Merry Christmas! Yes, Merry Christmas! None of that Don't-Say-Christmas-Just-Say-Happy Holidays PC stuff will do - it is Christmastime and whether you are a Christian, Jew, atheist, or none of the above, you can still enjoy the Christmas lights, presents, general tidings of good cheer, and all that jazz.

In my neighborhood, the police come around at Christmas time with Santa Claus on a lit-up trailer giving Christmas wishes to the neighborhood kids. And yes, I'm in a big city and they do this! The police drive around honking their sirens to the beat of Jingle Bells while they announce through the loudspeaker "Santa Claus is on your street!"

I suppose some folks might find that annoying, but I think it's exceptionally cute and fun. In the retirement village where some of my family lives in the winter, people dress up their golf carts in Christmas lights and parade around the neighborhood wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.

I went to an amazing kundalini yoga workshop over the weekend led by a wonderful teacher, Siri-Gian Khalsa. The topic was soulmates. I almost did not go because I did not want to put myself in "search" mode on the issue. I've done a lot of personal work on letting go the idea of finding the "perfect man." I have had soulmates come into my life, but that does not mean you are meant to be in a lifelong traditional marriage with them.

During the class we did an exercise where we were guided to connected to the soul of a partner. The woman I was sitting next to had an amazing, bright, beautiful soul I saw as a blueish white light that was instantly healing the moment I connected with it. It was so beautiful, I cried tears of joy.

THIS WEEK ONLY! As a special introductory offer through January 5, if you purchase Xen Healing course you will receive $10 off the regular price of $75 and also get the "How to Read Energy" audio course for free (a $22.22 value).

Xen Healing is a very simple but powerful method of healing that uses intention and guided visualization for healing. It uses a 5-step process: protection, clearing, alignment, energizing, and manifesting. The Xen Healing Level 1 audio course is the foundational course that teaches you how to use Xen Healing for self-healing, in preparation for healing others in Levels 2 and 3.

No hands-on healing is performed in Xen Healing - it is unique and unlike Reiki or similar techniques. Xen Healing also does not require an attunement to work. You will learn how to create a powerful reality shift to make dramatic progress and changes in your life.

An interesting study was recently conducted showing that people who felt physically clean were more tolerant and less judgmental of others:

"When we exercise moral judgment, we believe we are making a conscious, rational decision, but this research shows that we are subconsciously influenced by how clean or 'pure' we feel," said lead researcher of the new study Simone Schnall, a psychologist at the University of Plymouth in England. "Take for example the situation of a jury member or voting in an election - if the jury member had washed their hands prior to delivering their verdict, they may judge the crime less harshly."

I have created a short audio course on how to read energy using a pendulum. This is a quick and easy way to read chakras either in person or via distance. You do not need to be a psychic to be able to do this. I used this method to read the energy of the presidential candidates - once you learn this method, you can read anyone's energy quite easily with a little practice. I will confess that I use this method to check the energy of guys I am interested in dating - it can be extremely helpful in avoiding the bad ones. :-)

The course is available here:
http://www.elementenergy.com/howtoreadenergy

If you haven't heard the story: Abraham Biggs was a 19-year-old who recently committed suicide in front of a live web audience. He took a combination of pills that killed him as onlookers egged him on. There are a lot of psychological reasons why people can watch a horrifying event and do nothing. (Remember Kitty Genovese, who was murdered in front of a large number of witnesses?)

I'm constantly amazed at the industry that has built up around telling women how not to be themselves in order to attract a man. We are told that "Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus," so we better follow "The Rules" - and if we're not getting the results we want, well, "He's Just Not That Into You" (soon to be in movie theaters starring none other than Jennifer Aniston).

Here in Los Angeles, the lovelorn turn to Dr. Pat Allen, who has been here forever and a day peddling humorous relationship gender stereotypes to the desperate and fed up.

I've never actually seen Pat Allen in person, but every few years or so, a friend will recommend her. You can tell that someone has bought into Pat Allen Think when they say things like "doing that puts you into your masculine energy" or "you need to get back into your feminine energy."

I saw this online message recently. I took out the political stuff but wanted to share the basic gist of it:

The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some Poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right?

The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence 2/3 of the citizenry just ain’t happy and want a change. So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ‘What are we so unhappy about?’

A. Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 Days a week?

B. Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?

C. Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?

This comes from Jewish lore. The idea is that if you do a good deed, you create a defending angel to help you along your path. If you do a bad deed, you create a prosecuting angel to punish you.

The path you choose to follow is the path along which you will be lead. Good deeds will lead to more good deeds.... while lies and deception bring about a continuing cycle of lying to cover up the previous lies.

There is a way to break the cycle, and that is to about-turn, and retrace your steps. This is teshuvah - returning to the right path. This path ensures a continual helping hand from Above. Any obstacles encountered whilst retracing your steps are called "tikunim" - corrections. Each one is a test, tailored to suit your needs. Passing each test is achieving a tikkun in that area, or with a particular person.

Read more here...

I would not have been surprised if either Obama or McCain won. We now know Obama has won. But I am not celebrating tonight. I have mixed feelings. I know energetically that Obama is not a sincere man, and I have a heavy heart that something bad will come out of his presidency.

In the short run, though, I think his win is positive in that it buoys the spirits of African-Americans, and it deflates the intense anti-Bush/anti-Republican hate and anger that has festered among the left for a long time. I can't even imagine how people would have freaked out had McCain won. The most rabid anti-Bush people would never give him a chance, and they would spend another four years protesting and hollering and hanging him in effigy.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of the hating.

So for McCain's sake, I'm kind of glad he doesn't have to put up with that.