LEVEL I
CERTIFICATE COURSES Faculty: Glenn Perry, Ph.D.
CE 511 Perspectives in Archetypal Cosmology
Archetypal cosmology differs from and is independent of traditional, event-oriented astrology. Astrological archetypes are introduced as geometric forms having four modes: sign, planet, house, and aspect. The zodiac is depicted as a symbolic map of the human psyche in which each sign represents a fundamental human need, archetypal character(s), developmental stage, and behavioral style. Each planet is described as a psychological function that is geared toward satisfying the primary need of its associated sign. Houses are introduced as environmental stages upon which planets enact their roles, and aspects are defined as angular relationships between planets that are subjectively experienced as internal dialogues.
CE 512 Archetypal Language and Synthesis
Chart synthesis is introduced in terms of an astrological grammar that is useful in deconstructing planetary sign positions into parts of speech. Five grammatical rules are presented for interpreting planets in signs. Colleagues learn how to construct well crafted sentences that combine motivation, function, style, states, and events. Additional rules are presented for interpreting planetary house positions. Colleagues learn how to make flexible, layered interpretations that combine sign and house positions into a single, integrated statement. Assagioli’s technique of Psychosynthesis is introduced, which provides a deeper, psychological context for understanding chart synthesis. CE 513 Planetary Aspects and Personal Myths
In this course, aspects are explained as personal myths that emerge from the underlying dynamics of the larger story structure. Colleagues explore how aspects can symbolize intrapsychic conflict, emotionally significant childhood experiences, major life challenges, and internal dialogues. Special emphasis is placed on how the meaning of an aspect changes in accordance with level of psychological maturity. Colleagues are introduced to a variety of psychological concepts that are incorporated into aspect theory, drawing from Pythagorean tradition, object relations and psychodynamic theory, personal mythology, and cognitive therapy. CE 514 Story Structure, Analysis, and Interpretation
This course focuses on chart synthesis from a narrative perspective. Colleagues explore how house significators and planetary dispositors tell a story that reveals one’s path of evolutionary unfoldment. Planetary dispositorships expose the skeletal structure of one’s personal mythology. While the story’s main theme is usually outside of conscious awareness and control, astrology provides a way of revealing, resolving, and re-mythologizing this drama. A method of chart synthesis is proposed that combines aspects and dispositorships into a single, coherent narrative. Particular emphasis is placed on how the life story is capable of being lived on successively higher levels of integration. Participants are introduced to narrative therapy and memoir writing as a way of facilitating integration of the chart as a whole. CE 515 Psychopathology Indicators and Healing Narratives
This course focuses on how to identify, understand, and address potential challenges in the birth chart. Special attention is given to hard aspects from outer planets and their relationship to intrapsychic conflict, defense, and symptom formation. Colleagues explore how human suffering can be a catalyst to development and actualization of inherent capacities. In examining the etiology of pathology, conventional theories of causation are compared with traditional ideas of fate, karma, and reincarnation. This course also teaches consulting skills, such as how to take a history, ask relevant questions, formulate hypotheses, construct interpretations, reframe conflicts, predict opportunities for growth, and deepen therapeutic impact. CE 516 Global Evolution and Archetyapl Cosmology
Archetypal cosmology is the emerging study of correlations between cyclical alignments of the planets and archetypal patterns in human experience. Combining astronomy with modern depth psychology, archetypal cosmology explores how the shifting patterns of world history, culture, art, and politics are reflective of ever changing planetary movements. In this course, colleagues will examine the theoretical basis for these correlations and their implications for a wider world view. Emphasis is placed on how pioneering individuals interact with major planetary alignments and thereby become catalysts for cultural transformation. Colleagues explore how their own capacity for a participatory relationship with the cosmos can contribute to the creation of a positive, more hopeful future. LEVEL II
FOUNDATION COURSES FOR MASTERS DEGREE Faculty: Glenn Perry, Ph.D., Greg Bogart, Ph.D., Cathy Coleman, Ph.D., Jennifer Freed, Ph.D.
CE 501 Consciousness and Conscious Evolution
This course introduces the conceptual frameworks of Conscious Evolution, its underlying principles, and its emergence in contemporary scholarship. Colleagues explore the foundational literature and research in the field, including the work of Sri Aurobindo, Eric Chaisson, Teilhard de Chardin, Jean Gebser, Ilya Prigogine, Rudolph Steiner, Ken Wilber, and Arthur Young. Study focuses on analyzing diverse perspectives on consciousness – from its prehuman origins to its evolutionary potentials – toward an understanding of how complex biological, psychological, and social systems develop. Note: Conscious evolution is the intent to cooperate with an evolutionary process inherent in nature. Accordingly, this course will explore how the predictive dimension of astrology can be utilized in the service of conscious evolution. As the art of prognosis, predictive astrology utilizes planetary movements for predicting the quality, meaning, and duration of specific time periods. Rather than simply describing event-outcomes, however, planetary movements are depicted as windows of opportunity for the actualization of natal potentials. Concrete events both reflect and serve as catalysts for changes in awareness; thus, planetary movements can provide insight into the precise timing of developmental processes, allowing us to appreciate how inner and outer reality coincide, reflect, and transform each other. CE 502 The Metaphysics of Belief
A paradigm is a framework of beliefs about reality shared by a community and affirmed through communal behavior. In this course, colleagues examine how paradigms of consciousness have changed over the centuries: from Indigenous (magical), to pre-Classical (mytho-poetic), to Classical (philosophically dualistic), to pre-modern (religiously dualistic), to modern (materialistic and mechanistic), to postmodern (constructionist and deconstructionist), to an emerging paradigm of holism that draws upon chaos theory. Colleagues are challenged to explore the underlying beliefs that affect their own perceptions, experiences, and interactions. Note: This course explores how evolving astrological paradigms may reflect the evolution of psyche. Pre-modern astrology was event-oriented, concretely predictive, judgmental, and deterministic, which reflected the dominant mode of consciousness of pre-modern periods. Over the past century, astrology has become progressively more abstract, psychological, open-ended and indeterminate, which seems to reflect a change in collective awareness. Accordingly, this course will examine the history of astrology in the context of the evolution of human consciousness. Ethics and critical thinking will be introduced as a way of comparing and contrasting pre-modern, modern, and post-modern astrology. CE 506 Psychospiritual Systems and Experiential Paradigms
The Wisdom Traditions and Recent Syntheses
Consciousness is a new topic in the area of science, yet it has been the focus of many of the world’s great spiritual traditions for millennia. In this course, participants are introduced to the perennial philosophy from the perspectives of various wisdom traditions, including the Judeo-Christian, Sufi, and Eastern traditions. Colleagues explore different views on time, evolution, and consciousness, and they discover how ancient wisdom continues to offer value and meaning for people in contemporary society. Study is focused on developing a clear understanding of each tradition’s view on personal and cultural transformation. Note: In this course, colleagues examine how General Systems Theory (GST) is a contemporary reformulation of the perennial philosophy, at the heart of which is a primordial truth: psyche mirrors cosmos. Astrology is rooted in an organic paradigm that postulates the Universe as a living, conscious, purposive Being. Traditional wisdom held that this Being was organized hierarchically, with lower levels reflecting by virtue of their internal constitution the greater Being of which they were a component part. Colleagues explore how the structure, process, and transformation of the human psyche, as symbolized by the horoscope, can be understood within the framework of GST and the perennial philosophy. CE 505 Light, Rhythm, and Form
Art and Expression in Conscious Evolution
While we generally perceive the arts as forms of creative expression, in the study of consciousness they play a quite different role: they are a primary source of information about how reality is observed and experienced both personally and culturally. In this course, colleagues develop an understanding of the significance of artistic works on the nature and evolution of consciousness, examining metaphor (Jungian), mechanism (reductionism), meaning (Bohmian), and merging (Jungian). The relationship between the artist/performer/creator and the “observer” is emphasized. Transpersonal psychology and the concept of the holotropic mind (the notion that the psyche is not limited to the physical space of the brain) are introduced. Note: In this course, colleagues explore how artistic expression is invariably a metaphor of the artist’s psyche as depicted by his or her birthchart. Case histories of creative geniuses in literature, art, and cinema will be of special interest. In addition, Joseph Campbell’s seminal work on the hero’s journey—symbolizing the path of individuation—is examined in terms of the sequence of signs in the natural zodiac. Colleagues will explore how this archetypal story (with infinite variation) is repeated in innumerable films. LEVEL III
EXPERIENTIAL COURSES FOR MASTERS DEGREE
CE 508 Personalized Learning and Guided Experience
This course allows colleagues to apply the principles of conscious evolution and archetypal cosmology to practical situations related to their personal interests and goals. The formal mentorship assignment reflects a self-selected area of interest and is designed to demonstrate professional development and personal growth through disciplined inquiry. The mentorship is conducted with a leader in the field of archetypal cosmology, and requires a minimum of eighty hours of contact time. Systematic journal writing, a mentorship abstract, a comprehensive written report, and an oral presentation are required to document the experience and provide an assessment of the learning that resulted as an outcome of the mentorship.
CE 509 Culminating Action Research ReportColleagues are required to undertake a self-directed, in-depth research study that produces new knowledge in the fields of conscious evolution and archetypal cosmology. Colleagues may choose between an applied or scholarly project to demonstrate their final accomplishment within the program. The project is presented orally to cohort participants and is evaluated by a Juried Review Committee.
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