8. New Age What is New Age?: Old Ideas for Today: Astrology: Love Signs, Sun Signs Meditation & Yoga: Light on Yoga New Ideas for Today: Metascience: Presence of the Past, Vibrational Medicine Paradigms: Earthly Cycles ------===ooo===------ What is New Age? New Age is all about ideas ways of rejevenating tired thought We can look back to the ancient past drawing wisdom from the font of time Or we can peruse the present fantastic looking for the light in the night. New Age. ------===ooo===------ Old Ideas for Today The traditions and lore passed down to us Should not be swallowed whole without a fuss But neither should they be wholely dismissed Removing them whole from the knowledge list. Bear in your mind the many minds that bore These ancient fruits from a long yesteryore Refined and fused in the furnace of time Worked over and over to a perfect rhyme. Be patient and observant the guru-knowledge will find you out. ------===ooo===------ Astrology As the sun wheels its way against a background of stars It divides the heavens into the twelve constellations. Aries, the battering Ram, leads the way fire & cardinality explosively combined Taurus, the tenacious Bull, trundles behind probing mastery a signpost to all Gemini, the dancing Twins, now here now there mutability of the air just too elusive Cancer, the secretive Crab, rounds this group moody and sensitive, a wary friend. Leo, the luxurious Lion, purring content a noble figurehead for the four that follow Virgo, the coy Virgin, silently observes, thinking, not feeling, her way through life. Libra, the balanced Scales, is he stable? or just vacillating in the vacant air? Scorpio, the subtle Scorpion, plans his path chary & championing under the Dark Lord's guidance. Sagittarius, the clumsy Archer, just plunges in a changeable fire always burning bright Capricorn, the dour Goat, patient as the stars climbs the world with a spearheaded will Aquarius, the mysterious Water-Bearer, has a strange eye seeing nothing as others see, yet seeing all Pisces, the evolved Fish, swims at the back the waters washing around to complete the loop. And so the Alpha and Omega repeat themselves again and again. Astrology. ------===ooo===------ Love Signs: another New Age classic by Linda Goodman. Here she matches all the possible star-sign combinations (Aries-Aries, Aries-Taurus, ... Pisces- Pisces); 78 profiles in all, and almost twice that for the separate male/female inversions. Quite an astonishing feat really. These are intimate studies of human nature at play. The various preludes, allemandes, and gigues of love. Witty and vibrant throughout (& funny too!), understanding and insightful ever, this is the definitive textbook of the heart. Pick up this massive work in the gargantuan Pan paperback (1980, blue cover). ------===ooo===------ Sun Signs: the classic study by Linda Goodman. With gentle humour and probing wit, we are introduced to the 12 so-called "star signs." (Sun sign is the more accurate term, the sun moving its way through the 12 signs of the zodiac in the course of a year). From Aries to Pisces, each sign is separately described; with sections on general characteristics, the traits of men, women, and children of that sign, and the behaviour of a boss or employee of that birth. Genuinely funny, everyone will recognise these archetypes of human nature. A pocket PAN edition (1972, yellow cover). ------===ooo===------ Meditation & Yoga Meditation and Yoga control of the body control of the mind the one and the other the other and the one. Meditation and Yoga quicken the kundalini snake up the spine open the third eye true vision, true sight Meditation and Yoga Find your Higher Self. ------===ooo===------ Light on Yoga: the definitive treatise on yoga is by BKS Iyengar. Over 200 postures are detailed; each given a difficulty rating (1 to 60), a step by step technique, and a description of the beneficial effects. The 600 or so photographs have been intelligently scaled, and incorporated directly into the text; a real visual treat. A perfectionate work (1991). ------===ooo===------ New Ideas for Today The status quo stubborn and fixed Takes dynamite to change its ways. The great ideas are on the fringe. Look for them. New Ideas. ------===ooo===------ Metascience A long time ago, in a Greece far away there lived a man Aristotle who had a bit of bottle Saying he knew everything under the stars and beyond. This man Aristotle, who had a bit of bottle wrote a book called The Physics hoping to catch all the chics. But it's the bit that came a bit after that we're interested in here. This book called The Physics, which caught all the chics had a strange last section not concerning dissection But rather the incorporeal parts of man the soul, the mind, the after-life. This strange last section, not concerning dissection was prefixed with meta- which is sort of like beta- But indicating what comes after rather than what comes second. So now we have meta-, which is a whole lot beta- giving us Metaphysics which really caught the chics! In the same spirit, what comes after science we now call Metascience. Metascience. Go catch those chics! ------===ooo===------ Presence of the Past: here Rupert Sheldrake presents his groundbreaking theory of morphic resonance. Arguing that memory is brought into play when objects assume a configuration similar to one in the past, he goes on to explain the whole fields of biology, genetics, and behaviour. Drawing upon rich examples from nature, the case is presented systematically; from the basic to the complex, in controlled, effective prose. The scattered diagrams are pivotal to the work; encapsulating entire arguments. Truly one of the great ideas of the 20C, morphic resonance demands to be incorporated into institutional science. A burgundy-coloured softcover from Fontana (1989). ------===ooo===------ Vibrational Medicine: here Richard Gerber tells us about some of the new choices we have for healing ourselves. Beginning with an Einsteinian model of the body (one based on energy, rather than the current Newtonian, based on mechanics), Dr Gerber takes us through the past and into the future; he explains how some now-being-revived ancient/traditional therapeutic practices (acupuncture, psychic healing, flower essences) can be placed in this new energetic framework, and so be given a more reputable, scientific status. Modern ways of using pure energy are also discussed (ultrasound, low level lasers, etc). A brilliant survey. A beautifully produced book, with 12 mind-rich chapters. From Bear & Co (1996). ------===ooo===------ Paradigms Give me a paradigm And I'll find you a rhyme Given enough time Everything will slime. Hoo! Ha! Hoo! Ha! Boom! Boom! Boom! Hoo! Ha! Hoo! Ha! Boom! Boom! Boom! Paradigms. ------===ooo===------ Earthly Cycles: an revealing look at how past lives & soul patterns shape one's current life. Ramon Stevens was the spirit channel, the entity Alexander the true author. In 24 brisk chapters, we whisk through the whirl of life; how each of us has 4 main centers (physical, emotional, mental, & spiritual) which filter one's experience; how each of us belong to a distinct family of consciousness which determines our basic natures; how karmic braids are created, and then dissipated; and what the plan of a lifetime is. The prose is artful, cogent, and richly-worded. A slim volume belies the depth and breadth of the material; each page a silent revelation. For the seekers out there (1997).