KAJAMA.COM NEWSLETTER

June 30 through July 6, 2025

Things hum along pretty smoothly this week, with Monday setting the tone under a Virgo Moon. If you plan on getting anything productive done this week, Monday is the day! Tuesday through Thursday we’ll be under the influence of a Libra Moon, which is quite lovely but not really conducive to work, as we’ll be daydreaming or visualizing all the things we’d rather be doing. We’ll see the most activity on Friday when Neptune turns retrograde and Venus moves into Gemini. Because Neptune is an outer planet, we may not even notice the change in direction it makes, but over the next five months, we’ll start to see a pattern of spiritual changes and higher awareness. Venus’s entry into Gemini will promote us wearing those rose-colored glasses, because as we all know, Gemini’s tell it like they want it to be, with a slant toward the positive. Just refrain from taking things at face value for a few days, and back up your claims or the claims of others with a little fact-checking! Saturday’s Scorpio Moon could also be ethereal, so stick to relaxing, simple activities. Sunday’s Sagittarius Moon is all about having fun, so grab your favorite people and enjoy an easy-going day!

The Garden as Sacred Space, by Laurel Woodward

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

I am a magically minded person who looks at the world with an animist's perspective as I mindfully acknowledge and honor the lives of the others I encounter, from the large elementals to the tiny devic energies underfoot. I talk to my plants and hug the trees. I call out greetings to the geese as they pass overhead and stop to help the earthworm stranded on the sidewalk. There is a message in the visit from tiny hummingbird hanging on the breeze, the crow cawing loudly in the tree, the surprise sighting of a garden snake, and the colorful dragonfly lighting on a grass head. The outdoors holds both magick and mystery, and I immerse myself in its beauty whenever I am able to.

Our brains evolved in nature. When we leave our man-made environments and return to a natural setting, we are able to step out of the busyness of our lives and leave our worries behind. Being outside is a magickal, full-on sensory experience that quiets worry, eases anxiety, and grants the spirit peace.

When we immerse ourselves in a natural setting, it boosts health by strengthening the immune system. Step into nature and you step into beauty. The act of catching sunlight in your eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin, breathing in the scent of the green world from the smell of the dirt to the fragrance of flowers, or having natural sounds fill your ears, like the call of birds, the chatter of squirrels, or the rattle of the wind through the trees, are experiences that foster healing feelings of serenity and joy.

While forest bathing and hiking are popular nature therapies, gardening in your own yard, if done mindfully, becomes a vehicle to immerse yourself in nature and foster a relationship with the natural world. If you have never tried gardening you might be surprised by how therapeutic the experience is. When you take up gardening, working under the sky with the sun on your arms and your hands in the dirt, it engages all of your senses to create a place of refuge and solace. Being out in the fresh air doing yard and garden work lifts outlook and elevates mood. The activity tones muscles and makes the body feel good, and when done mindfully, the overall experience fills the heart with a joyful sense of purpose that inspires creativity and helps us rediscover our sense of wonder.

When we take an area of land under our care we nurture a reverence for nature that allows the heart to swell with gratitude every time we invest ourselves in the work, because it doesn't matter if you are a first-time gardener or a veteran—there is always something new waiting to surprise and inspire. The simple joy of discovering the seed that you planted sprouted, the surprising beauty of a mound of clematis that opened overnight, or the delicious taste of a ripe, home-grown tomato you plucked fresh from the vine deepens satisfaction and improves our sense of well-being. Step into the garden and we step out of worry and into nature's grace.

The wisdom of an ancient practice waits in the garden. If you follow an earth-based spirituality, you will find the act of gardening creates sacred space and puts nature back into the center of your practice. By caring for plants and being aware of their life cycles, we become aware of the turning of the seasons and sync with the natural rhythms. The garden becomes a window into the workings of the Universe and allows us to sense the thrumming webs of power. It is in the garden we connect to the deepest parts of our being as we become a witness to the miracle of life unfolding right before our eyes.

If you have never gardened before, you may want to start by taking a few chosen plants under your care. Identify and research each one, making note of their individual needs so that you may provide what each needs to thrive. Visit them often. Talk to your plants and shower them with attention, and soon you will find you have made a friend that may become a helpful ally in your magical practice. While some plant allies provide food or medicine, others provide ingredients to empower ritual, potions, incense, bath magick, candle dressing, and wash water. When we use ingredients from a plant that we help to grow, we delve into an ancient craft laden with wisdom and knowledge, a craft that deepens spirituality as it acts a bridge to the past to help us see beyond modern restrictions as it links us to a reality in which we are able to recognize and interpret the magickal connections all around us. The garden then becomes a liminal space where we may go to meet Deity or converse with the Universe.

My garden is my church. Step into the garden and I step out of time and into sanctuary. Being in my garden allows me to leave the troubles of the modern world behind and take up the practice of the old ways. In my garden I find peace and joy. It is in my garden where I find magick. You, too, can create your own personal outdoor sanctuary, a place of safety and wellness to nourish your soul and help you foster a relationship with your local energy web. For more ideas on how to design and implement a garden plan for your very own personal sanctuary garden, pick up my new book, Backyard Garden Witchery, a guide to help you manifest a magickal space outside your door. Backyard Garden Witchery contains a collection of meditations, exercises, and an extensive list of garden plants and their magickal properties with suggested uses to empower your magickal practice.

By designing your own unique garden setting, and implementing features that speak to you personally, you will manifest a sanctuary to nourish your soul. Keeping a flower garden, an herb garden, a vegetable patch, or even tending a collection of patio pots allows interaction with nature and opens a doorway for us to experience her amazing wonder. By working, and planting, and tending the earth, the garden becomes a liminal space to nourish our spirituality and connect us to the larger world. When you become a gardener, you become an artist working with nature to create amazing beauty, and as life sprouts and grows under your care, it opens the heart to wonder and solace as it provides flowers or herbs to use in your practice, or food to nourish your body, and the results bring an incredible sense of accomplishment. Gardening is a remarkable rewarding experience that has nourished mankind since the beginning of time. It has the power to change your life. If you have never gardened I hope you give it a try.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2022. All rights reserved.

I recently had a wild experience within five minutes of going to sleep. I became conscious of someone asking me if I was ready. I replied yes, let's go. They held my hand and accelerated straight up. It felt like I was traveling at a million miles an hour, until we seemed to break through into some sort of other plane. There I saw maybe 10 or 12 beings of light standing in a circle. They were the blue color of electricity. (I can only remember clearly seeing two of their faces. One was a very tall woman who looked at me a little cross. The other was an older, short man who held his hand out to me and radiated kindness.) I got scared and somehow knew I had to speak to return to my body, and started saying "No, no, no." My partner woke me as I was saying this out loud. It all happened within five minutes of going to sleep, so I doubt I was in REM sleep. What happened to me? What did I experience, and why? Is it common for people to experience such things?

Maggie

Dreamchaser:

This experience truly IS wild, and I am so grateful that you shared it. I feel you are a very evolved old soul. I believe you are either on your last or next to last life as a human. There is a group of people on this planet called Lightworkers. The purpose of a Lightworker on earth is to awaken humanity. The main tool of a Lightworker is LOVE. I believe you are one of them.

I would be willing to bet that you see the number "11:11" all the time. I bet you frequently see 222, 111 and 333 here and there as well. I also imagine you hear ringing or sometimes chiming in your ears, randomly smell roses or some other fragrance from nature, hear your name being called but realize no one called you, feel cold breezes hitting you around your face or head, feel your skin prickle for no reason, and feel "someone" around, just to the left of you, when you KNOW no one is there.

Those are all signs that you are of a higher spiritual nature than many here on this planet. I'm sure that quite a few of you reading this will find these experiences ring true for you as well.

No matter how evolved we may be, because we are also human, it can be very hard to move through this world solving our own and others' problems by rising above our egos and practicing tolerance. As Lightworkers, we are supposed to be learning and therefore showing others via our good example that one can be ego-free and tolerant of ALL beings.

Alas, because we are human, we often fall short of our spiritual goals. As a result, we often have to be retooled or reprogrammed or re-taught something. As I frequently write here, life goes in spirals, and we learn the same basic lessons over and over, just at higher levels each time.

I believe that the beings you were surrounded by are basically your support staff members. They take you while you are sleeping and restore your soul. They retool you, so to speak. As was mentioned in today's other question, when we sleep, our souls leave our bodies to be worked on. You just happened to still be semi-conscious when you did this, and thus you realized what was going on. Your protests were your human mind and its fear reacting to this unusual experience.

After all, this is not a normal thing to have happen - or so it seemed. I can tell you that this is more common than you realize. We have beings that are working with us on every level. We have spirit guides and angels. Those are readily accepted as "real." Why would these beings of Light not be just as "real?" I assure you, they are!

I wish you spiritual freedom from human constraints.

*****

Astrea:

It's easy to identify this experience as Astral Projection. One of your Guides took you on a little flight to show you that you should be able to access this kind of thing if you consciously develop this skill. Astral Travel can be quite useful and a great comfort if you are able to learn how to do it at will. You can see people who have Crossed Over, visit people in their dreams, and communicate with other Astral Travelers.

There are as many different ways to do this as there are people doing it, so it's up to you to find your own way if you're interested in repeating the experience. As frightening as it can be, it can also be very enlightening. Your crabby Guide who looked at you crossly is one of the TEACHERS you would be able to visit if you were going to be doing this on some kind of a regular schedule. It would be fun to find out WHY she is crabby!

When I want to "travel," I concentrate on the color PURPLE in my mind in a big SPOT that sparkles and expands. Then before I know it, I'm FLYING! I see the topography beneath me as I IMAGINE it is - probably not like it ACTUALLY is. Nevertheless, I am still able to travel to specific places. Most of the time, they are places I've actually BEEN in THIS incarnation, but sometimes I try to go to new ones.

The saddest place I ever visited was what was left of the Twin Towers in New York in 2001. After that, I've been limiting my flights to happier people and places. Most of the time, I travel as a way to knock myself out when I can't get all the way to sleep, and it works for me. You'll find your own way if you want to do this too.

I find it particularly interesting that you felt you had to SPEAK OUT LOUD to return to your physical body. I've heard this from Astral Travelers hundreds of times. When they fear their connection to their body will be forever broken, and they'll be rolling around in a sort of "outer space" forever, they use this to snap back into their bodies. You instinctively knew that you would be back IN your body if you spoke out loud, and sure enough, you were!

It's quite common for people to experience and even remember their Astral Travels. Most people have this experience at least once, but forget it as soon as it happens. Those of us who remember should use that GIFT wisely and well. With your Leo birthday, you would be much more sensitive to things that happen to you on the astral plane than many other people, and better at remembering them. You have an open mind to things of this nature - that's why you have such vivid recollections of what happened to you that night.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.