For those besotted by crystal mandalas, oral spray vitamins and inner energy balancing, this was the place to be. Exhibitors at the festival, now in its 15th year in Sydney, know their watchwords – fear, stress, anger, procrastination, insomnia and self-sabotage, all of which they promise to banish with an array of therapies, from detox foot patches to thought field therapy.
Other wonders included “reiki empowerment” ($10 for five minutes), a book titled Death, the Ultimate Orgasm (yours for $34.95) and “ki energy treatment” ($30 for 20 minutes), where the therapist works on energy blockages while making a noise like a hyperventilating bird.
But the big drawcards, said the festival’s founder, Graham Wilson, were the self-help workshops, which offered “effective psychic protection techniques” and “circles of forgiveness”.
“People are now active rather than passive,” he said. “Ten years ago they would attend lectures. Now they want more in-depth workshops because people want to take responsibility and learn self-healing techniques.”