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November 6 through November 12, 2023

Two planets change signs this week, shifting our focus and raising vibrations for the next few weeks. Venus will move into Libra, a sign it rules, on Wednesday, followed by Mercury's transition into Sagittarius on Friday. Both will spend the month of November raising loving and fun vibrations. Productivity is the name of the game Monday through Wednesday, as the Moon charges through Virgo and calls for organization and integration. Detailed work, sorting through information, and bringing plans into order are all a theme during this meticulous phase of the Moon. Then we can sit back and relax for the remainder of the week as the Moon dances through Libra Thursday through Friday. The weekend unfolds under a mystical Scorpio Moon, spurring our imaginations and bringing us into contact with interesting people, ideas, and information to consider. Going with the flow will be a theme, as this moon is famous for changing our direction at a moment's notice!

Can Witches Really Fly?, by James Endredy

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

Can witches really fly? Well yes, but rarely on broomsticks. The broomstick is often associated with witches for many reasons (including the simple fact that historical witches didn't have vacuums, but brooms were always at hand). The modern portrayals of witches flying, such as in The Wizard of Oz or the Harry Potter movies, has proven to be entertaining to millions of people; that said, brooms are not very effective flying machines. They lack any kind of propulsion system or comfortable seating.

In my experience there are two ways that witches actually do fly: by way of ointments and ingestion of plant entheogens, and a technique that I call dream trance or dreaming awake. My book, The Flying Witches of Veracruz: A Shaman's True Story of Indigenous Witchcraft, Devil's Weed, and Trance Healing in Aztec Brujeria, recounts my experiences learning both of these techniques of flying on the wings of perception from present day witches in rural areas of Mexico (mostly in the Tuxtlas mountain region of Veracruz state that is historically famous for its witches).

That mysticism, magic, and witchcraft pervades the area of the Tuxtlas is hardly surprising given its past history. The prehistoric and mysterious Olmec civilization, famous for their colossal stone heads, inhabited the region from approximately 1500 BCE to CE 300, after which the Teotihuacan people thrived in the area of Matacapan and later built the massive pyramids and magical city of Teotihuacan to the northwest of the Tuxtlas. The Pyramid of the Sun, built by the Teotihuacans, is one of the largest in the world. The Aztecs conquered the area next and reigned until the time of the Spaniards.

All of the pre-Columbian civilizations had at their core what modern people would refer to as magical or supernatural practices and beliefs. Even after Cortez and the Spanish missionaries decimated the native population, the magical systems continued, albeit covertly, and were gradually mixed with the magic-religious practices of the African slaves introduced to the area in the early 1500s. Today, the rural spiritualism of the area is a combination of Aztec brujeria, African-Haitian Voudon, Cuban Santería, and Christianity. Complementing and enhancing the mystical spiritualism of the area is the natural ambiance: Mist-shrouded extinct and dormant volcanoes, waterfalls, lagoons, and coastal sand dunes make the rain forest of the Tuxtlas region the perfect natural backdrop for witchcraft and magic.

My first encounter with the flying witches occurred when I was drawn to the annual Congreso Internacional de Brujeria (the International Conference of Witchcraft) in the "witch capital of Mexico," the city of Catemaco. On this first occasion I was poisoned by a malicious and jealous local male witch who spiked my margarita with the seeds of the datura plant. This caused me to "fly" to the cave of the dead, where I was found by a well-known curandero/brujo, who subsequently healed me and became my teacher of witchcraft and healing.

This amazing man also introduced me to the women witches, one of whom was my teacher in flying (through the use of various species of datura plants through ingestion and applying a specially-brewed ointment to mucous membranes). For humor and the sheer fun of poking at ancient stereotypes, my teacher once brought forth a miniature broomstick that she stirred the bubbling cauldron of datura with and that we then used to apply the ointment. From these "flights" I learned to fly to alternate states of reality, where my spirit allies taught me how to facilitate healing and diffuse evil spells cast by witches of mal intent. The spirits of helping animals acquired during these flights in the dream trance (mine include condor, a female and male wolf, cougar, snake, and even the ancient dwarf king from the pyramids of Uxmal) are an integral part of working with both good and evil witchcraft, hexing and curing.

The concept and reality of a person being both a curandero and a brujo comes from both a practical and cultural perspective of the people of the Tuxtlas; there are good witches and evil witches, and even witches that are both. I am simply using the terms witch and witchcraft to describe the people and events in The Flying Witches of Veracruz because they are the best English words I have to use. Brujeria is the Spanish word that most closely translates to witchcraft in English. However, like the English term witchcraft, the Spanish word brujeria is most commonly used to describe the evil or negative aspects and functions of the craft (even though most people with interest in this topic would agree that there are both good witches and bad witches, ergo good brujos and bad brujos).

In Spanish the word curandera or curandero (female and male, respectively) refers to a folk healer that "cures." In this context there is no negative connotation associated with these practitioners. But in my experiences with the healers (good witches) it became apparent that in order to be proficient at their work the healers needed to be versed in the art of evil hexing caused by bad witches. So, quite naturally their knowledge and experience necessarily included both spectrums of the craft. The Nahuatl word that most accurately describes the practitioners that became my teachers is tetlachihuic. However, it must be noted that the Aztec language of Nahuatl contains some forty different words that translate into various specialties of witches, sorcerers, and spiritual healers, such is the range and depth of their knowledge of the supernatural. The tetlachihuics can be described as women or men with supernatural abilities to either induce or cure illness; manipulate people's consciousness for either good or bad; alter or influence events and circumstances through incantations, prayers, rites, ceremonies, and the use of amulets, talismans, and effigies; and are skilled in the use of plants and animals.

The "master" witches I encountered in the Tuxtlas, and that ended up being my teachers, had all of the abilities of the tetlachihuic, plus many more. Specifically, they are also specialists in what I call conscious dreaming or dream trance. This is a state of consciousness that allows the witch to consciously "fly" into the realm of the spirit underworld and "bring back" into everyday life information on illness and curing (especially having to do with soul loss or spirit possession). My teachers of witchcraft are so highly skilled at manipulating consciousness via the dream trance that they can even manipulate the dream trance of others. Throughout my latest book you will have the opportunity to see exactly what I experienced and how I learned through their teachings.

In the beginning of my instruction, I was given various species of the datura plant (devil's weed) to facilitate the dream trance state. Once I had experienced the dream trance state via the datura sufficiently to alter my "everyday" or "normal" consciousness, the datura was no longer necessary, although it was still employed on some occasions during extreme circumstances.

The usage of datura leads to a deviation in practicality with this latest book. I do not advise anyone to ingest datura. I was thrown into the world of datura without my consent, and I am lucky to be alive and relatively sane. Datura usage is included in this book simply because it was a major factor and central part of my lessons with this specific class of witches. However, the main crux of the knowledge shared with me by my teachers and what I want to share with you, is the dream trance and positive applications of working with the spirits of the underworld. Witchcraft in the Tuxtlas is fundamentally about spirit possession and/or soul loss. It is not necessary to experience or work in the realms of spirits and souls with datura. That's just what happened to me when I went to Veracruz.

Practically speaking, I would make at least three separate contexts for spirit possession as I was introduced to it in the Tuxtlas. First, and most rarely, are people afflicted involuntarily by a spirit. Second are those that voluntarily are possessed, such as witches, shamans, sorcerers, etc. Third are those possessed involuntarily by a spirit not acting entirely of its own volition but rather at the bidding of someone controlling it (such as a witch or shaman).

With soul loss there are two main categories: the first is involuntary soul loss through extreme personal events, or the soul being taken by a witch or shaman. The second is voluntary soul loss by witches and shamans that send their souls flying into other worlds.

The concepts and experiences of working with spirits and souls during the flight of the dream trance is the central form of witchcraft that I experienced with the witches of Catemaco and the Tuxtlas mountain region. The flying witches also taught me that there are four main types of witches: the "little witches" that dabble in love potions and giving people bad luck, the "black witches" whose main intent is to harm and are effective from any distance, the "witches of death" who kill and suck the juices of their victims, and the many levels of curanderos involved in healing in the community.

My teachers put me through arduous trials and tests in order to experience all four types of witchcraft. In The Flying Witches of Veracruz I write about passing through these rights of initiation and with the help of my spirit allies become an experienced curandero/brujo, a tetlachihuic, in the ancient traditions of the indigenous people of the amazing Tuxtlas. From love potions to stealing souls through murderous acts, beautiful and amazing trips flying on the wings of perception to soul possession by malevolent spirits, the tetlachihuic works with many different circumstances and levels of awareness, perception, time, and reality.

Although, many of the experiences I share may be disturbing to some people, as they were to me, ultimately the healing knowledge acquired from these experiences I feel was worth the price and merits sharing. And boy was it a wild ride. The witches of Veracruz most certainly can fly...

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2011. All rights reserved.

Could I have your opinion to use for a book I'm writing? I need to know if there really is a hell, and if so, have there been reports from spirits of what it's like there? If not, then where does this idea come from? I would love to have your views on the afterlife. Thank you so much for your help!

- Amanda

Astrea:

Years ago I was asked by a friend to write an astrology column for her newsletter about quilting. I had a ball doing it, but then about a week after I handed it over, her partner approached me in their fabric store and nonchalantly said, You know you're going to hell for writing that, right? I was positively speechless!

Over the years I've thought of dozens of clever retorts for that woman that my tongue couldn't find that day. I was so angry that someone who was supposedly a wonderful Christian would pass judgment on me and tell everyone I was going to hell.

With the kind of connection I feel to the Universal Good, how dare someone say that to me? Who did she think she was: God's anointed selector of people who don't merit a happy afterlife?

While most of us get our descriptions of hell from Dante or Revelations in the Bible, I know when I'm there, and it's not underground or on another planet. I don't have to hear from tormented spirits to know that it's right here on Earth in what we create for ourselves when we make ourselves unhappy with poor choices.

Renaissance artists depicted hell as a fiery furnace for sinners where they suffer endlessly and are tormented and tortured by demons. If you want a good scare, Google Dante or Anton Doree. Certainly an all-loving, all-knowing God would never create such a place.

With our own free will, we create plenty of hell right here! Whatever deity you believe in doesn't punish us; we do enough of that with guilt and worry.

The concept of hell has changed over the years for the Christians. To me they don't seem quite so eager to bring it up as they did in the past. It's not that anyone is behaving any better; it's that our overall views seem to soften as technology takes over our lives and New Age thinking seeps into our consciousness.

When I was a kid growing up in East Texas, at least half of us were going to hell; now I would say it's only about a fourth. Are we evolving? Sure we are! We're learning about the Divine in new and better ways. For those of us who chase the Light, it's going to be Light before, during and after we die.

Depression is hell. Sadness is hell. Grief is hell. Loss is hell. We all experience these feelings. Hell is HERE whenever we put ourselves through it.

After much contemplation, here is what I should have said to that woman that day: You bet, Beverly. I'm going straight to Hell, where I'll save you a seat for judging me. You won't be able to miss me: I'll be the one in the red dress partying with all the other sinners!

*****

Susyn:

The question of the reality of the places we call heaven and hell has been pondered throughout the ages. These concepts first appeared in ancient Babylonia and among the Greeks centuries before Christianity took the matter up.

The Greeks believed that heaven was in the sky, and was a place where the many varied gods of their world resided. They also believed that hell was located beneath the ground, buried deep in the earth.

Based on the high volcanic and earthquake activity of that ancient time, the idea of a massive pit of burning fire probably came naturally, and was formed from people's experience with the powerful destructive forces of nature all around them.

Over the centuries, these ideas became powerful tools of control for religious leaders, who tried to convince the masses of the benefits of joining, contributing to, and allowing themselves to be directed by religious sects.

Today we possess a clearer concept of the words heaven and hell, along with the knowledge that we create our own heavens and hells right here on Earth.

Metaphysically, we bring hell into our lives when we defer to ego and move away from a spiritually sound base. As we practice the art of self-will, we create more and more problems for ourselves.

This is a natural human hurdle in the art of maturing. When we reach maturity, we realize that we have choices and can make decisions to move away from the things in our lives that keep us cut off from our own higher nature and personal truths.

On that same note, we humans also enjoy the experience of heaven when we have wonderful things come into our lives that are in sync with our dreams and desires. If we don't treat these gifts with spiritual maturity, however, they are destined to go away until we learn that our choices and appreciation for the gifts in our life will dictate whether what we desire will be heavenly or eventually turn into a living hell. We carry heaven and hell within ourselves.

The demonic spirits that roam the earth tend to spread pain, chaos, fear and rage wherever they go. Spirit possessions, haunted houses, and the obvious degradation of society's character all represent versions of hell that are contained not so much in one place but in people's actions, thoughts, feelings and choices.

The more we evolve in our spiritual lives, the easier it is to recognize these ideas, images and stories of hell as tools that illustrate the inner turmoil we all pass through on our quest for self-actualization as opposed to tangible places we may one day find ourselves in.

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.