Sex in the Tarot Den

And you wonder why psychics get a bad rap sometimes. Man.

I saw a newspaper article in a local Minneapolis paper today that tarot card reader Miguel Antonio Garcia Garro, also known as "The Maestro," told two young clients that, in order to "examine their energy" they would need to have sex on his desk while he waited in the other room. Then they were to wipe up and submit their drippings to him for analysis. (Go here for more details: http://www.startribune.com/467/story/969423.html)

Thank heavens Garro wrapped their used towelettes in tin foil! Otherwise a true and proper scientific analysis would have been in jeopardy!

This may sound sick and wrong to you. Perhaps that's because it is, on its face, sick and wrong. And that's quite enough for me to begin a rare but inspired rant. But wait, there's more!

Garro allegedly videotaped the whole thing. Oh, yeah, and one of his clients was a minor.
Enter 6 felony charges. "The Maestro" is looking at 52 years in the slammer.

Oh, this disturbs me to my core. Right down to the quick. But not for the reasons you think. Read on.

Many of you know that, when I started this psychic gig, I had two rules: (1) the phenomenon displayed had to be real and verifiable and (2) it had to help both my clients and humanity-at-large. (Nobody ever accused me of thinking small!)

There were, and still are, times when I chafe under the title "psychic" precisely because of the mental fish hooks goofballs like The Maestro set in the collective memory. To be blunt, obvious frauds like this guy give all psychic practitioners a bad name.

But what about the clients? It took 5 episodes of being asked to have sex on a desk in some dingy office in Minneapolis for the couple to suspect something was amiss. 5 times?!? The female client (the 16-year-old), finally noticed what she thought was a stereo speaker, but turned out to be a video camera attached to a VCR in the back room.

So let me set the stage: a 16-year-old girl and her 19-year-old boyfriend solicit the advice of a tarot card reader calling himself The Maestro operating out of some storefront in Minneapolis . They are asked to have sex on his desk and then submit their bodily fluids to said Maestro for energetic analysis (all for the bargain basement price of $750!). The kids become suspicious after their 5th "session" when they spy a camera which turns out to be spying on them.

What tha?

Whew. Deep breath... Relax...

Outside of the obvious and sundry details, it really bothers me that people are so out of touch with their intuitive sense that a situation like this would be possible even once, let alone five times.

It also bothers me that people are so out of touch with their innate intuitive senses that they look to those who are so apparent in their depravity for "saving."

It bothers me that the real and good work that people are doing is lost in a constant slurry of published gore and hate and damp desktops.

So, I beg of you, if someone asks you to cross an obvious personal boundary in the name of things spiritual or energetic, run--don't walk--the other way. Then report them to the police, Better Business Bureau, Rotary, your grumpy mother-in-law, and each and every stranger you meet.
And then, in a moment of quiet, remember that you and only you can make permanent change in your life. You're a more powerful influence in your own life than any psychic, or card reader, or astrologer, or guru. You are infinitely wise. You are beautiful. You are perfect!

And me? Well, I'm just coming down off this rant.

Thanks for listening.

An Intuitive Look at 2007

I was asked to provide some predictions for the upcoming year by Edge Life Magazine.

What a great opportunity! Instead of forwarding the usual doom and gloom, I wanted to use this chance to help remind everyone that they are sacred, blessed, and special.

This is what I came up with:

It is my prediction that 2007, like all years, will be a year of change and challenge and beautiful opportunity.

In this New Year, obstacles will be overcome. Opportunities will be recognized. There will be tears of both pain and joy. Relationships will dissolve and others will spring up. Love will be found and strengthened, but sometimes its gifts may be just out of reach. We will debate and argue and sometimes make the wrong decisions. We will feel the power of personal triumph.

There will be ski trips and picnics and parties. Snowballs will be thrown. Songs will be sung. Dances will be danced. There will be many first kisses. School will end, and then start all too soon. Jobs will be won, and new passions discovered. Pictures will be painted. Gardens will thrive, and rabbits will seem to thwart our every protection. Sap will run, snow will fall. Beauty will be recognized. Sunsets will be watched. And we will feel that sun shining upon our face.

We will learn! We will experience! We will feel.

Some of us will move to another place in the coming year. Many others will stay where we are. The hope and grace of new life will begin again and again and again.

My most important predictions, though, are these:

You will remember that you are the most powerful force for creation in this Universe. You will love unconditionally. You will discover a hidden talent and then use it. You will help someone. Someone will help you. Your life will continue to have deep and significant meaning.

You will live like you are intrinsically connected to everyone everywhere, and your changes, challenges, and beautiful opportunities make up the perfect balance of this world.

The Year of "I Love You"

It's already 2007! Whoo hoo! That time just keeps on a'marchin'.

Traditionally, the New Year is a great line of demarcation; a time to reflect upon our successes and failures, as well as to do some goal-setting for the upcoming year.

I'm full of resolve on New Years Day! I make my resolutions with a set jaw, and am fully prepared to see them through.

Unfortunately, I think I've successfully completed one resolution. In my whole life. Thankfully, that one was to stop smoking, and I've been tobacco free for over two years. Whew.

The idea of resolutions was wafting in and out of my mind right before New Years Eve 2006, when I heard a discussion about resolutions on the radio. That got me to thinking... The guests on the show were complaining about the futility and folly of making these pacts with yourself. Why do most resolutions fail to become permanent fixtures in people's lives? Why are they so freakin' difficult to implement?

I think I figured it out. So now I'm going to make 2007 the Year of "I Love You."

In some of my previous posts, I explored the idea that the energy contained in aligned beliefs, thoughts, and emotions is a powerful creative force in the physical world. In short, what you "think about, you bring about."

Gratefulness is also very important, and is closely related. In the Bible, this is apparent in many places. Here's one: I Thessalonians 5:18 says "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you..." This makes me believe that gratitiude is pretty important if we're instructed to hold it "in all circumstances." Not sometimes, or only when we're feeling satisfied with something in our life, but always--even when we're not satisfied with something in our life! Be grateful anyway!

When making resolutions, I realized that I was focusing on the thing I was not satisfied with in my life--the smoking, the extra weight, the mess in my office, my hurried schedule--and not the thing I wanted to create in my life.

I was focused on what I perceived as negative. And I certainly wasn't grateful. But knowing what you don't want is the first step toward knowing what you do want!

So... How does this translate into The Year of "I Love You"?

What I find is that, in order to create what you want, you have to be grateful for and love what you have right now.

Simply put, if you bring about what you think about, then thinking about things that make you feel grateful will bring about more things in your life that make you feel grateful. Being grateful forces an internal shift and opens the floodgates, so to speak, of creation.

If you have trouble seeing a really practical way to do this (who is grateful for that extra weight?), then think of it this way: the things you've created but want to change in your life are wonderful opportunities for you! Just imagine your sense of accomplishment and wonder at the power of creation when you manifest your desires!

So I'm doing this in the upcoming year: when I realize that I have a thought that is more about what I don't want than what I do want, I'm going to say "Thank you. I love you." to the situation or circumstance that spawned the thought.

An internal shift can happen just by thinking this. Try it right now: think of something in your life that makes you uncomfortable. Now, while focusing on this situation or circumstance, say, "Thank you. I love you." Can you feel the subtle difference? Just by thinking gratefulness and love, you emit gratefulness and love!

And that brings you more thankfulness and love. Cool!

So when you're working on your resolutions for the New Year, be sure to focus on (1) what you do want and (2) gratefulness and love.

The creative power of the Universe will consistently astound and amaze you as it has me. Do these two simple things, and futility and folly will be, gratefully, obstacles long since conquered.