If I had to succinctly describe "New Age Philosophy" I would say that it is encapsulated in what we all know as "The Golden Rule" and strives to utilize our collective knowledge to improve ourselves and the world in which we live. "The Golden Rule" simply states that we should treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves. "The Golden Rule" is the keystone of every important secular and religious philosophy that has evolved since humankind has emerged from it's infancy. It is the precursor to every idealized social code which has evolved from the dawn of civilization.
Until today (12/13/2004) I have never really tried to explain why my website is called "New Age Citizen" or why I called my only magazine publication "New Age Patriot" (1989 - 1997). What does "New Age" have to do with a website dedicated to Drug, Environmental and Socio-Economic Reform?
New Age Philosophy is an interesting term that was coined in the 1960's. This was the period of history where American culture began finding an interest in a new set of loosely associated practices and ideas which included: yoga, vegetarianism, environmentalism, recycling, Gaia, Buddhism, meditation, non-alcoholic drug use (e.g., marijuana, psilocybin, peyote, Yage, LSD) etc. Ironically this New Age philosophy of "connectedness" is a philosophical paradigm that predates Christianity by 10 to 20 thousand years and was most probably practiced, in some form, throughout the planet. So New Age Philosophy is really a re-emergence of one of humankinds oldest philosophical paradigms. I suppose one could argue that we should refer to this as "Old Age Philosophy" -- but it just doesn't have the right ring to it.
New Age Philosophy, Mystery Religion, Perennial philosophy are all terms that point to religious/philosophical traditions that find expression in Yoga, Gnosticism, Buddhism, Paganism, Wicca etc. All employ different vocabularies and methods to achieve direct realization of the ineffable Mystery that is beyond the expression of words. Some of these methods include meditation, study and even the use of psychotropic sacraments. Realization of this ineffable state -- whether you call it Samadhi, Sunyama, an epiphany, transcendence etc.-- is at the heart of the so-called mystery. One of the most common experiences, from those that have achieved deep states of meditation, is a blissful "feeling" of connectedness, or unity with, all things.
This concept of "connectedness" can be found at the heart of Gnosticism, which is a very good example of New Age philosophy. Gnosticism is a mystery religion, whose central belief goes something like this:
"God is a Big Mind which contains the cosmos and which is becoming conscious of itself through all conscious beings within the cosmos. The purpose of Gnostic initiation is to awaken in us a recognition of this our shared divine essence." [Jesus and the Lost Goddess: The Secret Teachings of the Original Christians" Timothy. Freke and Peter Gandy.]
Every Literalist religion contains subgroups that have preserved the teachings of this New Age philosophy. If you are an agnostic or atheist you can substitute other words in place of God, such as Intelligence or Ultimate Knowledge. If you are an atheist physicist you can substitute the word Singularity. Actually inclusion is a common attribute of all New Age philosophies -- we don't like to exclude anything or anybody. Unlike many theological or secular Literalist philosophies, you aren't likely to see us supporting the latest form of witch burning or mass crucifixion.
Another common attribute of all New Age philosophies is that we are interested in attaining and utilizing knowledge for the betterment of everyone. This means, above all else, seeing things as they really are. How else, can we hope to improve things, if we don't first fully understand what we are trying to improve? And to do this we need to escape the duality of "us and them", "knower and known." This,. by the way, is the very definition of the word Zen -- as in Zen Buddhism. Zen means, simply, "as it is." In practical terms it means getting beyond seeing a particular policy from the standpoint of how it benefits us personally.
In fact the term Gnostic basically means "knowledge". And of course, in order to understand anything you must understand it, "as it is" -- and not "as you would like to see it." So it is no surprise that those associated with New Age philosophy have included some of the brightest figures in human history, including: Patinjali, Jesus, Buddha, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Homer, Newton, Jefferson etc.
At the opposite end of the religious spectrum are the Literalist religions that believe interpretations of the scriptures by religious figures are the only way the God's will can be known. You might say that the Literalists took away our true sacraments (e.g., meditation, psilocybin, marijuana, peyote etc.) and replaced them with a cracker. This arrangement has been very convenient for the various elites that have occupied power over the last 5-10 thousand years. According to Joseph Campbell, these Literalist religions began to aggressively move against New Age Philosophies beginning as early as 1000 BC. And as the domination by Literalist philosophies moved forward societies became increasingly hierarchical, oppressive and non-egalitarian. The recent integration of archeological evidence, over the last 50 years (e.g., The Dead Sea Scrolls), has exposed a plethora of puzzle pieces relating to the demise of New Age philosophies in the wake of evolving Literalist philosophies.
So let's get back to the initial question: What does "New Age" have to do with a website dedicated to Drug, Environmental and Socio-Economic Reform?
To me the most important concept of New Age philosophy is that, because we are all connected, we should treat each other the way that we would like to be treated ourselves. This is essentially the golden rule which has found expression throughout all literalist and mystical religions. The wisdom of this New Age philosophy permeates everything from the "Ten Commandments" to the United States Constitution.
So how does New Philosophy relate to Drug, Environmental and Socio-Economic Reform?
Well lets start with Drugs. Laws concerning drugs should be in proportion to the damage that they cause to individuals and society. The concepts of proportion and compassion are central to my interpretation of New Age philosophies. Since all evidence shows that Marijuana is less dangerous that Alcohol then the laws should reflect that. Once you have explored the literature concerning psychotropic drugs it becomes obvious, that in terms of proportionality, Marijuana should be legal to all adults throughout the planet.
The Environment. We need to understand the complex mechanisms of the global ecosystem and learn to live in symbiotic and sustainable relationship with the planet. This means we must support humanistic policies which reduce population and become ever more mindful of our methods of farming, recycling etc. The basic goal is quite simple: leave the planet a little better than you found it when you arrived.
Socio-Economic Reform. The current form of Turbo Capitalism, which has become the prevailing paradigm of the globalists, is not just destroying the planet. It threatens to oppress or destroy a good portion of those that are currently living on this planet. And as population increases and resources (e.g., oil, water, arable soil) diminish the folly of this paradigm will become increasingly apparent. While we don't have to do anything specific tomorrow, we had better figure out our options today. I recommend immediate reductions in population growth, through educating the world as to the consequences of not reducing population growth. The evangelicals are dead wrong on this point. If we continue to over populate this planet we will die like a colony of bacteria on a Petri dish: in our own toxic waste.
New Age Philosophy has existed among every faith and religion. It has also been embraced by those that claim no religious belief. As long as you are interested in working to create a better world I am hopeful that you will support at least some of our policy planks with both your efforts and donations to New Age Citizen. Together I am hoping that we can make a difference in determining the future course of humankind.
Until I can write down a more complete vision of what New Age Philosophy means to me, I will share some other viewpoints (articles below) on the concept of New Age Philosophy.
As I read through these articles (below) I must clarify that I don't except everything that is attributed to "New Age": for example the goal to form a "one world government." I mention this because I do not believe in a one world government -- especially if it is controlled by monolithic global corporate interests. I believe that each government should become as autonomous and self-sufficient as possible. Hopefully, this results in an egalitarian world government, where we all enjoy a good life. But I am totally against the current globalization efforts as represented by NAFTA, the World Bank etc. I think the primary purpose, of current globalization policies, is to accelerate the exploitation of labor and resources, throughout the globe, for the benefit of a small elite. So as you read through these various articles on the "New Age" please be aware that there may be much that NAC doesn't agree with.
So, enjoy these various articles on "New Age Philosophy" but don't assume that New Age Citizen agrees with everything attributed to the term "New Age." Above all else . . . Enjoy!
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art1359.asp
This is Part 1 of the series What Is The New Age Movement? which explores the beliefs and practices of those who identify with the New Age.
The New Age Movement has no central belief system or doctrine. Rather, it's a syncretic movement that allows for all faiths and spiritual expressions. However, there are many people that follow a particular religious path while adding New Age practices to their experience.
When did the New Age movement begin? It's really hard to say. The New Age movement is really "old" age in the sense that it borrows from many ancient Eastern traditions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism. However, there are also influences from Gnostic traditions, mystical sects of Christianity and Sufism, Theosophy, and even Paganism. The New Age movement is a spiritual buffet where you can take what works for you, and leave that which doesn't.
It seems that the New Age movement became popular in the 1970's when people were looking for answers to slake their spiritual thirst. Perhaps it was a result of the 60's counter-culture in America who were not finding answers within traditional Christianity or secular humanism. Instead of choosing one or the other, some chose neither, and set out for new spiritual territories and experiences that weren't on the proverbial menu. Thus, an "alternative" spiritual movement began to gain momentum.
Organized religions tend to have formalized religious practices and structures. God and truth are reached through a central path, spiritual figure, and/or sacred text. Members of organized religion look to their ministers, texts, and doctrines for cues as to "how am I driving"? Those who are in the New Age Movement tend to shy away from structured religion and dogma, preferring a direct spiritual experience with the Divine. There is a relativism and subjectivism within the New Age that is often the brunt of ridicule from scientists and fundamentalists alike. However, that is beginning to change as more people are discovering the connections between mind and body and spirituality and science. Even esoteric spiritual traditions offer astonishing prescience for scientific discoveries. In the late 1800's, Madame Blatavasky, founder of the Theosophical movement, commented "and can it be that light is also substance?", as well as other insights which show a foreknowledge of the wave/particular duality of light. This was, of course, quite contrary to the established science of the day.
Those within the New Age value intuition and personal experience above all, which is why they are relativists and subjectivists. As such, it's difficult to come up with a list of common practices and beliefs. Some people engage in quite a few New Age practices, while some just use a few in addition to a more formal religious path.
Here are some common beliefs and practices within the New Age:
1. We are entering the Age of Aquarius. The New Age Movement and the Aquarian Age is virtually synonymous. Aquarius is a sign of the Zodiac known as The Water Bearer. The association with Aquarius is a servant of humanity pouring out the water of knowledge to quench the thirst of the world during a time of spiritual drought. In Astrology, the Earth passes into a new sign of the Zodiac every 2,000 years. Some believe that the Earth entered the constellation of Aquarius in the 19th Century, which means that the present era is the "dawning of the Age of Aquarius". What is interesting is that the previous 2,000 were spent in the constellation of Pisces. The symbol of Pisces is two fish swimming in opposite directions. The fish (ichthus) is a symbol of Christianity, and many link Christianity with the Piscean Age. In esoteric symbolism, the fish represent duality and cross purposes. It's a very "us vs. them" mentality, which includes struggles like church against state, science against religion, spirituality against materialism, right vs. wrong, evil vs. good, etc. In the Piscean age, there was a focus on the external. Many forgot they were spirit having a physical experience.
The Aquarian Age, however, is a re-membering of our essential nature as spirit. It's a deconstruction of destructive endoctrination and dogmatism, as well as a crumbling of material greed, Ego, and power struggles. It's discovering the Kingdom of God within, and looking inward to the Divine Spark for satisfaction, growth, and enlightenment. Service to humanity, love, and self-realization are some of the characteristics of Aquarius.
It's interesting to note that 4,000 BCE was the the sign of Taurus the bull, and worshipping the golden calf was common in the Middle East during that time. Aries the Ram, circa 2,000 BCE, was a time when Jews engaged in widespread ritual sacrifice of sheep and other animals in the temple. Enter the age of Pisces circa 1st century CE when many Jews walked away from animal sacrifice and instead embraced the teachings of Christianity.
Some believe that characteristics of the Piscean Age are "lower energies" such as greed, jealousy, ego, and ignorance, whereas the Aquarian Age will feature "higher energies" such as peace, love, truth, and self-less behavior. Instead of having an external source attempting to say what is right and wrong, humanity will evolve to the point that individuals and the collective will know intuitively right from wrong.
2. Metaphysics is the study of "first causes" and the study of being and knowing. Metaphysics explores the root causes and nature of physical reality, as well as the relationship between mind and matter.
3. A belief that everything is connected, that God is in all and among all, and thus, all is One.
4. One truth, many paths. We're all heading towards the top of the mountain, ultimately. The path you take there is irrelevant.
5. Love is the unifying force of the cosmos. God is love. Fear is the opposite of love, and the result of the illusion that we are separate from the Divine and each other.
6. There are no accidents. Everything happens for a reason. Synchronicity is meaningful coincidences that stems from the Jungian theory of causality.
7. Everything is energy and is in a constant state of movement. Rocks appear solid, but their atoms are just vibrating very slowly. The heavier the object, the slower the vibration. Likewise, emotions and thoughts have energy signatures. Emotions such as anger, jealousy and fear vibrate at lower rates whereas emotions such as love, peace, and joy vibrate at higher levels. Because mind and body are connected, it is believed that sickness arises because of lower level vibrations. Modern medicine is now acknowledging what mystics and spiritual masters have known for centuries: emotions such as fear and anger are not conducive to health. The Bible states "laughter does good like a medicine". Laughter, like other positive emotions, is healing.
Stay tuned for future installments that will continue to explore common New Age beliefs as well as New Age practices.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Age
New Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. This New Age movement is particularly concerned with spiritual exploration, holistic medicine, and mysticism, yet no rigid boundaries actually exist, making the term point to its own perspective on history, philosophy, religion, spirituality, medicine, music, science, and lifestyle.
The term "New Age" at one time, perhaps in the late 1960s, referred to a movement started by the followers of Alice Bailey's ideas concerning the coming New Age. Since then New Age has broadened into its current meaning. No longer a single belief system, it is an aggregate of beliefs and practices (syncretism) which are drawn from earlier myths established religions and new religious movements. Inside this movement are individuals using a "do-it-yourself" approach, while other groups formulate coherent belief systems resembling traditional religion.
Some people, including neo-pagans, who are frequently labeled as New Age, might find the term inappropriate since it appears to link them with beliefs and practices they do not espouse. Others think that the classification of beliefs and movements under New Age has little added value due to the vagueness of the term. Instead, they prefer to refer directly to the individual beliefs and movements. Indeed, use by religious conservatives, scientists and others has caused the term "New Age" to sometimes have a derogatory connotation.
History
Although the idea of a new age has clear precedents in Jewish apocalypticism, New Age people may derive their beliefs from religious and philosophical traditions originally outside the Western mainstream, including the occult, some sects of Hinduism, Taoism or Buddhism. Most of the phenomena listed below under #See also can be traced to less common practices in Europe and North America over the past few centuries. For example the Theosophical Society of the late 19th century espoused many principles, whose roots may be linked to present time New Age ideas:
gnostic approaches to spiritual matters
spiritualism - modern channeling
clairvoyance - modern remote viewing
mesmerism
belief in healing or paranormal powers of certain metals or crystals
use of prayer and meditation as paths to enlightenment
Tao
yoga
karma
Though many of these terms are associated with Eastern religions, they should not be considered as being identical with the concepts and practices of those religions. Ancient traditions such as Hinduism, Taoism, and Buddhism can hardly be referred to as New Age religions.
The New Age movement emerged as a disorganized coalition out of the 1960s counter-culture movement or "happening" in North America and Europe, perhaps only tangentially informed by Alice Bailey's neo-theosophy. In a manner similar to the grassroots political and lifestyle movements of that time, New Agers dissatisfied with the then widely accepted norms and beliefs of western society offered new interpretations from a spiritual viewpoint of science, history, and the religion of the Judeo-Christian establishment. An important center for the New Age movement during the twentieth century was the Findhorn Foundation in northern Scotland. These recent populist origins may indeed help characterize the New Age approach, which emphasizes an individual's choice in spiritual matters; the role of personal intuition and experience over societally sanctioned expert opinion; and an experiential, rather than primarily empirical, definition of reality. Thus, reality is considered to be illuminated by the infinite number of spectral hues emanating from an experiential, faith-driven, subjective viewpoint; which leads us, finally, to a general principle: the New Age coexists and correlates within each individual's fundamental paradigm shift.
The New Age is often called the Age of Aquarius. In astrology, a practice long associated with the New Age, the name of the Solar Age is determined by the constellation appearing over the horizon during sunrise on the first day of Spring. Each sign on the zodiac belt shifts an average of one degree every 70 years. If we liken the zodiac belt to a circle with each of the 12 signs occupying 30 degrees, then one sign will require 2,100 years to shift along the belt to make room for the next. The solar age of Pisces coincided with the birth of Jesus Christ — approximately 0 C.E. — and is due to end some time in the 21st Century, to be replaced by the solar age of Aquarius.
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Philosophy
Many adherents of belief systems characterised as New Age rely heavily on the use of metaphors to describe experiences deemed to be beyond the empirical. Consciously or unconsciously, New Agers tend to redefine vocabulary borrowed from various belief systems, which can cause some confusion as well as increase opposition from skeptics and the traditional religions. In particular, the adoption of terms from the parlance of science such as "energy", "energy fields", and various terms borrowed from quantum physics and psychology but not then applied to any of their subject matter, have served to confuse the dialog between science and spirituality, leading to derisive labels such as pseudoscience and psycho-babble. Many adherents of traditional disciplines from cultures such as India, China, and elsewhere; a number of orthodox schools of Yoga, Qigong, Chinese Medicine, and martial arts (the traditional Taijiquan families, for example), groups with histories reaching back many centuries in some cases, eschew the Western label New Age, seeing the movement it represents as either not fully understanding or deliberately trivializing their disciplines.
This phenomenon is additionally compounded by the propensity of some New Agers to pretend to esoteric meanings for familiar terms; the New Age meaning of the esoteric term is typically quite different from the common use, and is often described as intentionally inaccessible to those not sufficiently trained in the area of their use. This is usually intended as a means of protection for the uninitiated against the danger inherent in the power of the underlying idea (as noted below).
While the term New Age covers a large number of beliefs and practices, certain modes of thought are fairly commonly held:
The primacy of subjective experience. In keeping with its roots as a counter-cultural phenomenon and its syncretic nature, New Age adherents tend to emphasize a relativist approach to truth, often referring to the Vedic statement of "one truth, but many paths," the mainstay of Hinduism, which idea is also found in the later Zen Buddhist spiritual dictum of "many paths, one mountain". This belief is not only an assertion of personal choice in spiritual matters, but also an assertion that truth itself is defined by the individual and his or her experience of it.
This relativism is not merely a spiritual relativism, but also extends to physical theories. Reality is considered largely from an experiential and subjective mode. Many New Age phenomena are not expected to be repeatable in the scientific sense, since they are presumed to be apparent only to the receptive mind; for example, telepathy may not be achievable by a skeptical mind, since a skeptical mind is not pre-conditioned to expect the phenomenon to exist.
Rejection of scientific physics. There is typically a mysticism-based (rather than experiment-and-theory-based) view of describing and controlling the external world; for example, one might believe that tarot card reading works because of the "interconnectedness principle", rather than regarding the success (or failure) of tarot card reading as evidence of the interconnectedness principle. The various New Age vitalist theories of health and disease provide further examples.
In contrast to the scientific method, the failure of some practice to achieve expected results is not considered as a failure of the underlying theory, but as a lack of knowledge about (hidden) extenuating circumstances. This stance has led some skeptics to pronounce the New Age movement to be primarily anti-intellectual in nature.
The emphasis on subjective knowledge and experience is a link between New Age beliefs and postmodernism.
Within this context of relativism, one still finds many commonalities regarding the nature of the world:
Forces. It is commonly held that there exist certain forces, independent of spiritual beings or agencies, and also distinct from forces as defined by science (e.g., gravitation, electro-magnetism, etc.). These forces are elemental in nature; and are held to operate in an automatic fashion as part of the natural order (for example, the force which causes seeds to sprout, grow, and bloom). It is worth noting that this view is incompatible with contemporary science: the forces posited by physics are supposed to exhaustively describe the behaviour of the universe, so anything acting according to another force would have to break the laws of physics.
Power. The "forces", and everything else, are energized by a mystical power that exists in varying degrees in all things. Power is transferable, through physical contact, sensory perception, or mere proximity. Power may be accumulated or depleted in a person or object through a variety of mechanisms, including fate and esoteric practices. This power is held to be physically observable as "auras" and "psi energy"; and when encountered in great concentration, may even be dangerous.
Energy. In some belief systems, "forces" and "power" may seem to merge; e.g., in the concept of "vital force" that exists in so many traditional belief systems, and finds its expression in New Age concepts such as the alleged "energies" in Therapeutic Touch and Reiki, and ideas of flowing streams of power in Earth, like "leylines" in Britain and Europe and earth energies addressed in the Chinese geomantic system of feng shui. The New Age use of the word "energy" should obviously not be confused with the scientific one.
Spirit. All beings (particularly sentient beings) are accompanied by a specific, intentional "energy" which corresponds to their consciousness, but is in some way independent of their corporeal existence. This energy typically is more primary than the physical entity, in the sense that it remains in some form after the physical death of that being.
Holism. A coherent, interconnected cosmos. Everything in the cosmos is actually or potentially interconnected, as if by invisible threads, not only in space but also across time. Further, it is held that every thing and every event that has happened, is happening, or will happen leaves a detectable record of itself in the cosmic "medium" such as the Akashic Records or the morphogenic field.
Cosmic goal. There is typically a belief that all entities are (willingly or unwillingly) cooperating in some cosmic goal of achieving a "higher" or more complete coherence with a cosmic "consciousness" (or some other goal state of "goodness"), often described as an evolutionary process or simply to learn. This underlying cosmic goal gives direction to all events, reducing the concept of coincidence to one of ignorance of hidden meaning.
In addition, some New Age practices and beliefs could make use of what British anthropologist Sir James George Frazer termed magical thinking, in The Golden Bough(1890). Common examples are the principle that objects once in contact maintain a practical link, or that objects that have similar properties exert an effect on each other.
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Religion
The New Age movement has evolved in the so called Western and industrialised countries, which have inherited a Judeo-Christian tradition. As such then Jesus has been reinvented by the New Age movement as a guru, a telling incorporation of a Hindu term.
Globalisation was and still is an important social phenomenon of the 20th and early 21st centuries, with religious syncretism inevitably being one consequence. New Age religious developments are eclectic, hence multifarious. Some synthesize Christian ideas with beliefs involving many gods or goddesses (pantheism), include aliens, reincarnation, even the use of drugs, together with other spiritual beliefs from different parts of the world. Likewise, the movement may incorporate differing beliefs about, or attempts to practice, magic.
However, in keeping with its relativist stance, New Agers believe they do not contradict traditional belief systems, but rather some of them say that they are concerned with the ultimate truths contained within them, separating these truths from false tradition and dogma. On the other hand, adherents of other religions often claim that the New Age movement has a vague or superficial understanding of these religious concepts, leaving out that which may not seem "negative" or contradict contemporary Western values and that New Age attempts at religious syncretism are vague and self-contradictory. Some people within the New Age movement claim a particular interest in Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism, and Taoism — however eclectic or in-depth such an interest may be depends arbitrarily upon each individual's pursuit and focus.
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Spirituality
Many individuals are responsible for the recent popularity of New Age spirituality, especially in the United States. James Redfield, author of The Celestine Prophecy and other New Age books, provides an open-ended, spirituality-based, life system derived from his own macrocosmic philosophy concerning mankind's state of spiritual evolution. Marianne Williamson updated A Course in Miracles when she penned her work A Return to Love. Another overview of the New Age is provided by Michael Sharp in The Book of Life: Ascension and the Divine World Order. The spirituality of the New Age coexists and correlates within each individual's fundamental paradigm shift.
The gnostic approach of experiential insight and revelation of truth may be closer to the New Age methodology of prayers and spirituality. Due to the personal individualist nature of revealed truth, New-Agers often walk down the old road of gnosis, paved with modernized eclectic stone. In Experiential Spirituality and Contemporary Gnosis (http://www.dianebrandon.com/index_page0023.htm) Diane Brandon writes:
And this emphasis on spirituality and consciousness reflects an acknowledgment that we are, in essence, spiritual beings - and beings of pure energy, as consciousness is a form of energy - even though we are "in the body." As Wayne Dyer says, "We are spiritual beings having a human experience."
Or, as Deepak Chopra says, "our bodies are contained within our consciousness, not our consciousness contained within our bodies."
Many people have attempted to compare traditional religion and metaphysics, often pitting one against the other, as if the two of them were mutually exclusive or antithetical. Interestingly, however, religion based on theism is, by definition, a part of metaphysics, as any concept of a deity in traditional Western religion is outside the purview of our three-dimensional reality.
Which leads us to another interesting hallmark of contemporary metaphysics and the "New Age": that spirituality is experiential.
Many have theorized that the current interest in spirituality and metaphysics may in part be viewed as a reaction against the Age of Reason and the perceived pursuant overemphasis on the strictly material and empirical - that there is a longing for the transcendently spiritual, instead of feeling bogged down in a strict immersion in the physical. i.e., after a couple of centuries of emphasis on the empirically provable and concrete, there is a longing for the spiritual as an antidote.
Just as the Age of Reason spawned a golden age for science and intellect, Western religions became more oriented toward beliefs and religious practices that grew out of and drew upon the left brain – i.e., in religious beliefs and practices, we stayed in our heads.
At the same time, Western religions have traditionally encouraged adherents to cede control to the church and its authority, rather than encouraging believers to take individual responsibility for their own spirituality.
This approach worked for centuries until the advent of more public education and the resultant higher education of the populace. Education leads to empowerment. Small wonder, then, that New Agers and those into metaphysics want to experience their spirituality, so that they may feel it, rather than simply think it, and that they want to have some control over their practice or manifestation of it, rather than strictly going through an external intermediary. This shift to a feeling of control over one's expression of spirituality also reflects the trend towards personal responsibility, as well as personal empowerment.
Detractors would say that a true understanding of reason and empiricism produces just as rich an experience, with emotions and feelings based on thinking and logic instead of the other way around. They would also point out that the definition of empiricism is: "the view that experience, especially of the senses, is the only source of knowledge."
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Medicine
Many people have adopted alternative methods of medicine that incorporate New Age beliefs. Some of the techniques in this list are herbal medicine, Ayurveda, acupuncture, iridology, auras and the use of crystals in healing therapy. Users of these techniques find them helpful in treating illness; at the very least, their personal involvement in their own treatment increases. Some rely on New Age treatments exclusively, while others use them in combination with conventional medicine.
It should be noted that, when considered purely as medical techniques, most of these systems of treatment are viewed with extreme skepticism in scientific circles. When tested using the same types of regimens as those applied to pharamaceutical drugs and surgical techniques (for example, double blind clinical studies), these systems typically do not yield demonstrable improvements over standard techniques, and may even produce harm in a greater number of cases.
However, one benefit of New Age medicine's popularity, and its criticism of conventional medicine, has been to encourage many medical practitioners to pay closer attention to the entire patient's needs rather than just her or his specific disease San Francisco Medical Library (http://www.sfms.org/sfm/sfm199f.htm). Such approaches, termed "holistic medicine", are now becoming more popular. Conventional medicine has recognised that a patient's state of mind can be crucial in determining the outcome of many diseases, and this perception has helped recast the roles of doctor and patient as more egalitarian.
While a broader understanding of the patient's health is clearly useful, this requires communication between patient and doctor: relying on New Age treatments exclusively carries the risk of neglecting a treatable condition until too late. Patients using herbs and other unconventional approaches need to be sure their doctors are aware of what they're doing. Herbal remedies can interact in a variety of ways with prescription drugs or mask symptoms of the underlying disease.
Critics of New Age medicine continue to point out that without some kind of testing procedure, there is no way of separating those techniques, medicinal herbs, and lifestyle changes which actually contribute to increased health from those which have no effect, or which are actually deleterious to one's health. Even seemingly "innocent" techniques such as Therapeutic Touch may potentially cause physical, spiritual, and religious harm. Yet some hospitals, such as St. Mary's Hospital in Amsterdam, New York, offer patients Healing Touch or Therapeutic Touch therapies which complement traditional medicine Center for Complementary Therapies (http://www.smha.org/center_for_complementary_therapies.php). One form of Healing Touch involves a practitioner using his or her hands to sense the Human Electromagnetic Field(HEF) in a patient, locate abnormalities in the energy flow causing pain and/or disease, and restore normal chakra function. An interesting case study was overseen by 5 physicians to test the abilities of two practitioners, with no formal medical training, to predict and locate disk abnormalities in patients reporting lower back pain.Diagnostic Validity of Human Electromagnetic Field (Aura) Perception (http://www.medicalacupuncture.com/aama_marf/journal/vol13_2/article3.html) The results validated the HEF diagnostic procedure with a higher than normal correlation with the standard osteopathic MRI scan.
Some motion in this direction has occurred. There is at least one noteworthy trial study at the University of California, San Francisco(UCSF) on breast cancer in women. Dr. Yeshe Donden, former physician to the Dalai Lama, prescribed Tibetan herbs for treatments in a double blind trial. The Phase I trial involving 11 patients closed November 2000 ASCO (http://www.asco.org/ac/1,1003,_12-002636-00_18-0010-00_19-00169,00.asp). On March 13, 2002 Debu Tripathy, M.D., Director of the CAM program at UCSF Breast Care Center, commented on the study findings at a breast cancer research forum:
The FDA would only approve 7 formulas. We only enrolled 11 patients of the hoped for 30. The result showed no safety problems. Of the 9 patients who were evaluated, we found one patient with a temporary response, the other 8 had progression of their cancer. Our next step is to do an expanded study with all the herbs and a much larger number of patients. This will probably have to be done outside the U.S.
In 2003 UCSF continued the herbal therapy research with the now Clinical Professor of Medicine Hope Rugo, M.D.(who worked with the 2000 trial team) as principal investigator in a phase I/II trial— number 00758.National Cancer Institute (http://www.cancer.gov/search/ViewClinicalTrials.aspx?cdrid=69155&protocolsearchid=1220147&version=patient) UCSF Trial Information (http://128.218.159.24/veloslist/detail_page.asp?study_number=00758&search=Current+Search%3A+Breast+%28Therapeutic+Area%29)
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Music
See a longer description at the New Age music article
Although more rock than new age in genre the 1967 successful musical Hair with its opening song "Aquarius" and the memorable line "This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius" brought the New age concept to the attention of a huge world wide audience.
A large percentage of music described as of New Age genre is instrumental, and electronic, although vocal arrangements are also common. Enya, who won a Grammy for her new age music, sings in a variety of languages, including Latin, in many of her works. Medwyn Goodall, not as widely known, relies mainly on electronic keyboard effects, and includes acoustic guitar as well. To understand this musical category may help shed light on the New Age perspective.
Arguably, this music has its roots in the 1970s with the works of such free-form jazz groups recording on the ECM label such as Oregon, the Paul Winter Group, and other pre-ambient bands; as well as ambient performers such as Brian Eno.
Music labeled New Age often has a vision of a better future, expresses an appreciation of goodness and beauty, even an anticipation, relevant to some event. Rarely does New Age music dwell on a problem with this world or its inhabitants; instead it offers a peaceful vision of a better world. Often the music is celestial, when the title names stars or deep space explorations. Ennio Morricone wrote the entire score for the movie Mission to Mars, and while the credits flash we hear All the Friends, New Age orchestral style.
The titles of New Age music are often illuminating, because the words used by the artists attempt to convey their version of truth, in a few short words. On listening to the music, one may understand the idea within the title. Examples of titles: Bond of Union, Sweet Wilderness, Shepherd Moons, Animus Anima.
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Lifestyle
The following subjective description of a New Age lifestyle illuminates the sociological dimension of the New Age movement. Note the references to the "inter-connectedness" of all things: "...people feeling somehow, mysteriously, they have met before or known each other from a distant time..." and an implicit cosmic goal "...two people meet and sense there may be a hidden meaning, or reason why...". Rather than reliance on social forms such as regular church attendance, New Agers "recognize" each other through their mutal perception of shared values, and the shibboleths of New Age terms and usages:
New Age lifestyles can be observed anywhere that people meet, congregate, and visit. To an outside observer, the eventful outcome of this meeting differs from other similar meetings she may have seen before, because something changes. Something clicks in people's behavior making them exchange information, most always with everyone getting more out of the event than was individually put into it. This often happens in New Age lifestyles, becoming so common one would think the new age has already left a mark on the mainstream! At one time before the New Age lifestyle silently, without any fanfare, changed western society, the outcome of interaction was: someone wins and the other loses. Although this is an overly simplistic view of social intercourse, it did exist in general, at large. New Age introduced a think tank style of social interaction, which results in a synergy--all involved in a meaningful event are left with more clarity, higher and more focused than beforehand. Again, this is an overly simplisitic view. People may not even believe they are New Agers, though they fit the general pattern.
A typical conversation may begin in groups or in pairs, where the subject involves insights, deeply held truths, or even revelations, from a known or unknown origin. The result of this interaction may bond the people involved who share similar visions or outlooks. Feelings of déjà vu may occur, with people feeling somehow, mysteriously, they have met before or known each other from a distant time in history.
Shopping at a store dealing in herbal supplements, two people meet and sense there may be a hidden meaning, or reason why they just happened to be purchasing ginseng tea at that particular moment, in that particular place, at the same time. Rather than overlooking the event, tucking it away as a mere coincidence, they talk, more often about themselves to each other, and interact, a key component of this lifestyle
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See also
Philosophical
Syncretism, Postmodernism, Karma, Vedas, Spirituality, Synchronicity, Myths, Mysteries, Aquarian Age, Transcendence, Multi-dimensionality
Meditative
Qi, Qigong, Prayer, Tantra, Meditation, Kundalini, Mandala, Trance
Music
New Age music, Circle dance
Spiritual/Religious
Angels, Dances of Universal Peace, Theosophy, New Thought Movement, Hinduism, Kabala, Goddess Worship, Shamanism, Spirit guides, Jesus, Kardecist Spiritism, Anthroposophy, A Course In Miracles, Zen, Rosicrucian, The Rosicrucian Fellowship
Contemporary new age teachers
Andrew Cohen, Michael Sharp, Benjamin Creme, Barry Long, Da Free John, Ram Dass , Louise L. Hay, Caroline Myss, Marianne Williamson , Leonard Orr, Carlos Castaneda, Rajneesh
Health
Acupuncture, Aromatherapy, Ayurveda, Biorhythms, Brainwaves, Breatharians, Crystals, Reiki, Self-help, Visualization, Iridology, Chakras, Kirlian photography, Pyramid power
Social Movements
Encounter group movement, LGATs, MLMs, Rebirthing, Hundredth Monkey
Consciousness
Astral projection, Angels, Dakini, Auras, Consciousness, Elementals, Near-death experience, Out-of-body experience, Reincarnation, Soul travel, Past life regression, Double bodies
Special Abilities
Automatic writing, Charismatics, Clairvoyance, Dreaming, ESP, Levitation, Oracles, Psychic phenomenon, Psychokinesis, Remote viewing, Palmistry, Sorcery, Telepathy, Channeling, Long life
Geographic Energy Centers
Avalon, Sacred sites, Bermuda Triangle, Atlantis, Lemuria, Ley lines, Machu Picchu, Stonehenge, Portals, Power spots
Systems involved in control, prediction, or description of the physical world
Alchemy, Astrology, Tarot, Magick, Numerology, Feng Shui, Vastu
Aliens
Alien abduction, Alien implants, Crop circles, Cattle mutilation, Area 51, UFOs
Miscellaneous
Ancient civilizations, Underground civilizations, Time travel, Forteana
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New Age communities
Significant New Age communities exist in the following places:
Arcosanti, Arizona, USA
Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India
Boulder, Colorado
Byron Bay, Australia
Christiania, Copenhagen, Denmark
Damanhur, Italy
Dornach, Switzerland
Esalen at Big Sur, California
Findhorn, near Forres ,Scotland
Glastonbury, Somerset, England
Monte Verità near Ascona, Switzerland
Mount Shasta, California
Sedona, Arizona
Totnes, Devon, England
See also the Global Ecovillage Network article.
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External links
Roots of New Age Movement (http://www.xs4all.nl/~wichm/newage3.html)
New Age Transformed (http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/newage.html)
The Celestine Prophecy (http://www.celestinevision.com)
Marianne Williamson (http://www.marianne.com)
A Course in Miracles (http://www.acim.org)
What is the New Age? (http://www.spirithistory.com/newage.html)
National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (http://nccam.nih.gov)
Enya (http://www.enya.com)
Medwyn Goodall (http://www.medwyngoodall.com)
Magical Thinking in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (http://www.csicop.org/si/2001-11/alternative.html)
A Christian Reflection on the New Age (http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/interelg/documents/rc_pc_interelg_doc_20030203_new-age_en.html)
The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine (http://www.hcrc.org/sram)
Quackwatch (http://www.quackwatch.org)
Christian Logos Brief Dictionary of New Age Terminology (http://logosresourcepages.org/na-dict.html)
Nag Hammadi Library (http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/nhl.html)
Leonard Orr- Rebirthing (http://www.leonardorr.com/english.php)
Carlos Castaneda official website (http://www.castaneda.com/)
Divine Way of Spiritual Heart (http://swami-center.org/)
A New Ager's path to becoming a skeptic (http://www.csicop.org/si/2004-05/new-age.html)
Age of Aquarius (http://www.rosicrucian.com/zineen/magen119.htm)
New Age of Aquarius (http://www.zyworld.com/jamus/NewAge.htm)
http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Cults/newage.htm
New Age or Old Occult?*
The New Age Movement (NAM) is both a religious and a social movement. In fact, Western culture is currently experiencing a phenomenal, spiritual, ideological, and sociological shift. It is a religious world view that is alien and hostile to Christianity. It's a multi-focused, multi-faceted synthesis, in varying degrees, of the Far Eastern, mystical religions, mainly Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Western Occultism, adapted to and influenced by Western, materialistic culture. It sometimes appears in secularized forms.
Prominent expressions of the NAM were carried on into more modern times in Europe and America by Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), transcendentalists like Thoreau, Emerson, and Wordsworth (early 1800s), and Theosophy introduced by Madame Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891) (The New Age Rage, pp. 22-24). The decade of the sixties witnessed a revival of Eastern mysticism as traditional values were being challenged. Zen, Carlos Castañada, the Beatles, Transcendental Meditation, and yoga all became popular.
The New Age Movement consists of an incredibly huge and well organized network consisting of thousands of groups, trusts, foundations, clubs, lodges, and religious groups whose goal and purpose is to prepare the world to enter the coming "Age Of Aquarius." A small sampling of only a few of the organizations involved would include: Amnesty International, Zero Population Growth, California New Age Caucus, New World Alliance, World Goodwill, The Church Universal and Triumphant, The Theosophical Society, the Forum, Planetary Initiative for the World We Choose, the Club of Rome, Church Universal & Triumphant, Christian Science, and the Unity School of Christianity. This list, by no means all inclusive, demonstrates the diversity of organizations operating in economic, political, and religious spheres of influence.
The New Age movement is not a unified, traditional cult system of beliefs and practices, even though its roots derive from Eastern religions and the occult. It has no official leader, headquarters, nor membership list, but instead is a network of groups working toward specific goals. One of its main goals is to bring to the forefront a one-world leader who is called "The Christ" or "Maitreya." Nevertheless, it is estimated that there are millions of worldwide followers of various New Age practices and/or holders of one or more of the major beliefs of the New Age.
The NAM has gained significant influence, affecting almost every area of the culture -- sociology, psychology, medicine, the government, ecology, science, arts, education, the business community, the media, entertainment, sports, and even the church. The movement expresses itself in widely divergent and various mutated forms, from the blatantly obvious to the subtle. It is expressed in organized religious forms such as Christian Science, Unity, and even forms of Witchcraft. Yet, it shows up in secular forms as well, in various human potential seminars, and much in between, i.e., transcendental meditation, some alternative holistic health practices, and certain curriculum in public (and private) schools.
The book Networking lists over 1,200 organizations, centers, cooperatives, groups, communities, and networks in fields ranging from health care and spiritual growth, through politics, economics, and ecology, to education, communications, personal growth, and intercultural relations. There is hardly any area of human interest that does not have some people somewhere exploring it from a New Age point of view. Due to the lack of a central organization and the diversity of emphasis adhered to by the various New Age groups, there are literally hundreds of publications. Some popular publications and journals are New Age Journal, Body Mind Spirit, Yoga Journal, Gnosis, East West, Noetic Sciences, and Omega.
The major goal of the New Age Movement is to bring peace to the world upon entering the Age of Aquarius. This will be accomplished primarily through the leadership of "the Christ" (also known as "Lord Maitreya"), who will supposedly come to teach us to live at peace with each other. Some of the other stated goals of the movement are to establish a World Food Authority, World Water Authority, World Economic Order, and an entirely New World Order. It should be noted here that one of the requirements for a person to enter the New Age is that he or she will have to take what is known as a "Luciferic Initiation," a kind of pledge of allegiance to the Christ of the New Age and to the New World Order. The primary goals of the movement then, are to prepare the world to receive the Christ and to enter the Age of Aquarius, thus establishing the New World Order.
The New Age Movement professes a broad-minded openness to all religions, but its basic underlying philosophy represents a carefully calculated undermining of Judeo-Christian beliefs with various combinations of gnosticism and occultism. [Gnosticism is an ancient world-view stating that Divine essence is the only true or highest reality, and that the unconscious Self of man is actually this essence. It is through intuitional discovery, "visionary experience or initiation into secret doctrine" (not the plenary revelation of propositional truth in the Bible), that man becomes conscious of this true Self (Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 10, 1968, p. 506; New Bible Dictionary, J.D. Douglas, ed., pp. 473-474).] It bears a remarkable resemblance to the apostate world religion that H.G. Wells claimed as his own and predicted would one day take over the world. It also fits the description of "The Plan" for establishing the new world government that is described in various psychic communications from alleged E.T.'s and ascended masters. There is one more connection: the New Age Movement fits the description of the Antichrist's religion -- a rejection of the Judeo-Christian God and the declaration that Self is God. (Source: The Seduction of Christianity.)
Douglas R. Groothuis, author of Unmasking the New Age and Confronting the New Age, identifies six distinctives of New Age thinking: (1) all is one; (2) all is God; (3) humanity is God; (4) a change in consciousness; (5) all religions are one; and (6) cosmic evolutionary optimism. Norman Geisler details 14 primary "doctrines" of New Age religions: (1) an impersonal god (force); (2) an eternal universe; (3) an illusory nature of matter; (4) a cyclical nature of life; (5) the necessity of reincarnations; (6) the evolution of man into Godhood; (7) continuing revelations from beings beyond the world; (8) the identity of man with God; (9) the need for meditation (or other consciousness-changing techniques); (10) occult practices (astrology, mediums, etc.); (11) vegetarianism and holistic health; (12) pacifism (or anti-war activities); (13) one world (global) order; and (14) syncretism (unity of all religions). [HJB]
The New Age also encompasses a wide array of notions: spiritualism, astrology, bioenergy, Chi energy, chakras, nirvana, Christ-consciousness, Native American Spirituality, Prajna, out-of-body/near-death experiences, reincarnation, and the occult disciplines, as well as unorthodox psychotherapeutic techniques and pseudoscientific applications of the "healing powers" of crystals and pyramids. Some commonly used New Age terms are: guided imagery, reincarnation; positive thinking; human potential; holistic; holographic; synergistic; unity; oneness; transformation; awakening; networking; communal sharing; one-world/globalism/new world order (i.e., one language, one government, one currency, one religion); cosmic consciousness; etc. (See New Age Dictionary below.)
It is important for Christians to recognize even the most disguised forms of the New Age Movement. Some New Age practices are: rebirthing; inner healing; biofeedback; yoga; I Ching; reflexology; black and white magic; fire-walking; trance-channeling; therapeutic touch; transpersonal psychology; witchcraft; parapsychology; Magick; Tai Chi; Shamanism; hypnotherapy; acupuncture/acupressure; TM; martial arts; Zen; Relaxation; Erhard Seminar Training (est); Silva Method (formerly Silva Mind Control); visualization; etc. Some prominent New Agers are: Alice Bailey, Alvin Toffler, Dr. Barbara Ray, Benjamin Creme, Levi Dowling, George Trevelyan, Fritjof Capra, Abraham Maslow, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Ruth Montgomery, Shirley MacLaine, J.Z. Knight, Marilyn Ferguson, David Spangler, Jeremy Rifkin, Norman Cousins, Elizabeth Clare Prophet, John Denver, George Lucas, and Norman Lear.
Many New Agers attach great importance to artifacts, relics, and sacred objects, all of which can be profitably offered for sale: Tibetan bells, exotic herbal teas, Viking runes, solar energizers, colored candles for "chromotherapy," and a plethora of occult books, pamphlets, instructions, and tape recordings. Crystals are the favorite New Age object. These are not only thought to have mysterious healing powers, but are considered programmable, like a computer, if one just concentrates hard enough. Other New Age objects would include the rainbow; butterfly; pyramid; triangle; eye in triangle/pyramid; unicorn; Pegasus (winged-horse); swastika; yin-yang; goathead on pentagram; concentric circles; rays of light; crescent moon; etc.
New Age music is a term applied to the works of various composers and musicians who strive to create soothing audio environments rather than follow song structures. Born of an interest in spirituality and healing in the late 1970s, it is often used as an aid in meditation. The defining features of New Age music are harmonic consonance, contemplative melodies, nonlinear song forms, and uplifting themes. New Age performers may use traditional ethnic, acoustic, electric, or electronic instruments, or even sounds from nature. New Age music is meditative, almost invariably instrumental style with roots in Oriental, jazz, and classical music; often derivative, New Age compositions can sound like minimalist music or like lush evocations of the natural environment. Prominent New Age musicians include electronic-music pioneer Brian Eno, multi-instrumentalist Kitaro; solo-piano artist George Winston, vocalist Liz Story; harpist Andreas Vollenweider, and electric violinist Jean-Luc Ponty.
Athletes are using guided imagery. Graduate schools of business are invoking Zen, yoga, and tarot cards in teaching courses on creativity in business (e.g., Stanford Graduate School of Business). Stock market gurus employ Fibonacci numbers and "wave theory" in their forecasting, both based upon astrology. Even some churches teach that the best way to get to know God is to visualize Christ, ignoring that visualization is a powerful occult device. (Visualizing an entity, even God or Christ, ultimately puts one in touch with a masquerading demon.)
In summary, the term "New Age" is an informal term derived from astrology, which indicates that this earth, if not the cosmos, is on the verge of an evolutionary transition from the Piscean Age (rationality) to the Aquarian Age of spirituality, bliss, and harmony of all things. Even though it is undergoing a significant revival, the "New Age" is hardly new. In fact, it is very old. A better term would be the "Old Occult."
Keeping in mind that the myriads of New Age groups are quite eclectic, drawing from several religious traditions mentioned earlier, the following is a general description of the more prominent unifying themes of the NAM. i.e., the highlights of what New Agers believe concerning their source of authority, God, Christ, sin and salvation, good and evil, Satan, and future life:
1. Source of Authority. New Agers claim no external source of authority -- only an internal one ("the god within"). They believe the individual is the standard of truth, saying that "truth as an objective reality simply does not exist" (Shirley MacLaine, It's All in the Playing) (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21; Matt. 5:18). [HJB]
2. God. New Agers confuse the Creator with His creation and think that God is part of creation, not separate from it. They borrow from Eastern religions the belief in monism -- that "all is One" -- only one essence in the universe, everyone and everything being a part of that essence. Everything is a different form of that essence (energy, consciousness, power, love, force). But the belief in monism is really Hinduistic pantheism (all is God). New Agers view God as an impersonal life force, consciousness, or energy (M. Ferguson, Aquarian Conspiracy, p. 382; S. Gawain, Living In the Light, pp. 7-8) (e.g., the "Star Wars Force"), rather than a Person. They believe that every person and thing is "intertwined" with God (evolving spiritually to the state of "the Christ" being), and use Luke 17:21 ("the kingdom of God is within you") to support this idea (despite the fact that "within you" in this passage means "in your midst"). They claim every human has a divine spark within him because of being part of the divine essence. The state of God is called by various terms among different New Age groups, i.e., God-consciousness, Universal Love, Self-Realization, the I AM, Higher Self, Brahman, Nirvana, etc. New Agers are obviously part of a religion of idolatry and self-worship. [HJB]
3. Jesus Christ. A major idea in New Age thinking is that of the "Christ Consciousness." In other words, Christ is an office rather than an individual, such as Jesus, whom Christians know to be THE CHRIST. This idea of "Christ Consciousness" asserts that Jesus was not the only Christ, but that He equipped Himself to receive the "Christ Consciousness" (i.e., He was a great "spiritual master" who attained Christ Consciousness), as supposedly also did Buddha, Krishna, and Mohammed. [This is an old occult Gnostic teaching which stems from the ancient Babylonian mystery religions. New Agers also reinvent the historical Jesus by claiming that he spent 18 years in India (during His "silent years") absorbing Hinduism and the teachings of Buddha.] New Agers believe that Jesus received the Christ Consciousness at His baptism, and that it left Him at His crucifixion.
4. Sin and Salvation. There is no place for the concept of sin in the New Age. There can be no sin because there is no transcendent God to rebel against. There are no rules or absolute moral imperatives. New Agers have a "New Thought" view of sin, which knows nothing of a representative man (Adam) by whose sin all men sinned. Nor does New Thought teach that there is any original sin, but that man's true essence is divine and perfect. Indeed, it finds nothing which is of the nature of sin. Instead, it speaks of "troublesome desires" which appear to be natural human impulses which direct men from consciousness to their identity with God, and, therefore, are troublesome but hardly sinful. Since New Agers believe that each person is god, thereby having endless potential for self-improvement, sin is denied as the Bible defines it (man being inherently sinful and utterly depraved -- Rom. 5:12). Sin is merely ignorance of one's "inner divinity." Because sin does no exist, there is no need for repentance or forgiveness, and Jesus did not die for our sins. They think that any perceived lack that man might have is merely a lack of enlightenment, thereby eliminating the need of salvation or a Savior. [In fact, salvation is not even an issue for New Agers. The soul is part of the universe and never dies. It is reborn or reincarnated in different physical bodies in a succession of future lives. The good or bad "karma" earned in the present lifetime determines one's subsequent incarnation. Humans should seek to progress to higher states of consciousness and higher planes of existence. There are many different paths to the goal of spiritual perfection. No one path is the only correct path. The assumed cycle of reincarnation and karma presupposes a salvation by works, contrary to the principle of salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8-9).]
5. Man's Destiny. The salvation of the world depends upon human beings. When enough people harmonize their positive energy and turn their thoughts to peace, the world will be cleansed or negative elements and New Age ideals will be realized in an era of spiritual enlightenment. Since man is intrinsically divine and perfect, his only real problem is ignorance of that fact. Man has a perception of finiteness which is, in reality, an illusion (Ken Keyes, Jr., Handbook to Higher Consciousness, pp. 125-29). Salvation in the New Age is for man to become enlightened through experiential knowledge (gnosis). New Age groups offer various occultic techniques to enable individuals, and ultimately the world, to evolve into this oneness (unitive) consciousness (James Redfield, The Celestine Prophecy: An Experimental Guide, pp. 243-60). These techniques may include altered states of consciousness (often transcendental meditation), yoga, crystals, channeling (spirit guides), psychics, past-life therapy, acupuncture, etc.
6. Good and Evil. Mimicking the Eastern religions, New Agers distort the distinction between good and evil. They believe that because "all is One," ultimately there is neither good nor evil. They think that a person can transcend his consciousness and go beyond the bounds of moral distinctions, so that even murder sometimes becomes an acceptable way of serving one's gods (e.g., Charles Manson). [HJB]
7. Satan. The traditional view of Lucifer as the devil or Satan is clearly absent in New Age literature. Rather, he is described as a mighty being of light and the "Ruler of Humanity," as Alice Bailey, foundational apostle and leading writer of the New Age Movement, puts it. As to the history and achievements of Lucifer, Benjamin Creme, a leading lecturer and proponent of the New Age, says, "Lucifer came from the planet Venus 18.5 million years ago; he's the director of our planetary evolution, he is the sacrificial lamb, and the prodigal son. Lucifer made an incredible sacrifice, a supreme sacrifice for our planet."
8. Future Life (Reincarnation). New Agers believe in the ancient [Hindu] Eastern religious concept of reincarnation -- that through a long process of rebirths, man can eventually reach spiritual perfection (cf. Heb. 9:27). New Agers often place animal rights above human rights, because many New Agers believe animals are reincarnated souls. They also teach the Hindu principle of "karma" -- that what a person sows in this life, he will reap in the next life in his reincarnated state. This belief in reincarnation has led to believing in the power of "spirit guides" or "channels" -- those who allow spirits from another dimension to speak through their bodies. [HJB] These entities always seem to repeat the three-fold error: (1) There is no death, (2) man is god, (3) knowledge of self is salvation and power (Brooks Alexander, Spiritual Counterfeits Project). New Agers misrepresent church history, the doctrines of Christianity, and often twist Scripture to support the idea that original Christianity taught reincarnation. They wrongly argue that the early church suppressed the doctrine and censored its teaching (Kenneth Ring, Heading Toward Omega, p. 158).
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Endnotes
"Old Occult" -- The New Age Movement is a modern revival of very ancient, divergent, religious traditions and practices. The actual original root is squarely centered in Genesis 3:1-5, and reverberates throughout the movement's continued historical expressions. In the original lie, Satan questions God's word, His authority and benevolent rule (v. 1), disputes that death results from disobedience (v. 4), and claims that through the acquisition of secret or Gnostic wisdom man can be enlightened and can be "like God" (v. 5).
Many of the occult practices and beliefs revived by the modern NAM were a part of very early pagan cultures. Many practices common to the NAM, such as witchcraft/sorcery, spiritism, divination, (clairvoyance; seeing the future), necromancy (consulting the dead), and astrology, are clearly and strongly condemned in Scripture (Deuteronomy 18: 9-17; Isaiah 47: 9-15). These and other occultic practices were spread through the ancient magic and mystery religions of the Chaldeans, Egyptians, and most notably, the Assyrian-Babylonian culture (Ancient Empires of the New Age, pp. 15-62). Noting the scope of its continuing presence, the Bible informs Christians of Babylon's eschatological implications. The lie of Genesis 3 is significantly developed in Babylon (Isaiah 47) and continues to its ultimate state of development, revealed as Satan's one-world system at the end of the age (Revelation 17-18).
Three major world religions whose beliefs and practices are entwined with the NAM are Hinduism, a product of 5,000 years of development, Buddhism, circa 560 B.C., and Taoism, circa 500 B.C. (Eerdman's Handbook to the World's Religions, pp. 170, 221, 252). Another prominent occultic influence in Europe was Druidism, the religion of the Celts, which extended from 300 B.C. into the middle ages (Ibid., pp. 114-19). [Return to Text]
Reincarnation -- Christians should be able to demonstrate that the Bible does NOT teach reincarnation. When Jesus calls John the Baptist "Elijah," He is clearly speaking metaphorically. Luke 1:17 demonstrates that John was filling the office of Elijah, fulfilling the prophecy of Malachi 4:5-6. In fact, Elijah was seen with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17:1-3. The meaning of the resurrection is the opposite of reincarnation (Hebrews 9:27; 1 Cor. 15:12-28). Point out that if God is an impersonal force, then love and forgiveness are not possible. These are personal attributes as opposed to impersonal karmic law. Fundamentally, intercessory prayer is absolutely necessary. The battle for the souls of men is won through God's grace, intervening and drawing them to Himself. [Return to Text]
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* Unless otherwise cited, five primary sources were used for this report: (1) Grolier's 1995 Multimedia Encyclopedia, (2) Funk & Wagnall's Encyclopedia, and (3) What They Believe, Harold J. Berry [HJB], BTTB:1990, pp. 117-138; (4) "The New Age Movement," Craig Branch (Watchman Fellowship Profile, 1996); and (5) Examining & Exposing Cultic & Occultic Movements, Jack Sin, "The New Age Movement," April 2000, pp. 51-62.
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A Brief Dictionary of New Age Terminology
(Unless otherwise cited, adapted and/or excerpted from David L. Brown, Th.M. -- Investigative Researcher with Logos Communication; and from "The Vocabulary of the 'New Agers,'" Sept/Oct 2001, The Perilous Times.)
The average Christian has little idea what the concepts and ideals of the New Age really are. Then when they encounter New Age vocabulary, confusion really sets in. New Agers often play semantic word games, using the same words Christians do, yet the definitions used bear no resemblance to the Christian definitions. This brief dictionary is designed to help you understand New Age terminology as they define their terms. -- David L. Brown
Age of Aquarius -- Astrologers believe that evolution goes through cycles corresponding to the signs of the zodiac, each lasting from 2,000 to 2,400 years. New Age advocates say we are now moving from the cycle associated with Pisces into the one associated with Aquarius. The Aquarian Age will supposedly be characterized by a heightened degree of spiritual or cosmic consciousness.
Agent -- A person sending a telepathic message.
Akashic Record -- Imperishable records of every person's every word, thought, or act [allegedly from "outer space"] inscribed in the earth or spirit realms, allegedly from "outer space" (known as "ether").
Alpha -- The physical body.
Angstrom -- a ten-billionth of a "meter." This is connected with "wave lengths."
Animism -- The belief that inanimate things (such as plants) possess a soul or spirit. New Age advocates see animism as a way of rededicating the earth.
Anthroposophy -- An esoteric cult founded by German mystic Rudolf Steiner. The term literally means "wisdom of man." It teaches that we possess the truth within ourselves. The system of thought is occultic and spiritistic.
Ascended Masters -- Refers to those who have supposedly reached the highest level of spiritual consciousness and have become guides of the spiritual evolution of mankind.
Ascension of Christ -- This is reinterpreted in a mystical way to refer to the rise of the "Christ-consciousness" in mankind. It describes the awareness that man is divine.
Astral -- The word is from "star" (as in "ASTROnaut" and "ASTROnomy"). Here, it refers to an "after-death, out-of-the-body" experience. In Humanism, demonism, Satanism, and Theosophy, the extended umbilical cord holds the "astral" and the "physical" together. The experience is an "astral flight." Literally: "STAR FLIGHT," known on TV as "Star Trek."
Astral Body -- A spiritual body capable of projection from the physical body. The astral body survives death.
Astral Flight -- Soul travel occurring particularly during sleep or deep meditation.
Attunement -- A New Age counterpart to prayer. Also referred to as at-one-ment, the term relates primarily to the New Age idea that complete oneness with God can be experienced by human beings. One attains a hypnotic consciousness of an amoral, neuter "state of being" through meditation: Krishna consciousness, Nirvana, Prajna, Samadhi, etc. Various consciousness techniques are used to cause this "oneness": meditation; guided imagery; yoga; hypnosis; chanting of a mantra; ecstatic dancing; channeling of spirit guides; New Age music; and positive thinking or Alpha Mind techniques.
Aura -- Radiated glow or halo surrounding living beings.
Automatic Writing -- Writing produced without conscious thought of a living person; written message given through a spirit guide with a pencil or typewriter.
Avatar -- A person who "descends" into human form from above as a manifestation of divinity and who reveals divine truth to people. Such a one has supposedly progressed beyond the need to be reincarnated in another body (i.e., there is no further "bad karma" to work off).
Bhagavad Gita -- Hindu sacred scripture.
Biofeedback -- A technique in which brain waves are monitored to bring normally unconscious, involuntary bodily functions under conscious, voluntary control. Biofeedback can lead to altered states of consciousness and mystical experiences.
Blood of Christ -- This is understood by some New Agers to refer to the "life-energy" of the Cosmic Christ. This "blood" supposedly flowed from the cross into the etheric (or spiritual) realms of the earth. From these realms, the Christ seeks to guide the spiritual evolution of mankind.
Bodhisattva -- A being who has supposedly earned the right to enter into Nirvana or into illumination, but instead voluntarily turns back from that state in order to aid humanity in attaining the same goal. The "Christ" is said to be a Bodhisattva.
Buddha -- "The Enlightened One." An avatar or messenger.
Chakras -- The seven "energy points" on the body. Yoga is practiced through the Chakras; the "crown" Chakra is, naturally, on top of the skull.
Channeling -- A New Age form of mediumship or spiritism. The channeled yields control of his/her perceptual and cognitive capacities to a spiritual entity with the intent of receiving paranormal information.
Chela -- A "Guru's" pupil.
Chinook Learning Community -- A New Age educational community located in the Pacific Northwest. This group sponsors both long and short-term educational programs on personal and social transformation, New Age spirituality, and how to live with an ecological perspective.
Clairaudience -- Ability to hear mentally without using the ears.
Clairvoyance -- Ability to see mentally without using the eyes, beyond ordinary time and space limits; also called "Second Sight."
Consciousness Revolution -- New Age advocates call for a "consciousness revolution," a new way of looking at and experiencing life. The primary focus of the new consciousness is oneness with God, all mankind, the earth, and with the entire universe.
Control -- The Spirit that sends messages through a medium in trance.
Cosmic Christ -- In esoteric schools of thought, the Christ is considered to be a universal spirit or a cosmic force. The primary goal of this impersonal spirit or force is to guide the spiritual evolution of mankind.
Cosmic Consciousness -- A spiritual and mystical perception that all in the universe is "one." To attain cosmic consciousness is to see the universe as God and God as the universe.
Cosmic Humanism -- In contrast to normative humanism that sees man as the measure of all things, cosmic humanism sees man as having virtually unlimited potential because of his inner divinity.
Crystals -- New Age advocates believe that crystals contain incredible healing and energizing powers. Crystals are often touted as being able to restore the "how of energy" in the human body.
Deja Vu -- A French expression, meaning to relive life over again after another "incarnation." Transmigration of souls is also connected with this. The feeling of having already experienced an event or place that is being encountered for the very first time.
Discarnate -- The soul or personality of a living creature who has died.
Dowser -- A sensitive who uses a forked stick that points to hidden water, oil, buried money, lost articles, or people.
Earth Logos -- Some New Age advocates believe that the Earth Logos is a great spiritual being who is the ensouling life of planet earth. The earth is considered a physical manifestation (or body) of this spiritual intelligence. This pagan religion is called "Animism."
Ectoplasm -- A white filmy substance pouring from a medium's bodily openings, supposedly denoting the presence of a disembodied spirit.
Esalen Institute -- A "growth center" that offers a wide variety of workshops for mind, body, and spirit. It is located in Big Sur, California.
Esoteric -- A word used to describe knowledge that is possessed or understood only by a few.
Esoteric Christianity -- A mystical form of professing Christianity that sees its "core truth" as identical to the "core truth" of every other religion (i.e., man is divine). This form of Christianity is at home with Aldous Huxley's "perennial philosophy." (See: Perennial Philosophy.)
ESP -- Extrasensory perception encompassing paranormal abilities such as telepathy, precognition, and clairvoyance.
ESP Cards -- A pack of twenty-five cards bearing five symbols, including stars, squares, circles, crosses, and waves.
Exoteric Christianity -- A form of Christianity identified with historic or orthodox Christianity that New Agers would describe as being devoid of all spiritual authenticity.
Fall of Man -- Refers to the fall of man's consciousness. A fallen consciousness is one that recognizes the existence of only the material realm. The Christ is believed to have "redeemed" man in the sense that He enabled man to perceive the spiritual world behind the material world.
Findhorn Community -- A legendary New Age community located in the North of Scotland. This group offers an ongoing educational program in the principles of New Age spirituality.
Gaia -- A Greek name for the goddess of the earth. It also refers to a scientific hypothesis formulated by James Lovelock whereby all living matter on the earth is believed to be a single living organism. In such a scheme, humanity is considered the nervous system of the living earth.
Globalism -- A modern-day term referring to the need for a transformation from the present nation-state divisions into a one-world community.
Gnosticism -- A tradition going back to the second century which holds that salvation comes through intuitive "gnosis" or knowledge of one's supposed divinity.
God -- A being who has "many faces." He (it) is considered a radically immanent being who is often referred to as a "universal consciousness," "universal life," or "universal energy." The New Age god is more or less an impersonal force that pervades the universe.
Graphology -- Character analysis and foretelling based on handwriting.
Great Invocation -- A New Age prayer that has been translated into over eighty languages. The purpose of this prayer is to invoke the presence of the Cosmic Christ on earth, thus leading to the oneness and brotherhood of all mankind.
Group Guru -- A slang New Age term referring to the idea that the Cosmic Christ is incarnate in all of humanity. All mankind is seen as a single "guru."
Guru -- Teacher or master (sometimes "Gura."). The opposite of "Chela." The Guru is the Buddhist "Master." The "Chela" is his pupil.
Harmonic Convergence -- The assembly of New Age meditators gathered at the same propitious astrological time in different locations to usher in peace on earth and one-world government.
Holism -- The theory that all reality is organically one. Everything in the universe is viewed as interrelated and interdependent. It is the basis of Hinduism and Buddhism, now taught in all colleges and universities in America that followed Einstein's "theory of relativity." It is called "Yin and Yang" in Chinese and will be found on the national flag of Korea, as a symbol.
Holistic Health -- Holistic health sees the body as an inter-related organism. Its goal is to treat the whole person (body, mind, and spirit) as opposed to merely treating a particular sickness.
Hologram -- A three-dimensional projection resulting from the interaction of laser beams. Scientists have discovered that the image of an entire hologram can be reproduced from any one of its many component parts. New Agers use this to illustrate the oneness of all reality.
Homeopathy -- A system of medicine rooted in occult ideas that was developed by Samuel Hahnemann. It claims to manipulate the "vital force" of the human body by transferring the power of homeopathic medicines that have been potentized by a process of dilutions and succession (vigorous shaking with impact).
Human Potential Movement -- A movement with roots in humanistic psychology that stresses man's essential goodness and unlimited potential.
I Ching -- A Chinese textbook, used in Red China, showing how to "divine" (a counterfeit way to tell the future) by throwing sticks into six-sided figures as in "666" (cf. Rev. 13).
Initiation -- This occult term is generally used in reference to the expansion or transformation of a person's consciousness. An "initiate" is one whose consciousness has been transformed so that he now perceives inner realities. There are varying "degrees" of initiation (i.e., "first degree initiates," "second-degree initiates," etc.).
Inner Self or Higher Self -- Refers to the inner divine nature possessed by human beings. All people are said to possess an inner self, though not all are aware of it.
Interdependence or Interconnectedness -- These words are used by New Agers to describe the oneness and essential unity of everything in the universe. All of reality is viewed as interdependent and interconnected.
Jesus -- An avatar who attained a high level of attunement to the Cosmic Christ. This enabled him to become a bodily vehicle for the Christ for a period of three years. (See: Avatar)
Kabala (Cabbala, Qaballah) -- Hebrew mystery lore based on mystical interpretation of the Bible; magical, occult practices stemming largely from the Middle Ages.
Karma -- Refers to the "debt" accumulated against a soul as a result of good or bad actions committed during one's life (or lives). If one accumulates good karma, he will supposedly be reincarnated in a desirable state. If one accumulates bad karma, he will be reincarnated in a less desirable state.
Kirlian -- The source of energy in people; it is supposed to be lying at the base of the spine, slightly lower than the navel; it lies "coiled" there, as a serpent (cf. Isa. 27:1; Rev. 12:1-6; Gen. 3:1).
Kirlian Photography -- A photographic process that measures living auras.
Kundalini -- The elemental energy of the human body which, like a serpent, rests coiled at the base of the spine.
Levitation -- Raising of objects or people off the ground without using physical energy.
Lucis Trust -- Originally incorporated as the Lucifer Publishing Company, the Lucis Trust oversees the Lucis Publishing Company, World Goodwill, and Arcane School. Lucis Trust owns all the copyrights of the Alice Bailey books.
Magic Circle Ring -- Drawn by occultists to protect them from the spirits and demons they call up by incantations and rituals.
Maitreya -- The name has its roots in a legendary Buddha figure. Some New Age advocates believe that the "second coming of Christ" occurred in 1977 in the person of Maitreya.
Mandala -- A design, usually concentric, that focuses attention to a single point.
Mantra -- A word or phrase that is to be chanted repetitively in an effort to empty the mind and attain "cosmic consciousness" (oneness with God and the universe).
Mass Incarnation -- An incarnation of the Christ in all of humanity. New Age advocates say that this incarnation is presently taking place on a planetary scale, and is not unlike the incarnation of the Cosmic Christ in the body of Jesus 2,000 years ago.
Medium -- A psychic or sensitive living person whose body is used as a vehicle for communicating with spirits.
Metaphysics -- The science of the supernatural, although the word used in Philosophy (1600-1900, along with Axiology and Epistemology) never meant that at all. Metaphysics was the study of Causality, Cosmology, the nature of the Universe, etc. Literally, it deals with the problem of "What is real?" In the New Age, where lunacy is the "norm," it deals with "Om," "Rome," and "Mahabone": three magic words used in Oriental religions, the Catholic religion, and in Masonry. (OM symbolizes "Brahma.")
Monism -- A metaphysical theory that sees all of reality as a unified whole. Everything in the universe is seen as being made of the same stuff.
Network -- An informal, decentralized organization created by like-minded individuals who are interested in addressing specific problems and offering possible solutions. All of this takes place outside of conventional institutions.
New Age Movement -- A loose organization of people, many of them "Yuppies," who believe the world has entered the Aquarian Age when peace on earth and one-world government will rule. They see themselves as advanced in consciousness, rejecting Judeo-Christian values and the Bible in favor of Oriental philosophies and religion. Among them may be found environmentalists, nuclear-freeze proponents, Marxist-socialist utopians, mind-control advocates, ESP cultists, spiritists, witchcraft practitioners, and others using magical rites.
Nirvana -- Liberation from earthly things; paradise.
Numerology -- The analysis of hidden or prophetic meanings of numbers.
Occultism -- Belief in supernatural forces and beings. Available only to the initiate; secret.
Om -- A word symbolizing Brahma, the Creator God.
One Worlders -- Those who advocate the abolition of nations, working to hand over power to a single-world government similar in structure to the present United Nations; off-shoots of the United World Federalists founded in the 1930s.
Ouiji Board -- Game board containing all the letters of the alphabet plus numbers from 0 to 9 and "Yes/No." A sliding pointer (planchette) spells out words in answer to questions asked by players.
Out-of-Body Experience -- Leaving the physical body while at rest, asleep, near death, or temporarily dead.
Pantheism -- Doctrine that identifies God with the whole universe, every particle, tree, table, animal, and person being part of Him.
Paradigm Shift -- Refers to a shift in world views. The so-called "new paradigm" (new model or form) is pantheistic (all is God) and monistic (all is one). Practically, it means that toleration of sin becomes progress, while virtue, morality, and purity become defects. In addition, lunacy becomes normal behavior while common sense becomes a "hindrance to change."
Paranormal -- Beyond or above normal human powers or senses.
Parapsychology -- Study of psychic phenomena using scientific methods.
Pendulum -- Heavy object on a string, used for dowsing or fortune telling.
Pentagram -- Five-pointed star used in magical ceremonies. While sometimes used by Satanists, it is not strictly a Satanic symbol. (Also, Satanists use the Pentagram only in its inverted orientation, while other occultists use it almost exclusively in the upright orientation.)
Percipient -- Person who receives telepathic messages.
Perennial Philosophy -- A term made popular by Aldous Huxley (coined by Liebniz) that sees all religious truth or experience as one and the same. This philosophy proposes that even though the externals of the various religions may differ, the essence or core truth is the same in each.
Plan, The -- A phrase that occurs often in the writings of Alice Bailey. It refers to specific preparations in the world for a New Age and a New Age Christ. These preparations are carried out by the "Masters of the Hierarchy," a group of exalted beings who supposedly guide the spiritual evolution of people on earth. Though this teaching of the Plan does actually exist, the term has been sensationalized by some "Christian" writers. These writers have mistakenly hypothesized that New Agers are completely unified in a "behind-the-scenes manipulation" of world events in order to conquer the world for its true god, Lucifer.
Planetary Citizens -- A New Age activist group committed to engendering a "planetary consciousness" among both New Agers and the general public.
Planetization -- New Age advocates believe that the various threats facing the human race require a global solution. This solution is "planetization." The word refers to the unifying of the world into a corporate brotherhood.
Poltergeist -- German word for a noisy, mischievous, destructive spirit (a demon).
Precognition -- Advance knowledge of future events.
PSI -- Term used in place of psychic or paraphysical; ESP.
Psychic Birth -- A quickening of spiritual or cosmic consciousness and power. This new consciousness is one that recognizes oneness with God and the universe. Psychic birth is an occult counterpart to the Christian new birth.
Psychic Energy -- Extrasensory energy that enables people to do miracles.
Psychic Healer -- A person who cures mental or physical illness from the cosmic energy emanating through the healer's hands.
Psychoanalysis -- Tracing mental and physical ills back to hurtful childhood experiences; based on Sigmund Freud's theories.
Psychometry -- Reading information from an object about events involving the person who owns it, usually by handling it.
Psychotechnologies -- Refers to the various approaches or systems aimed at deliberately altering one's consciousness.
Reincarnation -- Refers to the cyclical evolution of a person's soul as it repeatedly passes from one body to another at death. This process continues until the soul reaches a state of perfection.
Retrocognition -- Knowledge of past events learned paranormally.
Right Brain Learning -- The right hemisphere of the brain is believed to be the center of intuitive and creative thought (as opposed to the rational nature of the left hemisphere). New Agers have seized on this as a justification to bring "right brain learning techniques" into the classroom. These techniques include meditation, yoga, and guided imagery.
Rolfing -- Seeks to relieve energy blockages in the body by applying deep pressure or massage.
Séance -- A gathering of people seeking communication with deceased loved ones or famous historical figures through a medium.
Second Coming of Christ -- Understood by some as the coming of the Cosmic Christ in all of humanity, related to the New Age concept of the "mass incarnation." The Second Coming is supposedly now occurring in the hearts and minds of people all over the earth. Others associate it specifically with the appearance of Maitreya as the avatar of the coming age.
Self-realization -- New Agers use this as a synonym for God-realization. It refers to a personal recognition of one's divinity.
Sensitive -- A person who frequently demonstrates extrasensory gifts such as clairvoyance, telepathy, or precognition.
Shaman -- A medicine man/woman or witchdoctor, who uses hypnotism, charms, drugs, chants (mantras), "Chi" energy, etc., to open his victims to demon possession and controlled responses.
Solar Logos -- Believed by some to be a mighty spiritual being who is the ensouling life of the solar system. The material solar system is simply a physical manifestation (or body) of this living intelligence.
Spirit Control -- A disembodied spirit who relays messages from dead people to the living through a trance medium.
Spirit Guide -- A spiritual entity who provides information of "guidance," often through a medium or channeled. The spirit provides guidance only after the channeled relinquishes his perceptual and cognitive capacities into its control.
Spiritual Hierarchy of Masters -- New Age advocates believe these spiritual "masters" are highly evolved men who, having already perfected themselves, are now guiding the rest of humanity to this same end.
Spiritualist or Spiritist -- Person who believes in the ability to contact departed souls through a medium.
Subject -- Person used for experiments in ESP studies.
Sufism -- Persian mystical religion based on Islam.
Syncretism -- The attempt to combine or unify differing religious systems. New Age gurus often claim that all the world religions teach the same core truth: all people possess an inner divinity.
Synergy -- A principle which states that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Tantra -- A word invented to describe the Hindu and Buddhist "scriptures" (which are actually called Sutras and Vedas) which show people "shortcuts" to getting Prajna ("enlightenment").
Taoism -- A Chinese religion and philosophy that sees the universe as engaged in ceaseless motion and activity. All is considered to be in continual flux. The universe is intrinsically dynamic. This continual cosmic process is called the "Tao" by the Chinese. (The process is described in terms of Yin and Yang -- see: Yin/Yang). Tao is that which is formless, yet the mother of all forms, and that which is timeless, yet prior to all manifestations, and that which does nothing, yet leaves nothing undone. The most outrageous Taoist doctrine for Bible believers would be Lao Tzu's adage "Forget right and wrong, and it will be better for everyone."
Tarot Cards -- Deck of seventy-eight cards that supposedly reveal the secrets of man and the universe.
Telekinesis -- The ability to move physical objects by force of will or mental energy alone; also called psychokinesis.
Telepathy -- Communication between minds by extrasensory means.
Tetragram -- A magic diagram shaped as a four-pointed star.
Theosophy -- A school of thought founded by Helena P. Blavatsky. The term literally means "divine wisdom." The goals of Theosophy are to (1) form a universal brotherhood; (2) do comparative study of world religions, science, and philosophy; and (3) investigate the psychic and spiritual powers latent in man. Theosophy is the forerunner of much New Age thought.
Therapeutic Touch -- A "therapy" in which the practitioner "channels" the universal life energy for the patient and then helps the patient to assimilate this energy.
Third Eye -- An imaginary eye in the forehead believed to be the center of psychic vision.
Trance -- A mental state resembling sleep during which the conscious mind rests while the spirit entity takes over the medium's body.
Trance Channeler -- The newest term for "trance medium." (See: Medium.)
Transformation -- New Age advocates promote both personal and planetary transformation. Personal transformation involves the changes wrought in one's life by increasing Self-realization. As more and more people are personally transformed, the planet too will be transformed into a global brotherhood.
Trumpet Medium -- A psychic or "sensitive" who brings forth "spirit voices" through a trumpet at séances.
UFO -- Unidentified flying object; flying saucer.
Unity-in-Diversity Council -- A New Age "meta-network" of over 100 networks and groups rallying for global cooperation and interdependence.
Veda -- The most ancient of the Hindu scriptures.
Visualization -- Also known as "guided imagery," visualization basically refers to "mind over matter." It involves the attempt to bring about change in the material realm by the power of the mind.
Warlock -- A wizard or sorcerer; a male witch. (Some male witches claim that "warlock" does not refer to a male witch at all, but merely means "oath-breaker.")
World Goodwill -- A New Age political lobby that aims to unfold "The Plan" as spelled out in the writings of Alice Bailey.
Yin/Yang -- Chinese names referring to the active and passive principles of the universe. Yin refers to the female or [inactive] negative force; Yang to the male or active force. These two polar forces continually interplay with each other. Briefly, it means that "good and evil" and "right and wrong" are actually the SAME; they simply appear as opposites. Get rid of all the Opposites (seen and unseen, hot and cold, up and down, back and forth, day and night, high and low, etc.), and you can attain perfection (Nirvana, Samadhi, Prajna, etc.).
Yoga -- A means of becoming united with the supreme being, or with the universal soul.
Yogi -- Someone who practices yoga.
Zodiac -- The band of twelve constellations along the plane of the ecliptic through which pass the sun, moon, and planets across the sky. Each constellation, or sign, is attributed symbolic significance and associations that affect various aspects of life on Earth.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~wichm/newage3.html
The New Age movement is hardly novel! Its philosophy is rooted in ancient traditions, often based on mystical experiences, each within a different context.
Anthropologically, there have always been (wo)men within "primitive" societies who were looked upon as possessing special knowledge and power. Medicine men, or shamans, had undergone a spontaneous catharsis, or were initiated and felt called upon to maintain contact with the spirit world for the clan.
When communities became more complex and organized there was little place for these loners. Society began to specialize, people realized and felt drawn to form groups, guilds, or societies, to ensure continuance and growing perfection. Contact with the spirit world was given into the hands of organized religion, which also provided an established answer to questions about the unknown and the Highest Power.
People who felt endowed with special powers could hardly adapt themselves to the corset of established faith. They went underground. Yet they endeavored to contact kindred spirits and pupils willing to follow in their footsteps to pass on the work.
Esoteric tradition became handed down in spiritual groups, communes, or fraternities. Their mutual devotion resulted in a high degree of perfection comparable to the guilds of craftsmen. In their mystical experiences they beheld a spiritual reality that could hardly be reconciled with the dogmatic representation given by the churches. When passing on their experiences, they had to exercise extreme caution, lest being accused of heresy. Yet knowledgeable minds would understand their veiled writings, symbolic representations, or even gestures.
In spite of all hindrances and opposition, hidden (occult) spiritual tradition reached unknown shores! One of them being Europe, where interest in ancient traditions was revived at various times.
Interest in these traditions alternated. After periods of decline, often as a result of cultural and political conditions, a growing need for revival of old almost forgotten values followed. The occult tradition seems so tremendously powerful that it cannot be suppressed. It develops in cycles of flourishing and decline - each renaissance with a fresh approach, adapted to the spirit of the times.
Renewed interest in these spiritual, religious and magical traditions had a tremendous impact on the minds of man. The latest revival in a popularized form is that of the New Age movement in the late sixties.
The following is a brief sketch of its origins, divided in the following chapters:
Grecian mysteries and philosophy
The Christian myth
Gnosticism
Jewish mysticism and the Kabbalah
Alchemy
The Renaissance
Freemasonry
The Rosicrucians
The age of Enlightenment
Mesmerism and the French Revolution
Part two:
The Oriental Renaissance
Spiritualism
Theosophy
Krishnamurti
The Fourth Way
New Age - a rediscovery
European traditions
Grecian mysteries and philosophy / Christianity
The 7th to 5th centuries B.C. are characterized by a remarkable global birth of religio-philosophical ways of thought of astounding profoundness: Lao-tse and Kung-Fu-tse (Confucius) in China, Buddha and Mahavira in India, Zarathustra in Persia, the prophets in Palestine and the philosophers of Greece. An attempt was undertaken by all these great sages to transcend the old myths and superstitions of their time and present an in-depth approach. An abstract, mystical way of seeing and experiencing reality was being paved.
Some of these wisdom traditions became embodied in Greek culture. Western European man learnt of their world of thought through contacts with the Middle East and in particular Latin translations of Greek philosophical works. The Greeks set them also on the trail of Egyptian culture and religion. Knowledge about this great civilisation came to the Occident indirectly however in its Greek version. Actual contact with Egypt did not exist.
The Greeks, in their syncretistic turn of mind, absorbed in their philosophy the essence of religious traditions that reached them from other cultures through trade or wars. Egyptian initiation rites, Thracian orphic mysteries and other ritual and cult practices were amongst the many that were adopted readily.
God Hermes Trismegistus(=thrice great) was considered by them to be identical with the ancient Egyptian God of wisdom Thoth. Modern research has shown, however, that the Egyptian magical and mystical works attributed to Hermes were written in the second and third centuries A.D. These ideas became known as the Hermetic philosophy. Its most important work is the Corpus Hermeticum, a compilation of fifteen texts on astrology, alchemy, theosophy and theurgy.
The Christian myth
Of the mystery school traditions Christianity had the most impact on the West. The originally pure Jewish sect would have gone into oblivion after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and most of its inhabitants in 70 AD were it not that it had struck root in adapted form in Jewish and Gentile communities in diaspora.
On the basis of the few documents that have survived from later centuries scholars take it that a myth struck root around the Jewish wisdom teacher Joshua (in Greek Jesus). The Christianity that became of it had absorbed popular pagan religious beliefs.The qualities attributed to Jesus are a reflection of those of the gods revered at the time. Godman Osiris-Dionysus for instance, was considered a Son of God and was born to a virgin on the 25th of December before three shepherds.
Gnosticism
Gnosticism originated in Egypt. The neo-platonic Gnostic school of Alexandria became its centre in the first century A.D. From it sprung Christian, Gentile and Jewish gnosticism. The latter survived in the Jewish Kabbalah.
The various Gnostic sects played an important part in early Christianity and the formation of the gospels. Their influence and tradition were suppressed when the Jesus myth had struck root. Faith became fused with the ruling power when emperor Constantine made Christianity a state religion in the 4th century A.D. and placed himself virtually at its head.
Gnosticism remained a source of inspiration, however, for the few who knew of its ideas, which were kept secret. At the centre was the belief that the seen and unseen world is the manifestation of the One Divine Being. Gnostic texts concern the fall of man from the divine to the material world. The spark of divine light imprisoned in man is to be set free so that it may return to the Kingdom of God. Gnosis, intuitive knowledge, is said to rank over analytical knowledge. It was to be obtained by various initiations. Use of hallucinogens may have played a part in obtaining mystical experiences.
Gnosticism influenced many heretical West-European sects, such as the Kathars in the Middle Ages, who were fiercely persecuted, and mystics as Jacob Boehme (1575-1624).
In the eighth and ninth centuries A.D. Baghdad had become the great intellectual centre of Arabic studies. Scientific and philosophical books were disseminated through the Moorish emirate of Cordoba, Spain. The universities of Granada and Saragossa made translations available of the great Greek classical works from Arabic into Latin.
Jewish mysticism and the Kabbalah
Another tradition that reached the Occident was that of Jewish mysticism. Their esoteric doctrine the 'Kabbalah' (meaning: tradition) appeared in Jewish mystic circles in Spain and Southern France in the 12th century. Its oldest part, the Sefer Jetsira, was written between the third and sixth century.
According to this belief God gave a second revelation to Moses together with the Law. It explained the secret meaning of the Law. This revelation is said to have been passed on down the ages by initiates. Kabbalistic studies in the Hebrew scriptures developed in a theosophical mystique and sometimes in a sort of unintended religious magic.
Shortly before the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 Pico della Mirandola in Florence conceived a Christian version of the Kabbalah. He associated the Kabbalistic truths with those of Greek Hermeticism. Thus an amalgamy was introduced between the tradition attributed to the Greek Hermes Trismegistus and Jewish mysticism purportedly descending from Moses.
Alchemy
The name 'alchemy' is derived from the Arabic el-kimya, Khem being the name for Egypt where it was practised even before the Christian era. It blended with the magic and mysticism of the legendary Greek Hermes Trismegistos which became known as the Hermetic philosophy.
In the fourth century A.D. alchemy evolved to its historical form. Its tradition reached Europe through Muslim alchemists in Spain in the twelfth century.
Mediaeval Alchemy contained Gnostic elements. In its popularized form it is considered the art of mutation of metals. Yet, it went deeper than that. It issued from the assumption that matter is alive and may grow. With the right rituals matter could be influenced to transmute into higher forms.
Under the cover of semi-scientific experiments its practitioners followed a secret tradition. Thus, in its mystical sense alchemy was not a search for the philosopher's stone, the transmutation of metals into gold. Its deeper aspect was the search for purification of the soul, the mystical transmutation of the mind necessary for obtaining direct divine knowledge.
There were genuine and false alchemists in medieval times. Amongst them were noblemen and common people, clergymen and laymen, Jews and Christians, scientists and simple artisans, philosophers and illiterates, doctors and magiciens, in short from all classes of society. They wandered through Europe from one place to another. They felt themselves cosmopolitans and as such held close relationships with one another. They had their secret societies, with signs and passwords. It was an oral tradition principally, from ear to ear - mouth to mouth. All that was written down was disguised in order to give the impression that it concerned chemical experiments only.
In spite of their being persecuted more and more they kept practising their art secretly. Nevertheless their ideas had an indirect influence on society.
Paracelsus
One of the leading exponents of alchemy became the Swiss Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, called Paracelsus (1493-1541). Isaac Newton, at the risk of ending his life at the stake, conducted the greater part of his life alchemical experiments.
The Renaissance
The Renaissance movement of the 15th and 16th centuries was born out of a disenchantment with the Mediaeval philosophical and theological way of thinking. A return to the source of knowledge of the distant past was being advocated.
Although the Renaissance movement is usually known for its influence on art and literature, in recent years it is realized that it was also accompanied by a renewed interest in the study of old occult Neoplatonic and Hermetic traditions.
Around 1450 a Platonic Academy was founded in Florence. In 1471 a Latin translation of the recently rediscovered Greek Corpus Hermeticum (see above) appeared. The translation aroused renewed interest in the Hermetic philosophy of the Greeks and went through many editions
Illustration from "Theosophica Practica" by 17th century mystic Johann Georg Gichtel, showing seven chakras
The magical mystery religion of ancient Egypt, being the oldest civilisation one had any knowledge of, exercised a great fascination over the Renaissance men. The mysterious hieroglyphs were considered to be symbols of hidden knowledge revealed by God to men that could not be passed on in words. Symbols and gestures became means of conveying truths and values. The cosmos was seen as an organic unity. It was peopled by a hierarchy of spirits which exercised all kinds of influences and sympathies. The practice of magic became a holy quest, a search for knowledge, not through the intellect, but by revelation to the pure in mind.
Freemasonry
The influence of the fresh interest in wisdom traditions in the wake of the Italian Renaissance movement also found its expression in Freemasonry, which became organised in lodges around 1600 in Scotland.
Modern Freemasonry springs from the Medieval stonemasons who wandered from one town to the other looking for assignments to build a church, or even a cathedral, which required enormous skill, intellectual and organizational talents. Guilds were set up in order to guard the secrets of their craft.
The prestige of the architects, whose edifices were an object of great admiration, was high. Being a member of the guild was considered a privelege and had to be earned. Members recognized each other not only by passwords, but also by their devotion and philosophy which was laid down in the so called Old Charges. The earliest version of this credo of the Freemasons, dates back to 1400. Later versions circulated in the 16th century.
The Old Charges embody the Hermetic quest for the lost wisdom of the ancients. The Freemasons placed emphasis on morality and the study of geometry.
Ancient Egyptian knowledge and the masters behind the great architectural design of the lost Temple of biblical king Solomon were in high esteem and a source of inspiration for the development of masonic creativity. Master mason Hiram of this temple, murdered because he would not reveal masonic secrets, was a source of inspiration.
Masons felt also akin to the revered building guilds of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The amazing architectural skill of the ancient builders was attributed to supernatural powers. With great devotion their treatises on geometry and mathematics were being studied when they became available.
These craftsmen belonged to the "operative" side of Freemasonry. Later members of the upper classes were admitted as well to Masonic lodges. Their pursuit of occult and spiritual sciences, may have been responsible for the development of a "speculative" side.
The aspiration of Freemasons for more freedom of thought, political and religious reform, made it paramount that the activities were conducted in utmost secrecy. Eventually the "operative" elements would disappear.
In Scotland William Schaw (1550 - 1602) is considered to be the brain behind the re-organisation of the mason guild. In Great Britain Elias Ahmole (1617-1692) was the forerunner. In the diary of this astrologer is a record of his initiation in 1646 into Freemasonry, which already counted many members then, none of them being stonemason by profession by that time.
The Rosicrucians
Associated with these traditions is the Rosicrucian movement which appeared in the seventeenth century. They should not be mistaken for the modern Rosicrucian groups, which have no direct connection with the ancient movement.
At the basis of their emergence is the publication in 1614 of a pamphlet, named Fama (see image) (of the Fraternity of the Meritorious Order of the Rosy Cross) addressed to the learned in general and the governors of Europe. Its author is presumably Johann Valentin Andraea (1586-1654), a young German Lutheran pastor. It purported to be a message from certain adepts concerned for the condition of mankind. In truth it is thought that its source was a brotherhood of disappointed Lutherans who were not satisfied with the results of hundred years of Reformation.
In the Fama it was proposed that all learned men throughout the world should join forces towards the establishment of a synthesis of science. Behind this effort stood allegedly an illuminated brotherhood - the children of light, who had been initiated in the mysteries of the Grand Order. This "Brüderschaft der Theosophen" was said to be founded by Christian Rosencreutz (1378-1484), who had become an initiate during his travels in the Middle East in the fifteenth century. He founded a brotherhood which was supposed to have operated in secret ever since.
The pamphlets of the Order of the Rosy Cross were probably inspired by Hermetic and NeoPlatonic scriptures which circulated at the time. The Faerie Queene of Neoplatonist Edmund Spenser, and published in 1590 concerns an English knight 'Red Cross'. The Rosicrucian philosophy also contained elements found in freemasonry and alchemistic writings such as the conception: "As above, so below" - signifying that man mirrors the whole universe. Other ideas are reminiscent of those of the great alchemist Paracelsus (see photo)
The Rosicrucian manifesto created quite a stir in European circles. Although many applied for initiation there are no records of the brotherhood having survived long. By 1623 the German Rosicrucian movement was crushed under the weight of the Counter-Reformation led by the Jesuits. The occult Renaissance had come to an end. The tide of witch-hunts had begun.
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The Age of Enlightenment
The grip of fundamentalist Christianity weakened in the course of the following decades. The weltanschauung of European man was ever broadening out. The world seas were being explored and contact made with other cultures. The increasing population in an expanding and more demanding society called for inventive skills. European civilization struck root. Man of genius contributed to its culture. Exploring nature with an intelligent mind became a coveted pursuit. A new kind of philosophy emerged, distinct from the Christian world-view of medieval theologians.
The Age of Enlightenment can be said to have begun in 1687 by the publication of Isaac Newton's; Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (Mathemetical Principles of Natural philosophy). It was the basis of exploring nature in an objective manner. The best minds dedicated themselves to this critical pursuit: Galilei, Robert Boyle, René Descartes, Francis Bacon. Diderot began publishing instalments of his famous Encyclopédie in 1751. Alchemy was still considered a scientific pursuit and is being described in the encyclopedia in quite favourable terms.
The idea of freedom of thought emerged. Holland attracted many persecuted Jewish, Huguenot and other refugees for its liberal religious views. Spinoza in Amsterdam contributed to biblical scholarship. For the first time critical notes were placed behind biblical texts. Stripping the Bible of its holy mystery had become common place by the 18th century. Critical deism attacked and downgraded conventional Christianity. Voltaire, Rousseau, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin are rated among the deists.
The esoteric tradition had less to fear now.
Mesmerism and the French Revolution
Towards the end of the eighteenth century new scientific discoveries and inventions had captured the public's mind. Specifically experiments with electricity gave fuel to the most amazing and weird theories involving fluïdum, ether or phlogiston to explain its wonderful properties. It is nowadays generally hushed up that the great minds of that era, like Newton, believed in heretical notions that would nowadays relegate a scientist to oblivion by the academic community.
Mesmer hypnotizes somnabule
In the eighties of the 18th century an Austrian spirit healer, Franz Anton Mesmer (1733-1815), excerted an enormous influence on the beau monde as well the general public of France. Ten years before the outbreak of the French revolution his ideas captured the imagination. He attributed his healing power to manipulating a fluïdum: animal magnetism. He worked with trance-induced states on subjects called somnambules.
His occultism became generally accepted, except for the members of the scientific community with whom he always was at war.
Other occult brotherhoods like Freemasonry, Rosicrucians, Kabbalists, Swedenborgians and alchemists thrived, as did spiritualism. The healing aspect receded in the background, communication with spirits of the deceased, work with magical symbols and building a new vision of reality came in its place.
This flight of ideas, its conflict with established order and aristocracy became the breeding ground for the French Revolution. Some of its leaders were once steeped in the world of mesmerism.
New Age Spirituality
a.k.a. Self-spirituality, New spirituality, Mind-body-spirit
http://www.religioustolerance.org/newage.htm
Introduction:
The New Age Movement is in a class by itself. Unlike most formal religions, it has no holy text, central organization, membership, formal clergy, geographic center, dogma, creed, etc. They often use mutually exclusive definitions for some of their terms. The New Age is in fact a free-flowing spiritual movement; a network of believers and practitioners who share somewhat similar beliefs and practices, which they add on to whichever formal religion that they follow. Their book publishers take the place of a central organization; seminars, conventions, books and informal groups replace of sermons and religious services.
Quoting John Naisbitt:
"In turbulent times, in times of great change, people head for the two extremes: fundamentalism and personal, spiritual experience...With no membership lists or even a coherent philosophy or dogma, it is difficult to define or measure the unorganized New Age movement. But in every major U.S. and European city, thousands who seek insight and personal growth cluster around a metaphysical bookstore, a spiritual teacher, or an education center." 1
The New Age is definitely a heterogeneous movement of individuals; most graft some new age beliefs onto their regular religious affiliation. Recent surveys of US adults indicate that many Americans hold at least some new age beliefs:
8% believe in astrology as a method of foretelling the future
7% believe that crystals are a source of healing or energizing power
9% believe that Tarot Cards are a reliable base for life decisions
about 1 in 4 believe in a non-traditional concept of the nature of God which are often associated with New Age thinking: 11% believe that God is "a state of higher consciousness that a person may reach"
8% define God as "the total realization of personal, human potential"
3% believe that each person is God.
The group of surveys cited above classify religious beliefs into 7 faith groups. 2 Starting with the largest, they are: Cultural (Christmas & Easter) Christianity, Conventional Christianity, New Age Practitioner, Biblical (Fundamentalist, Evangelical) Christianity, Atheist/Agnostic, Other, and Jewish, A longitudinal study from 1991 to 1995 shows that New Agers represent a steady 20% of the population, and are consistently the third largest religious group. 2
New Age teachings became popular during the 1970's as a reaction against what some perceived as the failure of Christianity and the failure of Secular Humanism to provide spiritual and ethical guidance for the future. Its roots are traceable to many sources: Astrology, Channeling, Hinduism, Gnostic traditions, , Spiritualism, Taosim, Theosophy, Wicca and other Neo-pagan traditions, etc. The movement started in England in the 1960's where many of these elements were well established. Small groups, such as the Findhorn Community in Inverness and the Wrekin Trust formed. The movement quickly became international. Early New Age mileposts in North America were a "New Age Seminar" ran by the Association for Research and Enlightenment, and the establishment of the East-West Journal in 1971. Actress Shirley MacLaine is perhaps their most famous current figure.
During the 1980's and 90's, the movement came under criticism from a variety of groups. Channeling was ridiculed; seminar and group leaders were criticized for the fortunes that they made from New Agers. Their uncritical belief in the "scientific" properties of crystals was exposed as groundless. But the movement has become established and become a stable, major force in North American religion during the past generation. As the millennium comes to a close, the New Age is expected to expand, promoted by the social backlash against logic and science.
The "New Age" that does not exist:
Major confusion about the New Age has been generated by academics, counter-cult groups, Fundamentalist and other Evangelical Christians and traditional Muslim groups, etc. Some examples are:
Many of the above groups have dismissed Tasawwuf (Sufiism) as a New Age cult. In reality, Sufiism has historically been an established mystical movement within Islam, which has always existing in a state of tension with the more legalistic divisions within Islam. It has no connection with the New Age.
Some conservative Christians believe that a massive, underground, highly coordinated New Age organization exists that is infiltrating government, media, schools and churches. No such entity exists.
Some conservative Christians do not differentiate among the Occult, Satanism, Wicca, other Neopagan religions. Many seem to regard all as forms of Satanism who perform horrendous criminal acts on children. Others view The New Age, Neopagan religions, Tarot card reading, rune readings, channeling, work with crystal energy, etc. as merely recruiting programs for Satanism. In fact, the Occult, Satanism, Neo-pagan religions are very different phenomena, and essentially unrelated. Dr. Carl Raschke, professor of Religious Studies at the University of Denver describes New Age practices as the spiritual version of AIDS; it destroys the ability of people to cope and function." He describes it as "essentially, the marketing end of the political packaging of occultism...a breeding ground for a new American form of fascism."
New Age beliefs:
A number of fundamental beliefs are held my many New Age followers; individuals are encouraged to "shop" for the beliefs and practices that they feel most comfortable with:
Monism: All that exists is derived from a single source of divine energy.
Pantheism: All that exists is God; God is all that exists. This leads naturally to the concept of the divinity of the individual, that we are all Gods. They do not seek God as revealed in a sacred text or as exists in a remote heaven; they seek God within the self and throughout the entire universe.
Panentheism: God is all that exists. God is at once the entire universe, and transcends the universe as well.
Reincarnation: After death, we are reborn and live another life as a human. This cycle repeats itself many times. This belief is similar to the concept of transmigration of the soul in Hinduism.
Karma: The good and bad deeds that we do adds and subtracts from our accumulated record, our karma. At the end of our life, we are rewarded or punished according to our karma by being reincarnated into either a painful or good new life. This belief is linked to that of reincarnation and is also derived from Hinduism
An Aura is believed to be an energy field radiated by the body. Invisible to most people, it can be detected by some as a shimmering, multi-colored field surrounding the body. Those skilled in detecting and interpreting auras can diagnose an individual's state of mind, and their spiritual and physical health.
Personal Transformation A profoundly intense mystical experience will lead to the acceptance and use of New Age beliefs and practices. Guided imagery, hypnosis, meditation, and (sometimes) the use of hallucinogenic drugs are useful to bring about and enhance this transformation. Believers hope to develop new potentials within themselves: the ability to heal oneself and others, psychic powers, a new understanding of the workings of the universe, etc. Later, when sufficient numbers of people have achieved these powers, a major spiritual, physical, psychological and cultural planet-wide transformation is expected.
Ecological Responsibility: A belief in the importance of uniting to preserve the health of the earth, which is often looked upon as Gaia, (Mother Earth) a living entity.
Universal Religion: Since all is God, then only one reality exists, and all religions are simply different paths to that ultimate reality. The universal religion can be visualized as a mountain, with many sadhanas (spiritual paths) to the summit. Some are hard; others easy. There is no one correct path. All paths eventually reach the top. They anticipate that a new universal religion which contains elements of all current faiths will evolve and become generally accepted worldwide.
New World Order As the Age of Aquarius unfolds, a New Age will develop. This will be a utopia in which there is world government, and end to wars, disease, hunger, pollution, and poverty. Gender, racial, religious and other forms of discrimination will cease. People's allegiance to their tribe or nation will be replaced by a concern for the entire world and its people.
The Age of Aquarius is a reference to the precession of the zodiac. The earth passes into a new sign of the zodiac approximately every 2,000 years. Some believe that the earth entered the constellation Aquarius in the 19th Century, so that the present era is the dawning of the age of Aquarius. Others believe that it will occur at the end of the 20th century. It is interesting to note that the previous constellation changes were:
from Aries to Pisces the fish circa 1st century CE. This happened at a time when Christianity was an emerging religion, and many individuals changed from animal sacrifice in the Jewish temple to embracing the teachings of Christianity. The church's prime symbol at the time was the fish.
from Taurus to Aries the ram circa 2,000 BCE. This happened at a time when the Jews engaged in widespread ritual sacrifice of sheep and other animals in the Temple.
from Gemini to Taurus the bull circa 4,000 BCE. During that sign, worshiping of the golden calf was common in the Middle East.
New Age practices:
Many practices are found among New Agers. A typical practitioner is active in only a few areas:
Channeling A method similar to that used by Spiritists in which a spirit of a long dead individual is conjured up. However, while Spiritists generally believe that one's soul remains relatively unchanged after death, most channelers believe that the soul evolves to higher planes of existence. Chanelers usually try to make contact with a single, spiritually evolved being. That being's consciousness is channeled through the medium and relays guidance and information to the group, through the use of the medium's voice. Channeling has existed since the 1850's and many groups consider themselves independent of the New Age movement. Perhaps the most famous channeling event is the popular A Course in Miracles. It was channeled through a Columbia University psychologist, Dr. Helen Schucman, (1909-1981), over an 8 year period. She was an Atheist, and in no way regarded herself as a New Age believer. However, she took great care in recording accurately the words that she received.
Crystals Crystals are materials which has its molecules arranged in a specific, highly ordered internal pattern. This pattern is reflected in the crystal's external structure which typically has symmetrical planar surfaces. Many common substances, from salt to sugar, from diamonds to quartz form crystals. They can be shaped so that they will vibrate at a specific frequency and are widely used in radio communications and computing devices. New Agers believe that crystals posses healing energy.
Meditating A process of blanking out the mind and releasing oneself from conscious thinking. This is often aided by repetitive chanting of a mantra, or focusing on an object.
New Age Music A gentle, melodic, inspirational music form involving the human voice, harp, lute, flute, etc. It is used as an aid in healing, massage therapy and general relaxation.
Divination The use of various techniques to foretell the future, including I Ching, Pendulum movements, Runes, Scrying, Tarot Cards.
Astrology The belief that the orientation of the planets at the time of one's birth, and the location of that birth predicts the individual's future and personality. Belief in astrology is common amongst New Agers, but definitely not limited to them.
Holistic Health This is a collection of healing techniques which have diverged from the traditional medical model. It attempts to cure disorders in mind, body and spirit and to promote wholeness and balance in the individual. Examples are acupuncture, crystal healing, homeopathy, iridology, massage, various meditation methods, polarity therapy, psychic healing, therapeutic touch, reflexology, etc.
Human Potential Movement (a.k.a. Emotional Growth Movement) This is a collection of therapeutic methods involving both individualized and group working, using both mental and physical techniques. The goal is to help individuals to advance spiritually. Examples are Esalen Growth Center programs, EST, Gestalt Therapy, Primal Scream Therapy, Transactional Analysis, Transcendental Meditation and Yoga.
The Canadian Census (1991) recorded only 1,200 people (0.005% of the total Canadian population) who identify their religion as being New Age. However, this in no way indicates the influence of new age ideas in the country. Many people identify with Christianity and other religions, but incorporate many new age concepts into their faith.
References used:
J. Naisbitt & P. Aburdene, Megatrends 2000", William Morrow & Company, New York, NY (1990)
George Barnia, "The Index of Leading Spiritual Indicators", Word Publishing, Dallas TX, (1996)
Richard Kyle, "The Religious Fringe", InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL (1993), Page 285-298
J.Gordon Melton, "Whither the New Age?", Chapter 35 of T. Miller, "America's Alternative Religions", SUNY Press, Albany, NY (1995)
R.T. Carroll, "A Course in Miracles," The Skeptic's Dictionary, at: http://skepdic.com/cim.html
Web sites about the New Age:
LinkLight is a New Age site whose goal is to "create a spiritual connection between everyone on this Planet, and in this way raise the Consciousness of the Planet." They are at: http://www.linklight.com
Blue Ridge Spirit is another New Age web site "dedicated to empowering Individuals in the pursuit of clarity and truth during their lives journey." See: http://www.blueridgespirit.com/
Open2love.com is "a positive spiritual new age community for Lightworkers and Wanderers, featuring chat, forums, links and more." See: http://www.open2love.com
Life Positive offers "a complete encyclopedia on holistic living and new age alternative sciences." See: http://www.lifepositive.com/
Sponsored links:
Web sites which sell New Age / Metaphysical products:
The Shadow Shop maintains an online store with "hundreds of New Age / Metaphysical products from around the world." See: http://www.newagereseller.com
Ambient Moods supplies music for many needs: to facilitate meditation, yoga, breathing, hypnosis, massage, Reiki, etc. See: http://www.ambientmoods.com/
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