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December 13 through December 19, 2021

It will be a free-for-all on Monday as Mercury moves into Capricorn and Mars dances into Sagittarius! With both of these personal planets changing into different signs at the same time, we may feel a bit conflicted, as Mars in Sagittarius wants to play while Mercury in Capricorn reminds us there's lots of work to do! Finding a balance between the two can be tricky, so good luck with that! Besides, we can get a lot more done Tuesday and Wednesday with the Moon traveling through grounded and determined Taurus. Then we can relax and have fun as the Moon dances through Gemini Thursday through Saturday, culminating in a Gemini full Moon, also called the Cold Moon. This full Moon is great for releasing old ideas or researching new ways to address old issues, whether they be health-related, how to make more money or how to fix that annoying drip in the bathroom sink! Translation? Google or YouTube to learn more! Venus will turn retrograde on Sunday and travel backward through the end of January 2022, taking us on a journey down memory lane and asking us to reevaluate our priorities, what we love as well as what we envision for our lives, and why.

How to Screen Scammers for Cursing Cons, by Diana Rajchel

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

San Francisco has an unusual law for fortune-tellers. This law requires that anyone who offers fortune-telling services to apply for a license with the city and report to city hall for fingerprinting. As someone who reads tarot as part of a metaphysical solutions practice, I balked when I found out about this. Sure, a business license made sense—the city's taxes and budget needs are enormous for anyone who moved there after 1970—but fingerprints? Tarot somehow meant criminal activity in a place with the mystical history San Francisco?

Not long after this discovery, a post on NextDoor from the San Francisco PD explained everything. Scammers were exploiting vulnerable people in public spaces, marching up to them in shopping malls and at gas stations to offer readings, and then convincing their targets that they were cursed. To remove these afflictions, these "readers" demanded hundreds and even thousands of dollars.

In some cases, if the person refused the scammer, the fake reader might then persuade them that they would be cursed if they didn't pay up. (In at least one case I know of the scammer did follow up with a negative working.)

San Francisco has always had a reputation for pirates and plunderers, so fortune-telling scammers come as no surprise. What did shock me was the frequency to which these villains still succeed in their evil deeds. For people like myself that are in the business of ruling out (or acknowledging) curses to break bad patterns, scammers pose a massive and complicated problem. How can you operate a business that requires faith and trust with people claiming your field with the very intention of violating faith and trust?

Scam victims are a regular and painful part of life for legitimate members of the spiritual field. Anyone who works in this business more than ten years has at least one story about a terrified client seeking a second opinion after an encounter with a spiritual scammer. By the time these folks come see someone legitimate, they have already lost hundreds to thousands of dollars because of these manipulations.

This puts me in a rough position with San Francisco's regulations. I object to the law, but I can't ignore the reasoning behind it: vulnerable people need protection.

That's the very reason I started down a path that includes curse diagnostics and breaking. Those of us raised in colonizer cultures unfortunately make the problem worse because of our own cognitive dissonance around cursing. Curses are billed as "ridiculous" and "superstitious" and yet it's people from all backgrounds that end up on that scam victim list. The way it's been handled so far is to gaslight and add to the dissonance—either insisting that "that doesn’t happen," or insisting that "only those people from that culture and practice have curses."

Sometimes, the colonizer mentality doubles up on the gaslight/put-down and suggests that "those people" are just "uneducated." "Those people" are the only real experts on the realities of their lives and if someone from outside my cultural bubble comes to me believing they may be cursed, I listen, rather than dismiss. If someone comes to me thousands of dollars poorer because of a scam, I don't chastise or judge, I listen to why they think it might be so.

My exposure to people far outside my bubble of birth has left me convinced of two things: curses are real, and con artists are common. Finding an ethical person to diagnose and resolve a curse is even more difficult when navigating a community that has both people casting real spells and people faking it to scare people into handing over their money. The spiritual scam victim and the person who bought into the "curses don't exist" modern party line ends up having much the same questions: Are curses real? Am I vulnerable? How do I rule this out? Can I even find an honest person for a second opinion? What the hell do I do about it if I am cursed—I don't have $500!

I can't offer absolute protection from scams; these people know how to cold-read and pick their targets with care. The most resistant person can get caught up by a scammer if picked on the wrong day.

I also can't give guarantees on my workings. Hired spiritual work is similar to working with a lawyer, or a doctor, in that you pay for a certain kind of expertise that cannot be guaranteed. You can't always win the lawsuit, and you can't always see the results you might want from a spell or spell breaking.

With this dilemma in mind, I offer the following guidelines if someone says you have a curse on you.

1. First, were you even considering you might carry a curse before the conversation began? 
2. Second, did you seek this person out, or did they blindly solicit you? Are they offering to "lift" the curse that you weren't even concerned that you had for an exorbitant fee? Assume someone who walks up to you on the street or cold-calls you on social media to tell you you have a curse is lying. Scaring people into limbic hijack so that they can't think clearly to question what they're told is a common method of grifters.
3. Third, if you think you might be cursed, why? What seeded that idea? If you are seeing a string of increasing and bizarre bad luck, that might merit exploration. Most of the time, you will find out that you aren't cursed, that you have more of a "clog" because of energy build up. Those are often much less expensive to fix, and you can often take care of yourself.For example, if you have a streak of tiny accidents, it might come from a spiteful magic worker. Still, rule out all logical explanations. Your coordination might be off because you don't get enough sleep, or you keep running late because you forgot to reset your devices to your current time zone. Assess on a scale of normal/horror movie/cartoon how improbable strange incidences are. If you find yourself in situations that in any way resemble Supernatural or South Park, please call someone. You might not be cursed per se, but you still need help.

If signs are pointing towards a cursing, try to keep an open mind about who and how. Stay as calm as you can. Do not trouble yourself too much over why unless you did something especially unconscionable.

Get divination from someone who has a good reputation but who doesn't know you or the situation. Look at reviews for local metaphysical shops, and if the shop has positive feedback in multiple places, give them a call and ask about their readers. Forums such as RateMyPsychic can also help you track down someone that can help. Before you hire a reader, also take a look at their social media platforms. Look for an authentic person showing themselves. Someone that expresses critical thought about popular spiritual ideals is more likely to handle a tough problem than someone that only posts inspirational memes.

Never call a "psychic" that advertises by dropping glowing reviews on the profiles of other psychics. "I got my husband back..." these usually begin. These people are invariably scammers.

If you honestly believe someone has worked harm to you via magic, then put the same effort into finding someone to help you that you would put into finding a contractor for home repairs.

All curses are breakable. It may take persistence, and in some risky cases, it may well involve expense—but an ethical worker will take every effort to work themselves out of a job, and will start with the least expensive solutions first.

We live in a big universe, one large enough to contain curses, cures, and con artists. Part of making the world better is cursing the cons, curing the innocently cursed, and raising ourselves beyond the need for any of it. Until then, tread carefully, think critically, try to rule out the supernatural before seeking spiritual help, and never believe a guy at the 7-11 who walks up to you out of nowhere and tells you about a “dark energy” in your aura.

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

I dreamed that my husband was dead and that by sheer force of love, I was able to bring him back. As I held him and refused to accept the bottomless grief that was enveloping me, he began to breathe again. However, he was not quite all that he had been. I don't often fear dreams but this one scared me profoundly. Your thoughts?

L.

Susyn:

Dreams of the impending death of a loved one can be frightening. Even though you were able to love your husband back to life, it didn't work out as you wanted or needed it to, so it's understandable that you would be disturbed by this dream.

Usually our dreams don't predict future physical events; instead, they reveal important aspect of our psyches. The way this dream touched you on a profound level suggests that dream was symbolic and not literal.

We all carry deep-seated fears of losing those closest to us, and often these fears take shape in our dreams. If we look at this vision from a metaphysical perspective, it's clear that your relationship to your husband is deeply important to you; you are a vital part of his life and he depends on you to nurture and fulfill him.

I recommend you ask yourself if there are any struggles your husband is currently going through that might have triggered this dream. These struggles may be personal, professional or health-related. If you can't think of any, you might look to your own life to see if you have been struggling in some way. You see, this dream may not be about your husband at all, but rather about something that is as important to you as this relationship is.

Sometimes a dream like this can indicate that some aspect of your life is fading away and something new is developing that will change you, your husband or your relationship in profound ways. Though this change is portrayed in a physical way in the dream, it is really of a spiritual or emotional nature.

Extensive journaling on this dream should reveal more information. I recommend you write down the events of the dream and all the feelings that came to you during and after it. Writing your feelings down on paper like this will help diffuse them and lead you to greater clarity.

I don't get the sense that this is a recurring dream. Dreams tend to return over and over if we fail to pay attention to them; since you are paying attention, you'll be able to process and release the message of this dream in a conscious way, which should prevent it from recurring.

I think this dream has a positive message for you; it suggests that your bond to your husband is so powerful and enduring that no matter what happens, you will be able to keep your love alive.

*****

Oceania:

I think one of you is expanding and changing the dynamic of your relationship. If it's your husband, you may feel like the man you once knew is gone; here your dream represents your desire to pull the old him back.

Imagine that your husband is a little bird sitting on your palm. You can cage him or you can bless his flight with trust that if he's meant to be with you, he will fly away and then joyfully return to the comfort of your hand. Of course, it may be YOU who is stretching and growing into a freer, more independent being; perhaps you fear that your husband will reject the new and improved you.

Shel Silverstein wrote The Missing Piece, which looks like a children's book but holds universal appeal. The story explores our tendency to look to another person to complete us.

The main character is a circular being who looks like a pie with a slice missing. This creature encounters and attempts to connect with many ill-fitting pieces. We can all relate as the creature goes in search of its missing piece. In the end, the creature discovers that the missing piece is not another being but rather its own unrealized potential calling it to expand.

In The Rainbow Connection, Kermit the Frog sings, Have you been half-asleep and have you heard voices? I've heard them calling my name...Is this the sweet sound that calls the young sailors? The voice might be one and the same...I've heard it too many times to ignore it; it's something that I'd like to be... Either you or your husband is heeding that call to be something more!

After reviving him in the dream, you noticed that he was not all he had been. As YOU grow and expand as an individual, your husband may seem diminished. There are natural shifts that take place in a relationship whenever one person changes, and it can feel uncomfortable when familiar patterns dissolve and new ones are not yet established.

Many people fear that personal evolution will lead to the demise of their marriage, but changes can merely mark the end of one chapter and the start of a new one. Though change can be intimidating, we have to accept it anyway. Instead of fearing that change will kill your marriage or your husband, I encourage you to appreciate how it will keep your relationship alive and interesting.

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.