Jan 302012
 

By Kerri

I was a theistic-type ‘metaphysical healer’ less than 2 years ago. I wanted to raise the world’s ‘frequency and consciousness’. I read all the books, attended the classes and shows, got a certificate in ‘crystal healing’ and everything. I was surrounded every moment with constant New Age beliefs while working at a local health food store.
(These days, as a skeptic, ‘having a certificate in crystal therapy’ is like having a certificate in training unicorns and dancing with leprechauns. It’s deluded, doesn’t exist, and is a waste of everyone’s time.)

Being an avid New Ager, I thought/believed:

  • I had psychic powers and could heal people with nothing but my hands and thoughts.
  • That we had swirling colors of ‘energy’ all around us and if I ‘trained’ enough, I could see and read them like a colourful Morse code. (Chakras or Aura Reading)
  • That if you wore a symbol of something, that that symbol had a particular ability to give you. (Runes/Celtic symbols, Tribal/goddess figurines, religious symbols etc.)
  • And more*

Fortunately, reality gave way. Attempting to look into any evidence to justify my beliefs to others, I came up empty handed or shot full of holes. The science that I loved so much couldn’t make any sense of this non-specific ‘energy’ business. Everything I had believed in wasn’t true, and had no rational or logical backing to it. Reading article after article critiquing my beliefs sounded the death knell for my entire way of life.

My heart broke. It was nothing more than wishful thinking and a desire to actually have ‘magic’ and ‘powers’ in some form or another in my life. I thought I could be special.

I was lied to. I was mislead. I was deluded. It was an illusion. The veil was lifted, and I couldn’t go back.

I became an atheist at the same time I gave up all of my New Age beliefs. It only drove me further to seek the truth, and I didn’t find religion there.

Not having any skeptics around me in life didn’t help in preventing me from falling for the charade, either. I was raised to be theistic and I guess, in the end, raised to accept whatever anyone told me or suggested. Magic and the esoteric are always supported by religion. Logic and critical thinking are not.

It’s All The Same

Of course, every religion, every spiritual ‘practice’ makes these sort of magical, mystical, no evidence claims. What does ‘awakening’, ‘frequency’ and ‘consciousness’ even mean in the sort of ambiguous context New Age puts it in? Why would certain colors or crystals on parts of my body ‘heal me’? Why would a planetary position change or affect my personal life?

This metaphysical stuff is the same ‘spiritual’ blather that religion requires. It’s put into a nicer looking more ‘modern’ (and I use that term lightly) package so that all the usual constricting and contradicting rules and doctrine of a religion don’t have to be followed. It just ‘feels’ better because there is no fear or guilt attached. There is no overlooking mean person in the sky judging you, there are just wispy magical energies around you that can help you if you can find them. It’s all the same basic thoughts and ideas but with no storyline, no rules, and no characters to ‘hold it together’ like religion creates.

Here are some beliefs in ‘New Age’ compared to some religious beliefs:

  • Belief that we are all ‘special’ and have some ‘special’ purpose? Check
  • Belief that this ‘purpose’ is somehow ‘revealed to us’ through mystical/magical means? Check
  • Belief in some higher spiritual power(s)(like the universe or ‘energy’ as an anthropomorphic entity)? Check
  • Belief in a ‘soul’ or life force? Check
  • Belief that our ‘soul’ goes somewhere or that something special happens after our body death)’? Check
  • Belief that by doing particular things we can gain higher access to certain ‘planes of existence/being/consciousness’? Check
  • Belief that moving the hands over the body or laying hands on the body can ‘heal’ someone? Check
  • Belief that particular objects, colors, or words contain magical powers? Check
  • Belief that a few particular people know the ‘truth’ and can share their ‘special knowledge’ with the rest of us who are not so ‘enlightened’? Check
  • Belief in ‘love’ being some ultimate ‘thing’ that we all just need to be ‘complete’ and that it flows from ‘something’ to us? Check
  • Hallucinations and feelings that supposedly can’t be described/lights/overwhelming emotion? Check
  • Relying on pure anecdotal testimony? Check

In the end, it’s all the same delusion.

*I also used to believe that:
-Everyone else around me was constantly sick with ‘bad energies’ that needed to be ‘cleansed’ and ‘balanced’. (Reiki)
-Burning a plant in my house would rid it of some ‘energy’ that wasn’t supposed to be there. (Ritualistic sage home and body ‘cleansing’)
-The way the planets moved had an effect on my life. (Astrology)
-Magical faeries, angels, and ‘spirit animals’ actually lead my life somehow. (Life or spirit guides)
-Sticking needles into points on your body ‘heals’ it. (Acupuncture)
-A flower had a magical essence that could remove ‘bad’ emotions (Flower Essences).
-There is a ‘map’ of the human body on the foot, and if you touch those corresponding points, it’ll help heal that part fo your body.(Reflexology)
-Putting furniture in a particular pattern in a room changed how things are ‘attracted’ to you in life. (Feng Shui)
– Holding a product in your hand while someone ‘tests’ your muscle strength of your arm could tell you whether or not something was helpful for you. (Muscle Testing)
-Certain colors could ‘heal’ afflictions, pain etc. (Color and Chakra Therapy)
-Plain water that had supposedly gone through some sort of mixing treatment could ‘heal’ people.(Homeopathy)

 Posted by at 3:00 PM