Tania Marie

As I return back to civilization and a more regular daily routine, I find myself reflecting on the last two weeks with all the potent symbolism and themes that were loudly singing amidst the music of life.

I’m soaking up the Summer sun rays and enjoying the sweet simplicity of my garden’s auric joy.

So much has spoken to a message of “embracing the now” and how we can “turn the mundane into magick”.

I, and those with me, also noticed an increase with instant manifestation happening. Unbelievably amazing how the spoken word brought forth a direct and exact result within seconds or minutes.

Did anyone else experience a rev up of energy since July’s New Moon?

On top of these, there was an incredible flow of animal messengers that carried their powerful wisdom and reflections of what our days and months ahead would hold.

On the day after my last blog – July 24th’s Leo New Moon – a streak of snake energy began big time, accompanied by an Astrid and magickal rabbits dream.

First it was a garter snake crossing the trail at the beginning of a hike Dave and I did that day. The snake wasn’t bothered by us, just sitting there watching, and then slowly moved across the path. And on the way back, a more rare alligator lizard shimmied across the trail – not far off from where the snake had been on the way up.

I’ll skip the details of the dream, but what I loved was their appearance, mirroring a cosmic family.

The rabbits were called “lavender eye rabbits” in the dream, although their eyes were more of a very deep purply azure in the shape of really large almonds. One rabbit was white and two others were agouti coated similar to Astrid.

The next morning a new baby wild rabbit appeared right after confirmation of a very exciting, upcoming experience. I didn’t get baby’s name until later on August 3rd though.

Then our friends Happy and Bean arrived – now two Sundays ago – and the adventures began.

This included a coyote sighting from our back deck on our first evening together at the house. Last time they were here it was a young bear.

Coyote felt perfect to ignite our trip, ringing in the playfulness, adaptability, and balance our time together would be saturated with.

He appeared to be molting, which mirrored the “shedding of layers” all of the upcoming snakes would represent for the changes we all talked about in our lives.

Messages of embracing big shifts to what we thought were our plans had all come to us each, individually.

We set out the next morning for a five day backpacking journey that took us through both familiar and brand new terrain in the backcountry here.

We drove to our starting point and left the car there, with plans to come out at another end and Uber back once we completed it all.

It ended up being a thirty plus mile trek with 8700 cumulative feet of elevation gain.

We usually take it pretty easy on our backpacking, and just do the longer miles on the way in and out.

Dave and I usually just do three day trips here and in Yosemite.

We also did a four day trip with our friends in the Grand Canyon several years back.

This time we extended it out to five – the most we can comfortably accommodate foodwise with our bear cannisters.

This time we all wanted to explore more – mirroring all of our intentions in life to expand into new directions overall – and while we still didn’t do anything extreme like some hardcore hikers who do the whole Tahoe Rim Trail or Pacific Coast Trail in one big sweep, we still did more than normal while also keeping balanced.

Day 1 was 7 miles

Day 2 we stay stationed to relax and immerse with only a 2 mile day hike

Day 3 we did 10 miles

Day 4 we did 5+ miles

Day 5 we did 6+ miles

All of this equaling 30+ miles with a lot of ups and down, which adds up to that 8700 feet of elevation overall.

It was breathtaking, awe-inspiring, raw, wild, adventurous, exciting, hilarious, challenging, and had us all honing our different skills to support the team.

I wasn’t expecting to, but I ended up being lead hiker the entire trip, keeping us all paced at a nice turtle-like rate good for both the heart and enjoying all the surprises along the way.

That is, until I went into rabbit mode for the miles we needed to get through super fast on our longest day, to avoid the mosquitos that the previous night’s rain (and all of the afternoon thunder storms of the previous week) had stirred up.

That day left me and Bean delirious with laughter to get to our campsite after doing more strenuous miles than we thought – well, the girls actually had mapped out the correct mileage and we agreed we should likely keep in charge of what we each know well lol!

I was also cultivating and honing my tracker instincts as “Pocahontas – Pokey” to help keep an eye on the trail, especially on all of the new sections we’ve never done and when trails were hard to see in the more wild areas.

This was the wildest portions of trails back here we’ve experienced, but we had a great team of very prepared and experienced hikers. Our friends also had satellite phone access if necessary for emergencies.

We did have maps and all that too, but instincts are also important on hikes like these and we worked so well together when we needed each other.

The adventure was a huge success on all levels with SO much beauty, raw magnificence, and amazingness to explore. Many river crossings were involved and views to take your breath away around every corner. It was also full of laughter, connection, comradery, joy, and sharing.

It’s really hard to express what these experiences are like, but the memories you make are priceless.

It’s not something for everyone, as it does take one being open to relinquishing a lot of the things in life you become accustomed to enjoying or feeling that you need. Yet, we also really make the most of the experience and have created our own version of backpacking joys.

Yet, there’s this freeness and wild abandon that exceeds in ever-giving pleasure to experience.

Feeling the fresh air on your skin and in your lungs.

Sleeping under the stars and living closely with nature.

Knowing you don’t need all of the things you think you do.

Being in tune with the elements and deepening your instincts, strength, adaptability, resiliency, and intuition, as well as cooperation.

Experiencing your senses on high and feeling the freshness of truly being alive.

Having the sun awaken your aura, the water revitalize you, the dirt remind you of your nature, realizing that the animals and plants speak the same language as you, seeing how the stars do mirror the beats of your heart – all of this clicks a switch and suddenly everything starts to make sense.

The mundane becomes magickal.

And you realize how important it truly is to embrace the now.

Life doesn’t wait for us to put everything into some idea of a perfect place.

Life goes on and so much is happening beyond the stories you hear on television, social media, in the papers, or even through secondhand gossip.

When I’m out in nature like this, I hone in on the now moment with ever-increased attunement.

We saw three garter snakes on our adventure – two on the first day’s hike in, including one crossing the rocks and one swimming in an enchanted lily pond we stumbled upon and have never seen in this area.

Then another on a later day. That first day we also found what appeared to be bear cub tracks right by the surprise lily pond.

We saw three frogs including a larger one, medium sized, and a tiny baby tree frog across the days.

We had three bald eagle sightings, which is unheard of in these parts. This all took place on our first evening. Two caught our attention at the same time when we heard their screeching call to each other and saw two come together in the sky above us and then both go off in different and opposite directions. Later, before sunset, another one came flying over again.

On our amazing hike up and down the pass, we discovered the most giant mushroom any of us had seen. We stopped to photo it with one of our traveling companion guardians (Sasquatch) who protected us along the way.

Here’s some of our other friends.

We had a falcon cross over us when we reached a beautiful meadow where what looked to us like an “Eye of Horus” cloud had formed in the sky at that moment.

We had an osprey fly over the lake of our second destination campsite.

I had a three inch common desert centipede scare the heebie-jeebies out of me when I discovered it in the hood of my rain jacket I was folding to put away! It gave everyone a scare when they heard me scream, although they said my scream sounded like a half giggle! We got that guy out into the forest rapidly and were on high alert after that. Centipede energy in the symbolic crown (hood) – hmmm!

We had a hummingbird come at the group out of nowhere on the last day when we stopped for a break under the shade of some trees of a rocky climb we were on. The courageous little one just stopped midair to say high and acknowledge us, hovering, then sitting on a branch without wings flapping a million miles a second, and then disappeared.

And all along the way we saw tons of butterflies, moths, dragonflies, bumblebees, fish, spunky chipmunks, little birds, and ducks.

I also found several perfect natural seahorse carvings mirroring the one we have in our living room, plus many more creatures and beings alive all around us, etched by Nature’s hand, including magnificent Ents (ancient tree beings)!

Not to mention, an array of gorgeous flowers blooming everywhere along the way!

Summer was buzzing and so were we.

You can’t help but to feel the electricity of life force and you easily forget that anything else exists or matters.

As mentioned, along the way, we experienced incredible, instant manifestations also.

Too many stories to tell on that, but let’s just say wow!

Our individual energies were complimentary, but by the end were synergized even more than they already were.

It all pointed to how we can unite and become more powerful together when sharing our individual and unique gifts as a means to strengthening the whole.

And this continued in reflection upon returning to civilization – a hard thing to do I might say, after you’ve been so peacefully in tune with nature’s cycles.

We called for an Uber at the end of our journey, in a more remote area and wouldn’t you know that the perfect driver met our call and vibe.

It was the best ride ever from such a great soul with a relaxed, joyful, flowing, and embracive energy.

He also just happened to have crystal and orgone pyramids on his dashboard, along with the grooviest music playing the entire forty-five minute ride.

His pyramids mirrored the myriad of pyramid formations of mountains and stones along our five day journey.

We celebrated our homecoming with a walk along the Lake Tahoe, as we waited for our favorite Thai restaurant to open for us to enjoy a feast.

We then settled in for a relaxing evening back home, being greeted by our resident red-tailed hawk out back, sitting atop a tree watching over us – as if to say, “Well done!”

This was bookended by my new wild baby rabbit showing up the next morning to greet us home.

To integrate things, we decided to enjoy a beach day after that and our mutual friends joined who just moved back to Nevada in Reno. We piled in a car and off we went.

And it was the perfect way to soak it all in and relax after an invigorating physical experience that lets you know what being human is all about.

On the morning our dear friends got back on the road to head home, Finn popped out again.

That is the name that immediately came to me, creating a trinity of “F”amily to the rabbits here – elder Frith, adolescent Foxglove, and baby Finn.

But the animal connections didn’t stop there.

The next day, Monday the 4th, Dave and I decided to do our bike/hike trails – one where he bikes and hike.

It happens to host the site of one of my secret crystal places (smoky quartz that is) and oh did it gift me again with some of the largest I’ve ever found there, along with beautiful formed and etched pieces from very light to super dark and saturated smokies.

I actually felt called to turn back earlier than usual, in part because I had no more room to carry anything in my tiny, overflowing hipsack.

I discovered there was reason for this, as it put me in timely position to save a giant rubber boa.

We don’t often see rubber boas, as they are more rare to sight than the garter snakes. We’ve seen about four in total since living here and this one made five.

I got near a turn in the trail when I noticed the long shimmery olive green girl jutting out nearly half way into the trail. She wasn’t moving and I thought at first she might be dead. I looked closer and nudged her slightly with my finger and saw her tail slightly move. Phew!

What was incredible was that she was untouched, and seemingly had gone unnoticed. At least three people had been ahead of me on my way back on the trail. Not to mention countless others before that. I let them pass, as I was going slower so as not to drop my stash of crystals. None of them had stopped to see her likely because she looked like a branch.

I became worried, as she seemed to have been sunning herself and just resting, while not only hikers went by, but more scary was all the bikes going by and that I could hear coming. I couldn’t get her to move with the little nudge, so I decided to stand right next to her left side at the edge of the trail, to protect her. I heard many people coming on bikes and hiking.

Again, incredulously, nobody looked down to see her. That was my hope in standing there, along with making sure people went around her, but thought they might stop. Instead, they just looked at me and said “hi” and went on their ways. Phew again!

Once I knew the coast was clear, I then went down to her again and talked to her. This time I rubbed her gently from midway on her back to her tail – oh how I love the feel of snakes! – and she seemed “tickled” by that. She began to finally move more forward and I told her to hurry! I heard people coming around again. I gave her one last tail touch and off she went, slithering beautifully away through the brush and under a log to safety.

If I hadn’t been there, I think she would have been run over while she was asleep sunbathing, or harassed by people who may have had a different way of interacting with her.

I’d never seen a rubber boa as large as her. She was nearly three feet long and about an inch and a half thick. Rubber boas are harmless and not venomous – and actually are known to be gentle and one of the most docile species of snakes. I really love them and seeing this large beauty really punctuated the snake experiences of the week, as well as underscoring the energies of peace, resiliency, and connection with Mother Earth.

I read that rubber boas also symbolize “protection, transformation, and adaptability due to their unique defensive posture and secretive nature.” They curl up when they feel threatened and may give off a musky odor.

I feel this magnificent being was a pillar of our collective experience in how these times really need us to learn to be more like her.

Peace within chaos.

In tune with Nature.

Resilient to rapid changes.

Protective without violence, in knowing oneself and anchoring embodied self-awareness and harmonious connection.

My wild rabbit family continues to appear daily and sometimes a couple of times a day. I was so in awe when this morning, this one stepped out – I believe it’s Foxglove – after Finn had traipsed across the deck last evening before bed. I know Foxglove by her notch in one ear, but couldn’t fully make it out.

She was sitting camouflaged in the shade when she miraculously caught my eye and I started talking to her…then she hopped into the sunlight.

This all took place after another part of the exciting upcoming development lit up this morning.

Just look at her glow!

Like a wink from the Cosmos.

Step into the brilliance of your embodied authenticity and don’t be afraid to bring all parts of you to light. You are whole and complete as you are.

Everything is magick depending on your perspective and how you want to dance with all of it.

The every day is incredulous when you realize all that we take for granted.

I hope you find some morsel of nourishment from today’s share, for the spaces within you that yearn to be fed.

~

A little heads up that the remaining crystal beings listed are now on a special Sale through the 8/8 Lion’s Gate. I was guided to offer 33% and 22% off the pieces until then, if they call, in order to help them get homed and doing their work. The time is now.

Two of the pieces were temporarily on hold/claimed right before I left, but released while I was away. I also had a few messages asking about the Paypal option being removed temporarily. I’m still in the process of getting things changed there, which is going to take a while, but am able to open this option up for this sale. So, if you were preferring that, you’ll find that available when viewing the page and these incredible deals:

Crystals & Crystal Skulls

Today I’m going to circle back to our time away, but I am not going to be sharing a pictorial of everything we saw because there’s just way too many photos in my camera roll. I’m also not going to share about every single thing we experienced, as it would be a book.

Yet before I do so, just a heads up that a small crystal friends release has been updated for now here: Crystals & Crystal Skulls

I did mention many of the themes in my return blog, but today I feel called to focus on just one of them that is getting my attention to expound upon – the title of this post, “Joie de Vivre”.

The photos laced throughout (which there are enough of as it is lol) are of us experiencing this theme in the various places we immersed in.

So rather than see all the sights, you’ll feel them through our connection with them and each other.

I am also going to tie this into “relationship,” as this state of being connected (the definition of this) is so greatly linked into this theme.

Relationship isn’t just about being in a romantic partnership, nor is just about blood ties and family.

It includes all forms of bonds and relating with friends, business partners, daily encounters with others, soul family connections, and even the way we relate to ourselves.

Yet, it’s not isolated to human relations alone.

Relationship is also our synergy and interaction with our vocation, home, things we love, all species, our natural environment including plants and even rocks and minerals, the

elements, our Earth home at large, and even our connection with the cosmic landscape and any spiritual presence we hold dear to us.

By definition, “joie de vivre” is expressed in many ways including: exuberant enjoyment of life, appreciation of life, joy of living, zest for life, exultation of spirit, taking delight in being alive and simply living your life, finding and enjoying the simple pleasures of life in everyday moments – seeing life is good the way it is.

The quality of relationships we foster in terms of connection to, and partnership with, everything and everyone around us, definitely has an impact on the way we experience life and create a ritual of, and reverence for, mutual giving and receiving in the moment.

It’s easy to dwell in certain states of emotion because of what we perceive as a lack or what we perpetually see, hear, and experience indirectly or directly through media or heightened collective anxieties and tension.

Yet to only engage these states becomes debilitating AND strips us of our ability to feel anything else, allow ourselves to even ponder something more because of self-imposed guilt, or have energy, time, and inspiration to put into creating a way out.

Living in a state of “joie de vivre” may sound “Pollyanna,” yet I witnessed on our trip how this state of being in the moment and enjoying what IS here right now, creates a magnetic resonance and ripple-effect.

Nice, France was particularly reflective of this, as we found ourselves living in the bustle of every day city life on the French Riviera – something not part of our consistent lifestyle as mountain dwellers, and yet because of this “delight for life” energy, it felt sustainable.

We found there to be a culture of people coming together (both residents and tourists of every age, and from every walk of life, and even varied visible, physical challenges), and enjoying the sensuality of life to the fullest they could and immersing in the simple pleasures.

Daily life there includes strolls, biking, or jogging, on the Promenade des Anglais – one of the most famous seafront stretches in France – and meals or drinks out with others or even alone on cafe-lined streets.

I saw regulars visit their usual spots, both morning and evening, for a coffee or drink, conversation, and just taking the atmosphere in.

Soon we became the regulars doing similar things as the simple life pleasure seekers around us did.

With everything within walking distance, we’d pick up a just-baked baguette, freshly squeezed orange juice, perfectly ripe fruit, and enjoy our breakfast in our apartment above the lively cafes.

Hanging out to listen to live music while sipping a refreshment or savoring a coffee.

Taking in a beach volleyball match with team comradery to cheer on.

Curling up on the couch reading, sitting at the sundrenched kitchen table next to the fresh basil plant I clipped from to make meals while writing or working on something as cafe seats below were kept warmed from morning until midnight – and sometimes beyond.

Smelling the flowers as we stroll through the park.

Giggling at the children sitting on top of water fountains, splashing about, and dancing their best joyful moves.

Climbing a playground structure, flying in a swing, or just sitting on a bench and watching life all around us.

These were part of the daily pleasures.

Relaxing on the beach, sifting through unique stones to find colorful sea glass, floating on the Mediterranean, and swimming like a mermaid.

Slipping into an old church to peacefully sit and receive, or light a candle for our loved ones.

Soaking in transcendent art that whisper stories, marveling in awe of the beauty that transcends time, and walking in the footsteps of the masters.

Taking in sunrises and sunsets everyday on promenade walks to see what events were happening along the streets – traveling musicians, singers, and entertainers wanting to share their gifts with hopes of being discovered, beach goers, skateboarders, marathon runners, outdoor art exhibits, world conferences, and even the occasional modeling shoot.

These, and more, were also amongst the daily goings-on.

And there’s always a sense of wonder and exuberance with the simple things abound.

This is the lifestyle here, and if you immerse in it too, you naturally blend in with the upbeat vibes of people simply enjoying life.

People came after or before work to take it all in.

Kids enjoyed after-school immersions the old-fashioned way of playing outside without electronics.

Retirees came and sat for a while, whether on their own, with their animal or human companion, or the neighborhood friends they’ve had for a long time.

Shop and cafe owners stand around talking and helping each other out, and if you stay a while yourself, you become a regular they talk to, too.

Late afternoons into sunset hours groups would gather with blankets on the beach to take in the setting sun while enjoying the company and conversation.

Many couples, singles, and families would pick up pizzas and take their box down to the volleyball courts or chairs lining the promenade to enjoy a meal in the middle of city-meets-beach-lifestyle.

Our special treat, two or three times a week was going into Old Town and getting a yummy vegan gelato cone – single or double scoop depending on the day. We weren’t the only ones, as this is also part of the “enjoyment culture” here, while you share a smile and listen to the unspoken acknowledgment of a shared connection.

People take strolls through the parks or come and sit a while on benches, many know each other and hang for a while…and I saw tourists naturally gravitate to do the same, seeing how others were soaking in the art of being.

Couples get lost in the romance of nostalgic memory footprints still lingering in the air.

One particular, larger park has fountains that go off on a regular cycle and this is a huge draw for the children of the city to come and exuberantly play in.

Families and single parents make it an afternoon to evening outing and you can see how much pleasure even the parents have in watching their kids have tons of fun playing in the water.

One didn’t need to have others with them to enjoy themselves either.

I saw many single people thoroughly engaged with the simple joy of soaking all of it in around them and feeling a part of things even if not in a group or partnership.

The tangible vibrancy is intoxicating.

Smiles filled faces and the level of immersion and life engagement was something I don’t usually see or feel so abundantly.

People were wanting to feel fully alive and any little thing they could do to awaken that, these people were actively doing.

You can’t help but be drawn into the intoxication of life and deepen into everything a little bit more, as the appreciation vibes increase the vibrancy, smells, tastes, and sensations.

Your appreciation, while you feel and observe that energy, also increases. You can’t help but to feel uplifted to see the richness of such simple things bringing so much pleasure.

People are up early and out late. Whether working, playing, or simply being…life is colorful and potential always lingers in the air.

And even the animals – dogs of all sizes, but especially little ones – are part of the culture both in doing everything their human companions do outdoors, as well as joining for meals at cafes.

Things are inclusive and there’s a peaceful flow to it all even if city activity levels are high.

And by default, this sets you on a different course, if in fact you had a contrasting focus.

There’s an unspoken secret these people share, but it’s contagiously carried through the air everyone’s breathing in.

People were tapping into each other, all the beauty and human experiences around them, and enjoying the thread of connection with everything.

And while Dave and I have spent years focused on embracing life and cultivating greater connection, engaging intentional communication and presence, and creating and appreciating more joy in life, we found ourselves deepening and expanding in all of these ways.

This definitely got a boost from the energy that pervaded life around us, including time we spent with Dave’s family and several groups of friends that visited or we visited.

And it was carried throughout other cities we found ourselves drawn to as well – in both east and west Ireland, the French Riviera and Alps, Venice, and Paris.

It just seemed extra-enhanced in Nice, since we spent the most time there.

And it all amplified the way we soaked in everything else we saw and experienced.

All it takes is a willingness to understand the gifts that DO pervade life on Earth – even if that is simply the ability to feel.

As spirit, form is an altogether different experience than just the heightened potential of being in physical body.

True, we have been conditioned to value certain feelings as more ideal, but even just to be able to have an emotion is something we take for granted. Emotion is much more than an innate given. It’s a miracle and privilege that mirrors cosmic fluctuations in a way one can actually have an individual experience of.

A spiraling of ever-greater, creative potential.

To be able to spontaneously feel is a wonder.

Emotion allows us to be present with the moment and experience something touching us in some now way.

Feelings let you know you’re truly alive and is the soul’s way of expressing a song. An otherwise voiceless spirit becomes expressible through the vehicle of a body.

This vibrant embrace of “being alive energy” made us follow the moment’s inspiration when our joy felt lit up, rather than trying to target an idea of how to fill in the day.

Joy can be experienced in the simple pleasures, not just from the grandiose ideas.

I had so many moments of deep appreciation come over me as sweet tears that swelled in my eyes. The little things melted my heart – like our dear friends’ little two year old boy, we met for the first time in Venice, quietly coming up to me with wide-eyed innocence and taking my hand several times to play with him. Something his mom says he never does to anyone he meets, not even his sweet nanny who’s there weekly.

Everything is temporary so hold onto the moment of how the often overlooked moves you.

Remember the moments your spirit delighted in something and know that it’s more than okay to feel that way and allow your heart to grow, rather than contract.

Life is full of swings, but it does and can swing back again.

It only seems to stop because we block the cycle.

Remember, even a flower can find it’s way through cement.

Although we handled challenges that part of life that arose remotely along the course of our extended time away, we found the energy pervading our environment to anchor us deeper in this embrace of life’s gifts, allow us to be anchors for others we helped to do the same, and support the process of returning to harmony.

So, even if not our usual way – city life that is – we found it nurturing the art of being and “joie de vivre” in different ways than we would usually experience and receive from.

While so much activity of every kind went on around us, there was an intoxicating joy, peace, and simplicity of life emanating from it all. It made me ponder the effects that more of this could have if cultivated everywhere.

So, while we can choose to focus however we want, it’s beneficial to ask if how we’re focusing is aiding, distracting, and taking away from life, or if it’s boosting, engaging, and adding to life?

Is our state creating greater or lesser connection to all around us?

Is our focus fueling beneficial change or empowering the changes we don’t like?

Are we lifting each other up or adding to the weight that makes it difficult to take flight?

Is our level of connection and presence bringing more joy to our lives, or creating canyons of separation and disconnect?

Is our energy and time consumed with conflict, or does presence of deepening connection to life cultivate enthusiasm and creativity to build new pathways?

While we saw so much incredible art, architecture, ancient sites, music, culture, and culinary delights that filled our days, along with stunning and surreal naturescapes that echoed the resonance of the man-made beauty on this trip, it was the golden threads of connection we opened up to receiving from it all that enriched the journey, our relationship to each other, self, and inspirations, and to life on Earth.

It was a feast for the senses.

We embraced meaning, purpose, and enrichment from all of the incredible pieces and opportunities that life has to offer us in any given moment and we sent out collective intentions of peace and connection from all the sacred sites we visited, with hopes to spread love from heart to heart.

And we found ourselves blending into the rainbow tapestry of “joie de vivre” being woven around us.

Today’s Capricorn Full Moon has me reflecting a lot on the energy of the mountains and how they reflect to us a quiet strength and persevering resiliency. They rise in majesty and declare an unwavering integrity toward responsible stewardship of the land they oversee. Wild, unpredictable, beautiful, and challenging, yet there’s a comfort in their presence the way they take charge so naturally of their realm.

Shift they will over time, but time it does take to carve each crevice – they wear these wrinkles with grace and honor of all that has gone before and fear not what may come.

Onward they stand, rise, and form anew, bridging heaven and earth with a staircase to climb to greater heights and envision new perspectives.

May we learn from the mountains and deepen into their guidance during this Moon’s illumination.

While I still reflect on our time away, it’s been nurturing to settle into alpine life again and immerse in the mountain energy I call home. For someone with a Capricorn North Node, Ascendent, and Mars placement it’s a very resonant place to be and soothes in ways only a match of essence can.

We opted for a quiet 4th of July weekend celebration, with hiking and backpacking to be away from the more crowded time of year when people like to come up to enjoy Lake Tahoe. I’ve especially been wanting silence and low-key, craving the majesty and grace of the mountains.

In many ways, the energy has mirrored this Full Moon – feeling like solid earthing and upgrading of structures and motivations toward new visions are ready to solidify.

Does anyone else feel similarly?

We have some house and garden improvement projects in motion – the latter being something I’m working in as I have time around the rest of life and what feels more pressing at the moment. We did get the rose bushes in, which are happily blooming, and all the rest are buzzing with so much life. There’s still a lot to cleanup in the garden and I may add a few last plants.

The pollinators of all varieties – bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds are loving things. I’ve seen SO many bees on the deck plants all at once – like a little colony all working away together.

Are things in your life starting to bloom and buzz?

And I’m happy to report that many wild rabbit friend sightings continue. In fact, Frith showed up in a most endearing way on the day we returned from backpacking. We watched him from the upstairs window, as he played with a very chubby lizard – likely pregnant. They were in a dance of tag back and forth.

Frith chased the lizard into the bushes then the lizard popped back out on the pathway stones, and this went on back and forth for a few minutes.

This surprised us both to witness, as we’ve never seen anything like it before. It was like watching Thumper in a Disney clip or something – so cute!

Then Frith ran off into my garden to explore the new rose bushes right after we planted them, and nibbled on a rose bud!

I also had another smaller bunny visit and the continued Foxglove appearances.

Here she is eyeing me yesterday from under the garden bench.

So there’s quite a little family of them making the garden their home. Yay!

The abundance of bunnies feels indicative of a very fertile landscape before us and what is possible.

How might you embrace a bit more of your creative vitality and share your uniqueness in relative ways to you?

Cleaning out and organizing my closet is in motion again. Not surprising really, since big experiences promote personal changes and certain things will and will not resonate in terms of outward reflection of more “now” inward alignment.

We were watching temperatures and weather for when to leave to go backpacking since we could do so last minute if needed, and ended up on a favorite hike instead on the 4th.

This ended up falling in the window of the wild irises blooming.

So although I missed some of my spring flowers, we were gifted with seeing the last wave of irises at the top of the mountain.

There’s only a small time period to catch this that shifts between end of June and start of July.

This hike also surprised me with a handful of petrified wood.

I’ve only found one lone piece, twice before on this hike. I wondered, but did not think so many pieces would show up, especially since this area isn’t known for this. But unusual things do happen these days and a cluster of them all just caught my eye on this beautiful day.

Have you also discovered that surprising or seeming impossible things have been possible?

That night we hiked up with our folding chairs to a spot in our forest not far from the house that Dave had discovered. It has a view of the lake. Here we sat and watched the big fireworks display in the solitude of our own creation.

It felt like a way to be in the world, but not of it.

Do you also feel this to be a big part of your experience these days, where you’re in a suspended space having a parallel, but different unfolding?

We were glad we waited to go backpacking, as that night had a low dip in temperature and would have been quite frigid at the higher elevation of our destination in mind.

The next morning we were off, however, and enjoyed two nights and three days at our favorite campsite I’d sent energy to hold for us.

In fact, when we arrived I was floored to find several gifts on the ground where we put up our tent, including this incredible cabochon.

Can you believe it?!

I ended up having two full crystal adventure days – 5 hours each – of seeing what beauties were wanting my attention this year. I made a promise to myself only to bring home smaller pieces, as I’d really been challenged to my limits last year, plus my spiral was complete. So, I had to say I’m sorry to many that called out, opting to just spend time with them and receive instead. You can imagine how high vibed I am after these crystal immersions.

I left with a perfect amount – only adding 8 extra pounds to my gear. But more importantly, I was gifted the call of some truly unique ones, including several perfect points. I may share them another time or on my IG if you’re on there.

The group included clear quartz, very dark and light smokies, a variety of shades of citrines, included and mixed quartz…tons of etchings, many still with form intact, starbrary galore, and rainbow explosions everywhere.

I only ever take home who says to come and never dig or disrupt things. They are laying out or partially covered, but call with a wink when the sunlight sparks upon them.

Dave came with me the second day for the first time, to see what it was all about. I took him to the spot I marked as where I left off the previous day. Within five minutes he found his first fully formed crystal point and said, “I’m done!” LOL! That day was exceptionally special in terms of finds, sparked by the two of us together. We even found nearly twin sized points at almost the same time.

I’ve been coming to understand this area more and more, energetically. Through my explorations and examining and tuning into the land, crystals, and clusters along the steep slopes.

This is very ancient earth where volcanos, glaciers, and massive lightning over the ages has formed, impacted, struck, and lent potent energy to everything within and on the mountain. It’s super rare to find fully intact crystals because of the massive elements that have created and infused the area over time – at least, without digging up the mountain.

This, to me, makes these special in the way they have all self healed and adapted with the most unusual new growth patterns, along with maintaining their original footprint and core. At the high altitude they are close to the stars and of course bear the imprints of star systems. Many of them are really unique – some may call them the “weirdos” and so pristine in energy.

I feel great honor to be in presence of them.

I touch or hold many that I don’t take, as well, because they call out.

Many of the big mommas gift me babies.

I receive so much during the timeless hours there. It’s truly an experience of deep respect during my time with them.

There are clusters I found of the ones I call “ice” crystals that used to belong to gigantic clear, pure crystals. These got blasted by cosmic and earth strikes including lightning and impacts. Many look like diamond flower chunks of absolute pristineness and are filled with rainbows galore. I may offer some of these if of interest, as they felt the most to want to be shared collectively for now.

You can let me know in the comments if you’d like me to offer these and I’ll put together some photos and videos as a listing if so, when I share a small crystal release.

I continue to want to learn more about these mystery crystals that have only made themselves known since last summer. And since I only bring home a limited amount and there are also very few of specific kinds, I feel many of them need to still be explored and/or are meant to be personals for now.

What fun I had though under the direct alpine sunshine above the lake and close to the stars.

It is very soul-enriching and body-nourishing.

Sleep was good!

This is a fully invested, happy body and spirit after two days of crystal journeys in my personal paradise.

I took the selfie on my return hike back to camp.

The rest of the week we’ve enjoyed our first Tahoe beach day back where I was greeted by a ladybug on my leg and a curious chipmunk on my toes.

We also explored a nearly eight mile hike in new terrain of the Desolation Wilderness with some friends.

This hike offered beautiful, rugged terrain, wildflowers and lots of ponds, waterfalls, and lakes.

I’ll share several windows into the landscape so you can breathe in the energy.

Peek-a-boo! Look at this cutie spying on me while I sat breathing in the landscape myself.

Some amazing veins in the rocks here!

There are several lakes in this area and the terrain is kind of like a moonscape.

And will finish things off on this evening’s Full Moon with a “Music on the Beach” event.

I’d say it’s been a nourishing week back and while it’s been a short time since our long trip away, it now seems like ages ago. I carry all that was experienced and integrated within, yet it seems like another lifetime.

Besides bunny friends, mice and voles were on high this weekend. I found this precious mouse on our wild iris hike and couldn’t help but take a photo of how sweetly he appeared to be sleeping peacefully and clutching a leaf as he journeyed to the beyond.

Dave and I each separately were visited by voles on our backpacking trip too. I had one come to me at water’s edge where I cleansed my new crystal friends in the high alpine lake.

I always give them a bath in this lake before carrying them home – AND throw many of them into the water too. I feel they guide me to want to be there, to add to the energy vortex with amplified intention.

Gridding is on high for many these days. I have so many grids in my office too. It’s a way many of us are intentionally connecting across the globe for the highest good.

What ways do you feel called to move focus to new ideas and invest a greater commitment to follow through on things?

Have you been procrastinating out of fear of your own potential?

May we all be kinder to self and others, knowing that the journey is not easy for any of us and yet our mutual compassion and desire to unite in heart-bridging ways can help rise each other up when we may need it the most.

Every now is a pivot point – not just for self, but in the evolution of humanity.

Hello friends! I can’t believe it’s been nearly three months since last I touched in here with you. That’s a quarter of a year! Time both moves like a flash and hovers as the eternal present. The collective threads running through us have been carried in my heart regardless, as I move through life experiencing nothing as separate.

I feel a bit like a turtle peaking out of my otherworld shell right now, though. Things feel familiar, but more like a resonance that a footprint left behind where I’m now making new ones over.

Returning home is always a sweet landing, no matter how much I enjoy where I travel off to and explore. I find that there’s always a bittersweetness to each experience coming to an end, yet I feel we maxed out everything we could have while away that we wanted, and didn’t know we wanted, to encounter. I’m so grateful that we were always guided and supported along the way.

I may do a short reflection of meaningful highlights from our European journey, but either way, today I mostly want to touch in and share how the rich experience feels on the other end of it now, since now is where we are. Some of it may also align with the journey you’ve been on the last three months.

There were a lot of themes to our trip that I made a mental note of: the Ocean, deep Earth roots, lineage and core integration and reclaiming, balance and center between extreme opposites, peace in chaos, manifesting untouched individual realities, divine alignment, joie de vivre, anchoring deeper spirituality, and beauty that transcends time.

Oh, and yes there were a lot of rabbits that showed up everywhere I turned (both real-life and in artistic form) like a sweet nod from my dear ones in the stars.

There were also treasure finds galore in the most unusual of places like cities – colored sea glass, old tiles, sea shells, incredible rocks, minerals, and fossils, unusual feathers, and even bones. And among several keynotes that kept showing up, Mary Magdalene was getting my attention.

I also had an extremely heart-opening and deeply expansive experience in a beautiful church called Basilica of Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption near the beginning of our trip. I feel it set the tone for things. It took place during an incredible light show that lit up every single architectural detail of the inner chamber with 360 degree video-mapping set to music (both recorded and live with an amazing choir) and historical story. Lighting included journeying through the cosmos. There was something that cracked open in me with the way the visuals and music resounded within – like a keycode for me personally. No one else I saw or that went with us had the same response. One particular soloist’s voice in the choir touched a chord in me as well. It was a cosmic experience of origins that was accessed. I became very spiritually emotional from my core and continued to be the rest of that night and the next morning. Not in any saddened way…the tears were of a beauty and activated opening that was beyond words and could only be expressed as a release of exalted emotion.

There was so much incredible art, architecture, ancient sites, music, culture, and culinary delights that filled our days, along with stunning and surreal naturescapes that echoed the resonance of the man-made beauty. It was a feast for the senses and a journey of remembrance.

And now, returning home feels enhanced, like the next curve on the spiral. Being here feels like a whole different reality, although familiar.

Synchronously, things indeed physically shifted while we were away, as I discovered how everything went wild in my garden and our forest backyard right off the deck is flourishing and abundantly happy.

The whole area of the forest where they took out the trees for fire prevention is now completely filled in like a meadow of lushness and I even see that more of the wildflower seeds we threw out there are now blooming. The plants up close to the deck are huge and vibrant and a few perennials I had planted when we moved in that would hide out most years, are also blossoming.

Several of the trees on our property are also flourishing like never before. I particularly noted our cherry blossom and maple trees that are thick with the most new foliage and limbs I’ve ever seen. In fact, we had to prune the limbs of the cherry blossom tree because they stretched across the stairway to the deck, making it challenging to get down.

But it was my garden that was really something.

The pathways are filled with wildflower plants (including 3 foot tall ones getting ready to bloom in the front of the above photo) bursting through the stone blocks and everywhere I turn, including the quartz spiral. Just an abundant amount of new plants and wildflowers growing out of nowhere. There’s even one wildflower plant that has grown as tall as me. Hard to see in the photo, but the lavender colored flowers, top left of the photo below, crown this beanstalk plant.

And to match the plants-gone-wild, there’s bustling forest creatures of every size and variety

running and playing all about – chipmunks, squirrels, hummingbirds, doves, Steller’s jays, chickadees, woodpeckers, hawks, ravens, butterflies, bumblebees, and lizards…..including a new rabbit friend.

This is not Frith, nor Hyzenthlay.

This is a young bunny that I feel to be female. She has cute, molting fur that highlights her growing stage while she stakes claim to her realm.

The name Foxglove came to me immediately.

This I feel was inspired both because of her sitting in the planters near my beloved foxgloves while munching on my other plants and because of the abundance of wild foxgloves I kept seeing especially in the last week of our trip that tickled my faery heart. The symbolism associated with foxglove flowers feels particularly fitting for her too.

Foxglove is the most consistently present wild rabbit I’ve experienced here.

She showed up on the first morning we were back and has returned every single morning and evening since.

She’s very curious and also very confident.

I can tell she has established her routines and claimed her realm.

She also has an air of mystery and hidden merging of duality within her – a bit elusive, but also very anchored.

Might she be Frith’s and/or Hyzenthlay’s daughter?

A new generation has begun and all of this wild flourishing feels reflective of my experience.

The last week of our trip was particularly accentuated with rabbit presence to send us off, which made Foxglove’s appearance to be a seamless golden thread of the magick we were experiencing.

This rabbit abundance included a dream of my dear Nestor (twin soul in rabbit body, now in the stars). I haven’t dreamed of Nestor in ages, but when I do I really take note. It made sense that she showed up at the end of the trip where I was in a very heart-healing, enchanted land connected to her and me. One part of the dream involved her talking to me, as she often does. She showed me the photo of her that I have where there’s an upside down triangle design in the fur on her third eye and at one part of the exchange she pointed up and said “look at the sky” and there I saw three very large golden stars aligned and blinking.

I’ve been unwrapping the whole dream since, but her showing up when and as she did feels to have reflected what I sensed had opened for me.

Since being home, the days have been full. I like to get settled in quickly, as that makes me feel ready to move forward with new things. Alongside resituating and catching up, I’ve also found myself in a new creative mode in the kitchen.

We loaded up on veggies and fruit on our return grocery run and I’ve been making a new creative, but simple dish every single day since we’ve been back including a new smoothie concoction each morning. I’d been in kind of a repetitive place with staple things I used to make before our trip, as time was tighter. But now I’m having the desire to switch things up and making even lighter, creative whole food dishes – both raw and cooked.

The colorful kitchen time has been balanced out with colorful garden time.

I got a first batch of new babies that I already planted. That was part one of my big garden project.

We returned home to everything being great at the house – just wild as I mentioned – except for 4 of my potted bushes having died. We had them since we moved in, so it felt like they had a good life. We don’t know for sure why this happened, as the driplines were working. It may have been because of swings in temperatures, as we heard there was a cold front and even snow that came in at Solstice. Or, it could be that these four – since they’ve been here since the start of our life in the house – reflected the change in me/us and a chapter or cycle coming to closure.

So, I found four new beauties to replace them, which my getting them was its own magickal story and for under the wholesale cost. This includes two Dwarf Alberta Spruce and two Dwarf Mountain Pine. I then did a big reconfiguration, consolidation, and cleanup of pots on the deck and added some new colorful perennial beauties.

I still have a lot of garden work to do for part two, as I will need to clean up the stone pathway and beds, as well as prune, and I am going to plant these four new rose bushes I just picked up yesterday to add to the garden.

I’m on the fence with the pathway cleanup because my wild heart loves the look and feel of wildflowers pushing through everywhere. But I also know that this can eventually ruin the pathway.

I’m going to feel it all out with timing, and perhaps might leave some or all until they bloom. There’s some giant plants with big buds I can’t bear to remove before they make their debut.

Plus, this flourishing feels connected to my own and that needs to be nurtured at the moment.

So, we’ll see how it all unfolds.

For now, the forest creatures are loving it and it feels very Fae. In fact, I sense they had a hand in things, creating how they wanted to enjoy things for a while.

We’ve also made space amidst our return anchoring to take a walk or do a hike each day, to say hello to our mountain home we love.

Our first evening back was especially lovely while we walked our shorter mile loop in the forest behind the house as the sun was setting.

There we discovered that the lupine that lines the creek is also prolific this year and quite tall.

We only had one other year when they were really abundant and tall, but the last few years had been sparse.

This, along with a bustling and lush forest, and finding a nest in one of our trees that sits behind our bedroom window, all felt again like reflections of the expansive birthing I felt take place on this trip.

As I told Dave near the end of our adventures away about the way the land we were in reflected such resonance for me, “my spirit is wild and free, and takes joy in breathing in the raw vastness.”

I savor my freedom and nature solitude as nourishment that allows me to show up in other ways. It’s not just a like or preference, but a must like the air I breathe.

Moving energy through the body is so beneficial, especially in these times. So, even while our days are full right now, we make a habit of having physical activity of some kind to be a given part of our daily go-to’s.

With all of the overabundance of feelings building and running through the collective, some form of physical movement can really help to assist the feelings and thoughts to continue flowing through, rather than staying stuck and building up toxically. Grief, anger, anxiety, fear, overwhelm, overthinking, over worrying…this all needs a healthy outlet or it can turn and explode on you and everyone/everything around you.

Reminding yourself that you can create your own reality and direct your own focus, regardless of what others are experiencing or doing, is a powerful tool you can implement and it does in fact work. This showed up in actuality for our time away too, creating a parallel world for us to move alongside in.

Everything isn’t black and white alone, although that’s what a majority of the world scene seems focused on. Being honest with yourself about where you are attached, can offer you insight to why certain feelings and experiences seem to dominate your day in place of ones you might otherwise prefer.

There is much unknown gray area worth investing an open heart to exploring, which in turn starts to shift your reality and align you with different experiences.

You must believe it and then you see it.

How have you been experiencing the energies recently?

I sense it’s been intense and discouraging for some, and I sense that others are feeling a freshness and support with changes and new focuses, even amidst the heaviness we are all aware of and/or experiencing in some relative form or another. This contrast I think is going to continue to be a thing increasingly, but doesn’t have to increasingly be a thing that debilitates or holds you back, nor separates you from the love that unites within your heart.

I’ve spoken with a few people who have shared that recent astrological and cosmic shifts have been very peaceful for them amidst world chaos. This has echoed my own experience of “peace within chaos” that feels essential to me to continue to nurture.

In fact the May 26th Gemini New Moon ignited something big for me. Literally, on that day, I started writing without planning it – I noted the date stamp later. We’d been busy with family and friends before that and the energy and nudge for writing synchronously was not showing up, as I was thinking it might. Literally after all of that died down, something key appeared in my life and I received the inspiration for a new direction. It literally awaited the ability to fully focus in my own space to receive the next clue. A long walk and the ocean were conduits for the message and flow.

So rather than return to my previous writing project that has been on hold, I was shown to begin a new one and it moved forward with ease once I said, “yes” to that. Instead of holding tight to an idea of having to complete my first project just because I had that idea, I remained flexible and aligned with the current energy stream flowing on a new, but connected path.

It’s kind of like arriving at the next level of the spiral.

This has felt exciting and joyous for me. I will continue in this vein and my first writing project will return when it feels ready. I feel that when we can remain flexible in our ideas, it really lends to greater ease and joy whether that’s a project, intention, or even a mindset about something.

So, this is my current focus – a new writing direction, picking back up on a collaborative project that was ignited at the end of last year, but also put on hold to be in greater alignment, seasonal projects around the house and garden, and enjoying Summer in Tahoe. I’m keeping an ear out for any other whispers along the way too, as I feel my crystal friends have much in store to guide me with – especially with a lot of shifts with them as well to mirror collective needs. This may involve a surprise release to share with you.

Meanwhile, we’ve been enjoying several days of mystery-filled afternoon mountain thunderstorms and an hour or two of rain, continued ocean-inspired lattes, alpine life, and emerging wildflowers and wild thimbleberries.

I don’t ever experience any issues with time adjustments from traveling and living in another time zone for a while. My body literally morphs into what ever time zone I’m in and sleeps with nature’s cycles of the area – not manmade time restrictions. So, my settling in is more about getting back to things – or better yet, getting on to new things.

I’m still enjoying quiet time, a lot more so because we had a lot of immersive city and abundant people time while away. One of the valuable things about being gone so long is that it provided the ability to balance high explorative activity with immersive just living and nature relaxing, rather than everything being go-go-go. Yet, I still got way more than my usual share or desire of city life and right now being bubbled feels good.

Dave mentioned that this was perhaps our next biggest life shifting experience together after our Magick Bus RV life. It definitely ignited a lot of new energy and directions for us, in many more ways than I’m sharing.

We did get to celebrate our anniversary and Summer Solstice while away. I hope that everyone received a boost of invigoration in some area of your life to match the vibrant blooming potentials our Sun emits across the land. We can use these solar frequencies and codes streaming in for beneficial things. So keep your feelers out for little nudges.

Perhaps some of the reflections and takeaways I’ve shared of my own experiences may ring in with you in resonance too.

Maybe you find some new ideas or flashes of inspiration coming in. Maybe you’re in the midst of growth in some facet of your life, even if that’s a step toward a goal you’ve had or an invitation that now feels good to embrace.

It’s an opportune time to be more open to those things that spark greater peace, joy, and/or ease in your life. There’s reason ideas come…they do lead to something fresh if you’re curious enough to play in the field of potential with them.

Wishing everyone in the U.S. a Happy 4th of July.

We’re going to be laying low here and plan to head out on our first Summer backpacking trip this weekend to our favorite go-to spot where peace and joy always finds us. I sense a new collective of crystals awaiting too. We’re excited to ignite the backpacking season and have two more planned this month.

Do what lights up your heart in any area and way that you can and it changes the tone of your day, while drawing in more similar resonance in other experiences.

You can shift your current trajectory at any moment and when you do, it makes it easier for others to ride similar waves of our collective ocean.

As our take-off fast approaches and the Libra Full Moon is almost completely illuminated, I wanted to take the time to touch in with some reflections before heading out.

The upcoming Full Pink Moon reminds us about the importance of cultivating the balance within and how nurturing and nourishing inner peace, as well as resonant relationships, can help us to realign our energy.

Anchoring greater conscious awareness around ways we can express ourselves more authentically and inspire others to also honor their unique purpose, can uplift and empower everyone more in terms of embracing and realizing dreams.

Perhaps you might take note on where you lean into things and connections genuinely, and where you feel compelled by habit or force. Tune into your energy levels with greater curiosity.

Do you notice when you feel depleted and when you feel recharged?

It’s a beautiful thing when you honor highest good growth, which can lead to more space for optimal blooming.

Let soulful harmony light a creative spark in your life to help navigate your inner compass on journeys of the heart.

How do you navigate the balance between honoring boundaries while celebrating uniqueness?

Learning the dance between both shining brighter, individually, and lifting each other up is a valuable skill.

This Moon, and the overall energetic landscape, offer us opportunities to walk with more awareness around how we are choosing to create our experience each moment of every day in terms of the way we relate to self and other.

As we continue to weave our threads through the world tapestry unfolding before us, we have many options to how we want to respond, participate, or simply show up – each choice adding layers of new colors to the overall image.

Staying aware of where and how fear controls us versus how it provides opportunity to reflect, release, and realign, may be beneficial.

I’m constantly reminded by Nature, how the laws of this realm are set up and how we have diverted away from alignment with that to try to outwit the magick that already is.

Perhaps it’s a quest for some to attain access to the Cosmic potentials forgotten upon embodiment, but in that search, get lost in false promises and distracting indulgences that feed on fears along the way.

Untie the fear-based ropes pulling you along, and you learn to float upon higher-frequency currents.

We often try to squeeze more tightly to our grip on something, afraid that we’re going to lose it or never experience or have another opportunity again. The truth is, when we gently let go of what no longer serves us, we demonstrate our abundance and create the space that allows for something even better to show up.

When we honor and trust our authentic feelings, we support our innate value and build our sense of worthiness.

Let us lean into the beauty of our beingness and recognize that growth takes many forms and needn’t be some loud display in order to have validity.

Nature demonstrates this beautifully for us.

I constantly keep an eye on what unfolds around me in the natural landscapes because I find that the perfect guidance and answers come through the experiences I partner with there.

Two weekends ago we had a surprise, big Spring storm for a few days that brought our most amazing snow yet, adding over two feet.

This provided us a full week of amazing skiing, just when we thought the season was over.

We skied every day in fresh powder and optimal conditions, which was a ton of exercise and made for the good kind of sore muscles and full exertion that provide extra sound sleep and more desire to slow down and enjoy a cup of vegan hot chocolate with pink, peppermint marshmallows on top.

When you embrace each moment’s unfolding without attachment to, or expectations about, how it needs to look, you create greater capacity to experience things as gifts with wonder and excitement when surprises show up.

Not only did we get to have a fantastic week of unexpected Spring skiing in optimal conditions before leaving our mountain home for a while, but I had opportunity to up my ski game and have lots of fun on harder runs in my perfect kind of conditions, ski with friends, and seize the invitation to venture out to a different ski resort we never go to at the north end of the lake – North Star.

And that’s where I braved my first and only black diamond run on my own this year, which wouldn’t have likely happened had we not received optimal snow and gone to North Star, as I only take those leaps when all elements within and without converge to alchemize hesitations.

The raven approved too, as this one kept doing a fly over, as I looked at the sign to make my choice.

And all the while, I did it in T-style with a helmet full of sticker magick at my crown and making Dave both laugh and feel happy for me, as he watched me having fun getting through harder runs and deeper snow without fear.

He’s always wished for me to experience the joy of skiing even though I’m still continually learning and growing with the process.

Dave went ahead a few times to catch brief videos near the end of the run on our first day out during the earlier part of the storm while it was still snowing.

This is my favorite clip that captures the essence of the fun we were having. You can hear me yell out, “hi love!” and then as I swish by, a louder, “hi my love!” followed by my own giggles and Dave giggles between breaths from his skiing fast up ahead to surprise video me.

It was sweet to hear him say he was proud of me, but more importantly I was proud of myself.

Skiing is where I fully tune into my body and intuition to feel how I’m doing that day, and each run. I also feel out conditions and have my senses on high to take in what’s all around me. It’s a great practice of being fully present and “on,” since for someone like me where skiing isn’t second nature, I’m all about safety. And safety on the slopes equates to how I’m feeling, combined with what I’m sensing all around me – in alignment or out of alignment. If the latter, I’m done. Or, I figure out if there’s something I need to adjust in order to flow better.

It’s a great lesson that I extend into all areas of life. It just so happens that the more extreme natural elements and ski experiences heighten this for me as a lesson of life.

Nature teaches.

Skiing has also created a space and process for me to really strengthen my self trust, which feels ultra key these days.

In addition, the surprise storm provided opportunity to enjoy one last glimpse of snowy enchantment before fully saying goodbye to Winter, since we had a very mild one this year.

I love flocked trees against baby blue skies, or even just peeking through the mountain-top mists.

That’s why I got the new flocked mini Christmas tree for us this year too.

This last hoorah of snow also provided mornings of finding magickal tracks left behind by Frith in the flower garden and to see the snow stars peeking through the spiral meditation garden before the thicker blankets covered them fully.

You can see them glowing through the ground as the evening light grew darker – as above, so below.

Our amazing white wonderland was bookended by Spring warmth and so we’re back again to kayaking, walks, lower elevation hikes, and bike rides – just like that.

And that’s what the last two-week-send-off before heading out also enhanced – we’ve been able to maximize a variety of home-based activities we love.

Mountain weather can swing rapidly, which is part of what I love about alpine living besides the high elevation and slow-paced quiet.

I relish in the surprise and variation that keeps you in the embrace, joy, and gratitude of what each moment brings.

I’m grateful for those unexpected shifts that accentuate the value of now.

As Spring melt-off reveals moist new growth we’ve also been enjoying a plentitude of frog serenades to accompany our forest walks along the pathways pre and post surprise storm. It adds extra delight to the experience.

For some reason, this year there seems to be a lot of them and their musical communication feels like a transformational bridge between cycles and realms.

During the last several days I’ve noticed an uptick in rebirth energy, new perspectives, and deep purification showing up in messages and literal symbolism.

I feel that a cleanse in the very depths and core of things is much needed and some powerful allies are showing up that address the darker crevices that have been hidden or unearthed until now.

Last Saturday, as the weather started to make its shift back to Spring, I was out on the lower deck by the spiral meditation space and I heard an approach. I looked in front of me and Frith sat there bravely and with purpose, just gazing at me.

He was only about eight feet away and I knew this meeting had been planned.

I stayed where I was and we sat together for a good ten minutes connecting.

I love his little white mustache!

And his curious nature.

I felt an energetic exchange take place and of course Astrid’s presence near as well, since she and Frith were connected. It was interesting also because later that day I was going to be doing an online Reiki Initiation Attunement for levels 1 & 2 for someone – one of the last calendared as part of my completion. Astrid attuned Frith to Reiki and I felt him wanting to partner with me like she used to.

He moves energy through his nose, just like Astrid and my other bunny companions.

Frith has become such an endearing presence for me.

And of course rabbits embody rebirthing energy and new beginnings.

After my time with Frith, we headed off to an eye appointment follow-up for Dave and to pick up my new glasses.

These are my first progressives and they definitely take some getting used to and figure out just the right spot for the three types of vision – near, midway, and distant. I do like the symbolism of shifting your eye position in order to create the right circumstances for clarity – there’s that perspective emphasis again that makes a profound difference.

I’m not wearing them that often yet, so it may take even more adjustment time, but I do already feel like they were meant for me and I’m curious about growing into these new eyes and what that all will bring forth.

They’re an aqua and gold tortoise framing the eyes and have sparkle and electric blue arms on each side.

The frames actually match my eyes, which I hadn’t made connection to when we ordered them, until I saw them on in the light, as my eyes are an aqua color with gold around the black pupils at center. So they feel like an extension to my own eyes literally.

The next day we went on a walk on one of our favorite long paths that winds through the forest and came upon a sweet dead vole. I’m always moved so deeply to find each dear creature and find myself in awe of the tiniest of Nature’s miracle details like the whiskers, beaver-like teeth, long claws for digging, round little ears, pink wispy tail, and plush velvety fur.

Things we may otherwise never see up close.

Dave dug me a hole and I got some rocks to help carry the precious one to his burial, as I do with all the wild animals I find on my path.

Voles also have links with rebirthing energy, but also are about balance, grounding, embracing change, resiliency, and deep inner exploration. As above, so below is reflected in their living both above and below the Earth, teaching us to cultivate and maintain harmony between the physical and spiritual, so that we don’t cut ourselves off of connection to either.

Both rabbits and voles create vast burrow systems in the darker depths of womb soil, unafraid of the hidden crevices they so masterfully navigate.

But the cycles of transmutation and sacred transcendence of time didn’t stop there.

Two days later, now just three days ago, I noticed the first blossoms reaching for the light in the beds out front. This took place right after finding a perfect dead chipmunk lying across our driveway. It appeared that this little one just peacefully transitioned there of natural causes. Again, I was taken in by the precious and miraculous details of every creature great or small and was moved by the angelic presence in this one draped over her Earth Mother until her last breath.

Dave dug me a hole, again, and I got gloves to pick up and bury the sweetheart.

Then I returned to transmute the bitter into sweet with focus on the colorful flowers just across from where the chipmunk came to rest.

The first were these sweet crocus that showed up on the same day Frith did, actually.

And now hyacinths and daffodils join, with so so many more faery flowers still to come including much more of the same plus lupine, tulip, and allium varieties.

I’m excited that I’m getting to experience some before we leave – all in different stages of growth -and likely there’ll be quite a bit more, as I can see a lot of buds and new plant babies, even though I won’t see the super bloom this year.

It still makes me happy to know that all of the bulbs I planted have taken, and that each year so many more plant babies will break through from one world to the next and continue to rise. Yay!

That same day I noticed the leaders of the blossom bunch bravely blooming, we headed to one of our new favorite hike/bike areas where I found the deer antler on Spring Equinox. I hiked, while Dave biked it on this day.

I’d just been messaging with my friend Mody in Egypt because he was showing me a new skull in process that he was carving. It is carved in a rare new ancient black stone and had a sacred winged scarab at the crown.

Literally right after I saw the skull a black and red beetle appeared on the path in front of me. I bent down to get a photo, as I’d never seen one like this before. I then stood up and when I looked back down, the beetle was gone.

About two minutes later, this black beetle appeared and then disappeared into some green brush.

And then within the next half hour I found one large deer bone after another in different locations – totaling three.

Then just yesterday we returned to the same hike, as we’ve had a lot of appointments down in the valley lately and make the most of our trips by adding in hiking or biking and a stop at our new favorite lunch spot.

I love going down there at this time of year because all of the flowering trees are in full bloom.

It was a beautiful day with some cloud coverage, but in the high 70’s and again I hiked and explored while Dave biked.

I was immediately greeted by a magickal little mushroom.

There was a warm wind moving the clouds across the sky that created some relief from what would have been some strong sun rays.

The sage was so lush and fragrant that I asked if I could have a few stems from different plants to bring back home to enjoy and the plant spirits said, “yes.”

I also came upon the first bitterbrush bush I’ve seen starting to blossom.

I love their little yellow flowers and their scent that both Dave and I feel reminds us of cinnamon when they’re in full bloom.

Just before this hike Mody had shared his completed “Scarab Queen” black skull, which made me feel that this would have influence on what I might find again.

And it did.

Another very large bone.

Regeneration and purification messages were amplified through the activation of seeing the scarab skull, once again.

I don’t know what things will look like from moment to moment, but I take comfort in knowing there’s a rhythm to it all.

It’s the unification of duality, simultaneously experienced that cracks the code.

I don’t need to understand it with only my mind, nor explain it only in words…the unspoken lies before me and within me, everywhere I turn and tune in.

And it’s happening…and it will continue to weave like the sacred web of Grandmother Spider who holds the secrets of Great Mystery in her whispers of transparent threads.

Sacredness is a delicate balance that lives between breaths and heartbeats that you can never hold. It’s the glimmer between knowing and unknowing that briefly touches the breeze like the passing of consciousness from spirit to flesh and back again.

I peer across the forest right now at a sky full of light glowing through the trees – is it a golden sunset or a golden dawn?

Sacred illumination is exquisite irrelevance.

The interconnectedness of everything is taken for granted, as we try to dissect the parts. And in doing so we lose sight of the sacredness within all that becomes a fleeting experience only for moments of intentional surrender.

Perhaps there IS a method to the madness.

Where ever we find ourselves, may we know that place as the marrow of life.

I hope the crevices illuminate more for us all and that the coming Full Moon, cosmic shifts, and days ahead lend a hand in greater unveiling.

This will be my last post before heading off.

I’ll be away for ten plus weeks, since I’m writing this ahead of leaving, and don’t know how or when I might pop up. For now, I have no plan but to immerse in the moment and new adventure of each day.

We’ll see where it leads.

I’ll either return in July or I may unexpectedly emerge with some inspirational urge to share something brief before that. In either event, know I’ll be staying connected through all that I experience even if we don’t touch in, in the usual ways.

I’m grateful for all of you and send warmth and strength for anything you may be, or will be, navigating.

In creative love and magick…may all possibilities be open to you.

I was so excited to find my very first two crocus of the season peeking their sweet lilac heads out from the front bed. They courageously bloom amidst a sea of abundant bulbs that are all reaching with their green stalks and buds to the sun, ready to greet the season of emergence.

I love how resilient and determined they are amidst still-freezing nights – continuing to power on.

Even though we have almost a week of colder weather returning with some snow and moisture pretty much daily, the promise holds strong and reminds me that everything is temporary, resiliency is a superpower innately available, and nothing stops energy from consistently recreating itself.

I’m feeling some assurance that I’ll get to see more blooms before we head off to blossom in new ways ourselves.

And speaking of blooms, I received a surprise, belated birthday package in the mail on the 24th, the day after discovering my crocus Earth stars. It came from a good friend of mine whose business is called “Starship Bloom” that includes such offerings as magickal realism embroidery art.

Not more than a couple of hours after opening the package and finding one of her incredibly beautiful pieces of two coyotes under a Pink Moon (which happens to be what April’s Full Moon is called) with crystals and sparkly beads, a pack of coyotes started howling loudly from very close in the forest out back. We heard them while sitting in the jacuzzi watching the sunset. And then upon going to bed, the pack sang once again to the night sky moon. My friend and I have a lot of intertwined experiences – one of which has been ongoing cosmic coyotes and sighting a pair on the same day. The framed art now sits bedside with a grid of amethyst I have there.

Another of her pieces is headed to me of a spirit bear “The Great White Bear” from the stars walking in the liminal space between Earth and Cosmos. It will balance the left side of my night stand – the perfect companions for dream journeys.

I find it important to support the in between spaces where dreamscapes reveal the truer states of multi-dimensionality that I’m learning to weave more into waking life.

Before this week’s dip in temperatures, we had warm days in the 60’s, which we embraced for our earliest-ever kayaking immersion.

On the 25th we had a successful and gorgeous maiden voyage of our new replacement blow-up kayak.

Our other five plus year old one had a tear we discovered when we tried to do an even earlier paddle and float on the lake during pre-Spring warmth.

This was a beautiful gift to be able to enjoy before we head out too.

And I imagine with the current storm coming in, we may get another day or two of skiing in before we leave, and the ski resort closes, as well.

While things oscillate and may seem unready to anchor one way or another, we always have the opportunity to embrace what is here now and enjoy that rich gift as it is.

It’s been a back and forth see-sawing of weather that mirrors these slower prodding forward days. Everything feeling to point to not rushing ahead, and embracing the moment. But I do see how what might feel like a step backward has been equating to two or three steps ahead after. Like a rubber band, I’m feeling the release about to happen. Weeeeee!

Sometimes the slowing down and being extra present and patient can really help tend to details that create greater resonance and alignment for springing forward.

We’ve been continuing to prep a lot before our travels, which included getting our yard cleaned up. You may recall that I’ve been doing this myself the last couple of years – raking all the pine needles and bagging them, branches, and pine cones from the seasons past.

With our being away during the usual time for this and missing yard waste pickups, we decided to have it done early and get that Spring clean in ahead of schedule. I hadn’t the ability to do it this time, so our people who do snow removal were kind enough to come and they had an opening literally the day before the weather shifted.

Sometimes delegating is important and more productive than trying to do everything yourself.

They did an amazing job and it feels so good to have everything cleared – so fresh! This provides me the opportunity to put my garden statues back out so the fae and forest animals will have their enchanted space even if I’m not there for a while. I’ll do that once this storm front passes.

We plan to get the driplines up and running as well before leaving…so everything should be in place.

It will be fun to see what we return home to in the garden and yard.

One step at a time…we’re getting things ready and prepared without rush. I’ve been embracing a slower pace since my birthday with getting things done without any pressure what so ever and sometimes just doing one bigger project, or portion of one, a day.

It’s been a nice change to slow down and not fill my day with only some of what can be the more stressful kinds of things. I’m making bigger windows of time for relaxing and just being, framing the smaller windows of focuses, as our countdown to departure edges closer.

I’ve been enjoying not having pressures around things and creating calm spaces of flow.

Things do still get done, but as they are meant to rather than by agenda, and this creates greater sense of well-being in the process. This has also allotted me extra time for a few more blogs than I thought I might have ability to share. So, I probably will have time for another before leaving.

It’s been interesting to have deer energy with me a lot since Spring Equinox and the antler and bone finds. It reminds me of my dream last year of finding the spiraling/ascending dream antlers and stag being prominent, followed by a lot of encounters with stag and deer in waking reality.

Well, it continued on the 26th with finding a much longer deer leg bone – interesting the bones have all been legs, as legs represent movement forward and ability to navigate life’s challenges.

I’m sensing a lot of renewal energy from these finds, but also the message of softening, trusting, and being in the flow of alignment with life evolutions instead of resisting or trying to control them.

That speaks to what I’ve been leaning into more and more and feel a greater peacefulness from this.

I wonder if that’s been other’s experience more these days too?

And that energy of inspired beginnings is being supported by today’s Aries New Moon and Solar Eclipse. This is not only a period of taking charge within one’s own life and harnessing what inspires you, but also inspiring others by your own example of visionary leadership and embodiment.

While some may feel less inclined to make major moves, some of you may be ready to leap forward and the energies are right there to help you.

New Moons are great for setting intentions and reflecting upon steps to take toward manifesting things in your life. The Solar Eclipse brings some really transformative energy into the mix and combined with Aries, you could really create a strong momentum of change.

So you could strategize some plans or self-reflect, if in fact you feel you’d like to create something new in your life.

You could also just nestle into the joy of now with fullness of heart gratitude.

And for others, this could herald a time you might want to challenge your comfort zones to move toward greater authenticity or new versions of life experience.

It’s all a choice and perfect however you decide.

Personally, I’ve both been enjoying the present ease of things, but also feel growing excitement for broadened experiences both in exploring more of life and exploring more of my creative potential.

And although we haven’t yet even embarked on our long journey, we’ve already put three backpacking adventures on the calendar (including some with friends and some on our own) and secured permits for those that required one. Two are new hikes/locations and one is a favorite we plan to use as our gateway back into the great outdoor immersions awaiting our arrival home.

So, we’re indeed embracing the Aries spirit for travels and nature expeditions and I’m also accepting the same invitation in my project world by seizing the courageous energies to help get me over the hump of any unfounded fears. I plan to begin some of this while we’re gone, using the inspiration of new experiences to guide the way.

Where in your own life do you feel called to create something new?

Are you comfortable where you are, or are you itching for a little more excitement or wonder in your life?

It’s a great time to feel into your own heart and follow the flow of what you find there.

It will be your own version of peace, joy, and adventure, as we all march to the beat of our own drums.

NOTE: The beautiful ocean jasper is still available for two more days only. On March 31st I’ll be removing the listing in order to finalize shipping on the 1st and won’t offer anything more until I return: Crystals & Crystal Skulls

Although tomorrow is officially Spring, we did just get another snow storm the eve before, and on, St. Patrick’s Day bringing another deep layer of magick to the land.

This has been a different Winter season with a lot of Spring-like days in between our white showers, and the birds and small animals never really seemed to do a full hibernation.

But Spring Equinox IS officially upon us in the Northern Hemisphere, which heralds Terra’s awakening.

And it arrives inside a potent transformational window between the Lunar Eclipse of the 13th (powerful releasing energy) and a Solar Eclipse on the 29th (courageous new accelerations).

A new start’s promise is in motion, as the truth that all endings being beginnings is realized.

It’s also another year of blossoming without a bunny by my side, reflecting that the heart does go on and the fertile, creative abundance continues.

It helps that I refuse to give up hope.

I choose to keep believing and believing fuels extra joy in my heart even if everything outside of my heart wants to lean in other directions.

I feel that it does take our wanting to believe, in order to shift our experience.

Belief, rooted in embodied emotions behind it, make all the difference in any area of life.

Our sweet little, still-decorated pine tree at forest’s edge, speaks to me of believing.

The night before St. Patrick’s Day I dreamed I was walking through a grassy knoll and came to an area filled with peacock feathers along the ground. I could see their beautiful patterning and colors peeking through the dirt that partially covered them – perhaps indicating they had been there a while. Someone else may not have noticed them, as they blended well with the ground. I went about gathering them up in my arms, grateful for the gift.

I woke from this dream feeling extra rooted in hope and trust that beautiful things would come to fruition. The fact that I found many peacock feathers also spoke to an abundance of potentials in process of becoming. I also felt their discovery as entering into a new period of heightened change and growth. Brush off the dirt and dust, and begin again in brilliant revealing of essence.

Later, I decided to see if there was additional insights to this dream and found some information on dreaming about finding a peacock feather. The info suggested entering a period of self-discovery of one’s true potential and a reflection of embodied self-love.

And being that peacock feathers also symbolize one’s creative uniqueness, it may also encourage a deepening expression of such with potential to achieve great things with solid self belief.

And there again is that message of believing making a difference.

Spring is the season of rooted belief coming to fruition.

The sprouting forth of new life is a reflection of trust in the nature of ever-evolving cycles.

All things continue to transform, blossom, and renew, even if we can’t see it during the monochromatic landscapes.

The blankets of white may seem suppressive, but in fact are the stimulus void of innovation.

In celebration of the Equinox, here’s a little surprise release to ignite sparks of creative potential and inspired belief.

The last three crystal offerings were homed rather swiftly – the same day I shared them. They really knew where they were needed and their timing, as people found them even without seeing the blog post announcement. It moved me deeply to feel the joy their cocreators felt.

If you missed those three new offerings, I have a surprise for you today.

I have three new, equally special offerings that specifically wanted to wait for a Spring Equinox release. You’ll see why in terms of their transformative energy – especially with the key and needed emotional realm – and creative and colorful vitality mirroring this time period of opportunity between eclipses and beyond: UPDATE: 1 REMAINS

Crystals & Crystal Skulls

Again, these will only remain available until March 31st, as I will need to have all shipping done at the start of April. If you’d love to have one of these with you through Spring’s blossoming doorway, that’s the timeframe to keep in mind. Otherwise, if any remain available, they’ll not go out again until July.

May the sweetness of emerging tendrils nourish your heart this season.

I hope the Full Moon Eclipse provided extra clarifying, opening, and perhaps healing support to your life in some way.

If you’ve experienced struggles with movement forward, the Virgo energy of this Moon amplifies how organization, clearing, cleansing, and dealing with details in a grounded way can aid efficiency and adaptability for welcoming in some new things.

Since Spring Equinox is around the corner in several days, it isn’t unusual to feel in alignment with the season’s desire to give things a deep cleanse and make way for the vibrant new growth excited to emerge.

Here, we had another snow storm on the 13th and 14th – the overlap days of the Moon event – that brought in a fresh almost foot and a half of snow where we are and much more up higher.

This snow is a welcome addition to our days, since we’ve had an unusual Winter with long periods of Spring-like weather in between a sprinkling of storms.

But then, this year feels unusual to me in many ways.

Perhaps because the slate does feel completely wiped – like the white blanket that just fell upon the ground here.

The Moon was large and glowed a reddish gold through the forest in the days leading up to the Full illumination.

Its presence and recent days have felt like an alchemical silence lingering in the air. I’ve had a lot of energy through the night.

Last evening, just after 7pm, Frith made a surprise run back and forth across the fresh snow on the upper deck while I was sitting on the couch. That was so unusual, too, but fitting.

I’ve continued to feel really powerful energies around and being drawn into my life, which coincide with that potent medicine of shark in a way. There’s something ritualistic naturally occurring and it feels to be aligned with what lies beyond each new door.

There’s also an excitement stirring with really fresh feelings unearthing that mirror the birthing of new stars within. I’m curious as to how innovation will unfold. And I’m meeting that energy with an action or choice to align in resonance with it.

Do you find yourself wondering and stretching in new ways?

And if not, do you wish to feel the kindling of different curiosities?

I feel like there’s an invitation to us all to try something unusual…mix it up…create new processes…leave behind stress and agendas…immerse so much into the moment that the mind quiets.

What if you did just one new thing today?

What if you woke up saying this is the day I will (fill in the blank)?

We will find it difficult to create our bigger ideals collectively, if we can’t even do one thing different in our own lives today.

Start with a simple shift and work up to more. Soon they’ll become a fun new natural for you.

It begins with a choice.

Just before the snow storm I found this raven wing feather. The iridescent colors are like the transformative changes emerging from the deep void.

I feel raven as a guide into the unknown and illuminating the way through the dark womb of creation and mystery with great intuitive precision.

We DO have all that we need within to navigate this new terrain. The steps will be like braille to our hearts…as we feel our way through revival of our multi-dimensional consciousness.

I’m going to be pretty occupied over the next month, as Dave and I prepare for a rather long journey away for ten weeks beginning mid April. That time might be a bit of a sabbatical in a way, but I am not putting any parameters on it. I have a feeling and vision, but will let the days unfold as is aligned.

I’m not sure how much I’ll post before then, but I’m sure at least a couple of more shares.

In the meantime, I did just list a few new crystal beings here: Crystals & Crystal Skulls

UPDATE: All new offerings have been homed.

You’ll notice that I removed the remaining Tahoe Quartz from that page. I felt the ones left will now become part of grids in the garden here and I will await anymore new ones that this Summer may bring to share with you.

Hope your weekend brings something new your way!