KAJAMA.COM NEWSLETTER

August 22 through August 28, 2022

Brace yourself! This week is so packed with astrological shifts that we'll have to pay close attention to the daily changes it will bring. The Sun moves into Virgo on Monday, setting up a month of inspired thoughts and a drive to create more order and organization in our lives. We'll get a short breather on Tuesday as the Moon moves through Cancer, but on Wednesday, Uranus will turn retrograde and have us questioning everything and everyone! Sudden changes and reversals are a hallmark of this aspect, so be prepared to change direction at a moment's notice. On Thursday Mercury will move into Libra and, thank goodness, restore some balance to our thinking. What we thought was a great idea on Wednesday may prove faulty on Thursday, so the trick is not to take action on things too quickly, but to let the dust settle before moving forward. Take advantage of Friday's Leo Moon to stop and attend to personal needs, making sure you aren't letting anything fall through the cracks as you continue through the maze of astrological events. Saturday we will have a new Moon in Virgo and yes, you guessed it, even more brilliant ideas rising to the surface! The fun continues on Sunday as we sort through all we've learned this week, as well as what we are imagining for the future!

4 Ways to Practice Dark Moon Magick with Reiki, by Melissa Tipton

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

During the Dark Moon, the earth-facing side of the moon is in shadow (in contrast to the Full Moon when it is illuminated by and reflecting the sun's light). Magically, this is an ideal time for plumbing our inner depths and shadow realms and releasing stubborn patterns hindering our growth. Adding Reiki to the mix helps us maintain self-love and compassion in the face of potentially challenging material. Internal parts that might be hiding from the conscious mind out of fear of judgment and shame often feel safer in revealing themselves to the healing process in the presence of Reiki.

Dreamwork
Dreams are a potent way of interacting with our unconscious landscape beyond the meddling of the conscious mind, which might otherwise try to shape and mold our reality according to the ego's directives. As such, our dreams act as windows into our hidden nature, and we can use the energy of the Dark Moon to assist us in our truth-seeking. To begin, settle on a question to guide your dreamwork. You might be seeking clarity in regard to a relationship, a work situation, your health, etc. The more specific your question, the easier it will be to interpret the guidance you receive. For example, "How and why am I contributing to my conflict with Aaron?" will likely yield richer insights than asking the broader question, "How can I fix my relationship?"

Once you've settled on a question, perform a simple bedtime ritual to pave the way for insightful dreams. You'll need a cleansed quartz crystal and your question written on a slip of paper. Take a few minutes to focus on your breath, allowing your inhales and exhales to lengthen, calming your mind and bringing your awareness into the present moment. Envision your crown chakra opening to receive a clear stream of Reiki, which fills your entire energy body with white light. Hold the quartz in your left hand and your question in your right.

I enter now the land of dreams—
What once was hidden, now is seen.
I call upon the power of Reiki
To guide my dreams in love and truth.
And this question, I pose to you:
[read your question three times]

Close your eyes, and imagine the energy of your question being absorbed into your right hand, diffusing into your energy field and outward in all directions, like a beacon attracting relevant information and assistance. I often see this as an infinite web of light strands, with pertinent energies flashing like stars in the night sky. See these helpful forces traveling toward you, condensing into the quartz crystal where they will be recorded throughout the night, ready for you to retrieve when you awake. Place the quartz by your bedside or under your mattress—sweet dreams!

The following morning, hold the quartz while you mentally review your dreams. Don't worry if your memory seems spotty; just engage with whatever details arise and trust that they will expand as you do so. Feel the energy in the quartz and imagine accessing it, like a computer file, simply by holding and concentrating your awareness on it. If you use Reiki symbols, you can trace one over your palm chakra before holding the quartz, enhancing the energy flow and communication. Ask to be shown the parts of your dream that are most relevant to your question. To further the work, continue with the next technique, ideally as soon as you wake up.

Shadow Journaling
Building on the previous technique, before you brush your teeth or otherwise engage in starting your day, grab your journal and record anything you can remember from your dream. Often, as you write, other important elements of the dream will resurface. Assume that an answer to your question is hiding in plain sight, like a word jumble, and that the more you interact with the dream content, the clearer it will become. If any interpretations jump out at you, jot them down before proceeding with the following exercise.

Who, What, When, Where
Who: Make a list of the characters in the dream, then free write any associations that come to mind with each character, working with one at a time. Don't censor yourself, even if the words seem a bit random and unrelated. What feelings does this character evoke? What memories do they bring to mind? If you met them in waking life, what would you think about them?

What: Make a list of any memorable objects (e.g. a white dress, a bucket of fish) and occurrences in the dream (e.g. flying a kite, losing your keys), and follow the same process of free association for each. What feelings or memories do these things or events trigger? Do they have any parallels in your waking life?

When: How would you characterize the time period of the dream? Does it remind you of a time from your past or does it feel current?

Where: Describe the environment of the dream. What feelings or memories does this place evoke? Does it remind you of anywhere in your waking life?

Take a few moments to focus on your breath, once again opening your crown chakra to the flow of Reiki, and ask that Reiki assist you in understanding what is most relevant for you to know right now. Reread your dream question, and go over your Who/What/When/Where notes, looking at them with the assumption that they contain answers to your question.

For example, using one of the dream characters, how might you imagine this person responding to your question? What would they do in your shoes? And how do you feel about this potential course of action? A dream character might illustrate aspects of something we want to do but aren't giving ourselves permission to explore, or they might show us something we're doing, perhaps on a subconscious level, that isn't in our best interest. Look at your question through each of the characters' eyes to see different options and understand how your whole self, not just the parts you are conscious of in waking life, feels about the issue.

Following a similar process with your "what" notes, how do they relate to your question? For example, if you jotted down, "chewing gum loudly in school," and you free associated this with rebelliousness and being disrespectful, this could trigger an insight that an inner rebel part is being triggered in your work conflict, causing you to say and do things that are blocking communication and distancing you from your colleagues. Your "when" notes then lead you to a time when you were ten and you were wrongly accused of cheating on a test by a teacher. Lo and behold, these feelings bear a lot of resemblance to your experience with your co-worker, whom you feel has been taking credit for your contributions in work meetings. Through this process, you see that it's important for you to openly and non-combatively discuss with your colleague other ways to present your team's work in meetings, rather than allowing your inner rebel to take over and damage your work relationships.

To bridge the gap between waking and dream life, look for one concrete action step you can take based on the dream material, no matter how seemingly insignificant it may be. In the above example, talking to your co-worker would be a great action step, but if nothing that concrete is coming through, try bringing something from the dream into your waking life by, for example, wearing a white dress or adopting some of the mannerisms of a dream character. Pay attention to how you feel when you engage with the dream elements and notice how the world around you responds, all the while staying open to guidance in regard to your question. Over trying to come up with a single, static interpretation of your dream, which can be frustrating, especially with dreams that seem completely nonsensical, view the dream as merely the beginning of a conversation, the meaning of which will become clearer the more you engage with it.

Hidden Tarot Layout
Using this tarot spread during the Dark Moon is a potent way of revealing unseen aspects of yourself and your situation. While this material can be challenging, approaching it with gentleness and compassion will help you integrate long-lost parts of yourself into your conscious awareness, availing you of the gifts these parts have to offer, while also healing the self-destructive side effects of shoving them under the rug.

Before performing the reading, connect with the energy of the Dark Moon, using the following incantation, ideally outside or near a window.

By the darkness of the Moon
I see myself in all my parts.
With Reiki guiding my every step
I expand awareness with my breath.

Throughout the reading, use your breathing, steady and calm, as a touchstone to keep you centered and in a slightly altered state of consciousness. Open your crown chakra to the flow of Reiki, and at any point during the reading when you feel stuck or triggered, pause and re-establish a connection to your breath and to the flow of Reiki.

Shuffle the cards three times while concentrating on your question, then lay down a single card, face-up. Place a second card on top, face-down so that it is covering up half of the first card. You will be left with a fifty-percent view of the first card's image. The partially visible card represents aspects of your situation and within yourself that are partly hidden from conscious awareness, yet are strongly influencing your situation. Take in any insights from this card, exploring how your perception of the card changes with half of it hidden. For example, perhaps the character's arm is held aloft, so you cannot see the sword in their hand. You might associate this with feeling vulnerable and "unarmed," or the hidden sword feels related to backstabbing behavior. Perhaps without the weapon visible, the character appears as if they're throwing their arms out with joy or in an embrace. Check in with your breathing and the flow of Reiki.

Flip over the second card. This represents aspects of your situation and within yourself that are trying to conceal, block, or otherwise impede the flow of energy represented by the first card.

For example, a fear of being vulnerable and unarmed is being concealed by the Devil card, which might be an indication of addictive tendencies being used to mask uncomfortable vulnerability. Once again, check in with your breath and the flow of Reiki.

Finally, shuffle the deck three more times and lay down a third card above the first two, representing a way to integrate the energies of the original cards in a productive manner, supportive of your growth and expansion. How might the influence of this third card change the dynamic of the other two? For example, the three of cups might invite you to practice expressing vulnerability with close friends or get help for a substance abuse issue.

The Dark Moon is a powerful time for self-reflection, and using this phase as a monthly reminder to dialogue with our unconscious keeps the bridge between our inner darkness and light vibrant and productive. Over trying to eradicate our shadow aspects, we partner them with the light of consciousness, granting us deeper access to our unique gifts and a greater appreciation for our whole selves. Learn the seven steps to creating a life you love with the power of Reiki in my book, Living Reiki: Heal Yourself and Transform Your Life.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2019. All rights reserved.

I have had four dreams in the last three months about someone who is male and recently deceased. I knew of this person but I never met him personally. In my dreams, however, it's like we have known each other before. The energy I feel from him in my dreams is incredible, and is similar to the feeling I had when my son was born. The energy this person embraces me with feels like love, peace, fulfillment and acceptance all rolled into one feeling. Have you heard of anyone having a comparable experience while in a dream state? I'm not the sort of person to look for love at every corner or to be constantly on a quest for a soul mate. I'm 30 years old, attractive, and have been single for the past 10 years. I get hit on but I honestly choose to be single. I'm very independent. If I get married, that's great; if I don't, that's okay too. It's not a priority for me. I have a son I love dearly and a great job that keeps me busy. In my dreams, I felt like I have taken care of this man before. Since his passing, however, my life has improved, so I feel like I am being taken care of now. Is a spirit capable of this? I've had two encounters where shortly after his passing I woke up abruptly in the middle of the night and saw his silhouette standing beside my bed. It was for a couple moments and I didn't feel scared. The second experience was when I was drifting off to sleep. All was quiet and I heard him speak my name, followed by that incredible energy washing over me like in my previous dreams. Is this a soul mate who has found me?

Jennifer

Astrea:

I once heard a wonderful explanation of soul mates who aren't together now and never were in real life that was related to King Arthur, Guinevere, Morgan le Fey and Lancelot. (History is great for revealing relationship secrets!)

Whether you believe they were real people or not, the relationships they had with each other were very complicated. Several authors have explained those complex relationships as being rooted in other lives or future incarnations.

Studying the dynamics behind the relationships of these four individuals has helped many people find insights into their own love lives. One of my favorite books on these four is The Mysts of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Books by Edain McCoy, especially Entering the Summerland, also contain helpful insights.

If you learn about your own past lives, you'll probably find this man in many of your ago times. It often happens that we meet a Soul Mate from a different incarnation (or many different incarnations) but due to various reasons or our own free choice, we're unable to be together in this lifetime. When we move on to our Celestial Incarnations, we meet these people and work out what we weren't able to do in life.

I believe the experiences you are having with this man are as real as waking ones. You see him, you hear him, and you say that your life has improved since you began dreaming of him. This isn't unusual even though people still don't discuss happenings of this kind in polite company for fear of being labeled NUTS!

If I were you, I would look around for a church or some type of spiritual community for some support as you move through life this time around. It will be nice to be with others who feel as you do: that they are protected by friends, loved ones and even strangers from beyond.

There are two different explanations for what is going on with you and this man you never met. Either this person was destined to help you from the Other World because of experiences in other lives, or after his death, he chose to participate in your life because of some incident that happened while he was living.

What to think? The reason that your lives are linked despite never having met in this incarnation may always remain a Divine Mystery. I think you should be happy and grateful that this man has chosen to love and watch over you. I'm also confident that you'll meet up with him face to face when you leave this world.

*****

Susyn:

The experiences you describe in your letter confirm that you have a new spiritual protector and guardian at your side. When we die, our spirits have more freedom and knowledge, which makes it possible for us to connect with people who are dear to us even if we had no contact with them when we were alive.

The most important thing to note here is how this type of phenomenon changes our lives. You say that your life has improved since this man's regular visits began. This is the ideal way to validate what you have been experiencing, for the influence this is having on your life appears to be profound.

It's possible that this man could be a soul mate or a karmic connection from a past life, though that doesn't preclude the additional possibility that you are having a loving, long-lasting relationship with him in the future.

You may want to learn more about this man who has decided to become a close companion by performing a guided meditation. Gather together any pictures or information you have about him. Light three white candles and sit in silence while you focus on the emotions and experiences you've had with him.

Then invite him to talk with you. You should be able to carry on a conversation with him at this point. This is an excellent way to determine what the connection between you is so you can start to build on it.

You may also notice your intuition and awareness growing in other areas, as these sorts of events often enhance our spiritual gifts. The fact that you have now seen his silhouette a few times also indicates that your powers of perception are increasing.

When you open yourself up to spending more time with him in an awakened state via meditation, the connection between the two of you will become clearer. In this manner, you can continue to experience the gifts of having him in your life now even though he wasn't a part of your life when he was alive.

Skepticism can often keep us from trusting in these types of experiences, but if you pay close attention to how you feel and less attention to what you think, these activities will increase until there is no doubt left in your mind.

Our biggest challenge is what to do with these experiences. In this case, I encourage you to embrace them, trust them and learn from them. This spirit ís presence in your life appears to be a wonderful blessing. As you say, someone is taking care of you for a change - and without compromising your freedom or independence!

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.