lifted from another tribe...
"2012 - The year of the Dreamspell prophecy when we will ascendinto our light-beings and become one with the cosmic galactic
realm of the Gods and Goddesses... .. errr some shit like that.
Astrology - A convenient system to shift responsibility for
peoples' fucked up choices.
Ascension - fear of death. fear of life. myths concocted for those
too afraid to cope with the idea that there might not be a second
chance at this.
Bad Vibes - Someone called you on your bullshit or didn’t give you
what you wanted.
Babylon - The system that produced all the goods to facilitate
your neo-bohemian life style choices.
Burningman - A huge art installation in the desert that many
hippies have mistaken for a model of Utopian society which they
attempt to recreate in their hometowns for the next 51 weeks.
Ignoring the fact that everything about it is completely
unsustainable.
Community Painting - A method to transform a perfectly good
piece of wood and paint into the most hideous thing you've ever
laid eyes on.
Chakras out of Alignment - I'm fucked up and looking for things to
blame it on.
Cleansing - One of the most important steps in becoming
condescending towards average people.
Come-unity - The first stage in a free for all bicker-fest; the main
function of which is to water down any good ideas into something
no one is happy with.
Cosmic - see: "Magical"
Dakini - Has a nicer ring to it than "slut".
Dreamspell - A complete bastardization of an ancient wisdom
which gave rise to yet another useless method of bullshit
divination.
Ecstatic Dance - Flailing around arhythmically.
Enlightened - Does not in any way challenge your narrow view of
the world.
Facilitate - Allow others to do.
Family - A circle of Hippie friends who are so far out on a
fringe-tangent of fashion and ideology that they could never
actually interact with any one's real family.
Festival - A party; usually dressed up to have some kind of
socio-political or spiritual significance. This of course has little
impact on the number of bad trips, fights, and misuse of the land
that takes place. Often doesn't change anything but gives revelers
the impression that it has.
Gifting - The act of dumping your useless crap on other people.
Gift Economy - two possible meanings - 1) Great until you end up with a
bunch of "landfill fodder" from people who missed the point or 2) rich people
giving away free drugs
Green Energy - A way to say "money" without acknowledging the fact that
you need legal tender from the United States Treasury in order to live and
function in society.
Green Festival - Any festival where the promoters made a half-assed
attempt to rent bio-fuel generators and place recycle bins next to trash cans.
They all become trash cans in the end.
Goddess - A worshipful term used for the highest echelon of female hippies
by SNAGS and Spiritual Guides. Therefore the "goddess" is usually young,
pretty, dreadlocked and impeccably dressed. The goddess however fully plays
into the role and usually embodies a multi-dimensional stare, extremely rigid
and controlled movement to give rise to the illusion they float on air and
100% fluent in galactic lingo. Don't attempt to communicate with them if you
don't wish to be shot down with laser beams from their eyes
Goddess Worship - ogling or stalking goddesses (see Captain Erotica).
Hater – People who are ‘howling’ while reading this (see also: asshole)
Healing - An adjective to make anything seem more profound than it really is.
Don't worry it won't 'actually' heal you.
Holding Space - The art of actively doing nothing.
Holographic - Once you hear this word you know its a crackpot idea Unless
of course one is talking about holograms.
Higher Purpose - Unemployment.
Jah Bless - If you are a white rasta the only time I want to hear you say Jah
Bless is when someone asks your occupation. See: "Rasta"
Kind Brother: What you become when a hippie wants something from you.
Intentional - Covers a wide gamut of pretentious holier-than- thou bullshit;
generally accompanies a gratuitous waste of your time.
Invoke - To shamelessly beg powers beyond your comprehension to do
something.
Indigo Child - Screaming feral kid with nappy hair, filthy clothes and no respect for their parents. Often has more festivals under their belt than you do.
Intergalactic - Taking place within the confines of the industrialized western
society.
Light Being - The person you wish you could be but will never have the
discipline to actually become.
Light Warrior - A particularly popular hippie.
Manifest - How the enlightened mooch from their friends.
Magical - Probably boring.
Massage Therapy - The best option for income without a higher education.
Mercury in Retrograde - Why you called your girlfriend a bitch last night.
Open Minded - Not able to entertain any opposing viewpoints.
Open Relationship - A fuck-buddy situation for anyone too selfish or
immature for a real relationship.
Prayerformance - A sloppy bastardization of all tribal culture by half naked
dread-locked girls with fire fingers and swords. (see: hippie cheerleaders)
Presence - Will stare you in the eyes for hours and touch you too often.
Rasta - One of the lower classes of hippie. Consists of white kids who love
smoking pot, so they talk like a Jamaican Rastafarian - completely missing the
point that the main precepts of Rastafarianism are about black people
returning to pride, power and Africa.
Root Chakra - Yer junk
Saturn Return - The depression that comes in your late 20's when you realize
your life is going nowhere and you still don't have any money.
Shakti Energy - Horny.
SNAG - Sensitive New Age Guy
Spiritual Guide - Middle age man who parlays his menial understanding of
any unfounded new age spiritual practice to allow maximum opening of the
root chakra (see: above) of young hippie women. (see also: SNAG)
Soulmate - Will be single again in 4 months.
Shaman - I do drugs.
Techno-Shaman - I do drugs with my ipod.
Teachers - People whom you emulate without going through the necessary
life experiences to truly embody.
Trade - My talents aren't good enough to make enough money to actually
pay you.
Tribe - MySpace for hippies.
Unconditional Love - Open affection for anyone within your close knit
group of like-minded and similarly-dressed friends.
Universal Love - What you feel when you're always high.
Universal Truths - The narrow set of beliefs held by your circle of friends.
Visionary - Drug-induced.
Visionary Art - Lots of pretentious descriptions on art that looked a lot better
when high.
Wiccan/Pagan - Subscribing to a belief system to prove to everyone that you
don't subscribe to belief systems
Workshops - Kids on gas burning generators telling you that you should be
living sustainably.
Worshipping the Goddess - Fucking.
Yoni - A fluffy name for pussy. She probably also thinks of her Yoni as a
temple - your best bet to getting laid is to dress your penis in monks robes and
burn some sage.
YoniVerse - A house where 3 or more goddesses live. "
i got a laugh..or two
Amy:-)
"2012 - The year of the Dreamspell prophecy when we will ascendinto our light-beings and become one with the cosmic galactic
realm of the Gods and Goddesses... .. errr some shit like that.
Astrology - A convenient system to shift responsibility for
peoples' fucked up choices.
Ascension - fear of death. fear of life. myths concocted for those
too afraid to cope with the idea that there might not be a second
chance at this.
Bad Vibes - Someone called you on your bullshit or didn’t give you
what you wanted.
Babylon - The system that produced all the goods to facilitate
your neo-bohemian life style choices.
Burningman - A huge art installation in the desert that many
hippies have mistaken for a model of Utopian society which they
attempt to recreate in their hometowns for the next 51 weeks.
Ignoring the fact that everything about it is completely
unsustainable.
Community Painting - A method to transform a perfectly good
piece of wood and paint into the most hideous thing you've ever
laid eyes on.
Chakras out of Alignment - I'm fucked up and looking for things to
blame it on.
Cleansing - One of the most important steps in becoming
condescending towards average people.
Come-unity - The first stage in a free for all bicker-fest; the main
function of which is to water down any good ideas into something
no one is happy with.
Cosmic - see: "Magical"
Dakini - Has a nicer ring to it than "slut".
Dreamspell - A complete bastardization of an ancient wisdom
which gave rise to yet another useless method of bullshit
divination.
Ecstatic Dance - Flailing around arhythmically.
Enlightened - Does not in any way challenge your narrow view of
the world.
Facilitate - Allow others to do.
Family - A circle of Hippie friends who are so far out on a
fringe-tangent of fashion and ideology that they could never
actually interact with any one's real family.
Festival - A party; usually dressed up to have some kind of
socio-political or spiritual significance. This of course has little
impact on the number of bad trips, fights, and misuse of the land
that takes place. Often doesn't change anything but gives revelers
the impression that it has.
Gifting - The act of dumping your useless crap on other people.
Gift Economy - two possible meanings - 1) Great until you end up with a
bunch of "landfill fodder" from people who missed the point or 2) rich people
giving away free drugs
Green Energy - A way to say "money" without acknowledging the fact that
you need legal tender from the United States Treasury in order to live and
function in society.
Green Festival - Any festival where the promoters made a half-assed
attempt to rent bio-fuel generators and place recycle bins next to trash cans.
They all become trash cans in the end.
Goddess - A worshipful term used for the highest echelon of female hippies
by SNAGS and Spiritual Guides. Therefore the "goddess" is usually young,
pretty, dreadlocked and impeccably dressed. The goddess however fully plays
into the role and usually embodies a multi-dimensional stare, extremely rigid
and controlled movement to give rise to the illusion they float on air and
100% fluent in galactic lingo. Don't attempt to communicate with them if you
don't wish to be shot down with laser beams from their eyes
Goddess Worship - ogling or stalking goddesses (see Captain Erotica).
Hater – People who are ‘howling’ while reading this (see also: asshole)
Healing - An adjective to make anything seem more profound than it really is.
Don't worry it won't 'actually' heal you.
Holding Space - The art of actively doing nothing.
Holographic - Once you hear this word you know its a crackpot idea Unless
of course one is talking about holograms.
Higher Purpose - Unemployment.
Jah Bless - If you are a white rasta the only time I want to hear you say Jah
Bless is when someone asks your occupation. See: "Rasta"
Kind Brother: What you become when a hippie wants something from you.
Intentional - Covers a wide gamut of pretentious holier-than- thou bullshit;
generally accompanies a gratuitous waste of your time.
Invoke - To shamelessly beg powers beyond your comprehension to do
something.
Indigo Child - Screaming feral kid with nappy hair, filthy clothes and no respect for their parents. Often has more festivals under their belt than you do.
Intergalactic - Taking place within the confines of the industrialized western
society.
Light Being - The person you wish you could be but will never have the
discipline to actually become.
Light Warrior - A particularly popular hippie.
Manifest - How the enlightened mooch from their friends.
Magical - Probably boring.
Massage Therapy - The best option for income without a higher education.
Mercury in Retrograde - Why you called your girlfriend a bitch last night.
Open Minded - Not able to entertain any opposing viewpoints.
Open Relationship - A fuck-buddy situation for anyone too selfish or
immature for a real relationship.
Prayerformance - A sloppy bastardization of all tribal culture by half naked
dread-locked girls with fire fingers and swords. (see: hippie cheerleaders)
Presence - Will stare you in the eyes for hours and touch you too often.
Rasta - One of the lower classes of hippie. Consists of white kids who love
smoking pot, so they talk like a Jamaican Rastafarian - completely missing the
point that the main precepts of Rastafarianism are about black people
returning to pride, power and Africa.
Root Chakra - Yer junk
Saturn Return - The depression that comes in your late 20's when you realize
your life is going nowhere and you still don't have any money.
Shakti Energy - Horny.
SNAG - Sensitive New Age Guy
Spiritual Guide - Middle age man who parlays his menial understanding of
any unfounded new age spiritual practice to allow maximum opening of the
root chakra (see: above) of young hippie women. (see also: SNAG)
Soulmate - Will be single again in 4 months.
Shaman - I do drugs.
Techno-Shaman - I do drugs with my ipod.
Teachers - People whom you emulate without going through the necessary
life experiences to truly embody.
Trade - My talents aren't good enough to make enough money to actually
pay you.
Tribe - MySpace for hippies.
Unconditional Love - Open affection for anyone within your close knit
group of like-minded and similarly-dressed friends.
Universal Love - What you feel when you're always high.
Universal Truths - The narrow set of beliefs held by your circle of friends.
Visionary - Drug-induced.
Visionary Art - Lots of pretentious descriptions on art that looked a lot better
when high.
Wiccan/Pagan - Subscribing to a belief system to prove to everyone that you
don't subscribe to belief systems
Workshops - Kids on gas burning generators telling you that you should be
living sustainably.
Worshipping the Goddess - Fucking.
Yoni - A fluffy name for pussy. She probably also thinks of her Yoni as a
temple - your best bet to getting laid is to dress your penis in monks robes and
burn some sage.
YoniVerse - A house where 3 or more goddesses live. "
i got a laugh..or two
Amy:-)
posted by:
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Wisconsin
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Sun, May 4, 2008 - 9:05 PMROFLMAO
This is sooo wrong. I love it.
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Mon, May 5, 2008 - 7:03 AMthat's ruff!
lol -
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Mon, May 5, 2008 - 10:19 AMwhoever wrote this has definitely been hanging out with the wrong crowd -- but I absolutely love the "facilitate" and "holding space" ones - my own secret opinion of a few people I've known, hahahaha
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Mon, May 5, 2008 - 12:05 PMwhat is called 'funny' appears to me 'hateful'. are there grains of truth there? of course. just as there have been in all the jokes gone bye, that have ridiculed ethnic groups, religions, people with handicaps, etc... the hurt comes back to hit one in the face, tho, doesnt it? isnt there a bit of a tight achy feeling inside when one derisively judges others? Amy, please dont think i'm directing this at you, dear. i most certainly am not. ..we all get caught up in this flippant web . . but the spider of cynicism bites to paralyze .. .ouch ! t hat metaphor hurts!!! sorry.. love to you all -
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Mon, May 5, 2008 - 1:41 PMBeverely humor is about being able to make fun of oneself...humor makes fun of the obvious, the extreme and unveils the truth we often don't wish to face...
though some things are extreme...and i disagree with some (astrology - ouch) I do also see there is some truth
I will say this cynism often results from being fake...it people would be real there would be no need to use sacrasm or slick remarks to hide behind. I rather hear someone tell me to my face what they think about me, then to have them use sacrasm simply because they are trying to suppress their real thoughts...
See I'm from NYC we don't sugar coat shit...if we don't like something...we often say it. And the idea someone doesn't like us...well that's just life!!
remember folks release the tension with some obviously exaggerated points...we need to allow folks to do this...otherwise we get tightly wrapped.
I think new agers like every group does have folks who get "carried" away with certain ideals...and that is what the joke is about. How extreme thinking can be humorous....
I agree with some lines.... like the term "bad vibes" many folks who want what they want often use little cute titles to shame people into giving in..
some people do also use new age titles to manipulate others..let's face it there are some truths to the comments, even if we might not like how some of it sounds...some folks will do anything to make a buck, including fake having healing/psychic skills they don't have...many have disguise themselves as new agers while taking advantage of people in pain....
I love humor...it removes a lot of nonsense that people think but are too afraid to say out loud because they want to be so politically correct....
being PC is just plain hypocrisy, cause many folks do think certain thoughts...but repress them because they want to be "liked".
I know some folks don't think in certain ways...and thus fail to see the humor in certain things...that's cool. That's the main reason all jokes don't apply to everyone...
to each his own....
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Mon, May 5, 2008 - 9:28 PMRo, is that "hipp-ocracy" you speak of?
Ya, I don't think any group should take themselves too seriously; I agree there's a line between people's beliefs and relating to them on a caring and serious level, but I do think it's okay to have a little fun at our own expense once in a while (as long as everyone understands it's not meant with malice). -
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Mon, May 5, 2008 - 9:57 PMlol very cute... Izard
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 5:15 AMgood golly, there's so much written here on the list that IS true...and i agree with your comments, Re, and i feel policital correctness to be the biggest pile of crap going. oh, i know the city head...lived in hells kitchen..and i live by telling it like it is.. thats why i posted my comment... i was referring to the overwhelming degree of sarcasm in the list. extreme generalization... i've been in and around earth crunchy treehuggers from the get gofor the obvious reason i was/is one], watched its evo/devo lution... yep, a lot of assholes out there..actually, one to a customer. and the culture now has nothing to do with what is was in its birth, but 'new agers' cutting the cheese on each other is still great, and very welcome. dirt from outside, not so great.. i still remember my late husband getting beaten my hardhats [now there's an old phrase] for having long hair... but sorry if i ruffled any feathers....
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 4:07 PMHey Beverly,
I found a couple of these funny, but like you, I found most of them just...hmmm...flamebait. Looks to me like someone was pissed off at new-agers, and made a little list of all their gripes with the intention of causing a flame-war.
Evan
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Mon, May 5, 2008 - 6:45 PMhee hee hee! I have New Ager fatigue in a big way, so this was refreshing...reeee-freshing! Ahhh!
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Mon, May 5, 2008 - 9:31 PMWow, that all just permeates my innermost cozmic activities. -
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 8:07 PMYeah...I think I'll go manifest myself a beer....
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 5:24 AMi love new age thinking (as it opens up new possibilities and alternative ways of looking at the universe & each other) until it gets too full of itselfi...or becomes itself a sort of dogma..... i also see that some people can make fun of other belief systems.........but fail to see the humor in their own......it's funny -
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 9:20 PMYou know why I find the list funny...because there are new ager fundalmentalist...just like in any religion or group that take their beliefs WAY too serious. And its time someone lets them know they are full of it...
I have been around fundalmentalist new agers for a very very long time...before it was trendy and fashionable...to when it became mainstream and watered down.
The fact is there are some people who are full of shit. They hide behind new age tags and try to manipulate folks with new age jargon and schemes just to make a buck. And when you don't "TAKE" their healing or unwelcome "psychic/spiritual" advise they are quick to label you was being resistent and not being full of light etc,,,,
I think the main reason its mean-spirited is because some people are pissed at the double standard many new agers possess. In one hand you have your fundalmentalist new agers they profess love and compassion, while in the other hand they judge you and criticise you if you don't follow their "way"
Many time shumor represents the angry people feel...and rather then yell, people poke fun at the situation.
Hey for lack of a better way to describe myself I am a new ager...I am a wiccan, a festival goer, a psychic, a healer and a metaphyiscal teacher....however I don't take myself so serious that I can't poke fun at myself...and I also realise I am no one to judge how a person should or should not live their lives...
I recently had an incident with one of the deans who tried to pull a new age psycho-analytical game...cause I questioned her.., she got mad cause I asked some questions...accused me of being resistant just ebcause I questioned her motives about somethine.and I told her. did she honestly believe I was a puppet who would follow without questions?
See....for me personally I have to use humor...otherwise I would be expressing more anger and frustation...so a list like Amy's helps me put it into focus...cause the fact is she's full of herself...
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 9:39 PMOh, not about Amy being full of herself (wouldn't know)...but about the hypocrisy...
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 6:52 AMThanks, Amy!! A refreshing blast from the heartland! I'm gonna print this out and take it with me to Puna Nation, so I know how to speak to the "natives." LOL -
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 7:50 AMA funny take at seing the same old crapp, which comes in all shape and age, recycled as "new age".
Good post.
However, I have a really black sense of humour and wonder if it can be overdone.
This is a deceivingly complex other question. -
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 11:35 AMi first saw this posted on a hippie's blog that i know.
most of the comments from his other hippie friends were that most of it was too true and that they might need to take a closer look at themselves at times.
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 12:07 PM
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 3:25 PMHilarious! I've always had a certain love-hate relationship with New Age. It's the price I pay for valuing spirituality on the one hand and science on the other(I really get annoyed at a lot of the scientific ignorance in the New Age scene).
One thing I've noticed: Every New Age organization has some sort of excuse for why they're not "New Age." -
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 3:58 PMI loved that! I can deal with some amount of new age concepts, but others just seem ridiculous to me. So it was all funny, to me. But it was particularly funny because it poked fun at the one the one thing that bothers me most about any social group out there, I'd argue most notably New Age and Christian groups.
And that is the use of vocabulary. I find it so odd that people who group together make up their own words for things and use them over and over to bond and show how much of a member they've become in their community.
Some of it is practical, I'm sure, but I would argue that most of it not about practicality...
The definition of wiccan/pagan made me laugh, not so much at those two belief systems, but at the definition because it fits in so many social structures. For example, go to a high school sometime. Some kids make an issue of disliking the 'preppy' or 'fashionable' set, so they dress 'differently' to show they are unique. And they look precisely like all the other emo kids who don't fit in to more mainstream groups of kids. Same hair, same shoes, same jeans, same hoodie sweatshirts, etc. They join a group and look and act just like that group to show how they are individually unique and NOT like others. Huh??? Adults are no different. That one just made me laugh. -
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 4:20 PMI agree about the "special language." The other thing that always makes me laugh is that so much of the "New Age" is about promoting transcendence of the ego and surrendering to "bliss and love," etc. But the labels and jargon are COMPLETELY ego constructs. (Spiritual ego) And try disagreeing with someone around these topics...it turns very quickly from bliss and love to judgement about how you're "just not quite there yet," how it's too bad that you're too close-minded to accept the truth, and how one day you'll realize the greatness of what they're trying to teach you.
I'm not being hateful here...just honest about my personal experiences with people who identify strongly with New Age-type stuff...
That's why this list was refreshing to me. Of course it's a bit of hyperbole, but the grain of truth is definitely there.
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 4:22 PMthat is funny? it sounds like some wannabe got turned down by a burner chick or something.
it's presented with such an edge of anger and arrogance that the few places where humor poked its head from behind the bitterness and anger seem like more of an accident than anything else....
i was amused at the place where it was self-referential, though: " Intentional - Covers a wide gamut of pretentious holier-than- thou bullshit; generally accompanies a gratuitous waste of your time."
yeah, that about sums it up ;^)
humor is like art... anyone can take a shot at it, but once it's done, the quality of the work speaks for itself. -
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 4:41 PMSee, I think there is a definite edge of arrogance and darkness within New Age cliques that is denied by the members...so for me, this list just sort of brings that out into the open... -
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 5:18 PMfirst, i know that some of you are rolling your eyes and saying "she must have no sense of humor" and "why is this a big deal" -- i get that. but know that 1) i do have a great sense of humor and am in fact damned hilarious in person, and 2) i think it's a big deal because there is something behind this kind of humor that i think is worth examining.
willow, since i'm not actually familiar with any "new age cliques" -- except maybe the people up at harbin hot springs. do you mean people who go to burning man? wiccan people? people who dance to gabrielle roth? people who study astrology? ravers? massage therapists? people who meditate? can you give me a specific example of what you mean about the edge of arrogance and darkness that is denied by its members?
i'd be totally interested in a conversation about what you mean.... and i still can't see how that would be rectified by mean-spirited demeaning disrespectful playground jokes, which is fundamentally what this is.
personally, i feel that any kind of attack against other human beings that is cloaked in a "hey, you're an idiot, and it's funny if i make fun of you, and if you don't think so, there must be something wrong with you" should set off the alarms of any thinking person, rather than tickling their funny bone.
this kind of stuff is the realm of children who make fun of other children... making fun of people is simply not a form of humor that mature adults, who have grown to the point of feeling a connection with the people they walk the planet with, and who have values that include treating those other people with kindness, resort to, even if they think the person they're talking about have a screw loose (and i'm not saying there aren't some people out there spouting new age stuff who don't have a screw loose, just like there are members of the NRA and hard-core scientists who have a screw loose).
this is not to say that i don't find some of the things people believe to be shallow or misguided, ... i just don't think that this kind of mean stuff is funny.
are there people who hide behind terminology? yes, in fact, i told a friend once if he said "hold a space for it" again to me, i would strangle him... because buzzwords can strip something of its actual meaning sometimes... but there are people who refuse to understand that every kind of subgroup has its own language. munky, you ride motorcycles... i bet there is a language for bikers, no? there is a language for medicine, for astrology, for sewing, for ballet, for any specialized study, there is a language... and? really, are we so unsophisticated that we find it funny to mock the language of something, just because it isn't the language of *our* something? how about we all pretend to speak some "other" language, maybe swahili, or mandarin, and we can all roll on the floor at how those stupid people actually think those words **mean** something? i mean, come on, *any* idiot can tell that's nonsense, right?
i'm sorry, it's just ignorant to me to find this kind of thing entertaining. and i felt it was important to have another view presented here. -
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 6:09 PMOh well, to each their own. My dark and probably mean humor may be ignorant to some (you), but to me, parts of that post were just funny.
I'm not going to analyze it further. Maybe that too is ignorant. I just don't care. I have plenty of other things to think about tonight.
Regarding biker language, not so much. The only things I can think of that fit your example are terms we use for our bike parts or a particular type of bike. But since other social groups would call them the same things, I doubt it is a special language. There is no vocabulary we use that would identify me as a biker.
Now Klingon, that's a special language. My guy speaks Klingon to me on rare occasion and that is the funniest yet. I definitely laugh pretty hard, when he does, and I am not a Klingon hater.
I see your point about the vocabulary, Leslie, but it still creeps me out to be in a group of people using all these code words to describe feelings, actions, choices, phenomena, etc. Not trying to be deliberately unkind. And it's not as if I go to places where that's an issue these days. Besides, if I don't like something, I can just move on and let the others enjoy without my discomfort being a wet blanket.
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 6:23 PM"willow, since i'm not actually familiar with any "new age cliques" -- except maybe the people up at harbin hot springs. do you mean people who go to burning man? wiccan people? people who dance to gabrielle roth? people who study astrology? ravers? massage therapists? people who meditate? can you give me a specific example of what you mean about the edge of arrogance and darkness that is denied by its members?"
Sure...any of those groups could fall into this category. New Age cliques, I would say, are groups of people who band together and say, "We believe/do this" and sort of coming together around certain ideas/practises and differentiating themselves from other groups.
Also, I'm sure there are humourous lists about stereotypical motorcycle riders out there, too. (Actually, I know there are cuz I've seen them.) Lists like these aren't singling out New Agers.
My stance is summed up by what I posted before:
"I agree about the "special language." The other thing that always makes me laugh is that so much of the "New Age" is about promoting transcendence of the ego and surrendering to "bliss and love," etc. But the labels and jargon are COMPLETELY ego constructs. (Spiritual ego) And try disagreeing with someone around these topics...it turns very quickly from bliss and love to judgement about how you're "just not quite there yet," how it's too bad that you're too close-minded to accept the truth, and how one day you'll realize the greatness of what they're trying to teach you."
I think the common denominator problem I have with New Age is spiritual materialism, and that's what I think this list is pointing out. Not everyone in the New Age falls into this trap...but a lot of people I've come across do. I've experienced what I wrote about above on many different occasions. In fact, this exact phenomenon just recently came up in the Star People and Lightworkers tribe...
But since you're looking for a specific personal example, I'll give you one. One that springs to mind to illustrate what I'm talking about is when I was working at a New Age health centre and told the owner of the business that I didn't want to have a "Belief Repatterning" Session related to The Secret. (She was promoting it to me.) It was something I instantly knew in my gut was not for me. But when I said no to this, the owner tried to pressure me into it. Then when she realized I wasn't going to change my mind, she told me that it was too bad I was closed off and that someday I would hopefully be open to alternative treatments like this...making it into some sort of "problem" I had. Actually, I just knew this wasn't something meant for me...but that wasn't an acceptable option in her mind. It's kind of like that condescending "I'll pray for you" attitude.
As I said, I see similar stuff happen all the time. I'm an astrologer, so...you know...I'm "experienced" in these circles. :) Another time, I took my name off a mailing list for the local Body, Soul and Spirit Expo. Again...just knew it wasn't for me. Then out of the blue, the organizer (whom I did not know, had never met) called me at home one evening on my cell phone asking me why I had taken my name off the list. He wouldn't accept my explanation that it just wasn't for me and kept me on the phone extolling the virtues of this Expo, dropping names about who would be lecturing there, etc. He then mentioned that he was also an astrologer and wanted to know what software I used. (WTF?!?!) So I told him. He then told me what software HE uses and why he finds it to be a preferable product.
Anyway, I often find that as soon as you turn down the newest "wonderful and miraculous" treatment/product/ideology/author/whatever...the spiritual ego starts flaring up in the people promoting it. That's the arrogance that I'm talking about...believing that their path is the best path, what worked for them will work for everyone, that they're on the planet to "teach and guide" the masses. And if anything happens to blow those egoic ideas out of the water...watch out. The ego then has to find some reason why...to differentiate themselves from the people who are turning it down...to make themselves higher, more enlightened, more whatever. Oh, you haven't read "A Course in Miracles"? Poor thing. You didn't catch the Deepak Chopra lecture? Aw, too bad. You haven't had an ionic footbath? Wow! Really?!? You don't know the name of your angel guide? Your Kundalini hasn't been activated? Well, that explains it!
I mean, again, I'm using hyperbole...but the reality is there. Everyone seems to want to "place" everyone else. For some, it becomes more about identifying with a specific group/label/jargon/activity, and they lose sight of the main purpose of spirituality - to unify in the universality of human experience...not to band together in little groups, all differentiating themselves from each other. It falls into the same traps that mainstream religions fall into and become more about dividing people up than bringing them together. So again...this is not limited to New Age, but I definitely don't think New Age is excluded. -
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 11:17 PMthanks for the reasoned response, willow. i think there are two issues here...
one topic is whether new age people can be obnoxious. i'd never argue about that... that's one of the reasons i try to separate a message from the messenger... i learned long ago that sometimes the best lessons come from the most unlikely people. and i have my own complaints about other new subcultures, like bought-it-on-the-internet burning man fashion, and "goddess" culture which feels like shallow sexist backlash to me. and there are some points in that list of jokes that i would agree with in concept, you bet...
but i don't think that is justification for mocking people who believe differently, and that's the other issue.
the delivery and intention of these "jokes" is, to me, more arrogant than a man who wants you to stay on the mailing list for his event, because these "jokes" are meant to land with contempt and disdain, much more than someone saying "i'll pray for you" (which is to me actually often a lovely thing for someone to do, even if their kind of prayer is different than mine).
i fervently believe that if we are going to create a peaceful planet where all kinds of people, with all kinds of ways of thinking, are able to co-exist without blowing each other off the face of the planet, then we are going to have to learn to treat each other with respect. and that means all the time, including in how we "joke" about each other, and becoming more sensitive to demeaning humor will help with that. if we want a world where we are accepted, then we have to be accepting.
i'm sorry if this seems too deep for something that was presented as a joke... and munky and those who are taking what i'm saying personally, i can only ask that you step back and try to see if from the perspective of the idea, the behavior and the attitude. my examination of what is and isn't funny, and whether we are aware of what's behind something, is an examination of how we all think. if this were a list of mean-spirited jokes mocking women who ride motorcycles, or men with long beards, i'd be saying the same thing. it's about the disrespect and contempt, not the content. even if you don't agree, i hope you hear what i'm saying. -
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 11:38 PMLeslie, I'd probably be laughing pretty hard at a post about women who ride motorcycles. I've seen some funny stuff out there on the road, and I bet a joke along that line would capture some of it. I might even see myself in it, but I'm not your 'typical' female rider. There aren't many of the old school biker bitches these days, anyway, but still.... It would be funny to me.
Honestly I'm not upset or taking this personally. I'm just saying, I think it's funny to poke fun at the down sides of human behavior. And if that makes me a participant in the demise of world peas, I don't see it.
I admire your principles and your consistency in how you live and think, and your concept that we should not ridicule others if we truly want to live harmoniously and support other people. I'm just not wired that way.
If you met me in person you might feel differently, but maybe not. I am probably one of the softest, most accepting people you would meet, personally. I make and keep friends easily, and I am very open-minded and compassionate. Still, I find humanity and it's imperfections funny, and I'm not so kind or altruistic that I won't laugh at others. I usually do it in a kind or affectionate way, but not always. Sometimes I'm sure I come across as downright mean or judgemental.
I am not taking your responses as personal, but since you addressed me individually, I thought I'd do the same.
I'd like to clarify, I don't think it's funny to ridicule others for having the beliefs they do. It's the behaviors that get ridiculous that I find so funny. And that is my call, not anyone else's, because my idea of ridiculous is probably very different than someone else's. I'm OK with that. Am I being judged for being judgemental? LOL That's like my mother telling me and my oldest sister that we had a negative attitude about negativity. -
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Wed, May 7, 2008 - 12:53 AMmunky, i've never seen you say anything that i would consider mean or judgmental, totally the opposite. and i'm with you with laughing at ridiculous behaviors. like i said, i have my own thoughts about a lot of things. i just think that turning it into a public mockery is a bad thing all around and that it's worth looking at that. -
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Wed, May 7, 2008 - 1:06 AMI see your point Leslie. I hope I am not coming across as not.
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Re: funny "new ager "definitions
Wed, May 7, 2008 - 1:08 AMleslie...this a public tribe,.,,.everything is public...we discuss both pleasant and unpleasant topics
We' can't censor people because they express a view we don't agree on...
some people happen to think US...(meaning myself) New Agers are full of shit...and you know what they have a right to their view and sometimes they have a point whether I like it or not...and if they want to laugh at me for that...that's on them. Does it mean their comments are right. Some are and some are not. I have to be able to understand people will see me in all types of light...and make fun of me...applaud me...mock me...etc. Do I stop them? Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. It all depends how I feel that day.
Some days I can take someone saying...hey you have a fat ass Ro...and some days I want to cry and get upset...anything can be viewed as mean...the most innocent comments can be viewed as mean...depending on how sensitive we might feel, as well as the context of the conversation...
the bottomline...I can't worry about the twisted sense of humor of some people...I try to focus on why I get upset or take something so personal.
Sometimes the reason we find certain humor offensive is because it hits home...or it depicts us in a bad light...to be honest I dislike the idea that folks tend to see new age folks as flakes...now does that mean they are totally wrong in that perception. NO there are some new agers who are flakes...
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