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4 Ways to Invite Good Juju into Your Life, by Najah Lightfoot

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

What is good juju? How you can create it? How can you keep it flowing positively in your life?

Good juju is a handshake with Spirit. It is an acknowledgement, an agreement, and a commitment you keep with your higher power, deities, ancestors, and divine beings, on a consistent basis.

Good juju recognizes that you not alone on your path. It recognizes that many have come before you, and also that many shall come after you. It recognizes your belief in a Higher Power, forces at work, seen and unseen, greater than yourself. Good juju lies in the morning sunrise, the whispers of the wind, the ebb and flow of the ocean, the gurgling of a mountain stream.

It wafts around you as sweet incense smoke, makes your heart race to the beating of the drum, and focuses your gaze in the flame of a candle.

Good juju exists within and without. It is a smile freely given to a stranger, a helping hand to child, aid to a person in need, or an act of random kindness. It is forgiveness, tolerance and acceptance, higher ideals continually striven for, even if it takes you a lifetime to reach them.

Good juju is patient. It realizes not all goals can be achieved or met in a day, a week, or maybe even in one's lifetime. But surely as you take a step towards it, it will meet you and greet you with open arms, as long as you are willing, open, honest, and sincere.

So how can you begin to cultivate and create good juju in your life? Let's explore some simple and powerful ways you can do on a consistent basis.

1. 1. Honor Your Ancestors
      As we are nature-centric and earth-focused people, many us are familiar with keeping an ancestor altar or with the sacred holiday of Samhain, where we set a place for our beloveds on the other side of the veil. And most everyone, Pagan and non-Pagan, have attended a service, a funeral, or a celebration of life for a loved one who has passed on. But besides these once-a-year festivities, how can you remember your ancestors on a daily basis, and keep them close to you?You can pour water to them. Water is Life. Water connects us all. As above, so below, water lies beneath the earth's surface as groundwater and above the earth as moisture in the atmosphere.

      So, on a consistent basis that you determine for yourself (be it daily, weekly, or monthly), pour water upon the earth in the name of those who have gone before you. Say their names aloud, then pour water to them, and after you finish pouring water to them, take a drink for yourself, for you, too, are part of living water circle of life.

      And speaking of ancestors, not all those whom you refer to as "ancestor" needs to be related to you by blood. There are many people who pass away for whom we may have affection or have been affected by their sojourn on earth. It is totally okay to honor these people in your water prayers. I have found pouring water for those who have passed tragically or violently, even though I may have never met them, to be an extremely healing ritual. I may not continue to call their names every day, but I do call them for as long as it spiritually resonates with me. I also honor those who have had tremendous influence in my life, when they pass away, whether I am biologically related to them or knew them personally. For the act of pouring water to one who has passed away, is love, unconditionally given and received by the earth.

1. 1. Be Consistent
      One of the most powerful acts you can do as a magical person is to practice consistency. The act of performing the same prayers, blessings, or rituals on a consistent basis is highly underrated.Most people think of spell work or rituals as something you do every once in a while or as needed or only when the Moon is full, but truly your power lies in developing a spiritual practice, that builds on the foundation of consistency.

      And what you do consistently as a magical person doesn't need to be elaborate. It can be as simple as lighting a candle with sincere intention every morning or evening, it could be pausing and blowing a kiss to the moon every night, it could be burning sage every sunrise, or saying a daily, heartfelt prayer to your deities. What matters most is to be consistent. The Universe likes patterns. Magick responds to rituals and rites done over and over again. Faith builds on practice.

      So be consistent. Consistency is a sure way to build good juju.

1. 1. Build Relationships with Plants, Flowers, and Trees
      Many people are drawn to earth-based practices because they have an innate, intimate relationship with nature. Many magical practitioners find great comfort and solace when they are outside under the stars or gazing at a sunrise. For many of us, Mother Nature is our trusted guide, confidant, and friend.Having a relationship with plants, flowers, and trees comes naturally to many people on the spiritual path, but that doesn't mean that everyone feels that way, or is adept at planting a garden or caring for plants. In fact, for some people, the very thought of caring for living plants could be the last thing they ever want to do.

      Yet, even for those people, nature is always present. As humans, nature is with us everyday, whether we actively cultivate plants, flowers, or trees. As soon as you wake up, and step outside your door or look out your window, nature is there. No one lives without the light of the sun or the glow of the moon. Here are few simple ways to connect with Nature on a daily basis:

      • When you pass a tree, touch it, smile at it, and say, "Hello."
      • If you see a flower, thank it for growing and bringing color and beauty into your life.
      • In the grocery store, take an extra moment in the produce section and admire all the wonderful vegetables and their glorious array of colors. Say a silent, "Thank you," for the bounty and harvest of nature.
      • At night, find the one star that twinkles seemingly just for you, and take a moment to gaze lovingly at it, while you admire its light that has traveled for thousands of years, just so you could see it.

1. Be Kind and Helpful
   It seems that in the age in which we are living, rudeness, being snarky, and using vicious vitriol is the norm.People are routinely bullied, harassed, and criticized. The invention of the internet and social media has made it easy to be mean, spiteful, and hateful. It is now so easy to hurt people's feelings, and with no thought to the wide ripple those acts create in the ocean of human emotions and feelings.

   So, if an opportunity presents itself for you as a magical person to perform a random act of kindness, pay a compliment, say something nice on someone's social media feed or page, do it!

   Smile at a stranger! Give a dollar to someone begging on the street. Hold the door open for someone whose hands are full; put an extra quarter in a parking meter; send a heartfelt thankful, sincere, compliment; say, "Hello" to your neighbor; resist the temptation to spread gossip; show up at a friend's event or their children's event; pick up trash when you see it on the ground or in a park.

The possibilities are endless and limitless for creating good juju. Let your heart and soul be your guide, and surely you will find yourself blessed 3x3x3, when you become the creator of good juju in your life, and in the lives of others.

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

Do you think that at a spiritual level, men and women are fundamentally different? I'm asking because it seems true to me. I've found that I can usually communicate with women at a much deeper level than with men. When I have been able to really communicate with men, they do seem to be very different at their core. I recently read somewhere that women are in general more spiritually evolved than men; that as we evolve, we naturally incarnate more as women because of our energy/vibration, and because it takes a higher vibration to bring a child through from Spirit into this world. This "evolutionary model" would explain why women are generally more sensitive and intuitive, and also peace-loving. What do you think of this notion? I'm not asking to bash men, but rather because in these modern times, we're force fed the idea that men and women deep down are the same, but they don't "feel" the same to me - they feel fundamentally different. Maybe men and women have so much trouble understanding each other because at a deep level, we're really not the same? Thanks for all you do!

- Linda

Dreamchaser:

I do not think men and woman are fundamentally different on a soul level. I think we are souls stuck inside of human bodies, and those bodies come with heads full of "logic" and raging hormones and a whole host of other mortal things. As a result, we are bound by our humanity in many ways.

I have told so many clients what I am about to say, so if you have heard it already, skip over this part or just let your eyes glaze over for a while. Women tend to be emotionally driven. We get turned on by what we feel emotionally. We can turn off our bodies and our physical needs, but we cannot turn off our "hearts."

Men, on the other hand, tend to be physically driven. Men are turned on by what they see, touch, taste, smell, feel, etc. They can turn off their emotions, but they cannot turn off their bodies. These are not spiritual differences but physical differences that arise from our roles in procreation.

This is the reason why women appear to develop much deeper bonds with other women, and why we feel our friendships are different from the way men are friends. Despite all of this, I'm here to tell you that men can be just as open, caring, sharing, giving and receiving as women.

Throughout my life I have been blessed to have all kinds of people for friends. I have friends who work for the president of the United States and I have friends who went to prison and all sorts of friends in between. I can get just as "deep" with the men as I can the women once the men trust me enough to let me into their emotions. I can also tell you that some men can be kinder and sweeter than any woman on earth, especially in times of crisis.

I feel you personally have a hard time relating to and opening up to men, and that this stems from things that happened to you in the past. You feel the need to defend yourself against men instead of opening yourself up to them, and this is causing you to miss out on a lot.

I know my life has been very balanced as a result of having my nurturing, loving women friends along with my macho but also very loving male friends. As an example, when my father died, two friends came and sat with me. The first was a female friend. She sat with me and "talked to" my soul and helped me remember that Daddy was in a better place, etc.

My male friend came later and put his arm around me, and I got to fall into a great big chest and cry. This is how he nurtured my "emotions." So you see - you too can have the best of both worlds.

I wish you healing so that you can enjoy all that men have to offer as EQUAL spiritual beings.

*****

Astrea:

Men and women are different PHYSICALLY. Sometimes we approach problems in different ways, but that depends on who we are as individuals, not on our gender. People are people, and there is a huge worldwide conspiracy afoot to separate and divide us!

Not only do the Evil Ones want to divide men and women, they want to divide us by race, religion, economy, sexual orientation, lifestyle, etc. You NAME it, kiddo! By dividing us, they take away our power as a whole. This means that the people who get rich from wars and other types of conflict can get much richer. If they keep stirring the pot, we will NEVER unite to bring an end to hunger, stop wars and other conflicts, or enjoy complete freedom of thought.

Every day I hear people say things like, "Well, that's a MAN for you, they have to be right all the time!" or "She changes her mind too much, but that's a woman for you!"

I assure you there are just as many men who frequently change their minds and just as many women who feel a need to be right all the time. We are the SAME. Sometimes we process things differently, but again, those differences are individual, not gender-driven.

Also, anyone who has lived a good number of past lives has been both male and female. When I do past life readings, people are usually downright SHOCKED to learn that they have been the "opposite" gender in another life. "How could I have ever been a MAN?" "You mean I was a GIRL?!"

We are ALL at one time or another a mother, father, son, daughter, friend, spouse and lover. People are people, and at the core, we are all the same. We all experience the highest highs and the lowest lows because we all have the SAME FEELINGS inside!

If you prefer to speak with women friends about some matters and men friends not at all, that's your decision. (That's not based on your gender either, but your own personal preferences.) Don't be BRAINWASHED by popular culture into thinking what THE EVIL ONES want us to believe - that there is no way we can see eye to eye with one another.

Don't let the medieval notion that men and women are spiritually different poison your consciousness! The propaganda to KEEP US APART is vicious and strong. Saying that women are more "spiritual" than men is just falling into a trap that's been set for us for CENTURIES; it's just like saying boys are better at math and science than girls.

I hope you re-examine this idea and hold it up to the light of TRUTH. You'll only share your spiritual path with half of the world unless you look for and embrace all the potential you encounter.

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.