[View the schedule of presentations]
Available within the Prospectus:
The astrological study of celestial phenomena offers us a view into the past, present, and future – but what if we could harness planetary power to achieve personal growth and solve problems? If astrology is the art of diagnosis, magic is the remedy.
The Hermetic dictum on which astrology is built says “That which is above is like that which is below” because the stars and planets move synchronously with events on earth. Hermeticism views humans as microcosms reflecting the greater celestial macrocosm. By analyzing planetary movements and using astrological techniques to identify auspicious moments, we can transform our lives, and most importantly, ourselves, the microcosmos. Further, elected ritual and creation of talismans can be turned toward fine-tuning of the mind and spirit to achieve inner growth.
The STA Magical Elections course offers instruction on Western medieval and Renaissance-era astrological magic, with a strong emphasis on its Platonic philosophical roots. In addition to a firm grounding in philosophy and magical theory, the course is designed to introduce students to the practice of electing times for magical workings with celestial bodies, and to teach techniques for astro-magical rituals and the creation of talismans.
This is more than a ‘theory’ course – delegates will be tasked with studying the historical elements of astrological magic, and will be taught how to internalize the philosophical underpinnings of the Hermetic worldview to elect horoscopes and design rituals with correct traditional attributions to support that election. Upon completion of the course, graduates will be equipped to practice astrological magic and talisman creation at a sophisticated level.
By taking this course, students will learn from the finest primary sources on philosophy, astrology, and magic of the last two millennia, curated and explained by Nina Gryphon, an expert in traditional astrology and astrological magic. Throughout history, this information was available to a very few educated occultists and astrologers, and this course is an effort to reunite the long-separated parts of ancient astrological and magical practices.
Magical Elections is a six-week, lecture-based study course taught by Nina Gryphon. Each week, students attend a 1½-2 hour interactive lecture via Zoom. Although the lecture is recorded for students who cannot attend the session live, or who wish to review the material later, students are strongly encouraged to attend the live sessions, to ask questions and discuss the material and concepts with the instructor and fellow students.
Attendance on this course requires commitment and engagement throughout the study period. Each week, before the stated deadline, students must submit an assignment to the course forum for assessment by the instructor, and to receive and provide constructive comments to fellow students. The last week’s assignment is also the final assignment for the course.
The course has very intensive reading requirements: students must comfortably read at a college level in English, and will be required to read approximately 30-50 pages of text per week prior to each lecture. This means that students will be required to have completed the week 1 reading material before attending the week 1 lecture (and the same for all the subsequent weekly lectures). Students should expect to spend between 4 to 8 hours per week to comfortably make it through all the material and associated exercises.
The course has required reading, as detailed in the Prospectus, including a list of books which must be purchased prior to the course start date, and additional reading material that will be provided throughout the course.
Students will also be required to implement the demonstrated techniques as part of their assignments throughout the course. Therefore, hands-on use of the learned concepts is an essential component of course completion. Auditing the course is therefore not an option, and non-completion of the course requirements will result in an incomplete grade.
Course content (subject to amendment):
This course is written and administrated by Nina Gryphon who is the main course presenter. For more about Nina's background click the link below.
Nina Gryphon is a practicing astrologer and corporate lawyer living in Los Angeles, California. Her predictions have appeared in many major publications, and in the popular media such as radio and TV. She received her JD, and MA/BA from Stanford University, and has completed John Frawley’s Horary Apprenticeship, as well as obtaining her Practitioners and Masters Level Diploma in Horary from the STA.
Nina practices traditional astrology with a special emphasis on astrological magic and astrological remediation. She writes regular horary and magical elections columns for The Mountain Astrologer magazine, publishes educational astrology and magic videos, and teaches classes and workshops worldwide. Nina also has a popular Patreon focusing on astrology
and magic, and publishes a popular monthly guide, Magical Elections, which details the best upcoming magical elections and offers guidance for creating astrological talismans.
Nina can be found on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram (ninagryphon) and Twitter (@gryphastrology), as well as her personal website at ninagryphon.com.
The full cost of the Magical Elections course is $525 USD. This includes a nonrefundable enrolment fee of $100 USD.
Enrolment is limited to 25 students per class, due to the intimate, interactive and hands-on nature of this course. Students wishing to enrol after the limit has been reached will be placed on a wait list, which will offer placements to students on a first-come, first-served basis up to two weeks before the start of class in the event an enrolled student drops out of the class.
Please read our policies, requirements and recommendations (below) before making an enrolment.
Sorry - we are no longer accepting automated payments because this course is fully booked.
We expect to repeat the course in Autumn of 2024.