4 Ways to Invite Good Juju into Your Life

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.