Little Shop of Auras

A Spiritualist School in Westbrook Offers a Metaphysical Menu That Includes Massages, Marriages and Helping People Connect With Their Higher Selves.
A Spiritualist School in Westbrook Offers a Metaphysical Menu That Includes Massages, Marriages and Helping People Connect With Their Higher Selves.
New college of mystical studies — from astrology to potions — is for adults only EDMONTON — Canadian children are about to see one of their greatest fantasies come true: the opening of a real-life Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But in a cruel twist of fate, they’ll have to wait until high-school graduation to attend. Advertised as an “adult version of Hogwarts,” the Northern Star College of Mystical Studies is now taking applications for its inaugural certification program. Just like Harry Potter’s fictional alma mater, the unique Edmonton-based school will teach herbology, potions, astrology and divination, among other
A Christian group says a stress-reduction classes for students at a Raleigh elementary school promoted “New Age” beliefs and were school-sponsored religious activities that violated the First Amendment. Called2Action, a local activist organization, has sent a letter to Wake County Schools Superintendent Bill McNeal and school board members asking them to make sure this kind of “spiritual and religious program” doesn’t happen again. “For a Christian parent, you’ve got some areas of concern that they’re teaching things opposite to your faith,” said Steve Noble, chairman of Called2Action. “But what’s even beyond that is it’s violating the (First Amendment) establishment clause.”
Even by the standards of the alternative therapies said to be used by Cherie Blair, submitting her husband’s toenail clippings to a health guru’s pendulum is taking her alleged New Age obsession to a higher level. Mrs Blair, a human rights lawyer, has long been the subject of claims about her fondness for weird and wonderful treatments, ranging from a Mayan rebirthing ceremony to eating strawberry leaves to cure swollen ankles. But a book published yesterday about the Blairs has taken tales of odd practices inside the prime ministerial household to new extremes. Such was the eyebrow-raising nature of the
The year’s most unexpected indie hit in American cinemas – a film about quantum physics – is about to open here. But how are ordinary mortals to judge its assertions about the nature of matter, mind, and the universe? We asked some of Britain’s best scientific brains to give us their verdicts. A wedding photographer in a state of post-divorce triste, Amanda (Marlee Matlin), starts a search for meaning. But science keeps colliding with her spiritual quest as What the Bleep Do We Know!? – a film by William Arntz and Betsy Chasse – interrogates a range of talking-head savants
In a rapid change of heart, a local Episcopal priest is abandoning Druid spirituality – a decision made one day after it was reported that he had renounced his Episcopal ordination and become the founding priest of a Druid group. The Rev. W. William Melnyk notified Diocese of Pennsylvania Bishop Charles E. Bennison of his turnabout in a telephone message Friday evening, Bennison said yesterday. Melnyk did not say whether he would seek reinstatement as an Episcopal priest. He lost his post as rector of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Downingtown in November when the news of his Druid involvement
When the DVD of What the Bleep Do We Know!? hit the market last month, it did so after earning more than $10 million in theaters over the past year and a half and trailing only The Incredibles among preorders on Amazon.com. Not bad for a movie you’ve probably never heard of. Or maybe you have. The Bleep, as it’s affectionately called among partisans, used the same kind of viral, grass-roots marketing that made such unlikely hits of The Blair Witch Project, Fahrenheit 9/11 and The Passion of the Christ. Indeed, The Bleep may fairly be described as sort of
The former Downingtown rector said it was “a joyous occasion.” An Episcopal priest who resigned from a Downingtown church last fall after his ties to a Druid society were made public has renounced his Episcopal ordination and become a Druid priest. W. William Melnyk, former rector of St. James’ Episcopal Church, has formed the Llynhydd Grove of the Druid Order of the Yew, which he is leading under his Druid name, OakWyse. In a phone interview yesterday, Melnyk called his move “a joyous occasion.” See Also Episcopal priest who turned Druid changes his mind (Apr. 19, 2005) The involvement of
Therapies like yoga have become part of the mainstream in the last 30 years. But other approaches – such as channeling Archangel Zadkiel – still beckon from the outside. Christina Florence lays out the colorful cards from the tarot deck on the table between her and a client, and passes her pale, green eyes over them with a swiftness born of experience and confidence. “Well, I can see that you’re a grounded person and you’re a survivor,” she says. “But this fear card keeps coming up. It’s keeping you in the hamster cage, keeping you from trying new things.” Florence,
A south Oregon town is a magnet for spiritual seekers who reject mainstream religion but are searching for enlightenment ASHLAND, Ore. – In Ashland, North America’s newest spiritual mecca, the well-off, educated residents who fill the coffee bars, boutiques and healing centers do not see themselves as mere Americans. They see themselves as citizens of a sacred cosmos. In this idyllic town of 20,000 in the isolated south of Oregon, it seems almost more difficult to find someone who hasn’t written a book on spirituality than someone who has. This new wave of Oregon seekers contains adamant critics of their