There are many ways to spend a weekend. You could take a nap. You could clean your gutters. You could alphabetize your spice rack. Or, if you hate yourself and have an extra $500 burning a hole in your pocket, you could attend something like The Ascension Gathering, a weekend festival devoted to raising your … Read more
Tarot cards are beautiful. Gorgeously illustrated, richly symbolic, dripping with history. A deck of miniature works of art, each whispering vague, universal human experiences. And yet somewhere between admiring the artwork and flipping the final card, we decided that these painted rectangles could predict the future. Modern fortunetelling with tarot follows a simple formula: you … Read more
Past-life hypnosis sells itself as therapy — if therapy required less accountability, more incense, and a relaxing nap. The premise is simple: under hypnosis, you “recover” memories of your previous lives. These memories, conveniently, explain all your modern misfortunes — your fear of water (you drowned as a sailor), your commitment issues (you were a … Read more
Lucid dreaming — the art of realizing you’re dreaming and allegedly controlling the action — is one of those concepts that sounds profound until you realize it mainly involves a lot of yelling “Fly!” and waking up disappointed. Naturally, it’s been monetized. Welcome to lucid dreaming retreats — weekend getaways where you pay hundreds of … Read more