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December 6 through December 12, 2021

A peaceful week awaits as we move forward with renewed confidence and faith in the future. We'll do our best work on Monday under the Capricorn Moon, so we'll need to move our agenda for the week around so that the most pressing obligations on our list are taken care of then. Tuesday and Wednesday unfold under an Aquarius Moon, bringing our humanitarian and unity to the forefront. Friendships need to be attended to, as some things have fallen to the wayside, and if there are any connections we feel ready to leave behind (for whatever reason), now is the time to consider walking away from them. The Moon will travel through Pisces Thursday through Saturday, evoking our spiritual and artistic sides. This is an ideal time to get busy if you're planning on making holiday gifts for loved ones, as the creative energy in the air prevails. It's also a wonderful time for a retreat into ourselves to evaluate, eliminate and reconfigure what we value and what we are ready to release. Sunday's Aries Moon will encourage us to cast heavy energy aside and have some fun! Permission to goof off!

How to Create a TSA-Friendly Traveling Witch Kit, by Awyn Dawn

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

Believe it or not, there are more witch-friendly items allowed in your carry-on than you might think. You can put together a witchy kit full of essentials and keep it in your carry-on so you're always prepared. First though, a little disclaimer. At the time of the creation of this list, all items have been checked against the TSA allowable list. As we all know, policies and regulations change over time. So, it is always a good idea to double check this list and your airline's policies to avoid having to toss something out when going through security.

To create an image of what this will and will not include, I want you to think of a make-up bag. This is about the size to aim for. This kit is just for your tools on the go. You can always bring things like a book (or five), your e-reader, and a towel to serve as an altar cloth, but they will not be included in the kit for space reasons. You also don't need to create a tool kit if you don't want. As I say in Paganism for Prisoners: Connecting to the Magic Within, all the tools you could ever need are already a part of you. But that doesn't mean that carrying a kit with some essentials won't help your mindset be geared towards magic when you travel.

Divination: I have some great news: your pendulum is fine to take on board, as are your tarot cards. But let's say that you don't want to risk damage to these tools. Well, you can improvise with a sewing needle on a string and a deck of playing cards. Sewing needles are surprisingly effective for those quick answers you need on the spot. Stick it in a little sewing needle box and voila.

Candles: As long as they are the solid type, e.g., solid wax or battery-operated tea lights, you can take these with you. I love using birthday candles because they come in many different colors and are small, so they don't take up much room. I also recommend a bar of soap or so Play-doh so you have an on-the-go candle holder.

Fire: You can bring a disposable lighter or matches with you on the plane. The conditions are that the lighter can't be the electronic type and the matches cannot be the strike-anywhere type. Keep it simple and stick with the ones you can get for a dollar at the store, and you'll likely be fine.

Earth: Color me delighted to learn that my bag of "writing stones" got to come with me on a recent trip overseas. That's right, you can bring rocks. You can also bring sand and salt. I would just caution to use a bit of common sense and not take large rocks. But that piece of Black Tourmaline, that beloved Citrine, and even that Bumblebee Jasper can all have a place in your travel kit.

Air: For the element of air, I like to bring a light essential oil like Sage, Pine, or Lemon Verbena. You can also use perfume or cologne. They just have to follow that 3.4 oz/100 mL rule. There are some lovely travel cases for oils, wooden covers, or you can put it on a cord on wear it on the plane.

Water: The simplest thing to do is carry a water bottle and fill it. Hopefully you are going to a place with running, drinkable water. If you are not, there are probably arrangements in place for drinking water.

Offering Libation: Alcohol is allowed in your carry on. No, this isn't to help you with your nerves on a bumpy flight. It is to serve as your traveling offering. The two guidelines to follow is that it needs to be under 140 proof and no larger than 3.4 oz. Juice of the same size is allowed, but here's a handy trick. Just buy a bottle of your preferred beverage once you get through security. It is a bit more expensive, although duty-free shops help offset the cost, but you get to carry more.

Offering Food: Yay for snacks! As long as they are solid you can take a lot of types of food with you. Some of my favorites for your witchy kit are crackers, dried fruit, and seeds. They will have a long shelf-life and are small enough to not take up all your room.

Athame or Wand: Nail care is important, but it is also practical because one of the easiest temporary wands or athames is a nail file, metal or glass based on your preferences. If this isn't your style, you can bless a wooden pencil, a knitting needle, or a crochet hook.

Thread/String: Depending on the type of magick you do, you may just need a spool of black, yellow, or white thread to sew protective symbols into your clothing. Or you may want a length of string or rope that is 4.5 feet long (this is a traditional method of measuring a 9" circle).

Mirror: A little compact mirror is great for scrying, reflecting moonlight, introspective magic, and for a great deal of other purposes. Mirrors are iconic in their ability to help one be transported to another world. With this in mind, having one can be helpful for trancework.

Bag: The bag, or box, you use for your supplies can be as simple or elegant as you would like it to be. I mentioned earlier that makeup bags are great, not just because of their size, but because if you pull a makeup bag out in front of people, everyone assumes what the contents are and go about their day, no questions.

You know the flavor of your magickal practice better than others. So this next part is a list of other items that might, in your mind, seem like magical necessities. For example, herbs, tea, and spices are allowed as long as they are dried. Who can't think of many uses for herbs? Also consider a scarf, bobby pins, corkscrew or bottle opener (without the knife), safety pins, seashells, small scissors (under 4"), tape, and a flashlight. If you have room, a small statue of your patron deity is also a welcome addition.

To sum up, you've got a little bag, and in it the following: A pendulum, box of birthday candles, soap or Play-Doh, disposable lighter or matches, stones, essential oil, water (that you get after security), offering food and libation, nail file, thread, mirror, and some miscellaneous items. This is all it takes to form a basic witchy, TSA-approved travel kit.

Blessed Travels!

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

I am wondering about my twins, Amanda and Aiden, born at 7:15 a.m. and 7:23 a.m. on March 23, 1988. I had their astrology charts done and they appear to be virtually identical, yet these two could not be more different from each other. Is this because they are fraternal (one male and one female), or could the few minutes they were born apart cause a huge difference? Thank you for your time!

- Monica

Susyn:

The study of astrology is fascinating, especially when it comes to twins. One would assume that because they were born on the same day at virtually the same time, they would behave in identical ways, but this is often not the case.

Because Amanda and Aiden are fraternal twins, one male and one female, obvious differences will be apparent right away. As a rule, the male and female members of any sign carry very different traits. For example, many Pisces men come across as passive and easygoing, while many Pisces women possess a stronger, more determined nature.

Along the same vein, a Capricorn man will carry a strong sense of duty, responsibility and stability, while a Capricorn women may appear to be flighty or unpredictable. If you compare the male and female members of any sign, you'll notice they tend to be very different from each other. To learn more about these common differences, I recommend Linda Goodman's book Sun Signs, for it's one of the most comprehensive studies on the traits of males and females born under each sign.

Another aspect to consider regarding Amanda and Aiden in particular is that they were born near the cusp of two signs, Pisces and Aries. When this happens, one twin will tend to take on the traits of the zodiac sign the Sun has just exited, while the other will embrace the nature of the sign it has just entered.

You may notice that your daughter tends to be dreamy, moody, artistic and unpredictable like a Pisces, while your son embodies the determined, adventurous and action-oriented nature of an Aries - or vice versa. Even if your twins were identical and of the same gender, it wouldn't be unusual to note big differences between twins born near or on the cusp of a sign.

As you mentioned, your kids' astrological charts appear to be virtually identical. It's important to keep in mind that natal charts are like road maps; their basic purpose is to indicate where the planets were located at the time of one's birth. There are all sorts of other forces that influence the development of an individual's personality.

Environment, gender and the placement of certain planets all contribute to which aspects of a sign an individual will embody. It's also important to keep in mind that we all have a specific destiny and soul purpose, so even when a natal chart appears to be identical to another chart, the soul will shine through above all.

Thank you for your question, Monica. Your letter indicates that you respect the differences between your twins, which suggests that you have encouraged them to follow their own paths and be their own people.

2635

Oceania:

There are three factors that make up a personality: nature, nurture, and free will. Nature refers to genetic material. When twins are fraternal rather than identical, they share no more genetic material than any other two siblings, so Amanda and Aiden may have inherited completely different sets of physical and personality traits.

Nurture refers to environmental influences including family, friends, school and culture. Even though your twins share most of the same outside influences, their different personalities may cause them to react differently to those influences and to evoke different attitudes from others as well. A mellow, happy baby will elicit different reactions than an aggressive complainer. Your twins are also of different genders, and many people react differently to boys and girls because of preconceived notions about gender roles.

There is a third factor that contributes to personality: free will or as I like to call it soul power. I believe we come into life with some degree of this energy, and that it grows every time we face and overcome a challenge by turning roadblocks into stepping stones.

Drawing upon this energetic force, we can choose to override the impulses of body and mind and thus transcend both nature and nurture. For example, a person may inherit a genetic tendency towards obesity and have a family who reinforces it through poor diet, but choose to draw upon free will and make healthy choices to become fit.

A person may inherit a propensity towards anxiety and grow up with poor role models who cope with stress by drinking, drugging or other self-destructive behavior, yet that individual may still muster the will power to avoid such patterns.

We can also use our will to seek out help when we need it. While working as a psychologist, I observed two types of clients: those with flourishing soul power and those without it. The first group was eager to learn and grow by actively shedding parts of their lives and themselves that no longer served them. These clients reminded me of water flowing freely in a stream. (Maybe these are the so-called old souls!)

The second group seemed unable to override the forces of nature and nurture; regardless of intervention, they remained much the same. These clients reminded me of water stagnating in a swamp; it might swirl in a tiny circle but it isn't going far.

Your twins are different not because they were born minutes apart but because they inherited different personality traits, have had different life experiences, and have freely exercised their soul power to choose who they would like to be.

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.