The STA Masters Level Medical-Astrology Course is an advanced, part-time study course, offered through online seminar attendance with J. Lee Lehman, PhD. A ‘hands-on’ course, it uses primary sources and extensive chart work to fortify understanding of concepts presented in the Practitioners Level Medical-Astrology Course. The course is designed for astrologers who are willing to explore traditional methods and philosophical implications of classical medical- astrology in depth, and who wish to gain sufficient mastery of all its complex concepts, to be confident of communicating its theory and practice to other astrologers. This includes the clear understanding that medical-astrology is a timing system, not a means of medical diagnosis or treatment, which are the purview of licensed medical professionals.
Building upon the sound overview of medical- astrology principles acquired at practitioner level, all concepts are now studied within the context of traditional and primary sources. The course ensures maximum extraction of valuable information from each passage, and pushes the student to exercise critical thinking when placing historical sources into the most appropriate context. Students are led towards refined understanding of traditional medicine as a theory and philosophical system, with focus on how astrological principles are deeply embedded within it.
The course works with sources from the era of Hippocrates, through the 17th century and beyond, to pursue the theoretical connections between Western medical-astrology and other traditional medical systems, including Western herbalism. Students are also expected to research works of renowned medical-astrologers, and to elucidate ways in which medical rulerships and astrological distinctions relate to conditions of excess and deficiency. Classic case studies from various periods of history are assessed, with critical examination of where sources are consistent with each other, where they diverge, and how they compare to living traditions which still use these ideas within societal beliefs about indigenous medicine.
Copious course notes, primary sources, and exercises greatly facilitate assimilation of the relevant information. However, the intention of the course is to expose and rectify gaps of knowledge in practice, so it requires a firm commitment from the student. The purpose of the course is to develop the ability to reason through the material – not accepting statements at face value, but with a critical eye for inconsistencies and hidden assumptions.
The overall aim of the course is to guide the student towards acquiring and demonstrating the ability to research selected fields of inquiry; to draw appropriate references to support relevant arguments; to gain detailed knowledge of medical and traditional astrological principles; and to demonstrate clear understanding of the historical, social and philosophical influences that have been impressed upon the astro-medical art.
Only students who have successfully completed the STA Practitioners Level Horary Course (since January 2020)*, as well as stages I and II of the STA Practitioners Level Medical-Astrology Course may progress to the Masters Level Medical-Astrology Course.
The cost of this course is $2000 US dollars.
There is no formal time limit to course completion but – as a guide, and assuming a comfortable pace of part-time study – students should not expect to complete the course in less than two or three years.
*Astrologers who took the STA Practitioners Level Horary Course prior to 2020 must complete the STA Horary Review Course before moving on to any Advanced Level Diploma Course. This is a specially developed course which is only available to past graduates. It offers a cost-effective way for previous graduates to upgrade their training materials and fulfil the assignment requirements that will raise them to the level of our current Practitioners Level Horary Course.
This course is taught by personal correspondence with Lee Lehman through a dedicated online teaching portal.
Having acquired good understanding of the general principles of medical-astrology, this top-level study course delves deeper into the primary sources. It explores a combination of ideas from modern practitioners of the Arabic tradition of medicine (with cutting edge ideas in herbalism), and other alternative systems of medicine to address the astrological considerations behind such issues as the similars-antipathy debate, the astrological considerations of purges and cleanses, and the mechanisms of tolerance and addiction.
The course consists of ten stages which require extensive home study (it includes over 30 two-hour live tutorial sessions). Three 17th-century medical practitioners are studied in detail, with comparisons and contrasts made of their methods to gain familiarity with their working system in theory and practice. These are also compared to the developments of Paracelsan medicine, with consideration of how alchemy and magic affected the understanding of traditional practice.
Delegates will learn the frameworks used for the construction of herbals, and thereby address the question of how to apply these traditional concepts to plants from different parts of the globe. Similar logic applies to other traditional methods of therapy, such as baths, fumigations, or cupping. This, together with additional work on the systems of timing, ensures that the graduate of this course gain a nuanced and confident grasp of this complex, but very logical philosophical system.
Graduates will receive the STA Masters Level Diploma in Medical-Astrology to verify their advanced level of training and demonstrated competence in a range of medical scenarios.
Graduates will be entitled to advertise their mastery of such principles by using the initials STA DipM (School of Traditional Astrology Medical Astrology Diploma) in promoting their astrological services.
Graduates of the STA Practitioners Level Medical-Astrology Course are advised to email the administrator, Lee Lehman lee@sta.co for a full syllabus and sample study material, or for any further information on this course.