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June 7 through June 13, 2021

The second of two eclipses occurs on Thursday this week, as the Gemini new Moon manifests a solar eclipse. For the next two weeks, we'll be focused on our emotional well-being, as we use the new Moon to create new ways of expressing ourselves and processing our feelings. By the time the Sun moves into Cancer on June 21, our ability to move with our intuition and inner knowings will be at an all time high! Before this transition occurs, we can use Monday and Tuesday's Taurus Moon to get our most important projects off the ground and set a course for greater achievements over the coming months, enhanced by Mars' move into power-filled Leo on Friday. Mars will spend the next two months encouraging us to quit hiding our lights under a barrel and express our dreams and true selves for all the world to see! The Moon will saunter through Cancer Friday and Saturday, focusing our attention on home, family, security, and comfort. If your plans include being a couch-potato after a trying two weeks, you'll have the full support of the planets! Take advantage though, as Sunday's Aries Moon will have us back up and running, though the paths we choose will be filled with social fun or athletic pursuits!

Magic in the Mundane: 5 Easy Ways to Make Every Day Magical, by Emma Kathryn

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

Making every day magical sounds a little cliched, doesn't it? But like all cliches, there's a tiny nugget of truth at the centre, like the grit at the centre of a pearl. And who doesn't want to live a life filled with magic? Indeed, magic goes hand in hand with living.

The trouble with wanting to live a little more magically is knowing where to begin. How can we make our lives more magical? What can we do to centre our witchcraft practices within our real, everyday lives? To live an authentically magical life?

It's a good idea to spend some time exploring the things standing between you and your ideal magical life, and as you'll no doubt discover, there isn't one single answer, but rather issues can get caught up in one another and tangled until we just don't know where to begin unravelling them.

One of the biggest factors that can have an effect on our daily magical practice is time, or more precisely, the lack of it. The truth is that we all lead increasingly busy lives. How many of us have to juggle work, family, childcare, chores, and quality time with those you love—and that's all before even thinking about eating and sleeping. We all have different constraints and pressures on our time that all too often mean we end up putting off our daily practice. We tell ourselves that we'll do this ritual or that journey tomorrow or the next day. The next full moon. The next sabbat. And before you realise it, you have missed so much!

But time is not the only factor. What if you are not out yet out of the broom closet, as the saying goes? It can be difficult then to have daily practice simply due to the fact you are limited in the practical sense, even more so if you share your living space with other people. The list of reasons as to why we might put off developing a personal daily practice is long and varied, but it is also valid. It's important that we consider these issues so that we can begin to look for solutions and apply them. It's no wonder it can sometimes seem impossible to forge a consistent and regular witchcraft practice!

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced many of us, myself included, to really look at and reflect on the lives we lead. For me, this culminated in my latest book, Witch Life: A Practical Guide to Making Every Day Magical. Witch Life was written during the first lock down in 2020, just after the time that I realised my witchcraft practice had really become a source of strength and inspiration for me. I noticed it was, quite often, the really small things that were making the most difference and that were actually enabling me to develop and strengthen my daily practice.

Beginning to live a little more magically is easier than you might think, and here I'll share my top five tips on how to bring a little more magic into your life. The steps are small and practical, and you can pick, choose, and adapt these hints and tips to suit your own practice and lifestyle.

1. Build a Connection with the Land Where You Live
   This is so much easier than it sounds! Building a connection with the land and thus nature is a great way of adding a little magic to your everyday life, and everyone can do it. You don't need any special equipment and it costs nothing apart from time and willingness.As an animist, I see the natural world as being imbued with spirit, and this is something that feeds into my witchcraft practice and also into my daily life. Building a connection with land can be as simple as going for a walk every day or at least standing outside for a few minutes at the same time each day, but doing so with the aim of fully immersing yourself in the experience. Give yourself completely to it. Notice the plants and trees, the birds, insects, and other creatures you encounter. Notice the feel of the place, where the sun shines and the shade falls.

   And, the more you get used to the simple act of making time and giving yourself the space to make that initial connection, taking it further is easier. Look after the land around you, tidy it up, pick up litter, become a steward of that place and your witchcraft practice will be the better for it!

2. Grow Plants
   Now I must confess, I am something of a plant hoarder, and so you should believe me when I say anyone can grow and look after plants—it's true!There's a plant for even the most prolific plant killers out there, and once you get the basics of plant care right, you'll be hooked.

   In terms of witchcraft, plants have so many uses and growing and looking after your own plants means that they will be more potent when it comes to using them in your magic. And again, as an animist, working with plants and building that relationship with them will ultimately benefit your magic.

   There are some things you will need to consider. Firstly, what will you grow? Perhaps you like the idea of growing herbs. They are a great way of making the most of your space as most herbs can be grown inside on a warm and sunny windowsill. The bonus is that you can use them in your cooking and in your witchcraft.

   Or maybe you have more space and wish to grow a witches' garden, perhaps with plants you will use to make incense and lotions, or maybe you'll grow plants to honour a particular deity with which you work. The great thing about growing, caring, and using plants is that there is so much choice, there will be something just right for you!

3. Making Your Own Magical Tools
   Now that we're on a roll, why stop at just growing and using your own plants—why not make your own magical tools as well?Here's the thing: we all know that tools aren't necessary for magic and witchcraft to happen. Yet they can make things easier, particularly at first when we might need more help directing our will and intent. And besides, sometimes, we just want things, especially when those tools are so beautifully made by witchy artists and craftspeople.

   Making your own tools means that the time, effort, and concentration taken to do so will rub off on them, making them more powerful and potent when you use them. You can also make things to suit your own aesthetic tastes.

   Collecting natural items when out on walks is a great way of combining building connections to land and nature with making your own tools. Different woods have different properties when it comes to crafting wands, stangs, and staffs. Feathers from different birds will have different meanings and uses. Interesting stones and other items make good altar displays.

   And if crafting is just not your thing, then why not become a bargain hunting treasure hunter? Check out flea markets, second hand shops, antique shops, and fairs for great individual items that you can use in your witchcraft—crystal glasses make good chalices, a silver knife for an athame—you get the idea.

   Shopping second-hand is great for the environment and again feeds back into building a connection with the land and nature by living more ethically and reducing the amount of rubbish that goes to landfill.

4. Take Your Morning Drink Outside
   There's something about sitting in the garden wrapped in a warm blanket or snuggled in a thick jumper or gown, with the cold air on your face and a steaming mug of your morning elixir clasped in your hands.I awake early most mornings and do just this, and you'd be surprised at just how magical this time is. The blackbirds' morning song is melodic and clear, piercing the quiet, still air. If it's the right season and I'm up real early, I'll catch the hedgehog as it returns from its nightly jaunt, heading back to its home deep within the ivy or perhaps the logpile to sleep for the day.

   The point is, by making space, you get into the habit of spending time outside quietly, simply being, just as the blackbird is simply being. You come to realise just how connected we are to everything around us, that we are a part of nature and not apart from it.

   This realisation is truly magical indeed, and while at first it might seem like a little effort is required, particularly on cold mornings, you'll soon be reaping the benefits of making the time to simply be within nature, just as we were meant to.

5. Follow the Moon, Salute the Sun
   Sun and moon worship, or even just working with the energies at different points in the cycles of these celestial bodies, has always had a strong link with witchcraft. There is no doubt that the moon is pure magic and inextricably linked to witchcraft. There are many moon deities from cultures all over the world, again hinting at the magic of the moon. Moon rituals are great fun indeed, poignant and powerful, but they do require time and planning. If you don't have time, or you don't feel confident enough to hold your own ritual, or even if you forget it's the full moon, it doesn't matter! None of that will stop you from using the phases of the moon to add magic to your everyday life.A good place to start is to make an effort to spend a little time outside every night. Notice the phase of the moon and mark it on a calendar. Spend a few minutes soaking up the lunar energies even on those nights where the moon is lost behind the clouds.

   Full moon meditations are a good way of not only marking the full moon each month, but also of getting into the habit of setting aside time each month for a specific purpose.

   Just as the moon is full of magic, so, too, is the sun, and just as we can work with the moon to bring a little more magic into our mundane lives, so, too, can we work with the sun. Sun salutations are a good way of building habit and also a good method of harnessing the power of the sun at different times in its passage across the sky.

   For a sunrise salutation, as close to sunrise as possible, engage in a visualisation activity where you visualise the sun rising across a landscape that inspires wonder and beauty within you. Feel the energy of the sunrise filling you with that energy of a new day, of possibility and new beginnings and opportunities. Do the same for noon and for sunset, again as close to those actual occurrences as possible to anchor the practice in the real, mundane world.

And there you have it—my top five tips on how to make every day a little more magical. We are, after all, witches, and we do indeed live that witch life!

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

I have been working for a while to integrate some of the darker aspects of my psyche and become a more balanced person. Recent developments have added more urgency to this. I do a lot of remote energy healing for close friends who have asked for my assistance. I do most of this work out on my deck at night. It seems to help to be near nature, and the quiet of the night allows me to let down and relax. When I facilitate a healing, itís like a form of astral projection. I go where I'm needed and assess and address any problem areas while maintaining contact with whichever archangel chooses to guide me. (This is how I ensure my actions are in the best interests of the client.) Sometimes when I venture forth in this manner, my energy is different. I am super confident and many voices travel with me. I get the sense that they are all part of me somehow and I am not afraid of them. During these times, I am very powerful and my healings are particularly effective, however, I have to be extra diligent and verify each step with my guides as I am less scrupulous. I am guessing that this wild energy is a darker aspect of myself and am eager to safely integrate this to become a more balanced person. I would also like to prevent any wild cards from popping up during my energy work that might adversely affect a client. I would appreciate any input or suggestions you might have. Thank you!

Phil

Susyn:

How wonderful that you have advanced to this level of spiritual healing work. Your ability to assess and address problems and astral project your energy to help others is a rare gift, so it's understandable that you would want to be sure you are performing at the highest level possible.

While you refer to the wild energy as a darker aspect of yourself, my sense is that your greatest challenge is to identify when ego tries to interfere with your spiritual aims. Spiritual work often produces euphoric energy. This naturally creates the desire to experience that euphoria again and again, so what you describe is a common struggle.

You mention that you are diligent in remembering to verify each step of your healing process with your guides. This is the key to making sure your work is of the highest caliber; it will also allow you to monitor what's happening and separate out any aspects of your self that might interfere with your healing work.

As for how to integrate these darker aspects of yourself, in my experience, it's not so much about integrating all aspects of ourselves, both dark and light, but more about setting up boundaries so all parts of ourselves can remain whole but also be accessed separately as needed. Just as we refrain from bringing our personal lives into the work place or mixing certain foods together, we can enjoy all aspects of ourselves without combining them. Sometimes, it isn't even wise to integrate them all because doing so may do more harm than good.

Awareness is half the battle; the more cognizant we are of what we are doing and on what level we are performing, the more powerful our efforts become. Willingness is the other half of the battle. If we come across darker energy or realize that our egos are displacing spirit, we have to be willing to face that truth so we can change our approach and redirect our focus.

My sense is that the wild energy you are experiencing is necessary to the work you do and not harmful to you or your clients. I would only be concerned if you were to stop checking in with your guides or begin to operate under the delusion that you are doing the healing yourself instead of acting as a channel for Spirit.

As you continue to evolve in your healing work, areas of your personality you consider dark will begin to transform naturally. It is important to have a healthy ego and confidence in order to do your work. The only time it becomes dark is when it is out of balance with other parts of yourself. I feel that you are on the right path and needn't worry about working against yourself as long as you continue to bring your guides with you when you perform your healing work.

*****

Oceania:

Good for you for being committed to ongoing self-examination; it is critical for healers to do what you're doing so that personal issues donít interfere with their clients' welfare.

We all have many aspects of Self, which are like facets on a crystal. Integration means our parts work together as a team, like an inner United Nations. If some part of us was unacceptable to the family we grew up in (for example, our creative part), we may disown it. Our job as adults is to reclaim any lost parts.

An extreme example of internal separation is found in Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder), where parts have little to no awareness of each other. In isolation, parts can develop into full-blown personalities known as alters. The goal of treatment is to introduce them to each other and unify them.

For most of us, personality parts are separated by chain link fences, not walls, and they communicate through inner dialogue. When the impulsive child craves brownies, the critical parent may scold and lecture about junk food while the rational peacemaker may settle the matter by choosing ONE brownie instead of a dozen. However, if our impulsive child is ignored or shunned, it may sometimes take over and go on a binge!

While you sense that these emerging voices may be helping you in your work, since you don't know them very well, you naturally feel a need to vigilantly oversee them. The fact that you feel less scrupulous when you allow them to participate indicates that you are struggling to meet your own highest standards for integrity.

You refer to your newly discovered parts as wild and dark. Shadow parts are those we reject or remain unaware of. Left to their own devices, they can be destructive, but when working in tandem with other parts (such as your own sense of integrity), they can bring special gifts to the table. For example, on its own, our anger can be destructive, but when cooperating with positive, patient and goal-oriented parts, our anger can be transmuted into strength, self-preservation and wise choices.

While you are getting more familiar with the newest members of your inner team, I think you'd be wise to keep them on the sidelines. A therapist trained in Voice Dialogue may be particularly helpful to you at this time. Drs. Hal and Sidra Stone developed this technique, which enables sub-personalities to meet, greet and work together. You can learn more about this approach online.

With continued personal work, you will have a more unified, qualified group of selves, at which point you will more power as a healer and greater inner peace.

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.