KAJAMA.COM NEWSLETTER

January 19 through January 25, 2026

There’s a lot of astrological activity in the air this week, as three planets change signs. The Moon will be in Aquarius on Monday and Tuesday, setting the stage for a sudden change of thought, movement, and perception. On Tuesday, Mercury and the Sun will both move into Aquarius, spurring us to “put on our thinking hats” and invent new ways to get to our goals. Also the sign of friendship, this is a great time to join a club, take a class, and bring new people into our lives. The Moon travels through Pisces on Wednesday and Thursday, which could create a lull in the energy around us, but it’s merely temporary. An Aries Moon hangs overhead the remainder of the week, charging us with energy and creativity, things we haven’t felt since the holidays began! Mars will join the Sun and Mercury in Aquarius on Friday, adding more power to our every movement. In a nutshell, this is the week we jump up and say, “If I dream it, it’s possible!”

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.

I had a strange out of body experience last night that I hope you can help me understand. I was astral projecting, and was outside of my house, looking up at the sky and mountains. Then a being that seemed to be made of the clouds or the wind came from the sky. It changed into the form of a man, but he just seemed to be made of the wind and clouds. He bathed himself in my pond, and then he was gone. After that, a new figure walked into the pond and bathed. He was a man/creature made of green vegetation. I felt afraid of this being, so I got down on my stomach, hoping he wouldn't see me. He came over behind me, and I could only see his bright green aura. I closed my eyes and I felt him lay on top of me. When I opened my eyes, for an instant I saw an all-pink female figure come toward me. That's all I can recall. I know I felt the green man on top of me. Why would he do that? Was I astrally molested? What happened?

N.

Astrea:

You achieved something through astral projection that thousands of people attempt but only a few people accomplish: You became completely connected to the Universe. You didn't realize it at the time, and it's no wonder you felt spent because this is something no one is prepared to deal with at first. Once you sort it all out, you'll see the fantastic gift you were given that night.

All the elements of the Universe are represented in your description of what occurred. Your body and psyche were united with Earth, Air, Fire and Water. You were unified with each element separately, and they were connected by bathing in your pond (all but Fire, of course). Your pond represented the Water Element, and because it was so convenient, the other three used it as a conduit to connect with you.

The first creature (let's call him Cloud Man) represented the essential element of Air. Because air isn't solid, it was impossible for him to touch you or be with you in a sexual way. As a Being of Light, he melded with your pond in order to connect to you. He was so temporal that he couldn't stay with you, and relied on the green man to complete the act of unification.

The Vegetation Man was a representation of Earth. He bathed in your pond to purify himself. He lay on top of you because the Earth Element has to have a tactile connection for things to work. You shouldn't feel abused or molested by him, but rather JOINED in an earthy way. It wasn't sex as we see it anyway: This was simply how he completed his task of helping the other three elements unite with you.

The pink female figure you saw represented the Fire Element. She couldn't bathe in your pond or unite with you in the same manner as Cloud Man or Vegetation Man because she is female and she is Fire. Bathing in your pond would destroy her, and uniting with you in any physical way would consume you, so she had to approach you and make you see her for the connection between the two of you to be complete.

Try to feel this experience for what it is: a high spiritual event in your life that will further your own Enlightenment. If your gift from the Elements hasn't arrived yet, you can be sure that it will shortly!

It may be a new psychic insight or the ability to see more than others. In any case, it will manifest through your own mind and body. The reason this happened is because the Universe was ready to give you that gift whether you were ready to accept it or not.

Open up and take it into yourself as soon as you can!

*****

Susyn:

When we have out-of-body experiences, whether they are spontaneous or induced, we can find ourselves in all sorts of different dimensions. At times, the spirits or people we encounter can take the form of elements or objects, which indicates they don't exist on the physical plane at that point in time.

The figures you describe as being made out of clouds, wind and vegetation were most likely spirits or spirit guides. When we astral project into the vicinity of living humans, they normally appear in physical form, though sometimes they can seem to be younger or older than their present physical age.

Because you witnessed both of these male figures bathing in your pond, which represents water, spirituality and cleansing, I believe they were your spirit guides. Even though you felt afraid and were tempted to hide from them, I don't sense that they were there to do you harm. In fact, they were most likely trying to offer you something you will need in your future spiritual development.

The air elements of the sky, clouds and wind can represent your ideas and mental abilities. The first figure seems to have been there to awaken your spiritual knowing and to present you with a different dimension of thought. Dipping himself in your pond may signal an increase in your spiritual awareness and/or psychic abilities.

The second man, who seemed more ominous or invasive to you, took on the form of greenery, an element that represents the heart and emotions. That he got on top of you may have seemed intrusive or perhaps even a form of molestation, but most likely this was his way of instilling you with love, healing and emotional transformation.

The approaching all-pink female spirit you saw also seems to be one of your spirit guides. This is most likely the one who represents your independent, protective feminine side. The color pink and its counterpart red refer to your physical body.

It sounds like you feel this figure scared off the green figure, whom you feared was trying to harm you. It may be that she represented the new you who will emerge from this experience, stronger and more complete in mind, heart and spirit.

The next time you have an experience like this, you will be bolder in asking the figures you encounter to identify themselves and explain their purpose for existing as well as what they want from you. In this way, you will gain greater understanding of the beauty behind such experiences, and be less fearful of engaging with these sorts of beings 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.