Michael Ofek
Ancient Astrology
Philosophy, Cosmology and Magic
Core Astrological Magic
Foundation Course
12 – Online Weekly Sessions (3 Hours)
The next course will open on
September 21, 2025
Featuring a unique collaboration with scholar and translator Dr. Dan Attrell, and professional metalsmith and talisman creator David Weitzman. The course is facilitated with the invaluable assistance of astrologer-magician J.D Kelley.
Early bird enrollment starts soon—enter your email here for notifications and exclusive updates on the course, and upcoming lectures and workshops.
~ Latest Course Recordings Available ~
The full video/audio recordings of the 2023 and 2024 CAM courses are now available for purchase. Both courses are nearly identical, except each is tailored to a specific planet for its final talisman case study: CAM23 to Mercury, CAM24 to Venus.
These recordings are ideal for self-paced study and serve as your entry to the advanced course later this year (soon to be announced).
Both CAM23 and CAM24 are now available at a discounted price of $530 each (a $100 savings from the live course). Choose your course via the payment link. Once paid, an email will arrive with your online directory access.
$530
The payment links also accept payment in Credit/Debit cards.
If you need any help, or prefer to pay with installments
please contact ancient@hermetic-astrology.com
Testimonials
About the Course
This course is a culmination of more then two decades of research into the origins of Astrology and Magic. It is a reconstruction and synthesis of essential core practices, their underlying philosophical and cosmological foundations, and their theoretical and practical principles. The course is designed to bridge intellectual understanding with experiential learning, guiding students through the Astro-magical processes in both the artful skill of astrological elections and the practice of magical creation, ritual, and participation.
The theoretical elements of the course disclose the deep metaphysical secrets of the art. Together with the academic, historical, and textual perspectives, they inform a structured methodology of practice. The practical and experiential elements are complemented by ancient Theurgic and Shamanic perspectives and techniques, extending beyond the Western tradition. By revealing the core of this powerful wisdom, distilled from ancient sources and decades of experience, this course aspires to rekindle the primordial roots of our astral nature, to realign, commune, and intentionally engage with the living cosmos.
Aims of the Course:
- Gain a profound understanding of the foundational philosophy and cosmology of astrological magic.
- Methodically learn the elements of the astro-magical process, both in theory and in practice.
- Learn ancient techniques to awaken the 'astral fire', effectively bridging heaven and the earth.
- Cultivate a direct experience of planetary powers and states of consciousness.
- Gain powerful tools for active astrological participation in daily life.
- Apply Star-Walking as an internalized spiritual path of continuous cosmic alignment and self perfection.
- Learn the secrets of selecting powerful magical elections.
- Be able to deconstruct and interpret traditional sources of astrological magic.
- Feel confident to perform an astrological magical ritual.
- Create effective planetary talismans, and other magical creations.
- Integrate astrological magic into your astrological practice.
Course Structure
The course will take place over 12 – live zoom sessions, 3 hours in length (with breaks), including a Q&A and discussion at the end.
Part 1 – The Core of Magic
Part 2 – History & Mystery – with Dan Attrell
Part 3 – Astral Theurgy, Sky-walking and the Talismanic Tradition
Part 4 – Ancient Philosophy & Cosmology
Part 5 – Practical Theory + Deciphering the Picatrix – with Dan Attrell
Part 6 – Working with the Astral Fire
Part 7 – Crafting Tools and Correspondences – with David Weitzman
Part 8 – Magical Elections part 1
Part 9 – Magical Elections part 2
Part 10 – Ritual Procedures
Part 11 – Talisman Creation
Part 12 – Integration
The next course will commence on:
Sunday September 21st, 2025 at 12:00 PM EST, and continue on subsequent Sundays.
Meetings are on Zoom – a link will be sent out after registration closes.
*All the live sessions will be recorded and sent out to students afterwards.
* This course is suitable for both beginners and experienced practitioners alike. The course requires a basic knowledge of astrology, with some knowledge of traditional concepts being ideal. No prior knowledge of astrological magic is needed.
About Michael Ofek
Michael Ofek is a professional astrologer, cosmologist, astral magician, and shamanic practitioner from Israel. He has been practicing astrology and magic for more than two decades, avidly researching all branches of the ancient tradition, with an emphasis on Hellenistic astrology and its connection with Greco-Egyptian cosmology, philosophy, theurgy, and magic. His passion lies in unveiling and reconstructing the roots of the tradition, and the practical refiguring of these ancient arts. Michael is also a long-time student of the mysteries of Andean shamanism and of working and healing with entheogens.
In his work, Michael stresses the importance of direct experience of astrological processes, for which he has developed a unique system, drawing on and integrating magical, theurgical, and shamanic practices. Michael is an international speaker and gives workshops and lectures worldwide, including magical retreats. He is the co-founder of the Israeli professional astrology magazine “Urania,” which also produces yearly conferences and workshops.
About the collaborators
Dan Attrell
Dr. Dan Attrell is a Canadian intellectual historian, classicist, translator and scholar of medieval and early modern Latin texts. In 2011, Dan received his BA Honours at the University of Guelph with a double major in History and Classical Studies, and in 2012, he completed his MA in Ancient Mediterranean Cultures at the University of Waterloo. In 2014, he did a post-baccalaureate in Classics at UCLA which focused on the translation of ancient Greek and Latin texts, and more recently, in 2022, he completed his PhD in Medieval and Early Modern History at the University of Waterloo, working on a number of Latin translation projects including Marsilio Ficino’s De Christiana Religione, William Fulke’s Ouranomachia, a handful medieval Hermetic texts such as the Asclepius, the Glosae super Trismegistum, and The Book of 24 Philosophers with commentaries.
TheModernHermeticist.com | YouTube Channel
David Weitzman
David Weitzman is a professional metalsmith, jeweler, and talisman creator from Israel. He is the owner of Ka-Gold jewelry, through which he has been creating unique magical jewelry since 1998 based on different mystical traditions. In his creations, David employs a vast knowledge from a variety of esoteric sources, such as Jewish Kabbalah, Sacred Geometry, Alchemy, Egyptian wisdom and Tibetan Buddhism. Since 2007, David and Michael have been collaborating in creating newly envisioned authentic astrological-Talismans, universal as well as personalized (based on the individual birth-chart).
His website now holds over one hundred unique designs of magically-created astrological Talismans.
Ka-Gold-Jewelry | Ka-Gold-Astrological Talismans
J.D Kelley
John-David (J.D) finds his way through portent and presence. He hails from the urban jungle of NYC, the springs of southern Alabama, and the rolling dunes of Florida’s gulf coast. He is a child of wyrd-ness and delightfully dances in the play of the living cosmos. He is a student of magical and mystical traditions both young and old and an enthusiastic practitioner of astrology. For the last ten years he has lived in England and Scotland, reconnecting with his ancestors of blood and practice as well as the tutelary spirits of these lands. He endeavors to weave the threads of practice and place between the old world and the new. cunningasfolk.com | @cunningasfolk | Astromagia.org
An interview with Michael on The Modern Hermeticist Podcast
The Rulers of Life
Finding and Using the Masters of the Nativity
Online Full Day Workshop
Took place in June 26th, 2022 | 10 AM – 3 PM EDT
Video Recording Available!
Plus a PDF of the full presentation. Link will be sent after purchase.
$110 USD
Your’e welcome to add your e-mail here and get updates on the upcoming lectures, courses and workshops,
The Rulers of Life is an elaborate natal rulership scheme, which goes back to the oldest and most mysterious roots of the western astrological tradition, attributed to it mythic founders Nechepso and Petosoris.
This workshop will reveal an in-depth reconstruction of this profound ancient doctrine. We will learn the teaching on the different Life Rulers, namely the Epikratetor,
Oikodespotes, and Kurios, how to locate them in the chart, and gain a deep understanding of their roles and functions in one’s soul and life. We will also highlight the doctrine of the Guardian Daimon and how to work with it in the context of Theurgy and Astral Magic.
Light & Image – Lecture Series
Starlight, Magic and Eros
An Online Lecture given in February 12th | 2022
Recording Available for Purchase – $20
A link to the video recording will be sent to your E-mail.
*This Lecture is Free for Foundation Course participants.
Check out Michael's article in Astro.com:
