With the new release of Symbol Readings some have written me to ask if there is a difference between “fake” readings and “real” ones. A few people wanted to know if Symbol Readings meant to be “real” or for “performance”.
My answer to the latter is – “Yes.”
If you are new to my work, or even if you have been around it for a while, you might not realize my basic working model. It comes from very old magic and it says, “Use truth to show illusion and illusion to show truth.”
To me that means that anything I release for performers may well have hints or entire elements of real influence, secret principles or power, hidden patterns, mystical undertones, ancient methods turned towards performing, or flatout psychology and esoteric thought turned into reliable performance works.
In Symbol Readings I use little known psychology and influence methods mixed with actual symbolism studies to create a system useful in real life, as well as for performers.
In fact, what I have given to performers is based largely on a work I did long ago for non-performers or “real people” as I call them. I wanted to help people help themselves and learn about certain notions of symbolism, without all the years of study and effort I had gone through to get to some of these principles.
I put my own spins on these insights and then developed many tools for real people based upon my years of working with complex symbolism. Many years later did I decide to try to add in other principles and methods to help performers make this knowledge into surefire readings and performance pieces.
This is hardly the first time I have done such things. My work The Secret was based on several aspects of Kentonism of which the Public alone were aware for many years (This pre-dated the metaphysical book and DVD called by the same name). Later, after a workshop and seeing what a friend was doing with such principles, I decided to try and teach performers more about these insights.
Even flat-out reading effects such as A Date With Destiny has elements of very real esoteric philosophy and thought under the surface. When others copied my original notion or stumbled across it accidentally somehow (a near mystical happening in itself) they missed the deeper aspects. You can take the chart from Destiny into any so-called “New Age” Or “Metaphysical” store in the world and they’ll agree that the chart is in proper alignment according to various teachings.
So yes I often, perhaps nearly always, blur the line between performance and other teachings. It is what Dr. Tarbell, Ormond McGill, Orville Meyer, Kellar and many of my favorites who came before me did too.
That’s why some people think that my writing changes in a book they have owned for many years, or feel that there are many levels to whatever I do. I rarely work on one level of thought at any given time.
That makes the idea of me driving a car a horrible notion, and the ability to give to performers far more than surface thought a typical experience.
At least from me.
Kenton
March 12th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Thank you!