NEW AGE OBSESSION

POST HOLIDAY RE-RUN

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

I don’t know why, but I’m really into reading about psychics, past lives, and other new

age subjects lately. I’ve read Lives of the Rich and Famous (Sylvia Browne), Many

Lives, Many Masters (Brian Weiss), Another Door Opens (Jeffrey Wands) and various

books on Edgar Cayce and other fascinating people involved with this realm. These

books seem to place me into a kind of “dream world” where gemstones, crystals and

candles can give me control over my destiny. No matter how many I read, I can never

keep up with the flood of new books on the topic, coming out each day. I check my

horoscope and do my daily Tarot reading on Face book every day. Why are people, like

myself, so terribly interested in this sort of thing?

One reason could be the numerous TV shows, movies and stories that refer to this being

the “end times”. We all hear about the predictions of Nostradamus, the infamous Mayan

Calendar, the predictions of Medjugorje and other Marian sites, and of course, the

descriptions of the end of the world in biblical texts. People experience stress over the

possibility of nuclear war and the thought of its aftereffects. Somehow watching Ghost

Hunters reassures us that there is something else after this. Perhaps traditional religions

haven’t eased our fears enough and we are seeking answers elsewhere.

Personally, I believe that people are in search of hope. They need to believe that things can and will get better. Politics, the recession, joblessness, disease and natural disasters have robbed us of the real “dream” our parents and grandparents believed in: If you work hard enough you can achieve anything. They had the depression, that’s true, but they also had wonder and delight in simple things. We’ve lost that somewhere along the way. Our super high tech entertainment and recreation leaves little to the imagination. Our games are virtual, violent and often solitary. We often are overwhelmed by hopelessness.

Our jobs require constant in-service training to keep up. What happened to being in one

career for life? Few people have that luxury; most must evolve as they go. Employers ask

more and more and give less and less. The attitude is “You should be grateful you have

a job.” I’m sorry, but this doesn’t give permission to overwork and underpay employees.

We’re given laptops and cell phones so we can work, answer questions or conference at

home and on our own time. If we don’t do so willingly, we’re not “team players” and our

evaluation suffers. What happened to the American Dream? We’re working harder than

ever before but we don’t seem to be going anywhere, except maybe backwards.

So what solutions can I offer for conquering these depressing situations? I say we employ

the only ones we have control over: Pray, keep as positive an attitude as possible, keep

dreaming and dream big, and most importantly, cherish the gifts you do have in your life;

Family, Friends and life itself. Move from complexity to simplicity wherever possible,

(As Mother Theresa said, “Love simply so others may simply live.”) and never, never

give up on the possibilities in your life.

As for me, I think I’ll quit reading the books that put me in that “dream world”. Believe

it or not, my horoscope for today says: “Your tendency today will be to stay in the cocoon

of your little dream world, deep in your own thoughts. Obsessive thoughts, in particular,

will try and drown out some more pressing issues from the past that need resolution once

and for all.”(Horoscope.com: March 4, 2011 Cancer)