New Age, The Prejudice-Talk Nobody Seems to Question

I’m not a big fan of hate speech. Are you?

When I teach Face Reading Secrets(R), one type of language I discourage is nasty facial put-downs — like “Big schnozz.” I like to raise consciousness about disrespectful ways to talk or “joke” about human faces. The whole point of physiognomy is that everything about the face has meaning.

Ironically, face reading isn’t just a means to discourage hate speech about faces. It receives its fair share. Often I have shared newspaper interviews with Paul Ekman, the highly credentialed college professor known for his face reading. (The TV show “Lie to Me” was based on his work.) That work really is marvellous, only it ain’t face reading. It’s expression reading.

Nevertheless, Ekman has often been interviewed as a face reading source, just like me. Sometimes he has been interviewed along with me, with our quotes used in the same article.When I read his part of the interview, the reporter never fails to cite Ekman’s categoric put-down of all other types of face reading. Gee, thanks a lot, Paul.

But if there’s an aspect of life where even more nasty put-downs occur with regularity, it concerns “New Age.” We New Agers seem to be oblivious to it. Have you been?

I don’t love the term “New Age,” because the connotation is so pejorative. Yet, Bl0g-Buddies, we definitely fall into that category, don’t we?

The Glory of New Age 

What does “New Age” mean to you? To me it means:

1. Truth seeking, where you are willing to blend new wisdom with older wisdom traditions — anything really that has stood the test of time.
2. Spiritual seekers are equal — no more of that old “Authorities know what is best for you, dear. Just do what you’re told.” Also no more of the specialty once attributed to Queen Victoria. What, you don’t enjoy sex? “Do it for England.”
3. Self-authority rules. You decide for yourself what helps you and what doesn’t.
4. Not being afraid to seek God, or Enlightenment in your own terms — by coloring outside the lines in the coloring book, thinking outside the box, investigating “disorganized” religion, or whatever other path works for you.
5. Avoiding unnecessary judgment of other people and their sacred paths — although I do think it’s important not to confuse avoiding judgment with avoiding discernment.

I have proudly taught and facilitated healing as part of the New Age crowd for 40 years. Which is even longer than people have used that term.

Old Age Disrespect

Hate speech, casual disrespect, gusto with using words that reflect prejudice — radio host Laura Schlessinger has gotten into trouble with that recently. In her notorious interview where she used the term “N.” 12 times, what if instead she had said something like “New Age horrible person”?

In German, that could be all one word, right? Imagine saying it New-Age-horrible- person all in a rush with a German accent. Thanks to that great linguistic feature of the German tongue, we have, voila! a New Age “N.” word.

Had Schlessinger used that  New Age “N.” word 12 times, who would have cared? Who would even have noticed?

It is apparently socially acceptable to heap insult on “New Age.” And we even do it to ourselves.

Offhand, I can’t think of another social group in America to receive such treatment, can you? Granted, I don’t read a lot of media praise of “Militia Groups.” But at least they don’t diss themselves.

Besides, Militia groups have murdered people and want to kill more. How many tree huggers do you know who are packing a weapon? Why would the establishment be so eager to insult this group at every opportunity?

You may know that I write a quarterly book review column for Pathways Magazine. With the fall column in press, I’m already at work on the winter column of “MBS Books With Muscle.” Yesterday, I was reading some of the galleys sent by one of my very favorite New Age publishers, New World Library.

As a book reviewer, most of the work involves selecting which books to review. That means seeking out titles, going through them, and deciding who deserves the rare compliment of a review – rare because there are so very few legitimate opportunities today for book reviews, especially in the New Age field. 

Chetan Parkyn Dissed New Age

One book I will, unfortunately, not consider for a book review is Human Design: Discover the Person You Were Born to Be by Chetan Parkyn. Sure, I was impressed initially. This man has given over 2,000 readings in the last 15 years. Besides, he’s published by New World Library, you know, one of my very favorite New Age publishers.

So I’m smiling and merrily reading along until I get to page 19:

“This is not some New Age concept — its accuracy is inescapable and timeless”

Gee, thanks, Mr. Parkyn. You’re publishing a New Age book for New Age readers (see definition of “New Age” above) and you just can’t wait to gratuitiously insult this group.

I’ve seen it before, heard it before. Countless times. Only I just don’t stand for it any more.

“Eat, Pray, Love” Disses New Age, Too 

Did you read Elizabeth Gilbert’s megabestseller, now also a movie? I tried reading it once.

It’s supposed to be a heartfelt, honest book about personal spiritual seeking. Very New Age, right? Maybe you read it and loved it, like so many of my New Age friends.

Well, I stopped cold in my excited little reader’s tracks. I stopped early because of a put-down of New Age.

Just now, putting together this blog post, I researched at Amazon to find the exact quote and couldn’t. For that I’ll have to find the book itself. Or maybe you can locate it if you love this book so much you own it. (Comment away!)

The place to look is probably between pages 5 and 25. Apparently the put-down OF New Age didn’t exactly contain the terms “New Age,” but the spirit of put-down was crystal clear. You know, crystal, so New Age, right?

Even searching at Amazon this morning, I was able to find both these quotes:

p. 49 “Some spacey New Age massage therapist.”

p. 80 “None of this new age southern California olives-and-sundried-tomato wannabe pizza twaddle.”

Thanks so much, Ms. Gilbert. While wooing your New Age audience, and bringing in new folk to the large but humble New Age tent, be sure to mock us.

How Perfect to Involve Julia Roberts

With “Eat, Pray, Love” the movie, you’ve seen the main publicity photo everywhere, right? Julia Roberts is sitting on a bench, eating, looking vulnerable. It is, evidently, part of the fantasy being sold that a woman who weighs perhaps 90 pounds, when soaking wet, spends random moments by stuffing her face with junk food.

And perhaps you know that Roberts bought the rights to the book. She wasn’t merely cast in the role. This entire flick is her vanity vehicle.

Julia Roberts, interested in market share from the New Age community? Sure. It figures.

Years ago, I read an interview with her in a women’s magazine where she was asked about practicing yoga. The star reassured all of America that she only did yoga for the sake of her butt.

That’s Julia Roberts for you! When putting together this blog post, I searched for the original quote. Didn’t find it. But I did find this one from an article in the January-February 2000 issue of Yoga Journal, “Americanized Yoga” by Anne Cushman, where Roberts was asked about yoga:

“I don’t want it to change my life,” actress Julia Roberts told In Style magazine. “Just my butt.”

Use Energetic Literacy + Self-Respect

Julia Roberts and Elizabeth Gilbert (and Paul Ekman, for that matter) can’t stop me from going my merry way on this New Age path. And, as I go, I will do it as a zesty and unapologetic New Ager.

On my version of New Age path, I will continue to use Energetic Literacy, sorting the wheat from the chaff among New Agers and everyone else.

 There’s nothing like aura reading, face reading, and skilled empath merges to tell the truth about people. Does Julia Roberts really have a huge spiritual connection going on at her third eye chakra? Does she really love other people a lot?

Hey, forget the “Pray” and “Love” parts. Does Julia even do much of that activity which we little people call “Eat”? 

In this topsy-turvy world, anything goes. And we do have the right to read it deeper to find out what is, and isn’t true.

One suggestion I have for you Blog-Buddies is this. Don’t let people in your life, or authors of books you consider buying, get away with the New Age N.-word. Maybe the usage will make you angry or sad (I admit to both). But denial never made human life better. Not in any age.