They say “you can take the boy from the Midwest but you can’t take the Midwest out of the boy”. But what happens when you immerse this Midwest boy from Minneapolis/St. Paul into a land of shamans, white witches, human potential junkies, parties in hot mountain springs, full moon parties on the beach and a vegan diet that includes magic mushrooms?

Would this Midwest boy open his mind and achieve a deeper consciousness or simply pass out unconscious? With the help of my fun loving funky Northern California friends, I’m willing to experiment and find out. Perhaps I’ll become a hybrid – a far out fun loving flake with a work ethic?

My New Age guru and guide to the local scene is a very far out native San Francisco native named, Nirmada (that’s Sanskrit for “one without pride”). She’s a very bright and intense woman and when she follows her passions, she jumps in 210%. After a selling a very successful jewelry business she has dedicated her energy to spiritual growth and enlightenment.

Nirmada – My New Age Guide

Hanging out with her is a bit like living in an ongoing intensive human potential seminar immersed in the power of crystals, intuitive healing, vortexes, Amma (the hugging Saint from India), health and wellness and the belief that love transcends all. It’s a lot for a Midwest boy like me to digest but I keep eating it up because I know it’s good for me, right? When in Rome do as the Romans, right?

I’m also learning the language of the local Northern Californians as I repeat the sacred Sanskrit names of her friends, like mantras in an attempt to remember them. “Piyusha”, “Aniruddhan”, “Chandra”, “Satyavan”, “Bhaskar” tend to go in one ear and out the other unless chant them repeatedly to embed them in my consciousness – unlike Sally, Bob or Lisa.

Even the body parts have different names. What I grew up calling a pussy is actually a “yoni”, which is a sacred Sanskrit word for the “Divine Passage”. To “celebrate” the sacred yoni click here.   To learn how to worship the yoni visit Yoni Massage.

The men in these parts tend towards being androgynous, which is a politically correct way of saying emasculated psychological eunuchs. However, I prefer them over carnivorous violent rednecks.

But many of them have the self awareness to joke about it. I met a local musician named Vir (yes, yet another hard to remember sacred name) who’s YouTube hit song “The Man from Marin” parodies this androgynous vegan male creature. It is must viewing for those seeking to understand this breed of males who roam Marin County in search of organic bean sprouts and colonic cleansing.

The locals in Fairfax even have their own pep squad for the divine in everyone known as the Shamanic Cheerleaders.

The Shamanic Cheerleaders – Go soul and go spirit!

These lovely females “cheer for all beings . . . and raise the vibration, spread contagious smiles and set freaks free.” The Morman’s have their tabernacle choir and the consciousness movement has its “Shamanic Cheerleaders”. Go soul and go spirit – win divine enlightenment!

I also seems that every other female is an “intuitive healer” or a massage therapist. Yet with everyone eating organic, hiking and doing yoga – how do they find work? And why all the health and wellness, when many of the locals believe that according to the Mayan calendar the world is scheduled to end on December 12^th of 2012? There is even a seminar in the town of Mill Valley about these Mayan end time prophecies for $100 that includes “activation of your inner power for Ascension”.

This “new age” culture, even when it doesn’t inspire, amuses. But right or wrong, pseudo scientific fantasy or profoundly transcendental this new age of consciousness is inspired by love and compassionate of humanity and its oneness and shared destiny with nature.

Unlike many traditional Christian religions, it does not preach the separation of the divine (supernatural) above and beyond the sinful terrestrial (natural) and create an unhealthy alienation between man and nature and his own nature.

As a “recovering Catholic” turned humanist, I’m wary and skeptical of soul deadening dogmas, authoritarian mind control and oppressive creeds. So I find the human potential movement in Northern California to have potential.

I plan on make Fairfax in Marin County my home as I continue my Californication.

Well, wish me luck with my new age make over and feel free to post your suggestions below.

Special thanks to Michael Olsen at www.ZorkMagazine.com for providing my “make over” photo.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 15th, 2008 at 12:18 am and is filed under California. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.