Which bits, exactly? All I see atm is Astrophytums being Astrophytums
Surely you don't mean the fuzzy areoles which have started developing in the middles of the ribs? Nor the flower buds developing in the centre of the larger specimen? Or even the little white markings so characteristic of the genus?
Their appearance seems to be entirely normal for specimens of
Astrophytum asterias (and very nice too, btw!)
Astonishing to see them so waterlogged - how long do they typically remain under such conditions?
Compare:
“There is a way of manipulating matter and energy so as to produce what modern scientists call 'a field of force'. The field acts on the observer and puts him in a privileged position vis-à-vis the universe. From this position he has access to the realities which are ordinarily hidden from us by time and space, matter and energy. This is what we call the Great Work."
― Jacques Bergier, quoting Fulcanelli