New Age bullshit claims another life

A third person has died in the Arizona "sweat lodge" case after being in a coma since the October 8th incident.

An Arizona homicide investigation now includes three deaths after a woman died more than a week after participating in a sweat lodge ceremony that hospitalized nearly two dozen people.

Liz Neuman of Minnesota died Saturday at a Flagstaff hospital, Yavapai County sheriff's spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn said.

The 49-year-old suffered multiple organ damage during the Oct. 8 ceremony at a resort near Sedona, a resort town 115 miles north of Phoenix that draws many in the New Age spiritual movement.

I hate to say it, but I blame the victims as much as I blame New Age guru con artist James Arthur Ray who organized and ran the retreat. Apparently the "spiritual cleansing" ritual involves 36 hours of fasting before entering a slow-cook oven. My Mom specifically told me not to ever do that. Actually, I pretty much decided by the time I was, oh, three years old or so that it wouldn't be a good idea. If Ray had suggested to me that I do such a thing I'd have cock-punched him and taken my $10,000 back.