On this episode of the Plant Cunning Podcast, herbalist and astrologer Cameron Allen returns to discuss his recent travels and to share updates on his ongoing studies in Ayurveda and Unani Tibb. Cameron explains Unani Tibb as Greco-Arabic (Greek) medicine, clarifying the distinctions between elements, temperaments (mizaaj), and humors, and emphasizes temperament as a dynamic intermixture shaped by environment, time, and life experience. The conversation explores why blending medical and astrological systems can create confusion, how modern astrology often reduces meaning to psychology, and why coherence and consulting skills matter. They examine North American “dryness” as a cultural and lifestyle pattern, discuss practical ways to work with melancholic imbalance and grief, and Cameron previews his upcoming UAC talks on luminaries in medical astrology and remedy-generation approaches.00:00 Welcome Back Cameron00:32 Summer Travels And Retreat01:36 Embodied Sexual Leadership03:32 Ayurveda And Unani Studies06:42 What Is Unani Tibb10:34 Modern Western Astrology Debate14:34 Mixing Systems In Herbalism19:22 Coherence And Elemental Language22:19 Temperament As Intermixture26:19 Core Vs Changing Constitution29:31 Environment As Medicine32:51 Consulting Skills And Teaching Vision36:12 Why We Get Dry38:08 Diet and Drying Foods38:38 Hot vs Cold Metabolism40:17 Reading Dryness in Charts42:38 Purging and Nourishing Traditions44:41 Warming Melancholic Gently48:14 Grief as Melancholic Medicine50:38 Helping Grief Move Through53:31 Saturn and Grief Mastery56:20 Temperaments Elements Humors58:57 Body Types by Temperament01:01:27 Planetary Degrees and Venus01:04:03 Planets as Elemental Landscapes01:05:35 Moon Layers Explained01:06:23 Moon Phases Temperament01:08:46 Physiognomy Rising Signs01:11:43 Reading Bodies Nonverbal01:15:14 Movement Practice Evolution01:18:34 Astrology Community Healing01:23:35 UAC Talks Preview01:26:33 Honest Synthesis Ahead01:28:56 Closing Thanks

Today on the Plant Cunning Podcast we welcome Madison Murphy Barney—doula, two-spirit Indigenous sister, public health storyteller, and author of Our Ancestors Want Us to Be Mushrooms: Wisdom for Living in Balance with the Planet and Each Other. Madison shares how mushrooms offer blueprints for reconnecting with ourselves, community, and the planet through traits like connection, decomposition, adaptability, and humility, emphasizing moving forward with “original instructions” rather than trying to return to the past. They discuss relating to ecosystems anywhere (including cities) through curiosity and noticing, mushrooms’ role in composting and rebuilding systems, and how doula work applies beyond birth and death to divorce, career change, and other transitions by honoring grief, support networks, and cycles. Madison also mentions ceremony, favorite mushrooms, and where to find her work online.

01:19 Meet Madison and Book Launch

02:27 Plant Path Origins

04:05 Why Be Mushrooms

06:26 City Nature Connection

09:00 Why Mushrooms Matter

12:53 Doula Calling and Expansion

17:20 Guiding Change and Grief

22:38 Ancestral and More-than-Human Support

24:33 Living in Cycles28:51 Cycles and Comfort

29:27 Native Plants Debate

30:37 Love of Place

32:05 Mushrooms and Protection

33:33 Adaptability and Neighbors

37:18 Humility in Ecosystems

42:01 Fungi Favorites Today

44:13 What Comes Next

45:25 Who the Book Is For

47:25 Connecting and Closing

Today on Plant Cunning, Christopher Warnock returns to discuss his new book, Telesmanica, an comprehensive, operative manual of astrological magic. He explains how the book expands beyond technique into worldview, methodology, causality, and the internal logic behind elections, arguing that many contemporary approaches are “bricolage,” mixing techniques without coherent structure or testing. Warnock contrasts modern atheistic materialism with traditional spiritual-first worldviews, using models like ecological “patterning” and mapping to explain how models are tested for usefulness. He outlines his approach to talismans—prioritizing timing, images, and mathematical ratios over materials—emphasizing practical constraints, rigorous selection of key chart factors, and a devotional practice focused on relationship with celestial spirits rather than guaranteed outcomes.

01:04 Why did Christopher Warnock write Telesmanica?

08:59 Worldview and Spiritual Reality

15:02 Models, Meaning and Belief

26:40 Bricolage in Modern Astrology

33:20 Astrology as Language and Intuition

37:32 Getting Readings Wrong

38:25 When Magic Doesn’t Fit

39:17 Worldview and Causality

40:10 What a Talisman Is

41:05 Picking the Right Election

42:41 In Picatrix, Context Matters

45:50 The Cookbook Perspective

52:57 Devotional Angel Practice

54:46 Reality Warping and Limits

56:02 Camouflage Magic Explained

57:54 Modern Anxiety and Ritual

59:10 Problematic Images and Archetypes

01:02:16 Ducks and Spiritual Freedom

01:08:24 Hermetic Lineage History

01:12:52 Reviving a Lost Tradition

01:15:16 Robert Zoller's Advice

01:16:10 Daily Devotional Power

01:17:09 Tradition Beyond Social Media

01:18:36 What Traditional Really Means

01:20:20 Medieval Renaissance Lineage

01:23:32 Applying vs Separating Aspects

01:24:58 Bricolage and Chart Noise

01:26:28 Meta Perspective and Meaning

01:30:00 Why does Christopher Warnock prioritize election and image over materials in the creation of talismans?

01:32:35 Occult Virtue and Platonic Ideas

01:36:43 Practical Talisman Use and Care

01:41:58 Meaning, Nihilism, and Collapse

01:45:37 Preserving Esoteric Texts in an age of Decline

01:47:20 Consciousness Beyond Humanity

Plant Cunning Conference – In-Person in New York – July 24-26, 2026

MycoSymbiotics Mushroom & Art Festival July 29- August 2d, 2026Today on the podcast, AC & Isaac Hill interview mushroom citizen scientist and community builder William Padilla-Brown about his path into mycology, from early curiosity about consciousness and “plant medicine” to diet-driven health struggles that pushed him into growing his own food, foraging, and functional mushrooms. He credits discovering online superfood and medicinal-mushroom content (including David Avocado Wolfe) as a turning point, then explains how mushroom videos took off on YouTube and led him to start MycoSymbiotics and launch MycoFest in 2015 to create a lasting community and legacy for his family. Will recounts cultivating cordyceps after finding a specimen at the first festival, rejecting the idea that it was “impossible,” and learning through observation—treating life as a readable language. He describes MycoSymbiotics’ cutting edge work: wild strain selection, DNA barcoding, cultivation, extraction, third‑party analytics, and making potent products affordable. The conversation also covers ecological literacy through mushrooms, conservation concerns like Pine Barrens development and matsutake habitat loss, the importance and diversity of native truffles (including training a dog to find tuber canaliculatum), aroma as a form of “medicine,” modern distraction and nervous-system hijacking, and adapting to AI by leaning into uniquely human creativity. He closes with MycoFest details (first weekend of August; July 31–Aug 2; MycoFest.net; Artemis, PA; code MYCOMMUNITY), plus MycoSymbiotics sites, classes, a farmer co‑op, and local projects.

00:00 Meet William Padilla-Brown

01:55 Origins in Plant Medicine

06:03 Health Wake Up Call

09:09 David Wolfe and Medicinals

11:28 Myco Symbiote to MycoFest

13:12 Nothing Is Impossible

15:30 Learning From Living Signs

21:05 Mycology Cutting Edge Today

23:44 Matsutake and Habitat Threats

25:29 Truffles as Ecological Gateway

27:16 Native Truffles in Pennsylvania

30:14 Truffles and Sensory Depth

30:41 Overstimulation and Numbness

31:54 Aroma as Medicine

33:58 Capitalism and Responsibility

36:16 Distraction Casino Reality

38:53 Using the System for Good

40:53 Social Media and Rage Bait

44:27 AI Music and Human Spark

48:55 MycoFest and Community Wrap

Today on the Plant Cunning Podcast, Isaac and AC welcome back Will Morris, PhD, DAOM, MSEd, LAc, RH, a interdisciplinary healer and scholar whose work spans traditional Western and Vedic astrology, Chinese medicine, pulse diagnosis, sound healing, and education. Will explains his compulsive, spiritually driven path across traditions and how transdisciplinary study reveals shared underlying structures, including medical frameworks of location, process, and severity and recurring 12-fold patterns across nature and culture. He critiques mainstream scientific testing of astrology as method-driven, politically shaped, and often logically flawed, arguing the right assessment depends on the question and may require qualitative approaches. The conversation explores intuition, divination versus science, horary use in clinical settings, dreamwork and oneirobotany, mugwort’s shamanic origins, catnip’s “wind” associations, and Will’s upcoming books, including Evidence Ecology: Science and Astrology.

02:10 Why Study Many Traditions?

03:39 Life Path Music to Astrology

08:36 The Benefits of Transdisciplinary Studies

12:00 The Science Industry and Astrology

13:13 Is Astrology Divination or Science?

19:31 Testing Astrology Properly

27:59 Clinical Astrology in Practice

31:07 Book of Dreams and Yesod

32:48 Dreamwork Pulse and Herbs

36:59 Sedative Herbs Mix

37:10 Catnip and Wind Pathology

39:08 Eight Winds and Charts

40:32 Wind as Science Debate

41:23 Dream Plants: Mugwort

42:17 Dybbuk Clearing Story

44:58 Artemisia and Dreamwork

49:08 Cycles and Plant Motion

51:47 Pan Celestial Thesis

01:01:24 Land, Climate and Relocation

01:05:16 Universalism vs Relativism

01:08:15 Books and Future Projects

01:13:45 Closing Thanks

In this episode of the Plant Cunning Podcast, Isaac and AC interview Jorge Nájera in Guadalajara about Mexico’s ceremonial magic scene and his role leading the Fraternidad del Círculo Dorado (Circulo Dorado Web) a mystical and magical school founded in 1986. Najera recounts how a small study group grew through work with BOTA, Golden Dawn-style ritual, Freemasonry, and later affiliation with the Servants of the Light (SOL) lineage of Dion Fortune and Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki. He describes meeting Ashcroft-Nowicki, trips to Egypt, learning to build an “astral temple” and inner contacts, then adapting SOL material for Spanish-speaking students by creating their own structured curriculum centered on astrology, Hermetic and Sephardic Kabbalah, and coherent symbolism. He explains the school’s three-degree model, its emphasis on lived experience and service, and how COVID shifted much of their work online, including new digital tools.

01:04 Meet Jorge in Guadalajara

01:55 Founding the School in 1986

03:08 Early Growth

05:02 Joining Servants of the Light

08:11 Egypt Trip and London Temple

11:06 Astral Temple Training

13:11 Adapting SOL for Latin America

14:56 Building the Curriculum

16:07 Kabbalah as Foundation

19:22 Courses and Temple System

21:05 Jorge’s Early Influences

25:10 Astrology Awakening and Teaching

29:58 Fruits and Mission of the School

33:26 From Rituals to Creativity

34:57 Information vs Wisdom

37:34 Mystery Schools Go Digital

42:14 How does a Mystery School work in the Age of Aquarius?

46:10 The Importance of Coherent Symbolic Training

50:52 The Degrees of Initiation

56:24 The Ideal Student

01:00:02 How to Connect and Closing

Get your tickets for the Plant Cunning Conference here: Plant Cunning Conference – In-Person in New York – July 24-26, 2026Find out more about Laurie here: Laurie Szott-Rogers Bio - Self Heal DistributingThis episode of the Plant Cunning Podcast features herbalist, author, gardener, and educator Laurie Szott-Rogers discussing her new book, From Soil to Soul, and her blend of herbalism, astrology, archetypes, tarot, and dreamwork. Laurie shares how dandelion first drew her into plant medicine, her path from early interests and government work to partnering with her husband Robert Rogers, and what her current life looks like in Alberta’s cold climate gardening. She explains her “24 herbs” framework, the Plant Council concept, and how she writes from the plants’ perspectives using attunement, trance, drumming, and automatic writing. The conversation also addresses AI-generated imagery, explores dandelion’s archetypal qualities, and dives into tarragon’s dragon mythology and its King of Swords tarot association, along with practical uses like tarragon pesto.00:00 Meet Laurie Szott-Rogers00:23 Plant Cunning Conference Plug01:41 Her Plant Path Origins02:25 Dandelion First Love03:47 Astrology Meets Herbalism05:43 Life in Alberta Garden09:04 Store Products and Teaching10:17 Council of Plants Concept13:29 Attunement and Plant Rituals16:02 Writing as the Plants17:23 From Soil to Soul and AI Art21:08 Recipes and Dandelion Archetype22:42 Dandelion Resilience Medicine25:05 Planetary Archetypes in Dandelion26:43 Bitterness Shadow and Renewal28:08 Why Humans Love Archetypes29:48 Plant Surprises Mint Myth31:28 Tarragon Dragons and Growing32:55 Tarragon Pesto Kitchen Uses35:03 Tarot Links King of Swords38:42 Neoshamanic Plant Journeying41:07 Next Projects Oracle Deck42:27 Where to Find the Book43:21 Closing Thanks and Farewell

Find out more and get your tickets for thePlant Cunning Conference – In-Person in New York – July 24-26, 2026 here!Today on the Plant Cunning Podcast, hosts Isaac and AC Hill interview nutritionist, health coach, herbalist, and educator Andrea Beaman. She shares how she healed her thyroid through diet and lifestyle changes and later navigated a debilitating 2012–2013 illness she associated with Lyme after recurring lung infections, joint pain, and depression. Beaman discusses fear of herbs as cultural residue from witch trials and modern medical suppression, encourages experimentation with time-tested remedies and kitchen herbs, and stresses grounding, meditation, and heart-based intuition (including muscle testing). She outlines thyroid imbalance symptoms, links many cases to nutritional deficiency and stress, touches on autoimmune thyroid issues and parasites, recounts powerful experiences with trees and ayahuasca, and invites listeners to her courses and Health is Wealth community at andreabeaman.com.

01:29 Meet Andrea Beaman

02:50 A Health Crisis Begins

06:07 How did you find out it was Lyme disease?

09:01 Breakthrough with Teasel

13:09 Herb School and Self Testing

14:16 Trusting Herbs and Tuning In

19:04 Healing Beyond Food

21:47 Thyroid Healing Origins

23:00 Thyroid Signs and Root Causes

32:41 Herbs for Mind and Spirit

34:12 Ayahuasca and Plant Connection

36:06 Do Plants Speak?

41:17 Central Park Tree Spirit

43:11 Why People Fear Herbs

45:03 Witch Trials Trauma Echoes

47:49 Reclaiming Plant Confidence

50:40 Kitchen Herbs and COVID

54:00 Fear Physiology and Hospitals

57:33 Trust Your Heart Intuition

01:01:17 Meditation Cracks the Heart

01:03:11 Rethinking Education and Nature

01:04:34 Where to Learn With Andrea

01:08:17 Simple Recipes and Farewell

Find out more about the Plant Cunning Conference at Plant Cunning Conference – In-Person in New York – July 24-26, 2026Astrologer ZamboniFunk returns to talk about the astrological forecast for summer 2026! We discuss the Cancer Mercury retrograde as a loud season for mistakes, delays, review, and serendipity, followed by Mars entering Gemini and conjoining Uranus, trining Pluto in Aquarius, heightening anxiety, disruption, experimentation, and possible tech/cybersecurity volatility. Jupiter’s move into Leo is framed as more defensive support amid “pirate season” boundary-testing, with a key July 29 Jupiter cazimi opposite Pluto alongside a full moon conjunct Pluto, suggesting power plays and revelations. The episode closes with herbal support for stress and heart strain: harvesting motherwort, and combining it with hawthorn and rose for courage, boundaries, grief, and tension.

00:00 Podcast Welcome

00:20 Conference Announcement

01:17 Summer Forecast Begins

01:55 Mercury Retrograde Setup

03:38 Mars Uranus Volatility

06:25 Experimentation Pirate Season

08:41 Mercury Retrograde Lessons

14:04 Jupiter Enters Leo

20:04 Jupiter Pluto Power Plays

23:03 Nodes Shift Authority

24:18 Era of Air Metaphor

24:58 Redistribution Scenarios

26:36 Mutual Aid Power

27:19 Jupiter Pluto Togetherness

28:28 Eclipses Chaos Reset

29:37 Robots Hive Mind

31:09 Adaptability Job Shakeup

34:46 Pirate Season Skills

35:29 Motherwort Heart Medicine

38:18 Hawthorn Boundaries

40:44 Courage Against Tech Future

43:05 Delusion & Hope

47:37 Conference And Farewell

Find out more about the Plant Cunning Conference – In-Person in New York – July 24-26, 2026Today, AC & Isaac interview Trista Haggerty, author of When the Dark Mother Calls, about her path into mysticism after a dark night of the soul and two decades of mentoring with a German mystic while traveling to sacred sites in places such as Peru and Ireland. They discuss what makes power spots sacred, stone circles as “acupuncture,” and caves as initiation spaces, plus practices for trusting intuition through body-based discernment. Trista shares her work at Hawk Circle, a couple-hundred-acre land project where she’s building stone circle, trails, and a perfumery inspired by Egyptian temple recipes to fund youth nature programs. The conversation also explores fairies, dragons, the “threefold path,” and her upcoming talk at the Plant Cunning Conference (July 24–26) alongside other speakers.

01:38 Trista Meets Her Mentor

03:31 First Sacred Site Journeys

06:21 Earth-Based Mysticism Lessons

08:22 What Makes Sites Sacred

11:26 Primal Earth Energy Work

15:08 Mystic Path and Hidden Teachings

19:07 Trusting Intuition in Noise

23:51 Hawk Circle Vision and Land

29:51 Perfumery and Temple Scents

31:49 Essential Oils Impact

32:04 Ritual Perfumery Journey

33:11 Fairy Lore Explained

37:15 Threefold Path Teachings

40:14 Dragons and the Land

42:08 First Dragon Encounter

43:45 Connecting With Dragons

47:39 Awakening Landscape Dragons

48:38 Dragon Humor and Myths

53:31 New Earth Vision

56:41 When the Dark Mother Calls