Snake Oil
Coming Home to a Place I’ve never Been Before
Music has always been a powerful influence in my life. It can often act as a powerful trigger for awareness or to shift my emotional state. I was doing some editing work a few months ago with Pandora (internet radio where you can program the types of music you specifically like) on in the background. Even though I had never programmed it to play any of his songs, Pandora decided to play a John Denver song I hadn’t heard in many, many years. The song was Rocky Mountain High. While listening to the song I found myself feeling very emotional. A long forgotten memory surfaced and I remembered being in the sixth grade and inviting a school friend over to the house. We weren’t good friends but I thought I should make an effort to make more friends from my elementary school. He brought John Denver’s greatest hits with him and we sat in my room and listened to the album on my record player. John Denver was very popular in the late seventies, although critics often panned his work and called him simplistic. Similar chart topping artists like Abba, Air Supply, and the Carpenters were very popular but “cool” people pretended to hate it, but secretly most of us really loved a lot of it.
Music has always been a powerful influence in my life. It can often act as a powerful trigger for awareness or to shift my emotional state. I was doing some editing work a few months ago with Pandora (internet radio where you can program the types of music you specifically like) on in the background. Even though I had never programmed it to play any of his songs, Pandora decided to play a John Denver song I hadn’t heard in many, many years. The song was Rocky Mountain High. While listening to the song I found myself feeling very emotional. A long forgotten memory surfaced and I remembered being in the sixth grade and inviting a school friend over to the house. We weren’t good friends but I thought I should make an effort to make more friends from my elementary school. He brought John Denver’s greatest hits with him and we sat in my room and listened to the album on my record player. John Denver was very popular in the late seventies, although critics often panned his work and called him simplistic. Similar chart topping artists like Abba, Air Supply, and the Carpenters were very popular but “cool” people pretended to hate it, but secretly most of us really loved a lot of it.
What struck me as most profound was a line in the song Rocky Mountain High, where John sings about his decision to move to the Colorado Rockies at age 27.
"...I’m coming home to a place I’ve never been before. He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again. You might say he found the key to every door...”
Both as an avid reader in my youth and now as a writer, I have always been impressed by a writers ability to say so much in just a few words. This song is clearly an example of this type of talent. All of the most notable experiences in my life were connected to this idea of coming home to a place I’ve never been before.
When I made the decision to move from NY to Arizona at the age of twenty-four, I had never actually been to the state or to the west coast as all. There were symbols and messages that were pulling me to it though. When I flew out here for the first time in 1989 and stepped off the plane I was excited about discovering the fun of what Arizona had to offer, and I immediately felt comfortable here for some reason. A year later I made the move. I had some real difficulties with the friend I brought with me, but quickly made new friends that helped me through those difficult times. Even though I left a family and some extremely close friends behind that I knew I would truly miss, I formed new supportive “family” rather quickly. I had been doing many past life regressions and dream work to explore my past lifetimes in my early twenties. Many of the people I met in Arizona were people I saw in those regressions and dreams. I had come home to a place I’d never been before.
After moving from apartment to apartment about every two years for the first twelve years of my life in Arizona, I decided to buy my first home in 2003. I hired a realtor who was also a friend to help me. We spent three weekends looking at condominium homes. We would pick up our StarBucks and hop in her car to check out three to five places each Saturday. There were two homes that could have worked for me. While I seriously considered them, they didn’t feel completely right for mostly practical reasons. When I first walked up the stairs of the upstairs condo I eventually bought, before I even went inside I turned to my realtor on the stairs and said: “I felt like I have walked up these stairs millions of times, this is where I will live.” Being a metaphysical person herself, she loved this. Even though there were some difficult hurdles to overcome in the buying process, I have now happily lived here for twelve years.
ALL of my close friendships and intimate relationships always felt like I was reuniting with people I already knew. The bodies, nationalities, sex, age, and other elements may have been different this time, yet the sense that I already knew them was always there from the beginning. Whether it was past life connections, a future self bringing me to this point, dreams, Deja Vu, compatible Astrology, or any other number of deeper reasons, the feeling of familiarity have always been a constant. My early work with past life study often gave me insight before or after we met about our other connections. This has always added another important layer to my relationships. I once remember going to dinner with a close female friend when we were in our late twenties. We found ourselves spontaneously moving into a heated conversation at dinner that was a mild disagreement from two past selves who seemed to know each other in another time and place, centuries ago where we were husband and wife. Even the room itself seemed to change to another time and place. She had never experienced something like this before and it wasn’t exactly a common occurrence for me either. We laughed about it afterwards and later realized why it was a better fit for us to just be good friends in this life.
I have had people try to force friendships and relationships that didn’t seem to fit at times in my life. There was a number of times when I tried to do this as well in my younger days. I have experienced this before with jobs and other significant aspects of life also. Yet there is a smoothness to events, pets, and people that feel like coming home to a place we’ve never been before. They require no effort or struggle. When I heard Rocky Mountain High I started to think about an extremely talented man whose music was called simplistic. Someone who wrote something as profound as this at age 27 was clearly talented and insightful. The critics were wrong. That same night I was flipping channels on television and came upon a PBS documentary about the life and death of John Denver. I caught it only ten minutes into the two hour special. We often try to shape events, and there are times when we need to be assertive. Yet, the aspects of life that come so effortlessly to us are truly the most magical of all.
Editors Note:
I had an exceptionally lucky June and early July when Venus and Jupiter transited through my 5th house. Venus an Jupiter for the most part, are considered beneficial planets. The 5th house in our natal chart shows how we experience romance, risk taking, creativity, children, gambling, performance, and other things that inspire adrenaline. I was very lucky in my local weekly casino trips and pulled in an extra $2000. So far this year, overall, all of my trips have been free and I am up about $200 profit for the year. I wrote about how to use comps and gamble more pragmatically when I published my book Free Ride earlier this year. I have now converted the book to a PDF file so it can be ordered inexpensively this way. You can read it directly on your computer. I also have 4 print copies available at this time. More information about this later in the newsletter. Free Ride is not a metaphysical book. It is not about using intuitive or psychic abilities to gamble. It is all about using smart math, learning to to take advantage of casino comps, and getting extremely discounted or free trips using the techniques. My use of beneficial transit Astrology was just an added perk.
We are at the mid point of summer and it has been hot and sticky here in Phoenix. We have had some good monsoon storms so far and I am sure we have quite a few more coming. I look forward to the rains, although the storms seem to scare the hell out of my cat. Dogs and cats are rarely fans of thunder and lightening so sometimes I find myself staying home just to keep her from freaking out. It can make a Sagittarius nuts to feel unable to move freely when we want to, but the “Dad” part of me will stay at home to keep her calm.
I have two specials running for August all connected with past life work. Understanding the influences of past lives or parallel lives can be helpful at multiple levels. If interested in getting more information about your past lifetimes contact me before the end of the month to take advantage of the discounted rates. I am also extending my new client discount special until September 30th of this year.
Wishing everyone a happy August. Cheers, Jim V
“The more relaxed you are, the better you are at everything.” Bill Murray
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.
“...It is fair to say that any person with whom you share a intense relationship in this life has also joined with you in other reincarnational lives. This is because the intent of the greater entities for you to be together is also strengthened by you, and your other reincarnational selves, through those experiences. Your greater entity sets you free, but you then go about creating your own reality; and whatever you choose to tighten or intensify a bond with a given individual, that bond will therefore be strengthened in every other manifestation in time that you share. A happy fifty-year marriage in this time span, then, may well serve to strengthen the bond manifesting as master-slave, brother-sister, father-daughter in other incarnations you share.
You have all experienced meeting someone for the first time and feeling something ‘click’ between you, feeling an immediate ease or, perhaps, an immediate tension and loathing. Why? Because you are always unconsciously connected with every other historical manifestation, and you are recognizing the intent behind that person’s coming into your life, recognizing the work to be shared, the lessons to be learned together. Since at deepest terms there is no ‘time’ as you think of it, you are tapping directly into the grid of intent that your greater entities have established, recognizing the intent; how you choose to express that intent is your free choice. You pull into physical actualization those experiences with this other person that reflect your own individual beliefs, intents and desires.
Not all relationships last a lifetime, as you know. What happens in a relationship that was born in a feeling of intense closeness-say, young schoolmates, who as they age see each other less and less frequently, perhaps dropping each other a Christmas card once a year?
In this case, the grid of intent behind such a relationship was virtually exhausted, or entirely expressed. within the span of time you shared as schoolmates. Beyond that, there is no need for you to stay together, and since you are always infusing your life with fresh energy and avenues of exploration, it would be of no benefit to maintain, in constant and intense consciousness, a relationship that has served its purpose...”
From Whatever happened to Divine Grace by Jose Stevens
“You are never alone or helpless. The force that guides the stars guides you too.” Prabhat Ranjan
New Client Special August 2015:
June 1st 2015 thru September 30th 2015 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 $80. 70 minute sessions $110. 90 minute sessions $130.
“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.” Pema Chodron
August 2015 special - 2 special offers !
Spotlight on one of the unique readings I offer:
Past Lifetimes reading
“Many of us feel strong affinities for places, times, and cultures that supersede our early experience in this life. Perhaps we even feel alien to our current era, or have a deep emotional response, much like homesickness, for certain ethnic groups, peoples, countries, and societies beyond our present environment. We may consider the possibility of reincarnation-that dark, mystical subject that seems so complex, so unreachable. The knowledge we seek is often unclear, much like a reflection on muddy waters.
How can we know when we lived and where? How much of what we were then are we now? What are the lessons that still must be learned?” Susan Sheppard creator of the Phoenix cards
The idea of living past lives was never something I struggled with. When I was a child I remembered living other lifetimes, so it was never something that I questioned. When I was in my late teens and early twenties I began to do past life regressions, meditations, and practiced lucid dreaming techniques to begin to get a clearer picture of some of my past lifetimes. I logged quite a few in my explorations, reinforcing the awareness that I was a bit of an old soul. In my mid twenties I picked up a really cool deck of cards that help to unravel information about other lifetimes. I have been working with the Phoenix cards for over 25 years now.They are an excellent tool for tapping into other cultures, times, and places where we may have lived before. I have been doing sessions with these cards for clients successfully for many years. The cards tap into different places and my intuitive abilities are often able to pull out specific details connected with these lives for my clients during the session. (Old Soul Scholar skill in accessing the Akashic records.) Jim V
“If you have a past life reading, you probably won’t be surprised at the outcome of your past-life reading. Most of us have dim ghostly ideas of who we really are. The realization of our fate casts an aura of affirmation over our lives. Whatever affects our world happens first internally as an idea, a feeling, or a dream. It is through our dreams, waking and unconscious, that past-life memories are felt and then brought again to the surface. The Phoenix cards are a powerful tool to help you reconnect with a larger awareness of who you really are.” S. Sheppard
August Special $15 off my websites listed rates on all 45, 70 and 90 minute Past life card sessions for Snake Oil subscribers. Local in office clients can take an additional $5 off for cash or check payments! This special runs from August 1st 2015 until September 1st 2015. Book now, or if you would like to do the session later this summer or fall you can purchase it now at the discounted rate. You may also buy one additional session for a friend or family member at this time. Email me at Venturasag@yahoo.com to book or to get a gift certificate.
This session is an personal, instructional walk through an actual past life regression. I will guide you through a light form of hypnosis that will help you tune into one or more of your past lifetimes. The benefits are:
* Increasing your understanding of the influences from your past on your present lifetime.
* Helping to discover and remove fear blocks and phobias.
* Bringing to surface strengths and abilities.
* Ending the fear of death.
* Increasing relaxation and visualization skills.
* assisting in understand present relationships by uncovering karmic threads.
90 minutes $100.00 ($10 off this rate for Snake Oil Subscribers for all of August 2015)
“The most valuable lesson man has learned from his dog is to kick a few blades of grass over it and move on.” Robert Brault
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, August 6th at 3:30 p.m. (AZ doesn’t use daylight savings time, so it’s the same as pacific time). 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 blogtalkradio.com. 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.
Free Ride Volume One (first limited edition prints) Now available on PDF file.
Introduction:
“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, receives brand new appliances, free money to gamble with, and a ton of other freebies. This is what Free Ride is all about. A wise and knowledgeable gambler can frequently take free rides!
To order a copy send request by email Venturasag@yahoo.com.
Cost is: $11 including tax. $15 total includes shipping. Only 4 will be printed each month. So there may be a month or two wait.
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. You can request to have your copy signed!
Free Ride in PDF
I also now have the book available in PDF file format. You can read it directly on your computer. $7 email me to order a copy. Venturasag@yahoo.com
Here’s my contact information to make an appointment for a session, or information on current classes: Phone: (602)957-3035 text: (602)349-0746 Email: Venturasag@yahoo.com (best method for contact).
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 2015 are: Full (70 minutes) $110.00; Shorter session (45 minutes) $80.00; Extended session (90 minutes) $130.00 (two people can split an extended session back to back for $65.00 each). 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.
