Hopi-Change-y Oprah-Derange-y: Yeah, Baby!

"I am a Dakota who finds it amusing that so many individuals feel it is necessary to make money off the traditions of my culture ('Authorities puzzled by deaths at Sedona-area sweat lodge,' Saturday).

To James Ray, I suggest you discontinue a practice you have no knowledge of, which is evident by the practice of charging your followers, which is not the Native American way.

Also, I was amused when I saw the picture of Ray's compound with two hogans which are native to the Dine culture and a tipi with an Asian symbol.

The assortment of different cultures suggest to me that Ray doesn't know what he is doing other than to make money off traditions of others.

To James Ray's followers, I must stress that truly traditional Native Americans do not charge to attend a spiritual gathering."

-- Karen Ramirez, talking like NewAgers give a damn what Indians think - I assure you, they do not - but it's always worth a try, in The Arizona Republic.

"Police have now turned their attention to television self-help guru James Arthur Ray in their investigation of an Arizona sweat lodge ceremony that left two dead and 19 hospitalized.

Yavapai County Sheriff Steve Waugh said Saturday that his detectives were focusing on the self-help expert and his staff as they try to determine if criminal negligence played a role in the tragic deaths at the Angel Valley Retreat Center in Sedona, Ariz., on Oct. 9.

The town is a desert vacation spot two hours north of Phoenix that is popular with those seeking meditation and spiritual health.

Waugh said Ray refused to speak with authorities and has since left the state."

-- Neil Katz, on another very-familiar NewAger getting in trouble with murder - do I know my subject or what? - all ending up on Crimesider.

"The man who hosted the Arizona retreat is a well-known author and TV personality.

James Ray is a New York Times best selling author who has made appearances on Oprah and Larry King Live.

Sedona resident Anna Lisa Brown said she sees people constantly shuttling in to town for similar retreats.

'I was surprised that people would put themselves in that situation, but not surprised, because people are looking for things to fulfill themselves to give them purpose,' said Brown.

Although some Sedona residents called the Angel Valley community 'a cult,' Brown's cousin said Brown should not be called a 'follower' of Ray. 

'The one thing we don't want, is for this to be represented as some kind of cult,' said [Tom McFeeley, the cousin of the New York woman who died at spiritual guru and best-selling author James Ray's Sedona retreat]."

-- ABC15.com staff, with another connection between Oprah, NewAge, cults, and death - sorry but it is a cult - which will be denied until the cows come home, by anyone who sees Sedona as a NewAge "power spot", and talks to ABC15.

"A Brooklyn-born muralist was one of two people to die after collapsing at a $10,000-a-head retreat run by a self-help guru who's been a regular guest on 'Oprah' and the 'Today' show, authorities said yesterday.

Investigators, lacking a ruling on the cause of death, said they were looking into possible criminal negligence.

Kirby Brown, 38, now of Westtown, NY, and James Shore, 40, of Milwaukee, died Thursday at a hospital after taking part in a spiritual-cleansing rite in a sweat lodge outside Sedona, Ariz.

During his 'Spiritual Warrior' retreat, James Arthur Ray, 51, had Twittered: 'For anything new to live, something first must die. What needs to die in you so that new life can emerge?'

In all, 19 of the 63 people to join Ray at the sweat lodge were hospitalized with respiratory arrest, kidney failure or elevated body temperature. One was listed in critical condition last night."

-- Erin Calabrese and Lukas I. Alpert, locking in The Today Show as a promoter of this nonsense - Wow, it's like all the Obama supporters are involved! - and, since NewAgers "believe" everything happens for a reason, like, maybe, we could eventually discover what's wrong with them (to make them so unfeeling they'll kill so many people?) through The New York Post.

"A man is giving new insight into what happens inside a sweat lodge, like the one in Sedona, where two people died last week.

James Ray is the man at the center of the controversy.  Ray is the co-author of the book, 'The Secret', an expert in personal development, and the organizer of the 'Spiritual Warrior' retreat in Sedona. 

So far he has offered an apology on his website, but other than that he is refusing to speak.

But his friend and colleague John Assaraf is speaking out.  He also co-wrote 'The Secret' and tells a TV station in San Diego about these retreats. 

'We are ultimately responsible for what occurs in the environment we bring others into,' he said.  'Will he (James Ray) take responsibility?  I hope he does.  I think he will.'

Assaraf says these retreats usually last five days, ending with the sweat lodge.  It's meant to push people's personal limits and transcend pain.  He says it also helps them recognize their physical and mental health and achieve goals they never thought possible.

Assaraf says this wasn't James Ray's first sweat lodge, but that something obviously went very wrong.  'There are some snake and oil people out there, but most people, James included, have the intention of loving and caring.'"

-- Brian Webb, now introducing "The Secret" into the mix - endorsed by Oprah, of course, as the way to bring good things to yourself - a "belief" which we can all see the results of, in the further exposure of this ugly episode, on ABC15.