Introducing Deep Cuts, An Intermediate class in Natal Interpretation.

Ever since I’ve been teaching the course Basics Redux, which consists of revisiting the fundamentals of chart interpretation and blowing away some sacred astrological cows along the way, students have been requesting an Intermediate course which takes us deeper into the chart.  Deep Cuts is that class.

Once you understand sign, house position and aspects, what next?  How do you put it all together?  How do you find themes in the chart?  How do you know which planets are most influential?  How can you see the chart from the inside out, from the point of view of the client, so that you can give them the information they need at any given time?

Deep Cuts will focus on planetary weighting, planetary dispositors and house rulership, both in natal interpretation and in transits.  Paying attention to these factors gives a chart reading a richness and depth that it cannot otherwise have. We learn exactly what areas of experience the planets influence and act within, and how they spur our transformation.  It unleashes the secrets of the chart so that it becomes a map of the soul and its journey.

Deep Cuts is a six part course divided into three sections.  Each section consists of two charts, related by theme.  In addition to analyzing the charts themselves, we will compare and contrast them for similarities and differences.

The only requirement for this course is doing a little research on the biographies of the people we are studying. The research need not be extensive–Wikipedia will do.  However, if you can’t do the reading prior to the class, please do not sign up.

Section One:  Mastery

Danny Kaye and Casanova

Think the old film comedian and the legendary lover have nothing in common?  Think again.  Both were polymaths, who mastered anything they put their hand to.  Kaye could not only sing, dance with the grace of Fred Astaire and make people laugh with the best of film comics, but flew jets, conquered Chinese cuisine to a level previously unknown in the States, conducted orchestras with more effect than the professionals, was instrumental in promoting UNICEF as a world organization and fenced at Olympic level soon after picking up a blade. Casanova, when he wasn’t being the great lover, posed successfully in his lifetime as a doctor, a lawyer, a poet and an astrologer.  He was, perhaps, the last Renaissance man.

Section Two:  Genius

Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla

The words ‘genius’ and ‘fraud’ have been thrown around regarding both these men.  Was Edison the visionary he is made out to be or just the great publicist his critics insist on?  Was Tesla the greatest creator of our time or a lonely crackpot who ran the extremes of luck?  What does the chart reveal of vision, obsession and ambition?

Section Three:  The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

For section Three, there is a choice of the High Road or the Low Road.

The High Road:  Franz Liszt and Frederick Chopin

These two men couldn’t be more different in personality.  Franz Liszt was a showman who promoted his music by his dramatic, larger than life personality.  He has been called the first real rock star.  Frederick Chopin was delicate, with a fragile sensibility and a quiet personality that still hungered for attention.  Yet the drama is clearly heard in the music of both these men, and they had an intense rivalry that lasted until Chopin’s death.  In what ways did one play the shadow of the other?

The Low Road:  Assassin Time

Lee Harvey Oswald (shot John F. Kennedy)
Valerie Solanis (shot Andy Warhol)
Mark David Chapman (shot John Lennon)

While we may never know what causes someone to step over the line and actually, intentionally, kill another human being in cold blood, the study of these three assassins is a fascinating journey into the twisted and complex alleyways of the human mind and psyche. Each had different motivations, yet for each there was a turning point that chose the darker path.  We will examine these charts, in particular, for transits (and ocassionally progressions) to track the psychic development to the point of crisis.

The Three Section Class is $220 US dollars payable via Paypal.

You may choose to take all four sections for an extra $55, or $275 for eight classes.  Payments can be made in two installments, either $110 x 2 for the three section class or $137.50 x 2 for the four section class.  The second installment will be due at the halfway point.

These classes, like all my classes, will be taught one on one over the phone in a private session.  I will mail charts and any background material to you before our class begins. When we schedule a time for the class, please choose a time when you know you can be available the same time each week.  I will need your phone number, preferably a landline or Skype, but mobiles are acceptable in the US, Canada and the UK.  The sessions will be recorded and a link to download an mp3 will be sent to you after each class.

Please email me to sign up:  alcuin9@gmail.com

I will begin scheduling classes the second week of July.  If you’re going on holiday and need to skip a week or so during the time that’s fine, but extended absences can’t be accomodated.

I look forward to the journey with you.

Crossroads of Consciousness, a course on the areas of wisdom development which are common to us all, will begin in August.  Stay tuned for more info.

Yours,

Dawn