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A 23-year-old man is believed to have committed suicide last week because a crow sat on his head twice in the same day, a bad omen according to Hindu superstition.

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DR write: "I was wondering about Joao Texeira da Faria, friends of my family have been to him and so the family are rather intrigued with him.  On reading a bit about him I found him to be somewhat New Age.  Please could you let me know what you think of him."

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SP writes: "I wonder if you can tell me what the connection is between owls and the new age movement is.  It seems that owls are all the craze & I have even met a few people that hold them as 'sacred", which confused me further when they wouldn't elaborate.  Please advise since my daughter received an owl necklace from a friend & I don't feel comfortable having her wear it."

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JA writes: "I am wondering what 'send energy' is?  I recently offered to pray for a friend and she requested that I 'send positive energy.'  What does that mean?  If this is new age lingo, what commandment is it breaking?"

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In March, 2012, I wrote about a scam organization that goes by the name of St. Matthew's Church which uses questionable tactics to get people to send money in exchange for prayers.

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PC writes: "What do you know about the 'Women can have it all' conference, by Susan Sly that was in Toronto. This appears to be a self empowerment movement, and they are very  evangelistic. Ones career is to 'travel, and spread the good news' that you can have it all, and the evidence that they have it all , is that they travel around telling everyone 'look at me, how fantastic I am'. Is it New Age? Is all self empowerment fall into New Age? It does seem to be contrary to Christ's call to pick up our cross daily and follow him, or  to be humble and meek of heart."

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GF writes: "I used to be a fan of Brian Tracy, Joseph Murphy and Terry Cole Whittaker untiI I started recognizing that their teachings seem to deviate from bible principles although their books quote Bible verses to make their point. So I stopped reading their books. I recently purchased a book called The 4:8 Principal, the Secret of a Joy Filled Life  by Tommy Newberry. Would you please advise if his motivational teachings are aligned with biblical teachings."

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CG asks: "What about focusing?"

Focusing is not New Age although it can certainly be used in that way by psychotherapists who espouse a New Age worldview. There are also versions of it that incorporate Buddhist mindfulness meditation techniques into the practice of focusing which is why people should be cautious when approaching this kind of therapy.

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Lawyers trying to stop a California school district from teaching Ashtanga yoga in schools are vowing to fight on after a judge decided the practice does not promote religion.

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Curators at the UK's Manchester Museum are puzzled by video tapes of an Egyptian statue that is seen turning itself around a full 180 degrees in its display case.

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