Blog on the Lillypad
Saturday, February 28, 2004
 | The New Age Expo
I paid $8 to enter the New Age Expo today in Raleigh. Now that I knowI have scoliosis, I figured it would be the best place to see the latest in chiropractic and acupuncture, as well as some of the recommended alternative therapies like rolfing and natural movement. I'm skeptical that anything can be done, because my ribs have deformed (actually reformed) to accomodate to the curvature. According to my chiropractor, once that happens, the condition is permanent unless you resort to surgery, which is far too drastic in most cases. Some alternative systems help you move in terms ofthe deformation so that you stress the unbalanced muscles less. |
There were a couple chiropractors set up, but they were focused on diagnosing people and not showcasing the latest in chiropractic and wellness therapies. One booth that was some type of light touch healing insisted that at least one person they'd treated had been straightened significantly from scoliosis. They even had a "before" and "after" series of photographs to back up their claim. But I didn't believe them.
There were all kinds of things I would advocate: reverse osmosis water systems, food bars made of high quality multigrain foods that are not wheat or dairy (for high allergy people like me), massage therapists, orthotic sales reps, herbs and teas from the rain forests (processed from a steward approach rather than an exploitive approach to the rain forests), etc. But there were also things I think are swindles and quacks: the psychics----all women, and most (I suspect) with incredibly tangled and messed up lives. There were yoga/yogi booths too (much to my surprise). And in one corner where jewelry was sold, a young woman read my palm.
I do believe that everything we do and are is written everywhere--a witness in the heavens and in the earth. When Job defended himself against his accusers, he declared that the evidence of his life was in the sky. When Caine killed Able, God said that the earth cried out. God Himself said that the heavens and earth are His witnesses (which means they keep an articulate account of what transpires). So I'm a lot less skeptical than most Christians about the idea that there is an account of all of our lives in nature. The witness of everything we do is all around us.
But palms? It took me back to the Tuesday Night Mystery Movies that aired three decades ago on NBC.
Nevertheless, I sat down next to her. She didn't touch me but asked me to show her my palm, so I held my right hand open to her, at about where I thought her vision would focus to read it . "You're an old soul," she said right off. "Not afraid of other people, not afraid to be seen for what you are. You make an honest presentation----well, wait. You can make an honest presentation, and you like to think of yourself as open, but you can make the choice to be reserved when you think you need to be. You do have an ability to be guarded, but it's not your preference."
"What about my palm tells you that?" I asked her. "What are you looking at?"
She suddenly beamed at me. "Just the way you open your hand to have it read. Nothing in the hand itself." She imitated my hand by opening her hand alongside it. "You spread it right out, palm spread wide and exposed. Most people hold back a little. I had one lady today who nearly had hers cupped. Those people are a lot more in their shells."
It's the psychology of how you present the hand, I thought. Centuries ago, when gypsies plied this trade, were the successful ones actually the first successful psychologists? advising the brave to be circumspect? the timid to dig in and persevere? the self-conscious to find courage? Is the most significant truth about you revealed in the way you open your hand to a stranger?
But she wasn't finished. She told me a few more things---things I regard as general truths for most people. She recognized that I had a disrupted and difficult childhood. But then she said, "After your childhood---but I don't know when except after childhood---a person came into your life who did you a great deal of good. This person mentored you and had a great influence on how you live your life. The person taught you how to live."
"Yes, that's absolutely true," I told her. "She saved my life. I believe that." (NOTE: If you've read VALKYRIES, you recognize that I based Maddie Murdoch off of this person.)
She commented about meeting up with some very bad people when I was about 30 (also true). Then she told me that I've had many jobs in my career, a lot more than most people. I verified to her that I am a contractor (or I was until a week ago). I move from contract job to contract job and have had too many to count. She told me that I've influenced a lot of children, probably too many to be born to me. I didn't tell her that I wrote children's books. She told me that I've been a teacher. She also remarked that the first part of my adult life was marked by a lack of direction, but that's behind me now. She told me that I am adaptable. That's my key trait. I analyze and then adapt. She said that several times.
She also told me that I've had one health problem after another starting in late childhood or early adulthood, but nothing life threatening, and the palm indicates protection---probably from me and not another person. She guessed that I probably stay on top of my health and try to deal with each health problem consistently---eat right, exercise, etc. She did, in fact, tell me that my hand shows long life, and greater protection in the last part of life in terms of my health.
She also told me I would have two great loves in my life as well as another less significant love, but long-lasting romance/marriage comes in the later part of my life.
I asked her about financial security, and she told me that from the series of lines that indicate my many jobs and endeavours, one line sprouts up and runs almost the length of my hand, and this indicates that one of my ventures will be financially successful. "You may not have as much money as you want---because everybody always wants more---but you should get through life with enough," she said, and then added, "As far as I can tell."
Great, because if it's bad news I don't want to know any way. She told me about a humanitarian endeavour of mine, and she told me a few things that are too personal for me to write down here, but nothing all that earth shaking. And then, as I moved my hand (thinking we were finished), she said suddenly, "Oh, and you stand apart from the crowd. You really walk to the beat of your own drum. You are definitely an individual that doesn't follow any crowd. And you should walk to the beat of your own drum."
I asked her how she knew this, and she told me. It made me laugh. But I'm not going to tell you.
As I walked away, I felt pretty impressed. Most of what she told me I would categorize as being true for more than half the people she would meet. But those one or two things--especially my mentor that taught me how to live and the fact that I've worked so many jobs--are individual to me.
So what do I think? Well, I can believe that what we are and what we do is written in our hands. I saw far more charlatans today than genuinely helpful people (although there were some genuinely helpful people). And even though I stumbled across a friendly, genuine young woman who honestly says what she can find and what she cannot find in the palm, I think in today's unregulated market, you're more likely to find somebody who is just going to take your money from you.
For me, seeing that the heavenly order is etched into everything is a great boost to my faith. The vividness of God's declaration that the heavens and the earth are His witnesses comforts me and warns me. Believing that my anger and vindictiveness (or whatever sins I am tempted towards) are being recorded has helped hold me back and made me more conscious that there is a record kept. Both shame and repentance are closer to me now, and I feel them more sharply, because heaven is so much nearer. In the final day, what will God say to the unrepentant sinner who stands before Him and swears he did no wrong. If you ever read the Chick Tract series, you know that the judgement is presented as though your life is projected onto a big screen. But perhaps the Creator will only say, "Open your hands and let Us see them," and every deed will be written there as you open them before Him. Everything we are is written into us in our DNA. Could it be that everything we've done is also written in us? Documented in our hands?
