KAJAMA.COM NEWSLETTER

August 19 through August 25, 2024

Two major astrological events rule the heavens this week, beginning with an Aquarius full Moon on Monday, followed by the Sun's entry into Virgo on Thursday. We should expect the unexpected under Monday's full Moon, as Aquarius is famous for shaking things up, as well as revealing information that hasn't been available in the past. We'll simply have to be on high alert and prepared to change thought or direction at a moment's notice. With the Moon dancing through Pisces Tuesday and Wednesday, it will be easier to see where recent changes are actually working in our favor, affirming that the Universe is always protecting us from moving in the wrong direction, even when we resist the blocks. Once the Sun moves into Virgo on Thursday, we'll be entering a four-week period of grounding, discipline, and centering ourselves. That's not a bad thing after a season of ethereal movements. Setting new schedules and goals is a theme, and our focus will turn to bringing more order to our worlds. The weekend unfolds under a Taurus Moon, making Saturday and Sunday a great time to relax and regroup after a busy week.

Sacred Fire, by Ellen Evert Hopman

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

The Goddess in the Sun
Modern Paganism is heavily influenced by Greek and Roman mythology, and as a result certain assumptions are made, such as the idea that the Sun is male and the Moon female. A careful study of indigenous traditions will reveal that this wasn't true for many—or possibly most—cultures on planet Earth. In Egypt, the Sun was within the eye of the great lion Goddess Sekhmet or within the cow Goddess Hathor at night and reborn from the womb of Hathor each morning. The Egyptians also associated the Sun with Bastet or Bast—Lady of Flame, Eye of Ra, divine protectress of the pharaoh, whose sacred animal was the house cat.

Germanic cultures had Sunna and Frau Sunne while the Norwegian Goddess Sól traversed the heavens in a chariot drawn by the horses Arvak and Alsvid.

The Lithuanians and Lativans had Saule, the Finns Paivatar or Beiwe. The Hungarians had Xatel-Ekwa and the Slavs had Solntse. For the Arabs she was Al-Lat. In Australia she was Bila or Walo. In India she was Bisal-Mariamna or Bomong and in Sri Lanka, Pattini.

The ancient Hittites had Wurusemu, the Babylonians had Shapash. Among Native American cultures she was Unelanuhi to the Cherokee, Wal Sil to the Natchez, Malina to the Inuit and Herkoolas to the Miwok.

In Japan the Sun Goddess Amaterasu is still regarded as the Goddess of the Universe, from whom the emperor is descended.

In Ireland she was Grian (the Moon was her sister) and her path through the heavens was a central tenet of Celtic cosmology. To move "deiseil" or "sunwise" around a place or an object brought the greatest luck. When one engaged in ritual or processed around a sacred object, such as a holy well or a standing stone, it was important to move around it deiseil, in order to go with the flow of the universe.

A sunwise procession around a place or thing in Ireland was called "cor deiseil." In the Hindu tradition a sunwise procession is called "pradaksina" and is said to bring luck and prosperity. Moving with the Sun was a common facet of Indo-European culture.

Moving anti-clockwise, widdershins or "tuathamail" (Gaelic) was considered very unlucky because it meant you were deliberately going "against the flow" of nature. In fact, invading armies would approach a fort tuathamail and the inhabitants would know that they were under attack.

Fire Deities of the Celts
The two most popular deities of the ancient Celts were Brighid/Bride/Brigantia and Lugh/Lugus/Llew. Both were deities of brightness and fire. Lugh was not a Sun God as is popularly supposed; he represented brilliance in craft and in thinking and was called "master of every art." Similarly, Brighid was a Fire Goddess, mistress or patroness of arts. She was a Goddess of Healing, Smith Craft (a magical art in ancient times), and Poetry, and also a patroness of mothers (because to be a mother was to be a mistress of every art to at least a small extent).

Brighid was the Goddess invoked at Imbolc, the great Fire Festival of February 1 that celebrated the lactation of the ewes. Lugh gave his name to the festival of Lughnasad, the Fire Festival of the first fruits of the harvest, originally funeral games in honor of Lugh's foster mother.

In Irish tradition the Sun was also known as "Áine Clair," or Áine the Bright. She could appear to mortals as an old woman, a young princess, a mother, or a mermaid. "Áine Chliach" lived in a hill (Cnoc Áine). At Summer Solstice bundles of straw, or "cliars" were tied to poles, lit on fire, and carried around her hill. The cliars were then carried through the fields, around the cattle herd, and along boundaries to bless the land with Áine's fire.

Making Offerings to Sacred Fire
In Celtic religious practice it was essential to make offerings to fire, water, and land. Offerings placed into an earthen pit or into water went down to the Sidhe Realm (Fairy Realm) of the ancestors. Offerings placed at the base of a rock or tree fed the Land Spirits, and offerings placed into a ritual fire went up to the Sky Realm of the Gods. Each of these methods had a powerful magic of its own, but I will focus on Fire offerings here.

The High Holy Days of the Celts (Imbolc, Beltaine, Lughnasad, and Samhain) were all called Fire Festivals. A large bonfire (or in the case of Imbolc, candles) was featured at each of these celebrations. Offerings were made to the fires, such as butter, sacred woods, aromatic herbs, whiskey, and oils, as prayers were spoken and petitions made to the Gods.

Beltaine offered a unique opportunity for purification by fire. At this Fire Festival the cows were led between two sacred bonfires, so close that when a white cow passed through them her hair would be singed brown. This ritual was done to purify the cows as they left the farm and made their way to their summer pastures in the hills.

At Beltaine and Samhain hearth fires were put out as everyone waited for sacred flames to arrive, brought by torch-bearers. In Ireland the Beltaine fires were lit from the great Fire Altar at Uisneach, home of the Arch-Druid, at Samhain from a fire near Tara.

Hearth Fire
Sacred fire was also honored on a daily basis in the home. Hearth fires were often made with peat, because wood was too expensive and hard to obtain. Every housewife acted as a Priestess when she "smoored" the fire each night, carefully covering the embers to keep until dawn. As she did so she would utter a prayer such as this one from the Hebrides of Scotland:

Baby Blessings
Burning peat embers were used bless newborn babies and calves, carried in a shovel around the mother and child three times, asking the fire to protect them.

A Scottish Fire Blessing for a newborn child was done by filling a basket with bread and cheese and wrapping it in clean linen. The baby was laid on top of the bread and cheese; the oldest female present would carry the basket around a fire three times sunwise, and then suspend the basket briefly over the fire. Then the "bairnie" (baby) was put into its cradle as the bread and cheese were distributed to everyone who had helped with the birth.

Communal Fires
One of the most powerful of fire rituals was the "Tein-eigin," or Need-fire. Such a sacred fire would be constructed by the entire community when the whole area was threatened, for example by a cattle disease. The fire was started by friction and had to be made by nine times by nine married men, who would remove all metal from their persons before starting (such as coins, watches, and jewelry). Sacred woods (such as willow, hazel, alder, birch, ash, yew, elm, apple, pine, and oak) were used, or the fire could be made from only oak.

Every home in the area would put out their own hearth fire and then re-kindle a new fire from the flames of the Need-fire. Then they would put to boil water from a holy well or sacred spring. Once the water had boiled it was taken from the flames, cooled, and sprinkled on people and animals to heal them.

Fire Temples and Fire Altars
I have written a novel, the third in a trilogy of Druid novels, called Priestess of the Fire Temple: A Druid's Tale. In the novel I explore the idea of a Fire Temple. We know that such temples once existed in every province of Ireland and that Saint Brighid based her famous temple in Kildare on an earlier Pagan model. These temples were sacred precincts where a perpetual fire was kept by Druids. Petitioners with needs would come to the temples to have their questions answered.

I explore the idea of the Fire Altar in the first two novels, Priestess of the Forest: A Druid Journey and The Druid Isle.

References and further reading:
Carmichael, Alexander. Carmina Gadelica: Hymns and Incantations, Lindisfarne Press, New York, 1992
Hopman, Ellen Evert. Priestess of the Fire Temple: A Druid's Tale, Llewellyn, Minnesota, March 2012
Hopman, Ellen Evert. Priestess of the Forest: A Druid Journey, Llewellyn, Minnesota, February 2008
Hopman, Ellen Evert. The Druid Isle, April 2010
Hopman, Ellen Evert. Scottish Herbs and Fairy Lore, Pendraig Publishing, Los Angeles, California, 2010
Ó’Duinn, Sean. The Rites of Brighid Goddess and Saint, The Columba Press, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, 2005
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_deity. Accessed January 9, 2012.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2012. All rights reserved.

Here's a head scratcher: I firmly believe that the Universe has placed me in certain situations, jobs and residences for specific reasons. I also know that I have met various people who have helped me or "hurt" me for specific reasons. A few years ago I went through a depression. I curled into a shell for a period until I was strong and well enough to deal with life again. Since then, I've steadily grown more excited and ready to welcome new people into my life. I've learned so much about myself, and I know I can be a better friend than I ever was before. (I wasn't so great). The thing is, I can't seem to connect with anyone now. In fact, I seem to be repelling people. This has happened with people I meet as well as with people I've chatted with on the internet. I can assure you it's not that I come on too strong. I am pretty reserved, but I love to joke and laugh and can be as charming as the next person. I am also a great listener! Because I truly believe from experience (and instinct) that the Universe protects me from those who are "unhealthy" for me (and vice versa), I have to accept that the Universe is somehow behind this absence of real connections. I even had one reader tell me that a couple of benign spirits were keeping others away from me because they wanted me all to themselves. (?!) That seemed ridiculous, but then again, I really can't wrap my head around why it has been so hard for me. Before the depression and the self-imposed exile, I had very little problem meeting people. What do you think is going on? Many thanks! (Virgo Sun/Leo Moon/Cap rising)

Dreamchaser:

I am very glad that you have told your story in this forum. I cannot tell you the number of people who just "go to sleep for a little while." Fortunately, during that sleep time you evolved and grew spiritually. When you got up, you were a new person. You are now enlightened.

One of the side effects of being an enlightened human being is a tendency toward a more solitary lifestyle. The reason for this is a) "mortals" (people who are not enlightened or do not want to be) cannot relate to you and think you are strange and b) you cannot relate to most human beings anymore either. You find dealing with most humans draining and unfulfilling.

Before your "exile," as you call it, you were more willing to accept ANY treatment and to allow any type of human around you just to have someone there. You felt that your worth as a person was reflected by the number of people who knew you. You are starting to see, as difficult as this lesson may be, that it is better to be alone than to have an "energy vampire" or someone you cannot relate to or trust around.

I found myself in much the same place you are in, and "oddly enough," I too am a recovering Virgo. We Virgos tend to live relatively solitary lives; when you add spiritual evolvement into the equation, we become almost reclusive. You can find like-minded people. You just have to be ready for them. I feel that for the time being, you are still learning how to live your new life, and you are still in the process of evolvement. I feel that you will stay rather solitary for some time. If you have a Unity (not Unitarian) Church nearby, you should look into going. It is a church that thinks like you do, and you would feel so blessed there. You would also receive guidance on how to live in your new self.

You are being taught to find what you need on the inside of yourself. You are being taught to be a fully self-sufficient human. Your gut gives you all the answers you need, and you do enjoy being alone and spending time by yourself. We crave human companionship for a number of reasons, but one is to prevent loneliness. If we can find contentment in aloneness and in ourselves, then our relationships with others take on a whole new meaning.

You are correct in saying that the Universe is working in your life. Who you need and should have will come into your life. Just work on "being here now," and allow the Universe to do the rest. Buddha did not sit under the tree with 50 friends. He sat under the tree alone.

I wish you self fulfillment.

*****

Astrea:

After going through the kind of depression you describe, many people find themselves starting a whole new life. This means that new friends, new people and new GOALS present themselves. You're going through that difficult transition, and you are going to have to learn to be very self-reliant. Yes, the Universe and your Angels are still around to help out, but you've got to make your own choices and decisions now.

Your Sun, Moon, and Ascendant are all working for you in your quest for new friends and experiences now. Your Leo Moon would make you more sociable than most people, so that is probably the part of your personality that craves the attention of others. The Capricorn in your chart will help focus and center your Virgo drive. You have so much going for you astrologically that it will become easier as time goes on to find the right people to share your life.

I agree that the suggestion that SPIRITS are interfering in your search for new people to welcome into your life is pretty ridiculous. I really doubt that Angels and Spirits find us as interesting as all that. I'm sure it's flattering to fantasize about being "held captive" from relating to others by Celestial Beings, but I don't see how any rational person could believe in that for long. That sounds like an easy answer given to you by someone who didn't really know what else to say.

If you want to believe that the UNIVERSE was behind every move you've made up to this point, that's fine, but you should also accept that you had Free Will and Free Choice - even during the times you were depressed. Sure, it was easy to meet people when they felt that you were weak and vulnerable, but now that you're strong and whole, people who would have come into your life to USE you before will steer clear of you now. You're having a much harder time meeting the kind of people you want, because, sadly, there aren't too many of the nice ones out there these days. It takes a lot longer to make friends when you're looking for high quality, mutually beneficial relationships.

Take the time to listen. You ARE indeed a good listener, but you must make sure you're listening to your OWN Inner Voice as you meet, greet and welcome new things and new people into your NEW life. Now that you're all better, YOU are the force behind your choices and decisions. Take that as a GIFT and use it wisely. The Universe doesn't owe us a thing, and doesn't hand things out, either. We have to ask for what we want and do the necessary work to create and keep it.

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.