Look, I understand the appeal of a good vomit party as much as the next guy, but there's one simple rule that holds true for everything that life is better if you follow:
NEVER EVER EVER GO TO THE DESERT WITH ANYONE WHO CLAIMS TO BE A GURU.
No good will ever come of it, I defy you to name an example of when it has. #jamesarthurray
My husband and I have some land in northern Arizona. We also have a tarp. I'm thinking I now see how we can finance our retirement. The only obstacle is finding a way to get on Oprah. Hmmmm. What if we built a weather balloon and.... #jamesarthurray
Oprah's Favorite Things, Fall 2009:
alpaca blankets, old fashioned Irish oatmeal, going to the ballet, cucumber scented facial exfoliant, vomiting, and watching people die on a vision quest #jamesarthurray
@toweringinferno: But she gives away money to charities, and "gives" out cars and gifts at Christmas time. That certainly weighs out trivilizing the Holocaust, killing people through stupid spiritual/medical advice, and snatching money from weak-minded insecure middle aged women at every turn, doesn't it? #jamesarthurray
So you want to do like the American Indians of old and participate in a sweat and you just found out, much to your disappointment, that your near-by Indian tribe did not invite you to the res for their sweat because you are an 'outsider,' aka, not a member of their nation/tribe. But you want to experience a vision quest so you do some research on the internet and find an Oprah-endorsed New Age guru who has long hair and wears a t-shirt with a wolf howling at a moon/dream-catcher.
Now, he may be a scam artist but you just can't tell, right? You don't want to fork out a few grand for a phony! So here is my gift to you: a list of ways to tell if the sweat lodge-vision quest you seek is run by a con man.
If a sweat lodge involves a white guy spouting the 'law of attraction' or other new-agey bullsquash, it's a scam.
If a vision quest involves a white guy charging you $9,695 + tax, it's a scam.
If during the sweat you see 55 Caucasians, 2 Asians, 2 Hispanics, a Puerto Rican and nary an American Indian, it's a scam.
If your sweat lodge experience involves both men and women together in the same lodge, it's a scam.*
If your sweat lodge consists of a rigged-up tarp or a teepee with a colorful ying-yang on the side, yep, it's a scam.
And finally, if you look into the distance and see a group of Navajo/Apache/members of local Indian nation either 1. rolling their eyes, 2. shaking their heads, or 3. laughing and pointing, it's a scam.
Sincerely,
Fry Bread Power
*Funny story, an incident like this happened a few years ago in CA (no one died) and when the newscaster mentioned that both men and women inside the sweat became ill, my father (who has participated in many traditional sweats) was appalled--men and women never hold sweats together. #jamesarthurray
Things like this always remind me of why I broke up with my New Agey ex. Hanging out with his friends I've never been around so many delusional crackpots in my fucking life. I wonder what kind of lame bullshit excuse he would come up with to explain this one away. #jamesarthurray
Gah, I am so pissed off by the inappropriate (and in this case deadly) misappropriation of my culture in the name of New Age touchy-feely bullcrap that I could scream. Why doesn't anyone invent a NA get-rich-quick scam that involves building a faux Catholic Church and having your followers seek enlightenment for $25,000 by getting diddled by a dude in a cassock? I'm having serious sympathy for the actual followers of Kabbalah, now, and if I see Demi Moore I'm going to smack her right in the face. #jamesarthurray
If the mucus binds us, then shouldn't vomit be described as a welding agent?
(Do I need to reference Ace Ventura here, or did you get that?) #jamesarthurray
This is sick. Yet another "guru" creating a kind of "quickfire"-type of cult. No pun intended, because this is way too messed up for puns. #jamesarthurray
11/26/09
Hopefully this tragedy will cause her to re-think her runaway train promotion of charlatans.
10/22/09
10/22/09
NEVER EVER EVER GO TO THE DESERT WITH ANYONE WHO CLAIMS TO BE A GURU.
No good will ever come of it, I defy you to name an example of when it has. #jamesarthurray
10/22/09
10/22/09
10/22/09
Be sure your weather balloon soars high enough so you can see Russia ... then for sure you're a lock on Oprah. #jamesarthurray
10/22/09
10/22/09
alpaca blankets, old fashioned Irish oatmeal, going to the ballet, cucumber scented facial exfoliant, vomiting, and watching people die on a vision quest #jamesarthurray
10/22/09
10/22/09
10/28/09
10/22/09
So you want to do like the American Indians of old and participate in a sweat and you just found out, much to your disappointment, that your near-by Indian tribe did not invite you to the res for their sweat because you are an 'outsider,' aka, not a member of their nation/tribe. But you want to experience a vision quest so you do some research on the internet and find an Oprah-endorsed New Age guru who has long hair and wears a t-shirt with a wolf howling at a moon/dream-catcher.
Now, he may be a scam artist but you just can't tell, right? You don't want to fork out a few grand for a phony! So here is my gift to you: a list of ways to tell if the sweat lodge-vision quest you seek is run by a con man.
If a sweat lodge involves a white guy spouting the 'law of attraction' or other new-agey bullsquash, it's a scam.
If a vision quest involves a white guy charging you $9,695 + tax, it's a scam.
If during the sweat you see 55 Caucasians, 2 Asians, 2 Hispanics, a Puerto Rican and nary an American Indian, it's a scam.
If your sweat lodge experience involves both men and women together in the same lodge, it's a scam.*
If your sweat lodge consists of a rigged-up tarp or a teepee with a colorful ying-yang on the side, yep, it's a scam.
And finally, if you look into the distance and see a group of Navajo/Apache/members of local Indian nation either 1. rolling their eyes, 2. shaking their heads, or 3. laughing and pointing, it's a scam.
Sincerely,
Fry Bread Power
*Funny story, an incident like this happened a few years ago in CA (no one died) and when the newscaster mentioned that both men and women inside the sweat became ill, my father (who has participated in many traditional sweats) was appalled--men and women never hold sweats together. #jamesarthurray
10/22/09
That shit is delicious. #jamesarthurray
10/22/09
10/22/09
10/22/09
10/22/09
10/22/09
(Do I need to reference Ace Ventura here, or did you get that?) #jamesarthurray
10/22/09