Woo Woo. Definition: Anything that falls into the category of metaphysical, superstitious or kinda wierd. (source - Tawny's lexicon of interesting phrases)
I'm a big fan of woo woo. I always have been. I once dated a guy who couldn't deal with how 'woo woo' I was (direct quote) and wanted me to mellow out and get 'normal' (another direct quote). Ha. Haha, even. Needless to say, I stopped dating him. Because, much like my smart aleck mouth, my woo wooness is a part of me. You could say I was raised that way.I'm a tarot reader, a certified hypnotherapist, a Reiki Master, etc, and have been since my twenties. I'm even teaching a workshop on combining spritual (aka woo woo) tools with practical ones in writing. It's called Courting the Muse
and it's happening online in April.And yet for some reason, people are always surprised when they hear what I do. The woo woo do, that is. Not the romance novelist do. That they seem to take in stride - apparently I look more romance novelesty than woo wooey (note the two new words to add to my lexicon). It's getting less of an issue over time, though.
Unlike when I was young (so many many moons ago *snicker*) woo woo has pretty much found its way into mainstream society. A little credit probably goes to JK Rowling and her amazing Harry Potter books and movies, to say nothing of the overwhelming popularity of the paranormal romance and fantasy sub-genres (Twilight anyone?). TV shows like Supernatural, Charmed, The Ghost Whisperer intrigue us. The power of positive thinking is a well-used phrase and visualization / affirmations are terms found in such accepted business books as The Success Principles by Jack Canfield. Homeopathic and natural remedies are more accepted now, too.
How about you? Are you into woo woo? Are you a closet woo wooer or pretty out there about it? Do you read your horoscope or have you ever seen an intuitive (tarot reader, psychic, etc)? Have you ever been hypnotized? Or - oh oh, here's one *g* Have you ever read The Secret? Now that is one woo woo book, let me tell ya!! Do you ever use visualization to achieve a goal? Or even carry a good luck charm?
C'mon, share your woo wooness with me. *g* I'll even throw in a prize. I'll choose one random name to win free attendance in my April online workshop, COURTING THE MUSE.
117 comments:
I've never read "The Secret" and all those other books. I haven't read my horoscope religiously since high school. I would like to try hypnosis and maybe go to a fortune teller. Not sure if I have the guts to attend a seance, but that would be exciting and interesting.
I had a very very baaaad experience with a ouija board and won't go near them again. Let's just say I believe in good and bad in the world, I just don't want to attract the bad again.
Jane, hypnosis is great and definitely worth giving a try. I'll admit, I don't read my horoscope in the paper or anything like that - simply because there are alot more planets than the Sun, which is all most horoscopes address *g*
I don't think I'd do a seance either, to tell you the truth. I've got a firm grasp on my fear of the other side LOL.
And congratulations on being the first post!!! The Golden Rooster is heading your way -and probably has a few secret tail feather reading tips he can share *g*
Natalie, you and me both. Honestly, the ouija board freaks me out.
Congrats Jane have a great day with him
Tawny
I often read my horoscope and I have been to a fortune teller many years ago and she was pretty good a couple of the things she told me have happened but not all of them. A few of the girls I work with go often and the next time they go if I can make it I am going to go as well. I think I am more curious than anything else I do believe that there are people that can see and feel things.
As for The Secret no I haven't read that book either I am curious about it now though.
I too would like to try hypnosis I think that would be great.
Have Fun
Helen
Helen - The Secret is an interesting book. I've actually seen the concept explained better in other books, but this one has a presentation that is truly inspired. I definitely enjoyed reading it.
Fortune tellers can be a lot of fun! Especially if they are good *g* I remember seeing one when I was younger - she told me I'd marry a guy whose name started with J and that he'd do something with carpentry becuase she saw him building shelves for me. I didn't think about it again until years and years later when I was watching my husband (James *g*) build my writing desk and cabinets.
Well, I lean a bit more towards the sceptic side, but I guess there is a bit woo woo in me, as well.
ANGEL - Die Another Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pBpSrGT6Mk&feature=related
I don't read horoscopes, I wouldn't waste my money on a psychic and I'd like to try getting hypnotized. I do meditate in the evenings espesially if my head is running with thoughts and I just can't fall a sleep. I guess it doesn't differ all that much from hypnosis.
Queen - 'A Kind of Magic'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p_1QSUsbsM&feature=related
Eurythmics - There must be an angel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAxzZuGNSq8
Hey, Tawny, I'll let you decide if I'm woo woo or not. I'm a pretty empathetic person and what I mean by that is that I sometimes feel the pain of others. For example, when my brother had to have his neck operated on recently, I had a stiff neck for almost the entire time of his recovery. You've heard of worrying yourself sick? I literally do that when someone I care about is sick. I think it's a byproduct of the fact that my grandmother was a faith healer. I can also sense death sometimes when it's going to happen to someone close to me. And I have pretty strong intuitions sometimes. For instance, when I was a preteen, I was walking down the street where my friend lived with the friend and my older sister and as we passed by the house diagonally across from hers, I told them that I was going to live in that house someday. About five years later, my stepfather bought that house and I lived in it for several years. So what do you think? Woo woo - or not?
Margay
I'm very non-woowoo. MrsP226 often comments that we're just exactly like the characters from Bones, except reversed. Meaning, she's Booth, and I'm Bones.
I have to admit, she's pretty much right. If I can't measure it in a beaker, set it on fire, see, hear, smell, feel or taste it, I'm skeptical of its existence.
On a scale of 1-10, my woowoo factor is about 0.3.
Margay, that soounds woo woo to me.
I can sense things sometimes but it has never been a life altering experiece.
I think other people might consider me a woo woo type of person. Not now, now I am just a boring slightly older than middle aged lady that reads a lot. When I was younger I had horoscope books and I used to chart (very simple charts, nothing fancy or too involved) horoscopes. Hubby and I had a major disagreement and he threw my books in the fire, they sizzled, screamed and did some ugly stuff and I never touched one again. Problem is he seemed to have a problem with my romances too, and the books I was saving for my kids if and when I had some. They were all either given away or burned. Talk about an evil woo woo person, that would be him.
Wow, Dianna, he does sound a little woo woo. One of my aunts used to chart our horoscopes, very elaborate. See, she went through a difficult time after my uncle died and I think she was just trying to find herself, so she tried some new things - charting horoscopes, doing past life regressions on her friends, including my mother. You know, normal stuff. (Hey, it was the 70s.)
Oh, here's another good one that could be considered woo woo. When we were younger, my older sister was into some strange stuff - going to cemeteries at night to get in touch with spirits, conducting seances on our front porch, telling ghost stories, among other kinds. Well, I don't know what prompted it, but when I was in junior high school, she tried to convince my best friend that I was a witch - told her that I painted my nails black and everything when I conducted spells at home in our room. So, I got a little miffed and decided to do something about it. I bought a book on witchcraft - specifically on how to cast spells - and made a point of always reading it in front of her and being very obvious when I read it in front of her. Needless to say, it kind of freaked her out and she went back and told my friend she was just kidding. Never did have to cast a spell! This might make more sense when you know how goosey my sister was. When she used to tell ghost stories, she did so with the intent of scaring us younger kids - and ended up scaring herself to the point that I had to check all of the closets and under the bed to make sure it was "safe" before I tucked her in so tight she had to sleep in one position all night.
Margay
Have to answer "no" to all of the above, although my mother went to a psychic once who may have been able to "see" thing, but she didn't know how to interpret what she saw.
Jane, way to nab the GR! WARNING: he may be extra obnoxious today for no particular reason. He's just like that. *g*
Tawny, I have very polarized feelings about "woo woo" stuff. I think things that are natural, like homeopathic remedies, positive visualization, meditation, etc, are all very useful tools in our self-care toolboxes.
However, I am not a fan of the paranormal except as strictly entertainment. I certainly don't believe that vampires, werewolves, etc. exist, nor would I want them to. They are simply incarnations of the stories people have told each other as long as they could speak. *g* We love to be scared!
I am not at all superstitious, because I don't give power to anything random, like a black cat or broken mirror. Certainly not a crack in the sidewalk!
I think ancient wisdom can be valuable to us today if we are open to hearing it. I also think it's a mistake to put too much value in it.
Like Natalie said, there is good and bad in the world. I would expand that to say there is good and bad in the spiritual world. I am all about tapping into and concentrating on the good and positive and leaving the bad strictly alone.
If something doesn't help me love God more or love other people more, I don't want any part of it. If it does, I'm all for it!
Congrats, Jane! Hope you have a good day with the GR and he keeps the Woo Woo to a minimum.
I'm almost half Welsh and I am half Native American. Of course I believe in the woo woo! That 1/4 English is all that keeps me from floating away into the woo woo!
My late DH was a certified hypnotherapist as well as being a psychiatrist and he was a big believer in the power of the mind to control the body. He used hypnotherapy and guided imagery to teach people how to combat chronic pain and the pain of cancer or other devastating diseases. He taught me to use it when I had migraines and it worked great.
Ouija boards are a door to the other side and if you don't know how to close that door once you open it you should leave them alone!
I've studied voodoo and its history for years and there are simply some things and some people who have honed a power that can be used for good, but more often than not is used for evil. Only the very smartest mambo or mamba has complete control of that power once they tap into it. And the key with voodoo is not if YOU believe in it, but if the mambo believes in it and has taken money to effect some change in your life. If the mambo believes strongly enough and his reputation is important enough he WILL effect change in your life in some way or another. I do carry a gris gris which is a sort of charm to ward off evil/black voodoo. My gris gris is a pouch made from the foot of a 100 plus year old snapping turtle. In it are a number of "magic" things, including the baby teeth my wolf hybrid shed, hair from several of my dogs that have passed, a piece of silver, an arrowhead and some stones found on the grave of Marie Laveau. Don't know if it works or not, but so far as I know no voodoo curse has touched me.
I have had "visits" from animals that have passed on. I know this because I could smell and feel them brush by me.
I think the key is to open yourself to the good in the world, including the good woo woo and to guard against the bad woo woo.
Never been hypnotized, I'm woowoo... all the way strange woowoo. Runs in the family. My aunt has psychic parties every six months.
I'm incredibly superstitious. Believe heavily in Karma.
My aunt told me about the secret. I have yet to read it, but she promised to lend it to me. How was the movie for that? I really want to see that.
Oh and I read three versions of my horoscope every day. An my weekly one from another source and a monthly one (from astrologyzone.com) And if my horoscope tells me to shut my trap on a particular day, I do. If it says to be outgoing, I am.
:)
Tawny, what a great post -- and insight into you!! I would love to learn more about Reiki. I think there's lots of power and energy in the world and ways to tap into it that most of us can't imagine. Sounds like you have a better handle on that than most.
I don't necessarily believe in lots of things folks have mentioned but I don't discount them. I figure I don't know enough to understand them or believe them one way or another, and I certainly am not going to dis-believe something I don't understand. The world and the mind are incredible, complicated, mysterious things and I think we understand very little about how they work. So I'm all for the woo-woo!!
I don't find it particularly woo-woo, but some might -- I do a lot of alternative health therapies for my migraines, acupuncture and cupping being the most successful.
I also do a lot of yoga these days, and I had a really powerful experience the other day that I would classify as ecstatic -- but some would probably say was just woo-woo!
Woo-woo is in the eye of the beholder, right? ;-)
Very interesting post, Tawny.
I believe in the existence of people who have the woowoo ability. Sadly, there are a lot out there who portray that they do when indeed they do not.
For myself, I am highly intuitive and empathic..not quite to the point of Margary...but if I have a friend that has been on my mind a lot I call them up because I know something is wrong or going on in their life and 99% of the time it is so I can help.
I did attend a psychic fair last fall. First time in a while. Some of her insights were dead on, some still remain to be seen such as a love interest in the spring associated with my writer's group. Um, currently my local group is all ladies so...not holding my breath :-)
Interesting topic, Tawny, very out there and kinda, well, woo-woo!
I'm a hard-core pragmatist, scientific and logical to the core. No woo-woo there, unfortunately, which is rather sad because I think the woo-woo factor adds texture and interest to lives!
There's woo-woo and then there's woo-woo. Ouija boards and voodoo dolls scare the crap out of me.
But I'm always curious about horoscopes (Chinese, western, others) and how they figure those out.
Tawny, could you give me more detail about your online course? How does the teaching and the assignments work? How do we exchange information?
Jane, congratulations on the GR.
I'm way into WooHOO, but woo woo...not so much. After watching Poltergiest as a kid, I have stayed away from most woo woo stuff. Way to scary for me!
Well, Tawny, my Sister in Woo-woo, I'm right there with you. Grins. If it's woo-woo, I'm interested in it. I was the appointment coordinator for a REAL psychic for nearly 15 years (Real as opposed to the TV/crazy take your money and run kind) and I've both done and experienced energy work, Reiki, etc. I have my crystals charted, by chakras energized and my astrological chart updated every few years. I read Tarot when it suits me, but seldom for other people as I get to mixed up in their energy. Grins. Gotta watch those boundaries! My house is haunted, and although I've lived in a couple that weren't most of the houses I've lived in are.
Let's see, what else? Hmmmm. Oh, I've read and seen The Secret, What the Bleep? and several others with a metaphysical bent. I've read all of Canfield's books, Tony RObbins's books (Not woo-woo, but self improvement) and I really believe in success coaches. :>
How's that? Oh, and I can quote all the witches' parts from MacBeth. That's more due to my parents being in a Shakespeare society than anything else but...
Sherrinda, I loved what you said, that you were way into WooHOOO!
Heeehee. I LOVE that!
The WoooHOOO Society. I'll join! I'm all about encouragement too.
Jane, congrats on snagging the rooster!
Tawny, you know I love woo-woo. Also magic and speculative fiction. My SFF bookshelf is crammed, and those books go back even further in my life than the romance ones do.
King Arthur, Merlin, and the Lady in the Lake, anyone?
I love to think imagine possibilities. Simply because not everything has a logical explanation--and I'm big on logical consistency--I do think reality holds stranger things, as Shakespeare said (paraphrasing), "than are dreamt of in [our] philosophies."
Jane, congratulations on the chook! It's a while since he visited, isn't it?
Tawny, what a great post! I'd love you to read my cards one day! My mum was VERY woo-woo, like uncanny. Unfortunately, you couldn't rely on it with things like lotto numbers, etc. But she'd get these feelings about things and they would always happen. She used to take me to get my tea leaves read when I was a young un (back in the 1400s!) and I still pop in to have a reading now and again.
Margay, I've had strong intuitions, but I think that's because I've got a very active subconscious putting all those clues together and coming up with the answer. Don't think I've got any special powers.
Dianna, that story is just AWFUL!!! Hugs.
Oh, and on seances? Nuh! SCARY!!!
Minna, meditation is fabulous. I personally think its right up there with exercise as the healthiest thing you can do for your body. Hypnosis isn't quite the same, though. In meditation, your goal is to clear your mind of the cacaphony of thoughts, to center and find peace. In hypnosis, you are relaxed, but you are being given hypnotic suggestions that will reshape your subconsious thought patterns.
Actually if you wanted to compare, visualization is closer to hypnosis *g*
Definitely woo woo Margay ;-) Empathy and precognition are so woo woo LOL.
Empathy is such a double edged sword though, isn't it? Have you considered any type of healing practices, if only for yourself when you take on those pains of others? Reiki is a good one. Your gramma probably had a better one *g*
On a scale of 1-10, my woowoo factor is about 0.3.
LOL P226. It sounds like you have a perfect balance with the Mrs.
And you'd be right up there with accountants among the hardest to hypnotize, I'll bet. Anyone who operates from pure logic and facts often refuses to take hypnotic suggestion.
But let me ask you this... In battle or battle-ish situations, did you ever rely on instincts? Duck at just the right time, without any outside warning telling you to do so? Anything like that? Just wondering *g*
Tawny, I didn't realize accountants were so hard to hypnotize. I've long been curious about hypnotism, but I suspect it doesn't take on control freaks, either.
Well, yeah, they are not excatly the same, but in both -how could I put it- the way you are conscious about things around you changes.
Have you ever read Paul McKenna's book about hypnosis?
How to meditate:
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101030804/schowto.html
I have been to a fortune teller before when I was young early 20's. I went to several fortune tellers and they all said the about the same thing. Hey I am still waiting for my luck to change. I will have to say it is a lot of fun going to fortune teller's. I really enjoyed it.
How to Meditate
You can teach yourself in a matter of minutes by following a few simple steps
Posted Sunday, July 27, 2003
1. F I N D A Q U I E T P L A C E
If it helps, turn out the lights. The fewer distractions you have, the easier it will be to concentrate
2. C L O S E Y O U R E Y E S
The idea is to shut out the outside world so your brain can stop actively processing information coming from the senses
3. P I C K A W O R D, A N Y W O R D
Find a word or phrase that means something to you, whose sound or rhythm is soothing when repeated
4. S A Y I T A G A I N A N D A G A I N
Try saying your word or phrase to yourself with every outbreath. The monotony will help you focus
(I just empty out my head and don't think anything. I might imagine a sandy beach before my eyes, but that's all. My mind just starts to wonder if I try repeating any kind of words).
Oh man, Dianna... thats... well, rough. I mean, burning books? That just makes me shudder. Thats some major negative energy. Although the book doing weird stuff in the fire is kinda intriguing *g*
LOL Margay - what a clever way to deal with your sister!!
I have to say, I'm big on avoiding cemetaries at night LOL. Except when I was a teenager of course. What is it about teenagers that inspires midnight tomb visits?
Hi Tawny, loved your post. You are a woman of many talents! And your workshop sounds great! I have never really been into woo woo in an active sense but I'm fairly open-minded and receptive if someone I know and respect advocates a certain piece of woo woo-ity (another one for your lexicon!) I don't dismiss it out of hand. Except the occult and calling on dead people. That's not something I'd try because it scares the jeepers out of me.
But I like the idea of positive thinking--that's certainly not going to hurt. Alternative medicine and therapy--I think there are a lot of scammers around but there are also a lot of things that do work, so I'd keep an open mind but I'd probably want to hear about it from someone I know and respect before I'd spend time and money on it.
Ooh, Jane! Congrats on the rooster!
Terry, thats cool that your mom was so intuitive, although not being able to decipher it would be rough. Kinda like having a huge library full of amazing books and not being able to read :-(
Caren, you are a wise woman ;-) I love your handle on the woo woo. Like you, I don't buy in that there are real vampires, etc in our world -although I do believe firmly in psychic vampires. You know, the kind of people that sap your energy and leave you feeling empty and miserable after just a short visit? Maybe its just a convenient term *g* but it sure fits.
Louisa -that a fascinating look at voodoo. I've never I've never actaully met anyone who'd studied the art, but have a strong respect for it. The kind of respect that makes me stand waaaaaay back and nod, then hurry off the other way *g*
Like you say, so much depends on the power of belief. Physisists are proving that the power of the mind is an awesome thing -and that yes, with our thoughts and beliefs we can effect major changes. and not just on ourselves.
Interesting post, Tawny. And funny thing, I can see you doing woo-woo stuff, so it doesn't surprise me at all!
Personally though, I steer clear of woo-woo things like tarot, fortune tellers and the like. Why? I have enough weird woo-woo moments in my life without them.
Yep. Gotta mother that really makes me nervous. The woman is so intune with her family, that when ever anything good or bad happens or is about to happen, she calls. Usually within days before or hours afterwards. This is stuff I've never hinted at happening. FREAKY!
Then there's my ulcer.
Over the years it's developed it's own sensitivity to fetal monitor strips, to the point that I call doctors and say, "You need to come evaluate this patient, because my ulcer is not happy." But just so you know, often the other nurses will say, "There's nothing terrible about that stip. Why are you calling the doc?" My reply? "I can't give you proven evidence (the kind we're trained to recognize), but there's just something wrong here."
Know how often my ulcer is wrong?
zero.
Then there's the one lady who I'd been taking care of for about a month. Every night we'd check her BP before bed, then when she'd wake up during the night she'd call me. Otherwise, I'd just do nightly rounds on her every couple of hours. (Standard operating procedure.) Nice stable patient who had the potential to get really sick.
One night....for no reason...no noise came from her room...no call light. I was walking past her room and stopped dead in my tracks. This overpowering thought popped into my brain. "Go check on her."
Found her sitting straight up in bed pushing her fist into the spot just below her sternum, face pale, saying...I hurt so bad. (Classic symptom of a patient going bad with toxemia.) Yep, we delivered her that morning.
Yep, woo-woo moments.
Tiffany -really? Psychic parties *g* How fun!!!
I'm a firm believer in karma, too -but probably less in the woo woo way that some are and more in the 'what you put out is what you get back' way. I've seen it happen so many times not to be a strong believer.
The Astrologyzone.com does have a great monthly horoscope *g*
Woo-woo is in the eye of the beholder, right? ;-)
Exactly!!! I love your take on the woo woo and beleiving ;-)
I'm so glad the alternative therapies do help your migraines, Kirsten. And how AWESOME that had to be to reach that state of ecstasy in yoga. Its almost like all of your body's energies are in perfect alignment, right?
Wow, Suz, that's totally cool! If I'm ever in trouble an in the hospital, I hope I have a nurse like YOU! :> (I'm completely healthy, thank goodness, but if I'm ever NOT...I'm just sayin'!)
Grins.
Suz, that's amazing! An ulcer with psychic powers! Woo woo indeed!
Tawny, i'm a karma believer like you. But another thing I believe about karma is it has its own agenda and its own timetable. It never quite works out like I think it will!
Joanie, you're so right. There are some really nasty unscrupulous people around. Total snake oil salesmen. I'm always disgusted when I hear stories about the scams that they run. Thats where I hope karma has sharp teeth *g*
I think that often, intuitives or psychics can be spot on correct about certain things but not always everything. Often their woo woo skills are great, but they aren't like a faucet that can be turned on and directed at will. Some insights will be solid, others more murky or flat out wrong.
The lady I saw when I was young who told me I'd marry a guy whose name started with a J? I saw her again years later and not one of her predictions panned out *g*
Duck at just the right time, without any outside warning telling you to do so? Anything like that? Just wondering *g*
Oh,yeah. All the time in nursing. There was the time I was suctioning a trach...Never mind, its pretty gross.
But my gut instinct said DUCK and thank God I did!
Suz, I know exactly what you mean. I've learned well not to ignore the mental push to go check on a patient. That is one of the things about a lot of new nurses coming out and going right into specialties instead of good, sound basic med-surg. They don't get to hone their gut instincts.
But let me ask you this... In battle or battle-ish situations, did you ever rely on instincts? Duck at just the right time, without any outside warning telling you to do so? Anything like that? Just wondering *g*
In sparring / hand-to-hand maybe. But it's easily arguable that I was reading some telegraphing from the opponent without being conscious of it. Some twitch, some motion of the eyes, some shifting of weight, some movement of the hands or feet.
It's like when I came inches from being impaled last year by a road sign. MrsP226 understandably flipped out and talked about the woowoo stuff. I simply summed it up as physics and geometry.
LOL Jo - thank you ;-)
And there are wonderful layers that woo woo adds.
I'm a huge fan of science. Especially things like physics that prove woo woo to be less out there and more reality. Of course, things like Kirlian photography, where the picture shows the energy surrounding a livign thing, is pretty cool, too.
Keira, they scare me too LOL.
I'm a wimpy woo woo girl. Give me the light over dark anyday! I'm scared of the dark LOL.
The workshop will be held in a yahoo group so it's all handled by email.
Here's the outline:
Day 1
Introductions
Days 2-4
Pre-writing, training the Muse
Setting the scene
Creating a habit
Spiritual – visualization, affirmations
Day 5 Questions and Answers
Days 6-9
Writing, courting the Muse
Things to do while writing...
Spiritual – Working with the planets
Aromatherapy and Crystals
Using spiritual tools for characterization
Day 10 Questions and Answers
Days 11-13
Post-writing, comforting the Muse
Contests, Editors and Agents... the many faces of rejection.
Keeping the momentum and Playtime in between
Spiritual – Meditation and prayer.
Day 14 Questions and Answers
I had to laugh when I read your header - we have 2 springer spaniels and they make a total "woo woo" sound so I guess they're way more woo woo than I am.
msboatgal at aol dot com
I'm way into WooHOO, but woo woo...not so much
ROFL Sherrinda!!!
Well, I know how Woo Woo you are so I'm not surprised a bit *g* And as someone who has taken your Courting the Muse workshop, I highly recommend it for anyone - Woo Woo or not :-)
I'm a bit Woo Woo in that I try to keep an open mind about things that aren't easily explained but I don't read my horoscope (I don't like another power telling me what type of day I'm going to have. I'd rather be in control of that myself *g*)
I've never read The Secret although it's in my TBR pile and I use visualization all the time to help me achieve goals :-)
Tawny, I tried a little woo woo power to figure what in the world ROFL meant. I sat, brows furrowed, trying to clear my mind. I even tried the sandy beach visual. So let's see if it worked.
Roll On Floor Laughing
Am I right?
Hope you didn't hurt yourself. ;)
Tawny, this is a super post!
Yep, I'm very woo woo. Used to give psychic readings (and still do to friends occasionally), see ghosts, hear ghosts, and was a card-carrying hypotist at one time. I even used hypnosis as part of my anaesthetic for a C-section. I use visualizations, affirmations, and love THE SECRET!
What I didn't know is that your Courting the Muse class combined spiritual and practical tools! Guess who's checking THAT out, ASAP?!
Light,
Nancy Haddock
Jeanne!!! (doing the woo woo sister fist bump)
That is so cool to work for a real-live psychic. Its like having an inside track or something *g*
I'm the total opposite of you! I can't read tarot for myself- I have absolutely no objectivity. You'll have to give me some hints!
Have you read Wayne Dyer? His book, You'll See It When You Believe It is hands down better than The Secret, IMO.
btw... double double, toil and trouble is all I know *g*
Cool Post! I love me some woo-woo *g* Some I believe in. Some I don't. I love to watch Ghost Hunters, but the whole time, I'm trying to come up with rational explanations for things they catch. (Don't get me started on ORBS. Thankfully, GH doesn't use them as evidence)
I had a strange thing happen a few months ago, I was scanning the bestsellers end cap at Kroger and saw a title that caught my eye, I rolled my cart back to take a good look at the book and there was no book by that title there at all. Nothing that even looked like I remembered the title looking near the place where I thought I'd seen the book. I decided I was meant to write a book by that title and it would be a bestseller. Woo-woo -- or wishful thinking *g*.
Karin Shah
STARJACKED
Available now!
Samhain Publishing
Tawny, your online class sounds fabulous, from the outline!
Actually we did have a seriously scary woo-woo moment when my husband and I taught school in Idaho.
Apparently, the speech teacher took some students on a field trip and they got into seances and ouija boards. Several of the poor teenagers came back convinced they'd been possessed by evil spirits that needed to be exorcised. The girls were quite hysterical for some time afterward. The boys, of course, had lots of fodder for making fun of them.
Aww Nancy - Morgan le Fey was unfairly maligned in fiction, IMO *g*
I'm a huge fan of the Arthur myth and all the fabulous stories that have come from it, too, Nancy.
Isn't that talent for imagining possibilities what make us writers? Maybe?
Hi Tawny:
I had my tarot cards read once when I was in my early twenties by a family friend. I wrote down everything he said during the reading and eerily enough, most of what he told me that day has happened..the good and the bad. I'm not sure if that's a good thing! My family, perhaps due to our ethnic background, is superstitious. My aunt sees ghosts and will not spend the night in our house because she says it's haunted which is okay with me because I don't need to know what she may see.
Have a great weekend everyone. :)
Anna, I come from a woo woo family, too. Although I'm probably the woo wooest, since I sort of scoop up bits and pieces of everyones woo woo (which sounds truly disgusting).
I do think that strong intuition - and trusting it - are definitely woo woo, althoug explanable woo woo. And really, isn't all woo woo simply waiting for an explanation?
hmmm, something to ponder *g*
I've had some ridiculously silly woo-woo experiences.
I had a tarot card reader tell me my parents were divorced (They've been married for over 40 years).
I had some guy call "The Blue Mystic Eye" in Venice Beach refer to my 10 year old brother-in-law as my boyfriend. Ewww. That psychic also said I would have 3 boys (I have 2 girls and a boy).
Funny, none of this makes me believe or not believe!
I'm part conventional and part woo woo. And I'll read your palm for $10. :-)
Tawny, I didn't realize accountants were so hard to hypnotize. I've long been curious about hypnotism, but I suspect it doesn't take on control freaks, either
Control freaks are harder, yes *g* Not impossible, but definitley more difficult.
It is fun, isn't it Virginia? And thats really cool that they all said about the same thing. From your post, it doesn't sound like its happened yet?
I have been hypnotized for an experiment at Stanford University. By far the weirdest woo woo experience I've ever had. I'm an 8.
Alternative medicine and therapy--I think there are a lot of scammers around but there are also a lot of things that do work, so I'd keep an open mind but I'd probably want to hear about it from someone I know and respect before I'd spend time and money on it.
There are a lot of scammers out there, Christine. I think even more so in the alternative health field than the psychic field. I'm a big fan of referral. I won't see anyone unless they've been recommended to me and I always took on clients based on word of mouth referrals.
So much that is woo woo is subject to skepticism - with good reason! But if someone you trust refers you in a certain direction, that removes one layer of skepticism. Which for things like hypnisis are always good. Its harder to help someone who is glaring at you saying 'prove it'. LOL.
But... yeah, I have to say I'd always get references and feedback before I saw a practitioner of any kind.
I'm still shivering from Dianna's post -- anyone who burns a book has earned some very nasty karma.
I would say I'm open to woo-woo, although my practical side fights it. My grandfather wrote in his WWI journal that he visited a fortune-teller in France because a lot of other servicemen said she was so good. It seriously shook him up, but he never went into the details (darn it!).
I'm not sure how much of the woo-woo I believe in is actual woo-woo or genetic memory-type woo-woo, which seems perfectly logical to me. My husband, my kids and I are all incredibly vivid dreamers (we call it visiting the parallel universe)and I often dream about houses, for some reason. I remember them on waking (and can remember some dreams decades later), and could almost describe each house, room by room, years after having the dream. Since I frequently got deja vu when traveling in the UK and Europe, I've convinced myself that this is all connected to genetic memory.
I bought myself a cool set of art nouveau tarot cards but have never figured out how to use them. On the other hand, I've never believed in astrology at all, and I'm freaked out by the idea of hypnosis.
Did any of you read Paul Gallico's book, The Hand of Mary Constable? Or heard the story of Bridie Murphy? Those kinds of stories always make me wonder, but I'm too much of a Taurus (even though I don't believe in astrology) to take any of these stories on faith!
(Facebook announcement reminded me to come here. Yay, Facebook!)
I read tarot cards for people (for fun) and write about elves, and I believe in woo woo 0%.
Used to believe in quite a bit of woo woo. There's no woo woo non-believer like an ex-woo woo believer, lemme tell ya.
I interviewed a hypnotherapist for book research, and don't consider that woo woo. Of course, there's hypnosis and then there's stage hypnosis. But all of it is self-hypnosis, as the guy pointed out.
Meditation, also not woo woo. There are measurable benefits to it.
P226, what's your .3 percent? Or are you just hedging?
Treethyme et al said...
I'm still shivering from Dianna's post -- anyone who burns a book has earned some very nasty karma.
ladies, trust me, he did bring on some bad karma, he divorced me and married my best friend and she is truly a very wicked woman. Many times my daughter told me she heard her saying "you are not dealing with Dianna now big boy" and then the fight would be on. Oh to have been a little fly on the wall.....LOL He truly met his match and I just sit back and smiled, a lot.
Oh wow, Suz. I want you as my nurse.
So your moms intuition - did it keep you from getting out of line as a teenager? I always wonder about that *g* My kids can't lie to me but they say thats cuz they are scared LOL, not because I would know better.
But another thing I believe about karma is it has its own agenda and its own timetable. It never quite works out like I think it will!
We're both on the same page, yet again *g* I totally believe that we have no control over karma, only over our reaction to it. And if we sit around festering over when other people will get their just karma as we think it should be, we're wasting a whole lot of time!!
Oh,yeah. All the time in nursing. There was the time I was suctioning a trach...Never mind, its pretty gross.
But my gut instinct said DUCK and thank God I did!
Okay, let me just say EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
I simply summed it up as physics and geometry.
*g* I do think that much woo woo can, eventually as science expands its horizons, be easily explained.
I'm with your Mrs. on this one. And glad physics and geometry were there for ya!!
I believe that everyone has a bit of Woo Woo, just some have more affinity than others. And for most, it's more apparent when we are children and more open to it. I believe in the power of dreams, crystal work, tarot cards, or any tool that helps give comfort, healing, or greater understanding. Also, I think we should use more alternative healing methods along with typical western medicine - we'd all be healthier. I believe in what we put out there in the universe comes back three-fold. There's a lot in this universe we don't understand, so I'm open to new positive experiences!
Great blog, Tawny! Your class sounds wonderful!
Laurie
*g* Scotssgal - really? Your dogs go woo woo LOLOL I love it!!
*g* Beth knows me so well. And yet, she still loves me ;-)
I'm all about believing that we do have control over our lives, Beth. I used to get 'the dangers of fatalism' lectures at the dinner table when I was a kid LOL. So while I find all things woo woo fascinating, I consider them to be more line guidelines than actual rules, ya know?
P226, what's your .3 percent? Or are you just hedging?
My .3 score is based on the fact that science simply cannot explain everything. Going beyond that, science can explain so relatively few things having to do with the human mind. And spirituality is an entire can of worms, which is at least tangentially related to woowoo. So intellectual honesty requires that I leave some room there.
So I have to leave some room for woowoo.
Roll On Floor Laughing
*g* Your woo woo skills serve you well! You're totally right, Sherrinda!!
Whohooo (as opposed to woo woo) Nancy Haddock is in the house! Hey Nancy -how awesome to see you here. I totally knew you were woo woo ;-) I had NO idea that you'd used hypnosis for childbirth though - it's an amazing thing, isn't it? The power our minds have over our body.
Aww, Karin - I love it!!! Talk about motivation to get you writing that best seller. Do you remember the title? Have you started writing it yet? (did you know that in addition to writing and woo woo stuff, I'm a full time nag *g*)
Jo. First off, really??? You taught school in Idaho? I was born there, but haven't lived there since I was 5. But I do go back a few times a year. That is just SO cool. I had no idea.
Okay that said *g*, your story is cue spooky music woo woo. How'd the teachers react? Was it a prank or did the kids really make some scary woo woo connections?
ROFL PinkPeony. If someone told me my house was haunted, I wouldn't want them spending the night either.
Thats cool that your tarot reading was so accurate. Have you ever had him read for you again?
*g* Sounds like your woo woo experiences weren't high on accuracy, Nicki. But how interesting that must have been to be hypnotized for a Stanford experiment. I'd have loved to do that!!
Treethyme, I haven't read those books but I'll look into them, they sound intriguing.
I think genetic memory is a fascinating topic. I wonder if in another twenty or so years we'll have come up with a scientific explanation for almost all woo wooness?
btw, houses in dreams often reflect your life.
I think I just gained new insight into several of you ladies. Who knew?
I'm always too busy trying to find the trick behind the trick to really believe. I'd like to believe in magic and such.
So many things are not in the control of one person only.
Good evening, all. Survived another day in Wal-Mart hell and didn't have to pull out my voodoo doll of my boss once! VBEG
My Mom is extremely woo woo. She was a twin and her twin died when they were six weeks old. My Mom has dreams in which she sees her twin and the twin is always a young girl of about 16 or so. Every time Mom dreams of Lois, something bad happens to someone in the family - could be a car wreck, an accident, a fire or a death, but Lois always comes to tell my Mom.
My youngest brother's invisible friend was the ghost of the man who owned and died in our house in England before we rented it from his brother. We know this because we KNEW he had an invisible friend named John. The last week we lived in England our landlord invited us over for tea and as we were leaving my brother (aged 6 at the time) pointed at a picture on the sideboard and said "There's John." It was a photograph of our landlord's late brother.
The thing is, the my people believe we are all born with the ability to be open to all of the planes of existence and all of the magic of the world. It is just as we grow we forget those senses we need to see it. Animals are born with those senses and they never lose them. And a very few people stay tuned in their whole lives.
Esri- how does one become an ex woo woo believer? *g*
Do you find it shifts your writing as a non woo woo believer, or did was woo woo long gone by the time you started writing?
He truly met his match and I just sit back and smiled, a lot.
the best kind of karma EVER!!!
Laurie, I agree with everything you said *g*
I'm a big fan of alternate healing modalities, but at the same time have an absolute repsect of nurses (often more than doctors *g* go figure) and many aspects of Western medicine. I'd just love to see it incoporate a little more holisitic processes down the road.
Hi Tawny...
No, that was my one and only tarot card reading. He was a friend of my uncle's in Vancouver and at first he was hesitant about doing a reading for me. He had done readings for his family and the outcomes matched his readings and he told me that I may not want to know what the cards had in store for me.
My sister in law's ex-nanny is also an exorcist. We refer to her as Exorcist Nanny. She performs exorcisms throughout Asia and is in high demand. She did an exorcism of my sister in law's house, which is an old hunting lodge built in 1920. They were hearing weird noises in and around the house. My sister in law said she did not want to know what was found during the exorcism. Apparently, Exorcist Nanny found a lot of stuff because she was quite excited to tell her all about it.
My parents sold their home and moved up to Sonoma County. The new owners called my parents a few months later and asked my dad if we had ever seen any ghosts in the house. They claimed there was a middle aged woman moving stuff around the house and several people had seen her. This was the house I grew up in and the mere suggestion of ghosts creeped me out. I'd never seen anything out of the ordinary living there.
I'd say I'm a practical thinker for the most part, but I do believe in karma and miracles.
So I have to leave some room for woowoo.
P226 - you just made my day!!
Oh, Hoooray!! Tawny, your class is towards the end of April. I'm going to sign up. This is going to be good. I've missed taking classes, but have never ventured into the online class world. You're going to be my debut.
Mary, I'm a fan of skeptisism. I really am - I think thats our woo woo safety net to keep those charlatans and snake oil salesmen mentioned in earlier posts from causing us too much trouble.
I hope what you learned about us wasn't disturbing *g* Many a'time I've learned something and then wished so much to return to my innocent lack of knowledge LOL
((Dianna)) [i]shiver[/i] That was one ugly person and I'm so sorry you went through that.
Well said, Tawny - being a fan of skepticism, that is! Having worked for my psychic friend for so many years, I'm a TOTAL skeptic about that sort of thing. She's the real deal and never advertised. Everythign came on referral. I ended up as her client on referral when nothing else was working for a particular issue. Then I ended up working FOR her. :>
TreeThyme, I'm like you in that I'm an incredibly vivid dreamer. I also dream in minute detail about houses. I have to STOP myself from describing the houses I use in my stories because I see them in such incredible, infinite detail. :> Strange, eh?
Wow, Louisa. Thats cool. My dad's had people come to him in dreams after they died, but never as a warning. I've known a few people who have strong beliefs in their sighting of ghosts - and like your brother, these aren't things that can be logiced away.
I've heard that the natural intuitive instincts are strong until about the age of 5. Whether thats a natural age for them to start fading or if its a sociological thing I don't know, but its interesting.
Sounds like it was a great reading, PinkPeony. I have zippo experience with ghosts or exorcists, although I have met a few kids I thought needed exorcised *g*.
Like you, I'd have major issues living in a house with a ghost. Not that I mind sharing, but c'mon.
WHOHOOOOOO Keira!!! I'm so excited you'll be there.
Jeanne - another woo woo sisterhood fist bump *g*
*Grins.* Yeah, go us! ;>
Jeanne - That is so bizarre! Is there a significance to dreaming about houses, I wonder?
Whereabouts in Idaho were you born, Tawny? That's cool. We lived in St. Anthony and Rigby, very very tiny towns, but our first three kids were born in Idaho Falls.
Oh no, the teacher was super serious about this, and teens being what they will, got caught up it her charisma. Dr. Big spent many hours putting out the fires. Too bad he wasn't the principal so he could've fired her a**. What, me? Vindictive? No, just very protective of young adolescents.
Treethyme, I know houses in dreams somehow signify the soul. The rooms in the house are supposed to represent differnt parts of the person's life. Clean houses are apparently good *g* clutter is a sign that things need dealt with and any housing catastrophe is a bad bad thing.
I'm not sure what varying houses would signify though.
Jo -thats just wrong teaching! I'm a firm believer in not exposing kids to anything that would hurt them, even woo woo stuff. I always had a policy to never read for anyone under 18, for instance. Not even my own kids. Just not cool.
Idaho - that is so wild. I was born in Nampa and have a whole slew of family still there. Its a gorgeous state!
I'm like you in that I'm an incredibly vivid dreamer.
I am too. Last night I dreamed I wqas in a tent...with Hugh Jackman.
It was..um...very vivid :-)
So if I'm constantly dreaming about all different houses, does that mean I'm Sybil or something? All those souls? Maybe it's a sign of a writer: Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow
Absolutely, Tawny, Idaho is one of the most beautiful states. That's where I learned to hunt and we lived on venison for four years. And worked in the potato harvest for extra $$. Those were the days!
*g* I'll bet it was vivid, Joanie. I mean, anything done with Hugh should leave a lasting impression, right?
LOL Treethyme -thats the problem with so many 'interpretation dictionaries'. They really don't fit other than in a very loose, general way. But I do like your intuition that the houses represent stories you're creating. That sounds truly possible.
Too much to tell, I'd be writing for a long time about woowooism in my life! The most frequent happening in my life is having my deceased relatives visit me in dreams and then there is my sister who always announces her visits with a cloud of her favorite Nina Ricci perfume! I try to stay open to all woowoo occurrences in my life! You never know when there
is a message there for you.
Pat Cochran
Jo -I've never hunted or harvested potatoes. I'm feeling like a faux Idahoan *g*
I try to stay open to all woowoo occurrences in my life! You never know when there
is a message there for you.
EXACTLY, Pat!!! I'm sorta loving the perfumed warning of a visit LOL. That is just so cool.
I think you've hit the answer, Tawny. I'm surprised I don't dream about freakier houses, if that's the case, since all of my stories are a little twisted!
I can actually remember some dreams I had when I was four or five. One was a typical "falling" dream, except Winnie-the-Pooh was in it, too. (That narrows down my age at the time, too.)
One was another falling dream: we'd be driving along a highway, and a big suspension bridge was up ahead. We'd get there, and the bridge framework would be there, but the road just dropped away. Which might explain why I've always been nervous of big bridges!
The third, and possibly earliest dream I remember, was of a cutaway of a multiple story house. I could see myself and my mom and dad in some of the rooms, and in all the others there were witches, but we couldn't see them from inside the house. Whenever I see a picture of a house cutaway, I flash back on that dream. Weird.
I still think of that as the "witch house" dream. Whatever made me think of it back then, it was scary enough to stick with me all these years. No clue what it meant, it was just really scary!
Treethyme, I love flying dreams. They just feel good *g* I've heard various theories on them, such as it's your spirit leaving your body to travel, etc.
Scary house dreams would stick with you!! I wonder if, because you were so young, it was some kind of intuition that there was scary stuff going on in your life at the time -things that your parents might not notice but that scared you. A mean babysitter, a creepy neighbor, TV show? Something that seemed safe on the outside, but worried you?
I am completely woo woo. I read your post and felt like a kindred spirit. I am a qualified clinical hypnotherapist and PSH therapist and had a practice in Sydney for 11 years until I closed it down to concentrate on my writing. I write fantasy comics with a metaphysical spiritual bent and visionary fiction romance. I watched The Secret for the first time last week and am currently reading Esther and Jerry Hicks. I LOVE Medium and The Ghost Whisperer. Synchronicity or not? We must swap notes on FaceBook.
J
Wow Julie, awesome resume *g* And like you, I downsized my practice to focus on writing after I sold my first book.
Tawny, my younger sister suggester reiki to me once, especially when I was diagnosed with M.S., but I didn't understand why. I think I'm going to have to look into it further. As for my grandmother, when I say faith healer, I mean it in the literal sense. She prayed people back to health. I should know - I'm one of the ones she saved.
Margay
I'm crazy about Friday the 13th! Stayin' at home, not going anywhere and staying away from black cats. Eek!
Just came across this today in case anybody's interested: http://www.tuninginmovie.com/
J
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