If you are a member of the occult community, chances are you have heard of her. Not only did she write lots of books, but she also had her own line of oils, incense, sachets, powders. She retired around 2000 and sold the company to Indio Products, which split into two companies, a few years ago. Wisdom Products for retail, it remains Indio for wholesale. At least that is what their website says. At any rate, the woman known as Anna Riva died in 2005 of advanced Alzheimer's disease.
Say what you will about her products. Some people love them, other people hate them. Then there are the fluffies who worry that her products and rituals might be evil with a creamy center. Personally, I like some of the oils and hate others. Some smell so awful it's crazy. I used to live in an area where one of the local pagan shops bought her oils by the quart and rebottled them with the store name. People who hated Anna Riva products on principle or their fears of hoodoo and voodoo raved about the oils this store sold. I found it rather amusing, so I never opened my mouth about it around other customers. But one day when it was just me and the employees in there, I did comment that the oils reminded me a lot of Anna Riva oils. The staff got a bit flustered. But all of that is beside the point.
The thing that has a bug up my butt at the moment is a flyer from Wisdom Products I was given yesterday. It is a new flyer, flyer 2012-E. I so wish I had a scanner so all of you could see this.
The top of the flyer asks you:
Is your mind driving you crazy?
Do you have questions and cannot find the right answers?
Is your spirituality challenged by a source higher than your knowledge?
Break the ice!... Clear your mind!... Find your path!
Then it great big letters it proclaims, "Ask Anna Riva."
In the bottom right hand corner in a red box it says in large text, "Anna Riva is a talented Wise Woman, creator of a line of Spiritual Products and world famous for her Vision. She is also a renowned Author & Psychic." (Capitalization is how it was done in the flyer.)
WTF? She's been dead for around 8 years. She would have to be one hell of a psychic to still be doing readings. In my opinion, this is a marketing low. Also, while it's a circular from Wisdom Products, who is Mara Worldwide? I did a bit of looking around, while a tree on this site shows some relation to Indio Products, there seems to be no direct line drawn between either company? And who is Brooke Beyer? I can't find this person online at all. Obviously this person is in some way paying to use Anna Riva's name. On the back of the circular, there are books to order from Wisdom. Which makes them sleazy in my opinion, licensing out the name to lead on gullible people. Also, the circular came straight from Wisdom Products.
This circular has a list of 80 common questions that you can ask the person or computer posing as Anna Riva. It claims that due to overwhelming response, Miss Riva, who is dead, can only answer the pre-printed questions. Some of the questions are the ones that anyone who works as a reader hears all the time:
Does the person I love love me?
Should I break it off or surrender?
Will I have children?
Should I marry the person I'm thinking of marrying?
How do I cope with my boss?
Run of the mill questions. Then there are some really odd questions and some that are downright disturbing. I'd like to address some of those. Such as:
Why is my significant other frigid?
This is a question for a doctor, not a psychic. There are so many reasons someone can lose desire. In women, menopause is a big factor. There is also the stress of being expected to be a wife, mother and homemaker, while holding down a full time job. If this is the case, if you want to turn her on, send her out for a spa day while you do the cooking and cleaning. Can't cook? Take her to dinner instead. If her frigidity is something that came on slowly and isn't a physical problem, then YOU are the problem.
Why don't I enjoy sex?
This is another question for your doctor. If this is something that has been going on your entire adult life, see a doctor. If it's something that is happening with your current partner and has never happened before, chances are your current partner sucks in bed. But you should see a doctor anyway, not be asking a dead woman.
Will my significant other stop abusing me?
This question disturbs me. If you want your spouse to stop abusing you, pack up their stuff, change the locks and get a restraining order. Then visit a good divorce lawyer. Remove the DOORMAT tattoo from your forehead and stop putting up with the abuse. No amount of prayer is going to stop an abuser from abusing. I don't care how much you love this person, you obviously have little respect or love for yourself if you're allowing abuse to continue. This is NOT a question for a psychic, especially not a dead psychic. This is a question of finding your inner strength and being your own person. This is a question of finding a good lawyer before you're tempted to do something that will make you a candidate for an episode of Snapped or Wives with Knives. If someone is abusing you, get out. I know you want to hear that the abuser will stop, that you pray for the abuser to stop. But abusers enjoy the power they get from the abuse. Get out. Get out before one of you ends up maimed or dead.
Why are my children abusive towards me?
Gee, are they the children you have with your abusive significant other? If so, they have learned from example, especially if they are the same gender as your abuser. This is something you might want to take up with social services. Especially if your children are grown and you're elderly. Elder abuse is against the law in most places. If these kids are spoiled brat teenagers, force them to go to counseling. Family counseling might help. But if you let them be brats all their lives and now as teenagers they're being evil, you can pretty much bet they aren't going to change. Also, teenagers tend to have little respect for a parent who stays in an abusive relationship. However, once again, this isn't a question for a psychic. It is a question for a mental health professional.
Why don't I ever have any money?
Chances are, this is a question for a financial advisor, especially if you have a good job. You could be over extended. You could be using your credit cards way too much. You could have a crap job. Or, you could be wasting tons of money asking dead women questions when you get circulars like this.
Will I change jobs?
This is a question I get a lot as a reader. Before I even shuffle the deck and lay out one card, I ask straight out if the person asking me this is bothering to send out resumes or even apply for other jobs. If the answer is no, there is no point in even looking at the cards and I bid them good day. If the answer is yes, I will proceed with the reading. However, if you are determined to find a new job, you are going to find one, even if it takes a year. If you're serious and you are a business professional, you might want to ask a headhunter if they have anything for you. But if you're not even bothering to look, you are going to be stuck where you are.
Will my life be more exciting?
This is not a question for a dead psychic. This is a question of common sense. This is a question of getting up from in front of the TV or computer and actually going out and doing something to make your life more exciting. Oh, you don't like to do things by yourself? Then you're never going to make any new friends. Don't just wish you could be doing something like bungee jumping, go out and do it. No one is going to knock on your door lost and needing a phone or broken down and needing a phone who is going to add excitement to your life. Unless it's someone looking to stage a home invasion. But that's not the kind of excitement most people are looking for. You need to make your own excitement. We all do. If you wait for excitement to come to you, chances are it's not going to be the kind you're looking for.
Why am I so afraid?
This is a question for your doctor, especially if you have no reason to be afraid. It could be an anxiety disorder. 99% of the time, it is some form of anxiety. Not an omen, not a curse, but an actual medical problem. See your doctor, not a psychic who is rotting in her grave.
Should I believe what the doctor is telling me?
The fact this question is on the list gives me chills. Chills of a bad kind. I do understand there are some terrible doctors out there who couldn't diagnose an ingrown toenail properly. However, there is a little something called a second opinion. If you got bad news that you are questioning, get a second opinion, especially if it's something bad. Nine times out of ten you should believe your doctor, especially if it's a good doctor. If the tests come back with something chronic and easily treated, take your medication. If it's some rare disease, get a second opinion. But if say that lump in your breast comes back as suspicious on a mammogram and the biopsy says it's cancer, get treatment before you end up as dead as Anna Riva.
How can I protect myself from an ex-lover?
This is a police matter, not a dead psychic matter. Restraining order. Have the ex arrested every single time he or she violates the order, instead of being a doormat and letting them in to talk. Document every threatening call, every threatening text, every threatening email. The police in most municipalities take these things very seriously.
How can I protect myself from an abusive spouse?
This is a legal matter. Have the spouse arrested. While the spouse is in jail, call friends, gather some money and pack up your stuff and get out. Make sure your friends don't tell the abuser where you are. If you're a woman, there are shelters to help you escape from an abusive situation in most areas. There are restraining orders and divorce lawyers. Social services might be able to help you. If you get a restraining order, do not allow the abuser to violate it. The best protection against an abusive spouse is to leave that spouse and if need be, press charges.
How can I protect myself from immigration authorities?
This is a question for an immigration lawyer. But you might want to make sure you're in a sanctuary city.
Also, don't get involved in gangs, drugs, prostitution or any other fast money plot that can get you arrested. You might also want to stay out of Arizona if you're illegal and brown. You need to use common sense, not ask someone posing as a dead woman.
Why am I sick all the time?
Not a question for a psychic. This is a question for a doctor. I'm willing to bet that if you used this form and sent in this as one of the circled questions, you would get something about being under spiritual attack and hey, buy this product and you will feel better. No. Go to the doctor. Go into detail about your symptoms. Go into detail about how often you are sick. Tests can be done to see if there is an underlying cause. Then something can be done to make you feel better. You need a doctor, not a feel good reading.
What can I do to lose weight?
Eat less, eat the proper foods, stay away from prepackaged microwave meals. Exercise. Get your fat behind off the couch and go for a walk every night after dinner. If eating less, eating the right foods and exercise doesn't work, go to the doctor and get your thyroid checked. Keep a food diary and see just what you ingest in a day. Eat fruits and vegetables. Fresh fruits, not the stuff packed in heavy syrup. Fresh or frozen vegetables, not that garbage in cans that is loaded with salt, which will cause you to retain water. Sensible diet and exercise. This is something you need common sense for, not a dead woman.
Why do I abuse drugs and/or alcohol?
This is one of the questions that really disturbed me when I saw it. Addiction is a serious matter. You need a doctor. You also need a therapist. Alcoholism is a physical disease and it can be hereditary. So if there is a long line of alcoholism in your family, you probably inherited it. An addictive personality is not something you can get over by a quick detox. You are going to need to work with your doctor and a therapist. This is a question for a medical professional and a mental health professional. Addictions tend to be a physical craving. Cold turkey is just going to cause you to crave the substances of your choice more. Work with doctors, don't go looking for psychic answers.
Why am I so depressed?
Not a question for a psychic, especially not a dead psychic. It could very well be organic depression. See your doctor, get a referral to a psychiatrist. See if you have something that can be treated. If you have a brain chemical imbalance, you are going to be chronically depressed. A psychiatrist will be able to tell if you actually have a disease, or if you're an emo who will grow out of it. You need a doctor for depression. Depression can also be an underlying cause of something else. Go to the doctor, go through the process and put in the effort to get better.
Those are the questions that really annoyed me. Most are run of the mill, but those really are the ones where common sense should tell you to seek help from an actual professional. Taking the advice of someone running a scam using the name of a dead woman could be dangerous in these situations.
So, how much is this scam service? You can get 12 questions answered for $15. You can get 5 questions answered for $10. Add $2 shipping and handling, $5 for priority mail and also for foreign orders. If you want more than 12 questions answered, you can add $1 per question. Sounds like a bargain, right? Not when it's being done in the name of a dead woman.
But wait! There's more! On the next page, we discover they are working this woman hard from beyond the grave. Not only is she sending messages from the beyond to answer your questions, (as long as they're on the list,) but she is writing horoscopes too! That not having to eat, sleep, shower, etc. because you're dead means she can work 24/7 and not complain about no time off! On the very next page, you can order a personalized horoscope for the year. Since she's dead, she can give you a detailed hand written horoscope for the next 12 months for only $14.99! A bargain, as the dead have no use for money. They also just need your birth date, not the place or time of birth, unlike those pesky still living astrologers. I'm sure not one bit of it is computer generated. Nope. Not one word is created using a program akin to anything on this list. Nope. She is using the ephemeris of the gods and plotting everything by hand. I'm sure she is.
