New-age solutions, age-old doubts

Radhika was brought up in a metro with a very liberal mentality. Her father used to always tell her that life was all about the choices and decisions one made. But after marriage things were different. At some point, she felt that there were some unknown forces thatpersuaded her to speak and act the way she did, even in her wildest dreams.

And life suddenly turned out to be a roller-coaster ride rather than a smooth drive. That was when she happened to know about metaphysical science and the more she read about it, the more she was attracted to it.

But there were occasions where she had to stay mum in front of her friends and colleagues as she herself was not clear if the tarot cards, the crystals, horoscopes and other things on which she was spending time, money and energy had any truth in them.

You may like it or not. How much ever a believer you are, there would be one moment in your life where you have asked yourself a question — is there any truth to these or are they just superstitions?

Though movements like communism and socialism have been ruling the state from years, Malayalis have an affinity to future and past reading.

If earlier they were approaching astrologers, now, there are other spiritual and metaphysical tools like Tarot reading, crystal healing and past life regression process coming into the state.

Recently Archana Avinash, a certified Crystal Healing Therapist, Reiki Healer and Angel Therapist from Bengaluru visited Kochi for two days to conduct a workshop on crystal healing and she was overwhelmed by the response of Malayalis.

“Indians actually are very open to these things but at the same time they are highly sceptical and doubtful too. Most of my clients come through word of mouth publicity seeing others’ personal experiences. Do you need more proof?” she asks with a smile.

According to her, crystal healing is a form of energy healing which has the power to solve both emotional and physical problems. “It is older than 4000 years. I have a lot of clients who had incredible experiences who initially came to me with doubtful minds. It is about the law of attraction, your thoughts and your intentions will be manifested. If you believe that your crystals are empowering you, it will. Our thoughts are so very powerful and we have the ability to make it happen,” she says.

Mumbai-based Malayali, Panjami Anand, who is an occult practitioner, explains that occult is so ancient that there is no history of its origin. “The querent  was asked to stand in the middle of the room surrounded by paintings. The priest would ask them to revolve around a few times without moving from the spot and the painting they faced or pointed towards would have solutions for what was bothering them.

“Occult is as old as humanity itself. If it is still practised in this era of science and has withstood the test of time, there is something about it that is unfathomably true and soothing,” she says.

According to her, it is true that one’s life will always depend on the decisions one makes. “If you are skeptical, the chances for it to work will be very less. Only those who seek genuinely will receive the answer.”

Yoga Instructor, Roopesh R. from Kochi, who is a past life regression therapist, says that one does not need any of these tools if he can live in the present with 100 per cent contentment.

“But no one lives like that. Instead they keep asking questions like, ‘why is it happening to me, and only me?’ And different things happen to different people as it is connected with one’s past. The past can be their childhood, their experiences when they were in their mother’s womb or their previous birth. What we do is finding reasons for the questions the mind asks. Once our mind finds the answer, it will be happy. Astrology is all about the script that we write when we travel between one life to another,” he says.