KAJAMA.COM NEWSLETTER

April 11 through April 17, 2022

Two important astrological events mark this week, as Mars moves into the spiritually-based sign of Pisces and the Moon waxes full in Libra. With Mars traveling through Pisces for the next six weeks, we'll be prone to following our intuition over the facts, as well as making decisions that are unsupported by logic. That's okay though, as bowing to the spiritual urges and acting on them is sure to take us where we want to go during this cycle. We'll be under the influence of the waxing full Moon all week, and this one is famous for surprising us in the area of relationships. It's not uncommon to get a text or call from someone from your past, or, to encounter someone so familiar we are sure we know them from a past life! And, if there are any areas of your life that are out of balance, this full Moon is sure to point them out so we can correct those and reclaim our equilibrium. Monday the Moon will cruise through Leo and offer a fairly easy going day, but once it moves into Virgo on Tuesday, we'll spend the next three days thinking, researching and expressing our ideas and thoughts with abandon. We'll need to take care though, as not all people agree with or appreciate our opinions, so assess your audience before waxing eloquent! The Moon moves into calming Libra on Friday and waxes full on Saturday, making for a calm and peaceful weekend. Enjoy!

Two Quick Rituals for Your New Home, by Gwen Raven

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

I love rituals. I'm especially fond of small, quiet, personal rituals, which have a way of being profound and meaningful precisely because they aren't overly complicated. In my years of practice, I've discovered simplicity nearly always works best for my personal rituals. Don't get me wrong, I do love me some bonfires and drumming and hundreds of gyrating witches making magick deep in the woods, but those rituals aren't always practical on a Tuesday afternoon!

I recently moved into a new home, and I wanted to celebrate the move with a ritual. In different times, I imagine there would have been a big housewarming party. There would have been guests, lots of food, plenty of wine, a fire pit blazing away, well wishes, and a collective house blessing ritual. Of course, with the pandemic, none of that could happen safely. But moving into a new home is an important rite of passage, and I felt compelled to mark the transition with a ritual.

In fact, I did three rituals over the course of a few weeks. Each ritual took less than fifteen minutes and used materials I had on hand. There was no elaborate set up, although if you wanted to recreate these you could certainly add all sorts of pomp and circumstance, fancy circle castings, wear your best ritual outfits, and use liturgy from any magickal tradition of which you are a part. I didn't do any of that but I certainly encourage you to.</p

New Beginnings: A Ritual In An Empty House
The day I got the keys I went over to the house. It was empty. Silent. None of my belongings were there. No pictures on the wall, no favourite pots and pans in the kitchen. Just bare walls and empty rooms.

I'd brought a few basic magickal supplies with me:

• 1 4-inch white candle
• 1 candle holder
• 1 bunch of fresh herbs tied together (rosemary, lavender, mint, and basil)
• 1 little plate to catch any ash from the herbs
• 1 lighter

I stood just inside the front door and gathered my magickal bits and pieces. The candle was securely placed in the candle holder. I lit the candle with the lighter and placed it on the floor. Next I grabbed the herb bundle. I'd made this myself earlier in the day out of herbs I regularly use in spell work and that I love to cook with. These herbs are my favourites, and I have personal associations with each herb.There are traditional magickal correspondences, too:

• Rosemary for cleansing
• Lavender for tranquility and compassion
• Mint for clear communication and abundance
• Basil for love

I lit the bundle of herbs, put them on the little plate so they could smoke safely, picked up the candle holder and walked about my new home. I went from room to room, letting the smoke waft in closets and cupboards and window and doorways. It's well documented that memories are more likely to be triggered by familiar smells than by any other sense. The house began to smell familiar and that was the point.

While smoke filled the house, I spoke out loud to my new home and let it know I was moving in. I told my new home how I would bring love and laughter and joy and compassion and abundance and love and the occasional argument and misunderstandings and great food and beloved friends and witches and magick to this place. I invited the house to share with me the magick it knew and to lend me protection. I asked the house to keep me and my family safe and warm.

After spending time in each room and wandering through the front and back gardens, the candle melted down to virtually nothing and the herbs had given up their smoke. I left the herb bundle remnants in the kitchen, thanked the house, told it I'd be back the next day with boxes, and locked the door behind me.

Making A Home For The Gods
After the hard work of unpacking boxes and finding spots for books and clothes and kitchen stuff, I started to think about setting altars. The ancestor altar came first, then the kitchen altar. Soon it was time to set up altars for the house gods. I think it's worthwhile to introduce the gods to their new surroundings. At the very least, I needed to reset their altars, so I might as well make a ritual of it.

I work with several gods who are important to my practice. Once such god is Cernunnos. I have an amazing statue that puts me in mind of Cernunnos, sculpted by Christopher Orapello. I tuned into the god and asked what sort of ritual he'd like. I listened for a few days, had a dream or two and came up with this simple ritual to honour his wishes. It's a ritual you can repeat easily or adapt to fit your needs. It's one of those, "you can't really do it wrong" rituals. Again, it's not based in any particular tradition, but rather it's a mash-up borne of a couple of decades of practice. It goes something like this:

I placed the statue of Cernunnos on a redwood table in the back garden. I faced the statue towards the back fence, which is covered with grapes and jasmine and other vining plants I haven't yet identified. There are agapanthus and calla lilies and clover and mosses and all manner of plants growing just below the vines. The whole area was verdant and thriving with bees and birds and buzzing things and crawling things—just the sort of place Cernunnos would like.

I grabbed my mortar and pestle, herbs, oils, and essences I thought Cernunnos would like and headed out to the table. Here's what I said next.

"Cernunnos, close friend, trusted advisor, welcome to your new home. I've spoken with you in my dreams, remembered what you love, and prepared a spot in this garden for you."

Then I poured olive oil, scented with lemons into my mortar. To that I added dried patchouli, and fresh basil, and lavender gathered from a favourite plant. I added vanilla extract. I poured in red wine. I mixed these ingredients and a few others I'll keep secret, and pounded them with the pestle until they made a thick paste. I smeared the mixture all over the statue. Then I found a spot on the earth, at the roots of several vines that called out to me. I spread the remainder of the herb and oil mixture around the base of the statue.

"Here is your home among the creatures of this place. Among the vines and plants. You are covered with the herbs and oils sacred to my practice. I offer them as gifts to you. As devotion to you. Stay here as long as you like. There is a spot inside the house if you ever wish to come inside, but for now, please watch over this 'forest' and those who inhabit it."

With that, I washed my hands, went back into the house, and set up his "inside" altar, which is nothing more than a green cloth on a flat surface in my office.

I've checked in with Cernunnos a few times since then. He still wants to be outside. He's requested meat, boar meat to be exact, and some red wine. And a fire. Those wishes have yet to be fulfilled, but I'm working on it.

Why Are These Rituals Important?
From a very non-magickal perspective, what I did was burn some herbs and cover a statue with pesto.

From a magickal perspective, what I did was introduce myself and my gods to the neighborhood. I asked permission to work magick here. I entreated my gods and the house to meet up wherever it is that houses and gods meet up and get to know each other, so we could form (or deepen) mutually beneficial relationships.

Much like casting a circle or setting sacred space, the rituals I performed were about making a container and asking allies to participate in the magick to follow.

The rituals created space to mark the rite of passage of leaving one place and finding myself in another. The rituals used familiar ingredients and symbols and words. The result of these simple, quick rituals was comfort. I feel more comfortable in this house. I feel like a house has become a home. And that's a good thing.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2021. All rights reserved.

I know these are some very big/general questions, but dreams fascinate me. Why do you think we dream? Do all dreams have meaning? Do we go somewhere else - to another realm or dimension - when we are dreaming? If I dream about someone, does it mean they are having the same dream I am at that time?

Gregory

Susyn:

You ask some very interesting questions. There is plenty of scientific information available on dreams, so I presume you're looking for metaphysical information here. From this angle, dreams take on rich meaning and importance in our lives. There are all sorts of different types of dreams; let's take a look at the different meanings and messages associated with each of them.

There is evidence that through our dreams, we can process subconscious fears and concerns. In this way, dreams can be considered problem-solving devices that the psyche uses to address situations we are repressing when we're awake. For example, if we're hesitant about confronting someone in real life, we may have a dream about having a dramatic argument with them.

Other types of dreams can be considered prophetic. These usually involve us viewing a specific event that could happen in real life that involves people we know. When we have this type of dream, it's always a good idea to write down the details so we can take a closer look at them or compare them to actual events later on. Recurring dreams carry a common theme; they are like blinking lights, trying to get our attention. These dreams usually require that we do some soul-searching or make important changes in our lives.

Sometimes, we misinterpret an out-of-body experience as a dream when in truth, our spirit is leaving our bodies to explore other dimensions of existence. In this case, we are having experiences as real as when we are awake, we're just having them on another plane. It's true that two or more people can have the same dream at the same time. We don't usually discover this until we compare notes with them. Since most of us don't share our dreams with those we dream about every day, these dreams happen far more than we tend to realize.

Though we all dream throughout our sleep cycle, we usually only recall a fraction of the dreams we may have on any given night. Notice that you may experience your most vivid dreams just as you drift off to sleep or right before awakening. This is a part of the sleep cycle known as the alpha state, somewhere between deep sleep and full consciousness. In this state, we are more apt to remember our dreams.

To decide which dreams we need to pay attention to, we have only to note our emotional reactions to them. Whether they create fear, joy or uneasiness, intense feelings indicate that a dream is of particular importance. When we can't forget a dream for some reason, it's wise to get some expert help in interpreting it, for that's a sure sign that our subconscious has something important to say.

*****

Oceania:

Studies of brain waves demonstrate that we cycle through two different types of sleep during the night. During deep sleep, the mind rests and brain waves are steady and long, like those of a peaceful ocean. During active sleep, the mind is busy dreaming. Brain waves become choppy and short, as if the ocean was being stirred by strong winds.

Imagine electrical impulses blinking through your brain as you dream and recalling significant images, sounds, thoughts, feelings, news and challenges from the day before. As these memories are sorted, the mind does what it always does: it tries to make sense of random data by combining it into a meaningful storyline. One difference between dreams and wakefulness is the fact that, when we're awake, we can rise above the mechanical workings of the mind and evaluate them for meaning. This is not the case during dreams, which is why unlikely events so often seem plausible in them.

While not all dreams carry meaning, the wisdom of our unconscious minds may see a solution to one of our problems and offer a meaningful message in symbolic form. I recently had such a dream in which I took a house-sitting job for a friend on vacation. On the first night, someone broke into her house and attacked me, but I mustered my strength, overpowered him, and threw him out.

I next heard a wise voice tell me the job was dangerous. I replied that I was committed to the job and would complete it; should the burglar return, I'd fight him off again. The voice said it was unreasonable to complete this task and suggested I tell my friend I would not risk my well-being. I was surprised I hadn't considered this option. I figured once you committed to something, you made the best of it.

Upon waking, I looked for parallels in my waking life and found one: I'd taken on a commitment to walk my neighbor's dog whenever she needed me to, for I worked from home and she didn't, and her hours were long and unpredictable. At some point, the commitment became too much, but whenever exhaustion broke into my world, I tackled and overcame it, as I had the burglar. My dreaming mind escalated the severity of the situation to get my attention. Since resigning from the dog-walking job, I am much less stressed. A small change can make a big difference!

I admit that I could be wrong, but I don't think we leave our bodies when we dream, and I don't think the people we dream about meet up with us or even share the same dream. While dreams provide daily custodial maintenance of our minds, their greatest gift is to offer wise new perspectives on our challenges, along with fresh solutions.

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.