Animal Voices
dawn baumann brunke
Chapter 18
The Astrophysicist, the Field, the Mountain
Intrigue infuses my dream at 4 am:
I’m with Bob in a space layered with gray stone. There are no walls, no defined barriers, and the air seems to be made of stone too — though unlike any stone I know. We are in a transportation chamber, used to shift us between dimensions.
Suddenly I’m in a new place. Bob is on a brightly lit stage. He is a professor of astrophysics and is receiving an award. The audience is clapping. He is smiling, and looks young and handsome. Several men are congratulating him, shaking his hand, patting his shoulder. I am very happy for him and can’t help smiling as I watch from a special area below the stage.
When I wake, I call for him, and instantly, he’s near. Sharing my excitement, he confirms — that is another self, another Bob, with an entirely different life. He says he remembered it because of our talk yesterday, and he’s sharing the memory in my dream.
Not wanting to miss anything, I dash from bed and grab my laptop. As I begin to type in the living room, he says he’ll finish this story:
It’s like we've said before: these talks help us both. Yesterday — in your time — when I mentioned astrophysics, the word tugged at me. What is astrophysics, I wondered, and why did I use that word? Then I found this other self — another me. He’s in a different realm, not even of this solar system!
In his world, several planets are close together, with many small moons. Space travel is common, and many people study astrophysics — mainly the movement and relationships of planets and moons. The three closest planets — and a fourth that comes into play every hundred years — have created a communication system to coordinate and work together.
The gray place, what you call the transportation chamber, is just that — a way to transport bodies between planets and moons. Because movement in space is so important, it shapes how people relate to one another. They’re telepathic — not only with thoughts but also with movement. They can sense how others will move, what their trajectory will be.
They’ve developed this skill out of necessity — to survive in their world. And they can influence movement with conscious awareness mixed with emotion. It’s not exactly thought — more like feeling-thought-awareness all combined. Hard to describe.
That's pretty fascinating!
Yeah. And all because of one word I said to you — a doorway I walked through. That’s how I met this self. He knows about other selves too — because he knows how to transport between dimensions. And that's really where he is — in a dimension where space manifests very differently.
He looked like you. And he knew about you?
That was partly your dream. He looks different and dresses differently, but your dream mind used shorthand to show him in a familiar way. And yes, he knows about me and our other selves in different realms. We’re all part of the same big soul — the oversoul.
I don't know much more, or even if I need to know more now. It felt like an introduction, letting me know what's present to explore. I sensed that each of us — each Bob soul — is exploring different things. Maybe we all get together and share the information. Like when I met all my many-aged selves in the Cave of the Subconscious. We shared memories some of us had forgotten. I sensed each self was responsible for a certain part of my life. So maybe in a bigger way, each Bob self is responsible for a set of experiences. Just like I am an expanded Bob now, maybe I’ll become part of something even larger.
You feel it's a more of a preview than something to explore now?
Yeah. You too?
Maybe it’s a clue for later? For both of us — many some of our selves meet or are married or related in these other realms.
I think so too. It’s like a footnote — for us, and for whoever’s interested.
That’s something I realize about being here: there’s so much to explore! Sometimes on Earth I restricted myself. I liked going off alone — to the forest, the mountains, the water. But I also see how I limited myself in how I thought, how I saw the world.
Probably lots of us do that. We settle in a certain perspective and that's all we see. One thing your death showed me: I was immersed in a comfortable pattern I created. But when you died, that foundation blew apart, and I live differently now. That shows me how much we create our perceptions — of reality, of ourselves, of everything.
Same for me. Waking up here — without a physical body — so much weight lifted from my way of seeing! It was confusing, scary, unfamiliar, exciting — all at once. There are greeters here, spirit people who help the transition feel smooth and loving, so those feelings didn't last long.
But at first I wasn’t tuned into the bigger flow. I got tired and overwhelmed. Plus I had all my Earth stuff to deal with — those early times of meeting my different-aged selves and working through our holds. You helped me move through that. Just talking to you helped me see more clearly.
I’m glad. Feeling your presence and talking with you every morning helps me too.
Yeah. We gave ourselves a gift with this.
We did!
There are some guides here. They'd like to tell us something. Okay?
Of course!
As I release my awareness of Bob, I sense three observers.
We are three, it is true. We have been watching and helping. Our role is to guide your focus and offer insight on the connection of our realms. There is overlap. You envision it as a bridge — and it is that. It is also a field, a space to meet and share.
We are the guardians of that field. Guardians not to guard, but to facilitate — to invite and welcome those of both realms.
Your bridge is one of many, and we salute your efforts. We also share our field, to make its presence more widely known. You may envision it as a garden, a park, a beach, a riverbank. We see it as a field, an open space of green grass and blue skies.
We are old. This image is a shared memory from when we first founded this space. Like you, we were building a bridge, and this is what we created. There are many such creations. Our purpose in speaking with you is to affirm that this space exists — a meeting place made of love, for love. A space for understanding between realms, and between souls.
Your tears are an acknowledgement of this.
I'm crying because I feel the fullness of this space — this opening for us all. And I feel your presence as such loving beings.
We have been here a long time in your view. We are ready to move on. We’ve created similar spaces in other realms. Our work here is complete, and we will soon move to new explorations. We offer our presence as a reminder. You are invited into our field — into this place of connection. It begins with a thought, a desire, a breath in and out. Close your eyes, hold your beloved in your heart, and you will meet. This we offer to all.
As the three leave, I sense them smiling in their movements and presence. And I return to Bob.
There are lots of spirit beings like that — open and loving. Some leave to do other things. Some stay and teach. Overall, everyone is so loving here, openhearted and creative. You'd like that.
There are times when I'd rather be there.
You want to be here because you're remembering what it's like. That's part of why people forget when they arrive on Earth — because otherwise, so many would want to return. Earth is a hard school in some ways, not for beginners. You’re feeling your emotions intensely right now — especially the hard ones. Loss, sadness, loneliness even when others are near.
Don’t I know it!
Remember when I told you that you wanted this? That we set this up so you could feel all of this and walk through it too? I know you don't like it now, but you’re being stretched and opened in a way nothing else could do. The hard times won't last forever. You’re on the fast track! So give yourself some credit. You chose to feel this so deeply, all at once. You gave yourself a powerful challenge and I am here — in spirit, in your heart — helping you through it.
This just keeps making me cry.
Good. Get it all out, sweetie. That’s why you’re drawn to things that help you feel deeply — to break up the surface and get to what's underneath.
So, now what?
What do you want? To keep moving through the mystery? To keep flowing? To explore more of yourself and the world and those around you? There's so much!
I would like a little break. I would like for it to be easier. I would like to feel some good happiness.
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It will come. You’re in the depths right now. You can feel that, right? Everyone’s experience is different. Some people never get this deep. They stay on the surface and look for distractions — bandaids. But you’ve taken the elevator to the very bottom. You're trying to get the most out of this. That's why I'm helping in every way I can. I’m here with you.
And not everyone gets a private visit from field guardians, you know. So there's that!
I love how you make me laugh. Even when I'm crying. Thank you for all this.
Thank you — I mean that. Without you, I would not be where I am now. We’ve changed in ways that can't be unchanged. We're different now. We'll live different lives — and afterlives. It’ll all be okay. You’ll have joy and so many surprises, and I'll be watching and smiling with you. I'm in your heart. Crying with you, laughing with you, and always loving you too.
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A few hours later, I feel sad and anxious. As is now my habit, I sit with the emotions, feeling the nervousness low in my belly — a cold, bunched-up energy between pelvis and sacrum. What is that? I ask. Who are you?
I see a young child, sad, lost and afraid. I am her. And she is me. Together we explore our feelings of sadness, loss, abandonment.
We close our eyes and when we open them, an angel appears. She is tall and loving, made of light. She takes our hand and leads us to a stream. She tells us we can drink from the stream and forget everything — not feel sad anymore. Or, we can cross the stream and go to the mountain in the distance.
We see the mountain far away. The young self and I choose to cross the stream. Part of us wants to drink the water and forget. But we both know — we need to cross the icy river, we need to reach the mountain.
Holding hands, we step toward the water. Just as we’re about to enter, the angel lifts us and floats us across. We don't even get our feet wet — and this makes the little girl so happy.
Then the three of us walk across a grassy field, toward the mountain. But the closer we get, the farther it seems. The angel laughs — and now we are there, on top of the mountain.
Sitting down — the angel, the little girl, and I — we become the mountain. Firm and solid, we sit with such presence on the land. Our body is part of a great mountain — the Mountain of Knowing.
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