Anahata's Purpose 2023, Part 2.

And welcome to the second half of my Anahata's Purpose episodes. I talked to Mike from The Rusted Rabbit, Rachel of Anahata's Purpose and Two Geminis and a Leo, my awesome Crow Coven Jayne and Sarah, and you get to meet my niece Simone, who was able to attend with me for the first time.

As a reminder- I'll be vending and possibly recording this weekend, Saturday the 28th at TarotCon. It's at Bookman's East from 4-9 here in Tucson. Stop by and get a Your Average Witch button, get a tarot reading (not by me), and maybe even get your aura photo taken!  Get more info here

Speaking of my niece- her other aunt recently passed away, leaving a young son in a state of upheaval. If you have a few bucks to spare, it would be of great help to this kiddo.  Even if you can't help monetarily, just sharing the link helps tremendously!
https://gofund.me/af9ced51

Transcript

Welcome back to Your Average Witch, where every Tuesday we talk about witch life, witch stories, and sometimes a little witchcraft. This episode of Your Average Witch is brought to you by Clever Kim's Curios. Be sure to come see me this weekend at Tarot Con. I'll be at Bookman's East here in Tucson from 4 to 9 on Saturday the 28th, selling wickedly witchy wares. This week is the second half of my Anahata's interviews. I talked to Mike from the Rusted Rabbit, had a travel-worn conversation with my trip mates and Crow Coven, Jayne and Sarah, share a moment with Anahata's Purpose founder Rachel on the last day of the event, and you even get to hear from someone who's known me since before Clever Kim's Curios ever existed. Now let's get to the stories.

Kim: Hello, welcome to the last day of Anahata's.

Mike: Hi, how's it going?

Kim: Could you please introduce yourself and let everybody know who you are and what you do and where they can find you?

Mike: Yeah, my name is Mike, I am kind of a Bean-adjacent person, they, them, primarily. I am from Michigan, Lindsay is my partner. I am also known as the popcorn parent or daddy or whatever you wanna call me.

Kim: Is that what you prefer, parent?

Mike: I do.

Kim: 'Cause I can rearrange it in my brain, okay.

Mike: That's okay, popcorn zaddy, popcorn parent. I'm honestly okay with really any, as long as I'm being perceived, I'm good with it. I'm that kind of person.

Kim: I don't want THAT.

Mike: But yeah, I am a part of the Rusted Rabbit. Lindsay and I have been running that business for about six years now, doing like crystal and wire wrapped jewelry, stuff like that. We really enjoy it. And yeah, you can find us on Facebook and Instagram. Facebook it's just The Rusted Rabbit , we're out of Grand Rapids, Michigan and on Instagram We are at The Real Rusted Rabbit. And yeah, I think that's about where you can find us. Otherwise, oh And our website is www.therustedrabbitgr.com.

Kim: And how many times have you been to Anaheim's Purpose?

Mike: So this is my second time being here. We came last year, Lindsay kept hearing about... we spend so much of our time and so many of our weekends just working on the business, and you know, trying to survive and do all that stuff being ourselves, that you need to take some time every once in a while. And we're like hell why not just drive 12 hours and go find something fun to do right? Last year it was kind of a... not, not just like placating Lindsay. It was more of a like...

Kim: This is for you.

Mike: Yeah, this is for you. I'm gonna go and have fun and make sure that everything is comfortable. And yeah, this year was more of a like, I've been there, now I'm excited. I see what it's about. I know some of the people. I feel like I have a place. And so it was a lot more exciting. And yeah, this year, my main intention was to break out of my musically creative rut. The last year and a half to two years, I've just kind of been so focused on the making side of things when it comes to jewelry in the business that I haven't really picked up any of my instruments or made any music whatsoever, and since I've been here I've almost not stopped.

Kim: Do you feel like being here this year and last year, do you think that has affected your practice and your life outside of actually being here?

Mike: Let me think of how to frame that. I would say for me, coming into it last year, I didn't really have an idea, like a semblance of like what that practice was. And then coming here, taking some of the classes, really helped me get some like framework for what that looks like, and how different it is for everyone. And yeah, it just kind of helped me. I'm very curious, my whole kind of thing in the following else's way to think. So it's how you kind of start to build that for myself. And I could not thank the people that are putting this on enough for giving every one of us here a space to start doing that themselves.

Kim: Why should people come here?

Mike: Because I said so? (laughs)

Kim: Okay. The end. Bye. (both laugh)

*audio craps itself* (Don't buy Magic Pop Mics, folks)

Mike: But no, it's magical for you to come and be yourself. Like, it's, there's so much love and energy and joy. And there's, you know, there's sadness. There's a lot of people really, like, figuring out how to deal with the things that they brought here from default life. And there's just such a wide range of the human condition, and the human... just emotional centers happening here that like, no matter where you go, you can find something to connect with, and find someone to connect with. And I, for me personally, it's just been a really, a really eye opening experience that really helped me to kind of start figure out who I am and move into the new version of myself. And I'm, I'm really thankful for it.

Kim: Yeah. Brie, her coloring book about death was in there and my niece stood up and was like, why would anybody do this? So I got to explain to her about my death terror.

Mike: Yeah.

Kim: And why you need that coloring book.

Mike: Yep. Absolutely.

Kim: Well thanks for talking to me, and I'll see you on the internet. Bye!

Mike: Yeah, thank you. (fades out)

Amber: Hi, hello. My name is Amber and I'm an ambling witch. You can find me at amblingwitchcraft.com, or search ambling witchcraft on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. This is my first year attending Anahata's Purpose, and I actually missed the deadline to purchase my tickets because life happened. A few weeks later, I was able to get tickets through a friend who had originally planned to go, but life happened on their end and their plans changed, so it worked out for me to be able to go this year. I've been hearing about Anahata,s for years through the Witch Bitch Amateur Hour and the Your Average Witch podcast, and I knew that this was an event I would enjoy and took inspiration from all of the wonderful stories to kind of help push me out of my comfort zone and make that trip happen. It is really hard to choose a favorite moment, but one that sticks out to me the most is hanging out in the screened-in porch of Hive House playing Adult Questions. I don't know if I've ever laughed so hard in my life. Overall, the social interactions and the major feelings of safety and community was a continuous theme the entire time that I was there. Now that a week or so has passed, I went into Anahata's thinking I could not meditate. Day one, I did four or five workshops and in each one had you meditate. (laughs) So I learned that I can in fact do that. This has led me to being able to actually center and ground before workings instead of skipping that step, like I used to. It's also inspiring me to reconnect with the runes and my energy work practices as I'd set those down for a couple of years because I was feeling really disconnected. So it really has helped me reconnect with all of those things that I used to do regularly. When I got home, the me-shaped hole that I'd left behind no longer fit. It was really a lot too small. I've had to rebalance and reassess what is working for me and what no longer serves me in my personal life. And it's a bit overwhelming trying to take up all the things I had set down when I went to go head out to Anahata's Purpose, as well as adding in all the new things that I brought back from Anahata's Purpose. I'm not sure how much of it is the post-vacation malaise and how much of it is an energetic shift, but my daily routine is almost completely different now than it was before I left. I actually wake up more easily in the mornings, I'm able to center and ground immediately when I need to, and I've even integrated yoga into how I function as a human, which has always been a struggle for me. What would you like to see next year that you haven't seen there before? Honestly, I would love to see Kim teach a class. I just want to see what she would teach and how she would teach it. Like, that would be super exciting for me. Other than that, I think maybe a kayak instructor for those of us who don't know how to kayak, because I know they're available at the river, and I would love to learn how to actually navigate down that river and see kind of the sights that you don't get to see on the shore. Why should people come to Anahata's Purpose? In a word, community. Not only did I get to meet my Marco Polo friends in person and hug them, but I made new friends so easily. For me, who is someone with severe social anxiety, being able to walk in a space with absolutely no fear and strike up a conversation with literally anyone was a novel and amazing experience. The classes are also fantastic, the events are exciting, and the environment there makes you feel like you're coming home.

Christian: My name is Christian Pope.Yes, I do see the irony being a witch and being named that. I was once told by someone that two negatives make a positive. So here I am. Though most of my life I have known that I have believed in some alternative form of spirituality and not fit in with other religious practices that I saw around me, I wouldn't say that I had a name to it, or been actively practicing until the last five years. So when it comes to my skill level I'd say I'm beginner to intermediate at the most. Actually coming to the Purpose was a little more than intimidating because I saw people of all forms and skill sets, those who have made a living out of their practice. And it's really admirable. I loved seeing it. When it comes to my everyday life, I... I simply work at a memory care facility, which is in care for those who suffer with Alzheimer's or dementia, and I'm currently getting my bachelor's in psychology. I also have an almost four-year-old who takes up a majority of my time, and is probably a budding witch herself, if we're honest. I am out of the broom closet, but I don't know how loud and proud I am, just because I live in a really small town in Idaho. So the majority of the state is very red, very conservative, very country. I don't see people coming at me with pitchforks or torches, but I don't see a lot of the environment being so welcoming, either. So, needless to say, I have been a solo practitioner and pretty self-isolate. I found out about Anahata's Purpose through Witch Bitch Amateur Hour, as well as Two Geminis and A Leo, which I found from WBAH as well. I, being a hermit, was so excited to find this online community of like-minded individuals. I craved that. So, when the purpose was creeping up, I made the decision very, very last minute to attend. And when I say last minute, I mean I purchased my tickets within the month. And I didn't know who was going to pick me up. I didn't know a majority of the people there. Never met anyone face to face. I guess I had a big case of the fuck-its. Like, this was what I needed to do. And to say that I'm grateful that I did it is an understatement. This is my first time ever doing anything like this. And it was my first time at The Purpose. They say that you get a lesson every time that you go to the Purpose that you need to heal or work on. And the first day, I took two classes that made me cry my eyes out, and both were regarding community and how I am with relationships. I struggle to be vulnerable. I struggle with not having a lot of those intimate relationships, or pushing people out, or feeling that I don't belong, or just being estranged from everyone and everywhere. And the first day it was pretty much apparent that, okay Christian you need to fucking stop that. And that was the key theme with my whole trip there was getting out of my comfort zone and being a part of community. A bunch of strangers that I had never met before. It is so hard to say what my favorite moment was, just because there is a plethora of things. I'd say my favorite class that was out of my comfort zone was contact dancing. Because it went with that theme of dropping my guard and being vulnerable. Where me and like seven other strangers just danced and mirrored each other and I let... (sighs) I didn't have a giant guard up. But there was a plethora of other moments as well. Waking up to coffee and crystal wrapping and just laughing with everyone around me. With the tarot cards, tarot classes that helped me realize things that I hadn't before. With just the one-on-one conversations that I had throughout the whole time. It's... it was all amazing. I don't know how to further explain that. (pauses) Now that it's over, it was hard the first week to jump back. Though I did come back to reality with a new sense of purpose or positivity, but it was hard to leave. One of the things that's been alleviating and just feeling better, I have a community now. I have an actual community that I don't feel a part of. Through the Marco groups, especially, even though it's completely overwhelming to have like 70 people on there, I try my best to keep up because... I have friends now! (laughs) Yeah, that sounds so silly, but it's so true. I think as someone who lives in such an isolating environment when it comes to witchcraft or the metaphysical in general, this is the place to let go and become one with everyone else. To not be alone. To further my knowledge way more than I would have done independently. What should next year have at The Purpose? I don't even know. Maybe the rain not being as brutal would be cool, but we can't control that. And even with the rain, it cooled down everything and we danced in it. I am just super grateful to have been willing to be a part of this, to have been accepted so easily, to find a group of people that I can finally let my guard down around... to just be a part of something again. I really really want to make this a yearly thing now. But thank you so much Kim for giving me and other people the opportunity to tell our experience at The Purpose.

Simone: Hi, my name is Simone. I wouldn't say I like identify as a witch or anything, but I'm definitely like spiritual I guess, like I know stuff. Oh, I would also like to say Kim's my aunt. And then my socials are like everything is Tropical_Simone. Okay so to the questions. How many times have I been to Anahata's Purpose? This is my first time coming. What made me come this time? Well you know Kim's my aunt, and I've always seen her as my mom's crazy sister, you know, with all the snakes and tarantulas and stuff. And you know, every time she visited or any time I went to go visit her I had to sleep in the snake room. So anytime she asked me to go on a trip, I'm like oh yeah, of course I'm gonna go, she's my crazy aunt! (laughs) My favorite moment? I wouldn't say I had a favorite moment but like... a favorite feeling. Cause like it was like every night there was something different, and I just really enjoyed that. But I wouldn't say that... well okay my favorite moment was when, I can't remember the woman's name (editor: It was Alisa!) but she had came into the white tent that we were painting while they were setting up for the music. And they were playing music I can't remember. And we were all just painting her dress. Like and I love that. I don't know. And then I kept seeing her around and we were all just saying hey. But yeah there was definitely a favorite feeling every night though. And you know, it's just a lot of feelings there. (laughs) If you know you know. But okay. Has it affected my life outside of practice? I wasn't sure if these questions were for me, but has it affected my life outside of practice? Well you know I said I am a little spiritual, so I do like you know burn sage, and set my intentions with stuff, and like I don't know. Just try to have good energy. But, I feel like since I've been, I've been more aware of other things, or like, I can, I don't know. I feel more things around than I normally did, if you get what I'm saying. Okay, what would I like to see next year that I haven't seen before? I don't really know. Cause I'm going to be honest, when I first went I didn't really know what to expect. So I feel like if I had expectations I could have been like, oh I wish that this was here da da da. Cause you know, it's my first time being around this kind of stuff. So I don't really know. And then why should people come? Honestly going to Anahata's Purpose was like it... helps you learn more about yourself, and like be more comfortable with yourself, and just being yourself, you know? I don't know it just for me it makes me have a more positive look on like a lot more things. And just appreciate a lot.

Kim: Hello Sarah and Jayne.

Sarah and Jayne: Hello!

Kim: Welcome to Sarah's kitchen.

Sarah: Hopefully Pippin doesn't knock anything over. (laughs) We're sleepy this morning.

Jayne: We're very sleepy.

Kim: Yes, because people that were not me drove from the very very very tippy top of Virginia to Charlotte, and then to Atlanta.

Sarah: Yeah.

Kim: Whoa, you have huge mullein plants!

Sarah: Yeah, they're massive. You see why I used my little tiny baby ones instead of those.

Kim: It's like 3 feet.

Sarah: It's huge.

Kim:  Would you please take turns and introduce yourself and let everybody know who you are and what you do and where they can find you on the internet.

Jayne: I am Jayne. I am Jayne, I do fiber arts handmade with intentions, so crocheted items, sewn items, knitted items, that kind of thing. And I can be found at Fantasycorecreations on Instagram.

Sarah: I am Sarah Piperrr! That's my name. (everyone laughs) I'm tired. And I am Flora and Function on all of the things. Which is basically just Instagram and Facebook, because all the Instagram posts just go to Facebook. It's a great time. But that is my handmade ceramics business, where I make, you know, ceramics with intention!  And like to include lots of drawn elements on them to bring out the nature, witchy, all of these things, bring a little comfort and magic to your morning.

Kim: How many times have you been to Anahata's?

Jayne: This is my second.

Sarah: Yep, mine too. We went together last year.

Everyone: Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Kim: What made you come this time?

Jayne: Oh my goodness. Last year's Anahatas was incredible. I cried. I had my heart ripped into little tiny pieces, but then it was also put back together. And you don't find that anywhere.

Sarah: Or people who understand that that's not a bad thing.

Jayne: Yeah. And then on top of that, it's like a family reunion when we go. So, can't miss out on that.

Sarah: And yeah, I went back for a lot of the same reasons. That is my community. I haven't found a lot of people who I can just go chill with in the woods and be vulnerable with, here. And so that's where I can find that. That's where I can do that. And take amazing classes that like, blast your brain open.

Jayne: Right?

Sarah: Yeah.

Kim: What's been, what was your favorite part?

Jayne: This year or last year?

Kim: This year.

Jayne:  Hmm. There's so many to choose from.

Sarah: Mhmmm.

Jayne:  If we're talking favorite class, it would be a toss-up between the Intro to Energy and the Rising Tides class. The intro to energy was the most validating class that I took. Like I didn't think I could do it. I didn't think... When I first went- I can't words this morning. Before I went this year, I was feeling very disconnected from my craft. I've been dealing with a lot of mental health issues this year, and trying to get things on track, and my practice took a back seat. And then I started wondering if I ever really had a practice, if I was ever really doing anything, or if I was just pretending. And in the intro to energy class- it was very evident that I was not just pretending. (laughs)

Sarah: Good!

Kim: That's awesome. What about you Sarah?

Sarah: I had a pretty similar, like groundbreaking, like mind-opening experience-

Kim: "Oh shit" moment?

Sarah: Yeah. Oh shit this is, this is actually fucking happening and doing it. IT started with the Ground Yo Shit class. 'Cause I just, you know, hadn't put some of the pieces together on how to do that, and having somebody explain it, and explain how many different ways you can do it, and that you can pull energy back in. It's not just like releasing the extra, it's also pulling in, and actually feeling that. And then doing Crystal's classes with the... I did the akashic records and what's the other one?

Jayne: Intro to Energy.

Sarah:  Yeah thanks. Both of those were kind of took that little piece and blew it up further, which was really awesome. And then also our road trip...  (all 3 squeal)

Jayne: Admittedly, our road trip was probably the best part.

Sarah: It's like different categories of amazing.

Jayne: Yes. I absolutely love the fact that I got to be weird and say some of the most ridiculous stupid things that turned out to be really funny.

Sarah: Yes, yes. Yes.

Jayne: My graaaapes!

Kim: One corn.

Jayne and Sarah: One corn!

Sarah: Yeah.

Kim: And Jim's leg. (everyone laughs)

Sarah: Honestly though, I think a big part of like going up there and like scream singing to songs... like last year I did that and I was like, you know what, it actually feels like my throat has fully opened up and I can say shit now. I feel like it's a good intro into the Purpose, is coming in with that feeling. Like instead of being stressed from flights and stuff, coming and being AAUUUUGGHHHHH!!!

Kim: Yeah, it was a good time.

Jayne: especially when we were... this has been... I can't words this morning. (laughter)

Kim: Because it's morning.

Sarah: And it's like the end.

Kim: It's the day after.

Sarah: Yeah. We got purpose hangover.

Jayne: We do, big time. On our way from Atlanta to Virginia, up there, there had been some stressful situations up until that point. And then we were reminded by Kim that we were witches, and we could do something about that. And we put a bubble of protection around my car. And that was the first time that I had been able to work directly with other witches.

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

Jayne: And I felt it, and then I found out that Kim felt it, and Sarah felt it too, and it was...

Sarah: Holy shit! We can really do things!

Jayne: Right, exactly.

Kim: Also, we stopped nearly dying!

Sarah: Yeah. And the way home we were like, clear.

Jayne: Yeah.

Sarah: Except for that one turn I made where I shouldn't have been on there.

Jayne: That's okay.

Kim: Whatever.

Jayne: We survived.

Kim: There was a reason. Oh yeah, I forgot I'm asking questions.

Sarah: You're asking the questions. Believe it or not we're not just chatting.

Kim: How has Anahata's affected your practice since the first time you came?

Sarah: I'll go first. So the first time I was really focused more on, like last year I was focused a lot more on the shadow work and kind of getting my brain right, around a lot of situations. And so just taking that, and taking the introspectiveness of it, and working on myself first before trying to do anything else, making sure that like I'm okay. It's like the filling your cup before you try and fill anybody else's. I feel like that was a huge lesson that actually got drilled into me at Anahata's last year, and so this past year, like I said, it's one of those, it's like, with anything you try and do every day. Like it started really good and I was doing real good, and then it started fading off and off and off. And so I feel like going back this year, after having a lot of like, the doubts and the, oh shit, am I even doing anything? Going back and having this experience where like, everything was telling me yes you can and yes this is real and yes you are doing it. I feel like it's going to change my practice going forward. So yeah.

Jayne:  I did a very similar thing last year and focusing on shadow work, which is why my heart got ripped into pieces. Because things. But that helped me realize that it was not only okay, but important to get myself in therapy and talk to professionals, i.e. doctors, who can help me with all of the things that I've been holding on to. And then this year, the first two classes I took were the protection magic and the ground yo shit. And both of those showed me that I did know what I was doing, that the things that I was feeling was not just my brain saying, "Oh, yeah, we're doing something!" And then after that, it was all tapping into how to move on from the fear of not being able to do the things. My two favorite: the rising tide and the intro to energy. That is the fastest I've ever been able to get into a good meditative space in my head. And the things that I was feeling... the rising tide class. In my meditation, I felt like I was a crab, on the beach, with little... I could feel the little crabby...

Sarah: Pincher thingies? Claws?

Jayne: Claws! And I could feel like my legs in the sand. And when I talked to the instructor, everything he said that the crab symbolized was what I've been dealing with. And all weekend it has been... the universe has been yelling at me, "Trust your instinct. Trust yourself. Value yourself."

Kim: When we found the porn store. (everyone laughs)

Jayne: And yeah. I thought... I turned the right way to go to the porn store when our map wasn't up yet, and I just trusted my gut. Instead of when I didn't trust my gut, and wouldn't say cookie shark because I thought that was too stupid. 

Sarah: And we found out it was real! And it was actually a cookie cutter shark! 

Kim: Dang it. 

Jayne: Right? 

Kim: I hate giving up.  (laughter)

Sarah: Giving up is not an option. 

Jayne: And then the channeling class was... I'm not very good at it, but it was very funny. As I was scoring the little quiz that we took to see what our claires were, other people in our Hive looked at me when she started talking about the physical side of claire and they were like, you, that is you. And I was like, I don't do this. 

Sarah: Well, that's how you see your visualization too. 

Jayne: I do, I feel it. But I didn't realize just how much I did. And it was encouraging because other people can see what I don't see.

Sarah: Mhmmm.

Jayne: And there's other people in my family that I go there to see.

Jayne: So, you know.

Sarah: And sometimes you just need that outside perspective of somebody else being like, no, that's, yeah, that's you.

Jayne: And in the protection magic class, um, one of our fellow hive people...

Kim: Bees!

Jayne: One of our bees! She looked at me afterwards and just point blank in my face said, that was powerful. You are powerful. And I cried. I cried a lot.

Kim: You ARE!

Jayne: All of my emotions come out of my eyeballs, so. (laugh)

Kim: How has Anaheim affected your life though outside witchcraft and your practice?

Sarah: WELL. (laughs)

Jayne: It got me into therapy.

Sarah: Yay, therapy! It got me out of a real bad studio, and into having a home studio and actually, you know, advocating for myself and saying that I can do it.

Jayne: Woohoo!

Sarah: Yeah, and it gave me even more access to my community to help build me up instead of breaking me down. Like I was thinking about, even before we left, like where was I last year this time? And the place that I was at last year this time was not great, (laughs) to say the least. And through Anahata's like and Jayne and my road trip last year with Lisa, and like coming home and having that validation and having that... Yeah, you're worth doing it on your own, and you are smart and capable and able to do it, and you have the tools you need to do it. Having somebody else tell you that is sometimes necessary! Yeah.

Jayne:  I'm really good at saying what everybody's thinking and not willing to say, unless it's about me. (laughs)

Sarah:  It's easier to do with other people-

Jayne: It is.

Sarah: ...a lot of times.

Kim: Is therapy just gonna be your answer?

Jayne: I think so because so much of what's changed in the past year has been because of focusing on myself, instead of everybody else for at least a little bit of that time.

Sarah: And taking care of yourself.

Jayne: I am in a much better mental state and a better physical state, even though I don't sleep as much as I used to. Which sucks.

Sarah: No sleep.

Jayne: But yeah. Realizing that I'm important enough to take care of was my biggest lesson from last year that carried into my whole life.

Kim:  What would you like to see at Anahata's that you haven't seen there before?

Jayne: More bees! Of the human type.

Sarah: Not the yellowjackets?

Kim: Not the record-breaking bee stings of 2023.

Sarah: Community! Those bees.

Jayne: I... forgot what class I was gonna say. I thought of one and then it disappeared.

Sarah: I would love to, especially for the folks who have been coming for a long time, I think this would be really nice. It could be a little bit tricky to do. But in the Akashic Records class, we started asking a lot of questions that was just like, ah, I want to talk about this, but this is not that class.

Kim: So a 101 class, and you need a 102 class.

Sarah: Exactly. So I think it would be really nice to have a next step class. They did the archery 201, or whatever it was called. It would be nice to have with some of the classes that have been there year after year after year, to have like a next class. Or like you know have one the previous day.

Jayne: That would be really nice.

Sarah: Yeah to have classes that take the classes that have been consistent there and take them a step further. I think that would be really fun.

Jayne: Yes, I remember what I was going to say.

Sarah: Yes!

Jayne: There are a lot of tarot classes. I would love to see an oracle class. Or even a pendulum class.

Kim: Why don't you teach a pendulum class?

Jayne: Because I don't know that much.

Kim: Whatever. How dare you say that about my friend like that. My friend knows lots of shit about pendulums.

Jayne: But  not well enough for me to teach it yet.

Kim: OKAY.

Jayne: I don't feel confident teaching it.

Sarah: That's fine, you can practice teaching me. And then you can build up the confidence and I will ask all the dumb questions.

Jayne: There are no dumb questions.

Sarah: There are dumb questions.

Kim: Only idiots.

Sarah: Okay. But I can ask all the questions that you may not have thought would be questions.

Jayne: Right. But those are my two main forms of doing any kind of divination. So I would love something to help me progress in that. Although in the intro to energy class she did tell us that you can use your body as a pendulum.

Sarah: Yeah!

Jayne: And my brain exploded. I was amazed, and it's something I will be trying to do now.

Sarah: Yay! Yeah I watched you, just like as soon as she mentioned that I like turned, and I watched you just go... and lean back into it.

Kim: I'd be afraid I'd fall down, but yeah. Why should people come to Anahata's?

Sarah: For all the things we've talked about for the community...

Jayne: For the classes, being able to... If you're needing validation, you will get the validation there. If you're needing to expand your knowledge, you will get that there.

Sarah: If you need to be shoved back into your body... you can get that there.

Kim: Or pulled out.

Sarah: Or pulled out! Depending on what you need.

Jayne: And if you take the right classes, you're going to get that tough love that you didn't know you needed. And it's never done in a mean way, but it's just very...

Kim: Matter of fact.

Jayne: ...matter of fact. You felt that because of this. And...

Sarah: And yes, it's real.

Jayne: ...and yes it's real, and now I know I can change whatever it is that was blocking me, or... hindering me from learning more. Like not trusting my intuition.

Sarah:  And you can dance with a bunch of us.

Jayne: And you can sit on our front porch...

Sarah: In the rain.

Jayne: and play stupid games in the rain.

Kim: Is it porn?

Jayne: Will it fit in an Altoids tin? (all laugh)

Kim: I don't want it to be over.

Sarah: I know.

Kim: But it is.

Sarah: Yeah.

Kim: Thanks for talking to me.

Jayne: Any time.

Sarah: You're welcome.

Kim: Bye!

Jayne and Sarah: Bye!

Kim: SPIRITUALITY!!!

Sarah: HEALTH!

Jayne: MENTAL HEALTH!

Kim: Hello Rachel.

Rachel: Hi.

Kim: I love you!

Rachel: I love you too.

Kim: It's the last day.

Rachel: Yep. It's the last couple hours.

Kim: Can you introduce yourself and let everybody know who you are and what you do and where they can find you?

Rachel: I'm a big MEEP. My name is Rachel. I put this event together, this is year six. You can find me at anahataspurpose.com, you can find me at Two Geminis and a Leo. We have Jupiter Rituals on the Etsy. And there's gonna be an Anahata's app.

Kim: But not for my phone.

Rachel: It will be coming out soon. Google didn't approve it yet.

Kim: Come on Google.

Rachel: It's on its way.

Kim: Unfuck yourself.

Rachel: It should unfuck itself. Yeah. I think that's it, right?

Kim: I think so.

Rachel: I mean you can reach me at any social media Anahatas platform. Are you going to eat that?

Kim: I forgot the question. Hold on a minute. How many times have you been to Anahata's Purpose?

Rachel: That's a stupid question.

Kim: I don't remember how many there are.

Rachel: Six, this is the sixth one.

Kim: I was thinking it was the eighth for some reason.

Rachel: Well not including, there was a mini retreat, but I feel like the mini retreat's not this. This is six, which is wild.

Kim: Did you have a theme in mind for the year?

Rachel: Yeah, so there's different phases of the themes that happen. So I think there was one with like creating the imagery, right, like Seka making the bee and kind of talking about...

Kim: Your staff is gonna walk around us.

Rachel: The staff is gonna walk right into our podcast that we're recording right now... thank you. (voices of people traveling nearby)

Rachel: Perfect. They meep so well. My staff is fucking amazing.

Kim: Look at Deb's little tail! Deb massaged my leg, everyone, because it was swelling the fuck up and she fixed it. Yay!

Rachel: She's a magician. She's got the magic hands. I feel like there's different parts to where the themes come from. I think one part of it was Seca in creating the artwork. So like, the bee.

Kim: Love the bee.

Rachel: Obviously, you love the bee. Buzz buzz, motherfuckers!

Kim: I was super, I was fucking thrilled when I saw the bee, I lost my fucking shit.

Rachel: Yeah, yeah. But just...

Kim: I think I literally squealed.

Rachel: You squealed? Did you see the chunky thighs on that bee?

Kim: I saw chunky everything on that bee.

Rachel: Yeah, with the stained glass window wings?

Kim: Yes.

Rachel: I fucking can't. Sekka kills it. So like there was that whole aspect of like community hivey type. And then the next part that normally happens is when facilitators start to put in for what workshop they want to teach, there always seems to kind of be a theme which is always really interesting. Yeah, so this year it was really about like safety, feeling safe. What's happening? Are you just... what's going on?

Kim: I think Amber's leaving... oh, I'm gonna cry! (starts crying) Oh, this is stupid, because I live where you live!

Rachel: Aww.

Kim: We're gonna say bye to Amber, everyone.

Rachel: Are you leaving:

Amber: Yeah. We're getting ready to go.

Kim: (still crying) I'm crying because you're leaving but we live near each other. I'm stupid.

Jayne: You're not stupid! You are Kimothy and you are smart.

Kim: (cry-laughing) this is gonna be an exciting interview to edit.

Rachel:  It's gonna be great, yeah. We're podcasting. Buzz buzz, motherfucker.

Kim: Have a good trip.

Amber: Oh, do I get a Kim hug?!

Rachel: Can I?

Amber: Yes.

Rachel: I didn't ask permission and I want to make sure.

Amber: I love you have a safe flight.

Rachel: Have a fantastic flight. Thank you for coming all this way and doing all the things.

Kim: It's supposed to be a lav mic but it sounds like shit.

Rachel: Thanks for being such a buzz in the buzz buzz motherfuckers for the podcast.

Kim: I saw ads for them on Instagram. They're kind of not great and I had to buy the super soft soft little deadcat.

Amber: And maybe there was a little more co-regulation. Right?

Jayne: Thank you so much, for all of this.

Rachel: It just, the theme ends up being that everyone makes it.

Kim: It's organic.

Rachel: It does. There's a little part and then, I guess also it kind of starts in the review. Like, okay, what did we do last year and then what do we want to do this year? And then a lot of facilitators, yeah, just looking at the workshops and then going through all of the applications being like, okay, what is what people obviously need? And then, okay, how do we kind of curate that? But that's why like a lot of protection magic, a lot of like, people just really needing to feel safe this year.

Kim: Yeah.

Rachel: And And that I think was the theme, and I think it ties back into the bee, like having the little hive community.

Kim: I just realized something. When I was getting my leg electrocuted last night, (both laugh)

Rachel: Okay Ben Franklin!

Kim: ...he was like, I've not had this many bees ever. We've got like 14 today alone.

Rachel: So scary. One of the John's...

Kim: And that's the theme for this, is bees.

Rachel: It is. I'm like, we've manifested that a little too strong. So I've got to be careful next year what the what the visual is.

Kim: What's been your favorite thing this time?

Rachel: So Deborah got to my house before,  Anahata's. She came early, she's in my house. And I was talking to her and I'm gonna talk about this at the closing circle so here's a spoiler for you.

Kim: Hey, I love spoilers!

Rachel: And I was telling her about how, like, I had been working through this feeling of needing to be taken care of, right? And I was, like, having this whole transformative thing leading into this. So I've been kind of, like, numb and raw.

Kim: I hate that for you, but also good.

Rachel: But it's good. No, it's all good. 

Kim: I'm glad for you, but also I don't want that for myself. 

Rachel: Yeah, not really. No, no today overall. And then I got here and they've had me on like my own radio station, and everybody has been just taking care of everything. And then I've gotten into the space of like, What the fuck is going on? And I was talking to Debra about it Debra's like how old is the podcast? I was like, she's six. She's like, oh, you dropped your baby off at preschool for the first time. And there's all these people taking care of it.

Kim: When you say podcast, I believe you mean Anahata's.

Rachel: Yeah, absolutely. That's absolutely what I mean. My podcast is not six years old.

Kim: I was thinking, have I time traveled again?

Rachel: No, you haven't. Maybe, I don't know. But yeah, the festival is a baby and it's going to preschool and it has all these people taking care of it now, and now you don't know like... what to do with yourself. And I just from the conversations I've had to the mothers in my life, I'm like oh fuck that's exactly... it's like this really cool weird thing that I've been like working through, which has been really great, and like kind of my favorite thing of all, literally. I mean, I mean, we had to get together and put those musicians in a fucking gymnasium last night. And how quickly that happened. The turnaround of that. I literally went up to Sky Hill in my little golf cart and just screamed "Coven!" and then people just started coming out of the cabins. And I was like, listen,  this is what's going on, if you guys want to bring anything and decorate... and like I got there and people showed up and they're like what do you need me to do? I'm like oh cool.

Kim: Yeah.

Rachel: Phoenix took a bunch of stuff over there and it was just yeah it was like, just everything's... I feel extremely taken care of, and I'm also working through releasing my baby and letting and trusting other people with my baby, and just realizing it's now like it's bigger than me. It's its own thing. Yeah. It's weird but it's fun and I've been loving it because it makes me uncomfortable.

Kim: Yay! How do you feel like Anahata's has affected your life when you're not here? Your practice and your life, has it changed since you've been going to them?

Rachel: Yeah, for sure. I mean, I've definitely gotten into the more like... the first few years, it quickly got me into real vibes only cause fuck that like good vibes, love and light shit. I mean, I'm talking about that forever now. And then I think it's actually helped me overall just become more grounded in my practices. And like just, you were on the panel with me so like my practice just changes all the time, but I guess it keeps me more level-headed with however it changes. I feel like it's... in a weird way, you know, because there's a bunch of magic woo-woo bullshit that we cover. In a weird way like it's it's helping me merge it together with existence, also. Does that make sense?

Kim: Yes.

Rachel: Okay, cool. The neuro spicy is still real spicy.

Kim: What would you like to see here that you haven't had before?

Rachel: Hmm. Well I wanted prom, and then we kind of did that last night.

Kim: We kind of did it right before WBAH.

Rachel: So we healed our prom trauma.

Kim: Did you see our pictures?

Rachel: I have not seen any pictures.

Kim: I will show you after this.

Rachel: I'm excited.

Kim: It's screechingly funny.

Rachel: What would I like to see? I'm not putting a limit on it.

Kim: Good.

Rachel: It's just, what's going to happen is what, yeah. I don't know. Just keep doing this thing. Just keep morphing into whatever the fuck it turns into being.

Kim: Last question is why should people come to Anahata's Purpose?

Rachel: They shouldn't.

Kim: Oooooh my god what are we doing?!?

Rachel: Just kidding.If anyone's listening to this they know that I'm kidding. It's bugs.

Kim: Wow, there's so many!

Rachel: Yeah, it's bright. It's a circus tent.

Kim: Anyway. Don't come to Anahata's. The end. Bye! (both laugh)

Rachel: What was the question?

Kim: Why should people come to it? (laughing)

Rachel: If you... they should if... I don't even... I don't know. It's like... If it calls to you, then just show up. I'm not going to give you a reason. I'm not going to tell people why. If they feel called to it and they're like that's my... that's something I need to do, then, then they come up and that's their why, that's all they'll need.

Kim: You should come.

Rachel: Yeah, sure, no, totally, come.

Kim: Come to see your friends, but also because you need to grow and cry and learn things about yourself.

Rachel: Yeah,, I mean, I feel like at this point, if you're looking for community, we will welcome the fuck out of you anf whatever weird you are. If you want to cry, it's a safe space to do that.

Kim: So many crying!

Rachel:  But like good cry.

Kim: I've cried into this microphone like four times in a day.

Rachel: What about this one?

Kim: I don't touch that one. I don't see tears in it.

Rachel: That might be a tear right there.

Kim: It's the guest one. I don't cry into the guest's things.

Rachel: You should. It's good. (laughs) It's good to do that. Yeah, just if I can get here. If you feel like you need to be here, if you need the things that... whatever everyone else says, that you've interviewed leading up to me.

Kim: Okay.

Rachel: I've not listened to any of it.

Kim:  I am ditto.

Rachel: But I'm sure that everything, if any of that resonates with you, that's why you should come here..

Kim: Yep. Thank you for the interview and... (cries)

Rachel: You're not leaving yet.

Kim:  I know but thank you for the interview and for making Anahata's. (crying)

Rachel:  I love you. And I love Tasty Kakes.

Kim: I love you too.

Rachel:  I love you more than Tasty Kakes.

Kim:  I just had one today.

Rachel: Can I hug you?

Kim: Yes. I love you.

Rachel: I love you too.

Kim: And thank you for giving my niece a thing.

Rachel: Did she love it?

Kim: Is that a man in speedos?

Rachel: It's not, but I can see how you could see that.

Kim: I think she likes it. I don't know yet. I know she likes it, I don't know if she loves it yet. Okay byeeee!

Rachel: MEEP

Thanks for listening to this episode of Your Average Witch. You can find us all around the internet, on Instagram at youraveragewitchpodcast, Facebook at facebook.com/groups/hivehouse, at youraveragewitch.com, and at your favorite podcast service. If you'd like to recommend someone for the podcast, like to be on it yourself, or if you'd like to advertise on the podcast, send an email to youraveragewitchpodcast at gmail.com. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next Tuesday.