Looking at the birthchart of our very own school, the FCEA, we see Neptune by transit, moving retrograde through the 11th house, forming a square aspect to the FCEA’s Jupiter at 22°30’ Sagittarius in the 7th house. What opportunities are open to us now at the FCEA to listen to each other, the ideas and suggestions of our community of learners and educators, to strive for the best in our 11th house goals to learn this sacred skill?

We want to reassure you, in true 7th house fashion, we hear you. And we know many students want us to grow in ways that will allow more human interaction in their on-line education. I have been in on-line education for over a decade and I can tell you building an honest, loving “real” connection between students, tutors and teachers is THE most challenging aspect of education in our current 21st-century Aquarian age. In The Book of Neptune, Steven uses the word “sangha,” a spiritually-based community, to describe the friendships we build through an 11th house Neptune. With the planet there, both natally and by transit in the FCEA chart, can we dream of a better future, a better way to relate?

Fine-tuning that Neptunian vision is part of the work we see ahead for us in the FCEA. We are considering several possible avenues to create more places for students, tutors, and teachers to have face-to-face engagement, talking and sharing together through on-line conversations. All of this takes time and resources. And we are grateful for your ongoing patience envisioning new stages – new evolutionary growth! – as we change and develop the best way forward for our FCEA sangha. One that nurtures love, community and understanding. Look for some creative developments in the FCEA curriculum in the months ahead!

Of course, we think about Jupiter as the planet of expansion and opportunity. But how does the “King of the Gods,” the great gaseous giant, open doors for evolutionary soul growth? A Jupiter Return can bring more than the over indulgence in pleasure, the few extra pounds we gain, or the joy at being the life of the party. In FCEA 203, Steven presents the biopsychic script, such as the Saturn Return or Jupiter Return, in ways that can help us counsel our clients in creative and personally empowering steps they can take to make the most of the evolutionary astrological cycles we all experience. 

Here’s an example to give you a taste of the curriculum we are creating for FCEA 203. The ever-popular Hollywood film, Titanic, won eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, in 1998. Just two weeks before, lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio experienced his second Jupiter Return. It occurred at 8 degrees 6 minutes of Pisces in his 6th house, and made a number of other transits to key degrees in his birthchart. Leonardo was only 23 years old then and it was certainly a time of revelry and celebration for him. Yet, how can we look deeper at this transit, one we all share when we reach our early 20s? Or, how can we give the Jupiter Return a more in-depth analysis in light of the individual soul journey of this particular young actor, turned megastar? 

Our FCEA 200 courses dive into topics in evolutionary astrology, such as the biopsychic script, that allow students to fine-tune their skills in chart analysis and take readings to a deeper, and much more richer level of interpretation.

Wishing everyone a wonderful solstice!

We are proud to announce our first soul-friend, Marie O’Neill, is the author of a new book “…And The Lotus Opened.” Founder of Padma Life Coaching, in Santa Rosa, California, Marie has an MBA and has many years of experience as a Life Coach, Astrologer, Speaker Coach, Past Life Regression facilitator and lecturer. She is a Distinguished Toastmaster through Toastmasters International and serves on the Board of Directors with TEDx Sonoma County. In addition, Marie lectures at numerous Astrology conferences. Marie says her passion is helping others achieve their dreams, goals and to shine brightly in the world.

Our next tutor and soul-friend, Joey Paynter, just earned her Ph.D. in depth psychology with an emphasis in Jungian and Archetypal studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute. Congratulations Joey! She also holds a Master’s degree in clinical psychology. She has traveled to over 40 countries as a counselor, healer, lecturer, teacher, and photojournalist. She is co-owner of Soul Stories and also co-facilitates an archetypal study group called The Coven, a place where ritual and the art of sacred play come together to help others meet their inner figures. Joey has been a full time practicing evolutionary astrologer for five years and loves uncovering the myths that live within.

Last – but far from least! – we have our multi-talented and artistic soul-friend, Teal Rowe. From choosing the best time to plant and harvest the garden, to learning one’s “primal triad”, the planets, signs, and houses, Teal has been using the sacred wisdom of astrology since she was a young artist. It wasn’t until many moons later, at the time of an ending to a successful art career and marriage that she dove into the astrology books more seriously.  From seeking to find meaning in the transition, to a few years later doing readings for clients, she then found Steven Forrest’s Apprentice Program. In the AP, she says she is very happy to be surrounded by a community of people that are as passionate about learning the endless study of astrology as she is. Teal has a very successful professional evolutionary astrology practice in Ojai, California.

Steven explores key events in the biographies of current rising stars, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a.k.a. “the powerful AOC,” in her quest for political office, along with some old favorites from our apprenticeship coursework. We see again Muhammad Ali, when he refused the draft during the Vietnam War, robbing him of some of the best years ahead in boxing, to uphold his personal convictions in his fight for civil rights in America and for social justice. 

My personal favorite is Steven’s in-depth study of the birthchart, the root prediction, of Carl Gustav Jung, and then his analysis of the transits, progressions and solar arcs – the critical astrological events from 1913 to 1917 – that lead to a major turning point in the famous psychoanalyst’s influential career. Steven describes how Jung was going through a pivotal time, “a psychological initiation of truly shamanic proportions,” writing the famous Red Book, but also doing “the lion’s share of his psychoanalytic theory and understanding – a foundation upon which we modern astrologers still, to a great extent, stand.” In FCEA 202: Changing Sky – Transits, Progressions and Solar Arcs, we watch Steven unfold this critical moment for Carl Gustav Jung. This video lecture is followed by class discussions, where we share insightful conversation and learn collaboratively the art of astrological timing and counsel. What a Neptune time for Jung!

Wishing ongoing success for ALL our FCEA graduates. We are so grateful and we appreciate sharing the learning process with all of you. Springtime blessings everyone!

Let me provide a teaser of one of Steven’s new videos for the Craftsperson level of instruction. When we think of Pisces season in March, we think of Neptune, planet of imagination and divine inspiration, the vastness of the inner world. Co-ruler of the sign, Neptune is very strong now as the planet transits Pisces, starting in2012 exiting in 2025. In “Walt Disney, a Study in Neptune,” Steven develops our understanding of the evolutionary perspective of the planet, beyond the basic 101 level, to take FCEA students further into the journey of reading a chart holistically. 

Care as an astrological counselor requires realizing that not every client identifies with “religion” or “spirituality” in a positive way, and so to build rapport, we need to find a bridge of language to reach that client. Neptune is the ruler of filmmaking and what better example of creative, compassionate film than Bambi? Steven brings to life Walt’s chart by integrating Neptune into the bigger picture. Walt Disney’s Neptune in Cancer in the 10th house, close to his Gemini MC, suggests a need to open to the spaciousness and consciousness of a “spiritual teacher,” but in Walt’s case, we see an animation artist and storyteller. Steven asks the fundamental 10th house question of planets in this house of mission, “What part of our own nature needs to be developed to a radical degree?” Through Bambi, Walt Disney transformed our relationship with the natural kingdom. “Who after seeing Bambi, could feel good about shooting a deer?” His creative imagination created myths and symbols of our culture, symbols more nurturing and compassionate.

I hope this offers you a brief taste for Steven’s new video series. Planetary studies in depth to expand students’ skills in seeing the planet in a larger context of chart analysis. In our Piscean season this month, remember, “If you can visualize it, if you can dream it, there’s some way to do it”, the wise words of Walt Disney, Neptunian storyteller with a compassionate heart.

I hope this gives you a small taste of what is to come down the road in courses at the FCEA. Wishing you love in ALL its forms and many springtime blessings! 

Please read these simple rules, follow them whenever and wherever possible, and we will be on our way to becoming a family of learners, apprentices and craftspeople, masters in training, of evolutionary astrology using the Steven Forrest Method!

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