Appearances

Psychic Fun Fair
This Saturday October 8th 10a.m. to 5p.m.
Lapeer Center Bldg Lapeer MI
This will be the last fair of the year in Lapeer that I or Jackie will be present at. So if you want to see us in particular, please come out this weekend. Jackie and I will be in Toronto Canada November 19-21 at an "Angel Wings over Toronto" Expo which I will speaking at. Jackie will run my booth there and we will be shopping I'm sure all over the city! All of your other favorite readers will be available in Lapeer this Saturday however as well as at the show in November in Lapeer

October 9 - WIOG 102.5FM Saginaw MI 7-8p.m Affairs of the Heart, Comedian Jimmy Hamm joins me on a Sunday night radio call in show. Call 1-877-330-WIOG for your free reading between 7-8p.m. this Sunday night.

October 12-16 - New Orleans, LA - I will be doing private readings in the French Quarter at my house on Saint Philip. Call 810-631-6887 to book a prior appointment BEFORE the 12th

October 29 - Halloween Psychic Fair Saginaw Hampton Inn 11a.m. to 6p.m. Saginaw MI --FREE Tarot card class. You need to purchase my tarot at the greeter table or any other tarot kit we have for sale at the front table on October 29th. The class will be an hour long and start sometime around 3:30p.m. at the fair, depending if I am running over on my prescheduled appointments. The class is for beginners. I will teach you how to read the cards, simple layouts and how to prepare yourself to give a reading as well as some insider's tips!!!!

Speaking of New Orleans, Chris Rose is an excellent columnist for the Times Picayune paper there. My first Mardi Gras was spent with Chris and his family enjoying a crawfish boil on Mardi Gras Day. His wit and wisdom are appreciated by readers all over the Cresant City. Here's one of his latest columns in the aftermath of Katrina:

The strippers are back on Bourbon, and we can all be thankful for that
By Chris Rose

Even at the End of Days, there will be lap-dancing.

Over the weekend, while a desolate, desperate city plunged into darkness and the waters rose again in the Rita Aftermath, and while a population spread across the nation watched new horrors with churning guts on TV, a strip club opened on Bourbon Street.

The symbolism of this event can hardly be overstated.

The Saints are gone. The Hornets are gone. Zephyr Field is a staging area for choppers to go find dead people.

No college hoops. No movie theaters, no Swamp Fest, no Voodoo Fest. No horses running at the Fairgrounds. No line for Friday lunch at Galatoire's.

But there are topless women hanging upside down from brass poles at a place called Déjà Vu. Gaudiness, flesh, neon and bad recorded music have returned to one small outpost on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams, and if that's not one small step towards normalcy - at least as that term is defined in the Big Uneasy - then I don't know what is.

There were about 100 guys in there Saturday night, all of them with very, very short hair, which is basically what everyone around here who's not a journalist has these days.

Exactly how a posse of exotic dancers were smuggled into town during the most severe lockdown in this city since the hurricane crises began, well, I don't know.

Inexplicable things seem to be the norm around here these days.

When I walk down the street one day and some rumpled grifter tells me he knows where I got my shoes, then I guess I'll know we're fully on our way home. (Of course, I could be cynical and tasteless and tell the guy: I got them at Wal-Mart on Tchoupitoulas like everyone else, but that would be cynical and tasteless.)

And speaking of tasteless: This is not a topic I want to delve to deeply into, but someone has to call out the demagogic ministers who have used Katrina's destruction to preach the message that God was tired of this city's libertine ways and decided to clean house.

Let me roll at you some snippets of wisdom that have been widely distributed on the Internet from Rev. Bill Shanks, pastor of New Covenant Fellowship in Metairie: "New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern Decadence and the sodomites, the witchcraft workers, false religion - it's free of all of those things now. God simply, I believe, in His mercy purged all of that stuff out of there - and now we're going to start over again."

Well, almost. It's an interesting interpretation, to be sure, and Shanks is not the only man of the cloth to make such claims. No doubt, it's a good message for the evangelical business.

Of course, try telling some poor sap down in St. Bernard Parish who has never heard of Southern Decadence and who goes to Bible study every Wednesday night that he lost his house and his job and his grandmother died in a flooded nursing home because God was angry at a bunch of bearded guys in dresses over on Dumaine Street.

Collateral damage, I guess. The question that arises, of course, is that if Shanks' prophecy is true, how come Plaquemines, St. Bernard, the East and Lakeview are gone, but the French Quarter is still standing?

I'd suggest that there are those who have confused meteorology with mythology, but that might be cynical and tasteless. Might be crass and gaudy.

And I'll try to leave that stuff where it belongs - in the French Quarter, where the craziest patchwork of people ever gathered on this planet are cobbling back together a strange and mind-boggling Twilight Zone of what it once was.

File that one under: Only in New Orleans

On another note: I will be taking the rest of the donations to Cheryl Welliver's family in Slidell LA when I go down to check out my place in mid October. Thank you from Dawn and Cheryl for all of your prayers and support.

Cruise News

You can still register for our cruise out of Houston December 4-11. One of our readers is looking for a cabin mate so if you are a single and need someone to share the costs with, please contact Tammy at Vacations at Sea. Her email address is cruisintam@aol.com.

Alternatives Magazine

Many of you are familiar with Alternatives Magazine out of New Orleans, published by Joele Dupont who has sponsored a few of my psychic fairs and Goddess Gatherings in the New Orleans community. Joele lost her home and her family's home in Waveland too. She wrote me from Texas and is trying to save the newspaper. Hers is the only metaphysical newspaper in New Orleans and has been a big part of the spiritual community for years. If you would like to keep in touch with her and the newspaper, she has a free e-newsletter. Here is her info: "if you wish to subscribe to the eNewsletter or the printed paper, send an email to editor@AlternativesNews.com". The eNewsletter is free but has paid advertising options and paper subscriptions are $18 for the year.

Dear Maria,

Since you have been such a support of community in New Orleans AND in DEC 03 you predicted my move in AUG 05, i thought you'd be interested in an update of things after Katrinna.

My baby daughter and I are currently in Austin, TX. I am not sure when or if we will return as we have lost our home in NOLA, my family home in MS, and the newspaper is up in the air.

As the editor of the area's (south LA & MS) only metaphyscial/holistic publication (and one of the few in the country publishing monthly), I would very much like to keep it going. Often I would get calls of how it changed someone's life to pick up my paper! You know yourself how successful we can be promoting body/mind/spirit events and services.

The uncertainty comes in knowing that we are advertiser supported and distributed free. Most of my advertisers are now out of business, some temporarily, some forever. Some have moved on to other parts of the country. For that matter, so have many of our readership!

I still have the eNewsletter that people can subscribe to through my website, www.AlternativesNews.com. Also I have the travel site www.AlternativesTravel.com, a full service online travel network like expedia or orbitz. The eNewsletter reached over 1000 people and ther are advertising opportunities there.

Neither of those bring in enough right now to produce the paper. I am hoping we can build our paid subcription base through scattered readers and new readers that want to see us continue. I am hoping national advertisers will take more interest. I am also hoping that nationally, people might want to contribute to a fund to subsidize the advertising for body/mid/spirit returning to business in New Orleans. If you can help with any of this or know any interested parties, please have them email me at joele@alternativesnews.com

Thanks and I am so glad to here your cruise is still on for December.

love, Joele

Astro News

Mars retrograde may make us all antsy, frustrated and argumentative but you need to release some of this pent up energy in a constructive way. If you don't you could find yourself involved in an accident of some sort or perhaps come down with a nasty cold or infection.

Many of you will feel the intense energies associated with the eclipse October 3 and 17th, especially Aries, Libra, Cancer and Capricorns or those of you who have planets in these signs close to 10 and 24 degrees. Many of you will begin thinking about your life and career and the directions they are headed. You will start to analyze your values, desires and happiness with what you are doing; You will need to make changes in these areas to feel more fulfilled and to become more prosperous. However, many of us hang on to things that are no longer beneficial to us but we cling to these things out of habit, fear, etc. Over the course of the next two months you will be pushed and prodded by the universe to "let go". Think about the patterns and habits you are hanging onto, that are hindering you from getting ahead. You may be frustrated and scared about letting them go, but once you do, you will be ever so glad you did!

This recent eclipse on October 3rd may cause miscommunication in partnerships and relationships. Use your intuition rather than plain old logic to get you through this period if you are being deceived or lied to. On the 17th, the Aries eclipse is about seeing something materialize you have been working on...perhaps you are being rewarded for something. At the same time there could be problems in relationships; the most intimate ones. Near the end of October, Jupiter, the planet of good luck goes into the sign of Scorpio. Yee-hah! Scorpio's are in for a great 12 months if they are prepared to take risks and trust the universe.

How's the Astro Diet Coming?

With the release of the new book, Maria Shaw's Astro Diet, we are also offering free counseling for one to three months to anyone who purchases a copy. We started the program on October 1st but you can join us anytime for the counseling. Call 810-631-6887 to order your copy of the book or order through the website - MariaShaw.com. Be sure to include your birthday, how much weight you want to lose and an email address so we can start counseling you on how to lose weight with astrology.

Here's what some of the Astro Dieters are saying just within 3 days of the starting the program:

Maria, I've already lost 5 pounds! Wouldn't that be nice if I could lose five pounds every three days!"
Joann

Dear Maria - I am happy to report I am down 6 pounds in six days! I didn't know if I could do it, but it was easier than I thought. I love the counseling through the emails and the support I am getting, Thank you! I feel I can reach my goal weight within 2 months. MJ

Maria- This works! Down 7 pounds in 3 days!
Kelly

Maria,
Weigh in this morning: weigh in at 208.5. Starting weight: 212.5
Down 4 lbs! Love Laura

Maria,
I weighed myself this morning...
After 3 days: 197
Start weight: 202.5
Total loss: 5.5
Natalie

Hi Maria,
Just want to THANK YOU for doing this. And to let you know that I lost 5 pds on the 3 day cleansing diet. That is so AWESOME. Have not even been this weight for so long. Looking forward to loosing my last ten pounds.....and KNOWING that will happen really soon.I really do not eat red meat.....but I trusted you and decided to follow your plan. Thank you..and BLESS YOU.
Mary Jo
Michigan

We have heard from many more of you too and will continue to report on everyone's progress throughout the month

National News

I have some good news, beginning October 17th, I will debut my first horoscope column in the National Enquirer Magazine. Princess Diana's astrologer, Debbie Frank from England is leaving and I am taking her spot. So every week, I will be writing forecasts for each sign as well as making predictions for a Hollywood celebrity. The week of October 17th, I am featuring Britney Spears (A Sagittarius). I am very much looking forward to being the Enquirer's astrologer. As many of you know I do quite a bit with celebrity predictions and there's no better place for celebrity news than the National Enquirer!

Also pick up a copy of this week's issue of Celebrity Living Magazine. A reporter interviewed me about Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck's relationship. She's an Aries. He's a Leo. Watch out out for some fireworks here!

And finally, when I get to New Orleans next week, I will report back on what I see firsthand. My friends will drive me around so I can get a better look at what Katrina has done to the area and I will let you know how the Quarter is faring. Thanks for you concerns, prayers, donations and thoughts.

God Bless,
Maria