December 2018 Snake Oil
Snake Oil/ Tinfoil Covering The Baby Jesus
I grew up in a large Catholic family where Christmas rituals were an important part of our holiday experience. Amidst the craziness of Santa Claus, Christmas shopping and stuffing our faces full of sugar through most of December, our family still celebrated “the true meaning of Christmas.” It was the time when Christ the savior was born. Like almost every child raised in a Christian home, we were taught the importance of remembering “the truth” about Christmas. Even from what we believed to be our enlightened perspective, we were still all about the indulgence that Christmas seemed to usher in, and as a child I loved every minute of it.
During the holidays, atop the television set was placed a small figurine of the baby Jesus. The figurine was part of a nativity scene. In our family we placed a piece of tinfoil over the small statue. My mother explained this practice to us: “until Christmas Day comes, Jesus had not yet been born.” She would inevitably ask us each Christmas morning if we had pulled the tinfoil off of Jesus before we began opening our presents. We never remembered. The excitement and lure of greedily tearing open presents far outweighed any interest in mom's custom. Still, we dutifully faked reverence in front of Mom, pulling off the tinfoil only to instantly place all of our attention back to the presents.
Very young children, understandably, aren't into philosophy, morality and religious rituals. As a child, most of the things I was taught about Christian teachings weren't really interesting and were often scary. Pictures of Christ nailed to a cross with bleeding hands and feet were horrifying. The picture common in Christian homes of Christ praying with a huge beating, burning heart in his chest terrified me. To please my mother, I pretended to be interested in the Bible. Our children's Bible was illustrated with pictures that mostly gave me nightmares. Stories and pictures of pestilence, lepers, children being sacrificed, people dying and a man who was hung to die on a cross did not make for comfortable bedtime stories.
Understanding parables, Christ's message of love and other biblical stories can be excellent ways to connect to our spiritual sides. Children, though, simply are not ready for this type of thing. I can safely guarantee that any child of any religion that is happy about learning this stuff is faking it to please their parents or guardians. Young children are not able to grasp the significance of spiritual teachings, and that is exactly as it should be. Why not let children enjoy Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, and all the fun stuff until they are old enough to grasp the deeper meanings of religion and spirituality?
Even as we approach our forties, around Christmas, my little sister and I still tease each other about whether we have pulled the tinfoil off of the baby Jesus. We playfully and sarcastically joke about this and some of the other bizarre rituals we were taught. Maybe we haven't really grown up yet, maybe and hopefully we never will.
Jim Ventura 10-2003
Notes:
After about a five month hiatus from doing the ABC show TheList, I filmed two more episodes and at least one more is scheduled for December. This put it at 12 shows and likely thirteen by the end of the year. One of the last ones was about Mercury retrograde. Mercury is still in retrograde in Libra until the 6th of this month!
I am in the process of expanding my Snake Oil radio show to include a monthly (still will continue the one each month for Thursdays at 3:30 pm mountain time with a column show read and discussion) Sunday at 2 pm show with a different format. I meet every other week with a small group that studies the channeled teachings of Seth and the many brilliant books written by Jane Roberts. We are working individually and as a group on creating more prosperity in all areas of life. You can read Seth Speaks and the Nature of Personal Reality to get caught up to where we are and/or tune into each show to begin your process of shifting and changing limited beliefs to be more prosperous in your life as well!
A reminder that all sessions (45, 70, and 90 minute) for December for anyone currently on my mailing list and New Clients are $10 off my listed rates and if you purchase another session immediately following you can get $20 off that gift for yourself or a friend to use anytime in 2019. Purchase a third and that is $40 off listed rates! More information about all of this later in the newsletter.
Wishing everyone a Happy holiday season and a fantastic start to the new year!
Jimmy V
“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.” Laura Ingalls Wilder
November and December Gift certificates Special: $10-$40 off all sessions!
This offer is for new New Clients and returning clients
The holidays are approaching. Give a gift to someone you love that they will really appreciate: a reading/personal session with Jim Ventura. All sessions booked at this time and all gift certificates purchased from November 3rd, 2018 until December 31 st., 2018 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) and new first time clients as well!
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 during the remainder of 2018 and all of 2019. 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 2019. 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 2018.
“I like to compare the holiday season with the way a child listens to a favorite story. The pleasure is in the familiar way the story begins, the anticipation of familiar turns it takes, the familiar moments of suspense, and the familiar climax and ending.” Fred Rogers
Channeled corner. I read many, many books from different trance channelers in the 80s and 90s. 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.
There is a great piece about aging in all of its many stages in the book Whatever Happened to Divine Grace by Ramon Stevens. Since many of my readers are already there, past it, or it is on the horizon here is a partial piece about Middle age:
“As one ages, one may find that one has less energy in middle and late-middle age than in youth. While this may appear to be a sign of decay to those limiting themselves to the physically perceivable and considering death a terminus, in light of our discussion you should see that there is no purpose to maintaining high energy levels throughout all of life. The exploration of youth and the agonized time of choice of early adulthood are past. One has made one’s choices, for better or worse, and middle age is when those paths selected are followed. There is no need for youth’s exuberant energy once frittered away on endless avenues of exploration in youth is now FOCUSED in middle age, and the psyche has shifted the bulk of its energy output from the physical to the mental. It takes thought to climb a career ladder, to maintain a long-term commitment, to raise children effectively. One’s energy is not lessened or lost but RECHANNELED.
To sum up, the cusp of thirty-five ushers in the era of middle age, the long span of ‘productive’ years when one’s attention is most highly focused in the physical world. it is a time of narrowing one’s focus, concentrating on a few select avenues of activity, the better to achieve mastery and the satisfaction of effort well expended. It often brings professional achievement, the long-term relations with a life partner and the raising of children.
It is rightfully called the ‘prime of life,’ for no other time are all the facilities working so well and in such harmony. The body is strong, the mind is keen, the paths are chosen and the goals are set. With one foot in the adult world of professional choice and the other in the nursery, middle age is the time of greatest concentration in physical reality, while the plaintive walls from the crib, confounding the adults’s sense of order, cannot help but serve a constant reminder of the natural order from which you, parent and child, spring.
Children are granted during middle age lest you take yourselves too seriously, think yourselves omniscient, all powerful or possessed of decorum at all times. The little monsters will show you just how much you know, how polite you can be, the limits of your insight and endurance!
It is life’s most magical time, in our view, for the dreams of youth become the realities of adulthood; the mastery of childhood becomes the achievements of productive work. One treads one’s highly unique and private path with a sure foot, the time of choice behind, the satisfaction of accomplishment at hand...”
“Don’t go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Turn your wounds into wisdom.” Oprah Winfrey
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, December 13th at 3:30 p.m. mountain time. Usually one or two Thursdays each month 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).
The first Seth group broadcast will be Sunday December 9th at 2 pm.
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.
“The Christians stole the winter solstice from the pagans, and the capitalism stole it from the Christians.” George Monbiot
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 2018 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.
