Kristine Backes - Astrologer and Leadership Coach

02/14/2026

An excerpt from Saturn: Truth-teller of Your Soul, my recent online workshop. I’ll be giving this workshop again, in-person, for the Albuquerque Astrology Club. Come join us!

12/27/2025

The past five years, for me, have been a process of dismantling. The transits of Pluto (death and rebirth, control vs power); Neptune (the great dissolver, spiritual rebirth); Uranus (disruption, breakthrough, freedom) and Saturn (maturity, integrity) have all closely impacted personal parts of my chart, particularly those related to identity (Sun and Ascendant) and life path (Ascendant and Lunar Nodes).

Old dreams have been realized and released; how I thought I would make my living is nothing like what I planned for; what I thought was permanent and immutable is simply gone, transformed into a new life.

Now, looking back, I might summarize it all as a process of releasing the old to make way for the new.
Or, perhaps I might ask - WTF just happened??

I’m curious if this resonates with anyone else. What word, phrase, or sentence describes the shifts in your life over the last year(s)??

12/13/2025

Coyote confab - sound on!

12/09/2025

Invitation to retreat!

12/09/2025

This Solstice is an initiation into the big new energies of 2026. Step through the portal with me!

12/06/2025

In the northern hemisphere, the Capricorn (Winter) Solstice brings a potent time-out-of-time portal. Our choices and rituals at the Solstice sow the seeds for our year-long journey with the Sun. Winter Solstice, the time of greatest darkness, is akin to a new moon. The new moon is born in the dark, invisible in the sun’s rays. So the sun is reborn as it reaches its lowest level of heat and light and turns around again at the tropic of Capricorn.

There are many traditions to honor this gateway of renewal. The birth of Christ is a story of literal birth that renews spiritual light. In ancient Rome, Saturnalia honored the God whose namesake planet traditionally rules Capricorn. Saturnalia put rules on pause, upending hierarchy and structure in remembrance of the Golden Age of prosperity and peace, ruled by Saturn. In our secular culture, another common tradition is that of New Year’s resolutions, based on the calendar.

This year, 2025, the time of rebirth feels extra potent. We are coming into a greater period of renewal after much upheaval in the context of a much larger cycle of time. There are so many possibilities for how things might go next year, for each of us and all of us. Making conscious choices at the Solstice is one way to co-create the new world you want to live in, but with the caveat to leave breathing space around the intentions you set.

I'm hosting a 3 night Solstice retreat at a desert hot springs oasis. There's one week left to register:

Renew Your Life at the Capricorn Solstice Integrate the intense changes of 2025 and prepare for your new life beginning in 2026 Register now The Capricorn Solstice is a time of renewal and new begi…

12/04/2025

Gemini Full Moon over the mountains.

12/04/2025

I had the pleasure of talking with psychotherapist, Family Constellation facilitator, and quantum astrologer Tammy Roth of Blue Ridge Family Constellations at Heartwood 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.

Enjoy!

On The Natural Wisdom Podcast

11/28/2025

Saturn is turning direct today, after 3 months retrograde. Time to re-commit to completing the old in preparation for the new.

Here is a re-release of my manifesto, plus a last call for my Solstice retreat, in which you can be nourished as you make a conscious transition between years - and ages.

And a last invitation to join my retreat at the Solstice

11/25/2025

The bear tooth was a welcome gift from the land when I first moved to the Montana mountains. The elk ivories were the parting gift. I am grateful to wear a bit of those mountains and keep their magic close.
Thanks to Evalynn Designs for making them wearable, and even more beautiful.

11/23/2025

We are living through some pretty interesting times. My retreat is designed to help you integrate the changes of 2025 and move consciously into 2026. It’s also designed to be deeply nourishing and relaxing, and fun.