KAJAMA.COM NEWSLETTER

December 16 through December 22, 2024

We may feel like hiding out from the world on Monday and Tuesday as the Moon travels through emotional Cancer, but stepping back from the chaos could be a good thing! We’ll be back on track Wednesday and Thursday under a Leo Moon, and be able to catch up with anything that fell through the cracks at the start of the week, so don’t worry! A Virgo Moon hangs overhead Friday and Saturday, making this the ideal time to get organized and ready for the celebrations ahead. The Sun will move into Capricorn on Saturday, marking the official season of Winter (Summer in the southern hemisphere) and generating a four-week cycle of grounded movement and security-conscious actions. We can take a breather on Sunday as the Moon drifts through balancing Libra and helps us restore order to our thoughts as well as our physical worlds.

How the Mind of the Soul Establishes Wellbeing, by Neale Lundgren, PhD

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

The soul is always open to reveal itself to the sincere seeker. And because the soul is naturally positive and unpretentious, it projects a receiving spirit to all. As such, the soul can help us maintain not only a physical, mental, and emotional sense of wellbeing, but when operating at a high level, can also be a powerful force for the world.

This is because the soul is who you really are. The soul is a finder and revealer of universal truth and mirrors the highest principles of human existence. A universal truth is knowledge that transcends doctrine. A Hindu can find benefit in a Hebrew proverb and a Christian can be inspired by a Sufi poem when viewed from the unifying perspective of the soul.

Only the soul understands how to love the self as the other, and the other as the self. Whether one is an atheist or a theist, in the right circumstances, silence is golden when compassionate action is implemented.

The moment we embrace a path guided by the light of a universal truth, life then becomes more than a mere system of thought. Life becomes a way of soul seeking, a way of soul finding, and a way of soulful living with soulful others in the material world.

Although immaterial, the soul gravitates to all things of true substance. Anything that has integrity and coherence, an inherent wholeness about it, the soul's intelligence recognizes as a reflection of its own nature. This intelligence is the mind of the soul, located at the deepest center within every human being and within the being of all living things.

When we discover our soul mind, we awaken to a level of consciousness beyond ordinary awareness. The soul mind sees all things as part of an interrelated web of a greater wholeness. The soul mind has this capacity because it is an open systems intelligence. The material, or "closed systems," mind, on the other hand, is made up of inherited beliefs, opinions, or any limiting model of reality that we take for actual reality.

There is a relationship between close-mindedness and mental dullness. A material mind is shut off from the light and spaciousness the soul mind by its nature produces. Enclosed within its own boundaries, the material mind tends to be narrow, rigid, and oppositional.

Accessing the soul's intelligence can both refresh and strengthen the material mind and yet expand its horizons. An open mind tends to be porous, flexible, and strong, as long as it stays rooted in the fertile soil of the soul. A closed mind is like a hard stone at the bottom of a dried-up stream. An open mind is like a flourishing tree near the bank of a flowing river.

Mysticism, a frequently misunderstood term, is really nothing more than an open systems approach to spirituality based not upon a belief or a concept, but upon actual experience. Mysticism is the treasure house of spiritual technologies, providing the seeker with maps for the journey of consciousness as well as means to reach higher states of awareness and love. Spiritual experience at its best, both expands and stabilizes the material mind by rooting consciousness in the mind of the soul.

The soul's intelligence encourages thought, including every one of the physical senses, to stretch beyond the consensual grids of ordinary cognition and perception, but not as a way to abandon the world and daily responsibilities. The soul mind connects the material mind more intimately and meaningfully with others, with the earth, and ultimately, with the entire universe.

This high-grade connective capacity of the soul enables consciousness to enlighten the material mind because the soul's intelligence at its core is a substance of light, a luminous being of affectionate awareness. Although the soul's intelligence is by nature empathic, its structure is its own strength. Inner poise and mental sharpness are essential characteristics of the soul mind and formulate its energy "backbone." While the material mind tends to be anxious and neurotic and easily drained of energy, the soul mind is able to connect and resonate empathically with other minds in its vicinity and abroad, yet without being easily exhausted.

Because the soul's intelligence is intimately connected to the heart of being, it resonates more immediately with love than with any other emotion and has continual access to its wellspring. When we strive to connect with others from a higher frequency of non-judgment, for example, we sense others with more clarity and understanding. Understanding is empathy with boundaries and instrumental in the maintenance of the soul's hygiene in the material world.

A healthy state of mind is re-energized and refueled not only through sleep but also through the practice of meditation. Unlike sleep, meditation has been clinically found to produce a coherent brain state of relaxed alertness. Relaxed alertness gives the mind entry to presence.

Presence, by its very nature, is a positive energy state of being. When the mind is in presence, it looks neither forward nor backward. Only the regretful past and worrisome future is able to create negative stress upon the mind.

Being in presence helps to shift awareness into a new key. As the material mind learns to open up to the expansive and fecund field of the soul mind, the result is that something gets quickened in us beyond our physical senses. We awaken to the grander senses of the soul.

How do we know when we have experienced the soul's senses? Every time we are touched by awe, enthusiasm, attunement, and resonance, for example, we experience life with the senses of the soul.

In my book, Meditations for the Soul, I provide meditations and awakening exercises to activate and strengthen these deeper senses that can help us access and maintain presence. This is why every moment is potentially a soulful sense experience. Only when our mind is fully and freely present to being, are we then more alive.

Think of these moments: a sunrise or sunset, a gaze into the eyes of a beloved, a moonlight-drenched earth awash in softened hues, the birth of a child, the peace-filled dying of a seasoned soul. Even a seemingly ordinary moment can trigger a soul-sense experience: the smell of rain, the dance of light's shadow through a gauzy curtain, a moment of thoughtful silence. These and so many other tastes and glimpses of soulful reality, that seem to suspend the self in time, would seep into our very pores if we would but allow them entry.

Our soul mind also makes its journeys into "darkness" when the tides of the ocean of light momentarily recede. All of us from time to time have been drawn into those dark nights of longing and sorrow. These slower movements of the soul have their own rhythm. Their cadence resonates with the moon's waxing and waning phases and with the daily rising and setting of the sun.

In our soul's dance with love in any one of its forms, love can seem to move toward and away from us, bringing us happiness one moment and sadness the next. The soul mind has the ability to contain both extremes and all that lies between in a spacious wholeness of acceptance.

This continuous cycle of darkness and light, empty and full seen now in the larger context of wholeness, reveals the rhythmic patterns occurring within our soul mind throughout the inner seasons of our lives. Knowledge and acceptance of these cycles has a great capacity to stabilize the material mind as it calibrates to the frequency of its true center. The soul mind is the true center of the self, as instanced in the wise saying, "And this too shall pass."

Everyone has the potential of companionship with one's own soul and the soul of others. In essence, the soul is the inner physician that heals all ills and bridges all distances. For it is indeed the soul and its perpetual breath of life that makes each of us whole, moment by moment, day by day, and life by life.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2020. All rights reserved.

My son was born 02/08/1993. He passed away of cancer on 11/02/08. Since then, I have been trying to connect with him. I ask him to come to me in my dreams, to flicker my lights - anything to validate that he is with me and hasn't forgotten his life here on Earth. I haven't received anything from him yet. I pray to my spirit guides and ask for help, but no one is answering. It's making me question the afterlife and if it really exists. I have been struggling ever since he passed from cancer. I'm lost and feel very alone without him. I need to hear from my boy and know that he's all right. I want to know that he hasn't forgotten me or his younger brother and if he misses me. I'm just so worried about him. Please, any help would be appreciated. I feel I can't go on without some validation from my son.

Jen

Astrea:

I can't think of anything worse than losing a loved one to cancer; it's the most helpless feeling in the world. Losing an elderly loved one is bad enough, but losing a child is the worst thing ever.

Even the most spiritual, enlightened people have a very difficult time saying goodbye and trusting that we will all see each other again. Nevertheless, we will. That's just the way the Universe works.

There are all sorts of reasons we may long for contact but be disappointed or frustrated in our efforts. Sometimes it's our sadness that blocks us from receiving signs, information and advice from those who have crossed over. Sometimes we're too stubborn in our approach. Sometimes we try too hard. The most difficult thing to do is relax and wait for our departed loved ones to be ready to share with us.

I honestly don't know if our people miss us or not. I don't think they do. I think part of being in Heaven is being in that Paradise of the Mind. I don't think sadness or longing can be a part of that. Of course, none of us wants our people to be unhappy in the afterlife.

I know they think of us with fondness and that they often come to see if we're doing well. They can see us whether we see them or not. Missing someone is more of a human thing to do; the Divine are probably beyond that. I know they care what happens to us and they guide us when they can, but I have to believe that Paradise is wonderful and beautiful and that all suffering and unhappiness ends there.

I'm sure that when we are reunited again, our departed loved ones will say they missed us because that's the right thing to say. Personally, however, I don't want anyone over there to feel any longing about being here. We must keep the faith that our loved ones are taking it easy and waiting for us to join them, but aren't in a hurry to have that happen!

Because I lost my own father to cancer a year ago, I understand how miserable you are not to be hearing from your son. It's not unusual for those who have crossed over to take a year or more to come back to us in a form that we can perceive and understand. Don't give up trying to contact your son; he'll come through to you as soon as he's able to do so.

Also, look for tangible signs of your son's love for you. Daddy leaves me dimes. Look around and you'll discover something that your son has waiting for you every day to show that you're with him and he is with you.

Keep the faith and believe me: we will all see our departed loved ones again one day.

*****

Susyn:

I am sorry for your loss. There is nothing more tragic than having our children precede us in death. It must be very disheartening to realize that, no matter how hard you've tried or how much you've believed, you have been unable to contact him or sense his presence so far.

Oftentimes when we are very close to a situation and carry high emotions around it, we can actually block messages and signs from coming through. Thus the more you try to contact him, the more fear or pain may be blocking your ability to do so.

I can assure you that your son is doing well and that he is often near you and his younger brother. Because he is an Aquarius, he may try to make his presence known by affecting electrical equipment in your home. Computers, cell phones, monitors and electronic games were probably his favorite means of communication while he was here on earth, so you may want to watch for electrical equipment of this nature to act up as a sign that he is trying to communicate with you or let you know he is near.

Some spirits will try to come to us through dreams, signs or sensations. A tingling or burning sensation, a familiar odor that fills a room for no reason, hearing his voice in the distance or spotting his favorite toy, animal or movie when you least expect to see it are all ways a loved one who has passed over can let us know they are near.

A more overt way to connect with him may have to come from a third party. If you schedule a reading with a reliable psychic or channeler who specializes in relaying messages from the spirit world, you should be able to carry on a conversation with him. He will also be able to tell you what signs he will send you and how to interact with him on your own.

When you can have a direct conversation with him, not only will you be assured that he is all right and doing well, you can ask him if he has any requests of you or his brother. You can also make requests of your own or ask pressing questions. Though a reading of this type can't fill the hole that has been left in your heart since his passing, it will relieve some of the fear and pain you continue to experience based on your inability to connect with him.

It is understandable to doubt the existence of an afterlife when no evidence has been forthcoming, but I encourage you to keep watching for signs of his presence. Connecting with your son through a third party via a reading or channeling session may prove the key that opens the door to more frequent and undeniable contact with him.

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.