Saturdays, May 4 to June 15 2024, at 9pm (GMT)
 
This course will explore Orcus in your personal chart and the charts of the other class members.
 
In myth Orcus dragged oath-breakers into the underworld. Oaths are contracts with the gods, and we call down a conditional curse when we break them. So, Orcus is a straight talker, constantly delving beneath the surface to expose any corrupt dealing or two-faced activity that he discovers, holding us to account for our thoughts and actions.
 
We make oaths both to ourselves and to others. The ones to others have real world consequences, so they are policed. But it is the oaths we make to ourselves where we can easily fudge the line. New Year’s resolutions are the social manifestation of these personal oaths and we normally tell people our resolutions as a way of ensuring our own commitment.
 
When we are straight with ourselves, Orcus gives us a self-sufficiency that nourishes us through the long and difficult work that we sometimes find necessary. We are able to marshal the energy, reserves and resources to assist this process, we just have to identify and activate them.
 
And he gives us a capacity to deal with the shadow side of our lives, and, at the highest level, transmute this shadow into light. The shadow is all of our repressed tendencies that have been labeled as bad and stored out of sight. But they do us no good stored there, and in fact often undermine, or poison our best efforts, so they are best transmuted into light.
 
This is an active process with shadow as the raw material and light as the result. Transmutation traditionally refers to the alchemical process of transforming base metals into gold and silver. So it involves an engagement with the shadow through an alchemical process, where the constituent parts are transformed to produce a new whole.
 
So Orcus encourages us to do a deep investigation of this shadow side of life, to go beyond the normal limits and discover what is really there and then speak out and bringing these truths to light. So, as well as the master of integrity, he is also the ultimate whistle-blower.
 
For those at the personal planet level however who are experiencing this energy unconsciously, there is a danger of falling victim to confidence schemes, or to corrupt dealing. These are two-faced activities, where ‘what you see’ is not ‘what you get’. And we could be playing either role in these activities, either the role of the duped party or the duper.
 
At this level we may be unable to keep our promises, and we may behave hypocritically, saying one thing and doing the opposite. And while, in the short term we might well get away with it, in the long term we will always be held to account. While we inherently sense this, we may choose to ignore it, telling ourselves that the short-term gain is worth it.
 
Once we are on the spiritual path however, we become accountable for our deeds and actions. We learn to align with a spiritual creed and understand the karmic process of life. A creed expresses the shared beliefs of a religious community and it summarises the core tenets. These tenants are simple and globally applicable to all our experience, so provide guiderails to help us navigate life.
 
At this level we can accept our shadow side as well as our public persona, welcoming the shadow encounters as important life lessons. And we learn to upcycle these shadow areas. Upcycling is a process which takes something old and not working and lifts it into something new and useful.
 
And at the spiritually evolved level, this becomes the shamanic ability to transmute shadow into light. There are shadow parts to everything, so everything presents the opportunity to transmute shadow and produce a new more spiritual whole.
 
Price Buster - by April 1st: NZ$180 (about US$120) - Earlybird - by April 15: NZ$225 (about US$150) - Full Course Fee: NZ$270 (about US$180)
 
Course Format

This course mixes webinars, blog-posted assignments and live Zoom Q&As, timed so you can attend from anywhere in the world.

We start with a live Welcome Q&A and we will explore Orcus' House position in the first fortnight, his aspects in the second fortnight and transits in the third. Each fortnight will include an instructional webinar, an investigative assignment based on your personal chart and a live 2 hour Zoom Q&A session.

Assignments will be posted on a private forum so we can learn from and comment on posts from our fellow course members. And the Q&A sessions will be recorded so you can pick up classes you miss.