What is Shamanic Astrology?
These links will take you to videos, audios and articles about Shamanic Astrology and below you will also find Frequently Asked Questions.
Free Introductory Videos See recent video with Daniel below
The Shamanic Astrology Paradigm™
The Four Quadrants of Shamanic Astrology Outreach
Free 4-Part Shamanic Astrology Teleclass Series
Eight Main Principles of Shamanic Astrology™
Shamanic Astrology Lineage and Invocation
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Shamanic Astrology™ and why would I want to get a reading or begin studying it?
Shamanic Astrology operates through an archetypal and mythical framework that is anchored in the As Above, So Below mysteries -meaning this is a ceremonial and participatory approach to astrology designed to create greater awareness of a person’s life purpose and their relationship to Great Mystery. Shamanic Astrology can help confirm what a person already knows, or senses, and thereby assists them in trusting their own inner knowing and inner process through greater understanding of the mysteries they have come to investigate, explore, and help evolve.
The main purpose of Shamanic Astrology is to give a person the understanding of their original intent, empowering them with knowledge of life purpose and the cycles of initiation everyone encounters. This approach provides a vision of the possibilities a person is here to experience so they can make more conscious choices.
The quest for meaning and purpose is the real foundation of what inspires people and this approach provides an understanding of what that meaning and purpose is for an individual and within the greater collective.With this knowledge a person is able to participate with their initiation cycles rather than feeling at the effect of them. This means Shamanic Astrology provides powerful tools intended to assist a person in taking responsibility for their own life.
Do you offer courses online for those of us who are not able to physically make it to your seminars?
We now have five full online courses available to take from home. Please visit our online courses website here to learn more.
We are also in the process of creating more space for learning the vast majority of the Shamanic Astrology Paradigm™. Our 5th full online course will begin in late winter, 2019 and focus upon the cosmology and night sky materials.
What is the focus of a Shamanic Astrology™ reading?
Shamanic Astrology looks at the natal chart as a script with clues about our original intent. A human being always has the freedom to choose if they want to cooperate with their original intent. We are not forced to be a certain way, although people will find that their lives are more fulfilling when they are making choices that are in alignment with their original intent. A Shamanic Astrology reading assists a person in understanding the primary archetypal mysteries of the current life so they can make a more conscious choice about how to engage their life process.
The second aspect of a Shamanic Astrology Reading is understanding what initiation cycles you are in and how best to participate with them. There are cycles and seasons of the year and there are cycles and seasons of a person’s individual life. Knowing what time it is and how to engage that timing for maximum benefit is amazingly empowering.
What is an Initiation Cycle?
As Above, So Below suggests that the cycles or patterns of the outer world, correspond with the inner cycles and patterns of our own psyche. These cycles and patterns represent the unfoldment of our own lives. Carl Jung referred to this as ‘synchronicity’, meaning events that happen together in time. Thus, the relationship of the Earth to the Sky is acausal, meaning it is NOT cause and effect. This means the outer cycles don’t cause the inner cycles; bur rather they are reflections of each other.
Shamanic Astrology goes beyond even this idea, and suggests the outer cycles and the inner cycles are precisely the same thing. The patternings of the constellations are the As Above representation of our So Below great myths and themes rooted in our culture, and therefore, rooted in our consciousness.
Initiation cycles are designed to support the fulfillment of a person’s life purpose. When a person encounters certain cycles and they are not living in alignment with their soul purpose these cycles are often experienced as difficult or challenging producing whatever experiences are necessary to create a shift of awareness and life experience. Understanding the cycles and how to work with them, helps a person engage the changes their soul is desiring.
How is this different from Sun Sign Astrology?
Shamanic Astrology™ does NOT emphasize Sun signs. The Sun is one of many factors on the natal chart. It locates a person in the seasonal cycle and describes the kind of fuel or energy available to them to accomplish their life purpose. It is interesting to note that Sun Sign Astrology became popular within the last 150 years. One of the main reasons for this is because almost everyone can know their Sun sign, because the Sun is in a sign for thirty days and fairly predictably changes into a new sign once each month.
Conversely, the Moon is changing signs every two and half days and the Rising Sign or Ascendant changes signs approximately every two hours. Therefore, the Sun sign is a far less individual indicator than say the Rising Sign. This is because the Sun sign is determined by the time of year a person is born, and the Rising is determined by the time of day (or night) a person is born. Also, Shamanic Astrology recognizes the whole chart as important and extracting any one element from it does not adequately describe a person’s intent or their soul’s purpose.
It is also important to know that in this system ALL the archetypes of the signs and planets are equally valid and equally important. No one sign or archetypal expression is greater or better and no one sign or archetypal expression is worse for any of the planets or angles. Shamanic Astrology™ is a full spectrum approach, presenting the vision and understanding that all archetypal approaches to being human are valid. At this Turning of the Ages it is is time to know and validate the full spectrum of human potential, including all the archetypes, and all the different possibilities available to the male and female principle.
Shamanic Astrology looks at the whole horoscope in a polytheistic way. There are many Gods and Goddesses. One principle, or one planet, does not operate in a healthy way without reference to all the rest of them. The Sun, Moon, Venus, and Mars, and all the of the planets, represent the complexity of the entire script.
On average, how long does it take to complete all the requisites prior to becoming a Shamanic Astrologer?
In 2021 there are 5 online courses you can take anytime and at your own pace. There was a series of Live classes offered for many years but since 2020 all course work available is now online. Theoretically you could take all the classes within a few months up to a year. Some have finished within a year others have taken 2 or 3 years to complete the course work.
Will I be learning to interpret charts using the western astrological approach (the twelve houses, 12 star signs, angles, asteroids etc)?
We do use the tropical sign based system. (Stars and constellations are a big part but they are completely different from the signs…something most astrologers do not understand. You can see article about The Difference Between Signs and Constellations)
The signs are seasonal and move through constellations, and yes we do use the 12 houses and angles of the chart – though we use the Whole Sign House system as it is the oldest house system known and the least complicated. We primarily use the planets, nodes and Chiron – recognizing that the asteroids basically reconfirm what the main aspects of the chart are.
This keeps it simple and potent in doing chart interpretation especially for those just beginning. A great way to find out if this material resonates with you is to get The Shamanic Astrology Handbook located on the products page.
For more about the SPECIAL Galactic Alignment happening from 1962 to 2034 see this article on The Turning of the Ages
I studied with Daniel back in the mid-80’s and did another class about 7 years ago. I am wondering if there is any grandfathering on these classes for certification?
We do consider classes taken before the certification requirements were set in place. However, to get certified as a Shamanic Astrologer there are some new requirements that must be met. One is to pass a written and oral exam, give 15 readings with feedback, so we now – you know – the Shamanic Astrology Script & Archetypes and Shamanic Timeline and that the readings your are doing are in integrity with the teachings of the Shamanic Astrology Mystery School.
Another requirement is to do a graduation project. Also because there has been an evolution in the material those who have had classes years ago might not pass a current test without getting caught up on the updates. However, if a person can meet all these requirements then they can get certified without taking additional classes.
My question has to do with this eternal (and infernal) debate over sidereal vs. tropical astrology. I’ve read the Article about the Difference between Signs and Constellations and it makes total sense to me when speaking of the Sun in a particular sign, but how do you explain the placement of the planets in a particular sign if it’s not related to their movement through the constellation. I don’t have an extremely technical mind, so this has been a confusing topic for me. I appreciate any insight you might have.
This is a confusing topic and it even confuses long time professional astrologers.
The seasonal signs also apply to the planets as the seasonal or archetypal energies of the seasons (based on where the Sun is at any given time of year) are where the planets are located in the sky corresponding to the season the Sun is located in that area of the sky. AND…if it is a visible planet, meaning it is not too close to the Sun or to far from the Earth, the planet can be seen traveling through a constellation that is often named a different name than the seasonal sign.
For example, if a planet is at 10 Gemini it will be found near a star known as Aldebaran in the constellation known as Taurus or as we like to say in Shamanic Astrology™ , the constellation of the Bull. So in essence it means that the planet is in the area of the Sky where the Sun is about 20 days before the Summer Solstice, hence 10 degrees Gemini.
The Sun moves one degree a day. In just under 2000 years from now the Sun will be with Aldebaran at the season of Summer Solstice when it reaches Zero Cancer. The star hasn’t changed positions in the sky, but the season has drifted to match the Solstice with that star.
You could think of it as two different wheels. The wheel of our seasonal experience on Earth and the wheel of the Stars. The wheel of the seasons is turning backwards through the wheel of the stars. It takes at least 2100 years (some say 2160 others say 2148) for one season to move through one constellation. That means the shift is so gradual it is not noticed over the course of one life time.
In Shamanic Astrology™ we do ask the question – to what degree does the constellation inform the sign or season? And because our mythic understanding is growing and evolving we know our understanding of the signs is continually evolving due to their interaction with the constellations.
This is very confusing without the greater cosmology as a basis to understand what is being said here. Hence a whole teaching is devoted to this subject for those desiring certification as a Shamanic Astrologer or for anyone wanting a deeper understanding of how this works.
Most sidereal and tropical astrologers have no idea about about this difference, because they see the two as entirely separate rather than two things that are working together. Naturally each perspective, sidereal and tropical, tends to feel their way of viewing it is the RIGHT way without really understanding the difference or the way to integrate the two.
Shamanic Astrology™ understands that both perspectives are a key to restoring a sense of wholeness in our relationship to the cosmology. When these two factors are engaged separately and not understood as working together – it sets up this either or frame of reference – as if it is a competition. From the Shamanic Astrology perspective it is both and more…not just one or the other.
When the seasonal system (a.k.a tropical) system is understood to be working with the constellations (sidereal) then a whole new set of possibilities can be considered and integrated.
Find out More in this short 15 minute video about the Difference Between Signs and Constellations with Visuals.
If you have a question you would like answered about Shamanic Astrology or The Shamanic Astrology Mystery School™ please send us an email at info@shamanicastrology.com