The New Age movement, although philosophically and theologically ambiguous, is based on a philosophy and theology that believes all forms of life are vitally affected by a sacred energy that exists throughout the universe. Often viewed as Gnosticism or resurgent paganism, the contemporary movement has its history in 19th-century spiritualism and in the 1960s counterculture, which cast aside materialism and embraced Eastern mysticism in its place. The movement emerged in the late 1960s and became an important force in Western civilization in the 1980s.
The New Age movement is a broad combination of divergent political, social, and spiritual elements with the shared ambition of transforming society and individuals through spiritual awareness. The movement is a utopian vision, encompassing an era of progress and harmony. It is comprised of individuals, businesses, professional groups, activist groups, and spiritual leaders and followers. Its message struck a chord in mainstream American thought during the 1980s, bringing ecological, human-potential, spiritual, and feminist concerns into the public domain. This in turn created a large market in the United States and elsewhere for audio - and videotapes, magazines, books, retreats, and workshops, as well as for meditation and healing aids, natural foods, and crystals.
Many disparate organizations make up the movement, and each differs in the kind of commitment it expects or requires from its adherents. Within New Age groups, one finds those who get involved via individual assimilation of New Age ideas through various sorts of media; those who regularly consult individual astrologers and/or channelers for counsel and instruction; and those who join highly organized movements.
Advocates of the coming of the New Age begin with the assumption that there is something wrong with the world as it is today. Many hold that science and materialism have choked the human spirit and stand in the way of humanity’s ability to experience the holy. Humans, they believe, possess an innate desire for genuine spirituality, which organized religions appear to have systemized and possibly distorted. New Agers claim that changes that stress holistic values rather than individual desires for wealth and power must take place first on the individual level. Active participants in the New Age movement understand the human race as one family living and sharing the same planet, all linked in both common origin and destiny. The New Age is an era when people probe more deeply into the mysteries of the universe and self, and when they become more open to God’s love and companionship in their daily lives. Believers assert that this new period will transform history as we understand it; people will acquire great psychic capabilities and become more spiritual, creative, and content.
The preparation for this new era centers on three practical concerns. First, there is a perceived need to disclose psychic powers believed inherent in human nature. Second, a grand desire exists to make contact with paranormal and supernatural dimensions of life. Last, many are unhappy with what the Judeo-Christian tradition has to offer and are seeking guidance and knowledge from other theologies and philosophies.
Those wishing to commence on a pilgrimage of selftransformation and the generation of a better world follow a program to heighten awareness. Believers emphasize that the world is not going through a paradigm shift or a radical revolution, but that a powerful and enormous association of people from all levels of society are striving to usher in a new consciousness that will lead to a regeneration of society. Because New Age is not a coherent movement or belief system, New Agers differ as to how they believe such awareness can be achieved: hypnosis; mutual help and selfhelp networks; magical and shamanic techniques; various kinds of meditation; seminars; mystical systems; and body disciplines like yoga and tai chi. Some New Agers believe in creating new lifestyles and communities based on holistic healing and health; spirituality; yoga; astrology; or intuitive development/channeling. Fundamental to channeling is the belief that knowledge of others and self can be reached through some inner, higher aspect of their personality or through self-reflection. Channeling can be characterized as the transmission of information to or through a human being from paranormal sources, either other beings or the individual’s innermost self.
The New Age relates to both practical and theoretical matters that affect peoples’ lives. It offers a critique of traditional religions, particularly of Christianity, borrowing ideas from a variety of religions and reinterpreting them. Although not a formal organization, lacking central headquarters and other centralized institutions, its influence by century’s end and into the next was still pervasive.
See also RELIGION.
Further reading: John Saliba, Christian Responses to the New Age Movement (London: Cassell Academic Press, 1999); Steven Sutcliffe and Marion Bowman, eds., Beyond New Age, Exploring Alternative Spirituality (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2000).
—Michele Rutledge
World History
