Snake Oil
Christmas gifts in the attic
The magical window of my childhood belief in a Santa Claus was only a brief one. Even at the young age of five, I remember wondering how it was possible for all of the department stores and malls to have Santa Claus at their specific location at the very same time. I couldn’t imagine how one man, even if he had an army of supposed helper elves, could possibly deliver presents to children all over the world in one night. I also noticed how my wealthier friends often got more expensive gifts than our family did. Why did the poor kids end up with nothing at all? Was Santa only catering to the wealthy? Santa was supposed to come down your chimney and leave you your Christmas gifts. We had no fireplace in our house at all, yet we still got presents. And even if we did have a a chimney, how could such a fat man fit down one in the first place? These and similar thoughts started extremely early for me, and I wondered why other kids bought all of this malarkey.
The observation that nailed the door closed on idealistic fantasies about Santa Claus and solidified my realist-cynic approach to Christmas was because my parents were not very good at hiding our presents. I would often see many of our gifts unwrapped at the bottom of Mom’s closet, or in the attic. I also saw Easter candy long before the “bunny” arrived, so that illusion was blown early as well. When I was six years old I remember being awoken on Christmas eve by the sound of the attic stairs opening. My father built the pull down stairs to our attic facing the bedroom my brother and I shared. He had to open the door to our room to get up into the attic. I clearly heard my mother’s and father’s clumsy attempts at putting out our presents most years. They were often punctuated by their usual irritation with each other. “Frank don’t forget the ones for Kathy.” “Hurry it up, I want to get to bed already.” “ What are you trying to do, break my arms.” “Wait for me to put these down first!” I would have had to have been a complete imbecile to still buy the magic Santa Claus story after all of these theatrics.
While I was solidifying my recognition of the un-truths of Christmas, many of my dopey friends still believed in Santa Claus. Apparently they were not “blessed” with the mind of a detective and happily enjoyed their delusions. I found myself feeling it was my duty to burst their bubbles early on. When I told them the truth they would often disagree at first and be mad at me. Eventually they would realize I was right. Still, I often reminded them that it would be wise to play along with the charade. The benefits of pretending to believe in all of the Christmas crapola were numerous. A good, sweet, oblivious child performance could bring tremendous rewards. I had no issue with pretending to be a dumb, naive little kid for adults and I made sure my friends were smart enough to do the very same thing.
While my parents didn’t do an ideal job of giving us the illusions of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny when it came to the holidays, they did a great job in other ways. While a lot of the presents Mom (Santa) bought us were mediocre, lame stuff from church bizarres and clearance sales and not what we really wanted, she put in some real effort. She had seven children and that was a lot of presents to buy. She always got us at least one or two things that were on our Christmas lists. Opening our presents on Christmas morning was always really fun. Even when I knew what half of the gifts already were because I saw them or snooped around, I always enjoyed the process of opening the presents just the same. The excitement of opening gifts was really fun and my parents made a point to make sure we had the experience.
We had some wonderful Christmas traditions we always followed. For many years we got a real tree (until I was about 17 when they finally opted for a fake one). We baked cookies and decorated the house, and some years we made gingerbread houses. We decorated our tree together weeks before actual Christmas and sometimes made Christmas ornaments and even strung popcorn. We hung lights outside, listened to Christmas albums, watched Christmas specials like Mr. Magoo’s Christmas, A Year Without a Santa Claus, and A Christmas Story. We did Christmas up in a big way every year. There are still boxes of Christmas pictures and hundreds of great memories and funny stories associated with all of them. December was a really cold time in New York, but we had warm traditions in our home.
While I missed out on believing in Santa Claus and many of the other holiday illusions, I got to experience elements of family and holidays that really mattered. The cohesiveness of a family and celebrated traditions were priceless. We learned about giving and receiving and developed a healthy sense of the importance of all of it. When I was a kid, and even into my teen years, I would often get up in the middle of the night and look at the presents under the tree (the Christmas eve gifts we bought for each other were often wrapped and left out under the tree weeks before). Some nights I would clear a space and lay underneath the tree for an hour or so. I would turn on the lights on the tree and feel the soft white sheet we placed underneath it. The smell of the tree, the twinkle of the lights and the excitement of things to come were only a part of why I loved doing this. Some wiser aspect of me knew I would only be a child for a short time and I wanted to fully allow myself to feel every moment of it. I was safe and loved in a family and I knew I was blessed. I sensed that I had lived other lives in different families, times, and places that were not as wonderful when it came to my experiences in this family. I also knew that there were people all over the world that did not get to experience many of the things I was so blessed to have. I had friends with more “troubled” families who would have been thrilled to have what I had. So I savored those moments underneath the colorful lights of our Christmas trees. I allowed myself to be happy and I completely immersed myself into childhood and the magic of Christmas. The great things connected with Christmas were never about believing or not believing in Santa Claus. They were all about honoring and enjoying one of the best parts of my childhood.
Jim Ventura 10-2011
Notes:
We are in the “Happy holiday” “Merry Christmas” season again and a new year is just around the corner. 2018 is a “2” year in universal numerology. It can also be read as an “11” year. The vibration shift away from the often myopic focus of 2017’s “1” year vibration (from last years notes: “ The Universal year for 2017 is a “1.” Our individual Numerology based on our birthdate 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!” ) brings expansion in the coming year. The “2” year brings in more cooperation and understanding. We see more examples of humility and sensitivity. We see a rise in feminine energy and potentially to begin to valuing refinement. 2017 turned out to be a bit course, to say the least.
The last month of 2017 brings one of the best gift certificates offers I have ever offered. $10-$40 off my listed rates for purchasing up to three sessions for either yourself or friends and family. Everyone currently on my mailing list or returning clients get $10 off listed rates and may also take advantage of another $5 discount for check or cash payments (local in office sessions only). If you purchase more than one session the discounts get even bigger! Check out the information later in the newsletter and take advantage of the special. It runs now through December 31st 2017 (and ends promptly on January 1st 2018). The gift certificates purchased can be used anytime in 2018
I am bringing back some of my most popular classes for 2018. It has been a few years since I have scheduled any intuitive development class here in my home. I have decided to offer new options. You can now sign up for any class on your own or join with one other friend to split the costs. The prices for each class are very reasonable either whether solo or with a friend. You can also schedule a class according to your own schedule. The classes I am offering (more to come next year) can be here in my home office for 90 minutes or by FaceTime for I-phone users, or by phone. I will be getting a Skype option when I get set up with a new cam in late February.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and happy holiday season and a groovy New year. Cheers, Jimmy V
“When I was a kid, Toronto streets were deserted and quiet on Sundays, except for the sound of church bells I stood on the sidewalk one December listening to the Christmas bells-I’ve never forgotten that moment...” John Geddes
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.
“As we struggle with shopping lists and invitations, compounded by December’s bad weather, it is good to be reminded that there are people in our lives who are worth this aggravation, and people to whom we are wroth the same. Donald Westlake
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.
Q. If you have a destiny, where does reality creation fit in? To what extent does destiny predetermine your reality?
Lazaris: You do have a destiny, if you so choose. This is how it fits together: There is no sense of predetermination in the fullest extent of that word. Your life in not really mapped out for you. It’s not laid out so neatly. What is true is that between lifetimes you, as a consciousness, go through a whole lot of growth. You experience the death process, being dead, going to heaven and those sort of things.
Then you get tired of it and realize, ‘Is this all there is?’ Then all the backdrops fall away, and you get to work. You start reviewing the lifetime that you finished. You review it in retrospect and in relationship to the other lifetimes that are all concurrent. Then you decide whether you want to move through your growth without returning to physical form or if you want to pick another lifetime to experience.
In that process of picking another lifetime, what happens is that you create broad strokes. You decide you want to learn about this, and this, and this, and you want to experience that. You create what we call the broad strokes of your life, the broad, sweeping gestures in your energy. Then you enter into this life. Your consciousness, your massive consciousness, all of a sudden confines itself in this infant body, and you forget all of what went before. You don’t remember. Well, some children do remember for awhile, but they soon forget. The amnesia sets in, and they forget.
You have there broad strokes in your life. You decide, for example. ‘I’m going to come from broken home. I’m going to have a broad sweeping illness here.’ Or, ‘I’m going to grow up and deal with love in such a way as to have several very hurtful relationships.’ You decide on those broad strokes. You also have things you want to accomplish in the lifetime. ‘I want to learn this and accomplish that, and I want to be of service in this way or that way, or whatever.’ But every moment you can change it.
For example, maybe you put a broad, sweeping stroke in your life that you were going to have a tragic accident and be crippled. As you approach that time, you change your mind. ‘I don’t want to do a tragic accident, I’m going to change this.’ You don’t have the tragic accident, and then your whole lifetime changes, absolutely it does.
You have free will, at any moment, either to accept the pre-decided, sweeping generalities in your life, or to change them. If you accept the broad, sweeping generalities, you still have to fill in the day-in and day-out existence where indeed you exert your free will, where you create that reality.
You see, you are the one who is creating the broad strokes, and therefore you can change them. When we talk with many of you, as well you know, we psychically tell you what’s going to be happening, what you’re creating, what you’re generating. Basically what we’re telling you is the blueprint that you’ve laid out for yourself. You have decided what you are going to create, and therefore you’ve laid out a blueprint, like an architect...
From Lazaris Interviews book One Jach Pursel
Intuitive and Oracle reading classes 2018
In office, phone or FaceTime (by phone) apprentice classes will be available in January of 2018! I will be adding a possible Skype option in late February of 2018 as well.
You can take one introductory class or continue with a monthly class for up to six months for any of the classes offered. Each instructional class is 90 minutes. You can schedule a one on one class in office or by phone for yourself, or have a friend or family member join you and split the costs.
Single class: $55.00 or 3 classes pre-paid $150.
2 people $70 for each class ($35.00 each) 3 classes pre-paid $180.
Email me for more information and my availability calendar to book your personal intuitive development classes.
Current options:
1. TAROT CARD READING
Whether you have investigated the Tarot or have never used this oracle before, this class will assist you in understanding the wisdom contained in Tarot cards. The class will focus on teaching you how to read the Tarot for yourself and others. The Tarot can be used for prediction and to accelerate spiritual growth. If you don’t have a deck, assistance will also be provided on choosing the right deck for you. Whether you plan on using oracles just to guide yourself, or wish to expand into doing readings professionally, this class will assist you on your road to mastery.
2. ASTROLOGY-101
This class will teach you the basics of Astrology. By the end of this class, you will be on the road to interpreting your own chart, as well as those of others. You will learn about the house placements, signs, symbols, angles, etc... We will explore how powerful the influence of astrology is in our lives.
3. MICHAEL MATERIAL
* What is your soul age? The soul age of friends and family ?
* How do past lifetimes influence us in the present ?
* What does karma feel like, and how does it work ?
* How does your chief negative feature impact your life, and can it be changed?
* What happens when your partner is an idealist and you are a realist ?
* What is your life goal? Is it dominance, acceptance, flow or submission ?
*What is your essence, your soul mate’s essence ? Artisan, priest, king, server, sage, warrior or scholar. ?
* What is a soul mate, task companion, heart link ?
* What do the higher centers feel like?
After this workshop you will understand all of these questions and many more, and more importantly have the answers.
What is the Michael teaching?
The main goal of the Michael teaching is agape or unconditional love. The teaching views life as a learning game in which fragments of the Tao - that essential part of each human being - set up lessons which continue over lifetimes. These lessons are learned via the personality which Essence chooses each lifetime. Michael teaches us what the components of the personality are so that we can learn to use and see these components in ourselves and in others. In that way we can learn to understand why human beings behave as they do. Michael is composed of 1,050 individual Essences who have lived on the physical plane and now teach from another plane. One of the most basic and important principles of the teaching is that it is not a religion or a belief system. Michael encourages their students to self validate all of the information they receive. The system was originally in print in over 12 volumes of information. “My studies of this material have been extensive and now I offer what I have learned to my students” Jim Ventura (Old Scholar). The classes will help you to use and understand the material without the need to read all the out of print books.
4. PAST LIFE JOURNEYS
All aspects of past life exploration, from hypnosis to dreaming techniques will be discussed. By understanding the influence of karma and the past lives we have already lived, we will show how our past experiences affect us in our present life. The class focuses on setting up a past life journal, and explores the progression of our soul’s journeys. Astrology, numerology, and many other tools will be utilized to aid you in becoming aware of your past lifetimes. “Desire to live again, because that will be your lot in any case.” Nietzsche
“You know what the issue is with this world? Everyone wants a magical solution to their problems, and everyone refuses to believe in magic.” Alice in Wonderland
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, December 7th 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.
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.
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