by Anne Massey
Professionalism in the field of astrology is in the hands of those, who work as astrologers. Certification is about an agreement of what one ought to know in order to work in the field. This agreement originates with the organization offering certification. During the past decade astrologers have become more invested in having certification in order to elevate the level of professionalism. I have been a strong proponent of astrological certification for a long time for a couple of reasons. Firstly in every profession and job these days there is certification, whether you are a surgeon at the hospital, teacher at a university or the janitor who maintains the physical space of operations. The certification and/or licensing inform us the person has the skillset required to do the work. Secondly, I believe that when we take our profession seriously the general public will do the same. I believe that when astrologers at large opt to participate they gain validation for their own skillset and help elevate the status of astrology as a serious study and work.
The International Society for Astrological Research launched their program in Chicago in 2005. This program incorporates consulting skills training, ethics awareness and a competency exam. Read about it at the ISAR website. Astrologers have been certified by ISAR in several countries in several languages. The content is uniform regardless of whether one participates in China, Brazil or the United States or the many other countries where the program is available. I talked about certification in my interview with Joan Morton a while back—read the interview.
I am planning to bring the consulting skills and the competency exam to the Vancouver area in October, this would be the first time the program is being offered in Canada. Typically the course and exam are offered in conjunction with a conference, and this for us Canadians means travelling abroad. For example the consulting skills course and exam are also being offered in London in September 2015, hosted by the Astrological Association of Great Britain concurrently with their annual conference.
Dates: Consulting Skills October 9-11, 2015 inclusive; Competency Exam October 12, 2015
The consulting skills training last for three days, Friday through Sunday inclusive and is presented by two ISAR certified trainers. One of whom will be Chris McRae, the chair of the education program, who has presented at the Fraser Valley Astrological Guild several times. Colleagues who have taken this training have given me glowing reports. Those of us working in the field know that apart from knowing astrology, we need to know how to handle situations, when to listen and when to talk.
The bonus for the Guild would be having Chris McRae present a lecture at the Guild in October, and she would absolutely be back by popular demand.
The competency exam which tests the understanding of astrological concepts, techniques, and ability to delineate a natal chart, and various standard forecasting techniques, will be offered on the Monday. This weekend is the long one, so the plan for participants would be to have the Friday off from work/other commitments.
Everyone is welcome to attend the course and participate in the exam. While there are requirements, there isn’t one that states you needed to learn from a specific organization or a teacher. This as I see it, is a wonderful opportunity for astrologers in our area to become certified and as a result support the efforts of the astrological community for setting standards for our vocation/profession. The requirements are available on the ISAR website but I am also able to send you the information electronically, and for those of you locally I have a printed package as well.
I am offering a series of sessions to help candidates prepare for the exam portion—a means of filling gaps in learning or validation for you that you are ready to take this step. If you would like to participate or need more information please don’t hesitate to call me or email me. I would really like to make this a reality for the astrologers in our area—and we are only a two hour drive north of Seattle or an hour flight out of Edmonton.
Email Anne Massey for more information and to express interest anne at annemassey.ca or call 604.539.1288