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Ask Astrid Fridays ~ The Rabbit’s Corner: A Small Pause, but a Big Reminder
It’s been a whirlwind of events the last couple of days, so Astrid was kind enough to let us skip this week’s Ask Astrid Fridays and return next Friday. However, I did promise her that as soon as things settled a bit, we’d let everyone know that we hadn’t forgotten her special blog day, but simply will be processing everything into what she may feel important to impart next time. She was completely fine with that because it just gives her more time to feel into everything in the collective field and how it relates to things unfolding here with connective meaning.
In the meantime, she wanted me to remind everyone about gratitude and how important that is.
So, here are some snippets from our last year’s Gratitude Giveaway post as reminders:
We all know that the more gratitude you have and express, the more abundance in all areas of your life you will experience. Not to mention, the more enriched, vibrant, joyful, peaceful, and fulfilling your life will be in every way.
We receive far more than when we are aware of, which indicates we actually have way more to be grateful for than we even make a point of realizing.
Think about the air you have to breathe, the sunlight that gives life, the trees that provide oxygen, the animals that keep our ecosystems healthy, or things like eyesight, ability to taste, smell, hear, touch, and experience life in sensual ways not elsewhere possible.
Yet, even things like our bills – whether you struggle to pay them or not – are actually things to be grateful for in the service they provide like electricity to see by or run your air conditioning, gas to warm your house or cook with, water to bathe in and clean your clothes, and mortgages that keep a roof over our heads.
And not only does recognizing and acknowledging everything we have to be grateful for help us to enjoy and receive more in life – yes even the hidden gifts in something or someone that rubs us the wrong way because they are emotional trainers for us to strengthen our hearts to love more – but we also find it easier to give more. And this is important because the flow of giving AND receiving is also part of living an abundant life.
Even when you think there’s nothing to be grateful for, you’re wrong as there is always something and in recognizing and thanking those things with all of your heart you will align your frequency with an increase in things that will enrich your life.
Even when you think you have nothing to give, if you give anyway – including money in a relative amount to your life, but greater than you think you’re capable of – the more you’ll find things flowing in.
Abundance equates to love, gratitude, and living in the flow of both giving and receiving.
Gratitude is one of the most effective ways to bring more of what you want into your life in incredible ways you wouldn’t even think of. It opens you to the highest good through simple, heartfelt gratitude, as this aligns you with your matching frequency.
Be grateful, as every moment is a gift.
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: Knowing Your Nodes for Evolutionary Balance
Astrid is right in alignment with today’s Full Moon in Libra, as she wears her own version of the “balancing scales” on her fur today, but literally IS the symbol for the nodes. AMAZING!!!! I was taken back at first noticing last night and was in awe of how yet again she reflects the perfect messages for us. She’s a walking embodiment of the collective energies, constantly mirroring what is most needed at this time.
Many years ago in my twenties, while researching astrological influences and dissecting my own chart, I came across the nodes. The material was very revealing at the time and I kept hold of notes over the years from those hours of research I did at the library, and continued at home in studies, with it. Then come some 10 years or so later, I discovered that for me, the South and North nodes were the most important key to revealing the path that would be most optimal on my evolutionary journey and returned to my work I’d started back then.
This continued to lead me to where I am now and most fully truly engaging this in the last 2-3 years.
The nodes speak to what you came here to learn, and the past challenges and gifts you brought with you for that journey of growth.
And here Astrid is reflecting this again, at a time period I continue to make more shifts, contemplate new ones, and forge ahead and anchor in a path that leads me onward.
Something the collective is also actively engaged in.
It is also being reflected right now during this Full Moon, when the spotlight is on revealing where imbalances are within the partnerships we have on all levels with things in our lives. A need for reviewing that masculine/feminine dance within our energies, as well as looking at the shadow and hidden parts of ourselves we may still not quite be fully aware of, have a handle on, or realize how important they are in what’s playing out around and in front of us.
You may find yourself facing the need to cut cords that no longer serve you at this time, power dynamics may be playing themselves out, and you may even be experiencing surprises or shocks to help you correct your course and feel more in alignment again.
What things are coming to an end of a cycle and asking for completion in your life?
I know currently a couple of major things are happening right now in my own that are ending some major cycles and that are really interesting to observe how they’re unfolding in uncanny and unquestionably connected full-cycle ways.
This Full Moon seems to be speaking to knowing thyself and putting forth your embodied truth before the desire to keep the peace and save face with others.
Where might you still be walking in someone else’s design of you, rather than creating from the heart of you?
Astrid wears this “node” and “balancing” sign directly at the back of her higher heart. There can be no more direct message for clarity and courage of living your truth and moving beyond the limitations that may be holding you back, while also integrating them in order to strengthen and reinvent the new.
The interesting thing is that you can’t see the symbol on her fur unless she stretches forward fully, like in this photo where I captured it while she bent down and over to eat her evening snacks.
It is otherwise hidden from its fullness.
She is demonstrating that you will need to have courage to “stretch” out of the comfort zones you’ve become accustomed to living in and this will put into activation the path of most alignment and light the path that you’ve felt was calling to you, but never quite could see.
Astrid encourages you to do the new and the challenging, rather than what has always felt easy.
You will need to stretch into the unknown.
Then, you will feel more purpose, passion, and pleasure in life when you jump off the tracks laid before you and build a new train that rides the timeline of your essence.
Ask Astrid Fridays ~ The Rabbit’s Corner: Sacred Bonds & the Rabbit-Human Connection
Today’s share is one that is very dear to both Astrid and I, as it speaks to the relationship we have and how meaningful the rabbit-human bonding is, in our opinion. The theme of her message came through last weekend for this and has been building over the course of the week. But in essence, speaks to the special connection that is made when you invest your heart and soul into being a guardian and best friend to a rabbit.
Astrid feels this is also an important message at this time because it is nearing Easter and we both know how many people will go out and purchase rabbits, especially baby rabbits, on a whim thinking they would be cute gifts for their children.
Helping people to understand rabbits more and what is truly involved within that sacred bond you embark upon cultivating, is one of our hopes to help impart.
We’ll be speaking together through what I share and then maybe Astrid will have a specific message she will want me to separate out for her.
Rabbits are very social animals, but they are nothing like dogs and cats. I know many people see them as cute and cuddly little ones, but most rabbits aren’t particularly interested in being held and snuggled the same way you might a dog or cat. That’s not to say that all rabbits are this way, as they each have their own personalities and some, like my sweet Cosmo, truly love being held close.
But this is usually the exception, rather than the rule because rabbits are ground-dwelling and feel safest when all four feet are connected to their Earth Mother.
That’s also not to say every dog or cat easily cuddles up either, as there are exceptions like with animals who have been through quite a challenging past or some kind of abuse and neglect.
I know that many people are looking for an animal they can hold or show constant affection to, feeling a need to have their furry companion available for a certain kind of closeness. Dogs and cats usually come first to mind for people thinking about getting an animal companion because of this.
That’s not to say, for instance, that all cats like to be snuggled and close, as they also have ideas that are independent to yours and may or may not desire the same when you want it.
Dogs may be more inclined to do so.
Not most rabbits.
That might be a turn-off for people desiring more from their animal companions.
For me, it is exactly what I love most about rabbits.
You see, rabbits are prey animals, unlike cats and dogs who are predators. It takes a deliberate investment of time, nurturing, patience, and ultra presence to gain the trust of your rabbit because they naturally have different instincts – which is, everything is a potential threat.
Like horses, rabbits are magnificent clear mirrors and can be amazing therapy animals to help reflect and teach you the deepest core parts of yourself.
Again, I’m not saying that dogs or cats don’t do this, as they do and many of them are therapy animals as well, but things will be much more subtle and take more patience, presence, and willingness to go a bit deeper when it comes to a prey animal.
Their instincts and senses are ultra-aware. They feel every little nuance at an all-time high and therefore they immediately know what is below the surface and at your core far before you will. They pick up the finest frequencies of vibrational misalignment and disharmony.
They have to, after all, because their survival depends on it.
And in doing so, they truly help reflect some hard things to see about ourselves and help us to understand where we are being inconsistent with what we are saying and doing, and what we are feeling.
So, when a rabbit decides to welcome you, give a little more each day to you, shows affection, lets you approach them and stroke or kiss them, snuggle them on the ground, grind their teeth in delight, lick you, play with you, flop themselves on their sides vulnerably into dreamland, come search you out, chins, nuzzles, nibbles at you, follows you or jumps up on the bed or couch with you, rests next to you, and maybe even lets you pick them up without a struggle – these are invaluable.
To me, to earn that kind of trust and love from a prey animal is ultra special and meaningful.
To know that Astrid, or any of my bunny loves, have felt safe and seen with me means everything to me.
It’s simply something deeper I can’t put into words, but chokes me up to create that kind of bond and relating that is operating on a super high level of sensitivity.
Plus, it constantly keeps me very present and aware moment-to-moment about how I’m acting, feeling, and noticing everything about my rabbit and what is normal or changing with their behavior.
This also, by the way, helps you to stay on top of their health, as they will hide things more than other animals and to be on your toes with what’s going on with them every moment can save their lives AND enrich both of yours.
Rabbits ask us to meet them at their level – literally – so going on the ground with them will help with the bonding.
They also ask us to meet them equally in energy – bringing our full selves to the table in pure honesty and integrity of heart. In this way they will respond just as clearly with acknowledgment and meeting you in much the same way.
Rabbits are very social animals and the relationship with you will be of utmost importance, alongside any other bonded rabbit they have as a partner. Connection is what will help your rabbit thrive and whether that means they have another or other rabbit friends, other furry animal companions, or bond with you, it is much needed to have that closeness.
Most rabbits do enjoy some level of affection, which can shift over time the more you invest in your relationship with them. It can be very pleasing to them to be snuggled or nuzzled on the ground, massaged, spoken to softly, caressed, or simply sitting or laying next to you.
They also love to play and thrive on fun – another way to bond with them.
I feel most of the time that my rabbit loves, including Astrid, think of me as another rabbit. That’s because I have learned to be more like them and interact with them, as they would with another rabbit and I always listen to their cues, knowing when they’ve had enough, if they want more, and what they like or don’t like.
Rabbits teach you to relax and slow down, get in touch with yourself, truly listen within, and live life with more gentleness.
They have all kinds of personalities, just like us, and aren’t there to please you the way you want or think you need, although once they welcome you as part of their “warren” you will be part of the family and appreciated and loved uniquely.
Over time, they can come to provide huge amounts of affection in the sweetest of ways and you learn that intimacy starts within the heart and can be extremely gratifying in more ways than you imagined because you have created a sacred bond.
“The sacred bond invites you to a secret dance that lies beyond the horizon of existence alone. It takes you into the alchemy of the heart that never ceases to be and always remembers its wholeness,” says Astrid.
Ask Astrid Fridays ~ The Rabbit’s Corner: Keeping Focused During Wild Times
So, Astrid and I have been very busy this week completing goals we had to clear the slate and while so, we’ve been hearing a lot from many friends about all of the rapid and wild changes happening in their lives. We can also feel this wave of very potent shifts sweeping across the collective and definitely rooting for us too. This is why we weren’t able to post Astrid’s message on her given day yesterday – Friday – and instead could only start it then and finish it today, Saturday.
I promised her we’d get one out since we missed last week with my being away on recharge vacation and I keep my promises, as we know a Faery’s word is bond.
She’s happy we didn’t skip this week, as she and I both feel how much energy is swirling out there and that many of you might feel challenged while you try to embrace all these fast changes and unknowns flying your way.
You’re not alone, as we’re all going through this together in our own ways and they all feel to be part of the upgrades we’re integrating.
There’s likely a lot that you feel in tangible ways coming out at you and also in energetic ways under the surface and yet none of this is something to be alarmed about, as it is indication things are in process and moving forward. We can either allow it to distract us or we can use them as a way to hone in on our skills and stay the course.
I can’t even begin to share how many stories we’ve heard about sudden things happening in people’s lives, but also how well many are just going with it and trusting without the thing they’re moving into being necessarily an ultimate end result, but definitely a wonderful step into a new way of thriving from the heart and from greater trust and joy.
There have also been, of course, the challenges with health, illnesses, surgeries, and even loss of loved ones in the physical we’ve heard about, and yet even those stories have a lining of sweetness alongside the bitter. All of it taking people to the next level from which they are able to expand deeper into sharing even more from their hearts in far-reaching ways and physically integrate a more nurturing body to house and support the upcoming changes.
Astrid wants to share a little story about her recent upgrades, as way of demonstrating something.
Recently, Astrid decided to chew some holes in her magickal green throne. While this might at quick glance seem destructive or even upsetting to some, she had a plan.
Chewing is a way of processing and integrating new energy.
Creating holes is a way of releasing energy and creating new doorways. A way to have tension relaxed, and move away something that may have been veiling or concealing a more supportive perspective with greater clarity.
Making holes in what “seemed” to be perfect invites creativity and imagination to envision and create something else – something different, and perhaps even more beautiful or incredible than what you thought you had or had come to be comfortable with.
Astrid knew I would understand and she also knew I had some beautiful things in my creative toolbox that would be the perfect “new” energy, beauty, and upgrade she desired, but also wanted to demonstrate.
And so her plain green throne became embellished with gorgeous blue rose and vines and white stars to match the one under her name – a merging of Earth and Cosmos.
“Nothing is ever ruined, hopeless, or over. Things simply take on a new form…transform…transmute. Every seeming ending is at the same time a beginning. You’ve heard it all before, but it seems we must reiterate at important junctions of evolution. Every hole that feels empty is ready to be filled. You have the ability to create again and again and again,” she says, “and are encouraged to do so…to keep weaving, as the spider does. Each web anew, but never laments over one that might have collapsed. She is moved to weave something different and perhaps even more beautiful than the last. And sometimes you can nurture that change by leaning into it, or even inducing it with courageous or spontaneous actions that seem currently to have no meaning or logic.”
I pause feeling the depth of what she is saying and how wise this dear soul in rabbit body is. I am further humbled she is by my side and grateful I can share her wisdom with others.
She was communing again with spider at start of this week without fear and received her wisdom further. Astrid is quite at home with spider. She knows that all creatures and things have purpose and wisdom, even if they seem scary or different. When you embrace that part within you, there is peace.
I’ve been seeing this all play out in my own life – no surprise since we’re so connected. A lot of things I’ve felt like a hanging chaotic or anxiety-filled veil just outside the peace while a lot of redecorating of my office (no surprise Astrid wanted to do this too), and clearing and staying very focused on completing goals despite all of the changes out “there” happening around me. I know they are indicative of change in “here” taking place and what I’m working toward. This year has and feels to continue to be one of both beginning and firmly completing a first step, which involves work that anchors in the new to be able to travel the changes I sense 2020 has in store. All connected with the collective landscape of transformation and upgrades into something more…something different.
Staying the course, while listening to the energies around for tweaks and adjustments is necessary, but remaining focused and not getting distracted is equally important.
Astrid is such a great partner for me for that with her Virgo self. She truly keeps me on check and nips me into keeping on track and accomplishing things in a timely manner.
She does love creativity and flow, but says it needs to be in balance with responsible action, dedication, and focus.
So how do we keep focused, you ask? When things are flying all around us, collapsing, and clearing out whether we like it or not?
“You anchor into the volatile, as reason to stay the course. Even chaos has reason, purpose, and focus. If you know change is who you are as a creative being by essence, then linger there and channel creativity to come up with new vehicles to ride the currents with, but to stay the course of the current. You may have a project or dream you’re working toward, but you don’t have to be distracted by everything that shows up – fun or otherwise. You might think chaos is trying to uproot you, but perhaps chaos invites you to a new kind of dance that sees all the light streaming through the cracks and doesn’t get lost in the dark. Those cracks bring you deeper within your inner navigation and help you strengthen the focus and flow. When you listen within the darkness, there is much more to hear than silence. Your focus is needed now at a time when everything seems unknown. Stay the unseen course, that is navigated by the heart. The particles of chaos will simply pass you by and not attach, by remaining on your stream of frequency in motion. Take moments to listen and you can distinguish frequencies to ride. You can stay the course without attachment. It’s simply a matter of inner autopilot following the clarity that vibrates at the same rate of your embodied vision,” Astrid ends.
Here are two other favorites by M83 to journey with what Astrid just shared and see if you can distinguish the frequencies swirling around you and hear the vibration of the stream you are on course to create.
Ask Astrid ~ The Rabbit’s Corner: Walk in Confidence & Crystals that Care
Today Astrid wants to speak to the voice of doubt within everyone – that little voice that finds ways to hurt you, says you’re a failure and never will amount to anything, the voice that never feels good enough, and the voice that cuts you down even when you make a step forward.
“Enough is enough,” she says. “There is only one you and you would not be here if there wasn’t something special you have to share.”
This made me think of the documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” we watched a couple of nights ago on Spring Equinox about Mister Rogers – you know, Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers Neighborhood. I had no idea his birthday was March 20, 1928 and here we were being drawn to watch this documentary on the eve of what would have been his birthday 91 years ago.
That felt like a rebirthing in itself, as there’s so much of how Fred Rogers is that mirrors myself. And as I walk forward on a new path, I know that feeling confident about exactly who I am at heart is what will carry me forward into unknown territory once again.
Perhaps Astrid felt how much I loved this documentary and tuned in deeper to the underlying messages around it, knowing how important they are to the heart of everyone.
I did turn to Dave several times in the movie saying “oh my gosh, he’s so like me and the things I do daily from the moment I wake up!” and he giggled back in agreement.
So often I’ve felt that people think I’m naive or too “pollyanna” about life and that my simplistic and innocent ways of viewing things, the magick and wonder I see, and the love I feel that underlies everything is just silliness and I can feel (even if they don’t say it) that they wished I’d “grow up”.
Many have wished I’d immerse myself more into the drama playing out in the world or be more like them as activists and taking stands on things like politics and such.
And it’s not that I don’t understand what is going on, but I see it all through different eyes and heart, have my own way of working with that, my own way of embodied activism, and my own way of desiring to find that bridge between all people, species, and life.
I’ve always loved Mister Rogers and remember watching it when my brother and I were growing up.
Last night I made so many connections and in hearing his story more, it deepened my belief in the way I approach life and that there’s a very valuable and much needed place for that level of sweetness, simplicity, innocence, and love, as a bridge.
Not that I haven’t always felt that, but it was a very loud message that solidified things and connects with Astrid’s message that I know she is sharing from the heart and wanting each and every one of us to really, REALLY understand and take to heart.
Many of you have probably watched the clip where Fred Rogers addresses the U.S. Senate using emotional intelligence, speaking from his child-like heart and in just six minutes convinces the Senator from Rhode Island not to cut $20 million for PBS.
If you haven’t seen this here it is:
You’d think you’d have to be some kind of genius, attorney, or whatever definition of someone you think has the power to persuade and talk a good talk, but in fact it was someone with innocence and love, who spoke a language everyone could feel, that won $20 million dollars.
“Being you from the heart is the most powerful thing you can do,” says Astrid. “Don’t ever be less than who you are. Don’t ever let anyone or those voices in your head persuade you otherwise. There is something special inside of you and when you express it vulnerably, you create a clearer and better world for everyone.”
That reminds me of the song, You are Special by Fred Rogers, 1968. Here are the simple lyrics:
You are my friend
You are special
You are my friend
You’re special to me.
You are the only one like you.
Like you, my friend, I like you.
In the daytime
In the nighttime
Any time that you feel’s the right time
For a friendship with me, you see
F-R-I-E-N-D special
You are my friend
You’re special to me.
There’s only one in this wonderful world
You are special.
Practice having more confidence and belief in yourself more everyday.
Take steps to push pass discomforts one at a time and feeling okay with it.
Stick to doing something new even when the voices emerge, and learn to trust yourself more with each time, creating a new habit.
Experiment and learn that with each attempt you are stronger and more capable than you imagine – more resilient of discomfort and are better for it.
Learn that even if something doesn’t work out as you hoped, that you can be okay with that and the feeling of going past what you thought were your limits during the process, is the success.
Astrid always knows what’s needed and where to direct me.
I hope you find a little pearl of wisdom that speaks to you in today’s share.
Astrid is encouraging me to speak a bit more about things I’m working on, including my new book.
I don’t talk much about it, but with my focus returned to it, I feel her encouragement.
I think she brings this up for this post, because she knows that the story I’ve written is very much who I am at the heart of me and it comes from a place of innocence I’m putting out in a much bigger way.
Another reason is that one part of the story ties into the offerings below.
I’ve shared that the main characters are rabbits and one of the pivotal elements in the story centers around a very special crystal and what might unfold if it were to get into the wrong hands.
I wasn’t going to post these until Easter, however, Astrid and the bunnies prompted me that people may want to bring the energies home to enjoy now and actually have to work with and ignite energies with the dawning of Spring. Plus, they know they will need the right alignment to match energies with their new guardian and friend.
They are crystals that care – here to support you into your highest truth, support the collective through your gifts, and align energies to reflect the heart of you.
So, these incredible offerings will be looking for their sacred partners later today in our Magick Rabbit Etsy Shop. UPDATE – now posted and ready for adoption.
They will include the following three items that have some of my own personal collection, amazing crystals included – these are just quick sneak peaks of the entire basket as a whole, as the listings will have close-ups of each beauty included in the baskets.
Two Ultimate Magick Rabbit Easter Baskets:
Cosmic Basket – includes rabbit basket, faerytale spiral moss, mushroom, Celestite open egg with rainbows, large Sunstone egg, medium Moonstone egg, and Alice in Wonderland natural vegetable soap in Vanilla Frosting scent. Two small silver stands included in case you want to display your Sunstone and Moonstone eggs separately.
Enchanted Forest Basket – includes rabbit basket, faerytale spiral moss, mushroom, large Ametrine (Amethyst and Citrine) Spirit/Faery Quartz plate, sparkly Amethyst cluster, Goldstone Butterfly, sweet little handmade rabbit decked out for Spring, and Alice in Wonderland natural vegetable soap in Tea for Two scent (sweet blend of freshly baked butter cookies sweetened with a dollup of tart, ripe blackberry jam)
UPDATE SOLD : And The Rabbit Faery’s Wing/Ear – one of the large pieces of the giant Amethyst Geode Rabbit that made its way back home to me. We discovered that this one was only to be worked with for a short while and that part of that was to include Astrid being able to activate energies with her and reprogram her to be ready to find her sacred partner.
We love you!!
Just a quick note: We’ll be away on a surprise last minute vacation starting Sunday and back next Saturday, so there won’t be any posts next week. I’ll be back the week after with more from Astrid and any inspirations and messages we have to share.
Ask Astrid Fridays ~ The Rabbit’s Corner: Exploring Sacred Relationships
I noticed how Astrid has deliberately placed herself in positions lately for me to take note of, as seen above and in the below photo. In both cases, reflecting something about relationship and partnership, as she stood beside the enchanted stuffed rabbit, Jellybean, and underneath the giraffe temple. I felt her wanting to expound upon some of what I shared in Whimsical Wednesdays’ blog about the upcoming Full Super Moon in Libra. But it goes beyond just this Moon’s phase, and speaks to the heart of sacred relationship.
The way things are set up here on Earth, in a land of duality and human need for connection, many of us find ourselves in search or desire of that union within a relationship. It makes sense, as all relationships are a desire to know and love ourselves and so our relating with “other” is a perfect vehicle to reflect that, as well as learn to understand and accept all of the colored parts of who we are.
And let’s face it, a relationship just feels good, right? There’s nothing wrong with this desire to connect on this kind of level, as it is very nurturing and supportive to the journey. It also makes sense, since we are all connected, that we love others because we, in essence, are love.
This is a reminder that all relationships are sacred, since All That Is is love.
And so, too, do we learn about our relationship to things and beliefs from the examples, teaching, conditioning, and patterns that we’ve learned through our relationships on all levels.
(Side note: Astrid began preparing for this post with me under my desk laying by my feet and nudging me – a way she sends her energy and messages, as well as gives the “okay”. And while I wrote this last part she had quickly hopped upstairs and all I could hear above me is her racing around like crazy in the living room doing laps! She’s quite excited and moving the energy. She just returned for a refreshing drink of goji-infused water and is settling back with me now.)
Now that she’s back, let’s see if she wants to share something directly.
Astrid: “Every relationship is sacred and the way to experience how all is sacred, is without resistance. Resistance comes through separation, and while not all relationships feel ‘good’ there is an underlying magnetism to understand it more, which may result in repulsion. You needn’t agree or condone something, but sacredness is there. Even the way you relate to a pattern or experience you have that you’d rather not anymore, is sacred, for it inherently drives and inspires you deeper into the love that you are, with or without the pattern. When you separate things, an invisible gap is created that seems insurmountable. A dance does not have to be intimate to learn to move with the rhythm. You need only to be willing to hear the music and allow it to move through you.”
Me: “That makes sense to me, as everything has a frequency that can unlock something if allowed simply to flow.”
Astrid: “Yes, it’s like fine-tuning a piano or one of those old radios.”
Me: “I’ve noticed a lot of people experiencing big relationship changes lately. Ending a long-time relationship for a new one. Walking away from friends, family, and community in their lives as a new life calls. Taking stands on issues more directly in the world because things are hitting home. Opening more courageously to a new relationship with themselves and willing to dig into the shadows. Inviting new forms of relationships in that don’t have to look like the kind of union we think of traditionally. And deciding to have a more deliberate and conscious relationship with deep patterns that may not even be personal anymore, but dig into a collective part of the DNA that is ready to be unveiled, unleashed, and released. The latter has been true for me.”
Astrid: “Yes, and what is your take-away from this my friend?”
Me: “That we are ready to walk in greater alignment of the love that we are without apologizing for things that were never wrong to begin with.”
Astrid: “The resistance is lifting because courage of the heart is awakening. What lies within is the greatest sacred journey of all, as it leads to everything. Any desire pulling you, is love’s journey to unify the discovery of what is already sacred within.”
Me: “I think that it’s challenging for some to believe that some of the really icky feeling things, frustrating, darker, or harsher things can be part of that equation.”
Astrid: “Aw, yes. But again, one needn’t condone something to create a new relationship to it. One’s way of relating can be the bridge to sacred being.”
Me: “Once again, you’ve given us a lot to ponder. Thank you my wise, sweet friend.”
I wonder if any of you have been experiencing more recently around this relationship theme lately, in any aspect of relating in your life?
Do you find yourself exploring a different version of relationship to someone or something?
Does it bring up a lot of emotions when you dig deeper into what that means for you?
And how is that being reflected in changes you’re experiencing?
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
As a sweet bunny reminder, the Spring Equinox and St. Patrick’s Day mini rabbit garden sale started yesterday and will go through end of March 20th. A creative way to put into action the alchemy of recreating, re-patterning, and rewriting your own life with the energies and intentions you desire as a new reality, while you share in the co-creating.
You’ll find some incredible, one-of-a-kind gardens sharing in the whimsy that include beautiful procured vintage pieces at amazing prices.
There’s also some mini worlds that include some of my favorite themes like Peter Rabbit and his triplet sisters Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail, Wonderland, Watership Down, Faerytales, portals and more.
You can tell I get excited. 🙂
At the link below, you’ll find an item category at left that makes browsing the sale items easy as well as the type of mini garden you’re interested in.
Wishing you a beautiful weekend, as you explore your relationships of life.
Ask Astrid Fridays ~ The Rabbit’s Corner: Surprises That Change Your Life in Wondrous Ways
You’ve all experienced the element of surprise – the moments that take you off-guard or provide quite the shock to your life. These jolts can take the form of unwelcome and shattering surprises, sweet and exciting ones, and a whole gamut in between. In any of these cases, surprises herald shifts in your feelings and experiences that act like defining moments in your life that provide opportunity and greater possibility.
Today’s message from Astrid is about learning to find greater peace with surprise and to know that while sometimes these surprises feel painful or challenging, they can also be eye-opening, nurturing, and reflections of you being ready for so much more.
Being that tomorrow marks the official day four years ago that I adopted Cosmo, our special needs bunny extraordinaire, Astrid is inviting him into today’s message because she knows that like her appearance in my life, he was a huge surprise to me, too. One that brought along more than I knew anything about at the time, but became the defining moment of life shifts, heart healing, and greater essence embodiment for me.
Surprises can jolt you into greater recognition of who you are.
And while some surprises you may want to fight, challenge, or feel defeated and crushed by, each provides you the opportunity to drop into more presence of the moment and see where you’ve been invited to rise to the occasion of you.
Something simple like a surprise gift, a smile, a “thank you,” or an “I love you” might drop you into the opportunity to receive, feel how special you are, flip a switch on your current emotional state, or to open and give more freely.
Something much larger like a surprise injury, illness, a move, a break-up, loss of a job, stress, or having to say “goodbye” to someone or something might drop you into slowing down, nurturing yourself more, making adjustments that are more enriching for you, realizing how much there is to be grateful for, creating more balance, aligning you with better opportunities and fulfillment, is speaking to your having more strength and resiliency than you think, and is inviting you to step out in bigger ways, as you have more now to support and inspire others with while you expand and evolve through the experience.
Yes, surprises can be jolting in what you define as good and not-so-good ways, but ultimately the Universe or All That Is doesn’t judge them as either. They are simply the next part of the web you are stretching out to weave.
There was once a time that the continual, not-so-fun surprises used to hit my life and I’d wonder what the heck I was doing so wrong to have them take place. Even injuries used to initially be a downer and questioning of my efforts gone in vain.
But I learned quickly this was no way to approach things if I actually wanted the peace and joy I desired. It would only put me in a downward spiral, creating greater difficulty and effort to rise out of.
And along came Cosmo.
He had every bit of his bunny joy cut away when an injury at his foster home left him unable to walk. He became a “down” bunny, unable to run, binky, jump, fully clean himself, or even get to his cecotropes on his own. He endured daily pain from his spinal injury and growing arthritis.
And yet his demeanor remained unconditionally loving, compassionate, and joyful. Everything was sweetness to him and he never hesitated to show you his love.
Although I’d learned that these “surprises” in life were not my fault or something to punish myself about, or to get angry and defeated by, it wasn’t until Cosmo came along that I truly learned how to embody these ideas, as his example and presence in my life revealed his consistent and constant embodiment of rising to the occasion.
“He knew the way to your heart,” Astrid says. “Only he could make the lasting impression that would linger with you forever and make the next needed shifts. And so your worlds collided because you both were ready. Even though you’d never cared for a special needs child, he knew your heart would find the way because of the love you both shared. Although all of us – the rabbits in your life – have been children to you, he was truly your baby, sharing a bond of mother and child in every sense of that relationship. And yet, he was also your teacher to help you into the next chapter.”
“He was definitely a huge surprise to me on so many levels. The circumstances bringing us together were highly unusual and came out of no where. Not to mention, at a time when so much was changing and unknown – when I didn’t even think I’d be around much longer. I didn’t even know the full circumstances of what his condition was and what would be involved to care for him. He just pushed open the door I left a crack open to in my heart and everything flooded in. I was constantly surprised how much deeper my heart grew, how bonded we became so fast, and how much joy every aspect of caring for his special needs brought to me. While I cared for him, I know I was caring for myself. He was the little broken parts of the inner child me and all of the pains I’d carried over the years and lives, now come to be seen as whole and perfect, as I saw him whole and perfect. We didn’t have anything to heal. We needed only to love. Love erased any wrongs and was the valuable residue that would always remain long after,” I answer. “Life suddenly became sweeter and consistently seen only through love.”
“Surprises come in many forms and bring along with them a string of gifts and potentials when you move with them rather than against them,” Astrid adds. “Just like your most recent injury.”
“Yes, I’ve not once been upset over my knee and it’s interesting how immediately through that moving with it, as you said, I noticed my body surrendering into what it wanted with ease. Resting, slowing down, refocusing, making changes – it all just flowed and seems seamless,” I answer. “And interestingly, my leg has been undergoing rapid healing. I was completely embracing of it potentially taking months, but things have been shifting so fast.”
“You didn’t fight the surprise, nor judge it. When you live life with greater presence and experience it as a whole – not one aspect being better or worse, but simply pieces of purpose and promise – things move quickly. You become conscious of the gifts sooner and even humor finds a sweet spot within the experience. Some thing may be harder to grasp in such a way, but each smaller surprise, and some of the larger ones you’ve already moved through, will help act as reminders. You don’t always get to see what might have been, had these surprises not happened. Sometimes they are detours to something you might deem far worse. Sometimes they are detours to something incredible you can’t imagine yet. Sometimes they’re simply growing pains. And still, perhaps they needn’t be any of these. Could not surprises be revealing an opportunity to experience something simply different or new? Could not surprises swing you back and forth through contrasting experiences to help you to release the idea of an ideal. That maybe, just maybe, surprises are calculated perfection within all that is naturally in harmony,” Astrid concludes.
Ask Astrid Friday’s ~ The Rabbit’s Corner: Yield in the Face of Change
Ever since our Amethyst babies have returned home, the energy has been shaking up and redirecting here. Not in a new direction, per say, but into alignment with what I’d been sensing. The Universe, or All That Is, likes to reiterate things in reflection and with the types of astrological placements I have, much of the time my messages come in clear through an injury or fracture. This took place today.
I slipped on some ice, even after being told twice by Dave to be careful of it AND being cautious. My heel just hit the perfect angle sending me out of balance and falling in a way that overextended my knee. And this leaves me either with a strain or tear to my MCL. At least not a bone fracture, as my usual M.O., but ligament injuries are no fun thing and it will take time to heal.
And where does that leave me?
Only able to focus on my writing again. Go figure!
It was no surprise by me and it just seems that the Universe, or Uni, as I like to call IT has my back and knows me well – that to get into alignment with the momentum needed, there would need to be something put into place.
I’ve also sensed a lot of energy out there and my desire not to engage in it. There may be a part of that in this too, but also reflecting how I’m really ready to move forward with new momentum.
And, just like Astrid went through her little experience of moving energy through her solar plexus recently, I am moving energy through my knee – the place of flexibility, movement, and considered where we assimilate knowledge and learning on a spiritual and energetic level (think kneeling and praying – even being knighted back in the day). When you take into account that knees can also represent fears and humility, it makes a lot of sense.
It’s interesting that Astrid has changed her position of where she lays the last few days for her daytime naps. Normally she’s enjoyed being under the sleigh at center of our room or under the low meditation table in the exercise room adjacent to ours.
But I’ve found her now in the top level of her castle tower and with her body curved in positions where her bunny butt hangs out the window on one side or her legs do.
She seems to say with this that the peace in our hearts can keep us anchored and safe, even when we stretch parts of ourselves through unknown doorways.
That it’s about moving forward with a new approach to change, which is basically the unknown.
“You know, the unknown you’ve felt around your book,” she adds.
She likes to cut to the chase.
“Yes, you’re absolutely right,” I reply. “And you know that I’ve said I was going to get back to it full time after my birthday even though I’ve felt some fear around it.”
“Yes, and I’ve seen you clearing the slate and making room for it,” she says. “You’ve been feeling the tug at your heart for a few weeks now, while being presented with life options, and we’ve been waiting to see what you’d choose.”
She’s right. I have been feeling it in the background very profoundly and started getting the sense to jump full on in again, which is why on Monday I’d announced that Monday and Wednesday’s blogs would likely go dormant while I switch back gears to writing full time.
“Yes, and you know how powerful your words and feelings are. You then created the scenario to ensure it!” she says with a wink.
“I did indeed, because now I will need to rest my knee and lay low, which will keep me where I feel I want and need to be. It also ensures I listen to the messages so as not to create anything really terrible. I think the wind and storm, and now the knee, all point to new directions and their timeliness I’ve felt in my soul. Funny that I also was heading into a new form of painting with my side creative time to accompany writing, which all keeps me able to sit or lay on the bed while doing them.”
“You do follow your feelings well,” she says. “There are times you may feel vulnerable or even unsure about something, but you have never been one to resist the winds of change. That’s why you braved those 80 mile an hour winds without hesitation and stepped into them with determination to retrieve your things. Your knee is not a punishment or bad thing, but simply a reset and an opportunity to surrender even more and open to yet wider, even more flexible possibilities you have yet to imagine with your writing. Anything that feels overwhelming can be embraced through humility. I know that the next phase will likely be your hardest one yet with the book, but the wisdom of your knee is to yield in the face of change. Something I know you can do well, my friend. Remember where you’ve been and how far you’ve come. Now repeat that process. The parts and players may be different, but the game is still the same.” she says.
~
I wonder if any of you are approaching similar resets in your life that seem both exciting and overwhelming?
Do Astrid’s words touch a chord?
Ask Astrid Fridays ~ The Rabbit’s Corner: Cracking the Code
Well, just when you thought things couldn’t get any better, they sure do. You might recall this blog post from April of last year, Full Circle ~ Amethyst Rabbit Returns where I chronicled how the rabbit ears and another smaller piece of the giant Amethyst geode I once had, returned to me and Astrid. I mentioned in that post, how the Amethyst had split in several pieces, but it wasn’t until just this week (right as the Super Full Moon was in full illumination) that those other pieces were ready to move on again.
Astrid had called them in then and now she has done it again.
My dear friend, Yasmin, of The Sun Moon & Stars NY messaged me about all of the pieces ready to be with new guardians and since that day we’ve been engaging in a flurry of messages and astounding unfoldings with not only this Amethyst giant, but a Lemurian Seed Crystal giant – master crystals like no other.
I had told her if the pieces wanted to release, to please let me know, as I felt strongly that some would want to return. And that they did – in fact three large pieces have come home. That leaves me with five – my favorite, magick, and Nestor connected number.
She kept three large pieces for herself, and the rest were put out to the universe to draw in the perfect guardians to co-create with next.
It’s going to be impossible to share the depth of meaning around all of this, but Astrid does have things to impart for now to help us grasp what is happening.
Let me just back track for a brief summary about this Amethyst.
It came to me after I’d lost my twin soul in rabbit body, Nestor. I didn’t actually see that it was in the shape of a rabbit until it set foot into my home. When I first purchased it from a dear friend and crystal guardian at the Tucson Gem Show (I’d purchased many from him) we had seen it as a Gnome, not a rabbit. And I literally cracked open and bawled when I discovered it was in fact a rabbit – only seeing this once it was in my energy zone in Tahoe and with me, my tortoise Gaia, and new rabbit soulmate Joy.
It has always been a portal, timelink, and guide in our lives – a way for us to connect with Nestor and for me and my animal companions to have access to the beyond.
We parted ways when my life had reached the depths of beyond in full detachment of everything. When I released all I thought myself to be, I opened to knowing something far greater. This is where the journey began anew.
Since, I, and friends of mine have continued to report exploding crystals spontaneously taking place. A lot of transformations too. It’s no wonder why my blog post, When Crystals Have “Accidents” – What Does It Mean? is one of my two top blog posts of all times with 182 comments from people everywhere sharing and asking about their crystals falling, breaking, changing…before their eyes.
While there will definitely be direct personal reflections for these intimate experiences, I am being told it’s a collective phenomena and that the crystalline matrix is transforming along with us.
But beyond this, I clearly got loud and clear from Astrid, the bunnies, and Gaia today when the giant Lemurian Seed Crystal Master started exploding too, that it reflects our “cracking a code.”
These giants have decided it’s time for more to be part of the matrix of these codes, and therefore called, or are getting ready to call in, co-creators to assist.
I just received my three pieces of the Amethyst yesterday (just in time to activate some things for my upcoming birthday next week), along with a large jar of individual little points and mini clusters) and it was a beautiful homecoming – we have yet to unravel the work we’ll be doing, but upon their arrival I laid them out on the center rug to my shared room with Astrid, near the Master Tahoe Quartz she loves and works with, so she could have time to herself while we left for dinner, to connect with them.
I know she’s called them in and I’m looking forward to what more she will reveal beyond what she shares today.
The same day, two other people connected to me and the bunnies also received their pieces of the Amethyst.
I found it quite fascinating that four people deeply connected to me were all called to bring a piece home – including two of my Reiki students, a coaching client, and my own Reiki Master Teacher, Laura – but in essence, and above all else, all dear friends and all having worked together in “past” lives with the crystal matrix for collective good.
Some of the pieces that made it to their new home with Kat
A piece I helped procure and is home with Laura
Then there were those friends and clients of Yasmin’s as well, and so a collective grid across this continent has been anchored, taking pieces of the Amethyst to where they are needed.
It was also very interesting that the same night all of these pieces of the Amethyst rabbit found new homes, Yasmin messaged me in shock telling me about the rabbit she was seeing in the Super Full Moon for the first time. I found that quite telling that after she embraced surrendering to assisting the rabbit energy to get where it needed to go, she then had her awareness shifted in “seeing” the rabbit that has always been there.
As Yasmin and I talked, we discovered all the vast locations they were going off to and even how she’d be taking a piece to a Costa Rica retreat she was going to, as an offering to our Earth Mother. Synchronously, I was supposed to be in Costa Rica next month, but the trip dates with family got changed, making it so that we couldn’t go. It seems Yasmin and I traded places.
It’s things like this that demonstrate the connections we have and how we are doing work together with soul family.
I wondered to myself yesterday if the Giant Lemurian Seed Crystal would be releasing more, as only a few smaller pieces had released around the base that did also move on at the same time. Yet, none of them had called to me. Not much after that, Yasmin shared how a shard literally exploded and a point cracked in two, and then today it further dismantled and a large full point released, with more on the way. You can imagine how this has been deeply emotional for her, just as it was and always is when crystals have moved on from me – bitter sweet indeed. We both feel that a part of the Lemurian will remain with her, some larger points will come to me, and the rest will move on to others.
Each one of us all going through huge transformations in our lives, again, just as I know and am hearing/seeing about from so, so many others of you out there.
So, what the heck is it all about?
I’d like to preface that this morning Astrid was amped up. She was running back and forth, up and down the stairs. She wanted to connect with me a lot, and she had a lot of energy to move. She was anxious. This, all after having had time with the Amethyst babies last night and this morning to herself.
I told her I’d be back to receive her message, needing some nature time to ground.
She was waiting for me, wide awake, when normally she’d be resting. I said hi and had to leave to go get lunch ready, but told her we’d start her blog once I was done.
She was then waiting for me under my desk when I returned, fully alert.
I snuggled her a bit, as she chattered her teeth in delight, and then put my third eye to hers to receive.
We journeyed in light speed down a dark cosmic tunnel with specks of light gliding by and revolving all around us. It was very intense…so much so that she pulled away.
I knew it was time. That was the channel she created for me to receive.
I began and she nudged my foot and ankle with her nose, then went off to lay inside her dark castle tunnel to send me what was needed.
I keep seeing images of the Cosmos and stars moving in warp speed, or perhaps it is me traveling as such through them. Explosions, cosmic flames, and almost electric nebulae all around morphing like wombs birthing stars.
Astrid is ready.
“When you heard ‘cracking a code’ this was meant in a literal way. The One – these Crystal Masters represent – have been awaiting like time capsules. Embodied as you once saw them with much to share as was. Yet, like much of what has been seeded here on Earth, each thing you see is much more than what they appear. And also will be far more than you think even if less than your mind originally perceives. Every spiral of the cycle will bring forward more. It’s never-ending, and yet you reach a pinnacle of the spiral where a wider experience is made possible. There has been a large impact of late, fusing together the key to the next spiral. Many are ‘cracking the codes’ and this has unlocked the puzzle pieces to be accessed and revealed further. This could not have happened until enough were ready. And so it is that many more than you think, are. And so it is that things are in fact shifting under your nose, even though I hear many of you unsure, unaware, or thinking it still is yet so far. No, it’s here. It’s now,” she sends me. “Go ahead. Yes, share the word you heard.”
“Okay. Identity,” I reply.
“Yes, you heard right when that came. Identity. Please share its definition so I might point out some things,” she adds.
“According to Merriam-Webster:
1a: the distinguishing character or personality of an individual : INDIVIDUALITY
b: the relation established by psychological identification
2: the condition of being the same with something described or asserted
5: IDENTITY ELEMENT: an element (such as 0 in the set of all integers under addition or 1 in the set of positive integers under multiplication) that leaves any element of the set to which it belongs unchanged when combined with it by a specified operation
I think I can feel where you’re going with this.”
“Through the search of identity – a very important part of what you call the journey – you have never left the One. Each piece of these Crystal Giants, although have left their origin, never relinquish it either. Every piece, every you, are part of the greater Whole. And yet, you are each the Whole. This you know already. So much you journey away, to, here, and there, in discovery…and rightfully with yearning to understand. But the journey has also been an illusion. Just as distinctions or connections are used to evade truths. In uncovering the individual identity, you have seen the grace of All That Is. Truths have been seeded within the crystal matrix – this is some of what you’ve learned to be things like record-keepers and other names you call the identities within each crystal. The same truths seeded within each of you. This has opened doors with what appears like the disintegration of these crystalline beings, and yet the truths they hold will always remain even when you no longer see them before you. You are disintegrating the concepts into truths. You are emerging into truths, as the shells that have held you bound, crack open. You feel it’s a journey, but it’s an acceleration of uniting once again and this acts like spontaneous combustion. When rapid essence occurs, it can no longer be contained and accelerates into something untouchable, yet extraordinarily impactful,” she adds.
“I see. So could it be that each of these crystal beings reflects a whole universe of identity returned to essence?” I ask.
“Or identity AS essence,” she answers. “There truly is no search needed and no journey to embark upon. This you are uncovering and piecing together, as the pieces of the puzzle fall apart. As the crystals explode, and “crack” apart. The codes within them are the same within you. While the pieces grow smaller, it is simply the proximity to your combustion that has accelerated. And by this I do not mean you, too, need “explode,” but rather, truly shine,” she ends.
“It’s a lot to take in, Astrid. I feel your words as codes themselves. Thank you. I know you plan for us to continue this decoding together. And that these crystal beings spread out all over, will continue both revealing and reflecting the transmutation at hand.”
I’ll leave you with this.
I just “randomly” found this video from one of my favorites, M83, called Lower Your Eyelids to Die with the Sun because not only does it have similar visions I was seeing, but the music truly embodies the essence of this message today.
