October 2017 Snake Oil/Checking on the Dogs

October 2017 Snake Oil 

Checking on the Dogs

I had a vivid dream that made me wake up feeling strangely relieved:

“I am driving anxiously to a home that I was supposed to be checking on regularly and had neglected for a while. I am not sure if it is my home or the home of a friend, but it was familiar and reminded me of a place I was somewhat comfortable with, like a relaxed childhood friend’s home. The main purpose of the home check was to look in on the dogs. I was supposed to make sure they had plenty of food and water, to clean up any messes, and most important to pet them and play with them. I realize I hadn’t been there in quite some time, and I am driving fast because I am worried about whether the dogs are okay. Did I leave enough food and water? Will they be upset with me for the lack of required human contact that dogs and cats were bred to need? Hell, are they even still alive? I nervously get to the house and put the key in the door and I am relieved to hear barking on the other side of the door. I open the door and they excitedly run out to greet me. Licking me, running around and playfully enjoying the feel of outside and the lush green lawn. The dogs are healthy and there is still a little water and food left but not much. Aside from a few piles of waste they seem to be fine. I go inside and snuggle and spend time with them and seriously vow to attend to the dogs far more dutifully in the future.”

I recognize when I wake up that I have had this dream many times with slight variations over the years. I know what the dream is telling me. After a little over a decade of being single and not in any real committed love relationship other than dating here and there, the part of me that has enjoyed being single wonders if my “dogs” are still alive. If I unlock the key to allowing myself to experience partnership again, will the joy still be there? Do I even remember how to be fully committed to someone anymore? In the Druid tradition the dog represents guidance, protection, and loyalty. When our dog energy is positive we are comfortable with loyalty and commitment. We value the selflessness of dog and reflect this quality back to others. When dog energy is out of balance we are often fearful or uncomfortable with the commitment needed to sustain long term friendships and partnerships. This can often develop when we have been treated cruelly in past relationships. We may have been the loyal dog mistreated by its cruel owner. There may be any number of possible reasons for a fear of commitment.

I grew up in a traditional Catholic family. I was fed the idea by family and the church that one of life’s primary goals (for most people, otherwise the priesthood or being a nun was a good alternative option) was to find a mate, marry and “settle down.” Even though my natural sexual orientation went against the dictates of what was believed to be the “right way” of heterosexuality or celibacy, I faithfully spent my late childhood and even into my thirties working diligently to achieve the goal of finding the “right mate.” I had a best friend or partner in one form or another most of the time during the first almost forty years of my life. Sometimes easy, and often difficult my relationships were a huge part of my experience and evolution (Sun in 7th House astrology and Libra Moon). In truth I was always good at it. Healthy diplomacy comes naturally to me and I had a number of people who really loved me. I truly enjoyed romance and was actually pretty good at it. The problem was I did not always feel good about myself and this understandably led to some toxic relationship experiences where I gave far more than I received. The trouble for me was never in giving, it was in receiving. 

My decision at around the age of forty to put this part of my life into the background was quite conscious. Even though there were a few times along the way when I wondered why I couldn’t find the right guy and felt lonely, I knew it was largely a performance of imaginary victimization. I unconsciously at first, than quite consciously chose to see if I could learn to be comfortable being on my own. The truth is for the most part it has been awesome. Not having to deal with in-laws, partnership differences in what are life’s supposed priorities, relationship power struggles, and having to check in with someone in so many of life's decisions has been incredibly freeing. I have enjoyed this past decision far more than any of the times I might have struggled with loneliness. While I prefer the romance and connection of a monogamous commitment by far, I also see sex in the same light as a need that simply sometimes just needs to be met. The need for physical touch and human contact. I don’t struggle with the occasional desire to have strawberry cheese cake and I don’t struggle in life with things like having sex outside of a committed relationship or marriage. Sometimes you just need some form of sexual play and it is healthy to honor this biological need. I am wise enough to do this safely. I have explored the realm of dating, hooking up from time to time, or periods of purposeful celibacy. While I absolutely respect the friends, family, and clients who are committed for their own reasons to religions like Catholicism, for me following a religion that tells you that you are less than or wrong in your natural expression is akin to being part of any group of people, or any type of structure that suggests that you aren’t as good as they are. My rejection of organized religion and anyone or any group with those kinds of ideas, contradictions, and false arrogant dictates about what “is the right way to be” was part of developing healthy self-esteem. 

Even without religious or familial imprints everyone in this world is bombarded by an internal push and an external push to mate and partner up. The internal push is part of our natural wiring to find a mate. The Lovers Archetype in the Tarot is an apt illustration of this part of the human path. The external push is the constant bombardment of movies, books, television, and music to find the “special someone,” or our “soulmate.” So much of our entertainment is built into this type of storyline. I remember as a little kid hearing songs like “Wedding Day Blues” by the Fifth Dimension, or “Baby I’m Amazed” by Paul Mcartney. Endless songs that extolled the virtues of finding love were contrasted with songs about loss and breakup. “Never Gonna Fall In Love Again” by Eric Harmon, “Lost without your love” by Bread, and similar tragic songs filled my ears with seriously great sounds and the joys and potential despair of love and possible loss. One begins to wonder: does art simply imitate life or does life imitate art?

I have been feeling the push again to allow myself to consider commitment again to a relationship. I know when I am really ready the conditions to make that happen will emerge. I have gotten comfortable with me. My self esteem, sense of self worth, and my ability to receive has grown dramatically in the last decade. In some respects I am truly the most confident (so far) I have ever been in my life. A mate now in my life who mirrors many of the good qualities I now comfortably carry would be a blessing. I’m beginning to grow tired of random sex and dating. The boredom is not based on some recognition that the path I have been on is morally wrong or similar non-sense. It stems from missing the many benefits of a deeper connection to one person. I am running into too much unrequited love from short term partners who think our brief connection is meant to be far more. I have and never will be a liar but I may have garnered a reputation as a “player” because of my detachment and confidence. I won’t pretend that something casual can become a deeper connection. Falling in love is NOT a negotiation. It is a lightening bolt of chemistry, purpose, and “past life” connections that alters the course of our current life. I have been lucky enough to have been in love five times so far in this lifetime. Settling will never work for me (Venus in Scorpio). In more simple terms I am ready for another chapter in my life. While I could easily be okay with being single for the rest of my life, I am open to something else. My dreaming self was clear. It is safe for me to put some energy into letting the dogs back out again.

Jim Ventura 9-2017

Notes:

It would be near impossible to not notice the extreme weather issues that have surfaced in the last two months. Brutal hurricanes, relentless storms, fires, and devastating earthquakes have really shaken things up and caused tremendous loss and pain for so many people. I have shed more than a few tears seeing all of this human suffering. Unfortunately some of the worst in human behavior can surface, like looting and price gouging of victims. At the same time, the human response to helping the victims of these catastrophes has been inspiring. People rescuing others by boat, donating time, money and services, and military responses make me proud to be an American. When I often talk in my columns about how our thoughts create our reality, I also mention how this happens en masse (how the pool of collective thoughts also triggers events). As much as we may not like it there are hazards on the physical plane. At some levels we have all signed up for this possibility. At the same time it is notable how much more charged these incidents seem to be right now. It is likely that climate change and the warming of the planet is fueling more brutal storms. At other levels the volatile political anger and division that is at an all time high in this country and all over the world does contribute to the weather and harsher events occurring more frequently. 

Events involving survival itself moves the focus to reminding us to potentially tap into our humanity, help others, and let go of beliefs about whether someone is the “right” religion, sexual orientation, nationality, financial class, or any other area where people so easily find opportunities to express prejudice and judgment. This is also part of the many different reasons why our planet may be shaking things up more than usual. Now more than ever we may need this reminder. Check out Seth's comments from the nature of personal reality in this month’s channeled corner.

I got my wish for an early end of summer and a cooler fall. The weather here is Phoenix has been awesome for most of September and October will be even better. Mid eighties during the daytime and upper 60s at night, This is why we live here!

Wishing Everyone a Happy Fall. Cheers, Jimmy V

“But then fall comes, kicking summer out on its treacherous ass as it always does one day sometimes after the midpoint of September, it stays awhile like an old friend that you have missed. It settles in the way an old friend will settle into your favorite chair and take out his pipe and light it and fill the afternoon with stories of places he has been and things he has done since he last saw you.” Stephen King

New Client Special 2017:

January 1st 2017 thru November 30th 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!

My current rates (new clients can subtract the above discounts from these rates): 45 minute sessions $85. 70 minute sessions $110. 90 minute sessions $130. Sessions can be in-office or by phone.

“When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself.” Wayne Dyer

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.

“You form your own reality. If you are tired of having me stress that point, I can only say that I hope the repetition will serve to make you understand that the statement applies to the most minute and the most important of the events that you experience. Some people believe that they must be punished, and so they seek out unfortunate circumstances. They go to one event after another in which they meet retribution. They may seek out areas of the country in which natural disasters are frequent, or their behavior may be such that they attract from other people reactions of an explosive kind. Often, however, individuals use disasters quite for their own purposes, as an exteriorized force that brings their lives into clear focus. Some may be flirting with the idea of death, and choose a dramatic encounter with nature in a final act. Others change their minds at the last moment.

Those involved in such disasters-the survivors-often use such ‘larger-than-life’ circumstances in order to participate in affairs that seem to have greater import than those possessed by previous humdrum existences. They seek the excitement, whatever its consequences. They become a part of history to whatever extent. For once their private lives are identified with a greater source-and from it many derive new strength and vitality. Social barriers are dropped, economic positions forgotten. The range of private emotions is given greater, fuller, sweep.

To some extent or another man’s desires and emotion merge with the physical aspects of nature as you understand it, so that such storms or disasters are as much the result of psychological activity as they are of weather conditions.

Objectively-whatever the appearance-storms, earthquakes, floods, et cetera, are quite necessary to the well-being of the earth. Both man’s and nature’s purposes are served, then, though generally speaking man’s myths make him blind to those interactions...”

Jane Roberts The Individual and Nature of Mass Events. A Seth book.

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” Rumi

Snake Oil Radio

Thursdays at 3:30 pm (there will be one live broadcast this month)

My next live broadcast of Snake Oil Radio will be Thursday, October 5th at 3:30 p.m. mountain time (same as Pacific time now). 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.

“We turn to God for help when our foundation are shaking, only to learn that it is God who is shaking them.” Unknown

Here’s my contact information to make an appointment for a session, or information on current classes: Email: Venturasag@yahoo.com (best method for contact).

Phone calls: (602) 957-3035 text only: (602) 349-0746 

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. 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jim-Ventura/110567902293371?ref=hl

You also may want to check out my posts on Tumblr.com: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/snake-oil-blog

All sessions/readings for 2017 are: Full (70 minutes) $110.00; Shorter session (45 minutes) $85.00;  Extended session (90 minutes) $130.00 (two people can split an extended session back to back for $65.00 each, although no other discounts will apply).  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.