One of my favourite
YouTubers, Jaclyn Glenn, recently released a web series called ‘The Skeptic’s
Guide to Wellness.’ It’s a five episode series with each episode lasting 10-12
mins. Currently there is only one season but she is considering a second. In
the series she explores alternative methods of healing to traditional medicine
such as crystal healing and hypnotherapy. Generally she is sceptical of most,
finding that most of these therapies work through the placebo effect. Whilst
some do have a relaxing effect, there is no solid evidence to prove any of
these therapies as safe alternatives to Western Medicine.
Jaclyn states in one of
her YouTube videos that not all atheists are sceptics and not all sceptics are
atheists. She is a sceptic and atheist; I would say I am both – I like to try
things out to see if they work before making conclusions. My ex boyfriend was a
Christian but he spurned Astrology for the nonsense that it is. I know
atheists/non-believers that believe in ghosts or afterlife or ‘paranormal
activity.’ Astral projection, tarot cards, healing crystals; there are all
sorts of alternative therapies and ‘New Age’ practices. (Also see my post on
Witchcraft): http://www.thezarinamachablog.co.uk/2017/09/witchcraft.html
I don’t dispute it all; as
mentioned I don’t fully dispute anything until I have tried it for myself and
weighed it all up. I am going to discuss my opinions and delve into some
experiences with ‘New Age’ ideas and practices.
As a younger teenager I
went through a phase of being super into Astrology and reading up about it. I
believed it for years; I had a book all about Astrology from the library, I
researched it, and it is undoubtedly highly interesting. I know my birth chart
and could tell you all the different signs and symbols and meanings. (Sun sign:
Gemini; Moon sign: Aquarius, Ascending/Rising sign: Aquarius, Descending sign:
Leo, Midheaven: Sagittarius, Immum Coeli: Taurus).
There is not one single piece of evidence on the planet that supports Astrology. Humans are shaped by our genes and our experiences. The idea that the planets have some metaphysical effect on humans is extremely self-centered and anthropocentric. Billions of humans have come and gone; separating the lot of us into twelve distinct ‘personality characteristics’ based on no evidence is absurd. I’m not sure where Astrology came from (pretty such it was the Ancient Egyptians); my guess is they used this stuff to try and figure out how humans were, just like they invented Gods to understand why the sun rose in the morning and set at night.
There is not one single piece of evidence on the planet that supports Astrology. Humans are shaped by our genes and our experiences. The idea that the planets have some metaphysical effect on humans is extremely self-centered and anthropocentric. Billions of humans have come and gone; separating the lot of us into twelve distinct ‘personality characteristics’ based on no evidence is absurd. I’m not sure where Astrology came from (pretty such it was the Ancient Egyptians); my guess is they used this stuff to try and figure out how humans were, just like they invented Gods to understand why the sun rose in the morning and set at night.
Confirmation bias is extremely powerful, and I believe it plays a large role in things
like religion and alternative beliefs. When you read your horoscope or your
astrological sign, your brain finds patterns that make you
think ‘ah, that totally fits me!’ There is no logical reason to believe that
every single person born on the same day or the same month is going to have
similar personality characteristics. I had this good friend that was OBSESSED with Astrology to the point
where all I wanted was to slap the shit out of her (I didn’t; I often feel like
slapping people though) because she tried to link everything to it. ‘I don’t
get along with Capricorns!’ OH MY FUCKING GOD KILL ME.
Sure, Gemini is ruled by
Mercury, the alleged planet of intellect (and who decided that anyway? Humans?
Mercury is nothing but a burning rock of fire) and yeah I’m pretty chatty and
intellectual. But plenty of people born between the end of May and June are not
chatty or intellectual, and plenty born at other times of the year are. If one
really wanted to objectively measure Astrology they could design a set of
questions that asked people about their individual personality (as well as
their date of birth) and then quantify the results based on people born at x
time of year correlating more with said personality. They could give this to thousands
of people in different countries and see what the results were. I don’t know
what they would be, but the likelihood is it wouldn’t prove Astrology is real.
As for other stuff, like
tarot cards and non-traditional healing, I have dabbled. Tarot cards are purely
interpretive; I have them, my brother has them, and I know how to do them. All they
do is fit around what you think and confirm what you already know. There is no
actual evidence that they mean anything. They’re fun, but a lot of the cards
boil down to similar things: some are positive (the Sun, the Star, the Lovers)
and some are negative (the Tower, the Devil, the Moon.) Don’t take tarot cards
too seriously; no one can predict the future (unless we live in a finite ordered
deterministic universe, which Scientists are trying to figure out).
In the Summer I did visit
a very kind lady in a ‘magic shop’ with my brother, who is very much into all
this New Age mumbo-jumbo. The shop was beautiful and smelt of lovely incense,
and had pretty crystals and lucky Chinese cats and little ornaments everywhere.
My brother and I both had separate readings done for us by the lady. I won’t go
into detail about what she said, but a lot of what she said regarding me was true
and correlated with my life and how I see myself. She didn’t come across as a ‘charlatan’
or someone who was just trying to con me for money; she was very kind and
genuine. Whether what she did was ‘real’ or not, it had a positive effect on me
and I would visit her again.
In terms of Eastern
Medicine, I have had acupuncture done to me. Acupuncture is widely recognised as
a practice with health benefits, like massage and meditation. How it works is
little needles are placed into the body, stimulating the release of
pain-releasing endorphins. Some people have acupuncture to help with back-pain
or chronic migraines. I suffered from IBS and constipation aged 16-18 due to
the enormous stress I put myself under when taking my A levels. I’m not sure if
I would say acupuncture helped it; when I came back from York I had my five
sessions and I wasn’t supposed to drink alcohol on the days I was having it,
but being an alkie, well, I drank alcohol. I would say my IBS has declined
since leaving school and becoming more relaxed in myself; certainly since being
in recovery and no longer drinking. (Note: I wasn’t drinking heavily till I was
18 so my IBS at 16 wasn’t the result of alcohol – more likely it was the result
of all the junk food I binged on).

Some people take
psychedelics like DMT, shrooms or acid, and claim they have this ‘spiritual
experience’ that makes them know all the answers to the universe. I think
taking drugs to ‘achieve’ some sort of ‘spiritual enlightenment’ is extremely dangerous
and spiritual satisfaction and wellbeing can be achieved without the use of
harmful drugs. If some people take these drugs and it has positive effects on
them, good for them, but long term these drugs have a poor effect on the brain
and can re-wire the brain, in some cases leading to severe mental illnesses.
Crystal Healing is something
Jaclyn covered in her series, and her video on it was quite funny. She stated
and I agree that carrying a crystal to remind yourself to stay positive can
have a positive effect on the brain. What we think, we become. Positivity
breeds positivity, just as negativity breeds negativity; correlates with the
laws of physics. Crystals are also very pretty to look at. I have a rose quartz
necklace (that I bought from the shop where I had the reading) that I think is
lovely (also bought my friend one) but I don’t believe it possesses intrinsic power.
Crystals are rocks, they don’t intrinsically hold ‘healing power.’

Karma is just the fact
that what goes around comes around; if you treat someone like shit, you’re
likely to receive that back. It correlates with a causal deterministic universe
where everything is linked, and we are all connected and part of each other. I’m
no expert in Physics, Science, Buddhism or any of that stuff, but I do think
that is the simplest crux of it and no more need be read into it then that. I
think mystifying things can lead to some becoming confused and creating
unnecessary ‘heebie-jeebies’ that don't need to be there.
So yeah, there was my very
long post on, erm, astrology and new age stuff. I hope you enjoyed it; please
leave your thoughts below on anything I have covered within the post!
Thank you for such a well written article. It’s full of insightful information and entertaining descriptions. Your point of view is the best among many voyance internet
ReplyDeleteNo worries! Glad you enjoyed it!
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