KAJAMA.COM NEWSLETTER

June 19 through June 25, 2023

Things slow down this week as we move under the watery vibes of a Cancer Moon on Monday and Tuesday, followed by the Sun's entry into Cancer on Wednesday. For the next four weeks, our thoughts will turn to home, family, and comfort-seeking activities. Gardening, cooking, and restoring order to our homes and relationships; these are the hallmark traits of Cancer. Emotions and spiritual activities will also serve as a focus, reminding us to rebalance any areas of our inner lives that have become scattered or disconnected. Self-focus will be essential Wednesday and Thursday under the Leo Moon, as we stop to look at where we have been giving too much and not taking care of ourselves. This is the time to turn the focus back on our own needs for a few days. Once the Moon enters Virgo on Friday, we'll have two days to concentrate on restoring physical order to our surroundings, clearing out clutter, making lists, and creating a blueprint for future endeavors. With the mood of each day changing this week, we'll welcome the Moon's entry into Libra on Sunday, where we can assimilate all the activities and insights of the week and find our balance.

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 feel like I'm having a bit of an identity crisis. Let me explain. I was born 9/7/1969 in Denver, Colorado, at 7:32 p.m. When I was born, my mother had my horoscope charted, and I was raised to believe that I was a Virgo with Aries rising and a Cancer Moon. This was helpful growing up, because if I felt meek, I could simply tell myself that I had an Aries rising and force myself to be assertive. This belief led me to grow up with a certain amount of inner strength.

Well, 34 years later, I received another horoscope that states that I am a Virgo with Pisces rising and a Leo Moon. This seems like a rather odd combination, almost as though there are two extremes existing in one person. To tell the truth, I cannot seem to have good relationships with any Pisces. I wonder if on some level, I am disowning parts of myself and projecting this dislike onto others born under that sign. If this is truly my horoscope, it would seem that I need to learn more about my passionate, intuitive side.

So which horoscope is correct? And if I am a Virgo with Pisces rising, how should I come to understand more about that influence in my life? Do you have any advice on overcoming this identity crisis?

I know that any information you offer will be helpful. Thank you very much.

Sheila

Dreamchaser:

Sheila, I ran your chart and you are a Virgo with a Pisces rising and a Leo Moon. (If you would like to double-check, you can use the free chart program at www.astro.com). I am so sorry that you are going through this identity crisis. Let's address it.

The reason you cannot get along with Pisces people is because you are judging them through a Virgo's eyes. (Please remember that I am a recovering Virgo, so I know what I'm talking about!) We Virgos expect everyone and everything to be somewhat logical and orderly, and Pisces folks are SO not those things. The two signs are exactly opposite on the astrological chart, so it is naturally hard for us to understand each other. I will say, however, that having a Pisces rising makes you much more intuitive and gentle by nature than you would be if you did indeed have Aries rising. That is one thing you can and should use to your advantage. Please try to embrace your Pisces traits.

One thing about astrology that grates my nerves from time to time is how much stock some people put into what they or someone else is "supposed" to be due to the Sun, Moon or Rising sign. If I accepted my planets as they were, I would be the biggest anal retentive, perfectionist, worrisome human being on the planet. I decided a long time ago that I did not like some of the "traits" of Virgo, and I decided to change them in myself. We have choices in life. We can choose to allow things around us to tell us what/who we are supposed to be, or we can work on being who we want to become.

For example, I have a thing for Leo men. According to many astrologers, Virgo women and Leo men are NOT supposed to get along, but I feel most comfortable with them of all the signs. We are what we think we are. You said yourself that you would convince yourself to be more assertive. It does not matter where that "power" came from; what matters is that it did indeed come when you needed it. We are NOT limited by our astrological influences.

Another thing I would like to mention is that you are ruled more by your Moon, which is in Leo, than you are by your ascendant, which is in Pisces. That outgoing, forceful, strong character that you could pull up came from your Leo Moon, not your rising sign. What you thought you had in you all along because of your reported "Aries rising" really WAS there because of your actual Leo Moon. It was just waiting to be tapped.

I wish you painless integration of this "new" information!

*****

Astrea:

Hello, Virgo with Pisces rising and Leo Moon! I'm sorry to say that the astrology you grew up with is indeed incorrect, but stop with the crisis, already; you've always been you, and you will always be you!

It amazes me how people will categorize themselves according to astrology, and yet I do it all the time myself. It's a TOOL, for Heaven's Sake! Having Pisces rising would explain why you don't like or get along with Pisces people, but having Pisces in that prominent place in your chart would make you every bit as strong as you'd be if Aries was there. It might make you more tactful and a little nicer, too! Perhaps Pisces people mirror things that you perceive as your own weaknesses. Learn from them. They are brilliant and focused individuals (like YOU ARE)!

Having that weepy and emotional Cancer Moon replaced by the Leo Moon should certainly eliminate any confidence issues. This chart reflects all the personal strength you've learned to muster. This is actually the chart of a more POWERFUL person than you would be with the one that your mom had done for you. Leo Moon people get their way most of the time, and are usually RIGHT, too. They have an extraordinary sense of what is GOOD, and they know how to apply that knowing in a sunny and pleasant way.

When your chart was drawn up at your birth, the astrologer probably forgot about Daylight Savings Time, or got the zone you were born in off from the latitude or longitude, or simply made a one-hour math error when she was trying to figure out Sidereal time. (Do we still call GMT that?) In 1969 we had to do the math ourselves, remember. If I fall back an hour, I get the chart you received at birth, more or less. Pisces and Aries are next door in the Zodiac, as are Leo and Cancer, so that's what I think happened with the incorrect chart. Thank goodness we have computers now! I used to go nuts doing all that math!

Fret not. As I look over your full chart, I see all sorts of new and exciting things that you can do now that you're a "new person." 2004 will be a year of new beginnings, so you can take this new astrology into your life and have a big time with your Leo Moon. I see you foiling the dastardly and making everyone behave. You can use the Pisces rising to be a do-gooder, if you like, or to take on some kind of course where you can concentrate on healing yourself and others.

This isn't the end of you as you know you - it's just an EXPANSION of the person you have been!

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.