Imagine my delighted shock upon reading Dr. Brian Weiss as Oprah's guest last week. You might remember him from the landmark book Many Lives Many Masters . The 1980s book that made past life regression oh so chic, and redemptive. The story goes that Weiss, a practicing psychiatrist used hypnosis with a female patient called Catherine. (The man has none of the dramatic flair of Jung and didn't use a name as primal as say... Eve or Electra). During the hypnotherapy Catherine regressed so far back, she transcended this lifetime and revisted another one, a long time ago, in a country far, far away.So began Weiss's landmark work in past life regression healing. Not sure how Oprah connected with him. Perhaps Gayle sought his counseling, or perhaps a close celebrity friend made the gushing recommendation. I'm not knocking it, I'm just jealous that I haven't had a session with the guy. He's incredibly nurturing from what I've read in his books, and even more so in person from the regression segments played on Oprah. Yes, Oprah actually ran a tape of a regression.
Now, I'm an enthusiast of Ms. Winfrey's grab-life-by-the-cajones philosophy. I love her one woman at a time motto. And I particularly applaud her brilliance at making what used to be considered esoteric accessible to the masses. What used to be mulled over in dark living rooms filled with smoking incense by people sipping jasmine tea is now being presented to housewives in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin. I mean, look what she did for Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love. Gilbert's bordering on chick lit book did well for the female segment but ripped apart the NYT's bestseller list after her appearance on Oprah. And the book is essentially one long 300 page soliloquy of self discovery.
And the list goes on. Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth - Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. Marianne Williamson's venerable yet invaluable A Course in Miracles, turning a new generation on to the power of the self (and sporting a slamming new hairdo to boot!) Oprah's not limiting herself to television alone. Each week on her XM radio show - Soul Series - she interacts with the leading spiritual leaders and thinkers, capturing her share of the radio audience.
So can Oprah sell spirituality? Time will tell. And to those folks in Sheboygan Falls, listen up.
