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May 29 through June 4, 2023

Balance is the theme at the start of this week, as the Moon saunters through Libra Monday and Tuesday. The remainder of the week unfolds under a Scorpio Moon, and this one could bring out our intense side, which isn’t always a bad thing. Focus, drive, and progress will be a theme Wednesday through Friday, and we’re likely to get twice as much accomplished as we had planned! The Moon waxes full in Sagittarius on Saturday, which could bring surprising people into our midst. This full Moon could have us crossing paths with exes, people we went to grade school with, or even people we don’t know who we’ve shared past lives with. If someone pops into your head out of the blue, do a search on social media to see if you can find them. (Assuming you WANT to find them.) If an ex shows up asking for a second chance, your answer should be no, but do relish in the ego trip of knowing they’ve never forgotten you! Finally, if you’re still flying solo, this is a great weekend to venture out to the social scenes or check out dating sites. Swipe left? Swipe right? Take a chance, as anything is possible under this lovely Sagittarius full Moon!

Elemental Shamanism: The Power of Fire, Earth, Water, and Air, by Omar W. Rosales

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

"The Universe is created of Four Elements—Fire, Earth, Water, and Air." —5th Century Buddhist Master

From the steppes of the Himalaya to the jungles of Guatemala, shamanism is a ritual belief system that has been practiced for over 27,000 years. From cave paintings in France to aboriginal art in Australia, shamans have recorded what they experience during altered states of consciousness and journeys into non-ordinary realms of reality. These remarkable drawings show flight, communication with anthropomorphic spirit guides, and arcane knowledge of the universe. By understanding how shamanic beliefs correspond to the four elements, we can gain a unique understanding of this enigmatic spiritual tradition.

Shamanism is the set of rituals and beliefs that are used by indigenous societies to effectuate change in our world. Shamanism is characterized by its practitioners entering Altered States of Consciousness (ASCs) to journey into Non-Ordinary Realms (NORs) of Reality. At the molecular level, the quantum level, a shaman will change their energy field to interact with the energy field of living and non-living objects. Shamans can be both female and male, and are found in many different cultures from around the world. Vajrayana Buddhist monks in Bhutan and Tibet, as well as Maya A'j r'ijs from Central America and Cherokee Spiritwalkers from North America understand the connection between shamanic rites and the Four Elements of Fire, Earth, Water, and Air. The shamanic journey first begins with the Fire element.

FIRE
Before a shaman is accepted by her or his community, and the healer is imbued with powers from the realm of spirit, the shaman must first undergo a ritualized initiation process. The first step of the initiation process is the destruction of the self or the ego. A person must be reborn to become a shaman and harness a new set of abilities, which include astral travel, soul retrieval, divination, healing, and spirit communication. But to be born again, a person must first die. The Fire Element serves this end, because Fire is symbolic of ritual purification and death. By undergoing a great and sudden traumatic event, which destroys the ego and former aspects of the self, the shamanic initiate is letting of old belief systems and old ways of thinking. Fire does this by burning away antiquated aspects of the self and limiting beliefs.

Through fire, an initiate will discard their former identity, and may even die. A catastrophic illness is one way that communities find new shamans. Many shamans have undergone bouts with near-fatal diseases, and many have had Near Death Experiences (NDEs). The NDEs provide the shaman a gateway. By hovering between the realms of life and death, flesh and spirit, the shaman learns to communicate with spirit guides. The shaman is then offered a choice by the spirit guides—to accept the new destiny as a shamanic healer and practitioner or become a permanent resident of the spirit world. Thankfully for us, many initiates choose to continue along the shamanic path.

EARTH
After the tribulation of the Fire element, fire, and the discard of the former egocentric self, a shaman will then begin journeying to the underworld. The underworld, or cave, is representative of the Earth element and symbolizes the link to our collective past, our connection to the planet, and our inescapable bond with every life form. The Earth element nurtures, it protects. The Earth element is the womb from which all life comes. From plants, to plankton, to eagles, to grasshoppers, all life began in the Earth and in caves, where life was protected from the sun's radiation and life forms began to evolve and emerge.

A shaman's journey to understand the Earth element is the voyage to comprehend the connection with animal guides, plant guides, and humanity's collective unconscious. It is these symbols of the collective subconscious, hard-wired into DNA and cellular memory, that provide the shaman with the vocabulary of Jungian archetypes. Cross-culturally, humans communicate with a common set of symbols passed down from our genetic past. These symbols, or archetypes, include the maiden, the wizard, the Nature spirit (such as the Pan or Trickster), the hero and heroine, the crone, the baby, and the tree.

The Earth element provides this shamanic language for use in dreams, metaphysics, and healing. The Earth element is the connection to more than one million years of evolution, the collective subconscious, archetypes, and the realm of nature spirits. After a shaman connects to the wisdom of the Earth element and the collective past, the shaman must develop an understanding of the Water element.

WATER
Water is the universal fuel of existence; life cannot function without water. To a shaman, the Water element symbolizes growth by feeding all life forms on the planet. The basis of the shamanic journey is empathic healing. By showing tears of compassion for all living beings, a shaman expands planetary health. All living beings want to be nurtured and nourished. From Redwood trees, to algae, to killer whales, to frogs, all living things desire compassion. By promoting all forms of life and having compassion for all living creatures, a shaman heals the planet. Tears of compassion and love provide growth to the tree of humanity. And as more rings and generations are added, the human tree becomes stronger.

AIR
The final element of the shamanic journey is Air. The Air provides the shaman with a connection to Upper Realms, deities, and gods. By using their psychic abilities, a shaman can transcend the limits of her or his body to communicate directly with the gods and bring forth messages for humanity. Shamans describe journeys to the Upper Realm as a Revelation of supernatural knowledge and insight. The Upper Realms are places of air, flight, and greater perspective. The earliest cave paintings of thirty thousand years ago in France and Spain show shamans flying amongst the stars. The Air element represents a place to gain greater understanding and communicate with the creator deities.

The greatest shamans of the last two thousand years ascended into the Air element after their teaching missions were complete. Jesus, Mohammed, and Padmashambhava all descended into the clouds once they finished their earthly journey. For the shaman, the Air element is the connection to land of Spirit and the Upper Realms from which gods and deities communicate their most important messages for humanity. It is into the Air element, that the most powerful shamans ascend once their missions are complete.

The journey of the shaman is the symbolic journey of creation, the metaphor for the evolution of the human machine. The journey first begins with the destruction of the self and ego through the ritual initiation of the Fire Element. The next step on the shaman's journey is the voyage to understand the Earth element. By developing a connection with all living things, a shaman can understand that all life on Earth is linked together. By exposure to the symbols of the collective past, and the Jungian archetypes of the collective subconscious, a shaman develops and perfects her or his psychic abilities with the help of the Earth.

The shaman then journeys to the land of the Water element to learn compassion. By shedding tears of love and compassion for all living beings, the shaman begins to use her healing abilities to heal the planet. The final journey of the shaman is the voyage the land of the Air Element. Amongst the clouds, skies, and further into the cosmos, a shaman journeys to develop a relationship with deities. After the final realization and a complete mastery of all the elements in the universe—Fire, Earth, Water, and Air, a shaman will journey into the cosmos to permanently reside in the Upper Realms and live amongst the gods.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2009. All rights reserved.

My grandmother died of cancer. I was extremely attached to her and saw her as my mother. We had a deep bond and when she died I felt as though she took part of me with her and I kept part of her here with me. I dream about her often, and am wondering if she is visiting me in these dreams. I have a reoccurring dream where she shows up at my aunt's house (which was her house before she passed). She is my bedroom doorway and I am in total shock, saying I have missed you so much I thought you were dead! She does not respond to this, she just smiles and hugs me and acts like nothing ever happened. I also have had dreams where she calls me and tells me that she is still alive. My brother has had dreams where he wakes up in the middle of the night thinking there is an intruder in his home and gets his gun and goes searching through the house and goes into the basement, only to find it is her hiding in our house as if she never passed on. I often get the feeling she is looking over me and protecting me but I am just so unsure so I would like another opinion. What do these dreams mean? Is she visiting me and my brother in our dreams? Is she watching over and protecting me? Thank you for taking the time to read and respond, it means a lot.

Brittany

Susyn:

Your grandmother has never left your side and is most assuredly visiting both you and your brother through your dreams. Although she has left the physical plane, her soul continues to remain close to you and all her loved ones.

It must be very comforting when your grandmother pops up at your aunt's house as if nothing has happened in these dreams. The dream phone calls in which she tells you that she is still alive are indicative of the fact that she still exists and is reaching out to you from a different realm. You can't see or touch her, but you can sense her spirit and hear her voice clearly. It is her way of letting you know that, despite all evidence to the contrary, she remains close by, watching over and protecting you.

I am certain that she sends you additional signs during your waking hours, so watch for certain aromas, music or flowers that trigger memories of her. You may feel a sudden breeze or hot and cold temperature changes for no apparent reason. When this happens, it is proof that she is around.

Your brother's dreams are quite telling as well. He and your grandmother may not have been as close to each other as you were. The dreams in which he hears noises and goes in search of an intruder, only to find your grandmother hiding in the basement, suggest that he may not be as open to the idea of her spirit visiting him. Perhaps when he was growing up they used to play hide and seek games, and that is why she does this in his dreams. Perhaps she is wary of unnerving him, so she lets him seek her out.

When our loved ones die, they do not just disappear; many remain close to us to watch over and protect us. Some people refuse to believe in spirit contact, but for those of us who have been exposed to it firsthand, as you and your brother have, the experience is very real. You can trust what your instincts are telling you. In fact, the more you trust them, the more contact your grandmother can make with you.

When you have one of these dreams or sense her spirit around you during the day, this is the perfect time to stop and visit with her. If there are things you would like to share, questions you want to ask, or you simply want to tell her how much you love her, now is the time to do it. Of course, you don't have to wait for this to happen; you can call her spirit to you through prayer and meditation whenver you desire. I recommend a channeling session with a psychic if you would like even more communication and validation that she is near.

*****

Oceania:

I'm sorry for the loss of your grandmother, who was clearly a mother to you. What you wrote about loss is true: A part of us goes with the person who dies, and a part of them stays here with us.

I don't know if your grandmother is visiting you in your dreams, but I do know your dreams are part of your grieving process. In one dream, you're able to freely express your truth about how much you have missed her. It's a refreshing feeling when we can be honest and genuine with someone, as you could be with your grandmother. I recommend that you join a grief group where you can safely process and honor your emotions, and be heard and accepted in return. It's important that you find other people you can be truthful with.

Your wise unconscious mind comforts you with recurring dreams about your grandmother's smiles and hugs. Her warm and affectionate nature clearly enriched your life. You need to talk about how much she meant to you, which is another reason a grief group would be beneficial. It's also important to find other people whose smiles and hugs you can enjoy.

Dreams of the deceased calling to say they're alive are very common when we're grieving, for we try to alleviate our emotional pain by imagining that our loved one is still alive. As your brother is experiencing a similar dream, he would probably be a good person for you to grieve with. I recommend the two of you look through old photographs of your grandmother and share memories of her.

Of course you yearn to have her back, but it's in the natural order of things that grandparents and parents pass before we do. In their wake, we have an opportunity to parent ourselves. It seems that something prevented your biological mother from mothering you. Perhaps she died young or was unavailable to you due to illness, addiction or other circumstances. What a blessing that you had a grandmother who could fill your mother's shoes! It's very possible you have some grief work to do about your mother as well.

Your mother's absence or dysfunction likely prevented you from internalizing and developing your own strong inner mother, which may have left you overly dependent upon your grandmother. You might now turn to a therapist or a reader here to serve as a surrogate mom, and also strengthen your ties with your female friends. I'm certain your grandmother is watching over and protecting you, but your task at hand is to develop your own maternal energy so that you can directly nurture and comfort yourself.

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.