July 2019 Snake Oil
Getting punched in a box
I have always had a very strong ability to remember a good amount of my past history in great detail. This includes childhood memories, some that even go back to when I was three or four. I have times when I remember things “out of the blue.” Often this can be a trigger from a song or smell that sets the memory off. It’s almost like I access a memory file that was buried for some time. When I was between the ages of nine and eleven my friends and I would often play dodge ball, volley ball, badminton, and other active games in my friends Pam and Ricky’s backyard. They had the biggest yard for this so it helped increase their popularity in the neighborhood. We would often play her forty five records on her record player when she brought it outside. So many of those seventies songs when I hear them, trigger these and other memories. Songs like It’s a Miracle, or Mandy by Barry Manilow, The last Song by Edward Bear, or Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves by Cher still bring back happy nostalgia. We especially loved Dizzy by Tommy Roe and would sometimes play it and just spin around wildly until we were literally dizzy. In exhaustion, we would fall to the soothing grass and laugh. It was fun to push our bodies to their limits and the limberness and quick recovery of youth made this a far easier proposition than my middle aged body of today.
The childhood tests of building strength and feats of pushing our limits grew in size and complexity along with our bodies. We set up obstacle courses, jumped from rooftops, and did stunts on bicycles and skateboards, never questioning societies’ standards of what a boy or girl should or shouldn’t be doing. There was a comfortable and unquestioned mix of girls and boys that I hung out with before the teen years and puberty began to shift some of this dynamic. We slid at times on asphalt off skateboards and roller skates, scraping out skin, nearly getting knocked out and somehow we survived all of it. During my childhood wearing helmets and protective gear were rarely a priority in the late seventies and early eighties. The things we did would likely seem insane to parents and children alike today. We live in a much more protective society when it comes to children. I am not completely sure whether this shift in society has made us weaker and less resilient or somewhat wiser.
I recently remembered a game my friends started playing when I was about twelve. We always got excited when someone in the neighborhood got a new dishwasher or refrigerator. We couldn’t give a damn about any of those appliances but we creatively saw the potential of that huge cardboard box! Often it would become a clubhouse or simply a box to play in when we came up with any number of ingenious games connected to the big box. One day we had the brilliant idea of putting one kid in the box. It was open at the top but you would be enclosed by four walls and the base. Once inside we would take turns punching the crap out of the box as hard as we could. The kid inside would have to dodge the blows and see how long they could endure the assault. We made rules about how to play the game, but there was, of course always one kid who would start violently kicking the box or he would throw rocks over the top for another level of assault. He would eventually get even nuttier by suggesting we maybe grab a baseball bat or something worse. Fortunately we never crossed that line though we had standards of course lol!
The funny part was the pain of getting beaten up and even badly bruised by staying as long as you could inside and handling the blows in the box. It was an honored win somehow. We would even argue and fight about “whose turn it was to be in the box!” It was almost equally exhausting punching the box too. Looking back on this twisted memory had me laughing but I also realized that we did this game a number of times and it was one of our “cool things” for a while.
While boys and girls may have different ideas of what risk is, they often actually overlap. We all have times when we push the envelope and enjoy the adrenaline of risk. Our individual ways of dealing with risk and competitiveness can actually be seen clearly in our natal astrology charts. The sign on the cusp of the fifth house or especially planets in this house of life show our style and whether we do this aggressively or cautiously. The fifth house shows us our potential for risk, romance, gambling, play, competitiveness, creativity, children and our capacity for showmanship. All these things may seem different but each potentially increase our adrenaline and our ability to stretch our limits. We feel alive when we risk. We risk approval when we perform, create something, flirt, or even have children. We have to inevitably put those children out into the world for societal review. We hope to get good reviews. In a deeper sense a life with no risk is no life. There is a similar feel the the fifth house of life with strong Leo placements in a chart.
Television and movies are ripe with examples of a fascination with risk and potential reward. Shows like Discovery channels Naked and Afraid, or game shows where contestants eat gross things or compete in challenges for money, fame and hopefully both are abundant. Sports in the myriad of different forms are appealing to watch and we understandably marvel at how athletes push their bodies to the limit and show off their skills. Karaoke, or being in a play, as well as public speaking all gives us an opportunity to perform. People workout to show off a strong hot body and beauty typically brings better treatment from the world around us. Skiing, race car driving and even enjoying horror movies all push the envelope of risk in various degrees. Some obsessively improve the inside and outside of their homes to be the “best on the block.” Perfect lawns and beautiful flowers and trees can be part of our “show.” The line between showmanship and risk is blurry. Far, far more connects the two than separates them.
In my natal chart I have three planets (Mars, Uranus, and Pluto) in my fifth house all in a Virgo conjunction. My playfulness, competitiveness and creative skills have always been a big priority for me. I, of course, do it practically, methodically and often after lots of practice inevitably very well in true Virgo style. I gamble once a week but use a lot of math calculations to do so which helps minimize the house advantages notably. The work of math feels like play to me. We all need to risk sometimes. Life can be dry and sterile without a bit of this. Hopefully as we get older we do this with a bit more wisdom than the crazy reckless explorations from our childhood days. But whatever your style of risk and how you get adrenaline is likely perfect for you. Humans and animals are meant to play and feel the flow of risk. It keeps us happier, and we are better at enjoying the healing power of laughing more when we can look back at our “dumber” times of risk. Whether our past risks worked out or not the benefits are numerous; our performances get better each time, we get stronger, more confident, and braver each time we take a risk. So, whose ready for a fun game of getting punched in a box?
Jim Ventura 6-2019
Notes:
I was halfway through writing about Saturn’s current retrograde movement in Capricorn this summer when I decided to put it on hold to write this column. There were a lot of triggers that pushed me to write this, maybe PTSD from being punched in a box during childhood? The energy in society in general seems heavy now and I felt a break with something lighter fit right at this time. My childhood stories seem to generally be audience favorites and I am often told this. If you haven’t read my first book (info later in the newsletter on ordering a copy or a live read computer CD to play on your computer) Dirty Little Secrets, there is a number of childhood stories in this book. I wrote most of it in my mid thirties when I was much younger and some of the essays were even written in my twenties. The Saturn retrograde column will likely be next months piece, including a link to the spot I did for ABC’s The LISTTV.
Bizarre and sometimes destructive weather patterns in the country (hell all over the world) continue, but we have lucked out so far this early part of summer in Phoenix compared to most years. We hardly even made it to 100 most of our June days and it stayed in the 70s for most nights. I have mentioned before that weather is a real physical thing obviously but also a reflection of group consciousness and energy expressed in different ways and different regions. All of these things are interconnected.
I have been doing a lot of marketing and studying on reaching more clients for my personal sessions by phone or in-office, radio shows, and column posts. I am getting results and learning a lot along the way in the process but spending more money on advertising than I usually do. This will likely mean a slight increase in my rates in 2020. Clients currently in my Regular Client Program (monthly, or quarterly consistent sessions) will not see any increase in their already discounted rates. More information later in the newsletter about this program if you would like to join.
Wishing everyone a happy July Cheers, Jim V
“Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New year’s Eve. Middle age is when you’re forced to.” Bill Vaughan
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.
“Again, the body always reflects the state of the psyche and the filter of a given age. Those in middle age may observe with concern and dismay their bodies of youth losing their fine, sharp edges, as the bathroom scale seems determined to torment you at every opportunity, the flexibility of youth giving way to awakening new and unwelcome aches and pains.
Remember the filters of life.Youth is the age of exploration, the span of inquisitive and searching experience in every facet of life. Flowing from this, early adulthood is a time of choice, when much exploration may still be required to choose effectively.
By middle age, most choices are made. What need had the middle-aged adult for the strength and agility of youth? There is no reason, given the filter of consolidation, why that body need be maintained.
The psyche supplies a constant flow of energy into your life. In youth, that energy is almost all directed into the body, its construction, growth and explorations. In middle age, with exploration behind, that energy is better spent intellectually, in meeting with the demands of one’s career, marriage and parenthood. It is not that the body is in decline but that the focus of one’s energy shifts from pure physical activity to physical activity driven by intellect. The psyche is thus reconfigured to devote more energy to the mind, to focused concentration on the choices made, rather than frenetic activity.
Now, as you are seeing in your day, there is a rise in the number of men and women who can continue to perform athletically almost as well as they did in youth. Once again, your beliefs built upon the medical model of a body decaying from birth are being laughed off the planet. There is no reason whatsoever why the body cannot remain fit, vigorous, vital and active for the entire duration of life: indeed, this is the plan. It is only when you saddle the body’s innate resilience with beliefs about aging, about death, that you find the literal results in the breakdown of so many elderly bodies. As one more slap in the face of science and medicine, then, as the New Dawn approaches you find middle-aged and elderly persons demonstrating athletic prowess to put to shame many in the stage of youth.
We say this to emphasize that, while the psyche does refocus its energy into the intellect, rather than youth’s exclusive concentration on activity, there is no suggestion that the body must decline in resilience or strength. It may require more work to maintain that tone, however...”
Whatever happened to Divine Grace. by Ramon Stevens
“There is a fountain of youth; it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.” Sophia Loren
“Happiness is a risk. If you’re not a little scared, then you’re not doing it right.” Sarah Addison Allen
New Client Special 2019:
January 1st 2019 thru October 31st, 2019 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 at 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.
“Age considers; youth ventures.” Rabindranth Tagore
“If you don’t do anything stupid when you’re young, you won’t remember something funny when your old.” Unknown
Snake Oil Radio
Thursdays at 3:30 pm (there will be three live broadcast this period)
My next live broadcast of Snake Oil Radio will be Thursday, July 11th at 3:30 p.m. mountain time. Usually one or two Thursdays each month you can catch a new show, and once a month on Sunday at 2 pm. 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.
“Opportunity and risk come in pairs.” Bangambiki Habyarimana
Regular Client Program
One of the best programs I have been doing for 18 years now is my Regular client program. The program is designed to benefit my clients at multiple levels. Clients who enroll in the program come in every three months for personal sessions (monthly or every other month sessions are also an option). This can also be done for out-of-area clients by phone. The focus of the program is on consistent work in developing your intuitive abilities, learning how to use the signs and signals that are all around us, and conquering fear-based programming permanently. We also get to do work with all the many different oracles I currently work with! My Regular client program has resulted in some tremendous spiritual evolution for hundreds of people over the years. Some of my Regulars have gone on to do spiritual counseling, or similar types of work and some are healing and guiding others personally and professionally. The progress I have seen over the years among the majority of my Regular clients has been phenomenal. It is wonderful to see the spiritual, physical, and emotional progress I have assisted in motivating. So many of my Regular clients have dramatically changed the way they now view life and are enjoying a more enlightened point of view. You can join this program as well, just ask.
More about the Regular Client Program... This program was designed to create an easy, cost effective way for my clients to progress in their spiritual development.
When we are consistent at attending to our body/mind/spirit, we naturally move through life with more harmony and greater joy. When our spiritual awareness is heightened and fine tuned we are often happier which helps us to enjoy all aspects of our lives, including occasional personal challenges because we see them as inevitably beneficial. We can truly assist the people around us. Human beings learn by example. Your intimate partnerships, friendships, family, and children benefit when you are in a good space.
The Regular Client Program makes it easier to prioritize keeping your spiritual, emotional and even physical “garden” free of weeds. In China, the professional soothsayer is a reverent and dignified calling. It does not attract the sort of suspicion it does in the western world. In fact, in most eastern cultures, seeing an oracle reader is a sign of wisdom, success, and prestige. If you have an interest in increasing these attributes and working with a highly skilled navigational consultant then the Regular Client Program may be right for you.
Regular client discounted rates for 2014-2019:
Quarterly (every three months) Regulars:
Full 70 minute sessions $90.00 shorter sessions $65.00 Extended sessions $105.00
Monthly Regulars:
Full 70 sessions $80.00 shorter sessions $55.00 Extended sessions $95.00
IF YOU CHOOSE TO PREPAY 3 OR MORE SESSIONS YOU RECEIVE AN EVEN BIGGER DISCOUNT.
(prepaid three quarterly sessions: (3) - 45 minute sessions $175. (3) - 70 minute sessions $240. (3) - 90 minute sessions $285.
(prepaid three monthly sessions: (3) - 45 minute sessions $150. (3) - 70 minute sessions $210. (3) - 90 minute sessions $250.
* Regular clients get to choose whether they will come in for a full, 45, or extended session. You may vary the length of each session each time you come in for your appointments, and still keep your discounted rates.
* I will contact you a few weeks before your next appointment by email or phone for scheduling. If there is a need for a few weeks delay or to come in sooner or for an extra appointment this is also an option.
* Sessions can be used for all of the different readings I offer, transformation sessions, reality change sessions, or personalized instruction on how to read oracles yourself.
* Regular Clients can purchase gift certificates for sessions to give to friends and family at their discounted rates. Regulars also receive discounts on classes, CDS, and books.
* If at any point you decide to come in more often or less often, or even exit the program, simply let me know. I have worked with clients who have come monthly for two years, then switched to quarterly, etc... Clients who exit the program can still come in randomly for sessions, although they will be required to pay current non-regular rates.
When we are out of balance, and not attending to our spiritual sides we are more likely to: hold onto the past, feel anxious about the present, and fearful about the future. Oracle readings and navigational consultations help us keep clear of lower energies and bring us to a higher awareness in all areas of our lives. Developing our intuitive abilities increases our potential for happy relationships, excellent health, and keep us excited about wherever our lives are headed. The majority of my clients come in for a session once or twice a year or when a crisis triggers them. My Regular clients use the sessions as PREVENTIVE MEDICINE.
If you are interested in signing up for this program call or e mail me VenturaSag@yahoo.com
Three Books Available from Jim Ventura
Metaphysical Books:
Dirty Little Secrets
Storyteller and professional oracle reader Jim Ventura takes his readers on a wild literary ride. Dirty Little Secrets is a collection of short essays. The book explores some of society’s perceptions about what people often consider to be dirty little secrets best kept to oneself. The book tackles subjects with unflinching honesty: drug use, sexual addiction, unrequited love, revenge, childhood weirdness, homosexuality, and the old souls quest to experience magic and miracles in everyday life. The author holds little back in expressing his quest for enlightenment. Dirty Little Secrets illustrates how meaning, spirituality and humor can be found to be embedded in every experience. Also available on audio Cd - can be played on any computer!
Snake Oil Volume One
Jim Ventura has been writing his monthly Snake Oil column for 15 years. Volume One is a collection of his first five years of Snake Oil. This volume also includes nine Snake Charms. Practical explanations and instruction for meditation, ear conning, lucid dreaming, etc... Jim’s Snake Oil philosophy is all about changing the perceptions of how we view life to include metaphysical perspectives into all of our experiences. We benefit by expanding our consciousness, while we keep our feet planted firmly on the ground in this world at the same time. Snake Oil reminds us that we can also grow to become more enlightened while finding the wisdom of humor in ourselves and the world around us.
Practical guide to Gambling (not a Metaphysical book)
Wise Guys Volume One
Is it possible to gamble for free? Can you gamble and actually win money every time? Are there tricks and systems that can help you beat the games? The answer to these questions for most of you is going to be no. It is nearly impossible to be able to gamble without spending money or to consistently win. The majority of people who gamble will lose and rarely have any big wins. Casino slot machines and table games have built-in formulas to make the casinos a consistent long term profit. Most “systems” to beat the house don’t work.
Now with that painful bit of reality out of the way we can get to the good stuff, You can still come out even or ahead fairly often if you learn how to play smarter. You can learn to be a savvy gambler who takes advantage of comps, gets free invitations to slot tournaments with huge prizes, spends very little money out-of-pocket, gets free rooms in Vegas and casinos all over the country, and receives brand new appliances, free money to gamble with, and a ton of other freebies. This is what Wise guys is all about. A wise and knowledgeable gambler can frequently take free rides! This book is currently only available in digital format-$7.
Each book is $12 including tax
($3 for shipping for each book in US). $15 total.
To request any or both Books email Venturasag@yahoo.com or ask for a copy next time you are here in office.
You can send check or money order to Jim Ventura 2515 N 52nd St. #206 Phoenix Az 85008. You can also pay by charge or Debit thru Paypal. Feel free to request to have any of your copies signed!
Limited time offer: Wise Guys guide to gambling is only available on PDF to read on your computer: $7
You can also order Dirty Little Secrets or Snake Oil Volume One directly on Amazon.com
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 2019 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.
Me at age 10 playing the game Connect Four. 35 years later still really good at playing and winning at games!
