November 2017 Snake Oil
Crisis of Faith
We all go through periods of doubt, fear, and brief or even long depressions. Some people experience this more often than others, but no one is immune to times of confusion and feeling lost. The huge market for antidepressants in this country is successful for a reason. Different temperaments, body chemistry, conflicting astrological elements, or past trauma can greatly contribute to how strong and how long the hold these periods of fear and doubt can grip us. The current state of political insanity combined with all kinds of natural and man made disasters clearly has contributed and/or springs from an increased state of fear and a feeling of lack of stability and safety. Many people are questioning their faith in the system and some are questioning the very order of life. While there have always been agnostics it is not surprising that there are now more than ever. I think for many people who experience these doubts it is an overwhelming response from seeing so many “troubling things” happening in the world. They begin to wonder “if there is any good left in this world at all?”
Last year I went to visit a buddy of mine for a few hours of monthly backgammon playing. He was sound asleep on the couch when I got there. His wife, who I am also friends with, seized the opportunity and asked me to go for a walk with her. I knew she needed to talk. We walked through the neighborhood on a beautiful fall Sunday afternoon. Her struggle was she was beginning to think there was no God at all and she was truly in a lot of emotional pain about it. Her crisis of faith was happening during the later part of the 2016 presidential election. Her strong left leaning political perspectives were bucking up against the possibility that Trump could win the presidency. She had lost her father a year before. Even though her husband was thankfully in remission for six years now after a challenging bout with cancer, she struggled with that really difficult experience and the understandable fear of his cancer possibly returning. She had the common experience of some “bad religion” during her childhood and there were many other things she was struggling with. It made sense to me that she might question whether there was a God at all when she uncomfortably looked at the world around her.
Even though she was clearly upset and batting depression, as we strolled through the neighborhood she engaged in a very chatty way with many different neighbors along the way. Most of them were people she had never talked with before. She told one woman working outside in her front lawn “how beautiful her garden flowers were.” She asked one man where he purchased his front door because “she loved it.” She talked to a woman unloading packages about how much she “adored her cobblestone driveway.” She engaged cheerfully with about five different neighbors, so our short walk took over an hour. I was impressed by how friendly she was and began to think I should put more energy into being friendlier with people. She has a life goal of Acceptance, one of the more common of seven possible life goal.* Its positive pole or expression is Agape (unconditional love) and its negative pole is ingratiation. I don’t have this life goal, but my goal of Flow allows me to slide to acceptance from time to time. Considering how depressed she was, she still did a great job of staying in her positive pole that day.
A few years ago, I was at the Biltmore Fashion Park with another Sagittarius friend. We strolled around the different stores and fancy grounds, with all the “pretty people” and decided to stop for ice cream. There was a group of five men and women already sitting and eating ice cream when we walked out. A fire fighter, two policemen, and two EMTs. She walked up to them and said “I really, really want to thank you for all your hard work, sacrifice and what you do for us.” They all responded bashfully with appreciation. You could clearly see how much it meant to them to hear this. I was proud to be with this friend that day. It was not something I would have thought of doing, but I may follow her inspirational lead in the future.
Both of my Sagittarius friends lit up people who really needed their words. They recognized how important it is to be kind and loving. They demonstrated how we can be extraordinary even in the most ordinary of circumstances if we choose to. They turned on some light in a world that lately seems to have far too many dark places. I told my friend struggling with such palpable sadness that her search for God and meaning was being expressed through her and by her actions that day. I am not truly sure if I helped my friend experiencing her crisis of faith, but it felt really good to try. I am after all a “soothsayer” and have always been good at giving insight and inspiration. I reminded my friend in her period of doubt that there are hazards on the physical plane and we knew this when we signed up to come here in our lifetimes. While I truly believe there is more good in this world than bad, there are tests, catastrophes, and things that can seem extremely unjust and unfair. Understanding and accepting this reality and also wanting things to be better can co-exist. I truly think my friends crisis wasn’t as much about a lack of faith in God/All-That-Is and really more of a struggle with the huge amount of personal hurt, fear, and the overwhelming amount of darkness she was seeing in the world. The eternal question of “how can God allow this,” is not a new one. We often believe in the idea of a God as a supreme being who is either supposed to protect us from all harm or is punishing us in some way when we experience difficulty and life tests.
Even during her crisis of faith struggle my friend did something to combat some of the darker aspects of life when she engaged and complimented all of those neighbors last fall. My other friend did the same type of positive thing that day with the service people she encouraged. I am proud of my closest friends for a lot of reasons. I am not naive, being nice isn’t going to cure all the problems in this world, but it is a push in the right direction. It is understandable and also okay to sometimes buck up against the darkness, yet we can do our part to tilt things in the other direction when we are willing to speak and take action to bring more love into this world.
*From Michael teachings. More information about this on my website.
Jim Ventura 10-2017
Notes
The horrific wild fires in Northern California caused some real havoc last month. More people losing homes, more deaths destruction, and loss following the late summers destructive path of earthquakes, hurricanes, and flooding. It is difficult to see so many people going through such incredibly difficult tests. We seem to be seeing the effects of unrest coming from all four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. I am surprised that we are not hearing more theories about the “end times” and the “apocalypse.” Well, I am guessing there is probably lots of commentators making such claims. I personally don’t subscribe to conspiracy fanatics of both the religious persuasion and new age radicals, so good chance I am missing these rants. I have been hearing new age and religious rants about the world coming to an end all of my life (and in other lifetimes as well) yawn. I hope we begin to see less of this destructive patterns in the near future but I am not especially hopeful considering the current climate of bickering among so many groups of people and lack of ability to try to see each others points of view with compassion. Energy needs to go somewhere and nature works to create balance. I also think the damage from climate change is also making itself very clear. I have been making sure to put out more peaceful thoughts into the world and I try to be a kinder person to the people around me that I might disagree with. A good quote from comedian Jim Jeffries (Tuesdays nights on Comedy Central): “I think we can all do better.”
I am extending my Holiday gift certificate program that I usually run every December by starting it earlier on Thanksgiving this year! Check out the information in this newsletter about the special. I am also still running the new client special discount until the end of this month. While I enjoy doing in person sessions in office for locals or visitors, keep in mind that at this point about half of the clients I see each week are phone sessions. Phone sessions do work, and while u may not be able to see the cards or runes, etc... I am very good at describing the meanings and picking up information and insight by phone. I can also do FaceTime sessions for I-phone users.
Wishing everyone a wonderful beginning to the holiday season!
Cheers, Jim V
“We all can ‘act’ a certain way for a brief period of time, for instance, on Thanksgiving, who of us hasn’t had to ‘act’ like we just loved everyone at the table? This brief show of good behavior is not true character. Our character is who we are when no one is looking.” Becky Van Volinburg
Thanksgiving and all of December Gift certificates Special: $10-$40 off all sessions!
The holidays are approaching. Give a gift to someone you love that they will really appreciate: a reading/personal session with Jim Ventura. All gift certificates purchased from November 24th 2017 until December 31 st. 2017 will be at a discounted rate for all of the clients who are currently on my mailing list (receiving Snake Oil or following me on FaceBook or Linkedin).
Special rate:
$10.00 off my current listed prices for any 45, 70, or 90 minute sessions. If you purchase 2 gift certificates (or decide to purchase a follow up session for yourself to use in the coming year after a session at this time ) the second gift certificate is $20 off my listed prices. If you purchase a third it will be $40 off that one! A maximum of three session gift certificates may be purchased at this time.
Price list for services are at the end of this newsletter and on my website. The gift certificates are good for one full year and can be used any time in December 2017 and all of 2018. I will either mail them to you or, if you prefer, mail them directly to the people who you want to receive them (snail mail or email). You may want to buy a gift certificate(s) for friends, family or for yourself to be used anytime in 2018. Sessions can be in-office or by phone or FaceTime (for i-phone users) for out-of-area clients.
You can also add a copy of my first book or audio DVD version of Dirty Little Secrets, or Snake Oil Volume One for an extra $12.00, including tax. ($3.00 shipping charge is waived during this special!) If you want to sweeten the package. Order both books and shipping is also free! ($24.00 total for a copy of each) Email or call to purchase your Gift Certificates. This discount offer is good until December 31st of 2017.
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.
When communication works
“Once the barriers are down, once the blocks are removed or at least mapped out, what can communication be?
Communication is an integral part of the fundamental nature of the universe. Like love, like consciousness, like creativity, and like intention, communication is a natural, inalienable quality of all living things. Communication, in short, is natural.
In the many, many worlds that make up this universe, from the realities of ants to those of the inhabitants of other stars, from the intimacy of one human soul to others on the same planet, communication is the power that binds us together, that enriches and heals, that enlivens and lightens, that allows magic to be created and magic to be exchanged.
The first thing you need for communication to exist is to accept that it can. This may seem an elementary idea, and it is, but its applications are quite practical.
If you don’t think a tree is worth talking to, you won’t bother to ask it anything-or to try to learn to listen to it when it does speak. If you’ve already given up on getting any sense from your rebellious teenage son, then anything you try to say, or attempt at listening, is probably doomed from the start.
If you’ve decided that all women, men, children, mystics, rednecks, and-fill in the blank-are dumb, lazy, dishonest, deluded, vicious, and-fill in the blank-then you will never have communication with the person in front of you. You will only communicate to yourself your notions about what that person is. The reality of what that person is and the fantasy your mind can hold can be so divergent that you hardly seem to be in the same room...
Obehon Spirit Speaks magazine May 1995
“I’m bored’ is a useless thing to say. I mean, you live in a great, big, vast world that you’ve seen none percent of. Even the inside of your own mind is endless; it goes on forever, inwardly, do you understand? The fact that you’re alive is amazing, so you don’t get to say “I’m bored.” Louis C.K.
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!
$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.
“If you made a list of all the things you could be thankful for, the list would undoubtedly be linger than your misfortunes.” Catherine Pulsifer
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, November 9th 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.
“I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.” Lily Tomlin
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.
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.
