Snake Oil/Owning Our Dark Parts
The amount of angry and darker energy in society seems to be far more notable than usual. The strong opinions, frustration, and discomfort about who will be our next president, racial issues, financial disparities, and a long list of other issues seems more toxic, and polarizing than usual. While social media contributes to an increased beneficial awareness about many, many issues, it can also highlight some of the less attractive aspects of our friends and family members. One of my Facebook friends that I more often than not politically disagree with posted some pictures and a story that clearly, angered him. A Brazilian man holding his small dog had posted a video of him repeatedly smacking the animal. The dog whimpered in terror, not sure whether to fight back or be submissive in hopes that his owner would stop the abuse. Like any “child” would respond to a guardian beating them senselessly, the dog feared losing the love of his master while at the same time struggling with the need for survival. The Brazilian man posted his video a few weeks before. The post my friend actually placed was from two weeks after this. It was images of the dog abuser’s severely beaten face after two men found him and beat the shit of of him for what he did to this poor, defenseless dog. I felt conflicted emotions from seeing this. I almost never condone the use of violence. I believe the idea of abuse toward animals and children is particularly reprehensible. I am also not a fan of abuse toward adults either, even when they seemingly “deserve it.” Yet a part of me was really happy to see this man get the beating he received. I found myself on the same page as my angry friends position. I honestly might have done the same thing to him if I found him. This realization disturbed me as much as the video.
I have never been one to abuse others physically. It has been rare for me to abuse someone verbally either especially because I have grown mellower with age. On the contrary, I have more often taken the role of big brother and protector when I encountered someone abusing anyone I care about. Notably when I was younger I saved many “wounded birds.” While I am built for potential physical warfare my strongest weapon has always been my words. I can cut through an abuser like a verbal blade that has been sharpened to a razor. Like most people I did a few questionable things in my younger days that I am not particularly proud of, yet I learned early on about the repercussions of using my power this way. Having power and using it are very different considerations. I am very aware of what happens when we act inappropriately. Whether one believes in karma or not, it is still a reality. Abuse or treat others cruelly and it will come back to you. What disturbed me so much after seeing the video was feeling those ugly, vengeful, retaliating thoughts surfacing in me again. I felt I had long ago conquered this darker part of me.
When we understand the chakra or energy centers of the body we get a clearer picture of how humans operate. There are seven chakras, or energy centers. There are many theories that there are more like 12, but for our purposes we will focus on the seven. The root chakra is at the base of our spine and stores our most primal parts and keeps us grounded to the Earth. It is responsible for our fight or flight response and essentially holds our survival urges and much of the darker and “animal” parts as well. The second chakra is our sexual center located in around the groin area. It is the part of us that works to balance personal relationships. The third chakra is just above our belly button and is our power center. It is the part of us that digests our ability to use and direct power. The fourth chakra is our heart chakra. The fifth chakra around the throat is our communication center. The sixth chakra is our third eye. The seventh chakra connects us to God, Goddess, Tao, All That Is, and our spiritual center. Thorough a process of spiritual evolution, and as our soul gets older, wiser, and evolves through our reincarnation cycles we find ourselves having more access to all seven centers.
The root chakra is where our survival instincts are centered. The willingness and need to survive at all costs is part of our grounding and also houses much of our fears. As each chakra opens we become more balanced and have more access to things like empathy and understanding while still retaining our ability to survive. Unfortunately when the Higher centers are not in play this may lead to sometimes succumbing to our darker impulses. Anger, urges to retaliate, hurt other living things, jealousy, greed, and even unspeakable cruelty can sometimes run the show when we only respond from a guttural level. The heart chakra needs to be activated and open for us to feel empathy and love. Our throat chakra when opened, helps us to communicate more effectively with others. It can also help us to develop humor and disrupt our darker urges this way. Our third eye, or sixth Chakra when opened allows us to see the bigger picture and not get too caught up in the “small stuff.” Our seventh Chakra connects us to spirit and the God force itself. When we develop our spiritual sides our chakras open and we are able to stay more centered, temperate, and balanced. It also becomes easier to recognize when people have some of their higher charkas closed off, or have not yet opened them at all.
We are understandably horrified at times by the things we see on the television news and many of the multitudes of other news outlets available. Murder, rape, thievery, slander, and other horrible elements can seem to be far too rampant. Yet, we all have experienced times where some of these types of darker impulses may have been considered in the heat of anger. Hopefully we may be wise enough to not act on these impulses, but when someone cuts us off on the highway we might imagine the potential satisfaction of ramming their car off the bridge, or a cop pulling them over so they get “what they deserve.” Few of us haven’t considered the impulse to get back at someone who humiliates us or treats us in any type of cruel way. No matter how much we may love our mate, if someone extremely attractive flirts with us, we may truly consider what it would be like to be with them. We would be liars if we claimed we have never had these, similar, and possibly even darker thoughts. In astrology Scorpio’s (and the 8th house) placement in our natal chart shows where we can use power effectively or with negative intent. It shows where we have been tested and also where we can potentially evolve to the highest level. I have often joked with my friends and clients who are in really bad relationships to simply put a little bit of arsenic or other less traceable poison on a sugar cookie each day until they slowly take their obnoxious mate out. I have used dark humor at times this way. In no way would I EVER suggest someone actually do this. A much better solution is to face your fear, develop self-esteem and leave an abusive relationship. Still, humor is a powerful tool in discharging anger, hurt, and frustration.
I remember when I was a young man in Catholic school and was told that even if you think a dark thought you have committed a “sin.” This, of course made me think I was a really terrible person because I had quite a few dark thoughts. When I began to study metaphysics I started to understand how truly ridiculous this perspective was. It was also a tactic to keep people in a perpetual state of artificial guilt. Going to church or confession was the only “appropriate” way to balance and clear our darker parts. Sometimes people who are extremely religious are drawn to fundamentalism precisely because in their past they have acted on some of their darker thoughts. The projection of judging other people’s sins becomes the obsessive focus. On the other hand there are also religious people who have opened their sixth and seventh chakras and are drawn to express their connection to God in this way. Everyone expresses their spirituality in their own way. And some people are not focused on their spiritual sides at all!
Owning our dark places is actually healthy. Learning how to NOT act on those aspects is an element of spiritual evolution and the result of opening all of the chakras. We become aware logically, emotionally, and spiritually that when we hurt others and act on our darker thoughts we create karma. We begin to feel uncomfortable when we retaliate as opposed to feeling triumphant. We stay bound to this world with repeated themes of karmic creation and resolution until we learn and grow. Rather than becoming depressed when we see others doing horrific things, we can learn to see the larger picture. Everyone around us is at a different levels of spiritual and soul evolution. Some baby, and younger souls are focused on creating karma for experience and to eventually resolve these karmic debts, while others are paying off karma (burning ribbons). Everything is eventually balanced karmically: no one “gets away” with anything. Societies laws of punishment for crimes do not alter the inevitable arranging of karmic balance. Every soul will eventually evolve, some just do it very, very, slowly.
When our chakras are open we will find ourselves moving away from those who are more closed down. We may even find that people we were once really connected to no longer feel comfortable to us. It is right and natural to move away from people we don’t “vibe’ with. The man who abused the dog will eventually have to resolve his crime at a soul level. It is likely that he was betrayed by someone close to him for his loyalty. The twisted urge to beat and abuse a dog (an animal that embodies the very archetype of loyalty) was his distorted attempt to fight back. This doesn’t excuse his atrocious behavior, it simply explains it (sixth chakra stuff here). Of course, no matter what “crime” this dog committed was ultimately an act of innocence. Like everyone, our darker thoughts sometimes surface. We can still enjoy a movie or television show about fighting back against an oppressor. We can understand that our darker parts are part of us. We don’t have to get caught up in some holier than though new age nonsense about seeing the Higher centers as “better.” Opening our Higher centers is not about overcoming our lower energy centers. It’s about integrating all aspects of ourselves and simply making better choices about what right action truly is.
Jim Ventura 10-2016
Notes:
This column marks my 100th Snake Oil! Well, there are actually a few more but a few never made it to print because I am fussy and have three planets in Virgo; very much a perfectionist. Some stuff just didn’t make the cut. I have been doing this column now since 2003, so I started writing it in my 20s. If you buy that math you are missing the Sagittarius tendency to exaggerate things sometimes!
It actually took me some time to write this month’s column. It is a complicated subject to talk about to say the least. I was initially hesitant to focus on a month or so of looking at our dark places. After finishing, I was glad to have accomplished tackling the subject though. I pretty much proved part of my point that owning our dark parts is a healthy thing to do.
Holiday season is approaching. I plan to navigate this one without having to go an extra loop or two on my belt! Well I usually plan that every year, just often it doesn’t pan out. My Taurus moon loves the decadence. Mmmm cookies, cake, turkey, lasagna ahead...Workouts will have to get longer and more frequent, just too much good stuff not have a little or a lot of!
Wishing Everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! And may you have a year ahead of lots to be thankful for! Cheers, Jim V
“In a futile attempt to erase our past, we deprive the community of our healing gift. If we conceal our wounds out of fear and shame, our inner darkness can neither be illuminated nor become a light for others.” Brennan Manning
Channeled corner. I read many, many books from different trance channelers in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Unfortunately many of them are now out of print, but I still have a huge collection and will share some of the best material I have collected over the years.
Michael on Choice:
“...If there is a ‘purpose to life’ it is choice. You are here to choose. All of life is a series of choices, and even when choice is abdicated, it is choice. Where life choice is denied, there is karma, and karma will be balanced. The ribbon*1 will be burned, for that is the nature of evolution. Choice will lead to karma and choice will lead to its burning. This is not a contradiction. Personality may choose to abdicate the burning of karma in a given incarnation, but essence will eventually choose the Over-leaves*2 and circumstances that will permit the release that comes from burning karma, for that is part of evolution, and essence, by its very nature, seeks evolution. Choice is the manifestation of evolution for fragments on the physical plane.
There is no part of life that is not, in fact, a choice. It is choice to get out of bed in the morning. To have coffee or any other beverage at breakfast-if you choose to eat breakfast. It is a choice to conduct your day in whatever means you choose, and what degree of importance the day has in your sense of your life. What entertainment, if any, you choose for evening; what meals, if any, are consumed; when and if you sleep, with what or whom-all these are choices, and all choices are valid. That you may or may not be pleased with the choices is another matter, and one that is linked with your recognition and validation of the nature of your true personality after the completion of the internal fourth monad.*3 While we agree that the choices of life impose certain constraints on the personality and the life, we would also wish to point out that acceptance of those constraints is, for the most part, also the result of choice.
That enculturated behavior limits the experience of the personality, both true and false, is to some extent valid. That convenience is as much an aspect as any in most daily choices is also valid. All experiences are part of evolution, even the experience of burning the toast or spilling the wine. Each of you becomes the sum total of all experiences, no matter how apparently minor or trivial, in this and all other lives. We do not say this to be daunting but to assure you that there are no ‘unimportant’ choices; we have said before and we will certainly reiterate many times again: Nothing is wasted. Nothing can be wasted. All of life is valid. No matter how it is spent. All experience contributes to the evolution of essence...”Form Michael’s People Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
*1 Ribbon: Michael's term for binding agreements created through karma (karma is created when we remove another individuals right to choose)
*2 Overleaves: Life goal, mode, attitude, centering, and chief feature we choose each lifetime.
* Monad: Achievement of a unit of life experience. Generally corresponding to around ages 35-40.
New Client Special:
January 1st 2016 thru November 30th 2016 Special: New Client introductory offer
$10-15 off listed rates for your first 45 minute session, 70, or 90 minute session! Ask for the special when you email Venturasag@yahoo.com to book. Debit and credit card payments get $10 off for 45-90 minute sessions. Local in-office clients can get an extra $5 off for cash or check payments for sessions. If you want to buy a new client a thoughtful gift of a session you can also take advantage of these rates!
$10-15 off listed rates for your first 45 minute session, 70, or 90 minute session! Ask for the special when you email Venturasag@yahoo.com to book. Debit and credit card payments get $10 off for 45-90 minute sessions. Local in-office clients can get an extra $5 off for cash or check payments for sessions. If you want to buy a new client a thoughtful gift of a session you can also take advantage of these rates!
My current rates (new clients can subtract the above discounts from these rates): 45 minute sessions $80. 70 minute sessions $110. 90 minute sessions $130.
“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” Melody Beattie
Snake Oil Radio
Thursdays at 3:30 pm (there will be two live broadcasts this month)
My next live broadcast of Snake Oil Radio will be Thursday, October 6th. at 3:30 p.m. (AZ doesn’t use daylight savings time, so it’s the same as pacific time). Most Thursdays you can catch a new show. Each 45 minute show will expand on my current column’s subject matter. It will also offer an opportunity for you to call in live (or chat with other listeners in the chat room) with comments and your thoughts about the topic of discussion. If you miss the live show, you can catch any of my previously recorded shows on the web site’s archive. You can also catch Snake Oil Radio on I-tunes (download my pod-casts there).
To hear a live show, all you need to do is be at a computer and tuned into: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Jim-Ventura You may also access it by going to the site and type “Snake Oil” into the search option.You can also go to the shows that are currently “On air” at that time and find me. The call in number is 646-200-3966 for questions and comments.
“Many of the most deeply spiritual moments of my life haven’t happened just in my mind or in my soul. They happened while holding my son in the middle of the night, or watching the water break along the shore, or around my table, watching the people I love feel nourished in all sorts of ways.” Shauna Niequist
Here’s my contact information to make an appointment for a session, or information on current classes: Phone: (602)957-3035 text: (602)349-0746 Email: Venturasag@yahoo.com (best method for contact).
Information about the different sessions and types of readings and services, past Snake Oil columns, and how to order my books and audio CD’s can be found at my website: Http://JimVentura.com
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You also may want to check out my posts on Tumblr.com: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/snake-oil-blog
All sessions/readings for 2016 are: Full (70 minutes) $110.00; Shorter session (45 minutes) $80.00; Extended session (90 minutes) $130.00 (two people can split an extended session back to back for $65.00 each). Email me for information about my Regular Client Program for even bigger discounts on session prices with the added benefit of monthly or quarterly check-ins.
All Current Snake Oil subscribers get $5.00 off all listed prices for any 45-90 minute sessions (except when using a special discount promotion). Local in office visits receive another $5 off listed prices for cash or check payments.
