This year-long course guides students through the basics of Vedic Astrology to be able to comfortably read an astrological chart. Freedom Cole has taught Vedic astrology to beginners for many years and has developed an effective format. Each lesson in the course goes with a chapter from his book, Science of Light (SOL). The book is based on an ancient astrological text, and it is geared to give the student a traditional understanding of Vedic Astrology and to link the individual with the ancient texts of the sages of India.
The first class/video is the first chapter of the book. The first chapter gives a general overview of the entire system and how it works. Then each chapter/class has a focus of its own, going deep into the various parts of the astrological system. Each builds on the other and nothing is random (though it may seem that way for a beginner). The final chapters bring everything together for the practical application of reading a chart.
This video is the free introductory class that Freedom gives the night before the course begins. He discusses who he is, his teachers and the tradition. The course material is discussed and a small lesson is given about calculating the time of Moonrise (from the end of chapter one).
After paying the fees, one can begin watching the classes. Live classes have a yearly schedule (see below). Live classes are optional, but highly recommended.
The goal of this course is to help the student-practitioner get a deeper grasp of the internal world of Jyotish so that you understand it from the foundations. We present multiple teachings on the same subject to insure the information is heard more than once and really gets into you so it can be utilized. It is suggested to first read the chapter, then watch the video. After that you can re-listen to the audios while you are driving or doing other activities so that you can get the things you might have missed the first time through. There are multiple recordings (from different years), with new ones added yearly. Often people like to listen to the information again after going through the entire course. You will be reading charts after the course, and therefore listening from a new place. With this in mind all this is offered with each class.
There are two final assignments:
1. The Practicum is for each student to read a chart for another person. This chart and its reading are discussed in depth with the teacher amongst other students. This assignment allows students to integrate all techniques and is utilized as an assessment of the student’s capacity with the learning material.
2. The Research Project of ten charts is done to learn astrological research skills which are important to continue growing in Jyotish. We make a logical approach to uncovering the rules of astrology through observation. Students learn that each client’s chart is a learning opportunity.
The yearly cohort starts in February or March and practicum is in October. Students can sign up and begin learning at anytime before their cohort starts.
2023 Science of Light Jyotiṣa Praveśika Course will start Thursday, March 02
Classes are Thursday night, 6-8pm Pacific time
2023 Course One Syllabus:
March 2nd - Introduction
March 9- Chapter 1
March 16 -Vedic Foundations
March 23 - Planets, Kārakas
March 30 - Planets, Kārakas, Devatā
April 6- Rāśi
April 13 - Rāśi divisions
April 20 - Bhāva
April 27 - Bhāva
may 4 - Strengths and eclipse talk
May 11- Strengths & Pañcāṅga
May 18- no live class (Amavasya)
May 25- Pañcāṅga
June 1 - Strengths & Status
June 8- Review
June 15- no live class (Sankranti)
June 22- Two year track fork
June 22- Ārūḍha
June 29, 30, July 1- Argalā
July 6, 7 ,(8)- Argalā
July 13- Yogas
July 20- Yogas
July 27- nakṣatra
August 3- nakṣatra
August 10- Daśā
August Friday 18th- Daśā
August 24, 25, 26- Daśā- (daśāthon)
August 31, Sept 1, (Sept 2)- Daśā- (daśāthon)
September 7- Varga
September 14- navamsha
September 21- Varga
September 28- Varga & Remedies
October 5- Remedies
October 12- Remedies/Interpretation
October 19- Interpretation
October 26 - Interpretation
November 2, 3 - Practicum
November 9, 10, 11- Practicum
November 17, 18 - Practicum
November 23- Research Projects
November 26 (Sunday 4pm to 6pm)- Full moon class on Mantra
[Monthly graduate classes are on the Sunday night closest to full moon]
$1600 for lifetime access
to Course I Material
Payment Plan
4 payments of $500
10 payments of $200
For the Science of Light 1 course beginning on Thursday February 18th from 6PM-8PM, Freedom offers three options to pay for this course. It is important to Freedom to keep the course cost low, accessible and available to all financial situations.
Please read the outline terms for each payment option and choose which you will commit to.
Option A:
Student makes a one time payment in full of the $1,600 tuition. Upon payment, student is granted access to all course materials. This class portal does not have a time limit and is always a resource to you. See refund policy below.
Option B:
Student commits to making 4 payments of $500 to complete the tuition total of $2,000. The student’s first payment of $500 will grant them access to the course materials up to Chapter 7. The next 3 payment dates that will proceed will be May, August, and October. Students are required to manually make their payments before or on these dates. Once the next payments are made, the course video and content will continue to open, granting them access to the next few chapters each time. When tuition is complete, the online student portal does not have a time limit and is always a resource to you. See refund policy below.
Option C:
A monthly $200 fee is taken automatically with a 10-month subscription to complete the tuition total of $2,000. The student’s first payment will grant them access to the course materials up to Chapter 7. This subscription can begin at anytime before the live course starts. When tuition is complete, the online student portal does not have a time limit and is always a resource to you. See refund policy below.
If a student has not completed their payments by the end of live classes, we will have to close their access to the student portal until payment is complete. Students will receive certificates once tuition is paid in full.
The primary payment buttons are found on the bottom of the Course 1 page. Alternative payments are listed below (and generally require an additional email to clarify source/reason after payment):
Blockchain-currencies are accepted:
This coinbase app accepts BTC, BCH, DAI, ETH, LTC, and USDC
or Stellar Lumens (XLM)
- future options
Donation by paypal:
Refund Policy:
A full refund will be granted to Option A and B payment methods if students are not happy within 15 days of purchase. After this time the course is non-refundable.
There is no refund for Option C (200/month plan), these students can cancel their subscription if they wish to discontinue. If cancelled within the first 15 days, this payment may be used towards joining the next 6 or 12 week Introduction Course.
Continuation Fee:
The above fees include access to online video and audio, live class, an active facebook group, Teaching Assistants, the final practicum with Freedom, and a research project with students from multiple years. Students are responsible to stay on schedule and finish the program within a 1 year period. For those that can’t finish the course in 1 year, there is an additional $300 fee to complete the course and to have Freedom guide the final practicum.
Completion:
Students that successfully complete Course 1 are invited to the Graduate Facebook group for continued discussion and are welcome to sit in on live courses (which they have completed) for free. Graduates also have the opportunity to join free monthly Sangha classes and to be Teaching Assistants for the later programs- all aimed at deepening the core principles and subtle details of this Jyotish tradition.
A Certificate of completion for 220 hours of CVA credit is given for Course 1, and 240 hours for Course 2.
Time Requirements:
Each week there is about 5 hours+ of online video/audio to listen to, along with a chapter to read, a two hour live class and various studying/memorizing. Students should plan to devote at least 10 hours a week to this course. Some who are new to Sanskrit words may require more time.
Software:
We use two different softwares which were built by individuals studying within the tradition: a free downloadable PC software called Jagannath Hora. And a cross-platform cloud based software called deva.guru, which has two membership tiers. There is no need to buy expensive software.
In-person (Live) Class:
Live classes are on zoom 6-8pm at Pacific Time zone. The live class is not required to complete the course. Students may arrange a practicum time for their time zone to complete the interactive requirements of the practicum. Most students find the live classes highly beneficial. In the past, students from Australia, Russia, South Africa, South America, etc have joined from various time zones throughout the world.
Memorization:
The first 7 chapters have a lot of memorization to create a strong foundation as we move through the later chapters. If you sign up for the course before it begins, we ask that you focus on the material from the first 7 chapters, as this is where much of the new concepts and terminology is presented which requires memorization.
Teaching Assistants:
If you need further assistance when working through the course materials, there are graduate students who support as Teacher Assistants (TA) in the Facebook group and can be reached out to for questions. It is required before you reach out for a T.A., to make sure you have read the chapter and listened to the chapter audio.
For those who need more support, there are advanced teachers who offer paid tutoring sessions. A list of active tutors is available upon request.
For those thinking about taking level one who have no background, the 6 week Introduction class can be very beneficial to get started with a good foundation.
Social Media Interaction:
There is a Private Facebook Group for each of the Science of Light courses. This is a part of creating a supportive community environment and cultivating familiarity amongst the students. This is also a place to share any questions, comments, or insights as you work through the chapters each week. There are previous graduates and Teacher Assistants in the FB group that will help answer your questions. This page is also where any updates will be posted about the class (Zoom link, date changes, etc.)
What if I don’t like facebook? Facebook has bought out all other similar technology, and it saves thousands to use them instead of trying to build out what they do. Hence it is our preference. We appreciate their nested feeds, which make staying on topics and following certain ideas very organized. Facebook monetizes people who spend random time reading and clicking on junk stories and advertisements. Facebook allows you to select 30 profiles or groups to “show first”. It also allows you to unfollow anyone you don’t want to see. We suggest unfollowing random people, selecting Science of Light and any other Jyotish, Ayurveda, Yoga groups as show first, and you will only see Jyotish, Yoga and Ayurveda material- a wonderful experience.
Book for the Course:
Students buy the text book for the course on Amazon before it begins and are encouraged to start reading. Level one uses the 2020 edition Introduction to Vedic Astrology , make sure to get the new edition for class, the Kindle version available at the same link. Level 2 uses the Foundations of Vedic Astrology Science of Light book. People often ask if there is more in the course than in the book. For each chapter, there are 5 to 30 hours of online recordings discussing the material in the chapter. Students are expected to read the chapter and listen to at least the first 5 hours of recorded material before the live class. In class, there is discussion of the topic and question and answer which a student will be lost without proper preparation. Sometimes certain topics not covered as in depth in the book or previous classes are discussed to broaden the online archives. Other times, depending on topic, there is practical chart application to ensure proper understanding and application of techniques.
Consultations during the Course:
For students to not mix the student/teacher relationship with client/practitioner relationship, Freedom will not provide readings to students during the course time. You are welcome to schedule a consultation with Freedom once you have completed the course or seek out one of the advanced students for a reading.
How long do students have access the material:
There are hundreds of hours of recordings and material available inside the course. Once the course has been paid for, there is no time limit. Freedom is committed to students learning Jyotish. New material is constantly added and past students continue to have access to all material of the level in which they are qualified. Graduates of level one have access to monthly graduate classes to support continuing education, and a graduate forum to support beginning a practice as a professional astrologer.
How is SOL level 1 and 2 different than PJC
These courses are not the same and have a very different structure. The Science of Light (SOL) Course is two one-year courses designed to lay a strong foundation in a step by step process. All topics in this tradition of Jyotish are covered in a general way to understand how these techniques work together to be able to properly read a chart. This course is intended to give the framework and skills for a student to become a practicing astrologer.
The Parashara Jyotish Course (PJC) is a five-year course that goes very deep into specific topics to create advanced understanding of techniques. For example, the saptāṁśa (D7) chart is covered in two pages in the Science of Light book, one hour in the audio material, and contrasted with multiple other divisional charts for the purpose of usability. In the PJC course, there is an entire 8 hour day devoted to the saptāṁśa, with multiple examples to help make the student mature their skills with this chart. Similarly, many topics are gone into deeper analysis than contained in the Science of Light Course. Those who are not already well-studied practicing astrologers may find the PJC overwhelming or confusing and even drop out. Those who have completed Science of Light course experience the PJC as a culmination that deepens the system of astrology they have learned in a profound way. To get the best benefit from PJC, we recommend at least completing the first year of Science of Light, if not both years.
What if I am already well-known in professional practice ?
Because of the quality and integrity of this course, we regularly get Yoga studio owners, well-known Āyurveda teachers, people that are top of their field in other sciences, spiritual gurus, and well-known professional astrologers joining us. Occasionally, these people have requested to use pseudonyms in class to differentiate their public practice from their private studies and we respect that. The educational space holds a respectful space for whatever background an individual comes from and values that aspect of you. Whether you wish to share your background so others can appreciate it, or wish to use a pseudonym, we respect that choice.
2022 Course 1 starts February 17th: Syllabus is found on the Course page
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Science of Light offers various tuition payment options, and may consider requests for flexible payment arrangements, but reserves the right to decide such requests on a case-by-case basis. Setting up a recurring payment plan is a concession offered at our discretion as an alternative to paying all fees in advance. The recurring payment plan allows students to pay (or arrange payment) for tuition by installments. This agreement is not refundable or cancellable. In the case of any inability to make payments, then it is your responsibility to notify us in advance to make acceptable alternative arrangements for payment.
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Commitment
After all of this legal language, in taking this course you are making a commitment to learn the Science of Healing for the benefit of yourself and all beings; and to use this knowledge ethically to bring healing and happiness for all.
Bhavatu Sarva Mangalam – May All be Auspicious!