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July 27 through August 2, 2026

Our two most productive days of the week will occur on Monday and Tuesday as the Moon travels through Capricorn. If there’s anything you simply must have completed this week, these are the two days to make it happen! The chaos begins on Wednesday, as the Moon waxes full in Aquarius. Known for its unpredictable nature, we can expect sudden changes or reversals in movement, and the best way to handle things is to practice higher awareness and greater patience! Full Moons herald in a two-week period of release, and with the Moon traveling through Pisces the remainder of the week, we’ll be called to go inward to see where our spiritual and emotional levels are out of balance. Meditation, journaling, or sharing our innermost fears with another person are wonderful ways to release anything that is currently holding us back.

Weeds: 10 Magickal Resources You Can Find in Your Own Backyard, by JD Walker

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

There is a saying in the gardening community: Grow where you're planted. It means to do your best to develop, grow, and yes, even bloom, regardless of your situation or circumstance.

I like to use this same philosophy when it comes to my spiritual and magickal work. I use store-bought things, and am very happy to have access to them. However, I want my religious tradition to be more than something I buy online or do on one of the eight Sabbats.

I want to see magick in the world around me. So, I often look for supplies right outside my door.

"But," you say, "I don’t have a yard or a garden. Where am I supposed to look for herbs?"

Right under foot, dearie.

I wrote A Witch's Guide to Wildcraft to help folks understand that they can fill a lot of their needs simply by looking at the world around them with new eyes.

Practically every residence, whether apartment complex, rental property, or house, has a yard. Take a look at that grassy expanse. You'll quickly see that it's not all grass. In the case of most dwelling spaces with an accompanying yard, it's not even mostly grass. It is, however, a wonderful shopping space for magickal supplies. For example:

1. Chickweed: This low-growing, fresh green, matting plant is called Stellaria media because of the tiny little star-like flowers it produces. It is a moon herb, good for lunar magick as well as for spells to attract or keep a lover. It can also be used in beauty spells.
2. Clover: Everyone knows clover (Trifolium repens) is a good luck herb. It is also used in magick for prosperity.
3. Onions: Wild onions (Allium canadense) are the bane of any homeowner who takes pride in his or her lawn. But witches use them for exorcism and protection.
4. Dandelion: You know you've wished on a dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) puff ball before! Children everywhere do. Blowing on the puff ball is also said to divine everything from how long you will live to the direction from which your true love will come. It is a good resource for any ritual work done to honor solar deities.
5. Violets: Violas or violets, on the other hand, can be used in workings with Venus, Aphrodite, Inanna, or any deity associated with love. I find it invaluable in mending a broken heart.
6. Grass: Even the grass that is growing in the lawn or the ornamental grasses gracing the landscape border or perennial flower beds have magickal uses. Gather what you need for protection and prosperity or use a handful to make a natural, temporary asperging wand.

Broaden your view and take in the plants that border the yard or that live in the landscape.

7. Hollies: Don't throw away those clippings from the hollies in the shrub border, even the ornamental Japanese hollies (Illex cornuta, I. crenata, etc.). They can be used for protection spells.
8. Honeysuckle: Look into that shrub border for the Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) that has probably snuck in there. It can be used in prosperity and binding spells. With a long enough piece of vine, you can make a wreath to hang on the door or above the altar to attract that prosperity.
9. Ivy: Another common vine is ivy (Hedera). This is a witchy herb if there ever was one. It is a Saturn herb but is also considered feminine in energy. Like all vines, it can be used in binding magick. Ivy has the added benefit of being used for protection and healing.
10. Moss: Even the moss (Bryophyta) that grows along the foundation of a residence or in the shade of a tree has magickal uses. Properly dried, it is a filling for a poppet. Fairies are said to love it, so use it to dress your fairy garden.

Without leaving your immediate area, you've found supplies for everything from spell work to ritual tools. When you respectfully gather your own herbs for your workings, you are connecting with the Divine, however you perceive the Divine. You are one with the Universe. You are a self-sufficient, enterprising Pagan who can stand on your own, regardless of where you are planted.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2021. All rights reserved.

I am in my mid twenties and I have never fallen in love. Is it possible that no soul mate exists for me - that I've never loved before, and this is why I haven't been reunited with anyone in this lifetime? Or have I just not found him yet? Is it possible that my past lives are preventing me from finding real love in this life?

Brandy

Astrea:

At your age, most of your friends are coupling up and settling down, so I imagine it's difficult NOT to feel left out or different, but your mid twenties is NOT the time to give up on love!

While our past lives will contribute to the way we handle relationships in this one, nothing dictates what your heart will or will not feel but you. One of the best parts of reincarnation is that we learn a few things from one life to the next. Be glad. You seem to have taken the lessons from yours into your being, and you're using those lessons to plan and create the life you want.

While our behavior in past lives can sometimes dictate who we are with in this one, I don't feel that is the case with you. You're not meant to be alone; you're meant to be with someone wonderful and fulfilling. You're waiting for that person, and sometimes that can take a while. We can't dictate or control when our past life people come BACK, and our timing isn't always in sync. If you are meant to be with someone from a past incarnation, don't worry - he'll show up before you're too old to enjoy him!

If this time around you're going to select a new and improved soul mate, it's still much too early to despair. New relationships with old souls often do not manifest until someone is between 30-35 years of age. Gifted, intelligent people often wait until much later than that to fall in love and create that relationship they've been waiting for. People who are smart and mature tend to not rush into something that is going to dissatisfy them later on. While they're waiting for the right relationship, they focus on things like education and creating a fulfilling career.

You probably have always viewed your life in a mature way. If you think back, you'll remember people in your family saying how bright and secure you seemed even as a little one. Look around at all your friends who have been heartbroken by a bad relationship and be HAPPY to be in your mid twenties without experiencing several failed relationships and broken hearts! You have a rare gift for someone your age. It's called DISCERNMENT. People usually don't develop that trait until their mid to late thirties, and some people never do.

Just because you're willing to take care in selecting your soul mate doesn't mean that you won't find that person. He or she will manifest in your life at the RIGHT time. You can thank all the wise choices you made in your past lives for that!

*****

Susyn:

There's no need to worry that just because you haven't fallen in love yet, you won't. These days it's not unusual for people to be well into their 30s, 40s and beyond before meeting their soul mate. You may be trying too hard. Love isn't something we can put a time frame around, and it's not dependent on whether or not we loved in a past life.

If it's in your heart to have a loving relationship, it will come to you. You must be ready, however, and in order to become ready, you will have to experience certain things in life. The lessons you need to learn are where past lives come in. To clear past life karma, you may have to go through a number of relationships or go without a relationship for long periods of time.

One of the rituals I recommend to my clients is to become more specific about the kind of relationship you are looking for. This ritual will outline what you are looking for and reveal the areas of your life you need to develop to attract your soul mate.

First, gather together two unlined sheets of white paper, a white candle and a blue candle. Find a quiet place where you can focus on this exercise undisturbed. Light the white candle and on the first piece of paper, make a list of all the things you want in a partner. Include your ideals about their physical appearance, along with their spiritual, emotional and mental traits. Your list might look something like this: honesty, integrity, tall, blonde, wants children, etc. Make the list as detailed as you can.

Once finished, review the list to determine which of these qualities you may need to work on yourself. For example, if you want someone who is healthy, be sure you are healthy. If you want someone who is honest, evaluate your level of honesty.

Fold the paper and place it in a jewelry box or other special location, perhaps in a bedside table or between the pages of your favorite book. This list will serve as an open prayer to the Universe. You can add more traits as you think of them, or change them as your clarity grows.

Next, light the blue candle. On the second sheet of paper, make a list of the qualities you donít want, such as dishonest, unfaithful, etc. When you are done, burn this list. This will keep you from attracting the wrong kind of man.

Once you've completed this ritual, Spirit will see that you are ready for true love to come into your life, and that you are willing to grow and keep moving forward until he becomes a reality for you.

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.