# How did Mt Shasta become the Woo Capital of the World? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** vacation-travel\ **Created:** [August 10, 2025, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906 "2025-08-10T14:44:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/1 "2025-08-10T14:44:55Z")
I just got back from a lovely few days near Mt Shasta, CA. Forests, mountains ([one dramatic mountain in particular](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Mount_Shasta_Farm.jpg)), lakes, rivers, waterfalls…gorgeous. The tiny town of Mt Shasta, CA raises my question. Every other storefront is selling energy crystals, or Buddhist/Hindu tchotchkes, or Lemurian Sound Healing\*. (This was not unexpected…I’d heard this was the case before I got there). So how does this happen? (And the question is applicable to other locations …. I’ve heard this is true of Sedona, AZ, for example. Are there others?) It’s not like there is an historical basis – “oh, of course – this is where the portal to the astral plane opened up for 2 weeks in 1874.” \*I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/2 "2025-08-10T14:51:03Z")
Local Natives have many legends they passed on to immigrants as they came in. Robert Heinlein used it as a Magical Mountain (Psychic) in a few stories. Lost Legacy (1941) comes to mind. Sometime later New Agers and Woo people added to it and connected Shasta to both UFOs and [Lemuria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemuria), another lost continent myth. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/3 "2025-08-10T14:51:24Z")
My Shasta was the location of a mystical group rediscovering innate telepathic and telekinetic powers in Heinlein’s _Lost Legacy_. No idea if there’s any connection. > **[Lost Legacy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Legacy)** > > Lost Legacy (1941) is a novella by science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein. > The story was rejected by John W. Campbell for Astounding. It was then accepted by Frederick Pohl, and was published in the November 1941 issue of Super Science Stories under the title "Lost Legion" and the pseudonym Lyle Monroe. The story was collected as "Lost Legacy" under Heinlein's own name in the book Assignment in Eternity (1953). ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/4 "2025-08-10T14:57:47Z")
I was curious enough to check the Mt. Shasta Chamber of Commerce website for woo businesses. They don’t list more than a half-dozen or so under spiritual/metaphysics/astrology, but there are a few intriguing ones like the Center for Soul Evolution. You don’t even have to visit Mt. Shasta to get your soul evolved, as their are numerous webinars scheduled. For instance: Webinar, January 14 - March 11, 2026 “[Optimal Human Beingness Understanding and Evolving Your Four-Body System](http://www.soulevolution.org/events/optimal/optimal-human.html) This is the class you will wish you had taken as a child to prepare you for life as a human being! You will get valuable training to assist you in raising the vibration of all your systems and accelerating the balanced evolution of your soul. The foundational course that is a prerequisite to many other courses.” Guess you can’t take the higher-level courses without completing pre-requisites. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/5 "2025-08-10T15:03:19Z")
I should add, I visited in 1989, the Woo wasn’t very much back them. Just a nice mountain town. I was doing a drive up California from San Diego as I was finishing up my Navy time. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/6 "2025-08-10T15:09:32Z")
I’ve driven past that exit a dozen or more times over the years but was never inclined to get off despite being curious if that was really where the tooth-rot of my youth actually originated. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/7 "2025-08-10T15:10:42Z")
I use to like the Chocolate Soda Shasta made, but I think we’re off-topic here. If anyone wants to discuss the soda company, please start a new thread. > **How to Reply as a linked Topic** > > Click Reply, in the upper left corner of the reply window is the reply type button, _looks like a curving arrow point to the right_. > > Choose **Reply as linked topic** and it starts a new thread. As an example, you can choose GD, IMHO or The Pit for it. > > That is actually the best method. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/8 "2025-08-10T15:46:33Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I was curious enough to check the Mt. Shasta Chamber of Commerce website for woo businesses. The town’s motto appears to be “Where Heaven and Earth Meet”. So the town fathers are leaning into it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/9 "2025-08-10T16:39:36Z")
Perhaps having a nearby town named Weed has something to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/10 "2025-08-10T16:58:21Z")
I listen to several skeptical podcasts that discuss ufology, Atlantis, aliens, etc. I don’t remember which one had the episode about Mount Shasta, but I think much of the woo goes back to a book from the late 1800’s titled _ **A Dweller on Two Planets.** _ Frederick Spencer Oliver (1866–1899) wrote the book as a teenager, and had it mostly finished in 1886, with a few later edits. It was published in 1905 by his mother six years after he died. I think it was intended to be a science fiction novel, but over time the paranormal crowd took it to be a true narrative. > **[A Dweller on Two Planets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dweller_on_Two_Planets)** > > A Dweller on Two Planets, or The Dividing of the Way is a book written by Frederick Spencer Oliver (1866–1899). The book was finished in 1886, typewritten and copyrighted in 1894, and again in 1899 owing to an addition. It was not published until 1905 by his mother Mary Elizabeth Manley-Oliver, six years after Oliver's death. > In the amanuensis preface, Oliver presents the book as a true account of the actual past of the true author, called "Phylos The Thibetan", otherwise identified as: "Yol Gor... ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/11 "2025-08-10T17:04:18Z")
So you’re saying it’s supplanted [Sedona, Arizona](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Sedona)? ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/12 "2025-08-10T17:21:55Z")
As far as I can tell from numerous visits there, Weed’s primary economic activity is selling t-shirts and bumper stickers that say “I LOVE WEED”. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/13 "2025-08-10T17:29:03Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > So you’re saying it’s supplanted [Sedona, Arizona](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Sedona)? That would surprise me. Sedona is made from woo it seems. It’s a gorgeous place, seems a bit mystical (the nature part) so I guess it is no surprise. Mostly a tourist trap. Visit for the scenery which admittedly is really great. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/14 "2025-08-10T17:42:48Z")
I would never presume to make such a claim; but “Woo Capital” made for a punchier OP. 🙂 I’d love to hear more about Sedona, as I’ve never been there. I would imagine that Stonehenge has some woo-ness (i’ve never been there, either) but at least it has a reason. Big Sur, CA is also very woo. I presume that’s a result of proximity to the Esalen Institute, which made it a hippie magnet in the 60s and the vibe is still there. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/15 "2025-08-10T18:00:39Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I would imagine that Stonehenge has some woo-ness (i’ve never been there, either) but at least it has a reason. The whole area around Stonehenge is owned by various public or semi-public bodies (English Heritage, the Ministry of Defence, the National Trust), so there are no commercial businesses of any sort in the vicinity. Glastonbury, on the other hand… ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/16 "2025-08-10T18:00:58Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Are there others? Port Townshend, Washington is a small town known for being the last remnant of the 1960’s hippies. They have a (semi-) official slogan :“We’re all here because we’re not all there”. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/17 "2025-08-10T18:03:19Z")
Hot Springs, Ark is woo-ish like crazy. Must be all that thermal crap going on underground. Oh and crystals are abundant. Buyer beware..My daughter bought a crystal in Hot Sorings. Got home and found a sticker. ‘Man made in Taiwan’. Has no powers, except it holds the papers down good, on her desk. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/18 "2025-08-10T18:20:11Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > . Are there others? Capilla del Monte, in Argentina, near the [_Cerro Uritorco_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uritorco) has a woo-based tourism industry too. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/19 "2025-08-10T18:25:16Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Port Townshend, Washington is a small town known for being the last remnant of the 1960’s hippies. I lived there for 7 years in the early Oughts. Lots of old hippies, sure, but no concentration of woo. It’s a liberal enclave surrounded by Ron Paul worshipping preppers and conspiracy nuts. PT is the most rational community in Jefferson county (granted, that’s a low bar). ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906/20 "2025-08-10T18:41:25Z")
Mount Shasta’s paranormal reputation seems to be decades older than Sedona’s. From the early 20th century, Mount Shasta was thought of as housing the remnants of lost progenitor civilizations deep underground, guarding secret wisdom and weird mystical technology. “Ascended masters” could visit or astrally project themselves there and acquire ancient knowledge from Atlanteans, or whatever. Sedona was popularized in the 1980’s as having “energy vortexes” that could be used for stuff like healing or contacting aliens. I would guess the draw to either place depends what kind of woo you are looking for. Mount Shasta has more historic “theosophy” woo, while Sedona is more New Age. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-mt-shasta-become-the-woo-capital-of-the-world/1021906.md?page=2)