Monday, September 05, 2005

Story of how a book once found me.


I have been impressed by the correspondences I have been having with Scott regarding Shamanism and Judaism. He originally responded to me on my Cloud Busting article, where I put a few videos online so that anyone who wants can download them to see what I've been talking about all this time. I checked last night, and the links are still active; it seems they have a 7-day shelf-life before the server wipes them off.

Anyway, he has been pointing me in interesting directions helping me to understand these experiences, and his last e-mail reminded me of a synchonicity experience where a few years ago a book found me. I am sharing this e-mail with you below because I feel that perhaps the information can be useful one day.

Dear Scott,

You just led me back to a book I stumbled upon one day [in 2002] in a rare book store -- I paid a dollar for a book called "Bioenergetics," by Alexander Lowen, MD. (ISBN 0-14-004322-5) Amazon.com sells it for $0.01 used here.

Here's the story. I don't know why, but I was attracted to a book store one day while driving in my car to visit my grandmother. I stopped my car and I walked into the bookstore, wanting to know what caught my attention. I closed my eyes, raised my hands (obviously making sure nobody would notice what I was doing), and followed my intuition towards a pile of books. I went through the pile, with my eyes still closed, and I picked up a book -- in my head, I got an "ah ha!" kind of feeling, so I opened my eyes and saw this book that was in my hands. The title was Bioenergetics. There was a man on the cover with an aura, surrounded by a Star of David. I thought it was funny because it felt like I was attracted to this book, as if the book called out to me.

I spent the next few days reading through the book which described Wilhelm Reich, his orgone theory, and his machines that he built to bust clouds. I looked at the machine and it seemed silly, as if it was one of those home-made sauna machines. The book instantly lost credibility as soon as it started talking about how every emotional disturbance was based on sexual frustration and so I put down the book. Yet I remember thinking and believing (in my own twisted mind) that I was Wilhelm Reich in a past life, because I knew these stories I was reading before I read them. I also got spooked when I saw his picture because I immediately recognized that picture as if it were me in my thoughts. I've seen him before.

Nevertheless, I still put down the book and never picked it up again. The idea of orgone energy seems silly to me, maybe because of the name or its simplicity. Yet the fact that you mention it, in the context of Shamanism and Judaism with the book you suggested (Magic of the Ordinary, by Gershon Winkler, ISBN 1556434448 -- I have been reading it on Google Print), and I have decided to pick up the Bioenergetics books again and go through it, this time with a little bit more credibility.

I realize that looking at my library of books that I have acquired over the years, the answers to my questions have probably been surrounding me for years. But I have never taken the time to go through all these books because I keep acquiring new ones and moving onto new topics of interest. Wouldn't it be nice to stick to one thing and get one answer, rather than having my fingers on the trigger of hundreds of mind-boggling concepts, never fully understanding anything in its complete form?

I will read the article and I will get back to you as soon as I do. Thank you for the reference; I am glad we are in touch. I appreciate the information you are sharing with me. I hope this can lead to some answers, and I also hope that somehow I will be able to contribute something in return to enrich your life as well.

Warm regards,
Zoe Strickman

3 comments:

Josia said...

Hi Zoe!

Thanks for stopping by earlier. I would love to know how you put that music in your sidebar!

love that colorado ski air!!

Rowan said...

wow, so what is this bioenergetics exactly? Can u explain more?

Zoe Strickman said...

Bioenergetics was actually a terrible book making all sorts of claims about cloud busting and psychology -- that everything is linked to wanting to have sex with your mother, etc. I put down the book after page 24 and never picked it up again until Scott's mention of Wilhelm Reich and his silly "orgone energy" [similar to an alien ray gun] which supposedly explains how we bust clouds with our minds. I will read it again in the coming weeks / months to give it a better look this time around. Amazon sells it used for a penny plus shipping. That might indicate its value.