Customer Reviews

Know the Truth

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm 35 and have a new age gift shop, and recently picked up this film at an industry trade show (a demo). This would probably not have been something I would have ordered out of a catalogue, but I'm glad someone stuck it in my bag with a few other freebies.

First, to introduce the creators:

Kuut (from Italy) and Saint (Brazil) are two gents who have written, directed, and starred in this award-winning independent film. They also created the trance music that runs throughout, under their band name Exus. The images of the film (otherwise a "how-to" video) overlay psychedelic backgrounds.

I would recommend this film to people to play at raves or parties for the visuals alone -- they're really fun! But I liked it for other reasons as well.

Second, for a couple of guys who are using English as a second language, they've done a great job communicating their ideas.

Kuut and Saint describe what they term "Energy Work". This seems to be a blend of indigenous shamanistic workings. Strangely, it is non-religious (or if it is, they do not make any references to any particular deities, calling it only "Energy"). There are elements of Voudon, Santeria, gypsy magic, and others I could not place. They do not specify the origins, on the video or on their website. Quite frankly some of it remided me of the witch doctor from Scooby Doo, but in a good way.

They use dice, tarot cards, candle magic, herbal baths, cowrie shell divination, and several other methods to achieve the workings. I thought I had seen just about everything, but some of it was very new to me. Like I said, I run a new age gift shop, so this is saying something.

The special features section goes into some depth about the various workings, like the cowrie shells, dice, and herbal baths. I thought these were very interesting and plan to try some of them when reading for my customers.

Others were not explained very well, just enough to either inspire you to explore them on your own, or to tease. The stone divination is an example of this, just a brief sentence for each stone. Experienced readers can take this information and run away with it, while newer students may not know what to make of it. This is why I gave it only 3 stars, although I would have liked to give it four.

Saint promises "a future episode" in which they will explain more of the methods. I found myself wanting to know about them NOW, so I hope that they will live up to their promise!

Third, about the face paint...

On the disc jacket, they say, "may you see the future in the drawings on our heads". I did not have any personal revelations myself, but I felt they added a favorable element of uh, something existential.

Fourth, the music video:

Didn't care for it. Sorry. Nice prayer, nice visuals, but I didn't like the music. (I do think I'll get the film soundtrack, though.)

Overall I was pretty impressed with this disc. It's definitely not your everyday magic, especially when so much of the stuff on the market today is wiccawiccawicca. Not that there's anything wrong with Wicca, mind you, it's just so predictable and mainstream. This was a breath of really fresh air in an otherwise nag-champa'ed world.

Would I sell it, though? I will definitely offer this flick for in-shop use, let some of my trusted customers review it. Based on feedback, I would seriously consider carrying both it and the soundtrack in my shop.

Holli Kerr, Owner

Once Upon A Silver Moon

Oklahoma City

Most people who reviewed this film gave it a negative review, this is mostly because of the fact that they do not understand what they are viewing is an Afro-Brazillian style of magic. What they are showing you is different types of Exu's and Pomba Gira's. This is an excellent film for anyone who is interested in Quimbanda, Candomble,and Brazillian Spiritism. The only thing I have mixed feelings about is when they show the Juego do Buzios (The game of Shells). I do not know enough about the the brazillian style of reading the shells as I come from an Afro-Cuban sect of Santeria. The way it is presented in the film seems like a very modern way of presenting the cowrie shell divination. I think this film would have been much more successful if it was marketed as it really is, Afro-Brazillian magic, but instead there is no mention of this in the film, and I understand perhaps the creator of the film felt that calling it Quimbanda or Afro-Brazillian magic would give it a negative stigma to the American audience. Instead it is simply reffered to as energy work and given a "New Age" feel to it, but this must be REALLY confusing to New ager's out there with visuals of little red devils everywhere. LOL
Anyway, this is an excellent film for anyone who is interested in Afro-Carribean magic and philosophy. I think Saint and Kuut did an excellent job in making this film, however I think it was poorly marketed to an audience who would not understand what they were talking about or doing.
Such a waste that people will not get over the face paint and other "wierd" visuals to see the deeper knowledge given in this film.
Alas this gets thrown in to the clearance bin and other useless films such as "The Secret" make millions. This just proves the spirits have a sense of humor.

It has been a while since I wasted my money on this DVD, but I'm still not entirely sure what I saw. I'm not sure if it was the silver-painted faces, the thick accents or the video effects that ruined it for me, but the information contained in this DVD is so hard to follow or extract for personal use that i can't possibly recommend it to anyone!

I consider myself to have at least a somewhat open mind, but I still can't wrap my head around the shear silliness of the DVD. It is neither science nor spirituality, in my opinion.