Gerry Thompson is a stand-up comedian and the author of several New Age humor books, including the bestselling parody of human relationships Cats are from Venus, Dogs are from Mars. In these times when religious faith often hardens into dogmatism and New Thought essays celebrate the paths to prosperity, it is refreshing to have a playful soul poke fun at some of the excessive dimensions of our beliefs and activities.

In this funny compendium of definitions of New Age jargon, Thompson draws out plenty of our chuckles. Here are a few examples from his "Illustrated New Age Spoofapedia":

• "Retreat: A confusing term for activities that, paradoxically, are concerned with spiritual advance."

• "Taoism: A religion started by the 'Winnie the Pooh' books."

• "Inner: The term refers to any part of ourselves that we want to let other people know needs attention, sympathy, or molly-coddling, as in 'I'm working on my Inner Child.' "

• "Horrorscope: A particularly frightening astrological reading."

• "Buzzfly: Someone who perpetually flits from one personal transformation course to another."