Meet Kirti Wright Zhu | Astrologer & Retreat Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kirti Wright Zhu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kirti Wright, how does your business help the community?
Evolutionary Astrology (EA) is a profound, ancient art-science discipline that allows one to create pathways for significant self-development & self-discovery. As an Evolutionary Astrologer, following in the foot-steps of founders Jeffrey Wolf Green and Steven Forrest, with the guidance of my teacher Kaypacha & the New Paradigm School of Astrology community (NPA), I aim to help guide my clients through these kinds of questions: “What is my soul purpose in this lifetime?” and “What are my challenges, gifts, goals, etc. that will bring the most evolution on my path?”

I am not a “fortune-teller,” nor do I practice predictive astrology, but rather my purpose as an astrologer is to create a safe, supportive container for my clients to ask the “big questions,” and, ultimately, formulate their own answers, with a little help from my friends i.e. the planets, signs & houses of the zodiac. Through the mythology & symbolism of the stars, and our individual experience of them, through the lens of our personal natal birth charts, we can discover so much about our mind-body-spirit temple, that modern-day society could never teach us. I also aim to keep this ancient art-science of astrology alive through my Evolutionary Astrology practice with clients, and next to supporting my local & global community, is the main reason why I continue this psycho-spiritual work: to keep the flame burning.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
To be completely honest, my Evolutionary Astrology (EA) practice through my business, Bae Astrology, is the most recent chapter of my vocational life, only beginning about a year and a half ago, officially speaking. Besides my EA practice, I have been a “Jane of All Trades,” if you will: I was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, where I worked mostly in the hospitality/tourism industry, until migrating into anti-coal mining activism & community organizing around other environmental conservation efforts in the state of Alaska. I also was the Assistant Manager at the local Tanana Valley Farmers Market in my hometown for a summer.

When I left Alaska officially in December of 2011 (to find a warmer place to live out the rest of my days on this beautiful planet), I found myself in the Bay Area of California, where Santa Cruz and the surrounding area became my new home from 2012-2020. I spent most of 2015-2020 living and being of service at the Mount Madonna Center (MMC) in the Watsonville hills, a yoga and meditation retreat center founded on the teachings of Baba Hari Dass (he was Ram Dass’ asana teacher back in India, you can find a reference to Babaji in Ram Dass’ book, “Be Here Now”). I trained as a pujarini (female priestess in the Hindu tradition) and served at the Sankat Mochan Hanuman temple, where we offered a daily morning and evening ritual called arati (which essentially translates to giving thanks to the rising and setting of the sun), through the songs & chants offered to Ganesh and Hanuman at this particular temple.

When COVID-19 shut the world down, it was time to start a new chapter of life, as the MMC had shut down, as well. I found myself, and my partner then (now my husband), traveling back to our roots, flying back to my hometown in Alaska and flying to his mostly-hometown in Connecticut (he was born & raised in a small farming village in southeast China, until moving to America at 9 years old). We moved to Sedona at the end of September 2020, answering the call that my sister had sent my way, after she moved here in August 2020. Starting in late November that year, I began working as a Retreat Coordinator at SpiritQuest Retreats, and am now the Assistant Manager there. It’s a truly amazing company, run by amazing individuals, coming together to help guide people back home to themselves. I am in humble gratitude for every opportunity they have given me, not only as a team member of their family-run business, but also as a practitioner to their clients, too. As a certified yoga teacher and land journey guide, I am able to take our clients out on red rock yoga hikes, as well as offer a variety of spiritual/healing sessions I’ve been trained in, on top of bringing my EA practice into the mix. It’s a very dynamic career opportunity that I have been guided to here at SpiritQuest, and I have faith that I will continue evolving here, for many years to come.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in the Village of Oak Creek, and I have to admit, I am rather biased to spending most of my quality time on this side of town! If you do stay in the Village, you must access Oak Creek down Verde Valley School Rd. via Baldwin Trail on this side of Sedona: it is epic! You can also hike up the backside of Cathedral Rock from there, by taking Templeton Trail, which has less foot traffic. My favorite red rock of all, though, would have to be Courthouse Butte, and the hike around the base of that magnificent piece of Mama Earth! As far as eating in the Village is concerned, you will be sorely disappointed, if you enjoy quality food. I would say Colt Grill is your best bet, and for all your foodie needs, go to West Sedona or Uptown. We do have the best coffee shops here in the Village, though! Firecreek Coffee and Oak Creek Espresso & Bakery are both amazing: Firecreek for dark roast lovers and Oak Creek for light roast & amazing gluten-free/vegan baked goods!

In West Sedona, where I spend the other part of my quality time, due to working on that side of town at SpiritQuest Retreats, I would highly recommend heading to a few of my favorite places: the Amitabha Stupa & Peace Park (amazing spot for meditation practice & Thunder Mountain energy), Chocolatree Vegetarian Restaurant (best outdoor dining experience in their lovely garden), and Karen’s Bakeshop (all gluten-free baked goods, as well as some vegan options, as well!). The Rose Vortex cafe, next to the Sedona Hot Yoga studio & Water Works store, is a sweet vibe with sweet people and quality coffee/fresh-pressed juice products, as well! If you love hot yoga and want to check out the studio, go to Linda’s class: she is the best!

Crystal Magic is over-priced for most things, but I would recommend just going there and hanging out in that amazingly curated shop! The lighting, the collection of crystals and new age paraphernalia, and the overall vibe, is awesome. The Local Juicery is also over-priced, in my humble opinion, but I say the same about that place: go there for the vibe, and the quality of their product, and you won’t be disappointed. And just to clarify, when I say these places are “over-priced,” I simply mean to say that I wouldn’t recommend spending every day spending your money at one of these lovely establishments, but I do recommend buying at least one thing (or maybe two) from them, because quality is important, after-all! And money can’t buy you love, as the Beatles once famously said. And on that note, my highest recommendation of all: stay wild, stay in nature, and Mama Sedona will welcome you with open arms & open heart.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Big Shoutout to my Mother, Angela, who gave birth to me in this lifetime, and despite all the challenges & obstacles in her way, was able to raise me & my sister to become the women we are today. I could make an entire laundry-list of people who have supported & guided me in this life, but I will keep most of them in my heart, and simply list the teachers that are most relevant to my current practices today: Jessica (high school English Honors teacher & my first yoga teacher), Shanti (University of Alaska Fairbanks – UAF – yoga teacher), Joseph (UAF Philosophy teacher & advisor – now deceased), Alejandro (my first astrology teacher), Denise & Anne & Hannah (YTT teachers), Kaypacha & the New Paradigm School of Astrology community, and all of the literature written by EA astrologers, Jeffrey Wolf Green and Steven Forrest, especially. “Pluto: Volumes 1 & 2” by Jeffrey Wolf Green, along with “The Inner Sky” by Steven Forrest, have been very inspiring for my astrology practice.

Website: www.baeastrology.com

Other: Telegram Channel: https://t.me/baeastrology

Image Credits
Photographer: Minyan Zhu