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Origins Renewed
After teaching Reiki yesterday morning where a group of sixteen of us gathered together to intentionally raise vibrations, the water energy called. We shared a most beautiful synergy together and I’m still in awe of the incredible energy that was threaded together by everyone who embraced the invitation to another opening on their journey that has far-reaching potential.
As we stand in the doorway of Leo’s New Moon tomorrow, it’s no wonder to me that this group gathered at this time to anchor in a new level of visionary leadership with bravery, integrity, and inspired creativity. These souls are people who are not afraid to step up, show up, and help guide the way. They are bridge workers who I see forging connections for others to cross and move into a more essence and truth filled life.
Awakening is a return to alignment and the gridding of energies from across the globe yesterday was a declaration of arising new potentials being seeded. I love it!
It’s also, to me, about origins and reclaiming this in a more conscious and embodied way.
After class and a little lunch nourishment, we felt called to Fallen Leaf Lake, which was the perfect way to keep the energies fluid and integrated. I spent a lot of good earthing time leading up to the class and continued moving that energy through me to encourage continued integration, balance, and merging of experiences as one and not separate.
I can’t explain it, but being in and around these waters was like a return to origins. The alpine lake temperatures were perfect to me and I spent prolonged time floating in the crystalline-activated lake while soaking in mountain sunshine.
The feeling was freeing, expansive, fluid, and connective.
There was no separation and I experienced the realization of how merged life has become. More effortless instead of a struggle or split between realities.
I mentioned to a dear friend who shared a reflection with me this morning of how she saw a big shift in me. I responded “there’s definitely been an increased dropping into embodiment shift for me, able to more consistently bring through the ‘other’ here and now….whereas I used to feel much more anchored elsewhere.”
There is an increased fluidity of worlds – human and spirit as one…Terra and Cosmos living in unity and harmony.
I am seeing this as a new reality potential emerging on a grander scale, as we continue to crack open.
I found this feather and stone while I laid on the pebble-laced beach.
They speak to me of this integration. Ancient and timeless…Earth and Spirit…a new vision and more freeing way of navigating…of possibilities…
I’ve continued to have a lot of different animal spirit guides showing up, but I’d have to say that coyote and snake medicine has been the most profound and frequent lately.
Sweetly my big lizard friend, Fantasia, ran by the door and is sun bathing right now on a rock as if to say – “Hey, don’t forget me!”
I shared about these spirit guides already. This is just one of them in the photo above – more of a youngster – but we have larger ones in the back forest (one of which I just saw again this morning) and both morning and night we can hear packs of them howling that soul-haunting sound that is both mysterious and eerie.
An ancient call of origins.
I’ve also seen more garter snakes than I ever have. There’s one that continues to show up in the garden and front yard when I’m out watering and she literally stopped to stare at me with her little neck and head up as I spoke to her. Her sweet little red tongue ssssslithering in and out. She even opened her mouth as if to speak and just kept it open, revealing her fangless mouth, while she looked at me.
I felt a message of change through authentic voice was whispered.
So yes, significant and dramatic change continues to unfold and it’s not isolated to my experience, as I see and hear it all around to some degree or another in relative ways, reflective of each soul’s journey.
Origins, is the word that came through for me yesterday while at the lake, immersed in the water of life all around and within me.
I sense a continued deepening into accessing those roots and remembrance is coming alive and more to the surface for many.
It’s much more than an integration process, but seems to be almost like opening a time capsule that is now aligned to access as keys to what was once behind closed doors. And this creates an organic merging that for some, unless you stop to recognize it, can go almost undetectable.
It’s been an ongoing journey, but things have been showing up more and lighting up an intuitive treasure map. It’s definitely more on an esoteric level so it’s hard to put into words, but that percolation is igniting subtle seeds of activation into being.
The things we’ve envisioned or felt were happening or coming, are now starting to take form and it’s subtle, but profound. There’s a lot of richness in the overall experience of it, although still is blossoming.
I saw and felt it yesterday with the group as well. And I marveled at the courage and energy that was all gathered in one place. My sense is that not everyone saw that about themselves, but did in each other.
My hope is that everyone will feel the beauty I and others did, and know the value of who they are, how far they’ve come, and what a gift they are being for others in their own way.
May the origin of your soul song be the voice that carries your frequency into everything and to everyone you touch.
Freedom to Be ~ A Message & Offering
Life is a work of art and you are the artist, magickally and wildly weaving your web of colorful desires into being.
Shine boldly.
Shine brightly.
Don’t be afraid to do your thing mightily.
The triple series of Eclipses is soon to be book-ended with the second Lunar Eclipse Full Moon in Capricorn this Sunday, July 5th. It will continue to add transformational Earth energies for the collective with dramatic shift-potentials for key things that have been messaging us for a very long time and are now at a tipping point.
The dance between Cancer and Capricorn energies we’ve been experiencing, has been and is calling attention to both our personal and work life, grooming us to understand and implement boundaries in regard to professional and self-care routines. New structures are urging us to imagine, create, and build, but first we must remove the old foundations so that they can thrive strongly.
If we haven’t been cultivating and nurturing well being as a priority, we have opportunity to do so and this last Eclipse provides the opening for any release, cleanse and purge that will ultimately serve you and others in the highest ways whether you can see the full picture of that or not right now.
Change can sometimes be painful, but it doesn’t have to be prolonged. It’s incredible what can happen once we take the leap of faith and act.
Pay attention to subtle and profound messages, constant repetitive thoughts and patterns, the dialogue and stories you continue to tell yourself and hold on to, what is being reflected to you by others or nature that you push away or refuse, and the beliefs you carry overall – these are defining your inability to change, but nothing is black and white and nothing is incapable of having a doorway out.
Things in our lives can receive a heightened illuminating quality within and without where we may have illusions revealed and our perspectives altered. It’s definitely a point of loving release and mourning for the old stories and experiences, as we embark on the possibilities of new beginnings.
The freedom to be is at your fingertips.
Although life can throw us some obstacles and twists and turns, your creative life force provides you a way to experience and mold things into better alignment. To constantly tell yourself you can’t do something is the mantra you’ve agreed to continue playing out as your life statement. There are no absolutes in life, except that life WILL change for better or worse, depending on our perspectives and how we creatively harness them.
COACHING SESSIONS UPDATE & FREEDOM OFFERING:
I’m going to be taking a break from offering intuitive energy guide coaching sessions beginning August, so that I can focus solely on the upcoming Reiki classes, my book, and other life developments underway. I will resume these again some time later in the year, but for now you can continue to schedule sessions through July only.
I will be discontinuing the 20% discount on all email and phone sessions after July as well. So, if you have felt called to harnessing energies right now for change and would like to work with me, you have between now and end of July to request a session and receive this special.
Something new I’m going to make available JUST for July is a special freedom offering to support anyone who has the motivation, desire, accountability, and is ready to take action. This is a divinely inspired gift for these potent times.
Between July 1st and July 4th, I’m offering one hour phone sessions at an incredible $99 only!
This is meant to support major change collectively that is opportune and timely right now.
I’ve edited this section since posting, which is why if you read it when it first went up, the information is different. I reflected on how I believe consistency, commitment, and momentum is key to creating change and so I’m only going to be offering a limited number of these you can purchase within a limited timeline.
You can purchase up to 4 of these heavily discounted sessions, however they need to be used within the month of July. This equates to one session a week.
You may purchase for self or other as a gift – please just let me know in a message who it’s for. The sooner these are scheduled, the more opportunity we have to get a jump start on anchoring your intentions and creating momentum for your goals.
This special has expired, so I’ve removed the Paypal purchasing option.
I may have another special in the future when I return back to offering sessions again.
BE YOU EMPOWERMENT REIKI CLASSES UPDATE:
Our upcoming online Reiki classes are approaching come this August. I’ll be contacting the group in the next week or so to schedule the date and time of our first Reiki Level 1 training and to provide the deadline for your final payment.
The classes are full, but as I’ve been ordering and getting materials together, I’ve been reviewing stuff with the online training (especially after seeing how things went with our Zoom wedding) to see what is possible. Given some more people were interested, I’m going to be able to open a couple of spots and opportunities.
I’m opening one more spot in the Reiki Level 1 and 3 classes to a new student.
And I’m opening two more spots in Reiki Level 2 to a new student.
I’m also opening the online classes to two past students who want to review. If this is of interest, please let me know as soon as you can. I already have one past student scheduled in for Reiki Level 1.
The deadline to register for Reiki Level 1 is July 15th.
You can register here:
MAGICK RABBIT FREEDOM CLEARANCE SALE:
In honor of the upcoming 4th of July Freedom Day, please enjoy a 60% off clearance sale on all 6 original paintings in our Magick Rabbit Etsy Shop between July 1st and July 5th only – our biggest sale yet that makes owning an original an incredible steal.
You can hop and shop the sale here:
Spread your wings dear souls, live from your wild heart, fly free and dip into the nectar of life to experience more vibrant and empowered living.
Ask Astrid Fridays ~ The Rabbit’s Corner: No More Playing it Small & Beltane Wishes
When you look at this photo of Astrid what does it bring up for you? What message do you think Astrid is reflecting? If you feel so called, please sit with her photo (and the other photos of her throughout this post), relax, and see what comes through. Spend some time and open to where her energy and wisdom anchors for you.
Astrid has a very powerful presence and as a rabbit she is not your typical “prey” or “victim” energy associated with what some might define as a prey animal. While she is full of heart, she is also quite fierce and can trigger people with her strong energy. It’s an energy that can be polarizing and demanding, as she won’t stand for anything less than you owning who you are.
She doesn’t do this to antagonize or start conflict, she simply mirrors the incongruent energy you have within and instead of meeting you in your insecurity, she will stand firm until you rise above the ego stories – both ones that keep you small or hide that you really do feel small, but wear a mask to protect that.
If you aren’t interested in exploring that relationship with yourself, which she is mirroring, then you’ll likely walk away and brush it off as she just doesn’t like you, she’s a mean rabbit, or she’s scared and defending herself with an air of reasonable protectiveness.
She is less dramatic with these behaviors these days, opting to be a bit more subtle to see who truly does want to be present with their energy, but they do still pop up and often someone might feel either rejected or special, depending on which way she acknowledges you – neither of these being her intention. She simply owns her energy and asks the same of you, even if that simply means to be honest with yourself.
Because of this I feel she is an incredible therapy rabbit who can provide powerful mirroring for the deep work.
I spend the most time with her, so I’m very acquainted with what her subtle and not so subtle behaviors are communicating. Overall, however, I feel she is often misunderstood. Especially so, before she came to be with me.
To me, she simply knows her boundaries and they are very pure and clear in terms of what she aligns with and what she knows you are capable of. She doesn’t stand for less in both the energy she desires to be in and recognizes that at the heart of it all, you’re not satisfied with what you’ve allowed yourself to operate as either.
Less than, is definitely a choice, but she brings to the foreground the conscious exploration around this so that you ARE actually making a choice and not just operating blindly on conditioned cruise control.
If you are battling with internal conflict, Astrid will have something to say about this in order to help you realize it’s within your power to realign yourself.
She mirrors the self-sabotage, the belittling stories running the show, the doubts, the games you run circles around yourself with, the false masks, and the fears. While she understands why, she doesn’t want to spend time with you in that place. She doesn’t want to feed these energies and make them more powerful than they really are. She doesn’t feel it’s okay to keep saying you’ll change tomorrow, some day, or that you have unlimited time to focus on things. She speaks to the time being now, if you are serious about wanting and seeing change, and so she reflects that in subtle or not-so-subtle ways, depending on the situation.
The more dramatic feels to be an immediate call to action is necessary and would benefit you greatly.
The more subtle feels to be an invitation to commit to the process and that she sees potential in you to be a teacher, so she will take you through steps to help guide that.
Of course, that is, if you embrace the invitation in either case.
Astrid doesn’t feel good about supporting your continuing to be small.
She stands her ground in order to draw forth your authenticity.
It’s a powerful mirror of the wisdom she embodies and holds equally as important for herself.
Rather than cross the bridge to the small story, she holds the anchor of who she really sees you to soulfully be and calls you forward to that end of the bridge. She doesn’t feel it responsibly supports you to meet you in the place of fear. She helps draw forth your strength and sits patiently in the trust that with commitment and presence you’ll be able to journey to your truth while she reflects and holds that embodied space for you.
It’s not an easy journey, as it requires willingness to investigate and spend time in some uncomfortable spaces, but when we embrace the invitation with curiosity we can uncover the real motivating forces that are running the show.
Astrid holds unconditional compassion for everyone’s individual experience. Yet, she believes that indulging the stories does not benefit one’s evolution. Like myself, she feels that dropping her vibration to match the small voice doesn’t provide anyone a way out. Instead, she anchors in your highest potential, while extending a loving hand for you to embrace. Sometimes that love can seem a bit tough, but knows responsibility isn’t always meant to be the easy street.
When we want to be seen as more, we must ourselves see our more.
Our roles are to stand in what we see you to truly be and lovingly encourage you to do the same. It’s no wonder we found each other and I’m grateful to Astrid for holding me accountable to this journey by her example.
I believe the deeper invitation that Astrid embodies is reflected also in these current times we are facing.
Which voice do you allow to dictate your experience?
The one that keeps you tight like an endless bud, or the one that pulses with authentic potential, ready to blossom its wisdom?
Astrid knows that the smaller voice leads to a life that will only ever scratch the surface of your potential. She meets you as your higher self nudging you into your wholeness.
She also knows that it’s not about reaching a finite result, but about how much you are willing to open yourself to the adventures of the journey. It’s about more being and less excuses. Astrid knows there will be stumbles along the way, but as long as you keep shedding light into the hidden corners of what keeps you small, you are living more authentically.
Astrid and I wish you a magickal Beltane. This peak period of Spring midway between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice is a celebration of life when Earth’s energies are most potent with fertile creativity, growth, renewal, and embody the designs of manifestation in motion. What a joyous time of year, perfect for expanding your hopes and visions into rich action, while having fun along the way. I may not be the May Queen in sacred marriage with the May King today, but this does mean that my own wedding is approaching at this half point to Summer Solstice.
I’ve been spending time in the garden daily, which feels especially aligned with this time of year. In fact, on Nestor’s special day I was out seeding the garden with a lot of hope in her honor – literally hoping for a magickal garden full of perennial wildflowers to attract pollinators like the monarch butterflies and symbolically growing a vision garden to aid the blossoming of my dreams. Now, I water and nurture it, while I do the same with the intents and projects I have in life.
Yesterday our big Easter, Anniversary, and Spring Shop Sale ended, but seeing how our creations have been sweet and supportive gifts shared between friends during their challenges at these times and used as anchoring portals of hope, we have decided that the rabbit magick will continue!
In honor of Beltane’s fertile celebration, we’re extending our Magick Rabbit Etsy Shop sale until June 20th – Summer Solstice! And with the extension we’re extending the discounts. The previous 25-40% off goes to 30-50% starting today, May 1st.
We’re almost sold out of many items and at our lowest inventory since opening just over a year ago. A restock date of new items is unforeseen at this time, but if you’ve had your eye on something or would like to share the love with someone in need or that you haven’t been able to see for a while with distancing in place, we hope this makes it all easier.
The Artist’s & Writer’s Corner Merge: Vision & Perspective
For this week, Whimsical Wednesdays and Monday Musings are coming together from each corner of my worlds – both the artist and writer me – to share an emerging theme of vision and perspective. Since everything is interconnected, it wasn’t a surprise to me to hear from a very tapped-in friend about this theme swirling around in her life and my “seeing” it sneak through with the experiences people are having on a wider scale. And, of course, it hit home here both with myself and my partner, Dave.
Perhaps some of you may chime in as well on this.
Vision and perspective feels important, as it relates to everything shifting so much in the way we are experiencing the world and collective right now. There seems to be a call to alter our perceptions overall and even a mass movement in terms of the things more people are becoming ready to see now. As layers of the veil peel back, we are being asked to see with new eyes and trust what is being shown/felt because that will be more key in creating a different reality than the one we may have thought was the only version of reality available.
As I mentioned, this has been popping up in our own ways here, as just this last week Dave went through a scary experience of discovering he had a detached retina that had potential implications of loss of eye sight if it hadn’t been caught in time, or if the procedure didn’t work. It was a whole very interesting and involved process to go through with quite advanced technology used to fix this, but in the end he avoided having to have the more invasive surgery under general anesthesia, as the first procedure has been successful.
He’s currently recovering this week, but it definitely was “eye-opening” on many levels.
Interestingly, this last Sunday I decided to try some reading glasses for the first time and bought some. I had bad vision when young – was legally blind in fact – and wore contacts/glasses until around 30 or so when I finally decided to have lasik surgery to correct it. I’d always been afraid of doing the surgery, or didn’t want to see on some level, and then embraced that and it was like woah! So weird to see so clearly – like everything was surreal.
My distorted vision had kept me “feeling” safe all of those years, and now I was ready to expose myself and support my gifts, rather than suppress them.
Anyway, until just last summer, I hadn’t gone back to an eye doctor since, because I had better than 20/20 vision. I started noticing some shifts and had them checked out and they said I’m starting to shift now in all ways – near and far sighted, along with some slight astigmatism. However, my prescriptions were so low that it wasn’t recommended I had to get them filled since they’d likely change a lot. It was felt that I could think about it in a year or two when they shift more or just pick up some over-the-counter readers at the store.
I hadn’t done that until now, feeling maybe I would try it out and transition myself slowly. I actually have come to love glasses as I’ve grown older and admire them on people, unlike the younger me who was more self-conscious about it and preferred the blurry world when I didn’t need to see clearly like in school, work, or while driving. I feel that they also add a layer to one’s personality and personal style. Perhaps they may even be more fitting to the artist/writer me I’m evolving into.
My mom ended up giving me some readers that she had and I got another super cheap pair after these first ones you see here, so I have five now at different levels to see what works best or to transition with.
What I’ve found interesting and synchronous to all of this is that while these vision and eye shifts have been taking place, I’ve noticed another big shift in perspectives and approach to my life, overall, which in essence is speaking to what I feel is more alignment.
I know very clearly the type of artist I am now and what I truly love painting and how.
I also was shown that my art is more about being an outlet for creative expression and joy when I feel moved in that direction and not something that feels to be a vocation, but more so an extension of simply who I am.
My writing feels more evolutionary for me – not necessarily that I see it vocationally either, but much more deepening and expanding in terms of growth and moving me out of all comfort zones, as well as facilitating creative expression as a honed in skill that merges and balances both sides of my brain, and that returns me to my more natural self – and voice.
It makes sense that my novel is also going through a huge shift too, which is a result of my stepping away from it for so long and returning now with “fresh perspective.”
I’ve been taking this return in steps, as I think I’ve mentioned before, and creating bite-sized morsels with it that create less overwhelm and more immediate levels of accomplishment, while also remaining detached from any end result ideas.
I envision a lot of work ahead, but the process being much more reflective of where I am now.
The steps I’ve taken so far have been researching a lot of links and books, both my editor had suggested, and ones I felt led to, and printing out the entire manuscript, then page-by-page marking it up with notes and highlighting that didn’t translate when I printed it on our only black and white printer.
Currently, I’m rereading the manuscript and journaling while I do so – both taking notes of major things I want to keep in mind for overall shifts I’ll be making and also somewhat processing my thoughts and ideas on where I may go with things.
Once I’m done reading I’ll have a greater handle on the direction, as I want to let the entire journey guide me, rather than make any decisions yet.
Everyone has their own process, but I’m learning to create mine and what works best for me, along the way.
I had no idea what I threw myself into when first I embarked on this writing adventure, as it is nothing like my first book I quickly pulled together and self-published, and nothing like what I had first envisioned it was going to be.
I’ve simply been embracing every twist and turn along the journey.
I literally jumped off the cliff and am now getting a crash course on what all is involved, learning along the way, and going through the growing pains rather fast – thank you to my editor!
I could never have done it before or had the ability to step back from personal investment in something, as I can now. And even since last I completed the first draft, it’s amazing to see how much I’ve shifted and my perspective has expanded, which of course translates into a whole new story!
My current reading and journaling stage is perfectly aligned for Dave’s downtime week, as I’m able to take my manuscript with me while we enjoy long beach days now that the weather is so nice and we’re in the shoulder season without crowds or noise lakeside – minus a few birds who like to come around and offer their perspective. 😉
Interestingly, yesterday we saw a bald eagle fly above us. She or he was then air-wrestling with a raven who likely wasn’t too excited the eagle was nearby. Our second bald eagle sighting in the last couple of weeks – so yes vision is definitely on a high!
Bald eagles symbolize the courage to look ahead and great vision.
I also recently shifted camera perspective on myself in a literal kind of way and rather than just sharing photos via my social media avenues, I’ve been nudged into adding some self-videos now and then that remove the barrier that a photo can still create and welcomes people into my world with a more personal, transparent experience of who I am and what my daily world is like.
Recently, I shared a look into my creation space, which the photo at my desk above is from, offering an insight to how I create a nurturing world around me that supports and inspires the dreamy worlds I imagine, via my writing and painting, into life.
I imagine, also, that things will continue to shift as my perspective widens and my vision adjusts into its new level of clarity.
Have any of you been experiencing themes around how perspective changes your experience, or having vision come up in literal or more symbolic ways – including perhaps even an emphasis on intuition stepping forward, more psychic vision becoming clarified, or things you didn’t see before suddenly making sense and stepping out on the scene now?
I thought you might find this last photo fun. I also recently moved these two whimsical dolls into position right in front of me at my desk, so that when I’m working on my computer they are actually staring right at me – and me at them.
I find myself looking into their eyes often while writing and alongside all of the other friends in the creation space I share with Astrid, it’s amazing how many eyes are on me.
They have special meaning to me and are connected with my novel, symbolically representing two of the characters.
The perspective of seeing through their eyes, but mostly that they are seeing through to the heart of me, keeps me focused on that key piece.
Ask Astrid Fridays ~ The Rabbit’s Corner: Authenticity for Enrichment
Yesterday’s share from Astrid got postponed until this morning, due to a full day on both of our parts. But now I see why it is coming today instead, as it’s the 11 year anniversary of my twin soul rabbit’s transition back to the stars. It is Nestor who guided me to all of my bunnies, and even my Russian tortoise Gaia, after her departure. And it is Nestor whom Astrid is deeply connected to and is most like in her magickal essence.
Both Astrid and Nestor have been huge reminders to me of my own essence, and to be truly authentic to who I am, as well as to explore what that means for myself.
Recently I’ve seen a lot of spiders around, including a huge one on Astrid’s castle and one on my keyboard to my computer as I was typing.
Astrid has a special connection to spiders and they seem to come around at synchronous times.
While they do bring messages of transformation, rebirth, magick, shadow, mystery, and creation, they also speak to how you are weaving your own destiny.
And this seems to be both Astrid’s and Nestor’s message this week – to look at your choices, decisions, thoughts, feelings, and actions as effective tools that can lead you to more mindful weaving in order to envision and create a life that serves or enslaves you.
Synchronously, this week on Instagram, a new magickal friend of mine was doing an animal totem Tarot card free reading where she shows you three cards upside down to choose from by intuitive draw, and then reveals their messages the next day – right side up.
My card was the spider, which in this deck also was associated with the High Priestess, but the message spoke to authenticity and exploring the truth of that for yourself.
It is about not allowing others to tell your story for you, being (and honoring) truly you inside and out, not letting yourself be trapped by other’s versions of you, and knowing that the greatest relationship you’ll know is with yourself.
Everything else will reflect that and be enriched by that.
They also say that receiving a sign involving spiders can indicate “the need for writing with the intention of weaving together gossamer strands that beautifully support the sharing of gifts” – interesting that one spider was on my keyboard.
The photos here share Astrid with one of the Amethyst pieces from the giant Amethyst Rabbit (that’s actually in the shape of a laying rabbit and looks like her when she does so) I used to have and returned back to me. It channels Nestor and today is a day of honoring her.
Astrid seems to be drawing my attention to what Nestor had always guided me toward, which is to walk in the essence of who I am.
I believe both of them are coming through right now to share this message also with all of you, as the collective truly needs each of you to walk in that same energy, which will help to raise the vibration for us all and create new experiences and possibilities.
This comes with knowing the parts within that whisper or loudly speak to you, and honoring them.
It also involves bringing forth your gifts into the light and sharing them with others.
And it means to relax and surrender to your heart, and release the confines of definitions and stories others would rather see you as, or that you’ve accepted, but always felt restricted by.
Yes, it involves courage, but you are being supported by so many others who are also embracing that challenge.
Even though this Amethyst is a piece of the whole, it is still connected to it and still brings forth a uniqueness that is needed and enriches all of the others – a piece of the web that creates the fabric of life.
Astrid sees who I really am – who you really are – and she encourages us to not let a day go by that could be lived in greater fullness.
Things may feel scary and uncomfortable, but even a fracture that feels painful can lead to greater flexibility to discover new ways of joy to be that had otherwise been hidden by the illusion of security.
Ask Astrid Fridays ~ The Rabbit’s Corner: Presence is the Art of Seeing & Being Seen
We hop into the third and last of this week’s new blog series with Ask Astrid Fridays ~ The Rabbit’s Corner. When checking in with her on what she wanted her first blog to focus on, she reminded me of her experience waiting for a couple of years+ at SaveABunny for someone to “see” her. Besides the founder, Marcy, and her wonderful staff of volunteers, no one could find the bridge within their hearts to really tune in to who she really is and look beyond their first reactions to her assertiveness. Astrid wisely used this behavior to help reflect to others a way for them to meet her in their wholeness of power and most importantly to step out of the stories and noise and come back to the presence of peace within the nature of their essence.
A way for her to filter companions as well, as she truly needed someone who can rise to the occasion and match her vibration so that she’d be able to bring through the gifts she came to share. I’m beyond grateful I met her needs to help be her voice and I strive daily to keep growing and learning more from her about how to drop into my essence more deeply.
Astrid shares that presence is the art of seeing and being seen and is also the hidden language of the heart.
When we are able to truly drop into our hearts and open all the tentacles of awareness available to us, we will be more receptive to all of the messaging around us and the truth of any situation.
We learn rabbit’s gift of vulnerability and how to tune our ultra rabbit senses into all the seen and unseen things and worlds.
By being ultra aware and present in the moment, we are able to see past illusions and masks so that we are able to really hear, feel, relate to, and understand what’s beneath the surface.
We are able to see.
And, when we engage presence to what’s within, we naturally become more authentic and transparent for others to see us too.
Still to this day, Astrid uses this technique with anyone who meets her. She invites others to step into this field of experience as a way to be present to what’s really going on within and without, who we really are, our motives, what drives us, and how we can cross the imaginary boundaries we think separate us from others, all of Mother Earth’s children, and the Cosmos itself.
Rabbits are very complex souls in embodiment.
They have and speak a language of their own that isn’t like a dog or cat, although you might find some similarities.
A true presence and willingness to find the peace within, patience, and engagement of your intuitive heart is needed to truly understand the gifts they have to share.
Here’s a great and very thorough article about rabbit communication to help anyone interested in knowing their rabbits more, are curious about rabbits, might be drawn to having a rabbit companion, or simply want to understand the art of presence through rabbits:
Astrid will be back for more next Friday, but for now she wants to thank anyone who takes the time to read this and hopes it inspires a desire to drop into your hearts and invite presence more into your life.
There’s a whole world of hidden language, gifts, and messages that await you within and without to explore.
You just might find a yourself enjoying a hoppier life and a more enriched way of living and being your truest.
A Three Hour Tour, Cappy Energy & My True Song
It’s been incredibly fun and oh-so-good getting back into our outdoor groove again now that house renovations are finalizing. This has meant bigger outings and extra vigorous trekking, which has increased with excitement by fresh snow recently. I’ve always loved Winter, especially since I didn’t get to enjoy a true snow and four seasons, living in Southern California most of my life, but I’ve always really not liked all those layers and found myself bored with the usual winter wear (and hiking gear in general). I’ve mixed things up a bit here and there, but this year I vowed to make Winter (especially) fun and to reflect the inspiration and feelings it brings up in me that mirror my inner child.
Hence, you’ve been seeing a lot more unique colors and joyous vibes coming through my own unique style that showcases my heart on my sleeve – literally! No reason not to be all warm and giggly inside and out and to share with Nature how she makes me feel, even if she’s showcasing a white gown.
After all, they don’t call it a Winter “Wonderland” for nothing!
Trekking in the snow is a lot more effort (at least 2x’s as much and sometimes 3x’s if really deep snow and lots of elevation climbing is involved). So, where you might do more miles in the other seasons, less miles can equal the same in Winter.
That said, we’ve recently upped our game and took on the snow with vigor, doing 5-8 miles at a time.
You saw our recent snow shoe hike where we met up with our favorite little tree, which we named Tiny Tim after Cosmo’s nickname and our enchanting more tame terrain hike.
And yesterday it was a snow hike extravaganza up to High Meadows!
I’d like to call this “the snow hike we didn’t know we’d be doing” that ended up as an 8 mile adventure climbing 1470 feet.
It was a three hour tour into “beyond sunset” without the ship wreck, but was filled with giggles and enchanting nature surprises.
Our group made me the deciding factor to choose between either the easier route at the fork or the longer climbing route.
The “cappy” me (Capricorn mountain goat) said, “let’s go up!”
And we did.
Troopers everyone was on quite the trek!
I was trying out my new mega snow hikers for the first time, which rocked! We all wore crampons, but my hardcore shoes would have totally taken on all of it without them. I don’t know if it was them or if I was just on fire, but I conquered this climb and hike like never before and even better than in the warmer weather, which is quite something with snow and the increased amount of energy and effort this takes.
Or, maybe it was simply my “cappy” go-get-em attitude that’s been anchoring in more.
Another change I’ve been noticing is how hot I get when I’m in active mode. So much so I have learned not to layer up like crazy because I end up sweating and very uncomfortable. So I wear lighter layers and ones that will leave me the most comfortable. I actually had a tank top under my sweater this time and that suited me just fine! I’m usually the first and many times, the only one stripping off layers.
I feel like this increase indicates an increase in the energy I am channeling within and perhaps that is being mirrored in my dying cell phone – this time the battery is blowing out, which is why most of the photos recently you see are taken with Dave’s cell phone or Sharon’s (in the case of this post) because my cell phone dies and is useless anymore. I’ll be either getting a new super-charged battery to match my own inner energizer bunny battery within, or a whole new more robust energy one that can handle things and not poop out.
In any case, I’m noticing a lot of shifts energetically that are reflecting in physical and outer changes, as well as a “more me” embodiment inside and out than ever before, which includes the child and otherworldly me who is just overtly expressive of sharing my frequency with joy.
And speaking of that joy and oh how Nature brings out the best in me.
Moss and me = Faery weeeeee!
Loved this little moss, lichen, and icicle enclave we stumbled upon up the climb.
It was SO magickal!
And it was so me!
“The self must know stillness before it can discover its true song.” ~Ralph Blum
Let Your Light Shine: You Can’t Be Original – You Can Be Authentic
The following blog post is not a new one, but a reshare of one I wrote 5 years ago that feels to be an important theme to impart once again. The next few months are increasingly going to be VERY full with everything manifesting right now to manage so I will try to share new things, but a lot of messages are key to recycle, as we journey along the spiral of life and need to keep revisiting things from a new perspective that will at some point (perhaps now) finally take hold for us and click into action! This one speaks to those of you facing fears or inertia to make those shifts and embrace your creative spark wanting through. It also speaks to my own processes I’ve continued to engage and currently am involved in, in writing my new book. I have found my authentic voice and regardless of what I’m writing not really fitting any particular genre out there, I’m writing it nonetheless and not comparing myself, not trying to be like any other writer, not trying to emulate what’s popular, nor am I worrying about what others may think of it, nor spending time wondering what will become of it. I’m doing just what Sarah (below) advises – listening to the creator within, while SUPER JOYOUSLY enjoying the process, and it’s leading me on MY right path. That’s all that matters. The journey, not the result. The BEING, not the TRYING.
Here is the post reshared here, as I couldn’t just reblog it:
As many visionaries in the fields of healing and creative arts are stepping up and into their unique roles they came to embody, challenges may present themselves to overcome. There are many factors that potentially may be blocking, limiting, frustrating, or discouraging you, but they all stem from the illusions of fear and in some cases can be hard to see for yourself, as you know just how to ingeniously hide and disguise them with self-sabotaging finesse. Sometimes the seeming challenges can also be linked with collective, divine timing and therefore patience, flow, and taking aligned, synchronized steps may be needed and remind yourself to enjoy and be present in the moment, rather than live in the future or past.
One of the recurring themes of fear I see is that of self-doubt, feelings of unworthiness, or self-devaluation. There is a tendency to disregard the unique gifts you have as being valuable and instead to compare or compete with others, rather than simply embracing and honoring what only you can share with the world. Energy gets diverted and drained in trying to emulate or live up to what you see “out there” rather than focusing and honing that energy into simply creating and channeling forth from “within.”
Some may feel that my approach of staying within my experience of art (as one example) and not immersing myself in other artists’ works, may seem counter-productive. Why would you not study, view, take technical classes, etc, for the thing you are doing as your work? Would you not want to refine it and have it be something more? My question to that is, who is judging the “more” and by what definition of refinement am I to be working towards? While I honor all artistic expression as valuable, my answer is, by creating from my heart in each moment and learning through the experience of doing, do I grow and evolve and create art that is uniquely from my expression alone and what I am meant to create, regardless of what standards the outside world has boxed art into.
This is not the way or process for everyone, but for me, it is how I stay authentic and true to what wants to channel through me. This is, in many ways, the way I operate in all areas of my life. I am not naive, but I do know that the innocence I retain in drawing from within, is my unlimited creative power.
To express what is most naturally authentic to you in your own way is what makes a difference. There are reasons we are each in an individual body, even though we are collectively connected. One of which is to naturally be who you are and to allow that to channel through your heart in the way that mirrors the gifts you chose to birth in with. Let your light shine.
This theme is perfectly and simply expressed by Sarah Ban Breathnach in her book, Simple Abundance: A Day Book of Comfort and Joy. I hope you find some gems of supportive insight in what she shares:
You Can’t Be Original – You Can Be Authentic
One of the reasons many of us have trouble getting our Work out into the world is that unconsciously we’re competing instead of creating, which always short-circuits the flow of inspiration. A friend of mine is a gifted playwright. She denies herself the pleasure of seeing anything on the stage other than revivals of classics, preferably Greek. It’s too painful for her to watch contemporary work because she is addicted to comparisons.
Why do we make ourselves sick competing against strangers? I believe it’s just another sophisticated, seditious form of self-sabotage. If we don’t measure up, why even try? The fault line of comparison runs so deep in the lives of many of us it’s heartbreaking. I know women who quake at the thought of school bake sales because their brownies don’t sell as fast as those of another mother, and the psychic phobia over Halloween costumes is the last frontier in feminine psychology.
Five years ago when I published my first book, which updated Victorian family traditions, there were few popular books on the Victorian era available. But the late nineteenth century was just about to be rediscovered, and within two years there were so many books in the stores the market was completely saturated. Today it would be extremely difficult to find a commercial publisher for a Victorian book even if you channeled Queen Victoria as a spirit guide. This doesn’t mean if you are writing one that you should stop. The cycle of creation is cyclical. There’s a reason the past is prologue.
Sometimes you’re ahead of your time. Mozart was known to qualify his genius by declaring he was composing for future generations. There are literally millions of aspiring and working artists writing books, publishing poems, selling scripts, directing movies, auditioning for roles, designing clothes, entering juried craft exhibitions, starting home-based businesses, looking for an agent, praying for a lucky break. Don’t panic. It is impossible for you to be an original. But you can be authentic.
“God has lots of movie ideas, novel ideas, poems, songs, paintings, acting jobs,” Julia Cameron reassures us. “By listening to the creator within, we are led to our right path.” You aren’t the only one starting a mail-order catalog this year, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t know exactly what niche yours will fill perfectly. Why do you think you were offered the spiritual and creative opportunity?
Once you accept an artistic assignment from the Great Creator, it’s yours. Nobody can take it away from you, unless, of course, you relinquish it. Nobody can duplicate your work because there’s no one in the world like you. They can imitate, but they can’t duplicate. Your work is born of your sensibilities, temperament, experience, emotion, passion, perseverance, attention to detail, idiosyncrasies, and eccentricities.
When you’re authentic, so is your art.
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Every day we slaughter our finest impulses. That is why we get a heart-ache when we read those lines written by the hand of a master and recognize them as our own, as the tender shoots which we stifled because we lacked the faith to believe in our own powers, our own criterion of truth and beauty. Every man, when he gets quiet, when he becomes desperately honest with himself, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source. There is no mystery about the origin of things. We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up, to discover what is already there. ~Henry Miller
Even Kings and emperors with heaps of wealth and vast dominion cannot compare with an ant filled with the love of God. ~Guru Nanak
When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you. ~Lao Tzu
Peaceful Transformation & Updates on Changes Being Implemented
I can’t tell you enough how much I’m witnessing both in my own life and that of others, an incredible, consistent, and rapid amount of change taking place in really big, sometimes surprising, yet always supportive ways. There’s been an increase in the last few weeks of full-circle experiences, messages of re-strengthening boundaries, a need to continually reassess and realign ourselves with what’s truest and most authentic to our spirit and heart right now, the power of choice with committed action to back it up, wake-up calls in terms of health and life shifts, and experiences paralleling timelines, but on a whole other plane and frequency with the closing and opening of doors rapidly sliding into manifestation.
I keep hearing from many about these reflections and have been witnessing a wide gamut of contrasting experiences from people including death, suicide, marriage, endings and beginnings of relationships, births, pregnancy, career changes, reassessing life paths, health crisis, what was going forward suddenly and abruptly shifting gears, but also immediately opening to a better potential.
It all reiterates to me the power of choice and action that supports it without worrying over the fine details and whether it’s “the” answer, but merely following what you’re guided to follow in the moment and trusting All That Is/Universe/God/Goddess/Source to handle things from there.
Declaration of intent and willingness to move forward in all ways will manifest doors opening and closing for us that will mirror the paths most aligned with us following our truth right here and now. So releasing the worry over whether something is it right or wrong just simply can be surrendered, as we’ll know immediately where things are leading once we make a choice by what manifests as direct result.
We seem to get too caught up in decisions and tormented by being “wrong” when there isn’t a wrong…simply a trust that whatever you do, you’ll be supported in the highest way. So we just need to believe that and be open to how things manifest, as result of our movement forward, and its always being for our highest good.
Anyway, transformational energies are swirling around big time and this beautiful Moth (pictured above) that Lynne and I connected with on a hike at Fallen Leaf Lake while she was here, really embodied so much of this frequency, not to mention embodied the peaceful trust I speak of.
She was so serene on a pebble at water’s edge, with waves rolling in, both of us around her, a man and his dog with us whom we came across and were talking with, and even us nudging her pebble she sat on, while talking to her. She was anchored and peaceful, but also so royal in her presence, undisturbed or thrown off her own inner balance and harmony by anything around her.
If you look closely at her, especially her head and body, you might see what I do….how much she reflects her Faery Queen essence in this Moth form.
Powerfully potent energy that just mesmerizes me when I look at this, which is why I am sharing this photo, captured by Lynne and courtesy of her for this post. If you remember, I shared my own magical photo of her from the other angle in another post, but this one really captures her essence and otherworldly energy.
All of this also is in line with a conversation I was having with Laura yesterday about living a magickal life and what that entails, which we both reflected on in our own lives and those around us.
We both agree that to live a life of daily magickal experiences this entails a great deal of discipline.
That seems counter-intuitive, but in fact goes hand-in-hand.
I can’t tell you how many people I know and have seen, who energetically and physically crash while trying so hard to “be” something, rather than simply “being” because they think that will make the magick happen. Or who wait for the magick to start happening before they will commit to their authenticity and heart fully.
I’ve also been seeing people go through more periods of heavy-duty flus, colds, or energetic illness suddenly than they ever have (or perhaps hadn’t had) in very short periods because of extremes and perhaps still “trying” to fit a certain template of “being” they think they need to do in order to live magickally, when in fact magick is simply “being” in the discipline of authenticity and harmonious rhythms flowing in and out.
The key to life, at least that I’ve discovered, is balance so that you don’t have those highs and lows and ups and downs in dramatic ways and when you learn to discipline yourself in this way of being, a magickal life unfolds effortlessly. This also entails saying “enough is enough” to old patterns and cycles, so that you can continue to flow on your own spiral of life.
I feel that this stems from your committed responsibility to being you/the Source of you for the highest good of all concerned.
I went through the crashes myself. I went through the huge pendulum swings of extremes. I always considered myself an extremist in fact….and yet that wasn’t actually my “nature.”
My and our nature is harmony and a return to natural harmony is our spiraling journey I feel.
We really are at a point where everything instantly manifests and there are tighter and tighter reins on your luxury to deny or hide things from yourself, as well as assessing if you’re outweighed in any given area – big ones that come to mind is over-giving or over-receiving.
And in the spirit of this constantly shifting energy and my own need to keep honoring my own authenticity, boundaries, and most harmonious state of “being,” I have had to again reassess some things recently and even had a big flow-in of opportunities to help me feel that out with.
So as example, I’m sharing some of those changes that entail my connection with others, but I am experiencing quite a few in other more personal realms as well.
As mentioned, I’ve recently experienced a bunch of full-circle things that herald to me a big leap about to take place, but also reflected how things can come back around at another frequency/whole other plane of experience when you do the work.
But also, as I’ve mentioned in past posts, when you’re in process of, or about to make huge changes, a lot of things will flow into your experience that could confuse you at first because they may be the very things you’re shifting out of.
This is simply part of that transformational process and an opportunity to revisit your relationship to the things with greater peace and anchoring and without “charge” or “trigger”…like that cleansing that stirs things up for us to simply embrace as natural cycles.
So, also recently, I’ve received requests for my past services circle round in another abundance all at once and a ton of messages, which provided me opportunity again to anchor deeply in my authentic knowing of where I am now and what to say “no” to very clearly and with loving gratitude.
I’ve turned away potential new clients, credited back purchases of art prints, and said “no” to a bunch of requests, potential opportunities, and services, as simply it was most aligned with the new energy I’m focusing on and committing to, to do so.
And I did so with utmost gratitude and reflection on the beauty of it all and the honor that it was.
Sometimes things like this confuse people that maybe they’ve made the wrong choice to go in the direction they have, could possibly play on desperation energy (really big one I feel circulating these days) in reflection to still being in process of believing in their abundance or strengthening their belief in the new, or simply could feel like a message to split their energies between old and new.
While none of that would be wrong to do, as all things will lead us to exactly where we are to be in the timing that is right for each of us, and yet these could also create that straddling of two worlds, continually feeling confused and unclear, drain you of your energy because of not supporting fully what is speaking most authentically to your heart, or block other opportunities from coming in.
After all, if we truly believe we are abundant beings, then we ARE abundant beings. There isn’t only one opportunity that will arrive and by saying “no” that’s it. You have the ability to manifest limitless opportunities and each one will provide a different level of potential.
There isn’t just one way to do something for sure. Yet there are ways of choosing that can make you feel more in flow, clear, invigorated, and in alignment.
All that to say, “I hear and feel you.”
I’ve also had to continuously go through these processes in my own way over time as well.
And with discipline and practice, I’ve been able to move into a peaceful and easier flow that has enabled me to consistently experience balance now and harmony, whereas I mentioned, I used to experience extremes and then energetic crashes or physical manifestations of stress created by this feeling of being pulled in opposing directions, or of not owning who I am and claiming my authentic voice fully.
It is with doing so that I’ve come to be able to say I no longer experience stress, anxiety, worry, tormenting inner dialogue (to the point of thinking I’m crazy), fears around who I am and showing up as so, crashes, extremes, physical manifestations of being inwardly divided, relationships of all sorts that were doomed to go no where and reflect what I wasn’t honoring in myself, nor the need to monitor foods I eat other than remaining true to being 100% vegan to match my truth, and instead only draw in more of this harmony I experience.
It’s a drastic life change that others wouldn’t notice unless they really knew me “once upon a time” in all ways. I’m so grateful for all of it and what it’s all taught me, not to mention am grateful for the reflections that show up.
But I do have to mention that things have shifted even with recent offerings I’ve put out.
I had foresight to say when I did put them out there that I didn’t know how long I’d be offering them and they may be temporary. And now that has manifested.
This includes (at least at this time) my not taking on any more new Intuitive Energy Guidance/Coaching clients after I finish working with current clients already with me. I’ve so been enjoying the beautiful and so meaningful and timely way in which these soul contracts have come into being. I can’t say enough how I honor these people and the courage they have. I also am awed by the soul connections we share and I’m totally devoted to them with all of my heart.
I feel that my listening to guidance was aligned perfectly with these contracts with them, but that I am to revisit full commitment to honoring now one I have with myself and the collective with full devotion toward what I’ve put into motion.
This in part due to my need to put all that I have into my current project and something else soon entering my life.
I also will only make myself available to teach Reiki this Summer to the people I have already spoken to offering this to if they desire.
That means I’m back to no services offered, but all in order to be able to offer more later from the depths of my heart.
I’ll still be creating Magick Crystal Wands, as that feels in alignment with immediate soul-satisfaction and desire to create something tangible with my hands that balances the writing I’m involved with – it’s all about balance to me! But these are the only two things I’ll be engaged with.
I can’t thank everyone enough for your understanding. It’s truly meaningful to me how supportive you’ve been and how much love you’ve shared during my own transformational journey I’ve chosen to vulnerably be open about in order to support you into your own authentic choices.
Also, beginning this Sunday I will likely not be blogging for a while, or in very limited, short blogs because I will be focused on completing the first draft of my book before heading off to Australia on May 10th. I’ll feel that energy out, but my sense is I’ll need to withdraw there for the time-being.
I need to conserve my inspiration and creative writing for that project. So during that time I’ll only be sharing via Instagram/Facebook if you happen to be on those platforms, since they are quick ways to still stay in touch and share some daily inspiration and beauty with you, while creating that healthy balance for me as well.
Here’s to peaceful transformation for us all!
I love you!
Realizing Your Potential
“You enter the forest
at the darkest point,
where there is no path.
Where there is a way or path,
it is someone else’s path.
You are not on your own path.
If you follow someone else’s way,
you are not going to realize
your potential.”
~Joseph Campbell
While others indeed help open collective doorways, pave potential opportunities, and clear some of the debris and challenge along the way, only you can be you!
Even though you might share a similar energy stream with others, bringing your authenticity, voice, and heart into things will create a path that is yours alone and will need to be carved by only the frequency you carry.
Hence, courage to journey into the unknown and support the way that most aligns with you, will take you down a path where your own light will bring clarity with each step taken.
Tania Marie 