Friday, May 26, 2006

An essay on Egomaniacs

Egomaniacs

Why are there so many egomaniacs in the metaphysical field?
Recently I was in a metaphysical chat room and a man was on the mike. He was spouting some nonsense about how his teacher was a Rosicrucian of the 9th level and he was her last and only student and now that she had passed on all her vast knowledge to him, and had no more to teach him, he was now qualified to learn directly from spirit. She obviously didn’t teach him humility or humbleness or modesty or meekness.
People like that are always on mike, because they don’t get nearly enough ego stroking if they just type in the room. All humans can learn from spirit. It’s that quiet little voice inside that says, ‘You know that’s wrong,” or “Turn right at the next light,” or “Don’t leave your purse sitting on the counter.” Don’t be fooled into thinking you have to take $5,000 worth of classes to learn to listen to spirit.
Another woman who frequents the psychic chats seems to pretty much know her stuff, but the first time I encountered her was in a room where she was also on the mike, (of course), and she was shouting at some poor guy who had asked for a reading. She was ranting about how her time was worth $115 to even sit down with someone for five minutes and she was not going to put up with some nobody challenging her authority. I’ve seen her a dozen times since and people seem to hold her in high regard, but I can’t get over that painfully egotistical first encounter.
It’s not just in chat rooms either. I went to a pagan mixer, and as most of us were new they had a round of introductions. The first person to start listed what I called their pedigree. It usually goes something like this: I got my training from the first witch ever to anoint someone in the first high coven of gobbledygook somewhere and I’m a high priest of the 99th degree twice removed. And so it goes around the circle. They get to my boyfriend, and bless his heart he says, “I make arrows.” We left shortly after as he found the crowd too snobby for his taste.
That reminds me of another row I was in on line. A radio personality psychic medium that I’ll call Snobby (not his real name but it rhymes with his real name) comes into a chat room that must have been at least half tarot readers. Right off the bat he gets on mike and says, “Tarot cards were made in a factory and it’s all a bunch of phony baloney.” Well, I was surprised no one even questioned his statement. So I typed that even though cards are made in a factory, it’s the symbolism that matters. I am both a medium and a tarot reader and I can tell you that both systems use symbolism and the understanding of symbols. And sadly, psychics often bicker over which talent is truly psychic and which is just a gimmick. Once you understand symbolism it doesn’t matter if you get the symbols in a hypnotic trance, random occurrence, clouds, smoke, smudging, scrying or runic glyphs. They all work. So when a medium attacks tarot readers, it makes no sense to me. It’s bad enough that the public and the media attack us all the time. When people try to pump up their own gifts/skills and put down the gifts/skills of others I can’t just stand by silently and not stand up for anyone that is putting in a sincere effort. Besides which, starting with tarot is an excellent path to learning mediumship. Since tarot cards have numbers, graphic shapes, colors, and characters, they are a great way to learn to work with symbolism. Look how many people believe in the bible, and it’s made in factories too.
People who spout off all their credentials unasked don’t impress me. What impresses me is if they can sit down and do a good job of whatever skill they are trying to impress me with.
When I interviewed to work as a psychic at a famous psychic foundation, to their credit they never asked me to list who I’d studied with or where I’d practiced or what colleges I went to. I sat down with three of their directors one at a time, and did readings for 2 hours straight. Afterwards, they added me to their list of professional psychics. I’m not saying it’s bad to take a class or credentials are bad per se. I’m just saying the proof is in the pudding. Do a spectacular job first, and then if people still want to know how you got to where you are, by all means tell them. And if you just started and don’t have any credentials, that is all right too, because sincerity goes a long way.

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