FAQ:

Q: What is the time commitment for the The Fire At Night Workshop?
A: We will meet for two-hour live Zoom sessions every week for eight weeks, beginning on Sunday, July 21. There is no required homework for the class–all writing and reading will be completed together within the allotted workshop time. That said, there will be a community Discord for conversation, work, and collaboration outside of class time, and you are more than welcome to bring pieces of writing that you’ve worked on outside of class time to the workshop for editing, feedback, and discussion.

Q: Is this class for beginning, intermediate, or advanced astrologers? Is it only for professional or working astrologers?
A: We’ve designed the course so that it will be comfortable to those with any level of astrological experience, providing you know the basics of the horoscope, (ie, a basic understanding of the different signs, planets, and houses that comprise a chart). The class will be beneficial to those who want to improve their astrological and divinatory story-telling skills, whether your goal is to use those to enhance your professional work with astrology or for your own interests/learning purposes.

Q: Who are the instructors of the course and what are their qualifications?
A: You can see the “About Us” page for more information about the The Fire At Night instructors, but briefly: Cameron Steele is a lead instructor who spent eight years teaching creative writing, literature, and women’s and gender studies classes at the University of Nebraska. Dr. Steele is also a graduate of Year Three of Austin Coppock’s Fundamentals of Astrology program for astrological magic. Vivi Henriette is an LA-based astrologer and tarot reader with a long history of weaving storytelling and mythology to create containers for personal narratives in her client work, podcasts, and written publications. Jove Spucchi is a witch, astrologer, artist, and folk-psychopomp exploring relationship with spirit through butoh, underground dance music, tech, psychedelics, performance, and queerness. In their client work, they give counsel on self-actualization and spiritual development through the co-creation of magical, mindful, and devotional practices. They present at conferences worldwide on the intersection of magic, critical theory and gender studies, and astrology. Our first guest lecturer, Rick Levine, has been a leading member of the astrological community for decades, and his horoscopes reached millions of readers online for more than 20 years.

Q: What kind of writing will I be doing or should I bring to the course for workshopping?
A: Any kind of writing you want! Whether you’re focused on improving your Instagram or Reel copy, trying to hone the voice of your newsletter, working on a research article for publication, or hoping to write a lecture to present at a future conference, The Fire At Night workshop is the space for you to write, revise, and receive feedback on your project from a community of professional, supportive, and creative writers!

Q: What does The Mountain Astrologer have to do with The Fire At Night workshop? Will I be published in The Mountain Astrologer at the workshop’s conclusion?
A: The Mountain Astrologer and its publisher Rae Sapp are our workshop sponsors. Rae will visit one of the live classes to talk the nuts and bolts of publishing with the magazine and to answer any questions you may have about your own ideas for projects, publications, and the magazine itself. At the end of the eight weeks, workshop participants have the option to submit their polished writing projects to a contest that will be judged by The Mountain Astrologer. The winning piece of writing may have the option to be published with the magazine, pending an agreement between the magazine and the writer.

Q: I’m really interested in the workshop but $400 is a lot of money. Are there payment plans or sliding-scale options?
A: Our future goal for is for The Fire At Night and its larger mission–NOUS, which you can read about here–to have many different service components, including a free book club and Discord community for astrologers and those working in divinatory or divinatory-adjacent spaces to write, read, and improve their writing and reading skills and opportunities together. Right now, this first workshop cohort is priced as cheaply as possible for the overhead involved; it’s also bringing the kind of writing instruction and intimate workshop feedback usually reserved for the expensive, ivory-tower of graduate-level education to astrologers and magicians, whose practices have traditionally been barred from institutions of normative higher learning. That said, if you’re really committed to joining the class, and need us to work with you on payment, please reach out to admin@thefireatnight.com