i was a 'Fortune Teller' at a Halloween party last night for a whole bunch of kids. it was a cool party. it was in a dark chunk of woods, no electricity, and with a burn ban due to drought only candles and a small fire in a BBQ grill. it was a great atmosphere.

there is an old 'dead' small motor-home in there that i set up as a fortune telling place. the kids loved it. each kid got 'smudged with sage smoke' as they walked in the door and told about how Native Americans had used this ritual for eons to cleanse their "auras" and what an "aura" is (energy field around the body - good and bad vibes, etc.) [now remember, this isn't California! these kids had never heard of most of what they got in this short experience! haha]

when they entered the trailer they sat across from me - i was "The Snake Lady" and had snakes all around, tons of candles, fabrics & fake cobwebs everywhere, and one of those 'fog' machines going.

i starting by asking each of them if they knew how to 'quiet their mind' - to stop thinking - - - - only 2 said sometimes. so i told them i would teach them how to quiet their mind and said for them to keep eye contact with me as i rang the Tibetan bell and then we would practice together the stilling of our minds by taking a deep breath, holding it 2 or 3 full seconds, breathing out, holding it, breathing in, holding it, etc. and had them notice that when they were holding their breath their mind was quiet - that it is impossible to think (unless you MAKE yourself think one word at a time) when you are holding your breath. (but should only hold for a couple seconds -no longer).

after 'the practice', i proceeded to tell them (always in a big-eyed, snake-lady way haha) that they could practice this when they got upset, or couldn't go to sleep at night, or were stressed before a test, or were upset that a sweetheart broke their heart, etc. i also told them that if they could learn to quiet their mind they would be able to follow their own inner - wiser self (their 'intuitive self') instead of just their mind and that they would be able to have a more meaningful life that way.

then i had them pick one tarot card and turn it upside down in front of me. i would then look at the little 'meaning book' and say (whether their card was reversed or not) that there were TWO meanings to their card and the meaning for THEM depended on whether they chose to follow the LIGHT or follow the DARK, and that i hoped they would choose to follow the LIGHT. i'd read them all the possibilities and say that they would come to many forks in the road during their life and it was up to them which path they took and that by learning to still their mind they could find a better guide for which path to take. it was surprising that these kids 8 to 16 would just stare at me with big eyes and be so serious and sincerely enjoy this the whole thing. many of them asked if they could come back a second time. haha

anyway, because they go to a christian private school i didn't want any parents to come track me down and hang me so i had each of them ALSO pick a card out of a bowl of bible-verse cards that i inherited from my grandmother. i had them read their card aloud to me. it was amazing how fitting those verses were as well.

anyway, i used one of those funny looking 'wire' head tinglers [http://www.bodytimewellness.com/tingler/] and tingled their heads before they left (they all LOVED that! haha) and told them to notice how when their heads were being tingled they ALSO did not think anything and that was because they were totally in the moment instead of their heads.

they were lined up for over 3 hours non-stop. it was great fun!!!