The four major asteroids, Ceres, Juno, Vesta, Pall–and the point, the Black Moon Lilith–are the focus of the upcoming course, The Dark Goddess returns.  Classes begin the week of May 15th.

Part One, “The Dark Goddess: Life, Death and the Embodiment of Spirit”  (or “Sex, Death and the Whole Damn Thing”) is scheduling now.  There are limited spaces available, so if you are interested please get in touch with me (alcuin9@gmail.com) asap.  If you have already inquired, please reconfirm your interest.

It has become clear over the course of the past couple of decades that the four major asteroids, plus BML (Black Moon Lilith) are providing critically important information in the natal chart, particularly in the way that we relate to the so-called material world.  Whether we are male or female, the asteroids provide us with an overview of the journey to maturity, and the difficulties we may encounter along the road to wisdom.  They inform us about the use of power and describe the abuses we may suffer regarding our sense of power in the world.  Through them, we learn to embrace feminine wisdom– the wisdom and power which comes from accepting and embracing life.  These goddesses reign over life and death, sex and creativity, joy and rage;  if we respect them and focus on what they are trying to teach us, they show us how to remake the world according to our own vision.   Whether we feel creatively empowered or abandoned in maturity depends on our understanding of these asteroids and their role in the chart.  Through them, we discover our own magic, and the magic inherent in the world.

This course consists of five lessons.

In each one we will discuss an aspect of the Dark Goddess returns and relate it to the study of the relevant asteroid. In addition to exploring the meaning of the asteroids in the chart, we will touch on the topics of the Matriarchy and the Patriarchy (and what may follow), the fear and repression of the feminine and the integration of the masculine and feminine halves of the psyche.  We will see through chart illustrations how the asteroids play a crucial part in this integration. While the asteroids are central to psychological wholeness, by transit and progression they also reveal a ruthlessness in getting their agenda across which can leave us breathless.  Far from always being the benign and wise goddesses, the asteroids can cause us to face both the glory and the wretchedness of life.  Each one relates to one of the elements and behaves as an elemental force.

From the class material for the Goddess Returns:

“The Dark Goddess returns embodies the energy of Chaos and Creativity, Death and Rebirth, Creation and Destruction.  She has been called random and ruthless, and at the same time represents the love and divine connection that is at the core of every living spark in the physical world.  She forces us to embrace both the joy and the horror, the terrible beauty of life.  Her power lies deep within this contradiction, the energy of an atom waiting to be split.  There is no change, especially no change in conscious awareness, without her participation…”    from The Dark Goddess, by Marion Woodman and Elinor Dickson.

She is emerging again after centuries of repression.  The recent re-emergence of the four major asteroids and the growing knowledge surrounding the Black Moon Lilith are heralding a new social paradigm.  Can we live in a world where the masculine and feminine hold equal power?  In astrological terms, the four major asteroids represent what has long been neglected in this culture–the power of the mature and evolved feminine.  She is frightening and sublime, more powerful than Zeus.  As controller of life and death, even over the immortals, she was not only the creator of gods (mother) but the slayer of gods.  We are destined to rediscover her.

The classes will be taught in the following order, though they may be subject to change.

Lesson One:

An Overview on the Role of the Asteroids

Cutting through Materialistic Determinism:  Pallas and the Creative Intellect

Lesson Two:

Vesta:  Driven Toward the Sacred

Lesson Three:

Juno:  Juno and the Struggle for Equilibrium.

Lesson Four:

Ceres:  The Scythe and The Torch, The Crossroads of Birth and Death

Lesson Five:

The Black Moon Lilith:  Sex, Madness, Black Holes, Destruction, and Rage–Or the Seat of Creative Power?

Part one of the class will run five sessions, one per week.  The classes will run about an hour and fifteen minutes.  The fee for the five classes is $275.  Payment is due by May 11th.  Only payment confirms your place in the class.  [Part one will be a prerequisite for Part Two, The Asteroids in Synastry when it is offered.  There is no need to commit to Part Two. (Though you will miss the juiciest, most scandalous and surprising part of the goddess course.)]

As each course section consists of only five classes, I would appreciate it if you could pay the full fee for each part at once, but if you can’t, $140 will be due on signing for Part One and $135 will be due before May 25th.   As usual, fees are payable via Paypal.com to my email address:  alcuin9@gmail.com.

As with all of my classes, these classes will be taught one to one over the phone.  The lessons will be recorded and a link to an mp3 will be sent to you right after the session.  If you live outside of the U.S. or Canada, you will need to use Skype or have the number of a landline you can use for the sessions.  I will provide charts and class material.  You will be sent reading material, folders of charts and sometimes worksheets before each class.

And again, I’m afraid I have to reinforce my policy regarding missed classes.  If you have to miss a class for any reason, you will be given a recording of another student’s session and will have the opportunity to go over any questions the following week, or via email if you prefer.  This has become a necessity due to the number of missed classes, with previous five week courses dragging on for months.  Classes will be taught between noon and 4:30 pm Eastern time.  When you are asked to schedule, please pick a time slot when you know you can be consistently available.

As I said earlier, there are a limited number of slots in the course and others have already declared an interest,  so if you are sure you are in for the class please let me know right away.  I look forward to exploring this new territory with you.

Please send an email to me (alcuin9@gmail.com) with the heading DARK GODDESS returns if you are interested.