John Broken Willow posted a message to lisa fire
and won+3On my views: You are right in questioning how much of the book represents my own views. In real l...On my views: You are right in questioning how much of the book represents my own views. In real life I am nowhere near as rude as that! And a lot more accepting of people. In fact I work as a kind of counsellor. A lot of the rudeness and cynicism was added for comedy value, or to emphasise the points made. In some of the chapters, e.g. "Power Animals" and "Meditation", I tried to look at the topic from the perspective of someone with no prior knowledge, your average person on the street, wondering what they would make of it all.
To be honest I don't really believe in power animals or higher selves, but I try and remain open minded. My belief in these things tends to decrease when people use bullshit and psychedelic drug experiences to try and convince me.
I am really into meditation, but was very nearly put off it by the experience I describe, which was a true story (with a few modifications). Part of the problem with yoghurt weaving is that the people who practice, and the rituals they use, are so far removed from normal life that the majority of people are put off from the start.
My inspiration for writing the book was not so much about questioning the concepts in yoghurt weaving per se, as about questioning the shit people talk about them, which becomes so much more apparent when you gather a few different points of view and realise how different they are.
So, in short, I believe there is some truth behind most forms of complementary medicine, homeopathy aside, but I question many of the claims people make. When the NHS say that a treatment cures a particular form of cancer, for example, they mean that in clinical trials and in the experience of oncologists worldwide it does what it says on the tin. When a reiki book says that reiki cures cancer, for example, they mean that a couple of people recieving reiki got cured, who may have been on chemotherapy as well.
I do not believe in spiritual ascendency at all, and I feel that those who do are bigotted and deluded.
It came in handy me having a scien ce degree when writing the book...actually I had never heard of DNA activation before I started researching, and laughed heartily when I started reading about it. I genuinely believe that the concept of DNA activation is complete drivel designed to make money out of gullible hippies. I'd say the same for pleaidian healing, and as for Merkaba activation....I'd best not get started.
"Minds being open to being closed by apparent openness"...I love it! Can I use that line?
Tis so true...the hippy movement sucks people in by making them more "open-minded"...and it does do that, but then it closes their minds to the idea that maybe some of these non-hippies have a brain too. The whole New Age movement is cliquey and suspicious of others: it is completely entrenched in Guardian politics; it rejects anything "mainstream" and more to the point, it rejects any kind of proper scrutiny. This alone makes me want to question it. (more)
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John Broken Willow posted a message to lisa fire
and gained+3Hi Lisa
Thanks so much for your message! It was great to get a bit of feedback for my book.
On ...Hi Lisa
Thanks so much for your message! It was great to get a bit of feedback for my book.
On dreadlocks: I had them once. I got them for sexual reasons. I only dreaded a few bits of my hair, just experimenting. I instantly found that most of the general population were consquently more suspicious of me, while hippy types were more likely to trust me. I didn't get any more sex. I now have short hair, because I need to be trusted and liked by people other than hippies: for example, members of my own family; and having dreadlocks makes that kind of difficult.
On science: Yes, the more forward-thinking scientists recognise that they don't have all the answers, and humbly continue with experiments to try to answer the next question. Science is brilliant at saying what it knows, but cannot say with any certainty what it does not know. However, people with little understanding of science fail to grasp this concept, and somehow assume that because scientists haven't got as far as understanding energy healing yet, that they categorically deny its existence. (more)
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lisa fire posted a message to John Broken Willow
and gained+3Dear John,
I found you through myspace and got a lot of pleasure and a few good belly laughs ski...Dear John,
I found you through myspace and got a lot of pleasure and a few good belly laughs skimming through some of your book online. My apologies for not buying it (I would have just skinned though it in a bookshop but I got more time to do so at home than I would in my usual local bookstore - or even more than I would have done at the coffee shop in Borders, though I will drop in to ask them to register a request to stock it) and my thanks for making it available on t'internet.
I loved your piece on dreads. My dreadlocks grew (slowly) as a teen when I was desperate to be accepted into the Camden squatting scene despite my middle class accent and idealistic Guardian readers' politics. They stayed because they don't need much, if any care and I don't have the balls to chop them partly because they seem to help people to trust me irrationally, assuming I assume that I'm some sort of karma weary yoghurt weaver.
I am a cynical hippy. Science has it goin' on and I assume the best scientists are constantly aware that science is always only the best approximation we've got so far.
I am only two thirds of my way though skimming through but so far think I would enjoy hearing about more of your own views. At first I wasn't alway totally sure of when sarcasm was in play or how strongly you were taking the piss and I'd like to know more as I think your book is pitched at the hippy community and love that you don't seem to be preaching to the converted.
Looking forward to more, to minds being opened to being closed by apparent openess...
cheers
Lisa (more)
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