ACCUPUNCTURE: this ancient oriental medical form is one of the few things
available to help you on the market today that I have no qualms or
arguments about, its simply application of stimuli to nerves to reduce pain
or stress on other parts of the body that correspond in the ‘wiring’ of the
human body. My only caution here is to always go to accupuncturists whoi
are otherwise medically qualified as well, in case an error is made you
still have the usual malpractice suit option (though I’m told errors with
this skill are rare).

ASTROLOGY: One of the oldest concepts in Esoterica is the design of a
personal horoscope based on your birth information and the location of the
planets and stars at it. I believe that the basics of astrology work, the
determining of personality traits according to birth time and period are
fairly accurate, but very general. On the other hand I would not put any
scope into truly predicting the future via this becuase the whole theory
behind it doesn’t work any longer if they are using the present day
calendar and symbols. The original basis of astrology was not 12 but 13
Astrological constellations, which were the predominant sign for each Lunar
month (13 signs, 13 moon cycles to a year). The missing sign is the Snake
or serpent (dependant on where in the world you were born) and it was the
13th house of the system, fitting, if I remember correctly, on one side of
Scorpio. If anyone is claiming true accuracey and results using Astrology
they must be ignoring the current calendar and co nverting back to the
classical one. I don’t doubt there are some who do just this, but they are
not the majority. Never believe Mass-marketed horoscopes in books,
magazines or newspapers…they pay no attention to the time you were born
or actual day and thus lack the information on your ascendency sign. Again
don’t put all your faith into this nor your hard earned dollars that you
can’t afford to lose. Remember Hitler had an astrologer he followed
dilligently, and so did Napoleon, neither got the result they wanted or
expected accordingly.

BIO-RHYTHMS: this one pretends to be on the verge of science, and has
fooled the scientific elites several times. In actuality bio-rhythm’s are a
diffrent for of Numerology linked with erroneous Astrology theories and
anatomical information. Quite frankly I don’t know anyone who’s managed to
have a completely accurate result from this, except a hypocondriac who got
sick whenever it said their health was going to be at a low level. Not
worth spending money on in any event unless you’ve come into a winfall
inheritance (and if you have I’ll take it off your hands and put it to
better use willingly!).

CHANNELING: this I’ve looked at in depth and believe it is probably the
worst thing to arrise in our New Age Movement. Channeling, for those of you
who have no idea what it is, is the trading of your body temporarily so a
dead being of some sort (or enlightened being from another plane of
existance) can express its opinions to the world thru you. I have problems
with this subject because it reminds me far too much of the false mediums
and spiritualists of the 1920’s who hoaxed so many people out of so much
money by promising to contact dead relatives for bereaving widows and
widowers. Modern day channelers instead promise contact with people you’ve
never heard of for the most part, who claim to be from Atlantis, or Moo, or
various other pre-Christian era locales and times that have advanced in
their stage upon the road of enlightment to the point where the want to
help others by presenting a theory of Love and sharing…including usually
sharing your funds with the person doing the cha nneling in amounts ranging
from $100 to $1500 for an hour or so of this conversation. Quite frankly I
haven’t seen much from any of the channelers in any way of true enlightment
being given or even accurate prophecies about anything except their own
popularity and growth as a new-wave religion. I truly believe that it is
possible that there are honest, for-real people who can channel the spirits
of the dead and other-world beings, but like I believe in most things in
this field, if their asking more than a simple re-imbursment for their time
and possibly travel time (say $25-50 for an hour) I would stay clear of
them and keep the cash. I also believe that there are a heck of a lot less
real channelers then there are money-grabbing fakes (sort of looking at the
New Age euivilant to Evangelical preachers here as far as I can tell).

CRYSTALS & THEIR USES : I’ve been looking at what a lot of people are
claiming you can do with crystals and what I know can actually been done
with them and there is a H U G E  diffrence between the two, with good
reason. Again the money-making scheemers have entered this field and are
making a bundle on what they can sell off quartz and other stones for, to
the point where there is becoming a shortage of quartz available in nature
in the US (many are importing the stones from other countries and or
strip-mining for them in little-known spots in the poorer states of this
country). I’ve used crystals, in the right hands they are a wonderful way
of focusing energy from yourself and others to produce a result or to store
them in a battery. . I firmly believe that no one needs thousands of crystals
to improve their existance…else wouldn’t the Goddess have placed them in
easier locales for everyone to get at? Never pay more than $25 for a piece
of rock, unless its pure gold or truly the most beautiful stone you’ve ever
seen that you want as a conversation piece in your home. The most I’ve paid
myself was $12 for the one crystal I wear, and I buy on the average maybe
one new stone every six months or so because an old one becomes lost,
misplaced or given away to a friend who truly admired it (I won’t part with
the Amethyst but I will part with other stones). It is not only crytals
that have uses, one of my favorite stones is Hematite, a polished stone
resembling a dull silver-color that acts as a great grounding stone as it
tends to absorb and disipate energy as fast as you can concentrate it – and
that if you actually buy it costs between 10 cents and a dollar, based on
size, and is now often made by craftsmen into hand-made jewelry (a set of
earrings costs about $7 from an honest dealer). For those who are
interested I’m go ing to throw together and E-mail dump a file list of what
I utilize particular stones for – but don’t go out and spend lots of cash
on them, its not worth blowing your paycheck over, something I’ve seen some
gullible New-Agers do. Pick up a stone here and there, not just for what I
say it can be used for, but for their beauty to your eye as well…in fact
the more that you have set in jewelry instead of ugly paperweights or dust
collectors the better you’ll be doing. Remember whenever you buy any
crystal or stone that it is just a piece of rock that takes on properties
that you mentally associate with it, thus a nice piece of jewelry is a good
way of ensuring it has at least some value even if you drop out of the
Esoteric scene.

HERBOLOGY: the practice of utilizing natural herbs and plants goes back as
far as history itself, and herbology was the basic study from which science
has built botany, agriculture, pharmacology, medicine and such. I have a
strong belief that the study of this is one of the most inspiring things a
person can do, for it shows how little modern science has really learned
about the properties of nature and our relationship with all life in the
universe. There are so many medicinal herbs that have been ignored or left
unknown by modern medicine. For example, in NH and northern MASS grows
Feverfew, a leafy green plant, the leaves of which when chewed or brewed
into a tea, act as remedy for many forms of migranes (especially those
caused by severe eyestrain – like sitting in front of a terminal for 20
hours or more). Learning, using and cultivating these various plants is a
worthwhile endeavor, and anyone spending money and effort in this field of
Esoterica is doing so with my applause (we d o some of this here at Shadow
Weaver Grove, but even with three of us working at it its a huge project!).

HYPNOSIS : the great wonder field developed by Sigmund Freud and his
contemporaries, I have found this field to be both a wonderful tool and a
dangerous weapon. Never let yourself be put under trance state by anyone
you do not trust totally as they might take advantage of your state for
manipulating your subconscious in the wrong way (EX at least one case I’ve
heard of of a hypnotist doing weight-loss and stop-smoking work who was
including in the hypnotic suggestions a catalyst so that the patients would
then make sure to brag about who they went to and urge friends and
relatives to try out his service – thus a pre-programmed advertising
addition!) or actually, if you’re female, take physical advantage of you
while you’re in the suggestable relaxed state (there have been at least 2
cases of lawsuits against hypnotists in MASS for this practice). Avoid
Hypnotic learning tapes and videos, most of them include subtle suggestions
to buy all the tapes they produce, and some include other c onsciousness
manipulating messages. I had one friend who was using such and became an
insomniac due to suggestions on the tape, just so the producer could sell
them a relaxation and sleep-inducing tape. In other words, my advice
dealing with the subject is to be real careful about who you work with, and
never let someone experiment with your subconsciousness for ‘the fun of
it’.

NUMEROLOGY: This is a complex field that very few people truly understand.
Like Astrology it takes into account personality traits and potentials in a
persons life, but don’t expect it to work miracles like predicting the
lottery or any such thing. There are very few people who claim this skill
that have actually studied its sources and uses properly, so I’d avoid it
until you can take the time to sit down to a few years study in the
Quballa, the tree of life and its related sources. Don’t waste big bucks on
this, especially on people who do it mail order, all you’ll get is garbage
in=garbage out.

PALMISTRY : one of the older forms of divination, it works on the belief
that you can perceive something about a person through the wrinkles and
natural muscle structure of their hand. Quite frankly this section of the
field is full of frauds and fakes out to make big bigs…If you pay
ridiculous sums for this you get the rip-off you deserve. There are a few
people who doi this accurately and are not fakes, but like channelling, it
is a very limited few. Anyone who offers to do this thru the mail or from a
distance is almost 99 and 95/100% a Fraud, as a true reader has to not only
see your hand but be able to touch it to get some psychometry off of you
and to carry on dial.ogue to better define what they are perceiving. If you
find them at a carnival or side show don’t even begin to believe you’re
getting the reality.

SUBLIMINAL RECORDINGS: Very similar to Hypnotisim, these tapes utilize the
fact that you can mereg words on one track of a tape and mix it with music
on other tracks to induce you to perform certain things (Quit smoking,
etc.). Avoid these, they are just as bad as the Hypnosis tapes and far more
efficient in the long run because they’ve had 35 years to experiment and
get the process right!

TAROT CARDS : My first introduction into the world of the Esoteric was
through this, the oldest surviving means of applying you sub-conscious in
evry day activities. I have a firm belief in the benefits of a deck, as it
takes the mind of the user, applies the sleeping parts of their instinct
and insight (as Jungian psychiatrists will tell you) and produces answers
to pressing questions in their lives and the lives of others. Most people
place a huge amount of ancient hocus-pocus and fear into the cards and
thats what they get back from them. I look for viable paths open to take
dealing with the subject question at hand and follow them thru almost as
you would flow chart a computer program, but without knowing where the
chart is going until its complete. Some of the best decks on the market
include the Brabra Walker Deck (a bit harsh on its imagery but efficient!),
The Hanson-Roberts (AKA Fairytale deck, its imagery taken from classic
fairytales of the medieval and renesance eras), The Morgan’s Deck (created
in the 1960’s style with simple line drawings and no suits or trumps and a
really good sense of humor on its making by the author) and the Mythic Deck
(Designed on the images of Greek Myths and the classic ideas behind them,
very good for someone who knows mythology and well-packaged with a very
informative guidebook). When buying a deck always choose one that has
images on it you like and can deal spending many hours looking at, as you
will in order to learn its value as a tool. A really nice varient on the
market just recently is the ‘Stargate’ deck, unique in that the cards are
written on on both sides, but useable by beginers with a few weeks of
practice (Its almost totaly Jungian, but with no Archetype beings, only
dream-work forms). You can spend quite a bit or very little for a deck,
though again I keep myself to my $25 rule, and once you become real
proficient with one deck then branch out into others (and not before or
you’ll simply become a collector of an odd form of artwork and not a Tarot
reader). Always avoid taking a reading you do just for yourself as being
pure fact, there are 1) always variables that might not be shown and 2)
your emotional state can influence the cards, if you’re depressed the
reading will usually only make you more so. Avoid any deck that claims to
be the ultimate or end-all be-all deck, there is no such thing for you
unless you become advanced and skilled enough to design your own working
deck (it took me 4 years before I was ready to start one, and its not yet
ready for public consumption). Each person lives a diffrent life, thus
experiences a diffrent reality, and though two may be similar they cannot
be identical in all the details and the philosophies that arise from them.
Think before you put your total faith in one reading…often getting a good
second opinion is an excellant option. When it comes to finding someone
else read for you, the best choice is someone who you can trust to keep the
informati on confidential, either someone in your life you do trust who
reads or a ‘stranger/acquaintenc’ who is far enough away as to not be
influenced by the problem or your life-choices. Remember Tarot is a tool to
make decisions with, not simply the fortune-telling toy it is presented as
by many. It can help you follow trains of thought and where a
situation/focus , might lead but it can’t make random prophecies about the
futuire or help you to win the lottery. If anyone is interested in entering
into the occult/esoteric world, the Tarot is my advice as a starting point
of learning. Once you’ve got a deck and begin to understand it then you
should seek out someone who is experienced to help you refine yourself in
their useage (and Tarot is one of the few accepted forms of Esoterica,to
the point that many community colleges and adult education programs include
a study of them as a psychological tool). Anyone who’d like a reading
should contact me thru this bbs’s mail, and if you live nearby (within
MA/NH/RI and sometimes CONN) and could make the trip or arrange transport
for me and maybe buy me dinner or something I’ll sit down with you for a
prolonged session of workings and discussion