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May 26 through June 1, 2025

A Gemini new Moon will greet us first thing Monday morning, inspiring fresh starts and new ideas to emerge. Combined with the Gemini Sun, Monday and Tuesday are ideal for making a wish for the future. A Cancer Moon holds court Wednesday through Friday, turning our thoughts to relationships and emotional balance. As the homebody sign of the zodiac, we’ll want to stop and restore order to our homes and surroundings to restore an even flow of energy. With the Leo Moon in charge over the weekend, we’ll be drawn to creating some “me” time to regroup and recharge. It will also inspire more social gatherings and communication over the phone or internet. Sunday is a great time to make sure all our social media platforms are current, as well as updating any apps or programs on our phones or computers so we have the latest tech available.

Five Ways to Add Joy to Your Life, by Emily A. Francis

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

I have been speaking about joy as a key emotion, one that the body stores, for quite a few years now—and I have a different offering for you about joy and how it is experienced inside your body. Happy is one thing, but joy is something felt deep within the entire body and muscle memory system. Take for example the smell of perfume or cologne that your first great-love used to wear, the smell of a cherry tobacco pipe that your Grandpa used to smoke, or the leather car seats of a new car. Notice how, when something tickles your olfactory senses, you are instantly transported back in time to a place where you felt a height of emotion. Your whole body gets involved. Joy is deeply felt inside when we remember it and when we experience it for the first time.

Joy doesn't just come in the loud moments. Joy shows up in silence. It shows up in the quiet as well as the excitement, and, most of all, in the present. Even if you are reliving memories and re-experiencing moments of joy, you are taking them from the past and bringing them exactly to the present. It's a moment of getting still and sitting with the joy as it comes. That's when you close your eyes, take it all in and savor it for everything that joy is.

Joy is not a buzzword. It is an emotional experience that opens up the senses and nourishes your soul. It ignites your muscles and your mind. While I would love to make this a simple list of things that could add joy to your life, which I will, I want to invite you to find joy for yourself that isn't easily listed. Joy is deeply personal and heartfelt. Finding a bit more joy in your life requires you to put yourself out there into new adventures and new experiences. As I list five ways to add joy to your life, I will ask that you add to this list as you read and see what comes into your thoughts as something you want to discover. Joy comes with purpose, and taking a chance and switching up the regular moves with a few side steps, skips, and twirls. So, let's dive in!

1. The biggest and easiest way to add joy to your life that I can offer is to take a trip. Gifts don't have to come in boxes; they could just as easily come as adventures. Change it up and give yourself permission to use some of your savings and see a part of the world you have always wanted to see. The amount of tickling that this will do to all of your senses is beyond description. Seeing other parts of the world and how other people live opens us up and expands our perception of the world. It's an extremely sacred gift for yourself; take it when you can.
2. Take a new class somewhere near you. Whether it be a cooking class, cake decorating, dance class, photography class…whatever it is, it requires you to step to the right and get out of your comfort zone to elevate your own daily experiences of life. Once you start looking for one, you'll be shocked at how many things have been right down the road from you all along. If you've been contemplating doing something like this, this is your sign to go for it.
3. Change up one of your meals a day. This idea comes to us from the Mediterranean. Food is magic if you know what to do with it. In the Mediterranean, the key is to simplify it. You don't have to learn some new elaborate recipe at all. I'm talking bread, olive oil, cheese, and maybe a nice glass of wine or a mocktail if alcohol is out of the question. Take small, simple, ripe foods that are currently in season and make a little charcuterie for yourself or for whomever you would like to share a meal with. Slice up some fresh bread and take a small amount of olive oil and stir into it some fresh herbs such as rosemary, basil, and thyme (this is the trifecta of spices in Malta) and then sprinkle the herb-infused olive oil over the bread and eat it as is, or lightly toast it. Add some fresh greens and top it with some fresh feta and maybe some pomegranates since it's that time of the year. Top the greens with the same herb-infused olive oil. No need to have to do more than that one drizzling! Something so simple and delightful will immediately make you slow down and be intentional with your meal practice. It's about being present in the food and to the experience as the food enhances your awareness of taste, touch, and smell.
4. Make a date with someone important to you. If you've been meaning to call your best friend or family member, pick up that phone and schedule a date. Go have coffee or tea or wine. Go make that date a priority. Meals are not meant to be eaten alone, and neither are your coffee breaks. In the Mediterranean this counts as a whole meal, going for coffee. It's slow-paced and satisfying. It's stimulating conversation and it elevates a regular day. I do this so much more in the Mediterranean than I ever did back in the United State. All the time, people ask me to meet up for coffee, and I've finally started taking them up on it. It turns out that my days do seem just a little bit more alive when I do this. We are hard-wired to crave human interaction. Stop hiding behind that keyboard and go get your coffee on.
5. This one comes down to you. The other suggestions all asked that you expand in some way and add more or do something out of the ordinary. Joy can come in the smallest and simplest of ways. This one is all about you. This calls for you to sit still for some part of every day for at least seven days and see what you notice about yourself. Learn to take some time out and get quiet so that you can hear yourself think and feel your feelings. It's a time of simple self-reflection and checking in with yourself so that you can ask yourself questions and be clear enough to listen for your natural responses. We spend so much time being told what to think, what to buy, and what to do with almost every aspect of our lives. We are consumed by the outside world so much of the day. I'm asking you to sit still with no distractions for however long you want to be still in some part of each day and then notice how that affects your whole system. It will open a pathway for joy. Let it in.

Joy doesn't have to be some life-changing, explosive experience. It can be felt in a multitude of ways as you open up to its presence. Joy is a sacred energy, and it usually comes with its best friends, purpose and gratitude. To add more joy to your life, simply be open to noticing it when it shows up. Things show up when you do!

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2023. All rights reserved.

My son's father passed last year due to cancer. A few days after his death, he came into my dream. I was so happy to see him that I gave him a big hug. I do not remember him talking. He stayed there with me for few seconds and then walked away and disappeared. He was carrying something with him but I don't remember what. My son had the exact same dream. He was socializing with his father and then all of sudden, he left. My son awoke crying. I would like to dream of him again; can you help?

~Lucia

Susyn:

It is not uncommon for someone who has passed to make contact with their loved ones for a few days afterward. Typically, the living can see, feel and hear them either in their dreams or in an awake state. This usually continues until the time of the memorial service.

After that, there is typically a six to eight-week period of limbo wherein the living can't seem to feel their presence or connect with them. This seems to be a transition period when both the living and the person who has passed are adjusting to the shock of the changes that have occurred.

After that, the spirit's presence may again be sensed. You mention that your son's father came to both you and your son a few days after his passing, and now you would like to connect with him again. If the six to eight week period has passed, there are some things you can do to attract more experiences with him.

You don't mention your son's age, but if he is old enough, you may want to include him in these rituals. Typically, the younger a child is, the more in tune they will be with the spirit world. If your son is old enough to process, remember and describe his dreams, the two of you may benefit from trying to connect with his father together.

Start by setting up a special place like an altar where you can meditate and connect with your sonís father. You can place a picture of him and some of his personal possessions or objects that he liked in this space. Place two white candles on the altar. If you wish, you can also put some incense on it.

Pick a special time each day to sit at the altar. During this time, you can meditate on your departed loved one and then sit quietly and wait for messages from him. During this time, you can also ask him to come to you in your dreams or present any questions you may have for him.

It may take three or four sittings before you begin to sense his presence. Remember that the more you practice this ritual, the clearer his messages will become.

You can also try to program your dreams. To do this, make a request each night before you go to bed, asking that you be open enough to connect with your sonís father in your dreams. Your son can do the same.

Keep in mind as you perform these rituals that spirits can come to us in a variety of ways. You may experience certain smells that are connected with him that seem to come out of nowhere or turn on the radio or television and hear or see one of his favorite songs or shows. These are signs that he is near and sending you a message that he is okay.

*****

Mata:

I'm so sorry for your loss. I do want to reassure you that regular contact with a departed loved one is not only possible, it's fairly common. I know of a number of people who regularly enjoy dream visits with someone they love who has left this world. Others sense the presence of their loved one around them and carry on telepathic conversations with them. Still others have mastered the art of astral projection and regularly travel beyond the physical to interact with the departed.

I enjoy regular dream visits with my own deceased father, but I do need to note that I can't always control when this happens. It's a bit like calling someone on the phone; sometimes they are available to talk, and sometimes they aren't. There are things you can do that will help you to have many more visits with your departed husband, however.

The main thing is to spend a lot of time in an altered state of consciousness. Unfortunately, given the demands of daily life, for many people this is simply impractical. As a newly single mother of a young son, finding time for this may be your greatest challenge.

I think the most powerful thing you could do is begin to attempt to master astral projection, for even if you don't get out of your body, if you are able to get into the deep trance state essential to this practice, you will be in the ideal state for interacting with your son's father.

Basically, you want your body to be soundly asleep but your mind to be awake. This is not as easy as it may sound. The easiest way to get into this state is to essentially overindulge in sleep. One trick is to set your alarm for a couple of hours before you actually have to get up and allow yourself to hit the snooze button over and over again.

Most people find it is best if they have already had a full night's sleep before they begin this snooze and wake cycle; some find that it is easier for them to keep falling back into dreams if they are still somewhat tired. You'll have to experiment to find what works best for you.

It is also powerful to pray with all of your heart for the dream visits you desire, and to work with the law of attraction to manifest them. You could also sleep with something of your husband's such as his shirt. (If it still smells of him, all the better.) Every time you awaken, think of him and hold that object close as you drift back off to sleep.

If you make the time for this practice, I am confident that you will soon be having all sorts of interaction with your son's father.

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.