Counseling and Language

Counseling and Language

Master’s Musings, April 2023

Counseling and Language

 
“Yes I’ve heard this word. I think sociopaths use it in an attempt to discredit the notion of empathy.”
– John Cleese on ‘Snowflakes’
 
Steven Forrest
One of our students wrote me an email praising my work and our school, but challenging me about some of the rougher language and metaphors I use – sexual imagery, street words, edgy  cliches, and so forth. I could tell it took a lot of courage for her to criticize me that way and I genuinely appreciated her openness. I responded to her privately, but I also realized that perhaps she’s not alone. The subject seemed appropriate for a newsletter, so here we go.
By the way, I’m not going to mention the student’s name. The area I’m about to explore is charged with strong emotions on both sides. While I suspect there are many who would agree with her, I also fear there would be those who might leap to my defense, which could potentially be hurtful to her if I named her. In the FCEA, we welcome diversity, but we also naturally value unity and mutual respect. That’s how we walk our talk.
Let me begin in a broad way. I teach astrological theory. That’s pretty obvious. But underlying my teaching is another set of theories – ones about teaching itself. As you’ll see, that’s really the heart of matter here.
Everyone is welcome in the school. People who are here for reasons of personal growth or even just interest are an important part of our community. But there’s a special place in my heart for the students who aim to become active evolutionary astrologers – that means counselors who support people in their communities as they try to thread their way through life’s emotional labyrinths. Being good at that work starts with knowing astrological techniques, but it’s about counseling work too – and deep astrology really pushes people’s emotional buttons. We have to be ready for that.
The astrological counseling room triggers a lot of very strong emotions, strongly expressed. For example, people who’ve been abandoned, used exploitatively, or victimized can understandably be extremely explosive as you create a space to explore those experiences authentically with them. They’ll sometimes say scary, extreme things. They’ll use language you wouldn’t want to explain to a child – you can fill in the blanks here, I’m sure. In a nutshell, in teaching my methods, I aim to desensitize my students to that kind of charged talk. For one example, in the heat of the moment, a client might use words like “bitch” or “bastard” to characterize someone who’s just broken their heart. Picture someone going through a Pluto transit to their Venus, for example – there’s perhaps an agonizing present-life event, but its tendrils reach down into prior life experiences too. They’ve been sitting on an emotional volcano, in other words, and it’s time for it to erupt. At that moment, if the astrologer’s body language conveys shock or judgment, it’s a catastrophe. As astrologers, we simply have to get used to that kind of situation.
If a socially-conservative person comes to you for a reading and uses a word like “girls” for women or characterizes a fight among females as a “catfight,” it’s the same situation – we may object to their language, but we can’t let that objection get in the way of our real aim, which is to help this soul make the best of whatever life has dished up for them in that moment. We should, in other words, never let our own personal values and opinions get in the way of maintaining that precious bridge of rapport with the client. It’s really hard sometimes! But as professional astrological counselors, we always have to be ready to truly embrace human diversity and the powerful emotions that go along with it – and to receive our clients into our hearts with unconditional positive regard no matter what they sound like.
That sounds good! I doubt there’s anyone in the school who would argue against it. But my point is that getting good at that kind of non judgmental emotional steadiness is not something we come out of our mothers knowing how to do. It’s one of the skills that counselors need to learn. And that’s why, in my teaching, my language and imagery can sometimes be edgy.
Referring to one of our question and answer Zoom sessions, the student who wrote to me felt uncomfortable when I spoke of a time, years ago, when a former Playboy centerfold model came to me for a reading. In that Q & A, I mentioned how I was nervous that I might find myself “staring at her breasts” instead of at her chart. That comment was apparently “triggering” for this student.
That session with the model actually went very well, and my fears about my own behavior fortunately proved to be unfounded. But I’m glad I knew myself well enough to be aware in advance of the legitimacy of those fears! Few of us are evolved enough to not be impacted by our own sexuality. We have to be mindful of that. Obviously, overt sexual expression has no place in the counseling room, but that doesn’t mean we can ignore those energies. I felt good about mentioning my own experience with that model. We have some younger heterosexual males in our program and I wanted to offer them some non-shaming support and guidance – and I hoped that with a modicum of imagination, our female and LGBTQ students could get some guidance there too.
Sexual energy in the counseling room is a big subject and one anecdote isn’t sufficient to address it – but I hope I made a start. I’ve been speaking of unconditional positive regard for our clients – let’s reserve some for ourselves too!
The subject of astrological counsel is a continent and in this newsletter we’ve barely put our feet on the shore. Going a little further up the beach, let me just say that some of the most intense moments of my life have been spent in the presence of people recovering from rape and war and other forms of violent intrusion. Talk about volcanic emotions! I’ve struggled personally with some extremely graphic revelations about unusual sexual conduct. Hearing about stomach-churning physical conditions is particularly hard for me, but it’s part of the work too.
Some of what I’ve explored here ranges beyond the issues that the student raised with me, but it’s all about the raw realities of astrological counseling. It’s about where our work inevitably overlaps with psychotherapy. And it all comes down to accepting people where they actually are.
In my mind, the FCEA is a fully professional school. To me, that means that I need to help my students be prepared for the world they’ll actually face as professionals. I feel it would be a terrible failure on my part if I didn’t do that. That means that I promise to sometimes “push your buttons” as my clients have pushed mine for the past fifty years.
 
Steven Forrest
April 2023

 

FCEA Scholarship Opportunities

FCEA Scholarship Opportunities

Dean’s Update, April 2023

Scholarship Opportunities

 
Catie Cadge
April is a busy month at the FCEA. We have six classes in operation at three levels of instruction!  A special congratulations to those students who recently graduated from the apprentice level last month and our advanced craftspeople who have now embarked on the 300-level. Way to go! I also wish to give a shout out to the 101B grads who are now starting 102B. We are so impressed by everyone’s growing skill set and devotion to study, along with the spirit of community you all bring to the school. We are so grateful!
 
I have some long-awaited news to share about our scholarship opportunities this year. We have been receiving questions about financial aid practically since the first day the FCEA has opened. It has been tough for Steven, myself and our staff because so many are in need and we, of course, wish to help. The problem is the school’s limited resources. We are just now gradually moving ahead with our very first scholarship application process to try to alleviate even just a small fraction of this hardship experienced by so many. Thank you for your patience!
 
Here is the scoop:

 

  • There will be a scholarship application and selection process.
  • Full instructions will be posted under the “Learn” tab on the FCEA website by late May.
  • We will be offering a limited number of scholarships providing the awarded students a full tuition waiver from the time of the award until masters certification, as long as they are actively enrolled at the FCEA.
  • All students are eligible to apply.
  • Scholarship rewards are not retroactive and only apply to coursework not yet attempted by the student.
  • Scholarships require the student to successfully pass their coursework in each class. 
 
There are two types of scholarships at the FCEA: a needs-based award in response to a student’s financial hardship and a diversity scholarship intended to support students from historically marginalized and/or oppressed communities worldwide. Let me share the descriptions:
 
The FCEA NEEDS-BASED SCHOLARSHIP:
 
The FCEA recognizes that in order to create the best in an astrological education, a student body must be inclusive of those with limited resources or financial support. This full scholarship will be awarded to the person whom our scholarship committee deems to be the most promising aspiring student who is in need of financial assistance in covering tuition at the FCEA.
 
The FCEA DIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP:
 
The FCEA is committed to promoting diversity in our student body in terms of race, ethnicity, age, gender, gender preference and the inclusion of other underrepresented groups in education and in the professional field of astrology. The scholarship committee seeks to award candidates with a full scholarship who contribute to a diverse student body and who help build a more inclusive learning experience at the FCEA.
The number of students chosen will depend upon the school’s growth and financial position at the time of application. Students will be chosen once a year by our Scholarship Selection Committee by August 1st. June 15 to July 15 is the date window for submitting an application. Again, please refer to our website for complete application directions in late May.
 
We wish we could offer support to all applicants, but, of course, the selection process will be competitive. Every effort will be made to make the selection process fair. We ask all students to realize the school can only do what it has resources to do.
 
We strive to serve all our students with the best education in evolutionary astrology. And we hope to make our online campus diverse and supportive of those in need. Hopefully, the inauguration of our scholarship program will be a great asset for the whole FCEA community in the years ahead.
 
Catie Cadge, PhD
April 2023
 
 
 

Study Group Survey Results Are In!

Study Group Survey Results Are In!

Dean’s Update, March 2023

Our Study Group Survey Results Are In!


Catie Cadge
Blessings on the March equinox, FCEA community! Vernal equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere starts a new cycle of life, new beginnings. Astrologers call the day of the Sun’s entrance into Aries “International Astrology Day.” Can you think of a better New Year for all of us to share!?
Claim some Aries fire and initiative, and have courage in yourself and your direction, and your flower will open, as Steven likes to tell us. Well, some of the Aries spark for the FCEA involves planting new seeds and working our soil with new goals and aspirations. The equinox on March 20th occurs at 2:24 pm Pacific time at 00°0’ Aries in the school’s 11th house, conjunct Chiron, in the FCEA birthchart. Welcome to spring! And to our Southern Hemisphere students, love to you in the new season.
Reassessing the format and future of the FCEA study group calls is one seed we hope to plant in the weeks ahead. We are so grateful for the student feedback we received from you through our recent survey. The results are so helpful as we strive to improve our current Zoom calls and also discuss and consider options for change. Thank YOU for your participation and sharing your thoughts! I also want to thank our tutor, Patty Morris-Stebbins, and our registrar, Penelope Love, for creating and implementing the Study Group call survey. Great job, Patty and Penelope!
I’d like to share with you a summary of the survey results. Students who responded were roughly split between the apprentice, 100-level, and the craftsperson, 200-level, groups. Let’s start with what seems to be working for students: length of the calls, Tuesday as a meetup day and the time of day we currently schedule all received the most positive feedback in comparison to other dates and time options.
In addition, students were asked about whether they preferred the current format for our study group calls and by far the majority liked the set up as it is. Only 16.7% commented that they did not like the current format. So, this is good news!
Most students prefer chart interpretation in small groups (breakout rooms) and a brief tutor-led Q and A when call participants reconvene or within the breakout room itself. This again reinforces that the current study groups are working well, given this is the structure we now have in place. Most pleasing for me to read was how so many students appreciate the sense of community the study group calls provide and the connections they make with their peers.
The area students express a need for improvement is having a tutor consistently in the breakout rooms. Unfortunately, we have limited staff to work these calls. And though we strive to have some tutor availability as much as possible in each room, we are not able to accommodate students this way in the current structure. Read on and you will see our suggestion for change.


So how do we now till our soil and plant our Aries “seed” into fresh directions?
 
Clearly, the current format is working, but we are growing as a school and cannot maintain this structure as we expand in size. We welcome growth! But how best to move ahead? We are currently implementing a new social platform, Circle, to partly cover our needs. But live interaction with tutor-led Q and A requires a lab.
Late last year, we began offering 101-Z, a lab class to accommodate 100-level students who preferred live interaction and Q and A with a tutor. A 201-Z will be the next step. This would provide a similar focused tutor-led cohort for advanced study. The additional tuition for these lab sections would allow us to support the on-going tutor Zoom interaction some students want. (Please note: Z courses are not currently listed in the Course Catalog; registration information is provided during our guided course orientations.) In the meantime, study group calls will be used primarily as a form of social engagement, following the original intention of the calls. Q and A with instruction will continue to occur on monthly calls with our master teacher Steven Forrest and through the 101-Z and 201-Z labs.
Slowly we plan to implement these changes, developing our Circle community and opening a 201-Z lab by summer, 2023. Look for these new developments in the months ahead. Equinox joy to all!
 
Catie Cadge, PhD
March 2023
 
 
 

Evidence-Based Astrology

Evidence-Based Astrology

Master’s Musings, March 2023

Evidence-Based Astrology

 
Steven ForrestAstrology’s detractors love to pooh-pooh what we do by rolling out the old canard that there is no scientific evidence for astrology. That is simply not true. There’s actually plenty of evidence for it – but like the evidence for reincarnation, psychic phenomena, unexplained aerial phenomena, and so on, there are always people who would rather ignore the facts than have their pet theory of the universe challenged in any way. For some reason, astrology always seems like catnip for that crowd.
 
If you’re interested, my book 2016 book The Night Speaks explores some of the science behind astrology, both from a statistical perspective and from the physical sciences, where there is plenty of objective evidence of celestial/terrestrial correlations – proof that clams open and close and the bioelectric fields of trees flux, all in response to the Moon’s position, for example. 
Of all the statistical studies of astrology, probably the most well-known is the work of Michel and Francoise Gauquelin, done way back in the 1950s. Using thousands of hand-calculated charts, they proved, for one example, that Mars tended to be in more prominent positions in the charts of professional athletes than in control groups of the general population. The Gauquelins soon ran afoul of the infamous CSICOP – the self-appointed “Committee for the Study of Claims of the Paranormal,” which actually attempted to falsify – not disprove, but actually falsify – their robust evidence. CSICOP was caught in the act. One scientist, with a slight degree of hyperbole, called it “the biggest scandal in the history of rationalism.” If you’re interested in that story, have a look at The Night Speaks – or even better, see if you can find the Gauquelins’ book, Birth Times. 
The Night Speaks first came out in 1993. There was a new edition in 2016, but all of the scientific material in it stayed the same as it was in the first edition. The truth of it is that I didn’t have anything more than a cursory, amateur’s interest in the pursuit of a scientific proof of astrology – I was busy enough with other perspectives. But the search for that particular Holy Grail has continued without my help. Hats off to David Cochrane, a former president of ISAR, and a devoted astrological researcher. If you’d like to be up to date with the current state of statistical astrological research, I would encourage you to let David be your doorway. Here’s a good place to start: https://www.astrologer.com/cochrane  As you explore that website, you’ll discover that David and his colleagues have found solid evidence of astrological correlations with bipolar disorder and alcoholism, for just a couple of examples.
I applaud what they are doing. How could I not? They are making new astrological discoveries that can help us help our clients. Undoubtedly, they’ll also knock the stilts out from under some astrological shibboleths, which are rife in our field. We’re a funny mixture of astute human observations along with traditions passed down uncritically over innumerable generations. I mean, do Scorpios and Cancers really get along automatically because there’s a 120 degree angle between them? How true is that, even though you’ll read it in every Sun Sign book? Is Jupiter always lucky? Does the 12th house always bring misfortune?
 

Astrology is a vast field – a classic “big tent” situation. One of my favorite lines is that I have never met an astrologer who was practicing the second-best kind of astrology that he or she had ever encountered. Naturally we all find the system that works best for us personally and which excites us the most. For me, that’s obviously been evolutionary astrology. For some it’s the historical forms of the craft. And for some it’s the pursuit of irrefutable astrological facts as they emerge in statistical analysis. 

 
 
Bless us all – but with that enthusiasm and excitement, there often comes partisanship and the desire to make everybody else’s system wrong. I guess that’s what makes the world go ‘round, but that kind of intolerance has never brought out the best in anyone. That’s the main thing I want to address in this newsletter.
I hope that I have made myself clear – I embrace the astrological researchers and I am grateful for what they are doing. As some of you perhaps know, my first (unpublished) book actually was about such a project. Back right after I finished college, I’d been working on a study for the National Institute of Mental Health. In a flagrant abuse of your tax dollars, I was able to sneak-peek a correlation of people’s Sun Signs with their personality profiles. I got statistically significant results in many cases, and I wrote a book about it. In classic Jupiter fashion, the fact that my efforts were never accepted for publication was among “the best things that ever happened to me,” even though it didn’t feel that way at the time. If it had gone to print, I would have been branded as a statistical researcher, and that simply was not my path.
 
 

Lately, I’ve heard some scuttlebut…

 
 
Lately, I’ve heard some scuttlebutt about a few “evidence-based” astrologers dismissing evolutionary astrology for its alleged lack of an empirical basis. The last thing I want to do is to get into an argument with those people – as I’ve said, astrological researchers have my enthusiastic support. But in what remains of this newsletter, I want to arm you against any such attacks you might encounter.
The first response I would suggest is what I’ve been saying all along – God bless us one and all. We welcome any new evidence or insights into our sacred craft. To all of you evidence-based astrologers, thank you for your hard work. Show us what you’ve got.
Beyond that, let me say that there is a basic problem with all such statistical astrological research. It’s far from a reason not to do that kind of work, nor is it insurmountable, but it needs to be understood clearly. Here it is: every astrological configuration interacts creatively and unpredictably with the consciousness of the individual. What happens in life is not simply a function of the astrological configuration – it’s about the response the individual makes to it. Thus, every symbol in astrology represents a spectrum of possibilities. They are moving targets, in other words. That makes them hard to pin down statistically.
 
 

Here’s a specific example of what I’m talking about.

 
 
I read a study once which described a correlation between alcoholism and Moon-Neptune oppositions. (My apologies that I can’t give you a citation on it – I don’t remember, but I think I read it in The Mountain Astrologer.)  No surprise there though – it’s easy to believe in such a correlation. In fact, a warning about escapism in general would be part of any competent evolutionary astrologer’s analysis of such a Moon-Neptune chart.
But think of all the people with Moon-Neptune oppositions who are avid, tea-totalling meditators. Or visionary artists. Or animators. Or interpreters of dreams. Or filmmakers. Or pharmacists. Or ayahuasqueros. Or deep-sea sailors. Or sommeliers. Or hallucinating psychotics. Or fine actors. Or shamans.
The list of possibilities is long, in other words. That’s what I mean by “moving targets.” This is what makes statistical studies of astrology so hard – the drunken Moon-Neptune types are definitely in there, but the presence of these other equally Moon-Neptune types blurs the numbers, and makes any “this means that” kind of astrological analysis extraordinarily difficult.
 
 

Then there’s a point that is obvious to any practicing astrologer.

 
 
We all know that nothing in a chart ever operates in a vacuum. The planets all flavor each other. Mercury may be Mercury, but my Mercury and yours operate differently – unless the rest of your chart is the same as mine, and not even really then. At the risk of very minor over-simplification, no chart is ever repeated exactly. Statistics, by definition, only have meaning when you have a large number of cases against which to compare your hypotheses. Here’s where that line of reasoning goes – if, say, you could find 2000 people with Steven Forrest’s chart, how many of them would have turned out to be astrologers? 
Start with the problem that you cannot find 2000 people with my chart, and from there proceed to the problem that even if you could, there are many other paths I (or they) could have gone down, some high, some low – and that whole diverse range of possible lives would be reflected in that population of “Steven Forrests” (even though it doesn’t really exist in the first place.)
I say all of this not as a criticism of astrological researchers, but in sympathy with them. What they are doing is very difficult.
 
 

Let’s go a step further.

 
 
Earlier this year, David Cochrane published his book, The Astrology of Bipolar Disorder. You can get it on Amazon. He’s smart, competent, and honest. I am sure his work is solid. I’ve not gotten around to reading it yet myself, but I will – and I know it will make me a better astrologer. How? If I see his diagnostic patterns for bipolar disorder in the chart of a client, I will be alerted to that possibility – but I will also know that there are other possibilities. Would I even say to the client “I see a chance of bipolar disorder in your chart?.” I doubt it – that would sow unnecessary, and perhaps totally ungrounded, seeds of anxiety. Instead, I’d emphasize the higher ground and how to get there. I might make vague reference to “mental instability” as one possible result of not striving for the higher ground – and I really believe that. That’s because the very heart of evolutionary astrology lies in that kind of thinking. We can’t control the universe, but we can certainly take a high degree of personal responsibility for how we embody our charts.
 
 

One final thought.

 
 
If an evidence-based astrologer gets on your case for the apparent “lack of evidence” for evolutionary astrology, here’s the best response I know. Start with the notion that full-power astrology must always be based on the full, individual, unrepeatable birthchart. As we have seen, that’s hard to study statistically, but there is a way: unleash thousands of astrologers, all practicing different methods, on a large human population. Stand back and watch for twenty years or so. See which astrologers have clients coming back to them year after year, recommending them to their friends, and trusting them with their children. 
That’s your test. Crowdsource your answer, in other words. Use a sample of millions of people. That’s how we can compare different astrological theories in the real world of actual human beings with their full birthcharts. People know if the astrologer is speaking to them in a helpful, resonant way – or not. And that is a far harder test to pass than proving that Venus in Libra means your favorite color is green or any such thing.
That is the test that evolutionary astrology has been passing ever more wisely and spectacularly over the past fifty years or so. That’s your answer. That’s your evidence for any “evidence-based” astrologer who’s trying to shame you or disrespect the work we do because we “don’t have numbers to prove it.”
Just look. We do have the numbers.
 
Steven Forrest
March 2023

 

A New Structure for Our Q&A Calls

A New Structure for Our Q&A Calls

Master’s Musings, February 2023

A New Structure for Our Q&A Calls

 
Steven Forrest
As most of you have probably deduced by now, the Forrest Center for Evolutionary Astrology is a work in progress. We’re proud and excited about what we’ve accomplished so far, but we’re always open to feedback and willing to grow in new directions if they seem like good ideas. After some conversations with Catie and Penelope, we’ve decided to make a change in the format of my Zoom calls, both the ones for enrolled students and the four we do each year for our Community Members (you can find the details about FCEA Membership here). 
We’ll still call for questions and chart submissions in advance, as we always have. But we’ll limit ourselves either to twelve questions or one hour of time, whichever comes first. That’ll leave one more hour for a chart reading plus a period of more spontaneous, free-form questions and answers. With the chart reading, I won’t be a slave to the clock, but I’ll aim for something in the neighborhood of thirty minutes, with the rest of the time wide-open for a conversation.
The Member Call on February 6th is what prompted these changes. Here’s the story – we got only three questions submitted in advance, along with, I think, seventeen charts. I only plan to do one chart reading, but three questions wasn’t enough to fill the time, so Penelope put out an S.O.S. – and the Community Members responded . . . overwhelmingly. Suddenly we had twenty-one questions, all of them juicy, interesting ones – and of course many more chart submissions as well.
This is a good time for me to bang what is perhaps becoming a familiar drum – the odds of you getting a question answered are pretty good while the odds against your chart being chosen are not! We ended up with thirty-three charts and only one to be chosen – I bet you can do the math in your head.
Anyway, I’ve always tried to answer all the questions, but with twenty-one of them, it was a challenge. The gods and goddesses intervened though – the chart submission wasn’t really about an interpretation, it was about Mean vs True lunar nodes, so it only took me a few minutes to respond to it. Bottom line: we got through all the questions, plus the chart, and only went a few minutes over our allotted two hours.
But the whole thing felt rushed and out of balance – and that’s what prompted Catie, Penelope and me to come up with this new format.
We very much encourage you to continue to submit questions – and there’s no need to be shy about submitting charts either, so long as you remember those long odds. If we get ten or twelve questions, I’ll very likely have time to respond to all of them. If we get more than that, we’ll have to make some decisions about which ones are of the most potential benefit to everyone. 
One point is pretty clear there – in the past, we’ve gotten a lot of “thinly disguised” chart questions masquerading as general questions . . . for example, what if the Sun is in Aquarius and the 7th house, with Venus in Pisces in the 8th house quincunx Jupiter in Leo in the 1st house, which is square Neptune . . . ? In the future, those kinds of questions will be prime candidates for the chopping block – although if we are short of questions, I’ll still try to answer them as best I can.
 

So, from now on, we do twelve questions or one hour, whichever comes first – then we move on to leisurely stroll through some dimensions of an actual chart. And finally, somewhere between fifteen and thirty minutes of free-form Q&A. 

 
I really look forward to that part – it always feels very alive and immediate, and many of the comments are follow-ups on the chart or the earlier technical questions. That makes for good continuity. So why not simply forget about submitting questions in advance and just do everything that way? Lots of reasons! For one, while I can answer most of the questions pretty well off the top of my head, for some of them I need to do a little research. Someone, for example, wants an example of a person who had a certain configuration. Or sometimes I get a question about a branch of astrology with which I’m actually not familiar and I have to look something up – that’s one reason not to just do the sessions spontaneously. Here’s another – I’m guessing we’ll often have more questions than I can answer in an hour, so I’ll need to curate them. Finally, I like to organize the questions by topic and that requires some work in advance too.
So, welcome to the new Q&A format – sixty minutes of questions submitted in advance, about thirty of the interpretation of a single chart, and another thirty of potluck conversation.
See you there!
 
Steven Forrest
February 2023


Growing Through Changes at the FCEA

Growing Through Changes

Dean’s Update, February 2023

We’re Growing Through Changes at the FCEA

Current Students — Please Take the Study Group Call Survey (See details below)

 

Catie Cadge
February greetings to our FCEA community! It is a bright, clear Valentine’s Day morning here in Santa Cruz, California, and, of course, in the spirit of the day, I have relationships on my mind. On a recent FCEA Member Q&A call, Steven mentioned how having the sign Virgo on the cusp of the 7th house gives a soul ample opportunity to critically work on herself through interactions with others. Yup, well, that’s me. I have Pluto on my Virgo descendant. And the FCEA is providing plenty of chances to learn and grow for me through the good, bad and ugly (well, let’s say challenging) sides of so many souls. Let me give this a positive spin and explain some of the relationship dynamics and changes we are going through as a school.
First, some news about our tutors and tutorial assistants. The FCEA is blessed to have a great group of highly talented and loving staff! As I write, transiting Mercury is conjunct our 9th house Venus in Aquarius in the FCEA birthchart. We have been so fortunate to have not only master evolutionary astrologers as teachers and mentors, but also folks with open Aquarian minds and a willingness to embrace the online learning experience of the FCEA curriculum. We could not do any of our courses without them! We are so grateful.
With a heavy heart, I start by mentioning one of our very best tutors, Joey Paynter, is leaving us at the beginning of March. Joey has been instrumental in helping us get the FCEA up and running. She was with us from the very day our doors opened. Joey’s insights and feedback played a key role in helping us establish the student and tutor relationship via online learning the very heart of what we do at the FCEA. So supportive and always loving, Joey gave us a penetrating and passionate Scorpionic lens into how to make the FCEA tick and grow as a school. But we realize our tutors have busy lives and growing astrological practices of their own, and the time has come for Joey to leave us. We are forever thankful for all the hard work Joey has done for us and, most importantly, all the care and commitment she showed our students. Joey, you will be sorely missed. We wish you many blessings in all you do, Joey!
 
From L to R: Joey Paynter, Marie O’Neill, Catie Cadge, Steven Forrest, and Teal Rowe at the first FCEA Staff Retreat in 2021.
 
On a hopeful note, we recruited two new work study students, Linda Walker and Andre Arellano, to our team. Linda is one of our students from our very first cohort and has been studying with us since 2021. A fine astrologer, Linda has the gift of the storyteller, a true evolutionary bard, in the style of Steven Forrest. Linda will be helping to oversee tutor involvement in all our courses, making sure discussions get properly posted and that weekly interaction between tutor and student occurs. Andre, a student also at the advanced level, brings to the table a number of tech-related skills as well as being a gifted evolutionary astrologer. We look forward to working with Andre to grow our social media presence and to help develop a social platform for student engagement. Welcome Linda and Andre!
Another area of growth and change, in terms of how we relate to each other, learn and teach evolutionary astrology and the Steven Forrest method, has been our study group calls. With Saturn by transit in Aquarius in the school’s 10th house and the transiting Sun conjunct as a trigger this week, we are working on improving the format of these weekly Zoom calls. We hear your feedback! We are also sending out a survey soon to gather ideas on improving this part of the FCEA experience to make it more user-friendly and supportive.
However, a little history of the study group calls might be instructive. When we developed the FCEA curriculum, we never intended to have live Zoom instruction on a weekly basis. We designed the school to be asynchronous, the teaching and learning occurring online in written discussion forums and assignments. There are a number of advantages to this format:
    • Students and tutors can post anytime their schedules allow, providing a flexibility needed by so many in our learning community
    • Proactive learning by the student – students must think and be engaged in the material rather than a passive Zoom experience led primarily by a tutor
    • A cost structure that allows us to keep tuition low
In our initial year of instruction, we wanted to add social Zoom calls for students to share ideas and to grow community. These calls were never intended to replace online written instruction nor to be lectures by our tutors. We consider them study group calls for student interaction. Master teaching occurs once a month via Zoom with Steven. This is a Zoom classroom, not the study group calls each week.
We look forward to the results of the FCEA Study Group Feedback Survey we are currently conducting, however we are considering replacing the study group calls altogether with an online student social platform. To take the survey: Log in to your FCEA account and find it under Community > Home.
 
With all this said, please know we are open to possible change.
 
But remember the Zoom Q&A calls with Steven and the online discussion forums and assignments are the primary modes of learning at the FCEA. Saturn by transit provides challenges and hard work for all of us at the school. I welcome the growing relationship pains (and new pleasures!) in store for the FCEA community in the months ahead.

 

Catie Cadge, PhD
February 2023
 
 
 
 

One Step Back to Go Forward

One Step Back to Go Forward

Dean’s Update, January 2023

One Step Back to Go Forward — Plus a Peek at the Master-Level Practicum​

 
Welcome to the 2023 FCEA school year! We are off to a great start with several new classes opening this week and next. We have a brand-new cohort of 101B students embarking on their studies of evolutionary astrology and the Steven Forrest method. Please greet them if you meet them on our calls and welcome them on board!
As Steven celebrated his 74th solar return last week, we took stock of the year past and then the year ahead at the FCEA. I would like to share some good news of what is in the works. But remember, with Mercury and Mars in retrograde motion for much of January, we have been reworking and reconfiguring some of our curricular goals without any set formulations just yet…
But fasten your seatbelts because we have a great year ahead! 
I think most students and members know I am a Capricorn, like Steven, and part of my stellium in the sign of the sea goat falls in the 11th house. I often think of Steven’s 11th house mantra, “Be there then” and 2023 is no different. While Mercury, the planet of perception and ideas, was appearing to move backward in the sky in Capricorn, I found myself reflecting upon the strength of the sign to piece together a strategy, to work methodically in climbing the proverbial mountain. I love to take in the slow evolutionary progress we make as a collective, not just at the FCEA, and to watch the big picture unfold. Let me give a quick example of what I mean.
Over the years, I have seen how common notions about astrology have changed. Just recall the many social media posts about Mercury retrograde in years past, showing us some kind of inevitable fall into miscommunication and mayhem. I even remember not long ago a popular Facebook meme of a poor soul wrapped tightly from head-to-toe in a large, cumbersome pink sweater suit geared to protect her from the perils of Mercury moving backward! I think the great astronomer and astrologer Johannes Kepler, also a Capricorn, who first accurately explained retrograde motion, would be rolling over in his grave. 
But the Capricorn strides we all make to reveal a more life-affirming evolutionary perspective of Mercury (and Mars) retrograde have paid off.
 
Notice how we see much less defeatist, fatalistic rhetoric on the social media “airwaves” now and much more positive takes on astrological transits in support of personal growth, choice and change. I even read an essay recently sharing Vedic insights into the current celestial moment, and was shocked to read in essence an evolutionary spin on Mercury retrograde! In general, Vedic or Indian astrology is about fate and prediction, but even this type of astrology is subtly changing. Our work is paying off. I personally see all of us in the FCEA community as part of this revolution in consciousness, in bringing evolutionary practice of our sacred craft to the front and center of the collective’s notion of what astrology is and can be.
So how about the year ahead at the FCEA? Most exciting is Steven stepping in to work closely with our advanced students in preparation of their master certification. We are working on the development of our Craftsperson program to include a course, FCEA 306, Chart Reading Practicum, opening in September. Steven and I discussed co-teaching a seminar-like class on Zoom where students actively work with the master fine-tuning and sharing chart insights to best hone their skills.


FCEA 306 will offer a unique opportunity to work in dialog with Steven. Students can apply the evolutionary astrological methods they have been developing for months as Craftspeople in our advanced 300 series. Here they study directly with the master. How exciting! And what a nice follow up to Steven’s return to live teaching at The Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, during the first week of August. Please see their website, eomega.org, for registration information.
I can’t help but think this coming summer, with the shift of the nodes, north into Aries and south into Libra, that we will be forging ahead into new educational territory with the pioneer spirit of Aries and, well, hopefully a little Libran grace and balance. But don’t forget; Mercury and Mars are retrograde right now in January, 2023. One step in planning forward, one step back, as we reevaluate, reflect and make the most of this cosmic moment. Blessings for all in 2023!
 
Catie Cadge, PhD
January 2023
 
 
 
 

Zelenskyy, Putin, and a Taste of Local Space Astrology


A Taste of Local Space Astrology

Master’s Musings, January 2023

Zelenskyy, Putin, and a Taste of Local Space Astrology

 

Steven Forrest
Unique and powerful lines of planetary energy run all over specific places on the Earth for every one of us. Who would fail to be intrigued to know that they had a Jupiter line running straight down the Champs de Elysee – or not be dismayed to learn that their strongest Venus energies seemed to lie in the cold, deep waters fifty miles off the southern coast of Tierra del Fuego?
Naturally, in the FCEA we would view any “obvious” good/bad or lucky/unlucky readings of such lines with suspicion. Even in this branch of geographical astrology – called astro-mapping or astrolocality – we leave plenty of room for freedom, choice, and imagination, not to mention personal responsibility. Still, it’s a fascinating, fun, and powerful subdivision of our craft – one you’ll have a chance to learn all about when you get to FCEA 404. Here, I just want to give you a quick taste of one part of it.
Many of us have seen “Astrocartography” charts – maps of the world with planetary lines mysteriously criss-crossing them. This was a technique created by an astrologer named Jim Lewis back in the 1970s. He was a casual friend of mine back then, and a generous spirit.  Sadly, he passed away from an aggressive brain tumor at the age of only 53.
Essentially Jim Lewis’s insights started with the bedrock astrological understanding that people born with Mercury conjunct their Ascendants are always very obviously “mercurial.” His brilliance lay in adding a second fact: that whatever house, sign, and degree your natal Mercury might occupy in your chart, it was rising somewhere on the Earth at the moment of your birth – somewhere, in other words, Mercury was conjunct the Ascendant.
His next step was the one that created Astrocartography – he wondered if you would become more mercurial yourself if you moved to that place where Mercury was rising when you were born.
And he was right.
Add a couple more steps and you’ll have the whole picture of Astrocartography. Think about sunrise – at any given moment, it’s always happening somewhere, but not just in one single place. There’s always a line that divides night and day sweeping more or less from pole to pole across the Earth. Where did that line run at the instant of your birth? In Astrocartography, that’s your “sunrise” line. Jim added your Sun’s setting line too, plus its noon and midnight positions. Ditto for the rest of the planets. He put those lines all on a map of the world, and Astrocartography was born.
Again, you’ll learn all about it in FCEA 404.

 

LOCAL SPACE ASTROLOGY

 

There’s another astrolocality technique that’s just as powerful, but not nearly so well known. It’s called Local Space, and that’s what I want to write about in this newsletter. Here’s how you’ll see the subject introduced when you start studying astro-mapping later in the program.

 
The basic idea is very simple. Maybe when you were born, Mars was rising. That means Mars was more or less in the East. Let’s state that idea precisely – Mars bore 97 degrees East, True. That was its azimuth at the instant of your birth – which really just means its “direction.” The word “True” means we’re relating Mars to the actual north pole – true north – not to the magnetic compass “north” which is a little different.
Of course a planet may not actually be on the horizon at your birth. If it’s high in the sky, then we drop it straight down to the horizon, as if it were actually there – and that’s its azimuth. Same thing if the planet is below the horizon – we just bring it straight up. So everything is projected onto the local horizon – hence the term, “Local Space.”
In essence you are standing there at your birth place at your birth moment looking out toward a big, clear, wrap-around 360 degree true horizon. All the planets are brought down or up to that horizon and you see in what direction they lie. Maybe Mars was to the east, Saturn to the northwest, whatever. Then the idea is that whenever you move eastward in your life, you are inviting Mars energy. Whenever you move northwest, you are inviting Saturn energy.
It’s a bit like the Celtic and Native American notions of the “Four Directions” except it’s much more personal and individual – my Mars direction might be your Neptune direction.
If you take a map and plot those directional lines connecting you outward to the planets on the far horizon, what would you see? Lines radiating out in every direction from your birthplace.
That, by the way, is how you know you are looking at Local Space lines rather than Astrocartography lines – the LS lines radiate out from your birthplace, while the Astrocartography lines don’t. They’re all over the map.
One more point: if you shoot a magic arrow to the west and it keeps traveling westward around the earth, eventually it will hit the back of your head – an unpleasant metaphor, but a useful idea for our purposes. All Local Space lines do exactly that – that’s why you’ll see that Mars line heading East, but you’ll also see another Mars line heading west – it’s really the same line, coming back around.
 
Here’s how it all works in practice:

 

When for example a client is retiring and wide-open about where he or she will move, I’ll set up both Astrocartographic and Local Space lines, all on a single map. In other words, I don’t really make much distinction between them – they’re all just lines of energy.
We’re evolutionary astrologers, and so in becoming skilled with these techniques, it is essential to avoid simplistic notions such as “moving to a Jupiter line is good and moving to a Pluto line is bad.” I lived happily on my Local Space (LS) Pluto line for forty years in North Carolina. My life there was definitely “plutonian,” but much of that extremity revolved around me helping other people through their own “descents into the underworld.” I definitely became far more “plutonian,” but it wasn’t a bad thing – although naturally I did earn a “PG” rating on a few occasions.
You’ll learn more in 404, but here’s another piece of the puzzle. In my own chart, Pluto is in the 9th house. Education, travel, and publishing are common associations with that house – and of course all of them were underscored in my life while I lived on my Pluto line. (If my Pluto had been in a different house, different areas of life would have been in the spotlight.)
In 2008, I  moved west, down a Jupiter line. I’ve prospered here, but I’ve also been chronically  overextended – plus I’d love to lose about 25 pounds. Lord Jupiter giveth and Lord Jupiter taketh away!
We can enter deep waters with these astrolocality techniques just as we can with the rest of astrology. But there’s a very simple, straightforward quality to them as well. Along a Saturn line, you’ll underscore Saturnian possibilities in your life. Will you be lonely? Or will you write a book or earn your doctorate? As ever, there are many possibilities, and much of what happens depends on choices you make.
I’m no fortune-teller and that’s not what the FCEA is all about . . . but just to make this real for you, take a peek at Volodymyr Zelkenskyy’s LS map:

 

 
Running north-northeast from Zelkenskyy’s birthplace are three LS lines. They pass through the Moscow area. One of them is Venus, but it’s a bit to the west and thus the least relevant when it comes to understanding Zelenskyy’s energetic relationship with the Russian capital. Mars and the Sun are the ones that really tell the story – notice how Moscow is squeezed in right between them.
What does Zelenskyy “see” when he looks toward Moscow? What energies and experiences can he expect to emanate from that direction? Rage, danger, and attack are of course distinctly “Martial” possibilities. The Sun can represent potentially overwhelming force.
The rest is history, as they say.
How’s about Vladimir Putin’s Local Space lines? Do they cast any light on Ukraine? Have a look:

 

 
What does Vladimir Putin see as he looks toward Kyiv? His LS Pluto line runs just west of the Ukrainian capital. As he turned his attention south, he was faced with his worst nightmares – history has borne that notion out in obvious ways, of course. More deeply, what unresolved psychological and karmic issues did he trigger into manifestation as he “moved in that direction?” What fear inside himself was he actually attacking – and what fear attacked him back again?
Naturally, we could dive far more deeply into the charts of these two men, making the personal meaning of Putin’s Pluto and Zelenskyy’s Mars much clearer. As ever, in the spirit of the FCEA, our questions would revolve around how we might counsel them rather than how we might predict their futures. In FCEA 404, we will learn how to do all of that. Here in this brief newsletter, I just want to give you a taste of how this branch of astrology promises to empower you with a new set of skills. Even at the simplest level, it’s pretty astonishing – Zelenskyy looks to Moscow and sees Mars and the Sun, while Putin looks to Kyiv and sees Pluto.
As they say, you can’t make this stuff up.
 
Steven Forrest
January 2023

 

 

A Yultide Blessing

A Yuletide Blessing

Dean’s Update, December 2022

 
Yuletide blessings, everyone! Happy Solstice to all. December is a month when I so often reflect upon the friendships in my life and the joy of family and loved ones. For this holiday newsletter, I want to comment upon the sign Capricorn in light of the FCEA family and our development as a school. I will share with you some of our community’s insights on a remarkable bi-wheel chart, natal chart of author Charles Dickens, and the date of his publication of A Christmas Carol.
 
 

 
As many readers know, we use “mystery charts” during our Study Group calls with our students, tutors, and tutorial assistants.  It is often a lively Zoom affair and the highlight of my week when I am able to attend. We all join in the analysis of the chosen charts of the day, getting to know how each of us think as evolutionary astrologers. The magic of our collective intuition works to build a fun conversation, a chance to get to know each other as colleagues and friends. 
A few weeks ago, in the spirit of the holiday season, I shared with our Study Group the bi-wheel chart you see below. It shows the transits (in the outer wheel), set for noon, on the day of publication of Charles Dickens’ most famous holiday story. Immediately students started seeing the obvious meetups of Mercury, ruler of his north node, and Saturn in an interesting exchange between the birthchart and the transits of December 19th, 1843. Touching both the 4th and the 5th houses, the solitary creative time of writing for Dickens was coming to a head as the “great work” of Capricorn, as Steven would tell us, of his lifetime. Dickens wrote many classics, of course, but A Christmas Carol has had an enduring impact upon our collective understanding of the true meaning of the season. Goodwill, love, and a shared compassion for all. One of our students noted how Dickens’ natal Aquarius 5th house Sun had progressed into Pisces and was “rising” into the 7th house in this fateful year, while transiting Neptune, in turn, formed a conjunction with Dickens’ natal Sun. 
The highlight of working together on our Zoom Study Group call was to hear everyone discuss Charles Dickens’ 10th house Jupiter in Gemini. We all saw the potential his voice held for reaching and changing the hearts of many. I have to admit why I loved this part of our class analysis. You see the students so clearly applied an evolutionary perspective.

How can he make his ideas heard and how does he need to claim the power and potential of his public voice?

 

They were asking questions, questions that we all know are at the heart of what we do as evolutionary astrologers. And then some synchronicity stepped in. I was reviewing videos that day for our upcoming FCEA 303: Jupiter and Saturn course, and had just listened to Steven’s beautiful description of Jupiter in the natal chart of famous Jazz singer, Ella Fitzgerald. It included the 10th house potential of her natal Jupiter and what it took for her to step up to her soul’s authentic journey. Perfect.
I always learn so much from Steven, my students, fellow tutors, and the FCEA staff. What a blessing. And Charles Dickens’ bi-wheel chart gives me hope in knowing that Saturnian discipline pays off. His 3rd house Sagittarius Moon certainly makes Dickens a “teacher” and master storyteller for me! Our Study Group calls will resume after the New year on January 17th. They are held on Tuesdays each week at 8 am and 5 pm Pacific time. Steven joins us once a month. Fun for everyone! Wishing many blessings to all in 2023!
 
Catie Cadge, PhD
December 2022
 
 
 
 

Snowflakes & Birthcharts

Snowflakes & Birthcharts

 

Master’s Musings, December 2022

Apologies to our Australian compatriots, but for most of us in the FCEA community, winter weather is now upon us, and that means snow. Even here in the western Sonoran desert where Michelle and I live, we’ll soon be seeing it covering the mountains. Here’s a picture to prove it:

 

 
I’ll admit to gloating a bit – I was standing just outside my front door when I snapped this shot, but I was probably just wearing a tee-shirt. The top of the mountain you see is about 8000’ higher than our house. It’s a lot colder up there! We never see snow on the ground here at home. 
Personally, I’m fine not dealing with ice and snow – but even with my more tropical disposition, every year we do love driving up to the high ground and soaking up the winter wonderland.
The reason I am saying all of this is that snow actually has a powerful lesson for us as astrologers. It’s often said that every snowflake is different and unique. Yet they’re all built out of exactly the same stuff – water. On top of it, all of them have roughly the same beautiful form: a six-armed mandala. From an astrological perspective, snowflakes are just like us, in other words. Like them, we are all different and yet we are all alike. 
Every human being is built out of the same handful of signs, planets, houses, and aspects – and yet our variations are effectively infinite. Depending on how you count them, astrology is based on a vocabulary of maybe forty “words” – Taurus, the 3rd house, sextiles, and so on –  and yet their possible combinations keep ramifying in a fractal way, producing the Vladimir Putins of this world, along with the Christine McVies, the Greta Thunbergs, the Oprahs and the Ram Dasses. 
Snowflakes and us – the parallels continue, and here’s where everything gets truly miraculous. Every snowflake that has ever fallen has a certain geometrical feature in common. As I mentioned a few lines ago, all of them have six arms, like an asterisk. It’s the very symbol we astrologers use for the sextile aspect – and if you pie-slice a chart into a series of sextiles, you’ve got the map of a snowflake.
 
 
Think carefully about this basic hexagonal snowflake plan. You can say it has six arms – but here’s another way of saying it: you wouldn’t know an arm was there unless there were empty spaces on either side of it. Otherwise it would just be solid. So we could say that actually the basic design of a snowflake involves twelve iterations rather than six – a positive space, followed by a negative space, followed by another positive space, and so on around the circle, just like Yin and Yang in the Taoist model. 
Meanwhile in astrology, without forcing anything, we can easily relate the Earth and Water signs to Yin and the Fire and Air signs to Yang – and of course in the zodiac, they alternate too. That means that, just like a snowflake, every chart that has ever existed or could ever exist is based on that same twelve-fold pattern of alternating Yin and Yang energies.
Next time it’s snowing, have a look out your window. It’s snowing zillions and zillions of little birthcharts. If you could study each of them through an ice-cold microscope, you would always see that same fundamental structure. But of course you would also see something else – that each one was beautiful in its own unique way. That’s the part that puts tears of joy and wonder in our eyes – and the part that, in remembering it, we become better astrologers.
 

Earth’s population just reached eight billion. That’s scary in a lot of ways, but it’s also kind of awe-inspiring to know that underlying each one of those people’s individual psyches, there is a little snowflake-like structure. It’s one that has never existed before in that exact form. It’s called their birthchart.

 
Want to know why snowflakes all have six arms? I’m not going to dive into the science of it here – that’s not what this newsletter is about. The science is actually easy to understand though – if you want to understand it, just Google “why do snowflakes have six arms?” It’s all based on water being composed of three atoms – two hydrogens and one oxygen – and how those molecules form chains when they reach the freezing point. 
Here, though, I’m trying to think more like an astrologer and less like a scientist. That always leads us back to the most fundamental statement of astrological theory – four words that go back to Hermes Trismegistus in long-ago Egypt: as above, so below. In practical astrology, the obvious manifestation of that principle is the way the heavens above are mirrored in the human psyche here below. But the principle is really far broader – it’s about how certain fundamental structures keep echoing each other on different scales in the universe. 
Snowflakes and astrological charts are one illustration of that idea. Here’s another: stand up, spread your feet apart and hold your arms up and out at an angle. Two legs, two arms, your head, and your genitals – you’re a little snowflake too. Or a little birthchart.
Let me point you down the science-road again if you feel like traveling it – read about carbon atoms and diamonds, and you’ll soon encounter more esoteric expressions of the same principles. (And from a scientific point of view, what could be more human than a mixture of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen?) Then there’s the color wheel and the musical scale – all reflect the same unifying, underlying principles. You can read about all of it in my book The Night Speaks if you’re interested.
Back to snowflakes and birthcharts. The deeper point is that the principles of astrology are profoundly woven into the fabric of nature. Unlike so many psychological theories, everything we practice and believe is organic, integral to the actual structure of the cosmos, and present before our eyes.
Most importantly, each snowflake – and each birthchart – teaches us one profoundly spiritual lesson, and that is that, while each one of us is unique, we are all made out of exactly the same stuff. We are all different and we are all the same. 
One world, one people – if you can feel it, then this book is dedicated to you – that was the dedication that opened The Inner Sky, and that’s basically the message of all those snowflakes that are falling around you this winter. 
Happy holidays!
 
Steven Forrest
December 2022