Do You Want To Be God?

Whatever social/cultural behavior and thinking that began on the West Coast apparently ripples East over the rest of the country, propelled in part by the movies and television, and consumed by those hungry for the latest. Not, mind you, that lunacy doesn't possibly also originate from the most Eastern part of the USA, which might be in Maine.

Behold, The Whole Person, an expensively printed, 114 page veritable encyclopedia of spiritual quest advertising out of Santa Barbara, CA. This booklet leaped into my hand from a stack of them outside a closed bookstore in 'with it' Silverlake, near the heart of Los Angeles (precise location never determined). There must be a very big market for Spiritual Quest persons seeking guidance, preferably new guidance. The 8 1/2 by 11 booklet cost $1.50, but a black stamp had cancelled that with the good news, "Complimentary Copy." So I brought it home.

On the cover there's a lovely photo of a young beautiful, coifed mother with her two toddler daughters knee deep in gentle surf at the beach.  But the mother is dressed! and even has a scarf around her neck on a sunny day. (Perhaps she's self conscious about the first signs of age showing up even though she's still in her 30s?) The gentle surf is frothing and the two girls are apparently screaming with joy and communion. It is an image, I suppose, depicting nurture. On the back cover there's a formal picture of an impeccably done up, rich young socialite smiling with every tooth. Across from, beside, her most inviting face is her racket, BECOME CLAIRVOYANT.

Let's wander through this feast of fulfillment offers. On page three there's OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCES? ("Would you like to have them?") At Crystal Cave there's "Working with the Angels," "Channeling." On page 7 there's an offer that seriously makes one wonder what on Earth (or elsewhere) could the remaining 90 odd pages be about? Already my imagination is besotted, drunk, wobbly, and wow am I feeling peasant-like, a rube, shoeless in a sea of persons who surf fully clothed. But I anticipate; here's the killer diller: WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE GOD? This can be granted you through "Reincarnated Vedic Astrology."

Nap time. Really, I must rest.

Okay, back to the grind. How about - really noone has said you don't have free will in all this heavenly offers of new powers - "Angelic Alchemy."  Dross into Gold. Color me drossy.

Learn to Hypnotize, Intuitive Healing, DNA Intuitive Healing, Regenesis (Be young again), Avoid Surgery, "Kick depression in the Butt," Touch Healing," "PMS? Hot Flashes? Menopausal Symptoms? Cramps, Night Sweats, Hormonal Mood Swings"?

"Soul Transcendence."

"God is as Close as Your Next Breath." (Full page)

"Past Life Regression Therapy."

I'll skip the rest. Years ago I learned that an excellent seminar titled ABOUT MONEY when given in Santa Barbara drew huge audiences. It was, for example, much more popular than a seminar given by the same organization, reputable, popular elsewhere, called simply ABOUT SEX.  For a town where beautiful women go in the surf fully clothed I can believe that.

Barry