Snake Oil
Closer To The Heart
One of my fondest memories of my early twenties was attending many different rock concerts. I saw amazing groups like Yes, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, The Fixx, and so many other notable bands. My friends and I would bring our concert paraphernalia and just hang out and listen to incredible live music with other fans. I have been blessed to have wonderful memories of many, many good times associated with music. One of my favorite bands was Rush. To this day, they still are making great music, although it has been about twenty eight years since I attended my last Rush concert. During every concert they always eventually sang one of their most profound and touching songs called “Closer To The Heart.” It was always the same pattern in every concert. When the first few chords of the song began everyone would stand up and quietly light their lighters and raise them in the air. Each individual flame creating a sea of light. It might sound silly if you have never experienced something like this, but it was always a powerful event and an emotional wave that lit up the room in a really touching way. There were no arguments or disagreements about what this song meant. Everyone there was connected, each in their own way and feeling the same universal hope of “building a new reality that was closer to the heart.”
2016 is over and few of us would argue that it was an extremely difficult year. I actually personally had a fairly good year, but I helped a lot of people who experienced some really difficult tests that challenged them. The tragic news stories, losses of major celebrities, artists, and musicians were far too frequent. The terrorist activities here in America and abroad were brutal. There was a period in the early summer where there seemed to be weekly stories that were incomprehensible. One of my friends at my gym who is just a few years older than me wisely remarked that he felt bad for young people today because they were “sadly becoming used to this stuff.” They would never know a time when tragedies and terrorist attacks weren’t a normal thing. The elections were relentlessly mud-sliding, fake news stories were everywhere, attacks on men and women of color, and the slaying of police officers were some of the darkest stuff I have ever seen so far in my lifetime. Not only were the candidates at times smearing each other, but the memes I saw on FaceBook from friends on either side were at times incredibly uncomfortable to look at. I never unfriended anyone, but I did have to unfollow a few people who were posting things that were quite ugly. It is one thing to disagree and express a point of view and another to atrociously attack people who disagree. The election was fascinating to follow. It was unlike anything we have ever seen before. It was uncomfortable to watch and hard to turn completely away from at the same time.
I often heard during the year that a high percentage of Americans’ feel things are going in the “wrong direction.” There might be some truth in this belief. Stagnant wages, corrupt politicians, and the shrinking of the middle class are among a host of difficult areas that are hard to deny. Yet, we sometimes seem to overlook how far we have come in the last three decades when it comes to human rights. When I was a young man interracial dating was often extremely frowned upon. Mixed couples (it almost seems silly saying those words now) were frequently taunted, disowned, and treated horribly. Woman still had all kinds of nonsense to deal with; a list too long to list here. Racial, sexual, and religious bias were were still at levels that young people today could not comprehend. Now more people can comfortably admit they are spiritual without being labeled “new age nut-jobs.” While Christianity in its many forms is still practiced by far by the largest percentage of Americans, other religious affiliations are able to be more comfortable expressing themselves, including Atheists and Agnostics without scorn. Gay and lesbian couples no longer have to hide in the closet. They legally marry, have children and live far more comfortably in comparison to even a decade ago. We recycle things, eat a lot better, have amazing technological breakthroughs that make a lot of aspects of our lives far easier. Advances in western medicine and health care have moved forward. Prosthetics have given people mobility. Alternative medicine and healing have become actual options for people. Inequity still clearly exists. We are far from where we ideally should be, but we have taken great strides forward. To not acknowledge this notable progress is blindness.
With all of these amazing changes and forward movement over the years one has to wonder why are we currently experiencing such an obvious darker backlash in human rights? While all kinds of people have been able to come out of the closet and be themselves we also see a lot more negative people and troll-like commentaries as well. A rise in the Alt-Right movement (a modern name for white supremacist groups) and some extremist groups on the very far left as well, are sadly on the rise. The challenging of woman's rights again, arguments over the use of the “right bathroom” and name calling of epic proportions are hard to comprehend. I have seen people I call friends on Face Book post some surprisingly ugly things. One side calling liberals things like “Libtards.” The other side calling anyone who disagrees “racists” and “hillbillies.” Comments on articles and posts are some of the meanest, ugliest things I have ever seen. Hate crimes toward Jewish people, Muslims, immigrants, and transgendered people are on the rise. We seem to be moving backwards and almost getting uglier in some respects. The beautiful progressive hope of people coming together and moving closer to the heart truly seems to be a pipe dream.
I was very, very young in the early to mid seventies, but just old enough to remember the sharp divisions between Republicans and Democrats. The country was very divided. The contrast of the hippie, peace, and love movement against an extremely conservative movement were often in an angry battle with who was “right.” It feels like a somewhat similar pattern to that time again. I suspect we will see very similar themes played out again. One of the most common of the seven fears, or Chief negative Features in human beings is stubbornness or a fear of change. Its positive expression is determination. Its negative expression is obstinacy. A lot of people with stubbornness are yelling loudly at this time. Many people are getting meaner. Fear is increasing on both sides, the left and the right. It can be extremely difficult to maneuver comfortably during cycles like this. It has felt very uncomfortable energetically for most of 2016. It may not be easy to do, but seeing the larger picture can be of value. This discomfort may actually be part of the healing process. Sometimes forward movement in society may include a temporary dark move backwards before we take great strides forward again. The current volatile energy is actually a response to how far we have moved forward. The confusion and fear of a changing evolving society has scared many people and triggered some “fighting back.”
The movement away from a focus on the heart is noticeable in other ways. I see so many people in unhappy marriages, clinging to jobs that they don’t find rewarding, but “pay the bills.” Large numbers of people struggle with commitments to family that they don’t find fulfilling or truly rewarding. Many people use alcohol and antidepressants to help block the pain of a lack of joy in their lives. It is no surprise that we have an epidemic of drug addiction in many states. Potentially life destroying abuses of pharmaceutical drugs, heroin, and meth are ways of coping with lives that are unfulfilling and not heart centered. Self-destruction is a fear of a lack of control.
A few weeks ago a Middle Eastern deli/bakery was the target of vandalism here in Phoenix. Rocks were thrown though the store front windows and graffiti saying hateful things desecrated the building. This is a family run business that has been in the valley for over forty years. A beautiful coming together of people created a go-fund me page on Face Book to help with the repairs. Quite a bit of money was raised. Now even more people are patronizing the deli than ever. People came together to do the right thing. People figuratively raised their “lighters” high in the air. They acted from a place that was closer to the heart. This is one of many current examples of good that can arise from ugliness. We will thankfully see even more of this in the coming years. Good things are peeking through, but it is likely to be a rocky road ahead. Maybe if more people stop identifying with only being a Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, etc... and see themselves as all part of the human race we could change the focus. The truth is clinging to only a left or right position is myopic. The majority of us have areas where we are somewhat liberal and somewhat conservative. It also suggests a lack of self awareness to not recognize and honor that there are other people who may feel or believe differently than us. Moving forward to a heart centered place needs to be more than just a political issue. Yes, sometimes we need to stand up against oppression and to challenge what is ugly in this world. This is one significant way we contribute to changing the world for the better. Still, it is important to be decent and kind in our day to day lives’ to become more heart centered, and release more of our bias. The small every day deeds of ordinary people will contribute to building a new reality that is closer to the heart.
Jim Ventura 12-2016
“Let our New Year’s resolution be this: we will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity, in the finest sense of the word.” Goran Persson
Notes:
I make a point to not get very political in my writing. I have very strong views that tend to lean more “left” but also hold a number of perspectives that would be considered more conservative. I consider myself a fairly well informed individual on the subject of politics and an I would classify myself as an Independent. I also have friends, family members, clients, and readers that tilt more right in political perspectives as well as people who are far more left. The larger percentages of my connections are Democrats and more liberal in focus, but I also have a number of clients are who are Republican and more conservative. I have readers who are Catholic, Mormon, Jewish, agnostics, and many other religious influences or not religious at all. There is an incredibly diverse range of nationalities among the many different people I have worked with in sessions. Like I said in this month’s column, few of us are just one thing. The majority of us are far more mutable than that! I respect and like the diversity. It makes life more interesting.
My thoughts on this recent election:
Our choices in candidates to choose from were not great. Even before Trump was running for president, I was not a fan. I honestly never watched his Apprentice show, or had much interest in his life at any level. What I knew of him was from information from tabloids or briefly catching him being interviewed. He has always struck me clearly as someone who is fairly successful as a businessman, has a strong connection to his family, but also extremely egotistical, narcissistic, and a bit of a BS artist. The obsessive tanning and orange skin is bizarre in its own right... From the Michael teachings he is a young soul (becoming successful at all costs: he who dies with most toys wins stage in our evolution) He is a King essence (positive pole mastery, negative tyranny) which accounts for only about one percent of the population. His life goal is Dominance (positive pole leadership, negative pole dictatorship). His modus operandi is power mode (positive pole authority, negative pole oppression). I am not sure of his attitude, but it is likely a Pragmatist (positive pole practical, negative dogmatic). He is reactive (Mars on the ascendant), and has very noticeable greed (positive pole appetite, negative voracity) and arrogance (positive pole pride, negative pole vanity) for chief negative features. So, during the political campaign when his goal was to win the Presidency these observations never changed my view of him. In fact, so much of the things he said and did actually clarified my viewpoint. The fact is he DID win this election, so I hope he is able to channel his energy in positive ways and help lead the country. I understand his appeal though to many people and why he won (and there are many different reasons why people voted for him, one being that King essences can be very magnetic). I don’t have to agree with friends who are Trump supporters, but I respect their viewpoints. Everything does happen for a reason, so we will have to see what those reasons are in the coming years. Good seeds, good soil, and positive intention are key ingredients for success in anything. There have been a number of questionable things so far, but I am hopeful that it might turn around...
I am not raising my rates in 2017. Clients who receive my monthly newsletter (this one!) receive $5 off my listed rates. Local in office clients who pay by check or cash can also take an additional $5 off listed rates for 45-90 minute sessions. Clients currently enrolled in my Regular Client program receive much larger discounted rates. If you are a Regular client who has not stayed current in keeping up with your regular appointments whether planned for monthly, every two months, or quarterly, and more than five months have now passed since your last session I had to assume you have decided to discontinue your participation in the Program and all of the associated benefits. You consciously or unconsciously opted out of the program. You will need to contact me to get back in the program, or just come in for sessions at whatever frequency is right for you (Regular discount rates won’t apply though). This was a bit more of a frustrating year than usual with people booking appointments. I noticed a trend of a number of clients requesting sessions and never getting back to me after I send out my calendar options. Often a month or two later they request again and also never get back to me about booking, and the cycle repeats and repeats. I have also had far too many cancellation's at the last minute this year, and twice the amount as usual of no-show/no-calls. Some very questionable behavior has been on the rise in 2016. I am hopeful that 2017 will be better. While I take none of these no shows and the like personally, (because there are many reasons why this might happen, that have nothing to do with me) for practical reasons I will discontinue taking bookings from people who do any of these kinds of things over and over again. I value myself and the people in my life and happily make a point to treat others in a dignified, thoughtful manner. Being courteous, respectful, and valuing my time, is important and particularly important to me.
Mercury went been retrograde in Capricorn on December 19th, and continues through the 8th of January 2017. No doubt it was an “interesting” holiday season with the added trigger... The Universal year for 2017 is a “1.” Our individual Numerology based on our birth date has a stronger imprint each year though. One years are all about independence, new beginnings, fresh starts, and the willingness to get in touch with our individuality. The one cycle is about starting a completely new 9 year cycle. Be especially aware if the importance of the “seeds” you plant! I am running a new year special for this month. See what the focus of your year is all about! More information later in the newsletter. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year. Cheers, Jim V
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.
“...The law in your country says that you are innocent until proven guilty. In the eyes of the law, then, you are each innocent until a crime is proven against you. There usually must also be witnesses. There are other considerations. Often a spouse cannot testify against the other. Opportunity and motive must also be established.
In the world of religion, however, you are already tainted by original sin. ‘The mark of Cain’ is symbolically upon your foreheads. You come from a species that sinned against God. Automatically condemned, you must do good works, or be baptized, or believe in Christ, or perform other acts in order to be saved or redeemed.
According to other religions, you may be ‘earthbound’ by the ‘gross desires’ of your nature, ‘bound to the wheel of life.’ condemned to endless reincarnations until you are ‘purified.’ As I have said before, accordingly to psychology and science, you are a conglomeration of elements and chemicals spawned by a universe without purpose, itself accidentally formed, and you are given a life in which all the ‘primitive and animalistic’ drives of your evolutionary past ever lurk within you, awaiting expression and undermining your control.
So, dear reader, look at the law as it stands in this country with somewhat more kindly eyes than you have before-for it at least establishes a belief in your innocence, and for all of its failings, it protects you from the far more fanatical aspects, say, of any religion’s laws.
Religious laws deal with sin, whether or not a crime is committed, and religious concepts usually take it for granted that the individual is guilty until proven innocent. And if you have not committed a crime in fact, then you at least sinned in your heart-for which, of course, you must be punished. A sin can be anything from playing cards to having a sexual fantasy. You are sinful creatures. How many of you believe that?
You were born with an in-built recognition of your own goodness. You were born with an inner recognition of your rightness in the universe. You were born with a desire to fulfill your abilities, to move and act in the world. Those assumptions are the basis of what I call natural law.
You are born loving. You are born compassionate. You are born curious about yourself and your world. Those attributes also belong to nature. You are born knowing that you possess a unique, intimate sense of being that is itself, and that seeks its own fulfillment, AND the fulfillment of others. You are born seeking the actualization of the ideal. You are born seeking to add value to the quality of life, to add characteristics, energies, abilities to life that only you can individually contribute to the world, and to attain a state of being that is uniquely yours, while adding to the value fulfillment of the world.
All of these qualities and attributes are given you by natural law. You are a cooperative species, and you are a loving one. Your misunderstandings, your crimes, and your atrocities, real as they are, are seldom committed out of any intent to be evil, but because of severe misinterpretations about the nature of good, and the means that can be taken toward its actualization. Most individual people know that in some inner portion of themselves. Your societies, governments, educational systems, are all built around a firm belief in the unreliability of human nature...”
Jane Roberts. The individual and the nature of mass events. A Seth book.
January’s New Year Newsletter Special!
January is a natural month to have a New Year overview session to look at primary themes, challenges, and opportunities for the coming year. One symbol from each of the many different oracles I work with will be pulled to highlight 2017 for you. A New Year reading is a great way to start off your New year! Your New Year reading will include:
Angel cards
Viking Rune stones
Druid animal totems
Lakota Indian cards
Numerology personal year
Tarot Archetypes
This session can be a 45 minute (may have to choose only 3-4 of the oracles listed), 70 or 90 minute reading. Mention the January New Year Reading Special and you get $10 off of my listed prices (normally Snake Oil subscribers get $5 off) for booking this session in January of 2017 only. You can purchase one extra session at this rate for yourself to use later in the year or to give to a friend. Local in-office clients who pay for their session in cash or by check get another $5 discount! Email or call to set up your appointment, Venturasag@yahoo.com
“Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.” Helen Keller
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, January 5th. at 3:30 p.m. mountain 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.
“If we really love ourselves, everything in our life works.”
Louise Hay
Louise Hay
New Client Special 2017:
January 1st 2017 thru March 31st 2017 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.
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
“Friend” me on Facebook to get other extra offers and in between column extras! Signing up for my fan page will get you even more extras and first shot at reading specials. Simply click on “like” on the fan page and you will automatically get my weekly updates.
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.
