Spiritual Snake Oil by Chris Edwards

Spiritual Snake Oil: Fads & Fallacies in Pop Culture, Chris Edwards. Tucson AZ: See Sharp Press, 2011. e-book, 148 pps.


     Spiritual Snake Oil is a very thorough and readable book. The author takes on the New Age and much of the silliness [and outright fraud] to be found there. The first chapter explains why debunking is important. The rest of the book takes on individual guru types and their specific "teachings" or "revelations." Many of the sellers of feel-good snake oil use their gross misunderstanding of science and specifically quantum physics to pedal their wares. Vibrations, secret antiquated manuscripts, and a dressing up of the pseudo-christian prosperity gospel are popular. Chris Edwards holds each item to a high standard: what is the evidence for each claim?

sapphoq reviews says: I really liked this book. Spiritual Snake Oil demonstrates the dangers of wrapping crap into palatable formats. Highly recommended. Suitable for teens as well as for adults.

Secrets of the Talking Jaguar by Martin Prechtel

Secrets of the Talking Jaguar, Martin Prechtel. Boston: Element books, 1998. Hardbound, 283 pps.

Secrets of the Talking Jaguar was a captivating book. The author was lead to a Mayan tribe where he lived for the next 13 years. The local shaman taught him the ways of the tribe as well as old folk medicine. This book is full of fantastic stories about Prechtel's adventures. He married a native 17 year old who produced a baby boy. At the end of the book, the family had to migrate to the States, as the local Guatamalan regime was against anything that could be construed as communistic interest.

sapphoq reviews says: Mr. Prectel's claim of special shamanistic knowedge was troublesome. Still, the book sucked me in and I'd read the whole thing in one sitting. Secrets of the Talking Jaguar is full of unverifiable claims and this bothered me greatly. Not recommended.