The Natural Wisdom Podcast

If the Taurus Full Moon energy brought you to a stop, you are not alone. Taurus reminds us to come back to the truth in our felt experience; plus, the lunar spotlight shared the stage with ongoing retrograde energies, including two personal planets, Venus and Mercury. This quality of time is very supportive of exploring and re-evaluating the stories that shape your perception of the world.

Next month, the very rare meeting of Jupiter, Mars and the lunar South Node in Leo, at the same time Venus and Mercury station to move direct again, brings up questions about your creativity: are you performing for an audience and seeking attention, or creating from your heart and attending to your self? What new way of being have you integrated after the intense shifts of this year?

Our podcast conversation explored a number of different ways of looking at these questions, including:

* Pushing is not supported;

* What and how you create may be shifting right now;

* The division we see out there points us back to the work we need to do on our inner conflicts;

* So many of the current alignments support the need to express your own genius.

Is it time for a reading? Kristine is offering a 20% discount on readings through November 8th using the discount code SCORPIO2026 when you book.

Book with Emily on her website: https://embodiedaquarian.com/

Subscribe to Reclaim Your Natural Wisdom to receive new posts and discounts on readings with Kristine.

While we may know Saturn as “the greater malefic” now, in earlier times it was heralded as the ruler of the Golden Age. As you listen, you may wonder how your life would change if you viewed Saturn through a new lens.

I invited Saturn to speak in the planet’s own words, sharing what came to me several weeks ago as I tuned in to Saturn.

I offer Saturn readings and Saturn coaching. Is it time to take a fresh look at Saturn in your life? Find out more.

Mario Garza went deep and wide about Saturn in conversation with me on The Natural Wisdom Podcast. Mario, founder of Symbolic Studies, artist, and graphic designer shared his considerable research and wisdom about symbolism in general as well as Saturn in particular.

Mario began by explaining the problems we see in so many conversations about symbols, and why his research is founded in a traditional approach: there is a great deal of picking and choosing associations between things “out there”, as at the circumference of the circle, with no reference to a center of origin. To truly understand a symbol (and life), we need to know the center around which we orient ourselves.

Among other topics, we discussed -

* Symbols as bridges;

* The importance of finding your own sacred center;

* The main principle of Saturn as the return to center, and how it has become the scapegoat in so many places today;

* The association of Saturn with Judaism, Zionism and Israel in today’s politicized world;

* The “solidification of the world” and fall from grace behind so many crises today.

The author Mario recommends for a deep study of symbolism is René Guénon, including his book “The Crisis of the Modern World”.

You can find links to all of Mario’s publications on his website, including his wonderful podcast Symbolic Studies, which offers sweeping episodes covering the Zodiac signs each month: https://www.symbolicstudies.com

In our online program starting next week, Reclaim Your Life with Saturn, Tammy Roth and I will be guiding people into a direct connection with Saturn. We’ll combine astrology and family constellations to support re-writing the stories creating tension and limitation, and preventing us from fully honoring ourselves. Registration closes Sunday night, October 4th and we begin on Friday, October 9th!

Mario Garza is a lifelong artist and graphic designer of twenty five years currently living in the Pacific Northwest. Over the decades Mario developed a serious interest in visual, archetypal and esoteric symbolism. Mario has integrated a number of topics in his research including: The tarot, mythology, astrology, etc. His passion project, Symbolic Studies, was created as an outlet to explore these topics starting with the signs of the zodiac as a loose foundation.

Watch our first conversation about Saturn here:

Watch Mario’s conversation with his (then-fiancé) wife Michelle on “The Lost Lore of Saturn” that first piqued my interest in Mario’s work:

Reclaim Your Natural Wisdom is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Friend, mentor and astrologer Emily Trinkaus joined me today on The Natural Wisdom Podcast to talk about the unprecedented planetary configuration of the moment. With all three outer planets in harmonious cooperation with each other, and Jupiter in direct opposition to Pluto, the “basket” or “cradle” pattern is initiating us into a crisis point, and the possibility of a quantum leap in co-creating a “splendid relaunch of civilization".

We looked at the chart of the alignments, plus the activation by next week’s Aquarius Full Moon. One major takeaway from our conversation is that the astro-energies are asking us to get in the game and unleash our creative power. We touched on a number of topics, including:

* The historical rarity of the planetary patterns of 2026;

* The emphasis on the sign of Leo and the invitation to create from your heart as you did as a child;

* Why you might feel “in-between” or stuck at the moment;

* The bottom-line necessity to find real trust and faith, especially in your creative ability to respond to the moment.

“May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back, the way it is with children.” Rainer Maria Rilke in “The Book of Hours”, I.12

Emily and I each have a time-sensitive offer for you to check out. Registration closes today for Emily’s program on Chiron in Taurus: An Astrological and Shamanic Initiation. The journey begins tomorrow, July 22nd.

And Kristine is offering a 10% discount on Saturn readings with the code CANCERSEASON through Thursday, July 23rd.

Find out more about Emily and her monthly new and full moon deep dives at

Subscribe to Reclaim Your Natural Wisdom with Kristine to get access to workshops, community gatherings, and more.

Despite the Sun's move into Taurus, we are all still operating under extreme Aries energy. Emily Trinkaus joined me for another episode of The Natural Wisdom Podcast as we hurtle along in the wake of the Aries New Moon last week.Find Emily's offerings here, including her course on astrological transits: https://embodiedaquarian.substack.comBook a reading with Kristine here: https://kristinebackes.com/work-with-kristine/

Friend, mentor and sister astrologer Emily Trinkaus and I had a lively conversation about the astrological alignments of the moment on The Natural Wisdom Podcast.

This month, February, brings us the most significant planetary combination since 2020: the conjunction of Saturn (reality, structure) and Neptune (dreams, dissolution). The transition from Piscean energy to that of Aries feels, at the moment, like the “end of the end” prior to emergence of the new.

We offered our best advice on how to navigate these times gracefully:

* The rebirth we are undergoing at the moment is happening in three phases;

* We are undergoing a sea change around how we understand and wield our personal power;

* How you invest your life force has immense implications for the long term, both for you and for all of us;

* Mercury’s retrograde in Pisces, which last happened in March of 2020, supports us to listen more deeply to our intuition rather than try to figure out what’s going on;

* The Aquarius Solar Eclipse and the Virgo Total Lunar Eclipse, and the final months of the Lunar Nodes in Pisces and Virgo remind us to own our selves and our bodies; stay tuned in to the here and now while also envisioning the future we want to see.

Emily is leading a six week workshop series on aspects in astrology, beginning on February 20.

Kristine is offering a free workshop on Saturn as your spiritual ally and truth-teller of your soul next Friday, February 13th.

Let us know how it’s going in the comments!

I had the pleasure of talking with psychotherapist, Family Constellation facilitator, and quantum astrologer Tammy Roth on The Natural Wisdom Podcast today, just hours ahead of the Gemini Full Moon. I got to know Tammy and her work through a quantum astrology course she and Emily Trinkaus offered earlier this fall, and gained a whole new way to access and understand the planetary energies.

In our conversation, Tammy shared her wisdom and experience accessing the “knowing field” to help people, covering topics such as these:

* What does “quantum” mean and what is quantum astrology?

* How a 12-step recovery program gave her insight into true healing;

* Saturn and Pluto are never being mean;

* The energies of the cosmos are waiting to be invited in through your attention;

* The more you trust your intuitive knowing, the more it comes through;

* As these new inner technologies come more online, we need places and communities where we can practice.

Tammy referenced Barbara Hand Clow’s book “Alchemy of Nine Dimensions” as a useful reference for understanding 3D, 4D, 5D and beyond.

Find more of Tammy’s work on her website www.tammyroth.com

Learn more about Tammy and Emily Trinkaus’ Saturn Return Quantum Immersion here: https://www.tammyroth.com/copy-of-qa-for-astrologers

Learn more about the Lunar Grid course to connect with the Lunar Goddesses with Tammy and Kim Sales here: https://www.tammyroth.com/about-3-2

Find out about Kristine’s Renew Your Life Solstice Retreat here: https://kristinebackes.com/integrate-and-renew-at-the-solstice/

Tammy Roth, PhD is a holistic psychotherapist whose current quantum astrology coaching emerged at the crossroads of Family Constellation healing and the celestial intelligence of astrology. What began as a simple curiosity became a living pathway: a practice where ancestral patterns, cosmic codes, and embodied presence weave together to activate transformation.

A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Tammy now makes her home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia, where the land itself informs her work and continues to call her into ever-evolving layers of remembrance.

Become a paid subscriber to join Kristine’s quarterly astro-wisdom salons, get access to the full archive of posts and recorded workshops, and receive discounts on readings.

Emily joined me today for another episode of Cosmic Wisdom. We addressed the very busy week ahead as well as the longer term outlook of the next several months. A number of themes emerged from our conversation, including these gifts of the cosmic forces:

* We have the power to liberate our minds from the programming and entrainment so prevalent right now;

* We are in a concentrated period of endings in preparation for the new beginnings coming in 2026;

* We are supported to heal old childhood stories and ways in which we haven’t claimed our right (and duty) to be fully ourselves;

* The return of Uranus to Taurus plus Saturn and Neptune to Pisces reminds us of the spiritual dimension to the material realm;

* The number of planets in water signs encourages us to feel deeply, and use the power of our emotions consciously in service to what we desire.

Emily has a cool program coming in the new year to support people in their Saturn returns; make sure to join her mailing list to hear all about it.

My energy forecast for 2026 is this Saturday, November 8th, free for paid subscribers, or register here for only $22.

And, join me for an in-person Capricorn Solstice retreat to renew your life, December 19-22nd at a high desert hot springs, Ojo Santa Fe.

Daniel Giamario is the founder of the Turning of the Ages Mystery School, an astrology school dedicated to helping people navigate this time of the great turning through direct experience and participation with the earth and sky. As you may remember from my recent posts, I spent a week in September studying the night sky with TOTAMS at a desert hot springs in southern New Mexico, where Daniel had designed and co-built a stone circle on the hill. We talked about why that connection with the sky was so potent, and receiving direct transmissions from the sky and earth itself.

In our conversation, Daniel explained how the night sky tells us where we are in the 26,000 year cycle of the ages, and touched on many other topics, including:

* Your chart shows your purpose and intent in this lifetime, rather than a description of how you are;

* One of the shadows of Aquarius is a materialism of consciousness, as evidenced by AI and other technological efforts;

* TOTAMS teaches us to use technology after first apprenticing to nature;

* Use the three worlds approach to view life through the lenses of the celestial realm, middle world and underworld to understand what’s going on and how to navigate;

* We are in a period of greatest density right now, and we must use our spiritual will to perceive what’s really going on and respond.

Find out more about Daniel and TOTAMS on their website, https://turningoftheages.com/

Join Daniel and TOTAMS at one of their upcoming events, in person and online

In addition to two levels of membership in TOTAMS, the school has a number of individual offerings coming up, both online and in person:

This coming Monday, November 3rd, join a free call with the water element branch of the school .

In December, the school offers two days of online teachings and ceremony for the Solstice.

In August of 2026, travel to Spain to experience the solar eclipse and learn about sacred relationship with Daniel and members of the school: https://turningoftheages.com/event/spain/

Find all their events on the calendar: https://turningoftheages.com/events/

Join Kristine for an online 2026 forecast and/or an in-person Solstice retreat

Gain insight into the astrological shifts of 2026 next Saturday, November 8th, free for paid subscribers or $22 for the workshop only. Register here: https://kristinebackes.com/product/astrology-of-2026/

Join my Renew Your Life Solstice Retreat for magic, hot springs, deep relaxation, community and preparation for the coming year. Learn more and register: https://kristinebackes.com/integrate-and-renew-at-the-solstice/

More about Daniel:

Daniel Giamario has been an astrologer since 1969. After establishing his practice on a Rudhyarian foundation, he received a vision for this unique paradigm on a vision quest at Mount Shasta in 1981. The founding of TOTAMS is the natural evolution from the Harbingers of the Turning of the Ages and the Shamanic Astrology Mystery School.

The paradigm includes mythic, psychological, and spiritual elements inspired by numerous global traditions, synthesizing the most important ingredients that are applicable to contemporary global humanity.

This astrological system uses a Three Worlds Approach, inspired by global Shamanic traditions, offering techniques to navigate the Upper, Middle, and Lower Worlds. And above all, there is a strong emphasis on the experience and knowledge of the night sky.

The feeling I was left with after a very Neptunian conversation today with astrologer Chad Woodward was hopefulness.

I have been reading Chad’s newsletters and articles for several years, and was honored to have him join me on The Natural Wisdom Podcast. Chad shared his considerable insights into the archetypal forces at work in our world today, including:

* Chad’s historical research into activations of the Aries Point (0 Aries, the first degree of the Tropical Zodiac) led him to aptly name its energy as “pushing boundaries of reality”;

* The legacy of the previous conjunction of Saturn and Neptune at this point over 2500 years ago has lessons and resonance for our time;

* We are in an uncomfortable liminal space of growing into something new, and we won’t know what it looks like on the other side until we get there; and

* This is all part of a natural process - we know how to do this.

Chad Woodward is a professional astrologer and founder of Kosmic Mind Astrology, with nearly twenty years of experience exploring the symbolic language of the sky. His work combines psychological and evolutionary astrology with a profound appreciation for the rich history of astrology, integrating ancient techniques into a modern, integrative approach. Certified through Steven Forrest’s Apprenticeship Program and holding a postgraduate certificate in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Chad also draws on his background in cultural anthropology and other social sciences in his astrological research, exploring the complex interrelationship between cultural evolution and planetary alignments. In his counseling practice, Chad uses astrology as a tool for navigating the interplay of choice, creativity, karma, and destiny. His consultations invite clients to see beyond the materialist worldview and engage with the archetypal forces shaping their lives, uncovering deeper meaning, purpose, and potential for spiritual growth.

For more of Chad’s work:

Chad’s website: https://www.kosmicmind.com/Kosmic Mind Newsletter sign up: https://www.kosmicmind.com/kosmicmindnewsletterSubstack page:

Watch Chad’s recent talk on the Aries Point:

Find out more about Kristine’s Capricorn Solstice Renewal Retreat:https://kristinebackes.com/integrate-and-renew-at-the-solstice/