KAJAMA.COM NEWSLETTER

January 12 through January 18, 2026

Another smooth sailing week awaits us, as Monday and Tuesday unfold under the Scorpio Moon. We will feel energized and ready to face whatever comes our way! Wednesday and Thursday will prove a mixed bag under the Sagittarius Moon, as our efforts can get blocked or we may feel misunderstood. The good news is, we’ll be flexible and patient enough to find a new path to our goals and to take the time to smooth out any ruffled feathers that occur. The rest of the week, Friday through Sunday unfolds under a grounded Capricorn Moon, where we can attend to physical activities and needs with ease. Venus will enter Aquarius on Saturday, kicking off a six-week cycle of exploring the unusual and the inventive. Sunday’s Capricorn new Moon gives us a chance to make a wish! As one of the most manifesting new Moons of the zodiac, it won’t take long for our wishes to come true!

The Healing Wisdom of Birds: The Spirit of the Dove, by Lesley Morrison

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

The dove is one of those birds whose imagery seems universal. It is a symbol of hope, purity, and faith, but many people would never think to look any deeper into its complex and ancient past. While researching for my book, The Healing Wisdom of Birds, I poured through a vast pile of mythologies, goddess images, and religious associations centered upon birds and found a history of the dove much more intriguing than the modern day archetype.

If we cast an eye back toward the civilizations of ancient Crete, Egypt, and Greece, we can see the dove predominate as a cultural icon, harmonizing the apparent duality of sexuality and spiritual love. Although revered as a symbol of peace in many places, the dove was usually seen as the embodiment of the Goddess and her divine powers. In Mycenaean iconography, the dove and goddess motif appeared as early as the 16th century BCE. This icon later spread throughout Greece, eventually evolving into the Greek goddess Aphrodite, the world’s favorite deity of amour. Aphrodite (Venus in the Roman pantheon) had the dove as her primary bird companion—not as a symbol of hope or faith, but as the profound essence of fertility that springs from sexual and emotional love.

In the ancient Minoan pantheon, the goddess who overruled fertility and procreation had the dove as her sacred bird. The dove personifies the idea of union with the source of life that sexual energy and spirituality both strive to fulfill. It is an enduring symbol of the soul but at the same time reveals the connection between earthly love and the human need to reunite with the divine. Doves, like the goddesses they adorned, have brought together the fundamentals of the human experience in mythologies, art, and many religions, unifying divine love with erotic love into one spiritual experience. This reveals to us the undeniable relationship between the two aspects of human nature.

But later cultures downplayed the dove’s role as the sacred image of sexuality and, as time passed, alienated the dove from its primal symbolic foundations. The dove remains a lingering presence in the modern world, adorning holiday cards and church paintings, but the dove carries such a complex wisdom that is long-cherished and universally celebrated. As the epiphany of Aphrodite, the dove was a potent force of fertility and higher love. Later, this bird came to be the sacred bird of Bacchus, the Roman god of fertility, wine, and ecstasy. Many of these associations are distant today, and frowned upon by more "conservative" organizations and religious belief systems.

But why the dove? How does a quiet, ground-feeding little bird come to evoke such potent imagery from culture to culture?

It is not a high-flying predator like the hawk, or an entertainer like the blue jay, or a graceful swimmer like the swan. And yet its mythologies abound and its presence celebrated for its quiet, humble, and unrivaled purity. The dove mates for life, expressing that old-fashioned ideal of loyalty and true love. They are affectionate and amorous birds, and demonstrate unconditional love toward their companions and their young. The dove reminds the universal mind of the contentment and joys of domestic bliss.

But it seems to signal something higher and more esoteric than just domestic simplicity. It is a purpose to be found, an ideal to pursue, and a gentle nudge toward the light of something more divine than ourselves. There are, of course, many such birds that inspire the human heart to inner exploration, but the dove carries a unique place in the grand sphere of bird symbolism. In the Tarot, the dove is seen nesting in the goblet on the ace of cups card, gracefully depicting the everlasting life of the spirit and the quest for the Holy Grail. When we look at history’s spiritual avatars, like Buddha, Christ, Mother Mary, and many powerful deities in comparison, like Zeus, Inanna, Venus, and Hachiman, we find the dove perching nearby as a loyal companion and sometimes, an alternate form.

Many stories of divine visitations include a radiant white dove as a symbol of God, or alternately, the spirit of God. In the Bible, John the Baptist commented how the spirit of God descended upon him like a dove (Matthew 3:16), and most people know of the dove’s role on Noah’s ark, signaling dry land after the flood. Many cultures, even today, have symbolically released doves as a gesture of freedom, hope, and most predominantly the release of the spirit from the confines of physicality after death. A more contemporary ceremony involves the releasing of doves at weddings to signal the promise of fidelity, love, and a peaceful home (although this is not a practice that holds the doves' best interests in mind).

Although the dove has such an extensive symbolic past, the bird’s fame, particularly as the symbol of peace, was solidified in 1949 by Pablo Picasso, when the World Peace Congress in Paris chose his lithograph, La Colombe ("The Dove") as its emblem. From that point, the dove became the symbol of the peace movement, and has remained such an integral part of the human psyche ever since. Many people in the busy modern world walk by such birds, indeed all birds, with very little thought as to what they once stood for. Researching over forty birds for The Healing Wisdom of Birds, I was cast back in time when everything had some kind of otherworldly meaning, when each individual bird was once a god or goddess, or carried a powerful message to the human spirit.

I hope the distant past of bird symbolism finds a new light in the world. As they inch closer and closer to environmental disaster, birds need a voice in the desolate wilderness of civilization. So the next time you wander outdoors, cast an eye upward to see what wise and ancient creature may be watching you from its perch—it may just be a god in feathered guise.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2011. All rights reserved.

In 1995, a magician asked for my photograph, and I gave it to him. He was very attractive. Since then, however, I have been having strange feelings and thinking about him a lot. I feel like some kind of bad magic was performed on me and I don't know how to get it out of me. I am very religious and have very strong beliefs. This is very scary for me. If you have any advice, I would appreciate it very much. I would like to find out if he did something magic by using my photograph. Thanks!

Brigit

Astrea:

In order to know for sure if the magician with your photograph is trying to harm you in some way, it would be necessary to have quite a bit more information. You're talking about 1995 - a long time ago. This is a long time to be thinking of someone. Whether that person means you harm or not, you feel fear, so it's time to create some protection.

First, surround yourself with an egg of White Light to repel any evil-doers or spirits who mean to do you harm. Start at the top of your head and wrap yourself in the light from head to toe, front to back, fingertip to fingertip. Spread your arms as wide as you can, and see the light go over and under you from hand to hand. It's almost like juggling to make the streams of Light you create from your center flow outward to encompass your entire body.

Carry and wear some items of protection with you. A St. Mary medal is particularly effective against Black Magic, as is a St. Jude Medal. There are inexpensive ones available at any Catholic bookstore, and you don't have to be a Catholic to use their power.

Silver jewelry is a good deterrent against any unpleasant forces that are trying to invade your Harmony. Gold jewelry is not used as often for protection because as a metal, gold is too soft.

Silver jewelry set with lapis lazuli, garnet or sapphire stones is most treasured for its protective powers. When trying to avoid evil vibrations, it is unwise to ear onyx, obsidian, or smoky topaz. Don't wear any marcasite jewelry either, and try to avoid all man-made and treated gemstones.

If possible, carry some rose quartz in a spherical shape at all times. Wear a carnelian ring on your left hand for clarity of mind so that you can be sure you're not imagining things. Wear turquoise or amethyst to repel evil, and plant an herb garden with plenty of sage and rosemary. If you don't live where you have a yard available, plant some in a pot and set the pot in your kitchen window.

While extreme, the old-fashioned remedy of hanging strings of garlic across windows and doorways is very effective. Instead of a whole string, a whole clove of garlic may be sewn into a small red bag to hang over the windows and doors. You can also lightly salt around your entire house and yard for added strength and further protection.

Since none of these suggestions will draw attention to you in any way, try what makes you feel comfortable. I hope you feel better soon!

*****

Susyn:

It is important to keep in mind that no one - not even a magician - can hold power or control over you unless you allow it. So every time you feel that he might be controlling or influencing you, you are actually encouraging the idea that he can.

Even if he is attempting to gain control over you via your photograph, you can easily rid yourself of him and his magic. I feel he may have attempted to influence your feelings for him via this picture, but instead of inspiring your heart, he attempted to get into your mind.

Having thoughts and feelings about someone doesn't always indicate that they have deliberately cast a spell on you, but your fear that he might have may really be keeping you stuck in this idea.

In any case, to clear this power you feel he has over you, you will first have to banish the fear that he can influence you in any way. To do this, I recommend a spell I developed called Freezing. This will stop the flow of any thoughts or emotions either of you might carry, and keep him from infiltrating your thoughts.

It won't harm him; it will simply stop the worry you keep entertaining. Because you don't mention ever seeing or having contact with him again directly, this should take care of the problem fairly quickly.

To perform this freezing ritual, you will need a piece of unlined brown paper, a sandwich size Zip-loc bag, and sea salt.

First, write the name of this magician on the piece of brown paper, and then a line or two asking that his negative energy, thoughts and influences be frozen from bothering you. Fold the paper in half, drop it into the sandwich bag, and sprinkle a pinch of sea salt into the bag.

Fill the bag halfway with water - just enough to make sure the paper is covered. Seal the bag and place it in your freezer. Within 24 hours, you should notice your thoughts about him easing.

Wait two days and if you haven't noticed a radical difference, or if the trouble subsides and then starts up again, repeat the ritual. You may have to repeat it a third time if his energy is strong, so wait two more days to see if your first two rituals worked before performing it again. Leave the bag or bags in the freezer indefinitely or until you move.

This should end any concerns you have over the magician and help you make a fresh start, free of worry. It will also restore your own personal power and energy so you won't find yourself in this position again in the future.

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.