As I think I mentioned in a post awhile back, the spiritual dating site idea is on a backburner right now, and more than likely will never see the light of day now.

However, me & Jase plan on introducing social networking features to our Holistic Local site, hopefully before the end of the year. If you've seen www.friendster.com then I want to try and do a similar thing for holistic spiritually minded people. But the focus will be more on social networking and friendship rather than love & dating, however there's no reason why people can't use it to find love as well.

Also, for those that haven't looked since my first post, we've recently launched a new design for Holistic Local. Our UK site is the busiest and most successful so far, with over 1100 members. Checkout www.holisticlocal.co.uk

Overall we have nearly 2000 members now but that should hopefully increase significantly before Christmas.

Andy

Said that women in Asian countries typically don't experience (or have) menopause like women in Western countries do, and that it was due largely to diet, consuming large quantities of beans, lentils... Not sure if this is true that they don't menopause, or maybe that they don't have the horrible menopausal experiences/symptoms...

There is a body of research that indicates that in addition to diet, etc., a primary factor in the appearance of symptoms has to do with the mental attitude toward menopause. 

For example, women in societies who do not view menopause negatively, but rather as a rite of passage leading to greater personal power do not experience the same symptoms as women encultured to resist the process, even though their biochemical markers may be identical..

The problem I found is that it is too easy for people to project the image of who they want to be, or who they think their potential partner wants.  Other challenges include the attractiveness of these sites for people of low consciousness who are just looking to suck energy indiscriminately from whoever will give it to them.

My suggestion is to implement systems which provide for more transparency.  One system might be similar to the feedback system used on Ebay.  Also providing certain statistics such as number of emails sent and received can alert other users to people who are just fishing for attention.

I know that a major element of attractiveness for this type of site is anonymity, but I think it is taken too far leading to abuse of the original intent of the site which is to bring together people of like mind.  If people are truly looking for a beneficial relationship, then there is no need to hide or disguise their intentions.

Of course, I don't mean for you to give out personally identifiable information.  I mean only to make the information about a person's use of the system available to other users.

Hope that helps!

As for the physical age idea and people getting married/partnered later, sure, age is not real in the spiritual sense, but my eggs will only last so long.....

Time is an issue when you are in a female body if you are looking to reproduce during your present incarnation.

I've often wondered about this female fertility notion. Why would Ma Nature make men capable of reproducing for their entire lives, but leave females incapable after about the age of 40? Makes no natural sense to me. Takes two to reproduce right? So what gives? Certain male fantasies are truly "fantastic" yes?

One day last year we were on the streetcar, a banner ad was promoting some natural herbal supplement for women (forget the brand name now) who were pre-menopausal and menopausal. Said that women in Asian countries typically don't experience (or have) menopause like women in Western countries do, and that it was due largely to diet, consuming large quantities of beans, lentils... Not sure if this is true that they don't menopause, or maybe that they don't have the horrible menopausal experiences/symptoms... And that this particular supplement was comprised of certain extracts from beans.

Why not eat the friggin' beans! Which is a huge staple in our diet, btw. We consume large quantities of dried beans: garbanzos/chick peas, lentils, kidney beans, black-eyed peas, you name it... And rarely from cans.

Big deal right? Well I'm 49. Everyone I know who's close to my age (including my younger sister by 2 years who stopped menstruating 3 yrs ago) has either menopaused or is pre-menopausal, many experiencing the symptoms you hear about - hot flashes, increased weight gain, emotional roller coasters, skin dryness, etc.; and some are on medication for controlling the severity of the symptoms.

Me? Regular as ever. And not a single other "sympton" including not an indication of slowing down! Coincidence? Who can say.

Though I would not want to become pregnant at this time in my life; I enjoy my freedom, etc. now that my only son is approaching 21, and raising a child is definitely a decades-long commitment.  Besides, what's a normal lifespan, these days? Grandchildren would be nice though.

Sorry if this is a little too "graphic" for some readers. But, it's nature, after all. And maybe there are others here who have similar experiences?

Take care All. 

As for the physical age idea and people getting married/partnered later, sure, age is not real in the spiritual sense, but my eggs will only last so long.....

Time is an issue when you are in a female body if you are looking to reproduce during your present incarnation.

But as for spiritual exchange, well then age is not relevant, only the relationship of the Observer to their programming.

When two people exchange with honesty and truth, time does not matter.

"Man, 550 moon cycles already and still kicking!......"

Funny!

Yes, indeed.  For starters, has anyone heard of this- 40 is the new 30.   Yes, that's right.

People are getting married later, if they get married at all.  Some people are living longer.

So 40 is the new 30.  That also, means that if you are 30 you are actually 20.  And hopefully this time around when you live through your 20s again, you may have a bit more wisdom - or maybe not!  :-)

Next time we're asked our age, tell them, "I'm 30 rotations."  "43 rotations..." "27 rotations..."  etc.

That will puzzle them for a few seconds. 

In the time that I've been alive, the Earth has made 30 rotatations around the sun.   I've been alive for 30 whirls around the big fireball!   Woohoo!  It puts it all into a whole new perspective.  It's been so programmed into our minds what the different ages are supposed to mean, all this delineation of "decades" - your 20's, your 30's, your 40's, your 50's....bunk bunk bunk.   It's time for a redefinition of it all.  Time to start using new terms!      "Yeah, I've been around the big fireball like, 30 times now....."   "Man, 550 moon cycles already and still kicking!......"

Jen,

I think I feel the same way you do about the age thing. I've always felt this way too. Whenever someone asks my age, I usually don't remember it, and have to think about it or do some quick calculation. Weird, huh. Especially when you realize that I have a fantastic memory and recall.

Maybe it's related to my "perception" of time. I don't seem to have a "normal" or typical perception of time. And it was only when I became aware of how most others seem to always know what time, date, year, etc. it is, and how easily and automatically they can plan events long into the future, and how blissfully ignorant of time I am, that I realized that I'm not in the same time warp!

I always find it funny and curious when people say, for example in new-agey stuff, that you need to live in the moment.  I'm always in the present moment, I used to think that this was normal and typical. Apparently not? Also, I cannot for some reason project (feel/sense) into the future, not even for several hours. I can plan, however. But, it does require real mental effort on my part. My husband, who's a good planner, finds this trait of mine at times exasperating, but now he mostly finds it amusing.

And, I've also found that we do tend to label/categorize/stereotype people on the basis of many things including age, unfortunately.

Age [for the most part] ain't nothin' but a number, imo. Btw, I don't "look", feel or "act" my age, most of the time.

thanks impatiens, it's good to know I'm not alone in my feelings. Recently a guy wanted to know how old I was and for the first time, I  said I prefered to be ageless.  It was very freeing!

This particular man (an emale friend) doesn't want to share his pic with me, for some reason. Maybe he's not photogenic, whatever.  So, now I tell him:  "You want to be faceless.  I want to be ageless."  We're even, I guess. 

One channeled entity--I forget his name--recommended that when people want to know our date of birth, we say:  "I was never born."  Thought for food. It's the truth--we are eternal.

That's great that it's so natural for you to be in the moment. I think most of us are still working on that one!

Jen

cyzx gave some really good ideas there, if i may interject my own opinions regarding them:

make the website versatile. what i mean is, allow users/members to pick what things/items they want to show up.

for example, say i login and this is how i setup my "page"

- i dont care about astrology, so i uncheck that box, and that info doesnt come out at me. (my star chart isnt there anymore, plus when i search people it omits their zodiac sign etc.

- i do not care about age, so that is omitted when i search as well.

- i tend to resonate with the following religions: Buddhist, Tibetan, and Rasta. all others please dont show me.

--------------------

i dont know if that is making a whole lot of sense, but what im gettin at is give your members alot of CUSTOMIZABILITY (<-- is that a word?)

let them choose what things will appear on their screen etc...

people like to be in control, ya know.

just 2 cents.

of course, best of wishes to your endeavors Andy, and we are anxious for the unveiling of you-know-what !

Good luck with this project A. Tho' it holds no personal appeal for me. Just can't imagine myself looking for dates or mates online. I feel the same way about blind dates or arranged ones, too.

But, then you never know. And besides, different strokes for different folks. So good luck with it all. And when you do get it online, pls let us know. I still would like to see it, as I'm sure you'll do it justice.

Jen,

I think I feel the same way you do about the age thing. I've always felt this way too. Whenever someone asks my age, I usually don't remember it, and have to think about it or do some quick calculation. Weird, huh. Especially when you realize that I have a fantastic memory and recall.

Maybe it's related to my "perception" of time. I don't seem to have a "normal" or typical perception of time. And it was only when I became aware of how most others seem to always know what time, date, year, etc. it is, and how easily and automatically they can plan events long into the future, and how blissfully ignorant of time I am, that I realized that I'm not in the same time warp!

I always find it funny and curious when people say, for example in new-agey stuff, that you need to live in the moment.  I'm always in the present moment, I used to think that this was normal and typical. Apparently not? Also, I cannot for some reason project (feel/sense) into the future, not even for several hours. I can plan, however. But, it does require real mental effort on my part. My husband, who's a good planner, finds this trait of mine at times exasperating, but now he mostly finds it amusing.

And, I've also found that we do tend to label/categorize/stereotype people on the basis of many things including age, unfortunately.

Age [for the most part] ain't nothin' but a number, imo. Btw, I don't "look", feel or "act" my age, most of the time.

Sorry Ayahuasca. Hope this isn't too far off topic.

I hope this is helpful to you!

Hi czyx

Thanks for taking the time to write that, it was very helpful thanks and something I will give a lot of thought to if this site idea ever gets launched. It's currently on the backburner right now but I'm about to launch another website literally any day now. More details very soon

Thanks again

Andy

I would like to see a site where people can build a profile of likes and dislikes, keep a dream journal, keep a regular daily journal, publish articles, enter their astrological information, enter their enneagram type, whatever. Most importantly, the site would use all of this data to offer automatic matches. Ideally matches could be based on compatibility--not just similarity! This would be attractive to "spiritual" users of all kinds, not just singles. It would take a lot of work to program the backend for such a site, and that's probably why nothing like it exists right now. (Some sites offer individual elements, such as astrological matching, but none that I found offered the whole package.)

I did some searching, and here are some of my complaints about the spiritual dating sites I found:

--Most sites look sketchy and unprofessional, like they're a front for somebody selling books or looking for ad clicks. Ads for "Pheremone sprays" and "free psychic readings" abound.
--Visually unattractive. Full of generic clip-art and bad color choices.
--Muddled and unfocused. Worthless options like document libraries, bulletin boards, time-wasting quizes, success stories, etc.
--Very little information about the members. Just a short blurb and a picture.
--Old profiles from people who probably never check the site anymore.
--"Spiritual" is just a euphemism for "religious" with many sites. The sites use "spiritual" to mean a focus on many different religions instead of one.
--On the other hand, many sites are too focused on one type of alternative spirituality. There were lots of pagan-only sites.
--Not very interactive. Too similar to newspaper personals. Not using available technology.
--Very limited previews for prospective members, with too many hoops to jump through. Just let me do a quick search and see how many attractive and interesting people come up!
--Some sites are utterly nuts. One looked like it was related to new-age cult.

Here are some of the better sites I found, although none really blew me away:
http://www.dharmamatch.com
http://www.soulweavers.com
http://www.spiritsingles.com

I hope this is helpful to you!

So if you were browsing a spiritual dating site, what kind of information would you want to see. What kinds of questions would you want answered before you would even begin to consider making contact with someone?

I would look for someone with enough Faith to avoid a dating website

And, I like what the Abraham channel has to say about this:

Be interested in peoples' thots on this one.