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AstroDharma 2027: Navigating Transits
September 24, 2027 - September 26, 2027
AstroDharma: Transits & Navigating Your Journey
Online or In-Person | September 24-26, 2027Every so often, life seems to rearrange itself all at once. An old pattern flares up out of nowhere, a season turns unexpectedly heavy, or everything suddenly feels electric. And we’re left asking: what is going on?
Usually there’s more at play than Mercury retrograde. Your natal chart shows the patterns you were born with. Transits show what’s moving through those patterns now, as the planets’ current positions activate different parts of your chart. A Chiron return, a second Saturn return, a Uranus opposition, Pluto crossing a sensitive point: something significant is nearly always unfolding for each of us. That’s humbling, and it’s also good news, because these are tools that can support us through life’s major teachings.
Join Catherine Sensei for a weekend learning to read the transits in your own chart: to make sense of what you’re going through now, to look back at turning points in your life and see what was moving then, and to support one another through these passages.
This course is for you if:
- You want to study an astrological Dharmic framework with a wisdom teacher in the Namgyal lineage.
- You know your natal chart a little and want to understand what’s happening in it now, not only what it showed at birth
- You’re in the middle of a major passage, such as a Saturn return, a Chiron return or a Uranus opposition, and want to understand what it’s asking of you
- You’d like to look back at the turning points of your life with fresh eyes
- You’re part of a sangha and want to support one another through the transits each of you is going through (this course is really good for sanghas)
- You want practical tools for working with timing and change, beyond the horoscope headlines
You Know That Feeling When…
- Everything seems to change at once and you can’t tell why
- An old pattern you thought you’d outgrown suddenly returns
- A particular year of your life felt like a turning point, and you’d love to understand what was happening
- Someone told you “it’s your Saturn return” and you wondered what that actually means
- Someone close to you is going through a hard passage and you want to know how to help
- You sense that timing matters, but you don’t know how to read it
- If any of these resonate, this course is for you.
Why Transits Matter
Transits are a different body of work from what we’ve explored in recent AstroDharma weekends. Natal-chart study shows the patterns we were born with. Transits show timing: which of those patterns are being activated, when, and how strongly.
This works in two directions. In the present, it can turn “what is going on?” into a clearer sense of what this phase is asking of us and how to meet it. Looking back, it can be remarkably illuminating: recall a significant phase of your life and you may find that a major transit was unfolding at exactly that time.
Like all our AstroDharma work, this weekend is especially valuable for community. When we understand what one another is moving through, we can respond with more patience and skill, and support each other through these passages rather than taking them personally.
The weekend also leads into Written in the Stars, Manifested in the Body (November 7–28, 2027), the online course where Catherine Sensei explores how our charts show up in the body. We recommend considering them together.
What You’ll Discover:
In this course, we’ll explore transits from multiple angles: what they portray astronomically and astrologically, how they show up in our lives, and specifically how they’re showing up for you.
You’ll learn:
- What transits are, and which ones matter most for spiritual growth
- How to find the transits active in your own chart right now
- The major passages of a lifetime, such as Saturn returns, the Chiron return and the Uranus opposition, and what each asks of us
- How to look back at turning points in your life and recognize the transits behind them
- How to work with a difficult transit as a teaching rather than an obstacle
- How to map transits for yourself, and support others through theirs
For in-person participants: You’ll experience somatic AstroDharma mandalas (somatic constellations) to explore transits through your body. These are visceral, compelling experiences that bring the teachings alive in a whole new way. Lucky us!
Why AstroDharma Works
For spiritual seekers looking to grow, this unique combination of Buddhism and Transpersonal Astrology speeds us up on our spiritual path.
Many of us in the West are raised to celebrate the individual self—to find our unique path and explore why we’re here on this planet. Yet Buddhist Dharma leaps over personalization by teaching that there is no inherent self, and that we must realize this to find spiritual awakening.
For many of us, that’s a big leap.
On the way, we may miss valuable lessons about how to compassionately show up in the world as unique individuals. AstroDharma bridges these two systems. Transpersonal Western astrology reveals individual patterns and influences—we get a window into the energies, the pushes and pulls of the psyche. Dharma expands the view beyond self, into a path of service to community, for the benefit of all beings.
Over time, with growing confidence and awareness, we can transcend our natal charts and awaken. But first, we work with what we’ve got.
We initially pursued AstroDharma because Namgyal Rinpoche also taught astrology. We’ve found it to be an effective tool for helping us explore our patterns. It’s unique for each person, and AstroDharma helps us unpack that uniqueness so you can use it better for yourself and for others.
What to Bring
We really encourage you to be here in person if possible: you’ll get the most out of the somatic constellation work and the energy of practicing in community. But we also support online participants with high-quality streaming and interactive classes.
Come prepared with:
- Your astrological chart and a transits chart (instructions provided upon registration)
- An open mind and questions that matter to you, including the turning points you’d like to understand
This is a weekend to clear your schedule and focus. Bring your curiosity. Bring the passage you’re in right now. Bring your willingness to understand what this moment is asking of you.
Meet the Teacher
Catherine Pawasarat Sensei
Catherine Pawasarat Sensei is a contemporary Dharma teacher and co-founder of Clear Sky Retreat Center. She has developed AstroDharma as a tool for transformation, synthesizing Buddhist teachings on spiritual awakening with transpersonal Western astrology based on the teachings of Carl Jung.
She trained daily with Acariya Doug Duncan from 1998 until his passing in 2024 in an intensive spiritual apprenticeship that is rare in the modern West, and received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 2003.
Since the early 2000s, Catherine has provided dharma training and taught the path of awakening to hundreds of students. In addition to Buddhist philosophy and its applications to daily life, she draws on generative living, transpersonal astrology, and Japanese arts. Catherine comes from a lineage of spiritual awakening that values the best of Eastern and Western philosophy—an ideal training for Westerners and an evolution of traditional teachings for the modern seeker.
An Episode from our Podcast: On the North and South Nodes, Chiron and Saturn
In this AstroDharma podcast episode, Catherine Pawasarat Sensei and Doug ‘Qapel’ Duncan explore parts of our natal charts that are particularly connected to spiritual and personal transformation, including Chiron, Saturn, and North and South Nodes. They explain how these lenses can help us get unstuck, transform challenges into tools, and take things in our lives less personally. This includes how to use astrology to integrate our shadow and realize our fullest potential.
Bonus Gift for Course Participants
Online AstroDharma Course INCLUDED
Catherine Sensei also offers an online Intro to AstroDharma course which you will be able to access at the end of this course. This will help you continue your studies. The course will be available upon request to participants who complete the retreat.
Course Details
Time and Location
Led by Catherine Pawasarat Sensei at Clear Sky Meditation Center in Eastern BC. Available in-person or online.
Retreating at Clear Sky means you can participate in the in-person somatic AstroDharma constellation work—always a more grounded, supportive, communal experience.
Schedule / Class Times
All listed in Mountain Daylight Time (MDT), and will be 60-90 minutes in duration. Please clear your schedule for the entire weekend to focus on this work. The following class times are approximate:
- Friday, September 24 — 7pm (arrive on-site at 3pm)
- Saturday, September 25 — 9am, 2pm, plus in-person somatic work at 7pm
- Sunday, September 26 — 9am, 2pm, plus in-person somatic work at 4pm
Online participants are expected to attend classes live. We have arranged class times to be comfortable for most time zones. However we understand that some class times might occur after midnight in some regions; if this is the case for you, please let us know when you register. We can provide a recording so you can catch up on that particular class if it occurs in the middle of the night for you.
What you’ll need: Your astrology chart with the Nodes, Chiron, and Eris, using Placidus house system. Detailed instructions provided upon registration.
What Does the Course Cost?
In-Person Participants:
1) dāna to the Teacher plus
2) accomodation and meal costs for your stay Clear Sky Meditation Centre.
Online Participants:
1) dāna to the Teacher
2) online administration fee of $170 CAD.
Keen practitioner pricing: 5% savings on program fees available until July 19, 2026.
Important: The last day to register is one week prior to the retreat start date. Please register early.
The Dharma has been built on generosity. No-one is excluded for lack of funds but it is also extremely beneficial to give as much as you are able.
Typically people give in a range of $120-$500 USD for a course.
As we’re committed to ensuring everyone has access to the Dharma, please feel comfortable to give less if you are not financially secure. Another form of giving dāna is to offer service, and if you are interested in providing support in a non-financial way, we invite you to contact us.
Conversely, if you are financially secure, we invite you to generate merit by providing more financial support to the Triple Gem. Contributions like these make the difference in supporting our teachers, teachings, and center.
Learn more about the practice of dāna here.
We’ve tried to recreate this approach online. The teachers’ time and the teaching themselves are offered on the basis of dāna, separate to the admin fee. With our dāna offering we are making a direct gift of generosity to the teachers to support their teachings and livelihood.
The admin fee* goes to support the infrastructure and organization necessary to support them to teach. As anyone with an online business will know, it can be surprising the costs of setting up a good infrastructure to support effective teaching and connection online. The admin fee changes based on date of registration.
*We also do not wish to exclude anyone from the Teachings, so if you are not currently in a financial position to afford the admin fee, please contact the course Registrar via [email protected] so we can support you to attend.
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Below are a few of the work and benefits that your admin fee payment is supporting:
- high speed internet (to allow interviews and classes on-line)
- online class systems (Zoom)
- registration / admin systems (Eventbrite, Basecamp)
- communication systems to keep everyone informed, share connection details, teachings and other resources (Mailchimp)
- online storage (for example, Dropbox, to allow us to let students watch recordings, and to store and share selected teachings in other forms such as podcasts and video later, and Amazon cloud)
- quality sound, video and editing equipment (both for live teachings and to provide good enough quality for later sharing as podcasts and video). We are regularly updating our equipment to improve your user experience.
- online calendar booking system to allow students to book interviews
- website hosting and maintenance for sharing upcoming courses, teachings, blogs and other resources.
We welcome any questions. May all our efforts be sustainable, abundant and for the benefit of all beings!
Registration
IMPORTANT: In Person – Keen Practitioner Pricing: Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until July 19, 2027.
Online retreatants, please register as early as possible so there is time to prepare your charts. (Register for online by Sep, 17 2027.)
Questions?
If you have questions about the retreat, please contact the Clear Sky Retreat Manager at 250-429-3929 (phone) or at www.clearskycenter.org (contact form).
Why Retreat In-Person?
- You can’t beat live interaction with the course Teachers. Being in the same space with clear beings ‘tunes’ you to more wholesome states.
- We create a welcoming environment and follow a supportive retreat schedule, based on decades of hosting successful retreats worldwide.
- Wholesome and delicious food is provided so you don’t have to spend time cooking for yourself.
- Breath-taking and restful, natural environment puts your body and mind at ease and resets your nervous system.
- Retreating at our center gets you out of your usual home environment and routines – they can be distracting.
- Retreating with others (your co-retreatants) is incredibly supportive and energy building.
We work hard to support the online learning experience.
- We have been delivering online offerings since 2012 and are always looking for new ways to optimize your experience.
- Classes are live-streamed and some recordings are available for a certain time.
- HD cameras and professional audio equipment provide high quality video streaming.
What Do Previous Retreatants Say?
Free AstroDharma Resources
Free AstroDharma Resources
- AstroDharma Reference Chart (Handy printable guide)
- The 3 Most Important Parts of Your Chart (Video)
- AstroDharma and Relationships (Video)
How We Use AstroDharma
At our meditation centre, we use Western astrology alongside Buddhist philosophy and meditation practice. This helps our students transform their challenges more effectively.
There are five key aspects of AstroDharma study:
1. Understand how to read your own astrological birth chart.
2. Harness and develop its positive elements wisely.
3. Recognize and overcome elements that may be out-of-balance.
4. Use this knowledge to redirect your energy into more effective patterns of living.
5. Use meditation, and ideally work with teachers and a spiritual community, to go deeper and fully investigate and liberate the subtle patterns and conditioning.
Teacher Bio
Since the early 2000s Catherine has provided dharma training and taught the path of awakening to hundreds of students, together with Doug Duncan Sensei and on her own. In addition to Astrology and Buddhist philosophy and their applications to daily life, Catherine also draws on generative living (a.k.a. sustainability) and the arts.
Catherine is from a lineage of spiritual awakening that values the best of Eastern and Western philosophy. Her partner Doug Duncan Sensei and their teacher Namgyal Rinpoche excel in teaching both methods. This is an ideal training for Westerners, and an evolution of traditional teachings for the modern seeker.
In addition to Planet Dharma and Clear Sky, her website GionFestival.org shares her ground-breaking work on the spiritual traditions and sustainability of Kyoto’s 1100-year-old Gion Festival.
Free AstroDharma Resources – Join our Community