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New Age

Did you mean: New Age (philosophy, sociology, United States), New Age music

 
Dictionary: New Age   (nū'ā'jē, nyū'-) adj.
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adj.
  1. Of or relating to a complex of spiritual and consciousness-raising movements originating in the 1980s and covering a range of themes from a belief in spiritualism and reincarnation to advocacy of holistic approaches to health and ecology.
  2. Of, relating to, or resembling New Age music.
n.
A style of modern music characterized by a relaxing or dreamy texture derived from quiet harmonies and drones, often incorporating synthesizers and acoustic and ethnic instrumentation.

New Ager New Ager n.
New-Agey New'-Ag'ey
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Columbia Encyclopedia: New Age
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New Age, a term popularized in the 1980s to describe a wide-ranging set of beliefs and practices that are an outgrowth of the counterculture of the 1960s and 70s in the United States. Adherents of the New Age movement believe that a spiritual era is dawning in which individuals and society will be transformed. The movement encompasses a wide range of ideas, including personal spiritual growth and self-realization, holistic medicine (including the use of crystals for healing), reincarnation, astrology, and the mystical energies said to be induced by pyramids. Many critics of the movement regard it as anti-intellectual. In music, the term refers to meditative, relaxing, usually instrumental styles.

Occultism & Parapsychology Encyclopedia: New Age
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The New Age movement was a revivalist movement that swept through metaphysical New Thought churches and Spiritualist and occult organizations in the 1970s and 1980s. As a result, many people accepted either a metaphysical or Spiritualist perspective and both communities grew significantly. The New Age idea of replacing the present society with a coming of the golden age of peace and love for the next generation transformed both communities. By the mid-1990s, the idea of a New Age had largely died out but had left the psychic community permanently changed.

Roots of the New Age Movement

A noticeable New Age vision, the triumph of the hopes and ideals to which occultists gave their allegiance, was given a certain limited expression throughout the twentieth century. Often that hope was seen in the arrival of what was termed the Aquarian Age. In astrology, an "age" is defined by the location of the sun at the moment of the spring equinox each year. Because of the tilt of the Earth's axis, that sign changes approximately every 2,160 years. Depending upon the astrological system one uses, the sun is making the transition from the sign of Pisces to that of Aquarius sometime in this century.

Pisces, the fish sign, is often associated with Christianity, in which the fish is frequently used as a symbol of Jesus; in Greek the word for fish, ichthus, was a acronym for the phrase "Jesus Christ, God's son and Saviour." The passing of the Earth to a new astrological age would bring a new religion or spiritual perspective to dominance. However, during the last half of the twentieth century, as a new millennium loomed on the horizon, a variety of occult groups predicted the coming new age at the same time as the new millennium.

Among the early groups predicting the New Age was the London-based Universal Link, which originated in the contact of Richard Grave of Worthing, England, with a spirit entity who came to be known only as "Limitless Love." This entity first appeared in 1961 and gave Grave a variety of messages on the impending return of Christ in the midst of the seemingly destructive course of action being followed by the human race. Publicity given Grave's messages in a Spiritualist newspaper and his subsequent meeting with Spiritualist artist Libby Pugh led to the development of a network of interested individuals.

Crucial to the message was a prediction that by Christmas morning of 1967 Christ would reveal himself through the medium of nuclear evolution. That prediction brought many into the network, including Sir Anthony Brooke, the former ruler of the Indonesian island of Sarawak, who spent his retirement years traveling the world spreading the message.

When no visible event occurred to coincide with the predicted nuclear event, the most dedicated of the Universal Link members concluded that the event was an invisible one. Nellie Cane, founder of the Spiritual Research Society, and a key American figure spreading the Universal Link message, suggested that the event was the completion of the international linking of groups and individuals who need to join in a common effort to radiate God's light to the world.

Among the groups linked in the 1960s was the Findhorn Foundation, a communal association in northern Scotland in large part held together by channeling. Channeling is similar to mediumships in Spiritualism — the ability to contact spirit entities. However, in Spiritualism, a mediumship had concentrated upon the communication with a large number of spirit entities bringing greetings or messages to their still-living relatives with the aim of proving their continued existence after the transition of bodily death. Channeling, in contrast, assumed the existence of a spiritual world with which contact could be made for the purpose of learning about the nature of the world and receiving guidance on how to live. Mediumship was seen as the special prerogative of a few special individuals, while channeling was seen as possible for almost anyone.

A medium usually had a control, one or a few individual spirit entities who facilitated contact with the deceased relatives of the sitter(s). The channel usually contacted one or a few master teachers who regularly delivered philosophical discourses. The entities channeled, while usually the spirits of long-deceased individuals, could also be creatures from other planets, angelic beings, nature spirits, the channels' own higher self, or even Christ or God. The theosophical tradition had been built from the initial channelings of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky from the Masters or Mahatmas. While little channeling activity took place in the post-Blavatsky Theosophical Society, numerous splinter groups emerged around a new channel, sometimes referred to as a Messenger. Most prominent of these subsequent channels were Alice A. Bailey of the Arcane School and Guy W. Ballard, founder of the I Am Movement. The practice of channeling was given a tremendous boost in the 1970s by the publication of the material channeled by Jane Roberts from an entity known as "Seth."

Findhorn had been sustained through the 1960s, its developing years, by the channeling activity of Eileen Caddy. In the early 1970s, it was joined by a young student of the Alice Bailey teachings, David Spangler, who channeled material from an entity called "John." Spangler would, during his three years at Findhorn, construct a vision of the New Age as a time when important new energies from the cosmos were available to the human race. If these energies were accepted and worked with over the next generation, a New Age could be brought to pass. According to Spangler, the coming of the New Age was dependent upon the dedicated spiritual work of the people. He published his views first in a small book published by Findhorn, The New Age Vision (1973), upon which he expanded in his widely circulated volumes Revelation: The Birth of a New Age (1976) and Towards a Planetary Vision (1977).

Through the 1970s the New Age vision as articulated by Spangler spread through the groups and individuals that had constituted the network created by the Universal Link and spread far beyond it. The basic ideas were quite simple: There is a New Age coming and this present generation is the transition generation, though most will live to see and enjoy the imminent new society of peace and love. As society goes through the birth pangs of the new society and the turmoil and displacement it will bring, individuals can experience a foretaste of the social transformation in an immediate and personal transformation occasioned by a healing, a new personal insight, or the realization of a spiritual truth. Facilitating the personal transformation were a number of New Age transformative tools: channeling, crystals, divinatory techniques (tarot cards, astrology, etc.) and a whole range of holistic health practices. Responsibility for bringing in the New Age is in the hands of individuals who must take responsibility for their lives and the direction of society.

As the New Age movement emerged through the 1970s, it had a social vision that saw the merging of New Age vision to older movements centered upon world peace, environmentalism, and multiethnic cooperation. Healing became an important metaphor of the New Age and the holistic health perspective provided an alternative program to the common scientific medicine built upon drugs and surgery. It suggested an emphasis upon preventive medicine and the eradication of disease through a natural (and frequently vegetarian) diet, healthful practices (exercise, hatha yoga, living in a nonpolluted environment), and attention to clearing problems by developing spiritually and cleansing the emotions. The various forms of body work (chiropractic, massage, and related practices) have been immensely popular in New Age circles.

Rise and Fall of the New Age

The New Age movement grew through the 1970s and by 1980s had become a recognizable social phenomena. In that year Marilyn Ferguson would describe it as The Aquarian Conspiracy, a decentralized network of people who have forsaken the past for a coming new world. They are bonded by their experience of inner transformation and their common work for the coming transformed society. Through the next decade channeling became a well-known phenomenon, the use of crystals (the effect of which was described in great detail by channeler Frank Alper) spread, the publication of metaphysical and occult books burgeoned, and hundreds of thousands of people in Europe, North America, and urban centers around the world were swept up into the movement. An estimated four million adherents could be found in the United States alone.

The movement seemed to peak in the late 1980s following the airing in 1987 of Out on a Limb, a television movie based upon the New Age awakening of actress Shirley MacLaine. MacLaine had written a series of popular New Age books and publicly identified with the movement, in which she developed an avocation as a teacher. In 1989 she released a video, Shirley MacLaine's Inner Workout.

However, through the 1980s, the New Age movement received a significant amount of criticism, the most telling accusing it of being a shallow spiritual vision built upon the questionable practices of channeling and crystals and a naive (and false) hope of a significant systemic change in society. Internally, New Age leaders began to reexamine the movement. The first of an important set of redefining articles by David Spangler began to appear in 1988. Over the next few years, prominent leaders of the movement announced their abandonment of the New Age vision of a transformed society and publicly distanced themselves from channeling and crystals. They suggested that the heart of the movement had always been the personal transformations experienced by individuals and the spiritual perspective on life it gave to people. The social vision was abandoned and the people left in the movement reoriented entirely around personal development and improvement.

By the early 1990s, it was obvious that the New Age movement was dying. The passing of the New Age movement did not leave the metaphysical, Spiritualist, and occult communities unchanged. The hundreds of thousands of individuals brought into the communities by the New Age did not leave. Hundreds of New Age bookstores still dot the landscape, and New Age publishing remains a healthy concern. Most importantly, the concept of "New Age," which largely replaced "occult" in popular parlance, gave occultism a positive image in popular culture, the lack of which was a major barrier to its growth. The New Age movement left the occult community in a most robust state.

During the nineties the New Age has shifted from its premillennialist stance where an "overnight" scenario was expected to occur to a more postmillennial outlook where each person is expected to create their own heaven on earth by personal spiritual transformation over time. This evolution can be seen in the progression of books by James Redfield starting with The Celestine Prophecy and continuing with many sequels. The new emphasis has been on the issue of ascension, but with no crystallized consensus from the many authors that promote it. Such authors grace the pages of Sedona Journal of Emergence with an eclectic mix of views. Another huge archive of New Age information is the SpiritWeb Internet site.

Sources:

Anderson, Walter Truett. The Upstart Spring: Esalen & the American Awakening. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1983.

Basil, Robert, ed. Not Necessarily the New Age. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1988.

Celestine Vision. http://www.celestinevision.com/main.html. April 10, 2000.

Ferguson, Marilyn. The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in Our Time. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1980.

Lewis, James R., and J. Gordon Melton, eds. Perspectives on the New Age. Albany, N.Y.: State University Press of New York, 1992.

MacLaine, Shirley. Out on a Limb. New York: Bantam Books, 1983.

Melton, J. Gordon, Jerome Clark, and Aidan Kelly, eds. New Age Encyclopedia. Detroit: Gale Research, 1990.

Mystic Planet and New Age Directory of Planet Earth. http://www.mysticplanet.com/. April 10, 2000.

New Age Reading Room. http://www.wholeagain.com/news.html. April 10, 2000.

New Age Web Works. http://www.newageinfo.com. April 10, 2000.

New Age On-line Australia. http://www.newage.com.au. April 10, 2000.

Schultz, Ted. The Fringes of Reason: A Whole Earth Catalog. New York: Harmony Books, 1989.

Sedona Journal of Emergence. http://www.sedonajo.com/sje. April 10, 2000.

Spangler, David. Revelation: The Birth of a New Age. San Francisco: Rainbow Bridge, 1976.

Spangler, David, and William Irwin Thompson. Reimagination of the World: A Critique of the New Age, Science, and Popular Culture. Sante Fe, N.Mex.: Bear and Company Publishing, 1991.

Spiritual Consciousness on WWW. http://www.spiritweb.org. April 10, 2000.

Wilson, Robert Anton. The New Inquisition: Irrational Rationalism and the Citadel of Science. Las Vegas: Falcon Press, 1986.

Wikipedia: New Age
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
For other uses, see New Age (disambiguation).
New Age spirituality often incorporates aspects of the Earth, Moon, and outer space; the term New Age refers to the coming Astrological Age of Aquarius.[1]

The New Age (also known as the New Age Movement, New Age spirituality, and Cosmic Humanism,) is a decentralized Western social and spiritual movement that seeks "Universal Truth" and the attainment of the highest individual human potential. It includes aspects of cosmology, astrology, esotericism, alternative medicine, music, collectivism, sustainability, and nature. New Age spirituality is characterized by an individual approach to spiritual practices and philosophies, and the rejection of religious doctrine and dogma.

The New Age Movement includes elements of older spiritual and religious traditions ranging from atheism and monotheism through classical pantheism, naturalistic pantheism, and panentheism to polytheism combined with science and Gaia philosophy: particularly archaeoastronomy, astronomy, ecology, environmentalism, the Gaia hypothesis, psychology, and physics. New Age practices and philosophies sometimes draw inspiration from major world religions: Buddhism, Chinese folk religion, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism; with particularly strong influences from East Asian religions, Gnosticism, Neopaganism, New Thought, Spiritualism, Theosophy, Universalism, and Western esotericism.[2] Additional terms for the movement include All is One[3] and Mind-Body-Spirit.[1]

The modern New Age Movement emerged in a distinct form in the late 1960s and early 1970s, although its roots can be traced back to the 19th and early 20th centuries. It gained momentum in the 1980s and strengthened with the Harmonic Convergence event in 1987. Diverse individuals from around the world practice New Age spirituality.[citation needed]

Contents

Movement

Origins

See also: List of Neopagan movements, List of new religious movements, and List of religions and spiritual traditions

The term New Age was used as early as 1809 by William Blake who described a belief in a spiritual and artistic "New Age" in his preface to Milton: a Poem. The Freemasonry journal of the 1800s was titled The New Age.[citation needed]

Some of the New Age Movement's constituent elements appeared initially in 19th century metaphysical movements: Spiritualism, Theosophy, and New Thought; also, alternative medicine movements chiropractic and naturopathy.[1][3] These movements in turn have roots in Transcendentalism, Mesmerism, Swedenborgianism, and various earlier Western esoteric or occult traditions, such as the hermetic arts of astrology, magic, alchemy, and Kabbalah. The term New Age was used in this context in Madame Blavatsky's book The Secret Doctrine, published in 1888.[4]

A weekly journal of Christian liberalism and socialism titled The New Age was published as early as 1894;[5] it was sold to a group of socialist writers headed by Alfred Richard Orage and Holbrook Jackson in 1907. Other historical personalities were involved: H. G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, and William Butler Yeats; the magazine became a forum for politics, literature, and the arts.[6][7] Between 1908 and 1914, it was instrumental in pioneering the British avant-garde from vorticism to imagism. After 1914, publisher Orage met P. D. Ouspensky, a follower of G. I. Gurdjieff, and began correspondence with Harry Houdini, becoming less interested in literature and art, with an increased focus on mysticism and other spiritual topics; the magazine was sold in 1921. According to Brown University, The New Age "... helped to shape modernism in literature and the arts from 1907 to 1922."[8]

Development

Popularisation behind these ideas has roots in the work of early 20th century writers such as D. H. Lawrence and William Butler Yeats. In the early to middle 1900s, American mystic, theologian, and founder of the Association for Research and Enlightenment Edgar Cayce was a seminal influence on what later would be termed the New Age Movement; he was known in particular for the practice some refer to as channeling.[9] Former Theosophist Rudolf Steiner and his Anthroposophical Movement are a major influence. Neo-Theosophist Alice Bailey published the book Discipleship in the New Age (1944), which used the term New Age in reference to the transition from the Astrological Age of Pisces to Aquarius. While claims of racial bias in the writings of Rudolf Steiner and Alice Bailey were made,[10] Steiner emphasized racial equality as a principle central to anthroposophical thought and humanity's progress.[11][12] Any racial elements from these influences have not remained part of the Anthroposophical Society as contemporary adherents of the society have either not adopted or repudiated these beliefs.[13][14] Another early usage of the term, was by the American artist, mystic, and philosopher Walter Russell, who spoke of "... this New Age philosophy of the spiritual re-awakening of man ..." in his essay "Power Through Knowledge", which was also published in 1944.

Carl Gustav Jung was an early articulator of the concept of the Age of Aquarius.[15] In a letter to H. G. Baynes, dated 12 August 1940, he wrote in a passage concerning the destruction of the temple of Karnak by an earthquake in 26 BC: "1940 is the year when we approach the meridian of the first star in Aquarius. It is the premonitory earthquake of the New Age."[16]

Postmodern

Main article: Postmodernism
A barrel house—the first dwelling constructed at the Findhorn Ecovillage

The subculture that would later be called New Age already existed in the early 1970s, based on and adopting ideas originally present in the counterculture of the 1960s. The Findhorn Foundation – an intentional community near Findhorn, Moray, Scotland founded in 1962 – played an instrumental role during the early growth period of the New Age Movement; it continues to operate the Findhorn Ecovillage.

Widespread use of the term New Age began in the mid 1970s (reflected in the title of monthly periodical New Age Journal) and probably influenced several thousand small metaphysical book and gift stores that increasingly defined themselves as "New Age bookstores".[17][18] As a result of the large-scale activities surrounding the Harmonic Convergence in the mid 1980s – the term was further popularised by the American mass media to describe the alternative spiritual subculture – including practices such as meditation, channeling, crystal healing, astral projection, psychic experience, holistic health, simple living, and environmentalism; or belief in phenomena such as Earth mysteries, ancient astronauts, extraterrestrial life, unidentified flying objects, crop circles, and reincarnation. A range of New Age publications appeared by the late 1980s such as Psychic Guide (later renamed Body, Mind & Spirit), Yoga Journal, New Age Voice, New Age Retailer, and NaPRA ReView by the New Age Publishing and Retailers Association.

There were several key moments in raising public awareness of this subculture: the publication of Linda Goodman's best selling astrology books Sun Signs (1968) and Love Signs (1978); Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical (1967) with the opening song "Aquarius" and its memorable line "This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius" [emphasis added]; the broadcast of Shirley MacLaine's television mini-series Out on a Limb (1987); and the Harmonic Convergence (1987) organized by José Argüelles in Sedona, Arizona. Also influential were the claims of channelers Jane Roberts (the Seth Material) and J. Z. Knight (Ramtha), as well as revealed writings A Course in Miracles (1976) by Helen Schucman, The Celestine Prophecy (1993) by James Redfield, and Conversations with God (1995) by Neale Donald Walsch. Relevant works also include the writings of Eckhart Tolle, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, John Holland, Gary Zukav, and Wayne Dyer; also, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, which was based on the writings of Esther Hicks and Jerry Hicks.

While authors J. Gordon Melton,[19] Wouter Hanegraaff,[20] and Paul Heelas[21] have emphasised the mentioned personal aspects; Mark Satin,[22] Theodore Roszak,[23] Marilyn Ferguson,[24] and Corinne McLaughlin[25] have described New Age as a values-based sociopolitical movement.

Spirituality

Main articles: Spirituality and Outline of New Age
See also: Outline of spirituality and List of philosophies

While there is no unified belief system, many spiritual practices and philosophies are common among adherents of the New Age Movement.

Philosophy and cosmology

Main articles: Philosophy and Cosmology
Theism 
There is a general and abstract idea of God, which can be understood in many ways; seen as a superseding of the need to anthropomorphize deity. Not to be confused with pantheism.[citation needed]
Spiritual beings 
Gods, angels, Ascended Masters, elementals, ghosts, faeries, Spirit guides and extraterrestrials can spiritually guide a person, if they open themselves to their guidance.[26]
Afterlife 
Consciousness persists after death as life in different forms; the afterlife exists for further learning through the form of a spirit, reincarnation and/or near-death experiences.[27] There may be a belief in hell, but typically not in the traditional Christian sense or Islamic sense of eternal damnation. Universalist views of the afterlife are common.
Age of Aquarius 
The current time period is claimed by some astrologers to be the dawning of the Age of Aquarius correlated to various changes in the world and some claim that the early 1960s was the actual beginning of the Age of Aquarius, though this claim is highly contentious. Common claims about the developments associated with the Age of Aquarius include, but are not limited to, human rights, democracy, innovative technology, electricity, computers, and aviation. Esoteric claims are that the Age of Aquarius will see a rise in consciousness.[4]
Astrology 
Horoscopes and the Zodiac are used in understanding, interpreting, and organizing information about personality, human affairs, and other terrestrial matters.[28]
Teleology 
Life has a purpose; this includes a belief in synchronicity—that coincidences have spiritual meaning and lessons to teach those who are open to them. Everything is universally connected through God and participates in the same energy.[29] There is a cosmic goal and a belief that all entities are (knowingly or unknowingly) cooperating towards this goal.
Indigo children 
Children are being born with a more highly developed spiritual power than earlier generations.[30][31]
Interpersonal relationships 
There are opportunities to learn about one's self and relationships are destined to be repeated until they are healthy.[32]
Intuition 
An important aspect of perception – offset by a somewhat strict rationalism – noted especially in the works of psychologist Carl Jung.[33]
Optimism 
Positive thinking supported by affirmations will achieve success in anything;[34] this is based on the concept that Thought Creates. Therefore, as one begins focusing attention and consciousness on the positive, on the "half-filled" glass of water, reality starts shifting and materializing the positive intentions and aspects of life. A certain critical mass of people with a highly spiritual consciousness will bring about a sudden change in the whole population.[35] Humans have a responsibility to take part in positive creative activity and to work to heal ourselves, each other and the planet.[36]
Human Potential Movement 
The human mind has much greater potential than that ascribed to it[37][38][39] and is even capable of overriding physical reality.[40]
Spiritual healing 
Humans have potential healing powers, such as therapeutic touch, which can be developed to heal others through touch or at a distance.[41]

Religion and science

Main articles: Religion and Science
Further information: Relationship between religion and science and Quantum mind/body problem
Eclecticism 
New Age writers argue people should follow their own individual path to spirituality instead of dogma.
Some adherents of traditional disciplines such as the Lakota people, a tribe of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, reject the term New Age. They see the movement it represents as either not fully understanding, deliberately trivializing, or distorting their disciplines.[42]
Anti-patriarchy 
Feminine forms of spirituality, including feminine images of the divine, such as the female Aeon Sophia in Gnosticism, are deprecated by patriarchal religions.[3]
Stonehenge and other ancient sites are revered by many who practice New Age spirituality.
Ancient civilizations 
Atlantis, Lemuria, Mu, and other lost lands existed.[43] Relics such as the crystal skulls and monuments such as Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Giza were left behind.
Psychic perception 
Certain geographic locations emanate psychic energy (sometimes through ley lines) and were considered sacred in pagan religions throughout the world.[44]
Eastern world practices 
Meditation, Yoga, Tantra, Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, martial arts, Tai chi chuan, Falun Gong, Qigong, Reflexology, Reiki, and other Eastern practices can assist in realizing one’s potential.[citation needed]
Diet 
Food influences both the mind and body; it is generally preferable to practice vegetarianism by eating fresh organic food, which is locally grown and in season.[45][46] Fasting can help achieve higher levels of consciousness.[47]
Mathematics 
An appeal to the language of nature and mathematics, as evidenced by numerology, Kabbalah,[48] Sacred geometry, and gnosticism to discern the nature of God.
Science 
Quantum mechanics, parapsychology, and the Gaia hypothesis have been used in quantum mysticism to validate spiritual principles.[49] Authors Deepak Chopra, Fritjof Capra, Fred Alan Wolf, and Gary Zukav have linked quantum mechanics to New Age spirituality, which is presented in the film What the Bleep Do We Know!? (2004); also, in connection with the Law of Attraction, which is related to New Thought and presented in the film The Secret (2006). They have interpreted the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, quantum entanglement, wave function collapse, or the many-worlds interpretation to mean that all objects in the Universe are one (monism), that possibility and existence are endless, and that the physical world is only what one believes it to be.
In medicine, such practices as therapeutic touch, homeopathy, chiropractic, and naturopathy involve hypotheses and treatments that have not been accepted by the conventional, science-based medical community through the normal course of empirical testing.[50][51]

Lifestyle

Main article: New Age lifestyle

New Age spirituality has led to a wide array of literature on the subject and an active niche market: books, music, crafts, and services in alternative medicine are available at New Age stores, fairs, and festivals.[52][53]

People who practice New Age spirituality or embrace its lifestyle are included in the Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) demographic market segment, currently in a growth phase, related to sustainable living, green ecological initiatives, and generally composed of a relatively affluent and well-educated segment.[54][55] The LOHAS market segment in 2006 was estimated at USD$300 billion, approximately 30 percent of the United States consumer market.[56][57] According to The New York Times, a study by the Natural Marketing Institute showed that in 2000, 68 million Americans were included within the LOHAS demographic. The author Paul H. Ray, who coined the term Cultural Creatives in his book The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World (2000), states, "What you're seeing is a demand for products of equal quality that are also virtuous."[58][59]

Holistic health

Main articles: Holistic health and Alternative medicine

Practitioners of New Age spirituality may use alternative medicine in addition to or in place of conventional medicine;[53][60] while some conventional physicians have adopted aspects or the complete approach of holistic health.

Music

Main article: New Age music
See also: List of New Age music artists

New Age music is peaceful music of various styles, which is intended to create inspiration, relaxation, and positive feelings while listening. Studies have determined that New Age music can be an effective component of stress management.[61] Some New Age music albums come with notes to encourage use in meditation.

This style began in the 1970s with the works of 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 music performer Brian Eno and classical avant-garde musician Daniel Kobialka. In the early 1970s, it was mostly instrumental with both acoustic and electronic styles. New Age music evolved to include a wide range of styles from electronic space music and acoustic instrumentals using Western instruments to spiritual chanting from other cultures – including Native American flutes and drums, synthesizers, and instrumental world music sounds.

Sustainable living

Main articles: Sustainable living, Sustainability, and Simple living
See also: List of ecovillages and List of intentional communities

There is an emphasis on living in a simple sustainable way that attempts to reduce an individual's or society's use of the Earth's natural resources and shuns the consumer society.[62][63]

Reception

Main article: Reception of the New Age Movement

Organized religion

Main article: Comparative religion

Activist Constance Cumbey offered the first major criticism of the New Age Movement from a Christian perspective in The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow: The New Age Movement and Our Coming Age of Barbarism (1983).[64]

The Vatican has issued a statement which criticises the New Age as blurring distinctions between particular religions and undermining what it sees as the essential truth of Christianity.[65]

Integral movement

Main article: Integral movement

The author Ken Wilber posits that most New Age thought falls into what he termed the pre/trans fallacy.[66] According to Wilber, human developmental psychology moves from the pre-personal, through the personal, then to the transpersonal (spiritually advanced or enlightened) level.[67] He claims that 80 percent of New Age spirituality is pre-rational (pre-conventional) and relies primarily on mythic-magical thinking; this is in contrast to a post-rational (includes and transcends rational) genuine world-centric consciousness.[66][67]

First Nations

First Nations groups, particularly Native Americans, have denounced what they see as misappropriation of their cultural heritage within the New Age Movement. They have coined the term plastic shaman to describe individuals who are attempting to pass themselves off as shamans, holy people, or other traditional spiritual leaders, but who have no genuine connection to the traditions or cultures they claim to represent. The academic Ward Churchill has criticised the New Age Movement as an instrument of cultural imperialism that is exploitative of indigenous cultures, including Native American, by reducing it to a commodity to be traded.[citation needed] In Fantasies of the Master Race, he criticises the cultural appropriation of native American culture and symbols in not only the New Age Movement, but also in art and pop culture.

See also

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Notes

  1. ^ a b c New Age Transformed J. Gordon Melton, Director Institute for the Study of American Religion. Retrieved on 2006-06.
  2. ^ Lewis 1992, pp. 15–18
  3. ^ a b c What Is “New Age? Michael D. Langone, Ph.D. Cult Observer, 1993, Volume 10, No. 1. Retrieved on 2006-07.
  4. ^ a b Spencer, Neil (2000). True as the Stars above: Adventures in Modern Astrology. Victor Gollancz. pp. 115–27. ISBN 0575067691. 
  5. ^ History of the New Age periodical, Brown University, Modernist Journals Project
  6. ^ Modernism In and Beyond the “Little Magazines”, Winter 2007, Professor Ann Ardis, Brown University
  7. ^ "The New Age" Encyclopedia Britannica article on Orage
  8. ^ "Modernist Journals Project Has Grant to Digitize Rare Magazines". Brown University. 2007-04-19. http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2006-07/06-143.html. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 
  9. ^ York, Michael (1995). The Emerging Network: A Sociology of the New Age and Neo-Pagan Movements. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 60. ISBN 0847680010. 
  10. ^ Shnirelman, Victor A. Russian Neo-pagan Myths and Antisemitism in Acta no. 13, Analysis of Current Trends in Antisemitism. The Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 1998. Retrieved 2007-08-22
  11. ^ Hansson, Sven Ove (2002). "The racial Teachings of Rudolf Steiner". SkepticReport. http://www.skepticreport.com/newage/steiner.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-11. 
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