Madam Lichtenstein's Cosmic World

Dvorak Uncensored

I love when folks challenge astrology and predicitons because I think that is the best way to prove the good astrologers and expose the bad ones. I stumbled on Dvorak who writes a blog that dispels myths, shouts loudly about all sorts of life's absurdities and reviews horoscope sites (although not my site at this time....ahem). 

If I might quote directly from his site:

"One reason I got into this was because it’s seems as if some executives in our superstitious rapture-centric government probably use one of these systems to make daily decisions. While you think I might be kidding, know that it’s fairly well known in California political circles that Reagan used astrology all the time most likely at the behest of his wacky wife, Nancy. His inauguration in California as Governor was done at some gosh awful midnight hour because of what the Astrologer told them. And it turns out that these sites are highly entertaining..."

So who does he like? Hint - Only Susan Miller's AstrologyZone site get a full grade of an "A".

Count Cagliostro in the Movie The Affair of the Necklace

Notice how I title the post by a certain character first and then the name of the movie? The movie The Affair of the Necklace stars Hillary Swank, Simon Pryce, Simon Baker, Adrian Brodie and Christopher Walken and is the story about a young woman's quest to regain her family title and possessions through an swindle involving a necklace. They say that this true event was one of the causing factors of the French Revolution. Who knows? Who cares?

The movie had it flaws but it did acquaint me with Count Cagliostro (arguably overplayed by Christopher Walken) who is a clairvoyant and mystic. The Count is in on the take and misuses his powers to further the plan. Of course the movie implies that Cagliostro is a fake and fraud who moves in wealthy and powerful circles. This may be true but I felt I needed to investigate further.

Count Allessandro Cagliostro's true background is as mysterious as any mystic should be. "Count Alessandro di Cagliostro" (2 June 1743 – 26 August 1795) was the alias for the occultist Giuseppe Balsamo, who was an Italian adventurer.

Cagliostro himself stated during the trial following the Affair of the Diamond Necklace to have been born of Christians of noble birth, but abandoned as an orphan. He claimed to have been initiated into the Sovereign Military Order of the Knights of Malta, with whom he studied alchemy, the Kabbalah and magic, but who knows? His early life is said to be one of education but also larceny and lying. Despite his family's precarious financial situation, he became a novice in the Catholic Order of St. John of God, from which he was eventually expelled. Here is one juicy story of many....

Balsamo learned chemistry as well as a series of spiritual rites. In 1764, when he was seventeen, he convinced Vincenzo Marano—a wealthy goldsmith—of the existence of a hidden treasure buried at Mount Pellegrino. Balsamo requested seventy pieces of silver from Marano. When the time for the two to dig up the supposed treasure came, Balsamo attacked Marano and left the city.

From there it was from one swindle to another, or so the history tell us. Finally caught up in the Affair of the Necklace and effectively pissing off King Louis the 14th and Marie Antoinette, he was imprisoned in the Bastille for 9 months and then expelled. He eventually dies in jail after being caught up in the Inquisition. And yet, all is not bad. Occult historian Lewis Spence comments in his entry on Cagliostro that the swindler put his finagled wealth to good use by starting and funding maternity hospitals and orphanages around the continent.

Psychics Are Hot

I don't think anyone needs a crystal ball to know that when times are tough, people seek advice from psychics. AOL's top story today is how people are flocking to psychics in ever increasing numbers.

So I return to my old gripe that those who say that they can predict the future are full of hot air. No one can predict exactly what will happen. No one has that ability. The new age sciences such as astrology and tarot can help guide to what the possibilities are - not what ones fate IS. We have to make the decisions and advisors can help to provide the possible opportunities and pitfalls. If you decide to seek out a psychic, beware when they say that there is a curse or bad karma around you. That is nonsense. Go to an advisor who does not talk in absolutes - one who offers options based on the tools they use are the genuine guides.

Read the story about psychics on AOL here and send me your opinion.

Ask Madam Lichtenstein

This email arrived in my inbox. Phony psychics are a pet peeve of mine. The situation that is described below seems fairly common to  me and so I am posting it here (with permission) with my  response:

Hello. I Had an experience back in 1992. I had just gotten divorced and was having money problems and trying to get my life in order. I went to a Palm Reader and she convinced me that she would help me.  At her request I gave her my weekly checks so she could take them to some alter and church so that my money would multiply.

I found out later that she was stealing money from not only me but other people. I went to see her and she said that she would give me my money the next day. For several days I wasn't able to get in touch with her. She left Fresno, CA. and later that month I traced her to Los Angeles to her sister's house. I was able to retrieve 1000 dollars.

 

It was a very trying time for me and for her for I was not the only one looking for her. Since then I have been very bad in handling money, I can't get a hold of my finances or anything pertaining to money. Could she have put a curse on me?

 

I read somewhere that if I lite a black candle at the right time and moon phase I could clear any negativity that is in control of me. I found your web site on moon phases. and read them to see when I can cleans my self. Please help me do a cleansing on myself so I can get back into my life.

Sincerely,

B

 

 

Here is my response:

Dear B,

Phony psychics such as the one you described make me very angry! (I have written about phony psychics before). Please know that no one can put a curse on you. Burning a candle may help you psychologically and make you better able to concentrate on making good decisions but the burning itself does not impact your financial situation. The only one who can determine your fate is you. You have the power to decide what is and what is not right for you. Sometimes things take a little longer and sometimes things don't work out as we expect. But in every case, we control our actions -- not bad spirits or curses.

I hope that helps.

Best,

C. Lichtenstein

Astrology.com: Free Daily Horoscope and a "Free" Relationship Reading?

I tend to avoid sites like astrology.com because I find that their daily horoscopes are not accurate. In fact I think most daily astrology predictions are not especially accurate, with the exception of those by the late Patrick Walker who I think is was a master among astrology masters.

So anyway, I was exploring various horoscope and astrology websites and through another link I found myself on the www.astrology.com site. I decided to read my daily horoscope which said it was a child-like day for me (maybe I wasn't fulfilling my astrological potential but it certainly was not a playful childlike day for me). Then I was offered a free relationship reading. How could I resist? I typed in all this personal information like birthdate, year, time and place and email address.

The site then said it was calculating my free reading. And then after a few seconds I was directed to another page asking me which email newsletters I would like to receive (the list had 53 to choose from. Rather than clicking 53 times, there was a tab where I could just "choose all"). I chose none.

Then I was instructed to go to the next page. Hoping to get my "free reading" I was then given the opportunity to choose from a range of offers from Astrology.com's partners such as Red Lobster, Fisher-Price toys and ADT security. Some of these opportunities were helpfully already checked off as "yes" for me. How nice!

I decided to click on the "skip" box and go to the next page which said "click here to get your free sample reading".... however if I wanted to upgrade to a full-length reading I could "Buy Now" with a 20% off discount or "Get it Free" by going to a free checkout. I am all for free so I clicked on that.

By "free" Astrology.com means this:

"Astrology.com has partnered with CheckoutFree to allow you to get your Relationship Potential Reading for FREE! Simply agree to try or purchase one of CheckoutFree advertisers' offers, and the advertiser will pay for your Relationship Potential Reading."

Does that sound free to you? At this point I bailed out... but not before having to close pop ups from the site for more products and services that were not-for-free.

Oh yes, and the free sample reading? It was supposed to be a relationship comparison between two people but the sample reading did not compare the charts at all. It just gave a short overview about how each individual person approaches relationships in general. Disappointing.

My concern here is that astrology.com is very pervasive and is considered one of the major astrology and horoscope destinations. I think it gives astrology and horoscope sites in general a bad rap.

I am giving several raspberries to astrology.com. And they are absolutely for free. Do you have a candidate for a "raspberry award"? Send it to me for consideration.
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One of the best introduction to astrology books ever written: Secrets from a Stargazer's Notebook: Making Astrology Work for You. A famous spiritual astrologer shares her secrets in: Astrology for the Soul.