Diploma Program
Professional Astrologer
Training and Certification
YEAR THree COURSES
Course 1: Understanding Complex Aspect Patterns and Chart Patterns
Instructors: Karen Hamaker-Zondag and Tony Howard
Learn the meaning of the major aspect patterns. Includes theory and practical application, as well as an introduction to the chart patterns identified by Marc Edmund Jones.
- Week 1: T-Squares and Grand Crosses
- Week 2: The Yod
- Week 3: The Grand Trine, Kite, Stellium and Talent Triangle
- Week 4: Intro to Chart Patterns (bucket, bundle, seesaw, etc.)
Required Texts: Aspect Pattern Astrology by Bruno and Louise Huber and Michael Huber, Chart Shapes: The Code to Interpretation by Wanda Sellar, and The Yod Book by Karen Hamaker-Zondag; Planetary Aspects: An Astrological Guide to Managing Your T-Square by Tracy Marks
Supplemental Text: The Guide to Horoscope Interpretation by Marc Edmund Jones (only purchase if you can find it for a reasonable price).
Course includes: 8+ hours of instruction, four pre-recorded Q&A sessions, discussion area, reading assignments and homework. Video, audio and handouts are available to view and/or download.
$295 (audit) / $350 (with feedback*)
Pre-recorded and available for instant access. You may register and start this course and get started today or wait for the next live cohort. You will have access to a discussion area to ask questions as you move through the course.
*Feedback option includes feedback on homework and an exam review. Audit students receive the same study materials and videos but do not receive personal feedback on their work.
Course 2: The History of Astrology
Instructors: Demetra George and Christopher Renstrom
Discover astrology’s rich history and tradition beginning with ancient Babylonia, its consolidation in Egypt, the diffusion of astrology through the Roman Empire and sojourn into the Persian and Islamic Republics, to its 12th Century reintroduction into Medieval Europe.
In this engaging and enlightening seminar the interface between astrology and ancient philosophy, religion, myth, and politics is deeply explored. How the Gnostic, Hermetic, Neoplatonic, Christian, and Jewish traditions regarded one’s life through the reflection of the stars and the concept of fate and free will is brilliantly articulated.
Includes breakout session on the unique history of astrology in the US and UK in the 19th and 20th Centuries.
This course will leave you in awe with a rich context for astrology’s place in our history, and a new awareness of the profundity of the astrological tradition and its legacy to the human imagination.
Required Text: Astrology: A History by Peter Whitfield (this text is out of print; pdf is provided)
Additional suggested reading for further study: A History of Horoscopic Astrology by James Holden; A History of Western Astrology Volume I and A History of Western Astrology Volume II: The Medieval and Modern Worlds by Nicholas Campion; The True History of Sun Sign Astrology and Modern Astrologers by Kim Farnell; A History of Western Astrology by S.J. Tester
Course includes: 6+ hours of instruction, three Q&A sessions, discussion area, reading assignments and homework. Video, audio and handouts are available to view and/or download.
Next live Q&A sessions: September 2024
$295 (audit) / $350 (with feedback*)
Pre-recorded and available for instant access. You may register and start this course and get started today or wait for the next live cohort. You will have access to a discussion area to ask questions as you move through the course.
*Feedback option includes feedback on homework and an exam review. Audit students receive the same study materials and videos but do not receive personal feedback on their work.
Course 3: Intro to Hellenistic Astrology for Modern Astrologers
Instructors: Demetra George
Learn the Hellenistic approach to chart reading. Get introduced to the concept of evaluating planetary condition and learn the first steps towards making a judgment about a planet’s condition.
Required Text: Ancient Astrology in Theory and Practice by Demetra George
Course includes: 6+ hours of instruction, four Q&A sessions, discussion area, reading assignments and homework. Video, audio and handouts are available to view and/or download.
Next live Q&A sessions: October 2024
$295 (audit) / $350 (with feedback*)
Pre-recorded and available for instant access. You may register and start this course and get started today or wait for the next live cohort. You will have access to a discussion area to ask questions as you move through the course.
*Feedback option includes feedback on homework and an exam review. Audit students receive the same study materials and videos but do not receive personal feedback on their work
Course 4: Zodiacal Polarities and the Mythic Imagination
Instructor: Safron Rossi
The zodiac contains 6 natural polarities. Learning to see in terms of polarity helps with understanding both the shadows and potential gifts of each sign. In many ways, polarities can act like allopathic remedies where the cure is found in the opposite. Myth is our guide in deepening our understanding of the needs and values of each sign and the medicine they offer their polarity partner.
In this course we will look at C.G. Jung’s idea of the tension of opposites and James Hillman’s idea of the union of sames so to deepen our appreciation for the psychological value of polarities and the opposition aspect. We will then explore the polarity dynamic of each zodiac pair through Greek myth, and discern some of the archetypal themes belonging to each pair.
Required Texts: Mythic Astrology: Internalizing the Planetary Powers by Arielle Guttman
Supplemental Text: The Astrology of Fate by Liz Greene
Course includes: 6+ hours of instruction, three Q&A sessions, reading assignments and homework. Video, audio and handouts are available to view and/or download.
$295 (audit) / $350 (with feedback*)
Pre-recorded and available for instant access. You may register and start this course and get started today or wait for the next live cohort. You will have access to a discussion area to ask questions as you move through the course.
*Feedback option includes feedback on homework and an exam review. Audit students receive the same study materials and videos but do not receive personal feedback on their work.
Course 5: Solar Arc Directions – Forecasting Key Events
Instructor: Kathy Rose
When an astrologer integrates Solar Arcs in the consultation, a deeper level of understanding opens up into the cycles of our client’s development. In this course, you will learn how Solar Arcs are calculated, how they work, and how they help you spot key developmental times in life – at a glance!
Instructor Kathy Rose will guide you through theory as well as practical application of Solar Arcs, using numerous illustrative chart examples. Adding this vital timing technique with transits and applying them in chart analysis will take your “art” of astrology to the next level, revealing key periods of challenge and fulfillment. You will also enjoy video segments of noted astrologer Noel Tyl explaining his advanced approach to calculating and understanding Solar Arcs, adding a special bonus layer to this course.
Required Text: The Solar Arc Handbook by Frank Clifford
Course includes: 6+ hours of instruction, four live Q&A on the dates listed below, reading assignments, and homework. Video, audio, and handouts are available to view and/or download.
$295 (audit) / $350 (with feedback*)
Pre-recorded and available for instant access. You may register and start this course and get started today or wait for the next live cohort. You will have access to a discussion area to ask questions as you move through the course.
*Feedback option includes feedback on homework and an exam review. Audit students receive the same study materials and videos but do not receive personal feedback on their work.
Course 6: Forecasting 201 – Synthesizing Timing Techniques
Instructors: Tony Howard and Kelly Surtees
In this course we’ll take our timing techniques a step further as we learn ways to integrate multiple techniques in practical ways for powerful forecasting. You’ll learn methods for blending transits and progressions, how to work with upcoming transits intentionally, and how to share year-ahead forecasts with clients in a way that inspires them, and gives them a sense of agency about their coming opportunities and life choices.
Includes experiential work with participants’ charts and real-world examples from the instructors’ client files.
Bonus: Includes Steven Forrest’s teaching on how to sort out which timing events are most important to cover in a reading: “The Four Nets: Preparing an Astrological Timing Reading”.
Required Text: Astrological Time: Transits, Progressions and Returns by Brian Clark
Supplementary Texts: Transits the Time of Your Life by Betty Lundsted; The Gods of Change by Howard Sasportas; The Changing Sky by Steven Forrest
Course includes: 8+ hours of instruction, four Q&A sessions, discussion area, reading assignments and homework. Video, audio, and handouts are available to view and/or download.
$295 (audit) / $350 (with feedback*)
Pre-recorded and available for instant access. You may register and start this course and get started today or wait for the next live cohort. You will have access to a discussion area to ask questions as you move through the course.
*Feedback option includes feedback on homework and an exam review. Audit students receive the same study materials and videos but do not receive personal feedback on their work.
Course 7: The Lunar Nodes 201 – Aspects to the Nodes
Instructor: Mark Jones
In this course, Mark follows up his introduction to the power of the lunar nodes in The Lunar Nodes 101. Picking up from there, we will explore the power of the nodes to illuminate the individual life purpose within the natal chart. Our focus will be to:
-
- Understand the importance of the nodes as indicators of the personal spiritual meaning of one’s life.
- Explore the lunar node symbolism through the nature of the ecliptic in astrology and the Moon’s crossing of the ecliptic pointing to a message about the Soul’s purpose.
- Learn how to interpret aspects to the lunar nodes with special attention to the meaning of planets conjunct and square the nodes.
- Understand the special importance of the rulers of the nodes and the way that they shape the impact of the nodes on the individual.
Required Text: Healing the Soul by Mark Jones
Course includes: 6+ hours of instruction, four pre-recorded Q&A sessions, discussion area, reading assignments and homework. Video, audio, and handouts are available to view and/or download.
Next Live Q&A Sessions: March 31 at 9am, April 7 at 9am, April 14 at 9am, and April 28 at 9am(all times Pacific time)
$295 (audit) / $350 (with feedback*)
Pre-recorded and available for instant access. You may register and start this course and get started today or wait for the next live cohort. You will have access to a discussion area to ask questions as you move through the course.
*Feedback option includes feedback on homework and an exam review. Audit students receive the same study materials and videos but do not receive personal feedback on their work
Course 8: Myth and Modern Astrology
Instructor: Jason Holley
In this course, we explore how engaging with the ancient stories and images from which our modern astrological symbolism arose can facilitate a deep experience of meaning, connection, and revelation in the astrological consultation.
Week One: We focus on the restoration of mythical consciousness and a re-sacralizing of the special human gift of storytelling: how can we invoke, in ourselves, our clients, and our consultation sessions, an attitude of engaged participation with stories, an experience of our deep embeddedness in stories and images which restores our felt sense of connection to the wider, wilder worlds within and around us?
Week Two: We focus on ways of listening for myth: how can we hear the deep concerns of the client, and how can we see them mythically in the astrological symbols?
Week Three: We focus on ‘objective’ ways of studying myth: how can we bring a holographic approach to astrological symbols, one that draws from the many layers of history and culture and human consciousness that have shaped and been shaped by these stories? How can we engage this history skillfully, creatively, and with an open heart and mind?
Week Four: We focus on ‘subjective’ ways of engaging and amplifying myth: how can we facilitate the inward turn of awareness which brings myth to life in the encounter between astrologer and client, and which allows the symbols themselves to speak?
Throughout the course, we will explore several stories: ancient myths and legends as well as the odysseys of human beings today. Readings will include excerpts from translations of ancient Greek, Roman, and Mesopotamian poetry and plays; and some articles from Jungian, archetypal psychology, classical studies, and the contemporary mythopoetic movement.
Homework: In the first half of the course, students will choose some figure of astrological symbolism to explore. In the second half of the course students will engage the symbolism using both ‘objective’ and ‘subjective’ methods, in order to experience for oneself the process of restoring a deeper experience of story, myth, and meaning to some area of life that matters.
Required Reading: Reading material is provided as pdfs.
Course includes: 6+ hours of instruction, Q&A sessions, discussion area, reading assignments and homework.
Next Live Q&A Sessions for 2024: May 5 at 2pm, May 12 at 9am, May 19 at 3pm, May 26 at 11am (all times Pacific time)
$295 (audit) / $350 (with feedback*)
Pre-recorded and available for instant access. You may register and start this course and get started today or wait for the next live cohort. You will have access to a discussion area to ask questions as you move through the course.
*Feedback option includes feedback on homework and an exam review. Audit students receive the same study materials and videos but do not receive personal feedback on their work.
Course 9: Relationship Astrology 101 – Synastry
Instructor: Brian Clark
In this course we’ll get an introduction to analyzing relationships using the technique of “synastry” – looking at the connections between chart features in two charts. Synastry can be used to think about any relationship between two people: romantic pairings, longterm relationships, parent-child, siblings, co-workers, etc. We’ll teach the theory of chart combining and work through several examples to apply this complex but profound technique. You won’t come away with simple recipes for “which signs are most compatible”. Instead you’ll learn how planets can relate to each other, for ways that two people can work with the charts they have for more successful and fulfilling relating.
Required Texts: From the Moment We Met – The Astrology of Adult Relationships by Brian Clark; Synastry by Ronald Davison;
Supplementary Texts: Skymates by Steven Forrest and Jodie Tighe; Relationships and Life Cycles by Stephen Arroyo
Course includes: 6+ hours of instruction, reading assignments and homework. Video, audio and handouts are available to view and/or download.
Next Live Q&A Sessions: June 9 at 3pm, June 16 at 3pm, June 23 at 3pm, and June 30 at 3pm (all times Pacific time)
$295 (audit) / $350 (with feedback*)
Pre-recorded and available for instant access. You may register and start this course and get started today or wait for the next live cohort. You will have access to a discussion area to ask questions as you move through the course.
*Feedback option includes feedback on homework and an exam review. Audit students receive the same study materials and videos but do not receive personal feedback on their work.
In-Person Summer Retreat
July 20-21, 2024 in Boulder, CO
Join us for our annual in-person summer retreat. You’ll get to know other students in the program and have fun deepening your learning experience.
This retreat is open to students in any year of the program who have completed at least 4 courses. This retreat includes a graduation ceremony for the year-four students.
Elective: Jungian Psychology for Astrologers
Instructor: Karen Hamader-Zondag
Required Texts: Psychological Astrology: A Synthesis of Jungian Psychology and Astrology by Karen Hamaker-Zondag
Dates: On demand self study – register now
$225
ABOUT COURSE ENROLLMENT
Our program courses are offered a la carte and also in 9-course bundles. You can choose to join the current courses live, or enroll after the live presentation and complete the course on your own time. Online discussion areas are monitored regularly whether the course is live or pre-recorded, so all certification students will get direct feedback and response to questions.
