Instructors

JP Hawthorne
Director, Founder, Instructor
Even concrete and metal couldn’t quell JP’s curiosity of plants and planets, growing up in a racially integrated working-class family in post-industrial Pontiac, near Detroit. He began his journey with astrology and herbalism in the mid-’90s, later wedding the two disciplines and beginning a practice in 2011. In 2013, he founded the largest astrology school in the U.S., the community-focused Portland School of Astrology. Active in the astrology community outside of PSA, JP has served for 5 years or more on the boards of the Oregon Astrological Association (OAA), and the Association For Astrological Networking (AFAN), and has worked for FindAnAstrologer.com and on the websites of several high-profile astrologers.
After graduating with a degree in Public Health, JP shifted his focus to full-time astrology and herbalism in 2014, his work with Cosmophilia seeks to reconnect people with both earth and sky, which includes a line of Astrological Herbals: planetary teas (link to product), tinctures (link to product), sprays (link to product), Plants Against the Patriarchy vibrational essences (link to product), and magical gift items. JP has completed 5 years of both herbal medicine school and herbal retail, 5 years at the Blue Iris Mystery School, holds a degree in Public Health and even attended university in Japan.
He currently sees clients and teaches in Portland, and is writing a book about Astral-Herbalism titled BioCosmophilia: the Confluence of Plants, Planets and People. His work has been featured at the Portland Art Museum, Portland State University, Reed College, Nike, Marriott Hotels, FM radio, NORWAC, several astrology and herbal medicine conferences, numerous venues and websites. JP also loves singing, studying comedy, coffee and cats.
JayP is an Aries Sun, Taurus Moon, Virgo Rising, and North Node in Gemini.
www.Cosmophilia.com

Amanda Moreno
Instructor
Amanda Moreno [she/her/hers] teaches a variety of classes in the 1st Year Astro-Empowerment Program and 2nd-Year Astro-Fluency Program. More information about Amanda is coming soon. Learn more about Amanda here.

Samuel Reynolds
Adjunct Instructor
Samuel Reynolds [he/him/his] teaches In Defense of Astrology for our 2nd-Year Astro-Fluency Program. More information about Sam is coming soon. Learn more about Sam here.

Laura Nalbandian
Adjunct Instructor
Laura Nalbandian [she/her/hers] teaches a variety of classes in the 2nd-Year Astro-Fluency Program. More information about Amanda is coming soon. Learn more about Laura here.

Bear Ryver
Adjunct Instructor
Bear Ryver teaches Intersectional Astrology in the 1st Year Astro-Empowerment Program. More information about Bear is coming soon. Learn more about Bear here.

Elena Lumen
Adjunct Instructor
Elena Lumen (she/her/hers) teaches Electional Astrology for the 2nd-Year Astro-Fluency Program. More information about Elena is coming soon. Learn more about Elena here.

Naimonu James
Adjunct Instructor
Naimonu James teaches extra curriculum offerings for the 1st Year Astro-Empowerment Program and 2nd-Year Astro-Fluency Program. More information about Naimonu is coming soon. Learn more about Naimonu here.

Corina Dross
Adjunct Instructor
Corina Dross is a consulting astrologer, writer, artist, and activist. She has been teaching astrology through a queer, liberation-oriented lens since 2010 and has been active in the Queer Astrology movement since 2013. Primarily self-taught, and raised in a family of witches, Corina also owes much gratitude to Emily Trinkaus, with whom she apprenticed in 2013. Corina sees clients across the world in her private practice.
She has a special love for helping clients navigate their relationships. As an astrologer, her emphasis is on astrology as a tool for healing from oppression and other traumas. Corina writes a monthly relationship-oriented horoscope for Autostraddle, and offers an eight-week introductory astrology class on her website. She and her sister also channel their astrological knowledge into yearly illustrated calendars, as the witchy illustration duo Abacus Corvus.
Corina is a Virgo Sun, Taurus Moon, Sagittarius Rising and North Node in Libra.
www.Flaxandgold.com

Candace Kita
Adjunct Instructor
Candace Kita teaches class on Ethics in the 1st Year Astro-Empowerment Program and 2nd-Year Astro-Fluency Program. More information about Candace is coming soon. Learn more about Candace here.

Miss Renée Dunn
Adjunct Instructor
Miss Renée is a born empath, trained and certified reiki energy balancer, professional tarot card reader and spiritual astrologer of over 25 years. Miss Renée has a deep love for helping clients understand their astrological birth chart as the “Map of You”, utilizing a style that blends the spiritual and the psychological with practical insights and advice. She believes that our understanding for healing ourselves is innate and is called to a life of spiritual service for those at an intense crossroads.
Miss Renée is a Taurus Sun with North Node in Capricorn.

Tai Fenix Kulystin
Adjunct Instructor
Tai Fenix Kulystin teaches in the 1st Year Astro-Empowerment Program and the 2nd-Year Astro Fluency Program. More information about Tai is coming soon. Learn more about Tai here.

Stormie Grace
Adjunct Instructor
Stormie Grace [she/her/hers] teaches Lunar Phases and Eclipses in our 1st-Year Program and Mundane Astrology, Progressions and Solar Arcs for our 2nd-Year Program. Stormie is a Taurus Sun, Libra Moon, Virgo Rising. Learn more about Stormie here.
More information coming soon.

Aubrie De Clerck
Adjunct Instructor
Aubrie De Clerck is a career coach and astrologer who helps people open doors to a lifetime of fulfilling work. Known for being highly inspirational and deeply practical, she delights in bridging two of her favorite tools and worlds in a way that opens up possibilities.
Her own connection to astrology happened in her late 20’s, when she found that every part of her life being turned upside down was no accident and wasn’t forever – it was her Saturn Return. Since then, astrology has given Aubrie comfort in the unknown and an avenue for greater self acceptance, things she loves bringing to her clients as well.
As a career coach, Aubrie has over 9 years of experience in corporate, non-profit and education environments and is a Professional Certified Coach through the International Coach Federation. As an astrologer, she is proud to have completed an apprenticeship with Emily Trinkaus at The Alcyone School for Engaged Astrology. Aubrie was featured in Willamette Week’s 2012 Best of Portland and named of one of the 100 Most Powerful Women 2007 by Northwest Women’s Journal. She works full time in her private practice, Coaching for Clarity, in Portland, OR and is available to work with clients and give talks/workshops in any location.
Aubrie is a Cancer Sun, Capricorn Moon, Virgo Rising and North Node in Capricorn.
www.CoachingForClarity.net

Giselle Castaño
Adjunct Instructor
Giselle Castaño [them/their/theirs] teaches in our 2nd-Year Astro-Fluency Program. More information about Giselle is coming soon. Learn more about Giselle here.

Laura Allmacher
Adjunct Instructor
Laura Allmacher RN, LAc
2nd-Year Program: Medical Astrology
Laura Allmacher [she/her] is a holistic medicine practitioner who weaves together a unique blend of modalities to provide transformative healing for individuals. She is a deeply intuitive astrologer, providing professional readings on a regular basis since 2008. Laura’s prior foundation in astrology was established from 5 years of intensive training at the Learning Center for Astrological Studies in Lansing, Michigan.
For over 20 years, Laura has been immersed in medicine and healing work on many levels and considers her astrological consultations to be on this continuum. For 18 years she worked as a Registered Nurse in hospital settings and in the early years of her nursing career, she was awakened to a path in holistic medicine and subsequently trained at the Naturopathic Institute of Therapies and Education in Michigan for 5 years. Feeling forever blessed to receive the gift of teaching of free-spirited wisdom and joy of traditional naturopathy, Laura offered natural medicine and astrology for years before she discovered the power of Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture and its ability to treat from the roots of illness.
Moving to Portland, OR and eventually graduating with a Masters from the Classical Chinese Medicine program at the National University of Natural Medicine in 2018, Laura enjoys integrating all these arts into a seamless gesture of compassion and exploration that is never the same twice. Cultivating from all her knowledge, experience, and skill gained over these last 2 decades; Laura currently provides acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, and astrology consultations out of Heart Spring Health in Portland, OR.
Laura is a Cancer Sun, Virgo Moon, Taurus Rising, North Node in Libra.

Naike Swai
Adjunct Instructor
Naike Swai
Program Extra Curricular Facilitator
Naike Swai is a healing arts practitioner, musician and astrologer of Tanzanian and German heritage. Their interest in studying the vibratory imprint of nature’s forces on our mind and body led them into the practice of classical acupuncture and astrology. Whereas acupuncture provides a somatic map of how our bodies digest the experiences of life, astrology lays out a wondrous fabric of the cosmic clock and how the planet’s resonant influences shape our individual and collective lives. – each thread representing the planetary patterns that dress and move us. In their readings Naike weaves these strands together. A graduate from the Portland School of Astrology, their focus lies in decolonizing astrology and connecting to the transformative liberation inherent in our natal charts.

Vanessa Couto
Adjunct Instructor
Vanessa Couto teaches a business skills in the 2nd-Year Astro-Fluency Program. More information about Vanessa is coming soon. Learn more about Vanessa here.

Lu Yim
Adjunct Instructor
Lu Yim [they/them/theirs] teaches Zodiacal Embodiment for our 1st-Year Astro-Empowerment Program. Lu is a Taurus Sun, Scorpio Moon, Aries Rising.
More information about Lu is coming soon. Learn more about Lu here.

Dave Mockaitis
Adjunct Instructor
Dave Mockaitis [he/him/his] teaches extra curriculum offerings for the 1st Year Astro-Empowerment Program and 2nd-Year Astro-Fluency Program. More information about Dave is coming soon. Learn more about Dave here.
Staff

JP Hawthorne
Director, Founder, Instructor
Even concrete and metal couldn’t quell JP’s curiosity of plants and planets, growing up in a racially integrated working-class family in post-industrial Pontiac, near Detroit. He began his journey with astrology and herbalism in the mid-’90s, later wedding the two disciplines and beginning a practice in 2011. In 2013, he founded the largest astrology school in the U.S., the community-focused Portland School of Astrology. Active in the astrology community outside of PSA, JP has served for 5 years or more on the boards of the Oregon Astrological Association (OAA), and the Association For Astrological Networking (AFAN), and has worked for FindAnAstrologer.com and on the websites of several high-profile astrologers.
After graduating with a degree in Public Health, JP shifted his focus to full-time astrology and herbalism in 2014, his work with Cosmophilia seeks to reconnect people with both earth and sky, which includes a line of Astrological Herbals: planetary teas (link to product), tinctures (link to product), sprays (link to product), Plants Against the Patriarchy vibrational essences (link to product), and magical gift items. JP has completed 5 years of both herbal medicine school and herbal retail, 5 years at the Blue Iris Mystery School, holds a degree in Public Health and even attended university in Japan.
He currently sees clients and teaches in Portland, and is writing a book about Astral-Herbalism titled BioCosmophilia: the Confluence of Plants, Planets and People. His work has been featured at the Portland Art Museum, Portland State University, Reed College, Nike, Marriott Hotels, FM radio, NORWAC, several astrology and herbal medicine conferences, numerous venues and websites. JP also loves singing, studying comedy, coffee and cats.
JayP is an Aries Sun, Taurus Moon, Virgo Rising, and North Node in Gemini.
www.Cosmophilia.com

Takahiro Yamamoto
Bookkeeper
Takahiro Yamamoto [he/him/his] is the bookkeeper for the Portland School of Astrology. Students can reach Taka at [email protected]
Advisors

Rhea Wolf
Advisor
Rhea Wolf [she/her/hers/they/them/theirs] is a feminist, astrologer, writer, and mother whose life purpose is to help people awaken their inherent creativity, activate their authentic selves and deepen their connections to the larger world. Rhea is motivated by a vision of an emerging culture based on respect, beauty, justice and relatedness.
Rhea Wolf has been a workshop facilitator for over twenty years, bringing creative writing, theater arts, pagan spirituality, and The Work that Reconnects to a variety of groups, including at-risk youth and women in prison. During her Saturn Return, she began her journey as a practicing astrologer after studying astrology with Emily Trinkaus and Demetra George for two years.
Rhea has worked for nonprofits like Write Around Portland and has been a performing artist her entire life. She has a BFA in Theater Performance from Wichita State University. In 2017, Rhea completed her Master’s Degree from Marylhurst University in Spiritual Traditions with a thesis that focused on the metaphor of darkness in pagan spirituality and how these metaphors relate to perceptions of race and gender. Since 2000, Rhea has trained extensively with world-renowned author Joanna Macy, becoming a facilitator of the The Work That Reconnects, which helps people awaken to their power as conscious healers and activists in service to the life-sustaining powers of the Earth.Â
She is the author of The Light That Changes: The Moon in Astrology, Stories and Time  (link to product), and several zines and chapbooks  (link to product)  on witchcraft and poetry. Her articles, stories and poems have appeared in The Mountain Astrologer, hipMama, The Manifest Station, Are Press, MUTHA Magazine, Perspectives and VoiceCatcher.
Rhea’s passion for astrology began in childhood when she was given an impromptu tutorial of the zodiac by her hippie teen-aged babysitter. She remembers feeling a sense of wonder and also familiarity. Rhea brings her love of the Earth, the spirit of wonder, and her desire to deepen relationships to all that she does. She enjoys helping people find ways to claim more beauty and magic in their daily lives.
Rhea is a Leo Sun, Leo Rising, Taurus Moon and North Node in Scorpio.
Guest Teachers
Local, national and international guests in the previous years have included:
- Jenna Abernathy
- Eztrella Armijo
- Lauren Sage Balin
- Iris Bell
- Amanda Blix
- Chris Brennan
- Gemini Brett
- Casey Cardoso
- Giselle Castaño
- Wade Caves
- Martha Clarke
- Austin Coppock
- Faye Cossar
- Vanessa Couto
- Gray Crawford
- Madeline DeCoates
- Jadzia DeForest
- Aubrie De Clerck
- Pomegranate Doyle
- Corina Dross
- Renee Dunn
- Carol Ferris
- Bill Frazier
- Adam Gainsburg
- Pallace Garza
- Andrea L. Gehrz
- Demetra George
- Ben Gitchel
- Zyon Gray
- Melanie Gurley
- Will Hall
- Amy Herring
- Judith Hill
- Tony Howard
- Laurence Jones
- Jon Keyes
- Candace Kita
- Danny Lampton
- Jessica Lanyadoo
- Gretchen Lawlor
- Gary Lorentzen
- Iris Mae Misciagna
- Jessica Painter
- Stephanie Phillips
- Sajah Popham
- Gradey Proctor
- David Pond
- Christopher Renstrom
- Lonnie Ro
- Virginia Rosenberg
- Tatiana Sakurai
- Julie Savage-Lee
- Henry Seltzer
- Jeevan Singh
- Jaliessa Sipress
- Renee Sills
- Stacia Secreriat
- Naike Swai
- Brandie Taylor
- Ian Waisler
- Gwynne Warner Donovan
- Maeanna Welti
- Rhea Wolf
- Matthew Wood
- Takahiro Yamamoto
- Lu Lee Yim
- Jenn Zahrt
Want to try an audio download?
-
MP3: Flower Essences for Moon Signs and the Sacred Feminine
$7.00 Add to cart -
MP3: Gender in Astrology – R-eenvisioning Our Language for a Gender Queer Future
$7.00 Add to cart -
MP4: Practitioner Series: So You Want To Be An Astrologer
$18.00 Add to cart -
MP3: Progressed Sun – Your Personal Timeline
$7.00 Add to cart