Soul’s Code

From Denzel Washington’s contender for an Oscar to the Scientology allegory, The Master, Hollywood’s biggest box office is hooked to addicts

The Master

Joaquin Phoenix plays a sex addict and violent drunk who seeks salvation from a guru who is part-Werner Erhard and part-Ron Hubbard. Director Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood) screened the film for the world’s most famous Scientologist, Tom Cruise.

Boardwalk Empire

America’s oldest addiction juiced every clan from the Kennedys and the Seagrams to iconic U.S. Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon, according to HBO’s flagship series.

HBO’s Girls, E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey, ‘swingles’ and more

The new rage are naughty e-books for mothers in America: The Story of O . . . 2.0 (Maureen Dowd)

HBO’s follow-up to Sex and the City: Recession-era erotica is a mess (New York Times)

They hold the whole 2012 in their hands: Introducing Swingles! (Slate)

From the archives: Where sex meets spirituality (Soul’s Code)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: “One loveless relationship followed another. I sought comfort in the sexual pleasure I’d been introduced to as a child. I even kept a numbered list of lovers.”

Read the Soul’s Code exclusive series, Sins of my Faith

In Marina’s last episode she described her teens in a segregated Catholic high school, her increasing drug-use and how sex soon evolved into her “drug of choice.”  Random sexual encounters, which Marina controlled, flowed through her years in college and her segue into a broadcast career.

BY MARINA GIULLIANI — Over the years that followed, I specialized in lusty encounters.

One loveless relationship followed another, as I sought out comfort in the sexual pleasure I’d been introduced to as a child.

“I had flings with over-sexed football players, a boss at a TV station — and now see them as fallout from sexual abuse in my Catholic home”

MARINA GIULLIANI (Read part 1 , 2 and 3 of this Soul’s Code excerpt from the book, Sins of my Faith) — Being sexually-pleasured as a young child meant I was always very uncomfortable in situations where using my sexuality to get my own way was not an option.

The thought of heading to a segregated Catholic high school was pure torment.

My sister Angela had chosen the school a year earlier, and I was stuck with it. Now four to five years of nothing but girls and nuns loomed ahead of me. I was completely disillusioned by all things Catholic, and I hated the boxed-in feeling of girly stuff.

In high school I’d soon be totally engulfed by both.

In the second part of a Soul’s Code exclusive from the book Sins of My Faith, Marina explains that what seems like denial is self-protection

BY MARINA GIULLIANI (read part one) : “It hit me like a cold slap. That’s when it all started!” I made the connection on a chilly February afternoon, but didn’t realize the impact it made on the last forty-four years until two days later.  I’d been in Vancouver, with my best friend of over twenty years, trying to get perspective on my life. We had shared a lot of memories, but this particular piece of my life story never surfaced until after I returned home.

“I never told you this before. . .” I stated bluntly in an e-mail conversation with her, “. . . because it was never a concern and because it wasn’t traumatic, but, when I was a little girl, my grandfather used to touch my genitals. I loved the way it felt, so I never thought much about it.”

My first “faith”: Catholic guilt, playing Purgatory, Priests who molested, and kissing cousins

BY MARINA GIULLIANI — Read part 1 and part 2 of this Soul’s Code exclusive from the book, Sins of my Faith

Outsiders would say I’m a serial victim of sexual abuse. I reject the word victim because I consider myself a champion and I resist being labelled at all, as such a complex experience can’t possibly be generalized.

Having said that, when I realized my stolen innocence created the havoc that became my future,
my mind raged with the minute details of experiences long forgotten. . .

Phyllis King is no victim; she experienced abuse, yet found a way to re-frame negative experiences

GUEST COLUMN: PHYLLIS KING — As an incest survivor, I have learned a lot about control and abuse of power.

My life reads like a struggle for survival.  My challenges have included loneliness, betrayal, and rejection by many whom I held most dear.  As I journeyed through these events, I developed strength, courage and love.

With courage, I faced my fears, with strength I remained true to myself, and with love I experienced renewal.

Looking for solutions? Meditation, Self-Improvement and Chainsaws…?

Two quick lists for you: 10 virtually instant ways to improve your life and 4 Powerful Reasons to Meditate and How To Get Started.

Homer Simpson has appeared next to the ancient pagan fertility symbol of Cerne Abbas, according to the BBC.