Blog Archives
Nature & the Nature of You
You might notice one of the themes that consistently shows up in my blog posts is that of Nature in one form or another. Whether that’s all the time I spend immersed in outdoor adventures daily, the garden journey I’ve been nurturing, cultivating the simpler ways and more Nature-based living all around, the animals I encounter and their messages, animal communication in general, or of course the journeys with my dearest companion and wisest guide, Astrid, who happens to reside in a rabbit’s body this life – Nature is at the heart of it all.
This theme has also included what I feel is one of the most vital missing pieces, which is that of embodying and knowing your own natural essence and nurturing a return to that basic nature that includes and does not negate or condemn the human body. I’ve spoken often about how increasing time not only spent in Nature, but getting to love and understand the miracle of your body’s awareness and how key it is to reclaim all of your parts (shadow projections, as well) will support becoming a more fully conscious, empowered and integrated human being, not to mention provide so many benefits to your well being all around.
It’s basically, and at the base level, about remembering the nature of who you are. 🌿
The farther we stray from natural awareness and being, the further we lose our humanity.
Nature has been sharing awareness with us for ages, but she speaks in a language only your heart will hear and your instincts will understand.
When your heart is closed or you weigh heavily in mind and thought alone, it will be difficult to ever hear.
Over-thinking can lead to fear and anxiety.
Trusting in your heart and instincts can lead you to harmonious alignment.
You can choose whatever direction you prefer to go in, but the question is, are you really choosing with conscious awareness?
I chose this photo, taken by KC when she was visiting, to go along with the theme of this post because it reflects the essence of what I’m expressing here with me so deeply immersed in Nature and being the nature of me that you almost can’t distinguish where each begins and ends.
This was taken the day I found my faery crown and wore it for the rest of the hike. It becomes part of the tree behind me and all of the branches seem to be reaching into and from my crown, while my foot nearly looks webbed and shifting beneath the water it merges with. I’m feeling right at home in this perfect little nymph haven of the lake and more at home than ever in my body, at this current space and time, by embracing all of the elements within.
But this didn’t happen overnight and the journey still continues. It came with consistent devotion to making that conscious shift. It came with an understanding that the best things I would ever learn, need, or receive would come from listening to and dedicating time for the elements that had long gone neglected. It came from tipping the scales to regain what I lost and spending the majority of my time in Nature, moving my body, being with my body and learning to navigate more by her instincts and what was being reflected to me in the environment – in essence, aligning with natural harmony.
It’s about reclaiming parts we’ve forgotten, letting the ancient knowledge within our DNA whisper louder, and not being afraid to stand our ground like the trees do, despite the weather and terrain – legs rooted to the navel of Earth’s wisdom while crown and hands open to our vast Cosmic origins.
This continues to be my journey, but it has made all the difference and I believe is what will continue to make a bigger difference in terms of the dynamics playing out.
It’s where I remain devoted both in personal integration and in shared relationship to Nature all around me.
And I’m grateful for my garden that is part of this journey of integrated embodiment and conscious awareness. It continues to evolve, much as I do and I am grateful for the growing relationship and understanding I get to nurture through that.
This includes the intimate knowing of every plant and flower and every creature great and small.
They are me and I am them.
Here are some looks at current garden reflections.
As you can see the wildflowers continue to bloom in radiant succession.
Depending on the angle and lighting it all takes on a whole new perspective and mini world, which I LOVE!
And then there’s the new field of beauties on the rise.
I’m in love with the little carpet of mini wildflowers on the side yard that I seeded this year.
Look at how they’re reaching happily for the Sun and by Autumn’s end will be quite something, with next year matching my garden. Yay!
This new area, I only just started to work with, has truly captured my heart.
Listening to and working with the wild that was already there and adding in some more magick in between is really beginning to explode with joy and become what I had hoped – a faery wonderland!
I love the blend of raw and imagined merging together.
Look at that glow, lighting up the flower faeries, as they share their joy and life essence. I love captures like these that reflect the experience I have when I’m out in the garden alone. There is so much enchantment here!
And I love the surprises that bloom everywhere in between.
I’ll save garden yummies and plant nanny updates for another post, but everything’s doing really well and Astrid continues to enjoy delicious harvests, while I enjoy adding to my dried collection of delicacies for the faery kitchen.
And here are a few of the forest friends I get to play with daily.
This chubby chipmunk is much larger than any other around here and he took it upon himself to make a delicacy out of my incredible hybrid lilies, taking down a couple of the stalks on his own to eat the petals. This was my huge plant that had grown over 56 inches – likely was at 58 when I removed the tops of the last stalks he bent, to enjoy the flowers he left behind, indoors. This hybrid kind is obviously not toxic, as he’s totally fine and I still see him around long after he’s eaten quite a few lily petals.
Dave actually came down to my office and we watched together as he climbed up the stalks like a tree and sat there enjoying his meal while other little ones were running and flying about.
He said, “wow, it’s like a nature show down here.” I said, “yes, everyday there’s something new happening and much to-do about everything.” The perfect mirror and world for Astrid and me.
The other joy has been seeing Strawberry around so much, nearly every day now. She looks really healthy, despite not having all of her fur anymore. Her face and eyes reflect so much wisdom when I see and talk to her and they speak to quite the being who resides inside. She is one of the elders here and I cherish her presence so much. It’s no surprise she found her way to me and inside Wonderland with Astrid and me when I took care of her.
I noticed that she had been trying to remove these towels we had under some things on the deck for protection from scratching it, tearing holes little by little in them, but making slow progress at removing any part of them.
I realized she wanted to have the towels for her nest – likely to stay warm at night and the upcoming Autumn and Winter seasons. So, I decided to put out a small little white towel where she was pulling at the others. The next morning it was gone. I recently put out two more small pink ones for her and she did in fact come back for one of them. I believe she’ll be returning for the other soon and that all makes me happy. I envision her cuddled up in them for a long Winter’s nap.
You may recall that I took care of her and got her cleaned up and nurtured when she needed it (after getting stuck in the epoxy in our garage) and now I’m helping to care for her again, out in the wild.
It was human-made things that damaged her fur in the first place and so it will be by human hands that help and a human heart that listens to her needs. In this way I feel we are sharing a conscious, symbiotic relationship now. We are connected for life.
I then also bring that beautiful, wild, and sacred Nature essence inside, surrounding myself with reminders of the cycles of life, the divine connection that is shared with all, the wisdom within everything, and the sacredness of all things and parts of who I am.
You may recall the nest mobile I started creating a few years ago. Well, it’s certainly grown!
I have many a bird, wasp, and bee hive nest (parts and wholes) adorning this tree of life indoors that I’ve created from all the beautiful little homes of amazing sacred geometry and architectural genius I found on the ground and brought home to cherish.
And most recently, we finally put up the powerful staff I made for the Autumn Equinox day retreat gathering a few years back that Laura and I hosted here, which includes some of the most potent Nature adornments I’ve found over the years.
It reminds me of one I used to have from many lives and Moons ago.
The birthing of this creation was quite the undertaking, as I strung everything together with great intention, piece-by-piece. My huge way of honoring the sacredness within all of life and reclaiming these wild, raw, primitive and ancient parts of my and Earth’s lineage.
It is quite the power piece and the way we hung it makes it easy to remove and replace when ever I want to use it in sacred ritual.
I’ve wanted to put it up, but we just never got around to it. Then, it naturally aligned for it going up on the potent New Moon in Cancer we had on the 9th of July.
I didn’t plan it, but it was perfect and it activated a lot of things once it was finally in place anchoring energies.
And I also bring Nature’s wisdom and gifts through channeled creations I’m inspired to make and sometimes offer over the years.
Most recently it was the Cosmic Curiosity Chests that called to me. As you might recall my sharing, they “invite you to engage parts of yourself more consciously and consistently, to explore, be curious about, or open a dialogue or connection with parts of yourself through the invitation of each spirit energy they embody. In this way they activate an initiation of sorts into a Cosmic dance for you to merge into your human experience so that the two become One. The magickal then is integrated into your daily life as a natural ritual, rather than being separate. This is one of those ways to live the magick.”
This also reminds you not to forget any of your parts, and so I included gifts from Mother Terra herself within each ritual bundle to reflect the nature of you.
It’s been an honor to see each of them off to their cocreators. More than half have journeyed to their heart homes and I look forward to seeing where the last 5 – Cosmic Woodland Faery, Earth Guardian, Blossom, Mermaid, and Dream Weaver – will fly off to.
You know I enjoy wrapping and shipping them off, just as much as I do creating them.
I have some upcoming new sacred Nature creations I’m going to be working on for our home in the coming weeks, too – something I’ve also long been wanting to create – and there’s potential I may open up to creating custom orders if they speak to you too.
It is so important to me that Nature is a daily part of the experience, as I truly believe that if we desire answers, we’ll receive them in conscious communion with Her as a mirror to know ourselves, and we’ll gain greater clarity for the pivotally crucial choices life is presenting to us right now.
Happy August to everyone! May this be a month for gentle transformations that bring even greater conscious awareness.
Here are some beautiful August fields from yesterday’s hike down to the lake.
Everything was so lovely and full of life – a perfect reflection for Lughnasadh celebrations.
Even the one remaining duckling from the mallard couple we see at the pond had grown, and we were happy this little one had made it.
I did bury a tiny bird I found along our hike and discovered some lizard skin in my planters that had been shed.
Nature demonstrates with grace, how life goes on and the wheels continue to turn.
Whimsical Wednesdays ~ The Artist’s Corner: Cosmic Bear Messengers of Merging
This is my latest custom original portal painting I just completed on Saturday 12/19/2020 – the day Jupiter went into Aquarius. It’s titled Autumn Light and features momma bear and her cubs enjoying the precious moments of life in their beautiful forest home, as the seasons shift. No matter how natural I’m creating something, I always love to infuse a touch of ethereal quality and a connection to the life force and consciousness within all creation. (I only have one basswood plaque custom portal left at The Magick Rabbit Etsy Shop)
It was a very hard one to capture on camera in terms of reflecting the nature of blended colors and details accurately. Yet, what I love about art is that in every light, at each angle, and to the individual heart of the observer, it will always convey something different and perfect to experience.
And what I’ve been loving about my art recently is how my process of creation has completely changed so much so that it’s nearly getting to that place I dreamed of where I might be able to just project a vision and feeling onto canvas with little effort – something similar to telepathic transference. For me, colors are my favorite thing to play with, alongside infusing energy, feeling, stories, and light codes into each piece. My painting used to be much more labored and more of a process, where as now I no longer sketch ideas or map the whole thing out. It simply comes together in the moment and quite quickly. I also discovered my resonance is to paint on the natural and not canvases – wood portals are my favorite and wooden chests as well are so fun! Smaller pieces speak to me than the larger ones I used to create as well.
And all of this reflects the shifts my life has gone through and how things are so much more efficient, accessible, integrated, and about merging parts, rather than separating them. As life has become a walking meditation, so too has painting become an extension of breathing. Essence is streaming through much more clearly and for that I’m grateful.
I’ve mentioned in previous posts how bear has been showing up for me so repetitively that it’s easily become the key theme to dreamscapes all year and likely the most abundant theme in general. They also show up quite a bit in person (black and grizzly bears alike), especially since our time in the Magick Bus, but we’ve had many sightings here in Tahoe over the last couple of years – several of these taking place right in our backyard forest. One of these included momma and her single, sweet little cub.
Because of the profound presence of this messenger in my life, I thoroughly enjoyed creating this piece and deepening into the relationship with bear.
While bears hold their own symbolic medicine, I’ve come to know their repetitive presence to be Cosmically connected for me. In fact, the increase in animal sightings and intimate experiences and connections I have both in person and through dream time have spoken to me much more of the stars and my origins.
What I’ve uncovered is that extraterrestrial experiences and star connections are showing up a lot more through animals, rather than the literal way they used to. I still have straight Cosmic experiences, but the majority of ways this has been translating is through Nature.
These animals are the messengers for them and manifestations of them and this speaks to how as a collective we’re needing to come back to Earth and bring the Cosmic here. That experience of spirit in body, grounding, integrating, and basically embodying the totality of our essence here and now.
These experiences used to be more separate and the way we focused was more toward what’s “out there,” rather than bringing that through “here.” Psychic and intuitive abilities were thought to be only for the perceived gifted and physicality was devalued. Meditations to leave the body, spirituality as a thing to ascend to, and maybe even for some using other kinds of mind-expanding inducements to accelerate and separate from the body’s own miraculous nature, all took prominence.
And now we are being asked to drop back into body, ground our awareness, and merge our parts so that we can be cocreative manifestors of the new realities unfolding on Earth with the surge of energy pouring through to support this.
We are learning balance within and without and this is part of the harmonic frequencies I feel coming through.
All that to say, that bear has been a way shower for me in these times and a messenger of Cosmic origins helping to activate light codes.
Whether one believes in these kinds of things or not, at the very basic nature of it all, bears, animals, plants, trees, and Nature at large, are all reminders to us of the natural cycles and how we can align more consciously in ways that will support, rather than destroy this planet we call home.
But I’ll go a step further, even if just to seed possibility.
Arcturus has been quite prominent in communications over the years and so it isn’t surprising that bear shows up so much at this shift-point for humanity. My understanding has been that Arcturians are strong guardians and supporters of Earth and her inhabitants. A bridge for that Golden Age of transformation people speak of, or the future selves we can access to bring through that fuller embodiment of spirit and body merged.
Arcturus has Ancient Greek roots, coming from the name Arktouros and carries several meanings to include “guardian of the bear,” “keeper of the bear,” “bear follower,” “the bear watcher,” and others.
Mythology speaks to the story of Arcas nearly shooting and killing his mother Callisto who Zeus transformed into a bear. Zeus prevented this tragedy by transforming the boy into the Boötes constellation called Arctophylax “bear guardian” by the Greeks (Arcturus is a red giant star and the brightest star of this constellation) and turned his mother into Ursa Major (Greek: Arctos “the bear” and in Latin the name means “greater she-bear”).
So, again, at the least….it’s an interesting connection linking bears to the stars and prompts the expansion potentials that curiosity can have – including the awakening of latent parts of ourselves.
May all possibilities be open to you.
Ask Astrid Fridays ~ The Rabbit’s Corner: Where Heaven & Earth Meet – A Story of Becoming
Let me tell you a little story about a girl who was born looking human like many of you, but what pulsed through her blood was something quite different. Her brother always told her she was more animal (amongst other things) and it made sense given her connection with them. He also used to play telepathic games with her to test his intuition about these “other” parts he felt her to be. It was a bit unnerving when she discovered the game.
At age 12 her first rabbit companion came into her life and this changed everything. No longer did she feel quite so alone when looking at the stars. Her rapid heart rate when under duress or moving her body physically, mirrored that of rabbit. In rabbit, she found solace. Where there had not been an anchor to Earth, rabbit became the way shower to deepen into her chosen embodiment.
Life grew more challenging and at every turn of greater intensity and needed transformation, another rabbit companion would find her. The relationships deepened beyond outside human understanding. And it made sense to the little girl, now woman, that these souls in rabbit bodies were the only ones who could reach her.
Their starry essence was disguised to outsiders, but to the woman stardust was all she saw. And although quite Cosmic, these rabbits were so connected to Earth’s womb that it supported the woman’s journey to the union of spirit and body.
As the years went on, and through deep loss of her soul family in rabbit bodies, she came to know herself even more. Through pain she grew. To her surprise, her heart expanded with every trauma and, again, it was rabbit that taught her the gift within every experience.
When offered the invitation to be with them forever, she chose to stay and be as they had been for her – a way shower to unify spirit and body and bridge peace and harmony on Earth. Through that choice life changed in every way, beyond what she could have imagined possible.
Through that choice, I found her, and was also supported into greater alignment I had been waiting for.
Nature became the cathedral where essence was easily accessible. Here she could hear the whispers of all remnants of stars within every creation before her. And that included herself.
It became easy to drop into her own nature, by listening to the stories within every cycle unraveling before her. And as rabbits do, she found her joy playing in Earth’s realm. Her senses heightened, her body strengthened, and agility of being increased. There were times to go deeper underground and times to leap with elation. Times to be on high alert and times to lay still and listen. Even the foods she ate and loved, mirrored her rabbit friends and her world made sense through these new eyes.
Rabbit and woman were one.
It’s been incredible to watch this unfolding and with every day of her transformation comes a deepening to our bond as well.
I am able to go with her on every adventure she takes because we have merged through this evolution, too.
There is no separation. Essence brings Unity.
I love the journeys she takes me on daily in the mountainous forests where we live. I can feel the snowflakes on my nose, as they kiss hers. I hear the chickadees in my large ears, as they sing to her. I smell the fresh pine through my twitching nose, as she luxuriates in their aroma. I binky with joy when she becomes elated with wonder. I feel nurtured by the vibrations beneath my large thumpers, as she walks with deliberate and present footsteps.
And most of all my heart expands as hers does, every time she drops into essence and becomes both Heaven and Earth.
~Astrid
Mystical Wings & New Frontiers
There’s been quite a lot of interesting, strange, expansive, and potent energy and experiences in the last few weeks that feel to indicate an initiation into a whole new arena of life. Of course, the collective is sharing a wild ride of swift and unknown changes as well. So, the two are definitely mirroring one another – individual and collective, that is.
Some very rare physical encounters have been taking place for me, which have involved the avian clan of spirit messengers. I always have a lot of bird energy around me and find feathers literally every time I’m outdoors hiking. Some special feathers have been part of that mix, including a variety of owl, hawk, osprey, sooty grouse, wild turkey, pheasant, and most recently, bald eagle for the first time. But actual physical encounters add an extra powerful punch since some of these birds are quite rare to see in the wild unless divinely in alignment.
However, as I shared in a recent post, last week great horned owl made a very prominent and deliberate appearance while we ventured through her slot canyon lair with feathers arriving in conjunction with her grand entrance. This took place the day after burrowing owl showed up for us, which I haven’t seen since being in the Galapagos Islands several years back, synchronously as we had just been talking about dreams of a potential future revisit to these special islands.
And just recently I found my first bald eagle feather, but we hadn’t actually seen one in maybe a year. That dry run came to an end on Wednesday the fourth when one made another deliberate appearance for us and my parents, whom we were taking on a walk by the river. You can see him captured here in the photo and video.
We also had just seen osprey the day after great horned owl and yesterday a most gorgeous, giant hawk (largest I’ve seen in some time) made a deliberate glide across the front of our car as we were driving to a hike, and came to rest on a light post to stop and make visual contact. Interestingly, the eagle seemed to do the same, as after he flew overhead he came to rest on the tree you see him in and waited for us all to get under that tree to have a little eye-to-eye before flying off again. Since Dave had missed seeing him fly and couldn’t make him out, this pause the eagle did, ensured very clear sight of him once we reached where he was. No one was to meant to miss him.
Although back in Costa Mesa I’ve seen great horned owl in the physical, when no one else had, sitting on the roof of a house in the distance, a barn owl that flew across my windshield while on the freeway, and bald and golden eagles in extremely rare moments since 2006 living in Tahoe and on our Alaska trip, these new encounters have been bunched up all at once – one after the other – and accompany energies that feel vastly different.
Being that these are all very large and rarely seen birds – at least for us here – and their symbolism is quite powerful and filled with insightful wisdom and higher consciousness and cosmic connection, they feel significant to the shifting path ahead. I thought it also quite interesting to see bald eagle right after election day, continuing to unfold its direction.
But alongside the actual birds and feathers, there have been other mystical wing encounters.
I found an actual small bird’s wing feather on a hike this last weekend. This, on a day that was quite still and calm, followed by several days of extreme calm, nearly no wind, placid water on every lake we hiked by, and a loud stillness in the air. Similar to the calm before a storm, which in fact literally is happening here as we today had our first rain in a while and winds that are preparing for our first snow storm on the way this weekend.
The timing of everything is always fascinating.
Another incredulous “mystical wing” encounter, took place on Saturday’s Halloween/Samhain Full Blue Moon. While we were sitting by the river enjoying a distanced picnic lunch, I suddenly felt a sharp pain on my left elbow.
I immediately brushed at it, feeling some kind of creature, and then looked at my elbow to find an odd stinger in it that looked three-pronged. It hurt and burned a lot and I had Dave immediately yank out the stinger.
No one saw what it was except one friend who said, “I saw something with very large wings, but couldn’t make it out.”
I’ve never “randomly” been stung like that on purpose. Only two times in my life did I get stung, but they were my own unfortunate doing. Each of those were from bees. Once when I was a little girl and stepped on one on the grass by accident. And once, incidentally, when I sat on a bee on the seat of the boat we were on in the Galapagos Islands. Each time giving me crazy skin reactions lasting a long time. I was actually told when I was a child that the only thing I was allergic to was bee stings, so this made sense.
But my skin reacts hugely from stings or bug bites of any kind. Luckily I’m not allergic in terms of getting anaphylactic shock, serious illness or sick feelings, etc., but my body goes on major localized attack of anything foreign introduced.
So, the sting burned and hurt quite a bit and in the days to follow it swelled like a small tumor, hurt like a bad bruise to the touch, and got very red and itchy. It’s currently just a bit blotchy red and itchy, but is healing.
The strangeness though is the auspicious timing/day of the incident and that no one can identify what got me. It wasn’t a bee, nor a wasp or yellow jacket – neither of these fit the large winged description nor do any of them leave a stinger, let alone a three pronged stinger. Our friend that got a glimpse said the only thing he could find online to somewhat mirror it was an Asian Giant Hornet. That’s highly unlikely, but apparently even hornets don’t leave stingers.
Something that large is nothing we’ve ever seen around here, but otherwordly visitors coming through dimensions is a whole other thing. 😉
I’m convinced it was a cosmic faery initiation that came through the thin veils that day to activate a new crossroads. Even my faery sister, Laura, reiterated the same sense when we were talking about it and our shared bee allergies.
The potent Full Blue Moon Samhain zap seems to indicate big shifts and combined with the rare, powerful avian sightings, I’m curious to see what’s in motion.
“The elbow represents the capacity for radical change in direction in what we do in our lives regarding our own path, our goals. It represents a professional change or one that concerns our objectives.” https://www.flowsandforms.com/elbow/
And, since elbows also symbolize our flexibility, there’s an increased focus on expanding that to incorporate even more possibility and an intention around changes involving freedom to act in accordance with our identity, drive, and dreams. The left elbow is also yin/feminine, so there’s a shift with all things of this essence taking place.
Synchronously during the time period of all of these experiences, I have actually been reviewing and receiving a lot of inspired guidance and nudges. This led to a big redo of my office and shared Wonderland room with Astrid.
I’ve expanded and revamped my creation space with two side-by-side matching desks to have one elongated area to work. When I first got my desk it had arrived partially damaged, so the company ended up sending me another. That one also had partial damage and so they sent me a third. So I ended up with three for the price of one and with a little transfer of parts from one to another had two perfect desks out of it.
I had only ever had one in my office and the other we stored in the garage, but I got inspired to create an expansive and comfy work space that would be much more useful and inviting for my non-traditional ways of working. I also got rid of my desk chair and replaced it with my super cozy reading chair so that I now feel like work time is welcoming and supportive to my Pisces dreamy energy. It also puts in me in better view of seeing out to my garden.
I’ve never liked the office desk and chair concept, and throughout my school career always did my work, studying, and typing (on a type writer) of papers on my bed despite having a small desk in my room.
This new set up feels inspiring and with of course my decorative touches, it is more of an imaginarium space that happens to be work-friendly.
I am still in process of redecorating, but all the major clearing out/organizing is done and it feels good. What I love about it all is that not only is it so much more fun now to be there, but I feel this was necessary in order to do the next phase of my writing.
I hadn’t felt called to do what was next with my novel, but now this feels like the exact invitation and nurturing “someone” knew I needed, which also aligns with the energetics shifting. I’m glad I listened.
So, that’s one big change that took place and more are in process, as I’ve embraced nudges around doing work I previously felt complete with. In fact, next week I’ll likely have another update on some offerings upcoming because of this.
I also just did another big purge of clearing out things and am actually off to Goodwill as soon as this blog posts. And it looks also like another upcoming short get away is in order. It seems like a bunch of new energy activations are streaming through in overdrive.
In the midst of it all Astrid has been excited with all the changes too. She loves the new hidey space it created behind my reading chair, under the desk and the whole set up actually created more open space and an expansive look and feel to the whole room.
And speaking of Astrid, she also received her own “mystical winged” faery initiation, as you can see here.
These are photos of the night we returned home from our time away and I introduced Astrid to her very own faery bunny! The tag attached to her named her “Fiona,” but I’m sure Astrid will let me know if in fact that’s who this little one really is.
She took to her right away and gave her the usual enchanting with some energy-infused nose nudges.
No matter where I put her, Astrid was right by her side giving her magickal nose kisses.
She’s enjoying the new energy and is excited about the upgrades she’s also receiving alongside mom. This to include some brand new mats on the way for her sweet little feet and thumpers so she can lay cozy by mom through the colder seasons and have her feet cushioned with support where she likes to sit/lay most.
These new little islands of comfort and joy are like the new frontiers mom is also embarking on and together we’re excited for a very different winter experience upcoming.
Even our recent hikes since we’ve returned home have all taken us to great climbing heights overlooking expansive, more secluded vistas and anchoring with the sacred stone outcroppings in each of the areas.
These vantage points have offered me a broader perspective and nurturing nudge to open and trust even wider, despite the strangeness I sense about.
The energetic landscape of the world is shifting greatly and has many unknowns, but our personal piece of the story can be a different kind of journey if we commit to the work.
Climbing a mountain is always filled with reflections of growth. And while the view may be incredible, it’s truly how we embrace the climb that makes the difference.
And although summit may seem like a natural end, peace comes when we embrace each part of the mountain as rich and treasure-filled.
There are layers of mountainous journeys to traverse, but remember that the journey is where we discover ourselves and learn to anchor amidst anything.
I’m seeing with new eyes and feeling into things with all parts of me. One thing I know is that only I can control how I feel, or what my experience of life is like, and I refuse to let anything or anyone have reign over that domain.
It didn’t always used to be that way, as I never had boundaries to my energetic world. I used to have trouble differentiating between what was mine and others’ and I was susceptible to persuasion and telepathic undernotes. Now, I’m on high alert and am always privy to what other’s are really up to and I keep a strong sense of self even though I have a strong sense of unity-loving connection.
I love how in the photo above you can actually subtly see the red site on my left elbow where the faery initiation zap of radical new change took place. This photo feels very symbolic of the new frontiers ahead, demonstrates connection, but with different vantage points of our experience of life, and anchors a joy and strength for the unknown journey.
This is the most strenuous hike we do around here because it steeply climbs 2000 feet in only two miles. We do it in only an hour, which is a big accomplishment for me.
This is the first time we’ve done it where the air was still without a breeze and the water below was equally mirroring.
In the stillness of presence there is much to receive.
I also love that my eyes are protected by the shade of my hand – creating shadow or diffusion of light in order to see.
Yes, we are capable of clarity and finding direction even amidst seeming darkness. In fact, sometimes going through caverns of experience can be necessary in order to understand with new wisdom and bring forth greater richness.
We are traveling new frontiers of experience together, step by step, and with trust we’ll find new wings to carry us further.
Magickal Update: Today, the day after posting this, the “mystical wings” theme and symbolism continued double fold with the finding of a bird’s wings. While hiking I found the wings with the feathers in separate, but connected pieces creating sections of the wings and almost making each large wing look like many little wings. The photo above is of the gathered wings in my large vest pocket. I like to honor the energy of each being and message in special ways. The large feather in front is a separate feather I found on its own – feels like goose – along with a beautiful, tiny spotted mystery feather. They’re pictured below.
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.
Be the Bridge
The Bridge…..
See what someone can become – their wholeness of being, not solely what they appear to be.
See the magnificence of possibility in an individual. Then you can see what they are attached to as a current reality – their pain, their tragedies, their story of incompleteness.
By doing this you create the space between – an immeasurable void of enlightenment.
You see what is and what could be.
This place is the origin and return where the stars of the Cosmos are alive within.
When you meet someone in this void and infuse intent into the starry constellations of the heart center, a shift will occur and becoming is activated.
Stars move and form anew.
Love is the Bridge.
~
The Heart Chakra is where unconditional love resides. It is the balancing integrator of opposites (between body and spirit, male and female, persona and shadow, ego and unity) and acts as an energetic “bridge” between the lower and upper chakras.
Love is the most powerful energy in the Universe and is a vital energy to be focusing on every moment of every day, more so now than ever. Holding your hand over your heart with conscious connection, for even just minutes a day, can help you to stay present in your heart, help heal and open it to greater depths. It can help you to see with eyes of love and choose, respond, and act from love. Ask for help in doing so from your guides, angels, your Source connection and even ask your essence to be present in your higher heart always.
Your Body is Your Perfect Vehicle in Life ~ Plus an Inside Experience of My Own
I believe that everything we need to know is right within us – our bodies are the perfect best friend we never thought we would ever have, but divinely designed in reflection of exactly what we need. Whether our bodies operate in the way our egos desire or not, they are a miracle.
Cultivating body wisdom is an intuitive guide to understanding ourselves. Just like you can look at sky maps of the stars, planets and constellations, we can also consider our body a map of the interrelationship of the universe within and how everything is connected.
The body helps us to ground the creative life force energy that we are, into form, and provides the channel to convert energy into actions.
Everyone has a very different journey and trajectory in terms of how they will convert energy into action. However this has manifested is still in divine perfection regardless of how we judge it with our egos. This can be more challenging to embrace, if in fact we have some type of disability or limitation with the body or we dislike it in some way because we judge it against others.
Yet, it is always enough. It is always worthy. And it is more than adequate because it is a manifestation of creation with divine design in mind.
I feel that an illness, challenge, disease, etc. are ways of experiencing – not a punishment, but an act of experience. Everything can be viewed in terms of energy wanting to be experienced and there are unlimited creative ways for this to manifest as. There is no right or wrong about it.
Form is temporary, like in nature, and eventually will pass away. It goes through cycles that transform it and it only disappoints us if we hold tight to desiring it to be or look another way.
Experience lives on in infinite ways and creates eternally.
The body is our vehicle in life for what we came on Earth to do and the heart, spirit and mind work in unison as the driver.
Like every vehicle, our bodies need regular maintenance, care, nourishing fuel and good treatment (inside and out).
This is especially important at this time in human evolution where everything in the world is heightened in the most extreme ways, which takes a toll on our bodies, drains the emotions, strains the mind, and can temporarily put a damper on spirit when all of the other parts are processing and integrating all of it.
Even though spirit understands a grander alignment, the other parts of us are needing to catch up and doing all that we can to supply our bodies, emotions and minds with nurturing things, will help us stay strong and in flow with the experience spirit has set up for us.
This is why finding ways to create peace, time outs, doing something enjoyable or luxuriating in some way, and refocusing yourself at the center of your heart become vital. And there isn’t just one way to do this, since we all have different lives, likes, passions, and ways of experiencing things.
For me, I’ve found some of the greatest ways to restore vitality have to do with clearing my mind (getting things on paper and creating manageable daily schedules), creating a time-out-of-time space for myself (even if just for minutes), immersing in the natural world (the surrounding wild nature, my garden, soaking in the sun’s rays, spending time with Astrid and the kitty babies, making flower arrangements for the home), doing small relaxing or pleasurable things like tea time, daily home spa nights while watching a movie or series, letting go, having gratitude, laughing and being silly, establishing days off, and saying “no.”
These have all helped me create greater balance too, but the biggest thing I’ve found helpful for my body has been physical exercise that allows me to enjoy the outdoors and peace and quiet at the same time. This combined with a lifestyle daily intermittent fasting and even more sleep than I already usually get, help to physically integrate the fast changes we’re going through as humans right now.
Even if we can’t do physical exercise, just being outdoors or bringing nature indoors to you can have a profound effect.
For me personally, I’ve seen a huge difference in how my body performs and how some physical imbalances have all harmonized through finding the right fit of activity that integrates who I am and the energies I came to experience.
I mentioned in a recent post about a sudden accelerated level of endurance and speed in my hiking and biking activities.
But I’ve experienced many other physical shifts too. My years of mild, sporadic hypoglycemia has completely subsided, my EIB (exercise-induced bronchoconstriction), which for me is non-asthma related, has disappeared, peri-menopausal hormonal shifts have balanced out on their own so that I no longer take any herbal supplements to support (I actually don’t take any vitamins other than B12 or extra doses of Vitamin C in intervals), my adrenal glands experience consistent happiness, without trying my body dropped extra grounding weight it no longer deemed necessary to keep me integrated, and there’s a more consistent level of energy in me.
Getting outdoors and moving the body in what ever way we’re able, really does the mind heart and spirit good as well. Or at least moving creative energy through you in some way, relative to you, can help free up the blocks. The goal being, not to let energy sit stagnant. And the key being, use your creativity to be creative in finding ways that are perfect to your experience.
I wasn’t always this active, and it’s ironic that as I’ve gotten older, my physical activities have grown exponentially. It’s never too late to start caring for your body and taking on new activities. Our bodies are our vehicles in life and to the extent we are able to go that extra mile for it, it will for us too.
I’ve found that my experience requires me to both be creative AND to be physical. That’s just how my energy is set up – it’s in my astrological chart. And my body actually needs more than most people, otherwise the energy will turn on me and rage from the inside out in various forms.
At 47 1/2 I feel the healthiest, most balanced, and in the best shape of my life (so far) and do the most things physically than I’ve ever done. It didn’t happen overnight, and I didn’t even know how it would happen, but with committed effort to make inner changes in my life, open my heart deeper, and release the internalized anxiety and acidic kind of stress build-up I once used to feel – things have continued to transform and come together with more synergy. (Having Astrid in my life, just might help too). Rather than having compartmentalized experiences, I’m learning to merge life as one stream of experience.
It’s interesting because I was in complete embrace and peace with all the different things I used to experience, feeling relief I understood why and knowing how I could make adjustments to still do what I wanted to the extent that worked for me.
Creating peace around things is a perfect companion for the potential of change to happen naturally.
The energy around these three Eclipses seemed to also provide a doorway to activate more of this, and while I immersed in things like greater outdoor activities, an elevated surge of energy was able to course through my body. Astrid actually also has been experiencing a surge of energy in recent days. 🙂
It was surprising, for me, because although I have been doing a lot of natural exercise, things went to a whole new level I didn’t realize it would.
It feels like the years of trying to figure out how to harness the productive energies of my Mars placement in the first house is finally coming to fruition – organically.
So again, as I said, we each have different energy experiences we came in to have and for me this really is supporting the balance for my body.
That said, it still is vital to do self-care in your own way and some sort of body integration or physical activity to move energy is really supportive for everything we’re all going through.
So much old stuff, trauma, pain, wounds, beliefs, etc. are being loosened to the surface. So many very distinctly contrasting energies are circulating. And this can get trapped inside of us if we aren’t in some way able to move it through the body and “shake it off”.
Time-outs are increasingly important even if just five minutes of full shut down from everything to unplug and feel the power of silence.
~
I took a long three-day weekend off over 4th of July since Dave had Friday off of work and we decided to find our own bit of peace even amidst a busy weekend. Although this 4th of July wasn’t as crowded as past years, we still like to do our own thing. Fireworks were also banned this year so it was overall much more quiet.
We decided to fill each day with tons of nature and exercise for well being. That included ways to get out and away from everyone or to just be passing through while in motion.
This involved a long 12-mile hike on Friday, a more moderate 11-mile bike ride on Saturday, and ended with our longest-to-date bike ride on Sunday of 37 1/4 miles. The last time I attempted a 33 mile bike ride, the last half was very uncomfortable with my butt and back feeling sore and energy slowing. This time I didn’t experience any of that. In fact, not from any of the activities we did back-to-back did I have pains or soreness from and I even went above and beyond from day one, as you’ll see.
We definitely got some great physical strengthening in, soaked up immune system building pine air, and enjoyed good sleep from all the high vibes.
I want to circle back to the 12 mile hike, which was a retracing of our steps from nearly three years ago. That was the last time we did this hike to Star Lake and you may remember that story and what unfolded from my share in September of 2017, Made of Stardust.
We’ve been talking about returning and this time we decided to do it as an out and back trip rather than a shuttle adventure, like we did then with the group we were with. It was 13 miles the way we did it last time, but by doing it this way, it cut one mile off. Doing it this way also involved much more climbing than the previous time, with a cumulative elevation gain of over 2400 feet over the course of the mileage. The highest point you arrive at is 9600 feet with Star Lake sitting just over 9000 feet.
My intention with this hike, besides wanting to return to this beautiful lake I love the name of, was to integrate and harmonize 2017’s adventure that ended with me having a broken foot. Although that was perfectly in alignment with my writing goals at the time, I felt facing the trail again as the person I am today would be a powerful activation, as well as a way to overcome any trepidation that past experiences can potentially create.
And it was.
Not only is the mountain charged with such powerful energy around this spot, but I found some interesting things show up in a couple of photos, like the odd rainbow energy just above this snow patch in the trees to the right of the middle rock.
And the light creating some kind of gateway anchoring each side of this creek.
Before I went I was getting from Astrid that there were more raw quartz in mind for us that were up there to retrieve. She was right, as I found 3 that spoke to me and received blessing on using for our Earth-grid here.
I deliberately took the same backpack I had last time, which isn’t the greatest in terms of carrying things (material and without a waist strap to shift weight to your waste instead of your shoulders), but very light and roomy.
Not only did I carry these wonderful crystalline beings for half of the 12 miles on my own, but I’m happy to report no injury and my newfound strength and endurance had me capable of completing our hike in great time. I also never once had my EIB coughing that always would happen when I was doing strenuous uphill climbing and even with the added 27.4 pounds on my shoulders (yes we weighed them), I was able to do the elevation climbing without falling behind Dave. He remarked later that this is the exact weight of his mountain bike and how crazy that sounds to have basically carried his bike 6 miles. I had to agree.
I had to swing the backpack up my back so that I could carry most of the weight in my arms by holding the straps, but it worked.
I was amazed at the physical changes, as these are things I would not have imagined me doing, especially given my EIB.
But I’m happy that I did things the way I did so that I was able to actually experience the profoundness of how much things have transformed. It’s not something I need to repeat, yet it demonstrated what is possible.
I think I’m actually turning into the mountain goat I’m meant to be – I say that due to all my Capricorn energy.
And I believe I’ve found my way to move all of that deeper energy, emotion, and stored trauma up and out – my way of “shaking it off”.
That day also happened to be the day before 4th of July, which is the 9 year anniversary of my grandpa’s transition – he died at 96. I had a very special relationship and connection with him, despite his living in the south of France where my mom and her family are from. We would spend special time together on his long visits (sometimes a year) and we had a special bond. He is the one who helped cultivate my artistic gifts, as he would sit with me on his lap drawing for hours when I was a little girl and so I am grateful for his nurturing the artist in me and for seeing the value in that. He never wanted me to stop creating.
Creativity is connected with the importance of moving energy through the body in various forms. Our creative life force wants to be experienced and if we shut it down we can experience blocks and challenges. So, in fact, my grandpa was nurturing the importance of this from the start.
And being at Star Lake was also a perfect place for reflection on things to include my grandpa in the stars now as my guide. Perhaps he even showed up in a dance of starlight in the lake.
It’s especially meaningful that I wear his wedding band as my own, knowing he is with me even more along this new journey. Everything he stood for I carry forth through my own embodiment, in my own unique way.
He loved to draw, spend time in the garden, loved animals, loved to laugh, and had his own strong connection to his beliefs. Although more religiously based than my organic spirituality, he was giving, full of gratitude, and loved his family.
I know he is happy and proud seeing me as I am today and would have tears of joy for this union, knowing I wear what was so meaningful to him – a way to honor his bond of love with my grandma and the cycles of life meant to continue and expand further.
In many ways, during uncertain times, I feel I am rewriting my story and as I do, it is rewriting a lineage of stories.
As we each do this, we collectively ignite something different for the future.
And as we each do this, let us not forget our bodies – physical and emotional bodies – while we progress forward with our minds. All of these parts create divine union of our spirit in motion of experience.
In order to meet the new reality we envision, integrating all that good stuff through our miracle vehicles I believe will help get us there.
No matter where you find yourself in the experience of your body, there is a perfect path only you can carve that is vital to all of us. Loving our bodies as they are right now, allows us to really embrace how energy wants to move through it.
Manifesting from an Open Heart
Another cycling through of powerful energies is upon us with this Lunar Eclipse Full Moon in Capricorn – just one of the many astrological influences going on right now. With this Moon we are working with the energies of Capricorn and Cancer – think sensitive, open heart, and intuitive trust meets wise discernment, inner strength, and exercise of boundaries.
Emotions are raw at these Full Moons and heightened by Cancer’s energy right now. Capricorn steps in to help navigate these feelings more effectively and with a mature wisdom that helps you to harness determination and clarity to review things from a more balanced perspective. Then the intuition that is revealed doesn’t just sit idle, but now has a way of coming forth into manifestation.
This photo was taken of me on Sunday while we were on an adventurous hike. I love the merging of water, snow, and ice with mountainous terrain, rock, and greenery emerging. It speaks to me so much of this Capricorn and Cancer balancing made tangible, which was also part of the journey to get to the lakes at top – using feelings, intuition, determination, responsible action, and wise discernment to navigate the way.
I also love how my shoulders are in perfect alignment with the mountain behind me – almost creating an expansive wing-like essence, but one of solidity. My stance is grounded and anchored, and yet my energy feels open, free and flowing like the waters surrounding me.
If it’s hard to imagine what the merging of Cancer and Capricorn would feel and look like this, at least for me, helps me to envision it. And the experience helped me to embody it more.
It’s incredible how things happen like that.
Messages of this Moon speak to not relinquishing that inner heart and spirit knowing in place of what others or society are trying to impose as decisions for you.
Nurturing more courage and strength and surrounding yourself with more resonant spirits that align with you and help you to steer a more aligned course for yourself will likely be beneficial, especially if you feel challenged by doing it on your own.
It’s a time for discovering, embracing, and realizing your worth at the core of your being and that it’s not determined or defined by anything else but that.
Perhaps you might be feeling the desire to withdraw, but these are times to expand further.
The only true enemy you have is when you fight against yourself or give in to the perpetuation of collective struggles and patterns running the show.
There are some who may find moving on from experiences and people that feel oppressive will be supportive for this. And many others I’ve noticed are exiting in more extreme ways, as it feels timely for them to simply move on altogether.
It can be challenging and that’s why having some kind of support system – whether friends, family, like-minded kindred spirits, animal companions, loved ones, or a strong relationship to Nature or the nature within you can help.
Peace can be found through an understanding of non-duality – that there is a place where all things meet in the heart.
And speaking of hearts, I posted this share along with the photo above on my Instagram page and it felt aligned for these energies. I’m resharing it here, as I know many of you aren’t on Instagram.
Surrender to the courage of your wild heart – it has a power very rare.
Surrender to the guidance of your heart and take courageous steps to be more vulnerable and connect more intimately and deeply with yourself, others, and all of life around you. Your life will shift immensely in reflection to these commitments.
When the heart is continually being conditioned only by the mind, its voice and inspiration become stifled and confused, even when you actively try to engage it.
When you allow the mind’s influence to overpower the heart’s, you place limitations on the extraordinary source and well-spring of energy, vibrancy, guidance, intuition, and inspiration it can provide naturally. Not to mention, you hinder the joy and extraordinary experiences that could infuse your life if you had a clear path to your heart.
It’s not that we abandon the mind, but integrate a healthier union between it and the heart, with heart leading and being supported and channeled most effectively.
A wild heart is one that operates naturally, instinctively, and freely, providing direction from your authentic self and from the deepest passions and desires that stem from that truth. This is hidden between layers of “ideas” you have about yourself and the conditioned “desires” that you have come to learn.
Your wild heart will lead you back to your essence, and toward real liberation, satisfaction, harmony, and balance at the core of your being.
Be willing to face and lovingly let go of old mental and emotional patterns, and the conditioning that reins you in from experiencing your own wild, free heart – taking time to repattern yourself back to who you really are.
It’s not a simple journey at first, but it does become increasingly easy when consistently and actively engaged.
Afterall, it IS simply you returning to natural harmony. That may seem like a foreign experience right now, but it’s the most natural experience there is. You’ve simply forgotten this.
It’s interesting that in the last several days a few new animals have shown up for us here. Yesterday we had two long-tailed weasels visit our deck, which we’ve never seen. And on our bike ride, I saw a dead baby porcupine alongside the bike path. A few days ago I found a dead mouse on the forest trail behind our house. And swallowtail butterflies and large, chubby bumble bees (I like to call mini bear cubs with wings) galore have been visiting and dancing around me.
I didn’t get to see this one myself, but a friend had come to pick us up the other day and she said she saw a grown rabbit on our lawn. This made me happy because I’ve been wondering about Blueberry and his mom – the rabbit family from last year – and this made me feel that Blueberry was grown up and still making this his home.
These are just the more unusual of sightings to add to the array of daily regular ones, although I have a thing for finding all of the dead animals.
I also found five – my favorite number – Steller’s Jay feathers on Saturday…one after another. I actually “knew” I’d find five – even though they were all spread out over 7 miles.
The symbolism and energies of them are also telling and feel aligned with things.
Cycles continue and transformation is part of life. Best to flow with it, rather than fight it.
There are a lot of retrogrades also happening right now and these always lend to it being a beneficial time for reviewing and clarifying your life and life focuses.
What has been running the show for you?
What are your choices rooted in?
You have opportunity to change that story and live from a renewed connection to your inner heart’s guidance that now has the strong support system it has always craved, to do what it wants most.
This is manifesting from an open heart and it comes from the union of energies working together to strengthen each other.
Ask Astrid Fridays ~ The Rabbit’s Corner: Building Strong Foundations for the New
Last weekend Astrid received a new, wood castle tower to replace her toppling over, cardboard carrot cottage. I got her the cottage when she first came home to live with us and she immediately went at renovating it by chewing open the carrot windows and widening doorways to let in more light, create clearer vision, and have easier in-and-out access. Eventually, she started chewing the backside wall almost completely where the second story sat above the first, and the whole house became the Leaning Tower of Pisa – or like a friend said, “the Leaning Tower of Carrot.”
And this is where today’s blog inspiration comes from, as Astrid points out, “There is nothing random about this, mom. Reflect back for a moment and you’ll see what I mean.”
She’s right. When I first gave her the carrot cottage we were living in our condo – the tree house in the sky above Lake Tahoe – and were in a bit of flux with our living situation and decisions on what we wanted to create from there, what home looked like to us, new ideas around business ventures and long-term planning, and even what I wanted to do with my current inspirations of writing and so forth.
Hence, a bio-degradable, non-permanent, and easily mobile carrot cottage for Astrid – my reflective counterpart.
But just as we outgrew our tree house and decided upon a forest-side dream home that we, too, wanted to renovate, Astrid let out her energy larger and larger and I began to create a room of similar dream-home quality for her.
This all coincided with us rapidly moving many parts of our life at once, and setting into place brand new foundations that were strongly anchored, but also much more integrated and balanced. We continued to fine-tune our lives, cleared out the old, listened to what our hearts had to say, and worked on getting greater clarity of focus and efficiency while building and recreating.
Astrid continued to mirror this and more and more shifts to her little Wonderland realm began to happen while I listened to her needs and saw her for who she is. So, even what she started off with when first moving into this home, transformed. Much like it did for me.
All but that cardboard carrot cottage, which every morning she would chew away on more and more.
She tells me that she was doing this for three-fold reason.
One, she was moving energy through that chewing, as rabbits do, and this in reflection and addition to changes she processes and supports beyond even herself.
Two, she was trying to get my attention that this house just won’t do anymore. “I want a better lookout place to oversee things in the forest and to see into the Cosmos when the stars come out. I want a stronger fortress to create boundaries when I need them from the energies abound, so I can do my work more easily. I prefer my feet feeling grounded and supported with a strong foundation, rather than walking on flimsy, moving cardboard. I prefer castles over cottages because it’s who I am and deserve it – thank you for seeing that. I want to go bigger.”
And three, she wanted to remind me about the concept of building the new, which you can’t do upon an old foundation because the new structure will simply fall down. In order to build the new, you must work from the ground up, clear out all of the old that lies deep under the surfaces as well – the hidden stuff – and then rebuild and recreate from a whole new vision. This will create something lasting.
She’s so right.
Astrid would like me to break the latter one down further into digestible pieces of understanding. So, here we go.
Many times we try to build the new, but we don’t take time to look under the demolished building to see what it was standing on in the first place.
You can’t simply just put on new clothes, change location, get plastic surgery, or buy a new car.
Whatever you carried with you from before will still be there emanating and magnetizing things regardless of what the outside looks like.
But, if you do some psychic surgery, excavate into the emotional caverns of your heart, explore the inner realms and dig up the roots of your beliefs and patterns, you can then integrate and transmute, clear, and move beyond.
Then, the new you create has the ability to firmly root in clear fresh soil, without any of the old plants fighting for nourishment and energy.
Your new won’t come toppling down surprisingly one day when these old roots start surfacing again.
Astrid knows of these things because she and her rabbit family are so connected to Mother Earth.
They hear her vibrations and understand the inner workings that support vibrant and renewing ecosystems.
They hear the vibrational frequencies emanating beneath the surface and can see beyond what we present to them.
They see things for how they really are.
And so Astrid compels us to take a deeper look.
If we want to stand firm with our new visions, then we need to be willing to tear down, chew up, and process that stuff we don’t want to experience anymore, find their gifts, and transmute them into a brand new reality.
Don’t forget your parts along the way.
If your carrot cottage no longer suits the essence of you, then build yourself a strong castle tower where you can see more clearly from.
Yet, don’t forget those roots!
Astrid thinks everyone would do well with having some rabbit teeth for those nasty little buggers.
Chew, grind, and chew again, until they’re broken down and easily digestible.
Doing so will provide the nourishment needed to create new realities based on wisdom of the past and vision of the future, integrated right here and now.
Have a question for Astrid? She welcomes you to share them and we both send a lot of love to everyone processing the old and working on creating and building the new.
Aligning with Natural Cycles
I consistently see how the more we align with nature and the natural rhythms and cycles she reflects, the more life becomes a seamless experience without need to analyze and dissect what’s playing out. You may have noticed another shift into a more inward time period, with both challenges met – if you are trying to control things – or propulsion – if you are flowing with the nudges to redirect energies. This, of course, being a Mercury Retrograde influence, but truly it’s simply an ebb and flow of life.
Our minds enjoy wrapping their tentacles around understanding things, so to have those reiterations and details to link the “why’s” helps to appease that need.
This is shared for that part of the brain to help make sense of things I’ve been hearing people going through right now.
Mercury Retrogrades are times to really be gentle and kind to self and others, to release judgment and attachment, and to let go of trying to control things which only causes frustration, while you wind along meandering paths that have purpose even though you can’t see it quite yet.
They draw attention more inward, speak to completing things so you’re ready for the new, and help you to harness more effectiveness for that new.
It’s a time for processing and assimilating like the ever-growing, chewing and grinding teeth of a rabbit that helps digest new insights and perspectives available at this time for you to recognize.
Overall, this is the period of multiple r’s – reviewing, releasing, reclaiming, retrieving, recreating, renewing, reflection, and responsibility.
It’s natural to have these evolutionary processes as part of your life, so while Retrogrades may seem like the hidden enemy, they are actually quite supportive and productive if you choose to learn the language of this energy moving through you to support greater self-mastery.
As I reflect on my current situation, I can see how this is playing out naturally and supportively without my having planned or manipulated things and so, too, do I feel it is happening for each of us in relative ways although we may think otherwise.
I’ve currently found myself in organizing and finalizing mode, completing and preparing things, and clearing the slate, as I check off things one-by-one on my list.
Synchronously, I signed with my editor on the 13th, which catapulted me getting into the retrograde mode before its setting in on the 26th of July and I am set to receive it back by the 17th of August – the Retrograde ending the 18th.
I also have my last Reiki 3 Master Teacher workshop being taught on the 18th – it was moved by request of a student coming, which aligns with finalizing energy since it’s the last of that genre I’m teaching.
An interesting side note to that, which seems to be verifying this completion is that I discovered I lost a key chain. Not just any key chain, mind you. My Reiki key chain.
I recently just discovered that the quartz key chain with the word and symbol for Reiki engraved on it, cleanly broke off a very strong, thick chain that hung with my keys and other fun key chains. I’ve had it on there for years and to have it disappear speaks volumes to my being in alignment with this knowing that I’ve come full circle after teaching for 11 years. I love that the remaining key chains are a giant plush, pink bunny head I received as a free gift and a squeezable rainbow unicorn that poops rainbow sparkles when you squish her that my sweet Faery friend, KC – aka Bean – gave me. LOL! Speaks to my life.
Interesting for sure how the ending and new beginning of Reiki and my book, placing me on a different path and the timelines falling on the Retrograde ending, will put me in a new creation mode to work on a revision once things go direct. It’s like the passing of the baton. 🙂
People have asked what the book is about and when it is coming out, to which I’ve shared being guided to keep it a surprise (no one but myself and my editor have read the full story) and that I don’t know when it will be available, as I still have much to go before it will be out there. Perhaps next year – that seems feasible – but I won’t know for sure for some time, as I’m taking it step-by-step with full commitment to the thorough, patient process. Since it is my first book of this nature and like my baby, it needs its cultivation and nurturing process, as well as some very deep challenges to rise to with it.
So, I’ve been finishing things and preparing for when the book is returned, as I will have a lot of work ahead that will need my complete focus and will ask for a fresh new perspective and a fresh new me to dive into again.
I’ve been playing in the expansive field of potentials, dreaming and believing the impossible made possible, and taking actions, even if just energetic commitments, to solidify my partnership with the energy streams I travel.
I’m utilizing this time period to nurture myself and put things to rest, have read and am reading a bunch of books including a new one by a published author I’m reviewing, have been nurturing my plants, getting everything out of the way, preparing for an upcoming trip, and took some little side-detour creative time to help with that refresh.
It was funny because I got off the phone the other day with a friend and said to him, “I should go tend to my garden now,” referring to my plants and flowers I was working on before we got on the phone. He emphasized, “yes, you should go tend to your garden” and we both giggled at the metaphor of life we both recognized and he added he couldn’t let that one go without pointing it out – especially after the very complex journey we’d explored in conversation.
I’m also writing this as my last blog for a while, unless I have time for some short inspiration, as we are heading off this Friday morning for a small vacation for 10 days. This also seems perfect, as we will be attending two weddings at both ends of the trip, seeing friends and family that we haven’t seen for a long time, touching in for a few days in our old home base of Orange County and likely get to explore our favorite Crystal Cove again, and getting some relaxing, integration, and inspiration with time at the ocean in between at Pismo Beach.
We had planned to go to Yosemite, but changed plans due to Dave still healing and unable to hike extensively since his labrum repair surgery and due to fires near that area that didn’t make it optimal. We later learned they had closed Yosemite for the first time (not sure if it’s open again), but it all seemed aligned with our feeling the ocean was a better nurturer right now to take us somewhere different than our usual mountain and forest surroundings, and to the Pacific coast that we both love.
We return the 12th, still within the retrograde, in time to prep for the Reiki workshop and receiving my book back.
And speaking of last workshops (since I’ll be away while one of the registration deadlines roll around), if you want to join the last Reiki 3 Master Teacher workshop on Saturday, August 18th, as a new or review student, you can still register or let me know by August 11th.
And if you’re still interested in the Saturday, September 22nd Fall Equinox “Living a More Magickal Life” workshop event with Laura Bruno and myself, we have 2 of the 12 spots remaining. The last day to register for that is September 15th.
You can find links to both here: Workshop Updates
Retrogrades are a good time to complete and release things that no longer support your highest good, put to rest old “stuff”, have more patience and light-heartedness about things, take time for yourself away from it all, slow down and be still to receive, cleanse your life on all levels, focus on intentions you want to put out to the Universe, be more present in your life and with others especially in terms of more heart-based communication, listen and go within, and realize it’s not all that serious.
Things are always unfolding for the highest good even though you don’t feel like that’s the truth because it’s hard to embrace when you’re attached to outcomes and definitions of things.
You can utilize determination during this time to help carry out visions and goals, but remain flexible. You will also need to stay on top of your willpower, as illusions and immediate pleasures may easily sway you. Yes, that means more shadow work to help you to integrate and balance and be able to see things clearly. People and things that trigger us need to be looked at, not pushed away, in order to understand the trigger and what it is telling you about yourself and hidden feelings you may be afraid to see or acknowledge within.
Do you secretly envy someone or wish to be more like that which annoys you? Is the thing that is bothering you about them, a quality you, yourself possess, and therefore if you integrate it yourself with love, can transform your experience of self and others? Is the quality that you fear or cast out in another, a part of you that if nurtured, could really catapult your passionate life?
What are you willing to do and give up short-term for the things you desire? Your strength, will, determination and focus are key now, along with the flexibility to know when to flow so you maintain balance of mind, body, and spirit.
This isn’t so much the time for doing, as it is for being, so all of this is done on the inner planes and if done with commitment to the process of you, you will reap the benefits of the Retrograde, rather than feel controlled and beat down by it.
Keep the faith and lovingly nurture yourself and others during this time. The more you practice these things, the more you can discover how Retrogrades can be powerful, catapulting times.
I’ll see you again soon!
Tania Marie 