KAJAMA.COM NEWSLETTER

May 22 through May 28, 2023

"Alright, alright, alright!", isn’t just a famous line from the movie Dazed and Confused, it’s also a great theme for this week of cool vibes and some easy-going days. With all the planetary changes for the month completed, we can move forward with confidence and grace, even if we aren’t 100% sure where we’re headed. Treating each day as a new adventure and being open to whatever happens is definitely the way to cruise through the week. A Cancer Moon hangs overhead Monday and Tuesday, casting a calm if somewhat ethereal air around. We may not get much done but our focus should be on interpersonal relationships, creature comforts, and taking things easy. The Moon travels through Leo Wednesday through Friday, asking us to focus on ourselves and our own personal needs. Of course, we’ll be available if someone needs our help, but for the most part, being selfish is not a liability under the Leo Moon. After a week of just "being," the Virgo Moon will bring us back to earth and reality on Saturday and Sunday. But hey! Wasn’t it fun while it lasted?

Elemental Shamanism: The Power of Fire, Earth, Water, and Air, by Omar W. Rosales

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

"The Universe is created of Four Elements—Fire, Earth, Water, and Air." —5th Century Buddhist Master

From the steppes of the Himalaya to the jungles of Guatemala, shamanism is a ritual belief system that has been practiced for over 27,000 years. From cave paintings in France to aboriginal art in Australia, shamans have recorded what they experience during altered states of consciousness and journeys into non-ordinary realms of reality. These remarkable drawings show flight, communication with anthropomorphic spirit guides, and arcane knowledge of the universe. By understanding how shamanic beliefs correspond to the four elements, we can gain a unique understanding of this enigmatic spiritual tradition.

Shamanism is the set of rituals and beliefs that are used by indigenous societies to effectuate change in our world. Shamanism is characterized by its practitioners entering Altered States of Consciousness (ASCs) to journey into Non-Ordinary Realms (NORs) of Reality. At the molecular level, the quantum level, a shaman will change their energy field to interact with the energy field of living and non-living objects. Shamans can be both female and male, and are found in many different cultures from around the world. Vajrayana Buddhist monks in Bhutan and Tibet, as well as Maya A'j r'ijs from Central America and Cherokee Spiritwalkers from North America understand the connection between shamanic rites and the Four Elements of Fire, Earth, Water, and Air. The shamanic journey first begins with the Fire element.

FIRE
Before a shaman is accepted by her or his community, and the healer is imbued with powers from the realm of spirit, the shaman must first undergo a ritualized initiation process. The first step of the initiation process is the destruction of the self or the ego. A person must be reborn to become a shaman and harness a new set of abilities, which include astral travel, soul retrieval, divination, healing, and spirit communication. But to be born again, a person must first die. The Fire Element serves this end, because Fire is symbolic of ritual purification and death. By undergoing a great and sudden traumatic event, which destroys the ego and former aspects of the self, the shamanic initiate is letting of old belief systems and old ways of thinking. Fire does this by burning away antiquated aspects of the self and limiting beliefs.

Through fire, an initiate will discard their former identity, and may even die. A catastrophic illness is one way that communities find new shamans. Many shamans have undergone bouts with near-fatal diseases, and many have had Near Death Experiences (NDEs). The NDEs provide the shaman a gateway. By hovering between the realms of life and death, flesh and spirit, the shaman learns to communicate with spirit guides. The shaman is then offered a choice by the spirit guides—to accept the new destiny as a shamanic healer and practitioner or become a permanent resident of the spirit world. Thankfully for us, many initiates choose to continue along the shamanic path.

EARTH
After the tribulation of the Fire element, fire, and the discard of the former egocentric self, a shaman will then begin journeying to the underworld. The underworld, or cave, is representative of the Earth element and symbolizes the link to our collective past, our connection to the planet, and our inescapable bond with every life form. The Earth element nurtures, it protects. The Earth element is the womb from which all life comes. From plants, to plankton, to eagles, to grasshoppers, all life began in the Earth and in caves, where life was protected from the sun's radiation and life forms began to evolve and emerge.

A shaman's journey to understand the Earth element is the voyage to comprehend the connection with animal guides, plant guides, and humanity's collective unconscious. It is these symbols of the collective subconscious, hard-wired into DNA and cellular memory, that provide the shaman with the vocabulary of Jungian archetypes. Cross-culturally, humans communicate with a common set of symbols passed down from our genetic past. These symbols, or archetypes, include the maiden, the wizard, the Nature spirit (such as the Pan or Trickster), the hero and heroine, the crone, the baby, and the tree.

The Earth element provides this shamanic language for use in dreams, metaphysics, and healing. The Earth element is the connection to more than one million years of evolution, the collective subconscious, archetypes, and the realm of nature spirits. After a shaman connects to the wisdom of the Earth element and the collective past, the shaman must develop an understanding of the Water element.

WATER
Water is the universal fuel of existence; life cannot function without water. To a shaman, the Water element symbolizes growth by feeding all life forms on the planet. The basis of the shamanic journey is empathic healing. By showing tears of compassion for all living beings, a shaman expands planetary health. All living beings want to be nurtured and nourished. From Redwood trees, to algae, to killer whales, to frogs, all living things desire compassion. By promoting all forms of life and having compassion for all living creatures, a shaman heals the planet. Tears of compassion and love provide growth to the tree of humanity. And as more rings and generations are added, the human tree becomes stronger.

AIR
The final element of the shamanic journey is Air. The Air provides the shaman with a connection to Upper Realms, deities, and gods. By using their psychic abilities, a shaman can transcend the limits of her or his body to communicate directly with the gods and bring forth messages for humanity. Shamans describe journeys to the Upper Realm as a Revelation of supernatural knowledge and insight. The Upper Realms are places of air, flight, and greater perspective. The earliest cave paintings of thirty thousand years ago in France and Spain show shamans flying amongst the stars. The Air element represents a place to gain greater understanding and communicate with the creator deities.

The greatest shamans of the last two thousand years ascended into the Air element after their teaching missions were complete. Jesus, Mohammed, and Padmashambhava all descended into the clouds once they finished their earthly journey. For the shaman, the Air element is the connection to land of Spirit and the Upper Realms from which gods and deities communicate their most important messages for humanity. It is into the Air element, that the most powerful shamans ascend once their missions are complete.

The journey of the shaman is the symbolic journey of creation, the metaphor for the evolution of the human machine. The journey first begins with the destruction of the self and ego through the ritual initiation of the Fire Element. The next step on the shaman's journey is the voyage to understand the Earth element. By developing a connection with all living things, a shaman can understand that all life on Earth is linked together. By exposure to the symbols of the collective past, and the Jungian archetypes of the collective subconscious, a shaman develops and perfects her or his psychic abilities with the help of the Earth.

The shaman then journeys to the land of the Water element to learn compassion. By shedding tears of love and compassion for all living beings, the shaman begins to use her healing abilities to heal the planet. The final journey of the shaman is the voyage the land of the Air Element. Amongst the clouds, skies, and further into the cosmos, a shaman journeys to develop a relationship with deities. After the final realization and a complete mastery of all the elements in the universe—Fire, Earth, Water, and Air, a shaman will journey into the cosmos to permanently reside in the Upper Realms and live amongst the gods.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2009. All rights reserved.

I put an ad on an internet dating site, to which I received a lot of responses. I liked one man's name, so we emailed a bit. I was enamored with him from the start. When he sent me his picture, I got flushed, had goosebumps, and started crying uncontrollably. I felt a profound love for him even though we haven't met. I felt like I had lost him and I was so sad. I'm not sure what to do with this. He thinks I am special also. He is in the middle of reconciling with his ex, but now I am causing him to re-think that relationship. I don't want to cause him stress, but I don't want to let him go. I think I have loved him intensely in a past life. I am 50 and for the first time in my life, I feel lonely and sad. It is as if these feelings were opened up just by seeing his picture. Is this possible? If we were soul mates, would he feel the same thing? He says he has an inexplicable attraction to me and is confused about this because we haven't met. I mistrust online connections, but I want to trust this man and I want to love him.

Betty

Susyn:

I advise you to proceed with extreme caution here, for there are all sorts of different reasons this man's picture may be triggering a strong emotional response in you. When we encounter someone we have known before in a past life, the reactions you describe are common. The intense sense of familiarity we experience can bring about a dramatic psychic shift. All our thoughts, energy and focus then turn to this one person, and the more we wonder about the possibilities, the more we get caught up in our heads and forget about what's really happening in the here and now.

The danger in connecting via the internet is the tendency to assign certain characteristics to people that they simply do not possess. I have had many clients meet someone online or find themselves fascinated with a public figure they have only seen on television or in movies. The feelings they experience are very real and all-consuming. However, if they encounter the person in real life, they may discover the object of their affections is either completely unattainable or not who they professed themselves to be.

Though this may seem to discourage your hopes of loving this man, there are a few things you can do to determine this connection's true potential. While you can remain open and see where all of this leads, you will want to proceed with caution.

When soul mates are destined to come together, it's rare for the other person to remain on the fence or involved in another relationship. At this point in time, your man is obviously not finished with his ex. If the two of you are destined to be together, the feelings you have will still be there once he has completed his karma with his current relationship. Ask him not to contact you until after he is clear of this situation completely. If the connection is as you describe, he will honor this request, and it won't take long for him to finish it so that you can move forward together.

Next, you must agree to meet in person. Being with him a few times in real life will usually tell you everything you need to know. Either your connection will grow stronger, or it will quickly fall apart.

You have already invested your heart and soul in this man without even meeting him. This alone can put the relationship in jeopardy, as you are prone to forgetting yourself and putting all your focus on him. Energetically and romantically, this can smother the spark instead of fanning the flames. I encourage you to step back from these dramatic waves of emotion and allow Spirit to reveal the true purpose of this connection.

*****

Oceania:

I suspect you've been carrying deeply buried sadness all your life, and something about this man's internet persona has triggered that sadness. While this is a gift, please don't assume that the feelings are related to HIM. He is merely the key that opened a long-locked door within you. Your feelings are likely related to a profound loss that took place during your early life, like a death, divorce, new sibling who seemed to replace you or a cold and emotionally distant parent.

When someone triggers our old business, we often feel as if we've known them in a former life or for most of THIS one. We have this profound feeling of inexplicable familiarity because the person has stirred up dormant feelings from our early childhood. We may experience a sense of resonance, bittersweet longing, and an intense desire to connect with them.

If we could look at this man objectively for a moment, he seems unsettled. I might even use the word flakey, as he's in the middle of reconciling with his ex AND dabbling on a dating site! When people go fishing online while in a relationship, it's usually because they're seeking a distraction from their real life or because they unrealistically believe there's a Prince or Princess Charming out there with whom things will more easily fall into place.

While its important to choose a partner who is stable and compatible with our goals and values, a relationship mostly works or doesn't because of what we put into it, not because of whom we've chosen. I've always liked Laura Schlessinger's relationship-success formula: Choose wisely; treat kindly.

You said you don't want to cause this man stress, which sounds loving. You said you don't want to let him go, which sounds immature, self-centered and possessive. These conflicting positions show that both your adult and child selves are involved. The child in you yearns to heal the past and mistakenly thinks you need HIM in order to do so. The adult in you recognizes that love is about wishing for someone's happiness, with or without you.

It's good to move to the phone and an in-person meeting in a timely manner after making an internet connection; otherwise, you can't be sure that what you're feeling is based on reality. When the only contact is email, chat or texting, it is easy to fill in the gaps with our own idealization and fantasy. You say you want to love and trust this man. I suspect you want to love and trust SOMEONE, but no one - this gentleman included - deserves your love and trust until they earn it over time in real life.

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.