reject the truth you swallow a lie. Christ is the only hope of salvation. all others are thieves and liars. repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is our only hope. all others are poor substitutes.

cont'd

I forgot to mention that my ancestry is from the
Baltic - which has a heritage of pagan beliefs.
We were the last Europeans to embrace Christianity
in 1386-87, and the transition from their previous
animistic faith took several further centuries to
permeate the folk culture.

This could explain my attraction to
anything that's 'different' from the norm.

What an interesting topic!

I was fortunate in that my parents did not have any beliefs they felt necessary to indoctrinate their children with. And I was lucky in that I grew up in countries that did not have a dominant Christian philosophy. So, grew up with little bias to clutter up my mind.

My confession is not 'New Age', but Christianity. I spent a number of years in my late teens and young adulthood exploring this. What I've found is what is perfectly acceptable in Christianity is seen as mumbo-jumbo if not under the 'Christianity' umbrella. I find the possessiveness of many Christians of God and truth very off-putting.

But then, I find some new Agers equally off-putting. I never cease to be amazed what some feel perfectly entitled to tell vulnerable and gullible people.

So, now I do not pay any attention to the 'other side' (I'm guaranteed to find out for myself!), worry about what the stars say about the future {I enjoy today and deal with issues today), only read Tarot cards to freak out my friends, find rolling a die can be just as effective to make a decision and quicker too, though your oracle cards sound lovely Foxy. You'd love my 'gypsy' tarot cards.

And I swear by meditation. It's great to get into the Zone.

Pericles,
Scrying over pressed silk, no wonder it didn’t work!
Next time try scrying over a bowl of water.
Never fails, according to a friend of mine.
For example: she ‘saw’, in the water, an image of her car, broken down.
About a year later, her car broke down.
She said: “Told you that scrying works.”
It’s a bit like praying for rain- it’ll definitely rain sometime in the future after the prayer!

Belly,
The horse shoe- too funny- my husband fell for that one, too. There’s one over the door. Not sure what it is for, I forgot- I think it has something to do with luck?

Examinator,
You seem to have examined lots; that’s quite a hilarious record! I’m sure the girls must’ve laved your company :)
I love that chaos theory variation mumbo-jumbo. Did it have a particular name or was it something you created in your own (chaotic) mind?

Polycarp,
Feel free to add to my list- it was incomplete, just of the top of my head. I should’ve included Falun Dafa as well.
I learned all the 5 exercises at falun dafa sessions, just to find out what all the fuss was about. It was very innocent and no pressure, just meditation, really, and lovely groups of people, no pressure at all.
The philosophy behind it is quite nutty, though, but they never even talked about that- I read the book to find out.

Yeah I, too, know some people who fell for copper bracelets. I think they dumped them after a few months; they leave your wrists with greenish marks, too. I imagine that if copper had healing qualities, copper miners must enjoy extraordinary health!

About meat eating, I roll my eyes too but only about the world peace - vegetarian link.
There can be truth in that vegetarianism is better for the environment because the amount of water and grain used by cattle is something that can be worked out mathematically. I let the experts work it out before I make up my mind whether to believe it. It does sound plausible.

Continued...

Foxy (white witch, LOL!)
Yes meditation is one of the things I’ve been exploring as well, and I think that as a relaxation it does have advantages. I wasn’t even sure if I should include it in the mumbo-jumbo list as when used as relaxation technique, it does seem to have some scientifically proven health benefits.
The reason I included it is because there are so many different types of meditation, some are quite nutty, like Astral Travel and Past Lives meditations.

I agree with you that reflexology, like massage, can help with stress, too.

I am so sorry (not!) but I DID laugh (loudly) at your Oracle cards story, thanks for sharing.
At least it inspired you to talk to your brother, so you got something out of it.
Talking about Goddesses- I loathe that ‘inner Goddess’ preaching.
I used to go to belly dance lessons for about 2 years and that was heaps of fun until my belly dance teacher apparently went through a silly ‘inner Goddess’ stage and started talking about “bonding with our inner Goddesses” during every class! Puhhleeaaaazzzzz! I don’t even believe in a god, let alone an inner Goddess.
I quit my belly dancing lessons, couldn’t cope with such nuttiness.

Sometimes when we enter a ridiculous stage, we still get something out of it, like you got something out of that Oracle set.
My embarrassing Feng Shui stage taught me that clearing up clutter does really clear the mind.
And like Polycarp said, even though Feng Shui might be spiritual nonsense, an organised layout of an office or house can have practical reasons and looks inviting to others.

“The cards came in a beautifully presented box”
Don’t they just! Much of the new age stuff comes really well presented, sometimes includes nice smelling candles or incense It can be hard to walk past it sometimes.
Perhaps we should be like Belly and rush past it!

Continued tomorrow :)

Cevilia, if you think about it, all this stuff, as with religion,
has a similar effect. ie. it makes people feel better and when
they feel better, it must be true.

To assume that we are completelty rational creatures is of course
a fallacy, the mind generally does not work that way. Every
thought is coloured with some kind of emotion. At all times
we feel something, be it happy, sad, anxious, fearfull, whatever.
These things all influence our judgement.

The way I see it, as humans evolved to have larger brains, we
also became more inquisitive, more questioning, searching for
answers. The more questioning that we became, the more we had
that little problem of anxiety.

The brain works on chemical feedback loops, to create what they
call homeostasis, ie balanced, not happy, not sad etc. When we
feel anxious, we feel uncomfortable and seek answers. Humans
are more content with certainty then uncertainty.

So all this stuff, including runner's religion, helps people
deal with anxiety and thus feel better. Whether its actually
true or not, is of course another story. Its their perception
to them, that matters to their frame of mind