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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.

CBD for Anxiety and Relieving Stress, by Kerri Connor

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

It

There is no doubt our world has become an overwhelmingly stressful place to live. Between a global pandemic, an attack in on the US Capitol, and war in Europe, it would be difficult to find someone who has not been affected tragically by one of these events.

With so much stress in the world, a person's mental health has taken on a new importance. While we can not control so many of the things that happen around us, we can learn how to cope with these events. Ways we cope with anxiety and stress include medication, therapy, meditation, acupuncture, and/or supplements.

CBD (which stands for cannabidiol) won't solve the problems in the world, but it can help eliminate anxiety and stress so you may focus on events and aspects of your life where you do have control. Adding it into your daily routine may help you calm your nerves and gain control over anxious feelings.

CBD is available in a variety of forms, and what you decide to use is based on what type of relief you want, how fast you want it, and what forms of consumption you prefer. I recommend layering how you take your CBD. This means taking it in several different forms, so more CBD molecules bind with CB receptors, saturating your endocannabinoid system. This helps put the body into the most optimum homeostasis, not only relieving anxiety, but also to help keep it at bay.

Take a Hit
Smoking CBD hemp flower is the fastest pathway for CBD to reach the bloodstream, so the effects will hit you quicker than any other method. It also has high bioavailability, meaning your body absorbs it easily. When you need a quick, strong dose, smoking flower is the way to go. How you smoke your flower is up to you, but CBD flower can be smoked the same way cannabis flower is. Grind the buds and roll in a joint or blunt, throw it in a bowl, pipe, or bong—whichever method you prefer. Boost the power of the CBD by combining it with other herbs that help calm nerves and reduce anxiety, such as rose petals and lavender buds. This blend may be just what you need to help cope with an anxiety attack or other stressful situation. Help yourself unwind gently and quickly.

Drip Some Drops
CBD concentrated oil should be one of your best friends. It can be used in several different ways, making it an incredibly versatile ingredient to keep on hand. For oral use, it can be placed under the tongue (sublingual) and held there for up to 30 seconds without swallowing. This isn't as fast as smoking but is faster than taking orally through any type of edible. If you are layering your CBD, this is a good second step after smoking. If you don't smoke, a concentrated oil should be your first layer.

Tinctures are also taken sublingually. Tinctures are made with a strong alcoholic spirit, which may help to calm nerves and mellow a panic attack. I keep a tincture available for extra stressful times in my life when I know I am more likely to be triggered into an anxiety attack.

Grab a Bite
Concentrated oil can also be added with a dropper to drinks or foods. There are many great recipes for cooking and baking with concentrated oils, but when you don't have time, you can make it easy by simply adding a dose to a drink or mixed in with something like yogurt. Taking it through food means it must pass through the digestive system and liver before it makes it to the blood stream. This means slower effects and lower bioavailability.

Pre-made edibles also travel through the digestive system. Gummies, by nature, break down quickly, cutting down digestion time. But due to the pathway they take through this system to enter the bloodstream, they also have lower bioavailability.

CBD capsules can also be considered edibles since they travel the same path to the bloodstream via the digestive system and liver.

Because edibles take longer for the effects to take place, layering them with other quicker consumption methods means they will start kicking in as the effects from the other dose are lessening. For example, if I take a gummy right after I smoke, I will feel the effects from smoking almost immediately. As those effects begin to lessen, the gummy will have been digested and the CBD begins entering the blood stream, and those effects begin to build. With layering, while the effects from one type of consumption are declining, the effects of another type of consumption are building extending your optimum calm.

Soak It Away
Anxiety and stress create tension in the body causing muscle pains and aches. CBD can be used topically to help release stress stored in your body. You can add CBD to your bath as an ingredient in easy to mix bath salts. Epsom salts are ideal for tight sore muscles and should be a staple in your supplies closet. Other salts, such as sea salts or Himalayan pink salts, can also be added, but Epsom salt does have the benefit of relieving muscular pain. To complete your bath salts, add in essential and CBD oils and blend well.

I like to use the following mix:

• 1 cup Epsom salt
• ½ cup pink Himalayan salt
• 1 dropperful of CBD oil (I use 1500 mg)
• 6 drops of tangerine oil

Choose essential oils to help achieve your overall goal. I use tangerine oil as it helps with inflammation, and as someone with several autoimmune disorders, when I get stressed, I flare, and my inflammation gets out of control. Tangerine also has a bright, cheery scent that uplifts the spirit.

Massage Tension Away
Your CBD concentrated oil can be added to a carrier oil along with essential oils to design your own customized massage oils.

A 16-ounce bottle of jojoba oil can be split into four 4-ounce bottles of massage oils, each one with a different blend of essential oils. The dollar stores are a great place to grab small plastic bottles for separating your carrier oil. Add a dropperful of CBD oil to each bottle with the essential oils you choose and shake well. Do some research on oil blends to find what will be the most beneficial for you.

Daily Dose
These are all easy ways to incorporate CBD into your life. Daily use helps your body to function at more optimal levels, which helps to eliminate stress. When life gets out of hand and throws you for a loop, extra doses can help bring you back to a calm and collected state of mind.

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider regarding medical questions. This article is not a substitute for medical advice. CBD may counteract certain medications, including those used to treat blood pressure, blood clots, and thyroid, liver, and heart issues. In some medications such as antidepressants, it may increase the effects. Consult with your doctor before using CBD to ensure it is safe for you.

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