meet them on a Zoom call!

 

 

On New Year’s Eve, Teal Rowe, one of the FCEA tutors, and I were discussing the changing night sky and how Jupiter, with the planet’s faster speed, is pulling away now from its sacred dance with Saturn, a constant theme in 2021. Jupiter so often presents a picture of a glass half full, to envision possibilities. Earlier I mentioned a Jupiter mascot. Is it time to find creative ways to expand our collective spirit as a school? Let’s plant some seeds in the month ahead together by sharing ideas and dreams of how we might make our school the BEST in learning and applying Steven’s masterful skills as wizard. A Hogwarts we can be proud of; compassionate and loving “winners” on the Quidditch field of the FCEA.

“There is still a lot to learn and there is always great stuff out there. Even mistakes can be wonderful.” —Robin Williams

Perhaps finding that team spirit, the mutual love we share for Steven’s approach and for evolutionary astrology, is what we most need when taking on Saturn in 2022. You might recall Steven wrote in his Master’s Musings last month about Saturn transiting the school’s 10th house following Jupiter’s recent path. Obstacles and hard work are part of the journey. It helps me to think of the words of the late, great comedian Robin Williams, “There is still a lot to learn and there is always great stuff out there. Even mistakes can be wonderful.” Robin’s natal Pisces Moon speaks of a passion for life’s possibilities, that glass half full. Sensitive, emotional, and intuitive, Robin also deeply felt all that engulfed him. His natal Moon in the 4th house longed for the caring and compassionate bonds of family. I am hoping 2022 opens our school to such a longing, such a joy in the FCEA “team,” and a powerful shared dream of “family.” And, yes, it will undoubtedly include some mistakes!
Catie Cadge, PhD
FCEA Dean
January 2022

Looking Ahead to 2022

Capricorn Holiday Ornament

Looking Ahead to 2022

Solstice Greetings, everyone!
Ah, the Sun enters Capricorn…Winter is a time for turning inward as we all reflect upon the past year. We find some peace and quiet time, and imagine the next steps in our soul’s journey up the mountain. And we all need hope, faith and love for the New Year.
In his “Master’s Musings” this month, Steven faces head-on the Saturn times ahead for us at the FCEA. Jupiter may bless our school, too, but only if we “roll up our sleeves” and embrace the hard work, so we can reach for the stars. Let’s build the BEST school we can for evolutionary astrology. Please join us in celebrating the path ahead!

“You can make a wish, but then you have to do the wish. It doesn’t just happen.” –Anonymous, a nine-year-old Capricorn kid

Congratulations to our students in their successful completion of FCEA 202, the Practicum in Transits, Progressions and Solar Arcs. We were so impressed by the level of engagement and the love all you showed to one another in class discussions. Such an honor for me to work with such talented evolutionary astrologers! Such a gift for me…I wish to give a shout out to tutors Marie, Joey and Teal in thanks for their constant help and support in moving FCEA 202 to a successful finish. I could not do this work as dean without them! Just before solstice, our current FCEA 103 section will be coming to a close, so I also wish them the best of luck in their final submissions and a big thank you to Karen, Sarrah, Bryan, Ryan, and Allison for such stellar work in guiding our students through FCEA 103. What a busy fall term it has been here at the school.
I want to share with you some exciting news: we have hired three new employees to help the FCEA with the structural needs and difficult tasks of Saturn in the months ahead. We are thrilled to have Paula Wansley as our chief financial operator to guide us through the school’s anticipated growth in 2022 (“Knock on wood”… As Steven says, Jupiter wants us to take a chance!). Paula comes to us after years of experience working for Steven and Ingrid Coffin planning and helping to coordinate many Apprenticeship Programs, Steven’s live teaching sessions formerly held outside of San Diego. I have known Paula, myself, for seven years now. I always feel immediately at ease with Paula; a great trait when it comes to handling financial discussions. Thank you, Paula! I love that we will be working with her in the years ahead.
I am extremely grateful to announce we have a new communications coordinator, Penelope Love. Penelope is gifted in so many skills it is difficult to know where to begin! Holding an MA in Mass Communication, Penelope is a successful author, editor and publisher. She will be handling our newsletter, helping with Zoom calls and organizing our events, and contributing much-needed revisions to our website. As the FCEA grows, Penelope will be helping us reach a wide audience through social media platforms as well. Some of you may know Penelope from our current 100-level classes. Please welcome her as staff when you see her on a Zoom call! We are so thankful and thrilled to work with such a talented soul. I am confident Penelope will be critical to the school’s success in 2022.
A third new staff member to the FCEA is Carlos Velazquez, our Technical Support “Jack-of-all-trades.” Carlos comes to us with experience in web development, systems administration, and information technology. He will be working with Penelope to ease students successfully through enrollment and then register our students into Moodle, our Learning Management System. Carlos will be a critical link in the chain, helping us to update and improve the website, as well as successfully getting new classes up in Moodle and ready for instruction. Thank you, Carlos! We are so grateful for your many talents. And a big thank you to Jeff Parrett for training Carlos and Penelope in these essential tasks. Carlos is a current 100-level FCEA student. Please congratulate him when you see him on Zoom!

 

Catie Cadge, PhD
FCEA Dean
December 2021

Happy Holiday

Happy Holidays

The holiday season is quickly approaching and our final classes of 2021 are coming to end soon. We are all looking forward to celebrating the beginning of a new year at the FCEA, our school’s second year of operation. I am so proud of the job everyone is doing in both the 100-level and 200-level instruction! To me, the quality of analysis and interpretation demonstrated by FCEA students suggests so much more than their hard work and effort. It reflects a kind and caring collaboration, the gifts we receive from a shared community of love, support and encouragement.

This is a community that the students and FCEA staff have built together, one worth celebrating and cherishing. We could not do this school without you! In this month of giving thanks, let’s appreciate ALL the voices we have gathered and recognize the feast we have at our FCEA table. 
There is much to look forward to in 2022 as well. We are excited to roll out another new course in January, FCEA 203, The Biopsychic Script. This is a big one for me, personally, because I will experience my own Second Saturn Return next year. I remember singing along to Joni Mitchell’s The Circle Game when I was just a small child back during the late 1960s. If you recall the song, you may remember Joni’s lyrics were about the passage of time and the rhythms of life’s cycles, as if we were riding a carousel horse through each changing year. 
Something seemed so authentic to me back then when I first heard Joni Mitchell’s words, even though my own life in this incarnation had barely gotten started. Over the years, wisdom seemed to grow within my understanding of her song’s poetry. Was I getting a better sense about life’s stages of maturity? Was this developing self-awareness evident in the planetary cycles and rhythms of evolutionary astrology? 

“And the seasons, they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return, we can only look
Behind, from where we came
And go round and round and round, in the circle game”

– Joni Mitchell

Perhaps the answers to these questions are best summed up by Steven’s definition of the biopsychic script as we will study it in FCEA 203, “As we mature, our consciousness – and our circumstances – change in somewhat predictable and rather universal ways. Within limits, everyone experiences these maturational developments similarly. Astrology can take us beyond the realm of what is immediately obvious, sensitizing us to the subtleties of these life-chapters in very illuminating ways. We call this particular area of astrological study the biopsychic script.”
In FCEA 203, we will continue to rely upon the birthchart as root prediction and set these commonly experienced life events, such as the Saturn Return, the Uranus Opposition, the Jupiter Return, to name just a few, into the biographical stories of specific individuals, individuals undoubtedly experiencing other important transits, progressions or solar arcs simultaneously in unique ways. And we will return again to Wilma’s chart, our fictional client, with whom we have been developing a counseling rapport. How will her fiery primal triad and her stellium in Gemini and her 10th house work with the rhythms of the lunar nodes and her Nodal Return?
We will also consider some key events of the biopsychic script, such as the Saturn Return, within the context of the client’s age. Can we see certain themes during the first Saturn Return in a person’s late 20s that change with advancing age when a soul reaches the late 50s? What lessons or questions do we encounter when Saturn again returns to its natal position? Thinking back to my first Saturn Return and comparing that time to my current reality in 2021, as Saturn again travels through Aquarius, I notice some similarities of experience; the universe sets up the carousel horses once again in ways I must mature into and work through with patience and discipline. Ah, Saturn, you really do remind me of ‘father time.’ And what is it Steven always tells us about Saturn? “How bad do you want it”? No doubt in my mind that FCEA students will meet the challenge!

Faith and Hard Work

Faith and Hard Work

At the FCEA, we have been watching Jupiter and Saturn dance in the night sky all year. Last December, they were so close, then a bit apart, then even farther apart, and soon Jupiter will re-enter Pisces for a very quick passage (for Jupiter!)  through the zodiacal sign. I have been thinking a lot about hard work and opportunity, how one often follows or accompanies the other. I often hear from FCEA students about how they are frustrated by the steep learning curve, the amount of detail, all the calculations to figure out, the nuts and bolts of software, counseling skills, synthesis and integration, all the pieces of the Steven Forrest method to master. This seems like a higher and higher mountain to climb.  Saturn times can be so tough. I personally find it helpful to remember Steven’s now-famous saying, “Saturn helps us to do what we don’t feel like doing.” Boy, isn’t that the truth?! Then, who knows, maybe we can put our hope in Jupiter, when we might, just might, be able to sweep up all the goodies after Lord Task Master Saturn has done his work.
Going through the program here at the FCEA takes a little bit of Jupiter’s faith and hope. With time, effort and discipline, mastery, or maybe getting just one step closer to being a “master,” will eventually come down the road. I am writing to you this morning on the eve of a New Moon in Libra. One heart and soul to another, I say go easy on yourselves, calm down, allow the art and joy of practicing evolutionary astrology slowly bloom within you. We can’t grasp the skills and Steven’s abilities to integrate all the pieces of a chart reading over night! Ease into it and let it sink in. I just want to encourage you and let you know I understand, I get it. I’m in my own Saturn time at the moment and plodding through all I have on my plate overwhelms me each day.But anything worth learning and accomplishing takes time.

“Patience is the art of hoping.“
– Luc de Clapiers

It takes a desire to keep going, keep trying and to keep your goals always in sight.

Remember we have Jupiter somewhere out there in the sky. In the spring of 2022, Jupiter will join together with Neptune in Pisces.We all need to dream BIG and have faith in our imaginations and hope for a better future. Both planets will trine the north node of the Moon in Cancer, 3rd house, in the FCEA school’s natal chart, while squaring the school’s Jupiter in Sagittarius in the 7th. Let’s support each other in this cosmic dance, have faith in what we all can do as evolutionary astrologers, and spread healing wisdom with the passion for this sacred craft we all share.
As we continue through 2021, we need to apply ourselves and work hard, but remember to be patient. Rome wasn’t built in a day! 
In the meantime, I hope we all can cultivate some Piscean compassion for one another. I am so impressed by how kind and loving FCEA students are in replying to each other’s posts. A true spirit of camaraderie! For those that feel overwhelmed, slow down, listen to one another. A community is here for you. May Jupiter and Neptune in the year ahead expand our intuitive gifts, our visions for the future and build dreams upon all this hard work and effort.
I hope to see many of you at our first annual FCEA summit on November 13th!