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Sample the Skeptic's Dictionary

Lynn Andrews

According to her website, Lynn Andrews is a

New York Times and internationally best-selling author of the Medicine Woman Series, which chronicles her three decades of study and work with shaman healers on four continents. Her study of the way of the sacred feminine began with Agnes Whistling Elk and Ruby Plenty Chiefs, Native American healers in northern Canada. Her quest for spiritual discovery continued with a Shaman Curendera of the Mayan Yucatan; an Aboriginal woman of high degree in the Australian Outback or Nepalese healer in the foothills of the Himalayas. Today, she is recognized worldwide as a leader in the fields of spiritual healing and personal empowerment. A shaman healer and mystic, Ms. Andrews is widely acknowledged as a major link between the ancient world of shamanism and modern societies [sic] thirst for profound personal healing and a deeper understanding of the pathway to enlightenment.

A curious person with little interest in spirituality might wonder if any of this is true. Why would spiritual leaders and healers of indigenous peoples on several continents take in a (natural?) blonde paleface actress from Beverly Hills to share their tribal traditions about the "sacred feminine", whatever that might be? That question is much harder to answer than another one that comes to mind: why would a (natural?) blonde white woman claim to be a shaman? Do the words 'fortune' and 'fame' come to mind? Or 'exploitation'? Like Benny Hinn, Peter Popoff, and other faith healers, perhaps Andrews has discovered the formula for success hidden in the esoteric message "There's a seeker born every minute." Many people want to believe in miracles and in the existence of esoteric traditions that have been magically opened to chosen ones who let them in on the secrets of life and guide them to enlightenment. Why not provide these lost souls with what they want? Why not, indeed.>>more

sample Mysteries and Science (for kids 9 and up)

flying saucers

In a nutshell: Some people think flying saucers are spaceships from other planets. Scientists don't think so.

Some people say that aliens have come to Earth in flying saucers. It's not likely that anyone from another planet has reached Earth in a flying saucer or a flying teacup, for that matter. (See the entry on UFOs for an explanation of why travel between stars is unlikely.) Where did the idea of a flying saucer come from?>>more

a blast from the past

Storm: caught in the behaviorist parenting trap

28 May 2011. By now most of you have heard about the Canadian couple who are not telling anybody, including grandparents, whether their youngest child is a boy or a girl. (OK. That's not quite true. They told the infant's siblings who are 2 and 5.) The Toronto Star says that its article on the couple's decision has become its most popular online story ever. The Star also reports that the couple is "shell-shocked" by the vehement reaction to the story about their decision to try to raise a gender-free child. The couple told the paper that "We've decided not to share Storm's sex for now -- a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm's lifetime (a more progressive place? ...)." In an email to the Associated Press, the couple said the idea that "the whole world must know what is between the baby's legs is unhealthy, unsafe and voyeuristic.">>more

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