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In truth, it's all so new because it's old: many of the products, cures and philosophies being offered here have their origins in practices of primitive cultures, a theme that recurs again and again in the 156 lectures and workshops over the three days of the expo. The most striking example of this is psychotherapist Bradford Keeney, who lived with and studied the healing practices of the Kalahari Bushmen, the Australian Aborigine and the South American Guarani, among others. In a remarkable seminar that is part revival tent meeting and part tribal ritual, Keeney demonstrates to some 200 attendees how he marshals and uses "life-force energy." While the rest of the crowd dances to taped tribal drums, many people Keeney touches either pass out or fall to the floor. "We live in an ocean of energy," he says as he moves through the enraptured crowd. "It's joy, it's ecstasy, it's being fully alive."
It's being fully marketed too. In fact, the sheer ingenuity, hype and promotion of this alternative universe is as mainstream America as it gets. Witness Calorad, advertised as a product "with proven results!" that allows one to "lose weight while sleeping!" Or a growth-hormone supplement that "reverses biological aging by 20 years or more!"
Take 'em both, and presumably you get 20 years younger, and slimmer--while catching a nap.