Is woo on the rise or just where I live?

[HangingOver]

I permanently relocated to the South West a few years ago after being a long term weekend visitor for about 5 years....and I've noticed the rise in the amount of woo practitioners in the area has totally exploded!

They range from harmless stuff like dancing naked around the forest with no clothes on (but always mysteriously with a photographer on hand for Instagram!) to more questionable stuff like "yoni steaming" and putting their periods on their faces, to the downright alarming stuff like Kambo (if you don't know what that is it's where a lunatic with no medical training burns you then applies this stuff to the burn that comes out of a poisonous frog in the Amazon, and you really violently vomit and have the shots and sometimes your face and skin swells up). There's also a woman nearby who seems to be a sort of doula (sp?) who specialises in helping you to give birth avoiding medical intervention of any kind at all costs....which seems a bit questionable!

I thought I was quite a fuzzy live and let live type but it's starting to annoy me. My lovely housemate who had a traumatic past is into it and it makes me sad that she goes to the legnths of poisoning herself to try to vomit up "bad energy" She's not bad, she's lovely.

Is this just a local thing or are other seeing a rise in "magical" and "goddesses" near them?

I've tried reiki and it was so amazing, I've learned how to do it. I only do it as personal use. However once I attended a sound bath. At the end they banged the large singing bowl with each person in it. The next day, I became so painfully ill, in an arthritic way. I was only 30! Never again!

Get thee to Glastonbury for moon worship and lunacy!

@BarrowInFurnessRailwayStation

yes, that makes sense to me - lots of people need ritual - I think it’s a human need in many of us. I always thought that Christianity was adopted as it was a way of providing that comfort to people and addressing human needs but removed the most dodgy aspects of pagan culture - false gods (gurus, cult leaders, etc).

I'm quite "woo" myself but draw the line at smearing bodily fluids on places they're not meant to be, having anything to do with poisons/venoms from creatures, dancing naked ANYWHERE, and Instagram.

The inclusion of Instagram on this list has finished me.

I love Woo and was dying to go to Glastonbury but found it dirty, rowdy and quite unsafe at night to be honest. So disappointed.

I find woo people a bit frightening and unpredictable. Some of them are alarmingly miserable as well.

@Tulips21 @SnotMikeUpPuffedHe my small university town has several crystal shops ........

A rise in woo is what happens to a mostly secular country when the mental health system, social care system and health service are not fit for purpose. When the mainstream fails you, you look for a side stream. Humans are habitual hope seekers, we would rather sell our soul for snake oil than accept that we are powerless over something. The snake oil on offer is largely rooted in our history, so in the USA we see people turning to the far right and evangelical Christianity, gun lobbying, anti vax and anti abortion, and in the UK we see people turning to astrology, hallucinogens, anti vax and witchcraft.

I love a bit of woo myself, but a lot of the woo around at the moment is a bit too woo for me. I think people are just desperately trying to cling to something in these scary and uncertain times

goddessconference.com

Could not resist looking up the goddess conference. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for pictures.

It is £330 for four days. Costumes, dream catchers and joss sticks extra.

Quartz definitely has energy though - it runs quartz clocks, watches etc...

No it doesn't. Quartz clocks and watches are run by electricity.

The quartz crystal resonates when electricity is passed through it, this regulates an electronic oscillator to keep the time.

Lots of materials and minerals have this property, quartz is the most accurate.

Bloody hell. There's one born every minute.

Those pictures!!!!!

Love the bit about Britain's largest oddballs. I can see why that would be trying!

This is such a good explanation.

But why is it mostly women, rather than men, who promote and partake in woo? I find that really intriguing. I guess part of it is that it’s become a “women’s thing” so attracts more women, but why has it? Women aren’t inherently more gullible than men. Would love to hear anyone’s thoughts.

I am not woo at all but did convert to liberal judaism so I suppose mainstream religion satisfies my 'spiritual' side..I do know converts who are also 'woo' , Into homeopathy and reiki healing!

I do think woo in a way is a rejection of mainstream religion rather than a replacement. They fulfill quite different purposes. For me religion also fulfills my social needs and also can offer some structure in my life. Woo sounds quite different, sounds like it can be anything you want it to be...

Men have a replacement for religion, its called football. Not that women can't like football, but the ones that treat it as a quasi religion are almost always men..

I wonder (based on no research, it's just idle musing) whether women are differently gullible to men. I.e., as a very broad generalisation, women fall for woo, men perhaps for something else (bitcoin anyone?)

Is it Stroud? huge amounts of that sort of nonsense around here.

That's the South West for you!

There are plenty around here. I generally roll my eyes and get on with my own life.

😂

But why is it mostly women, rather than men, who promote and partake in woo? I find that really intriguing. I guess part of it is that it’s become a “women’s thing” so attracts more women, but why has it? Women aren’t inherently more gullible than men. Would love to hear anyone’s thoughts.

@onthefencesitter talked about rejection of mainstream religion and I tend to agree. I see woo stuff attracting people who feel marginalised somehow, or as if they don’t belong. I think that women are more likely to express those feelings by dressing up as a goddess in a red wonderbra and dancing on the Tor (see link to the Glastonbury goddess conference I posted above) or deciding that they have a unique connection to Mother Earth, or whatever.

Which is arguably healthier than the typical male reaction to those feelings, which would be withdrawal from the community or substance abuse.

doesn't woo go along with substance abuse. My mentally ill friend who is into woo also abuses drugs to 'heal' herself..

Intellect and rationality permanently damaged by MDMA then? There’s a lesson in there somewhere.

I'm vegan and we have more than our fair share of woo among us. People who can talk to animals and such.

This thread is making me want to visit the woo capital and participate in a cacao ceremony