KAJAMA.COM NEWSLETTER

February 20 through February 26, 2023

The week starts out with a Pisces new Moon and Venus moving into Aries on Monday. New Moons always herald a time of new beginnings, and in Pisces, the focus will be on spiritual advancement and expanded views of the world and Universe as they relate to each other. Venus loves to show off in Aries, so get ready to express yourself! And be prepared for others to move with a bit more drama and flair than usual. A peaceful vibe continues until Wednesday when the Moon dashes into Aries and gets us up and running! Creative ideas abound under this Moon, as well as accelerated energy to help us move through midweek with determination and success! Friday and Saturday are all about the material world as the Moon cruises through Taurus, so making a dent in home projects or implementing new self-care practices will be a theme. Reserve Sunday for social activities, as the Gemini Moon inspires more time online. Updating social media, zoom calls and good old-fashioned in-person gabfests are on the agenda.

Tarot as a Way of Mindfulness: 4 Ways the Cards Help You Find Spiritual Fulfillment, by Johannes Fiebig

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

We fell in love with the tarot in the early 1980s. Tarot became our profession then, and for decades we did lectures, workshops and seminars on the tarot. We also wrote many tarot books (mainly in Europe, but with increasing interest in the USA and Canada), which have been translated in numerous languages.

Our Story
In 1989, some years after becoming tarot professionals, we founded the Königsfurt publishing company, which specialized in tarot, dreams, fairy tales, and the interpretations of these topics based on cultural and psychological approaches, being devoted to the human potential movement and a down-to-earth spirituality.

In 2007, we sold the company and merged with AGM Urania. Since 2007, Evelin was the event manager and Johannes was the general manager of both Königsfurt-Urania and AGM Urania. For a long time, we had kind of three occupations: writing tarot books and doing tarot events; running the publishing companies; and living and growing with our two children (who are now long-since adults, living in Hamburg and Paris). We continue to live close to Kiel, a state capital city in Germany, at the Baltic Sea.

The Story of Tarot: The Way of Mindfulness
Since our beginnings, tarot has been a way of mindfulness (and a way to mindfulness) for us. When we retired in 2018, we asked ourselves: Why did we never make a book that had mindfulness as its main focus? So, we conceived and wrote Tarot: The Way of Mindfulness, initially a short and easy-reading introduction of our essentials that was published in German in 2019.

Some Core Content of the New Book
We, the authors, are committed to "emotional intelligence" and "spiritual consciousness" as a valuable and inevitable addition to all the technical know-how and practical routines we must learn for our life. And we know for sure by experience that a mindful practice of tarot card reading will support and train these emotional and spiritual capabilities.

Mindfulness means an astute, open acceptance of the moment. The tarot card read-ing may train the attentive perception and exploration of the moment.

You practice to see each tarot image (and for advanced users: to see each symbol and each detail) very carefully and without prejudice or preconception, to make a difference between the first and further glances of an image, between your spontaneous and your conscious understandings even of very touching motifs. Further, you train and develop your creative use of chance. Finally, you study the meaning of old and new concepts of some major mysteries of life (as birth, love, death, eternity, autonomy, responsibility, freedom, intention, fulfillment of talents, and many more subjects), and you practice the creation of personal questions and answers for these and other mysteries, puzzles and highlights of life.

Why Tarot Pictures May Lead to Mindfulness: Some Examples
1. Pictures are like doors. Waite and Smith conceived and designed symbolic pictures for the 78 cards. This was a visual revolution compared to the traditional tarot imagery, as everybody now could look and see by him/herself, and was not led to merely believe in doctrines anymore.

Waite knew pretty well what they did. In his accompanying books The Key and The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, he noted:

"The pictures are like doors which open into unexpected chambers, or like a turn in the open road with a wide prospect beyond." (London 1911, p. 169).

He knew it and he mentioned it in these remarkable sentences that they started a new chapter in the field of symbolism and of spiritual experience.

2. Mindful perception is required. The pictures of the tarot of Waite and Smith lead to unexpected encounters once and again, if you pay attention to them. They call for a careful perception of the images and a mindful understanding of its meanings and requested actions. Let us look on a few examples.

One of the most typical examples is the Six of Cups. It includes a double-face, which usually is not recognized at the first glance.

A double-face: The small woman looks away from the mannequin/dwarf (the yellow patch is her face, with an orange-red scarf on the left and right). Or she is also looking towards him (now the yellow is her hair, with her face to the left and the scarf to the right). Most people spontaneously only see one of the variants, either the attention or the avoidance. And that is for a reason.

This picture is about a return in the times of our personal childhood. The large dwarf and the little woman depict ourselves. It is a sign of spiritual maturity when as adults we succeed in being children again! And that means taking another look at the experiences that we had in childhood. We return to former crossroads (see the "X" cross within the picture). That gives us the opportunity to encounter now the missing part of the double-face of our personal history.

Those who, at first glance, see the forward facing version of her face first and foremost see and seek a "Yes," i.e. agreement in relationships and matters of feeling. They find it more difficult to say "No."

Woman Facing Forward on the Six of Cups from the Waite-Smith Tarot

Those who, at first glance, see the face that is looking away tend more towards a "No;" in other words: setting limits in relationships and matters of feeling. For them, it is saying "Yes" that they find more difficult.

Woman Facing Away on the Six of Cups from the Waite-Smith Tarot

In the end, both of these "points of view" belong to the image. And we need both: setting limits and establishing contacts, sympathy and detachment. Being free always to choose from both options No and Yes, also in emotional and intimate matters!

Sometimes we need this kind of a trip back to the future. This is the only card that shows a cup with flowers in them. So the theme of the card is a blooming spiritual existence. And for this we return to the realms of childhood and the adventure of youth.

Each picture of the Waite-Smith-Tarot tells umpteen stories. Here, the little woman's double face includes also the reference to a well-known ancient trick image showing a person that is a young woman on the front-side and on the back-side an old hag—or death. The old name for that kind of image, which dates from the Middle Ages, is Vanitas (emptiness, vanity).

Double Face on the Six of Cups from the Waite-Smith Tarot

3. Access to unexpected chambers. Another example of the symbolic richness of the Waite-Smith pictures: The foot of the woman on The Star is placed on the water surface. In the language of symbols, "water" means psyche, soul, and feelings. The "foot on the water" again provides a double meaning: Positive—the water supports (it is carrying), i.e. psyche and faith provide a basis and a "standpoint." Negative meaning—there is no access to feelings. One is not able to enter the water. As if the soul were frozen, unable to "take the plunge."

Foot on the Water on the Star from the Waite-Smith Tarot

4. "You real-eyes what you in-habit" (T.L.): The tarot cards support mindfulness, as the images need to be regarded mindfully. This is the only way to respect and recognize the richness of their existing visual content.

Then, you experience what and how you see. In your personal kind of view there is your personal uniqueness included, too, your difference, your specific understanding of the world, your personal access to it. This experience, this understanding is a core issue for any way to spiritual fulfillment. By the mindful tarot card use, you ease and enjoy to test and train this.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2022. All rights reserved.

I recently was told about twin flames, and I have some questions about them. Is it possible to create your twin flame out of the person you are with now? Also, is it possible to find your twin flame? I deeply long to find that kind of love, but I don't know where to look or how to go about it. Any guidance would be appreciated! Thank you!

Marta

Dreamchaser:

Words like "soul mate" and "twin soul" are thrown around so often in today's society. In order to answer your question, we must first define "twin soul."

Twin souls are supposedly the other half of one's soul. If you believe in twin souls, then you also believe that God/ Spirit/ the Universe - whatever term you prefer - split from one whole into many souls. In order to experience BEING and SELF, these souls divided into others who divided into others and it went on and on and is STILL going on with each birth. The final split would be when we become human beings, and the other half we split from would be our "twin soul."

It is said that we don't meet our soul twins until after we've learned essential lessons of love, loss and forgiveness through various relationships. Before we can come together with a twin flame, we must be whole within ourselves. When we reach the point where we don't look on the outside of ourselves for anything, then we're ready to FULLY share in a relationship that is intimate on all levels.

If we are not completely whole within ourselves, there is NO WAY that we could withstand the intensity of a twin flame relationship, for at that level of experience, our strengths and our weaknesses will be exposed and amplified. We can't put off any lessons we don't feel ready for. Unresolved issues are painfully opened to push us into further healing.

Ego will also be extinguished. Most relationships are based in the Ego: fear, superficial matters, and learned responses and patterns. When we are coming from a place of Ego, we cannot be coming from a place of Love. We cannot be in both at the same time. I always say that ego is like a light switch: It is either on or off, but not both.

So you now see that you can't make the person you are with into your twin flame. You also can't go seeking a twin flame. What you can do to bring your twin flame to you is to open up your heart completely. Do not hide behind walls worrying what others will think of the real you and what you may say or do, or worry about what society says is "right." Do what is right for you. Come from a place of love in your everyday life. Love attracts love.

In seeking love, we often "make do" with what we can find. We find someone "good enough" and then we try to change them into what we consider our perfect partner. However, our ideas about what is perfect come from a place of Ego. By just being in a place of Love and loving ourselves and being whole in ourselves, we will attract our twin soul.

Seeking wholeness in Spirit is the best way you can begin to bring this person into your life. When we are looking inside, we are ALLOWING things to happen on the outside because we are not attempting to force our will.

I wish you unconditional LOVE.

*****

Astrea:

I'm probably not the best psychic to ask this question, as I think all that "twin flame" and "soul mate" stuff is media driven. It's a bit of harmful nonsense that sells movies and boosts ratings. I believe in choices and consequences. With care, your "twin" soul can be anyone YOU CHOOSE him or her to be!

Every day I talk to people who say, "I KNOW that he is my soul mate!" or "Some psychic told me she is my twin flame." Talk like that makes Astrea feel SLEEPY.

Why are we so eager to surrender our control in relationships? Why do we want to blame the Universe for our choices? Why can't people take responsibility and look for a person they can get along with and love for the long haul? So many times I hear, "Why would GOD PUT HIM IN MY LIFE if he wasn't my SOUL MATE?" Like God has TIME to do that?

We DRAW people into our lives on our own! Sometimes they're good, sometimes we make mistakes, but we SELECT those people with our free will. This is how we LEARN about what we do and don't want in a permanent partner.

Love has been made so MYSTERIOUS by popular culture, especially in the U.S. and Europe. Thanks to the "soul mate" people, it controls us. We are now unable to choose who we will love because of our Destiny. HA! We've been taught that we are at the mercy of some OTHER POWER when it comes to selecting a mate.

If people have had PAST LIVES together, they may feel a strong draw towards each other, but hopefully one or both of them have learned how to behave better THIS time around! Incarnations are supposed to IMPROVE us, not repeat themselves over and over. Often people say, "I can't control whether I love her or not, I was told we had a past life together." If you can't control your emotions, no one can.

Some of the saddest people are the ones who say, "He lies, cheats on me, takes my money, and is selfish and cruel, but I LOVE HIM! I can't HELP IT!" While that person may be addicted to his DRAMA, she can ABSOLUTELY CHOOSE NOT to be in love with someone who would treat her that way! Why would she love someone who does all that? The fact is, she wouldn't! She could be addicted to his personality, or she could believe she DESERVES to be treated that way, but she doesn't LOVE him.

It's lovely to think that we have a "soul mate" or "twin flame" who is going to walk into our lives and understand everything we say, do and feel. People who elicit those responses in us ARE out there, but it still takes careful choices and lots of time to develop that kind of love and understanding. It isn't going to fall from the sky. Two people can create a wonderful, caring, giving relationship together when they're willing.

You can create what you want with another person! Welcome AUTHENTIC love into your life and you'll find it!

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.