I am an individual who has been known to step on a few toes in the past because of my personal views on metaphysics and spiritual politics. I am very much a “prove it” and “who says so?” individual who tends to not only ruffle feathers but the whole headdress of most folks so be advised before you read further. I did however, promise the owner of this site that I would behave myself as much as possible so do, by all means, try to open up your objectivity. You might be glad that you did.

I am sure all of you are familiar with famous conman and self proclaimed Prince of Humbug P.T. Barnum. There is a  quote attributed to him (although he never said it as it was uttered by critic David Hannum) which states, “There is a sucker born every minute.” All of us have been exposed to fraud. Every day the news carries some story of how some poor sap living in Smartville, USA, was taken in by a scam. We look at these stories shaking our heads mumbling disdainfully at how that unfortunate individual could have been taken in by something so “obvious.” Certainly we could never be so “stupid” … could we?

Let’s start with one of histories most amusing conmen and one of our own homeboys, Ferdinand Waldo Demara. Demara was so adept at what he did he earned the title of the Great Imposter and his antics eventually spawned a movie by the same name in the 1960’s starring actor Tony Curtis which was based on a book written by Robert Crichton. Who is this guy you ask? Demara grew up in Lawrence, Massachusetts leaving home at age fifteen. Many feel that he was probably a genius because his scams were carried through with impeccably devised truths. By using stolen letterheads he was able to acquire a multitude of college records. He was a skillful forger who could assume the names and credentials or whoever he wanted to be at any given time. The amazing thing about “Fred” however was his capability to perform any of the work associated with his alleged degrees. Demara also had a knack for disappearing when the heat was turned on and a situation became too risky.

As Dr. Joseph C. Cyr, he successfully performed duties as a full functioning surgeon while aboard a Canadian Navy Destroyer where he was fondly known as a “miracle doctor.” Parading under the guise of Dr. Robert Linton French, he easily gained a position as a college dean and later as Dr. Cecil B. Hamann, he was admitted to a Boston law school. His longest stints were held in monasteries and Catholic orders as part of the brotherhood. It is believed that under the guise of different personas, Demara was most likely accepted into more religious orders than anyone else in America. As one Ben Jones, Demara also had a successful career as an assistant warden/psychologist at Huntsville State Prison. The law finally caught up with Demara after a stint as a high school teacher in New England after friends recognized him in a photo that appeared in the January 1952 issue of Life magazine that ran a story on the Great Imposter. When brought before the judge, Demara swore to live a clean life and he did. He spent the rest of his days as an ordained minister under his rightful name. Demara died in 1982 at age 60.

You’ll surely agree that this is quite a story if you haven’t heard it before now. This man duped his way into top positions in fields where he had no training. It is fortunate that he never harmed anyone or contributed to anyone’s premature death. He fooled everyone who scrutinized his background before hiring him – all perfectly sane and highly intelligent people. You can argue that his false credentials had a good deal to do with it making it easier for him to pull his hoaxes off BUT what about fraud that is easily accepted by those who are presented with less clever facts? What about those people who appear to be blind to actual reality or who don’t even bother to check backgrounds beyond the obvious? Metaphysics is a great haven for fraud.

Get ready. I’m about to step on some toes.

My Granny used to always tell me, to coin a phrase, “That even a liar his own truth.” In my 30+ years in behavioral studies, I have found that to apply quite solidly to matters pertaining to self delusion. I have always found it curious that people will seek out spiritual healing of assorted varieties and accept practitioners as valid conduits for a plethora of services that in fact often do nothing at all to change a person’s health or emotional status.

I can hear the rumblings now so let me make it clear that I am not grouping everyone in metaphysics as hucksters for as in any field there are a few out there doing some valid research or at least tenting their work with correct spiritual policy. Many times what starts out as valid in theory or concept gets stretched beyond reasonable comprehension yet it is accepted as truth. Let’s take a look at a few widely known and accepted metaphysical methods and concepts.

Numerology and Astrology

With respect to the owner of this site who I know for many years and  who fondly refers to me as the “Mouth Pole”, I actually do have respect for the historic and scientific antiquity of these arts. As far as astrology goes, I appreciate it as a historic pre cursor not only to astronomy but also to modern psychology (a gift from the Greeks who were the first to personalize the art on the human rather than predictive levels). I have absolutely no use for the ever popular solar scopes that appear in newspapers and magazines. To me they are useless and at best annoyingly banal. The same goes for numerology columns.

I’ve engaged in more than one argument about the ancient religious significance of predictive numerology. Numbers might never lie but the human being behind the interpretation is fallible. I have had personal analysis in both of these areas and while I can say that a seasoned/certified practitioner of these arts is likely to give you “decent” interpretation of your current life status, what is the point when you are going to exert your own free will anyway as soon as you walk out of the practitioner’s office? If you are doing anything less than that you better rethink your motivation. I say be your own creator and let the chips fall where they may. You can find better entertainment elsewhere. If you must have this kind of analysis, talk to a real live person face to face and avoid canned or computerized documents as they are a waste of money.

Reiki and Hands On Healing

Ouch! Every year thousands of people flock to hands on healers and Reiki practitioners to receive “healing.” I’ve seen people walk away from these healings convinced they were feeling better only to feel no better a month later. I have never witnessed a miraculous healing nor have I personally felt any “energy” transfer at the hands of a Reiki practitioner or even better, a self proclaimed Reiki Master. I am usually told the reason for my predicament is that I am somehow energetically “blocked” and should come back for more treatments. I don’t think so. Further, if I have paid for treatment to be ‘balanced’ and am told that I am blocked then I have wasted my time and money… AND before you ask, yes, I did seek out reputable practitioners in my region for this treatment.

Apparently there are all kinds and flavors of Reiki out there. Most of these have been channeled by certain individuals who claim to be “gifted” for one reason or another. These “channelings” never seem to be well explained and usually consist of some vague story based on an even more elusive premise. If you happen to be a well known name in the field absolutely nothing is questioned at all – just accepted as truth, justice and the American way. There is a lot of money to be had if you are a Reiki Master who can give attunements thus granting others the power (?) to heal. Some of these sums reach thousands of dollars.

Reiki, to my knowledge, was conceptualized in Japan but based upon ancient Chinese beliefs regarding the flow of energy. Oddly, the title Reiki Master does not truly exist in the East - it only seems to be a popular term here in the West. Now some of you are wiggling in your seats protesting that these methods have been proven and even documented or performed in front of live audiences or in the media. Seeing is believing right? And what about all those testimonials from people who claim to have miraculously healed? In my opinion there is no true validity in this practice but it is a good example of the scandalous fun of self delusion… what a high! Another travesty of all this is when I see folks refuse to accept services from legitimate, well schooled and well trained massage therapists because they do not also hold the title of Reiki Master. What’s wrong with that picture? I’ll take my weekly massage straight up please with no chaser or twist of lemon and certainly without Reiki.

Ascended Masters and Channeled Entities

The Ascended Masters came into prominence courtesy of Theosophist Helena Blavatsky. To this day parapsychicologial scholars and historians are still trying to figure out if Helena actually made the whole thing up. Additional credence was given to the concept after Blavatsky’s student Alice Bailey began channeling information from some of the Masters after Blavatsky’s death which manifested in a set of revered tomes. Since then, many others all over the world have claimed to channel messages from Ascended Masters, angels and all sorts of entities. Well, who am I to say whether or not these people are in touch with the Divine? They are apparently in touch with something nebulous and of course, that which is nebulous cannot be proved or disproved unless we want to consider quantum physics which allows for the possibility of just about everything. How convenient. Maybe old P.T. Barnum was born in the wrong era – he would have had a field day with this stuff for in this case we have blatant believing without seeing. If you must employ blind faith then do try to pick a subject that will enrich your life.

Psychic Readings

Don’t even get me started. This is another area where the conman thrives. Step right up and find out about your future for a mere $20. If you like what you hear come back again for another $20. If you come back once a month, you’ll only spend $240 for a year – such a bargain! If you want more information that surpasses the “teaser” reading you can have a private reading for $100 per hour. If you have a one hour reading once a month for a year it will only cost you $1200.  I hate to shock you but this is an actual average scenario that takes place all of the time.

Most psychics are very adept at reading body language and/or soliciting information from their clients without much awareness on the client’s part. Do me a favor and check out “cold readings” on the internet. It won’t cost you anything and your time will be well spent. If you must have a psychic reading, ask yourself what you really walked away with after it was over. Most people judge a reading by “accuracy.” I’ve solicited people after they have received a psychic reading and often their first response is that the reading was “right on.” Whenever I did further inquiry and asked these same people to put a percentage of accuracy on a reading, the average range was from 50% to 70% which happens to be the same percentage rate associated with a cold reading. When asked if they were going to have another reading, the percentages ran from 85% to 90%. Numbers don’t lie.  Have we learned nothing from the fate of Ms. Cleo years ago? Do yourself a favor – if you must dabble in the arcane, go buy yourself a Tarot deck and have a go at it. It’s more cost conscious and you will certainly never find a more knowledgeable counselor than yourself.

Ancient Artifacts

There have been some real doosies in this category. I will not address the  controversy over the ongoing ramifications connected to such media splashes as the Da Vinci Code series because people are still having too much fun with them. Under this banner alleged finds get some pretty grandiose attention and this is most likely due to our dependence upon archeology to prove or disprove history and legend. Aside from art fraud, the discovery of artifacts has been ripe with fraud and hoax. Some have been so clever that archeological communities remain split.

One of my favorites is the Cardif Giant. The discovery of the giant took place in1869 when two handymen were digging a well on the Newell farm near Cardif, New York which lies about 12 miles from Syracuse. They hit a large stone shaped like a foot and after further excavation unearthed a gypsum statue of a reclining man that measured roughly ten feet long. Old Farmer Newell immediately began cashing in by erecting a tent over the site and charging admission.

The Giant received a lot of attention. A local scientist by the name of John Boynton proclaimed that human flesh could not petrify and proposed that the statue was carved about 250 years earlier by a Jesuit priest. Geologist James Hall also proposed that the statue had antique value. Other experts disagreed upholding the petrification theory because there were tiny holes resembling pores all over the body of the statue. As public interest grew, Farmer Newell cashed in further by selling three-fourths interest in the Giant to a group of local businessmen for $30,000.

In November of 1869, an exhibition tour of the Giant in eastern cities was set in motion. This was the undoing of the Giant for the curiosity of the New York Herald was aroused and the paper wasted no time in casting the doubt about the authenticity of the Giant.  Yale Paleontologist Othniel Marsh inspected the Giant shortly thereafter and denounced the Giant as fraud. This was quickly followed up by a second inspection from Dr. Boynton who recanted his earlier findings. Eventually the whole nasty business came to light with Framer Newell admitting that he had asked his brother-in-law George Hull to buy a block of gypsum from Iowa and to commission two Chicago stonecutters to create the Giant. The statue was buried for a year and later exhumed by the well diggers. The original cost of the hoax was $2,600. The Giant caught the eye of P.T. Barnum who offered $60,000 to lease the Giant but his offer was declined. True showman that he was, P.T. had a wooden replica carved for himself which he put in to exhibition. Oddly the fake of the fake did better monetarily than the original because of Barnum’s deft promotional abilities. What defines the reality here? The sound of ching, ching, ching all the way to the bank! Believe it or not!

I do hope you enjoyed yourself reading this article for I took pleasure in writing it. Please do respond but I would advise you not to bother with any explanations that are an attempt to alter my views… unless of course you can “prove it”… FOR REAL!

Be happy and healthy,

Dr. D.