
New Age describes a broad movement in Western culture characterised by an individual eclectic approach to spiritual exploration. It has some attributes of a new, emerging religion but is currently a loose network of spiritual seekers, teachers, healers and other participants. The name "New Age" also refers to the market segment in which goods and services are sold to people in the movement. Rather than follow the lead of an organised religion, "New Agers" typically construct their own spiritual journey based on material taken as needed from the Mysticism traditions of all the Religion as well as shamanism, neopaganism and occultism. Participants are likely to dip into many diverse teachings and practises, some mainstream and some fringe, and formulate their own beliefs and practices based on their experiences in each. No clear membership or rigid boundaries actually exist. The movement is most visible where its ideas are traded--for example in specialist bookshops, music stores, and fairs. Most New Age activity may be characterized as a form of alternative spirituality. Even apparent exceptions (such as alternative health practices) often turn out to have some spiritual dimension (for example, the integration of mind, body, and spirit). "Alternative" here means, with respect to the dominant Western Judeo-Christian culture. It is no accident that most New Age ideas and practices seem to contain implicit critiques of mainstream Christianity in particular. An emphasis on meditation suggests that ordinary prayer is insufficient; belief in reincarnation (which not all New Agers accept) challenges familiar Christian doctrines of the afterlife. ==History== The name New Age was popularized by the American mass media during the late 1980s, to describe the alternative spiritual subculture interested in such things as meditation, channeling (mediumistic), reincarnation, Crystal healing, psychic experience, holistic health, environmentalism, and various “unsolved mysteries” such as UFOs, Earth mysteries and Crop circles. Typical activities of this subculture include participation in study or meditation groups, attendance at lectures and fairs; the purchase of books, music, and other products such as crystals or incense; patronage of fortune-tellers, healers and spiritual counselors. The New Age subculture already existed in the 1970s, and arguably continued themes from the 1960s counterculture. Earlier generations would have recognized some, but not all, of the New Age's constituent elements under the practices of Spiritualism, Theosophy, or some forms of New Thought Movement / the Metaphysical movement, all of which date back to the nineteenth century, as does alternative health. 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 cabbala. In the English-speaking world, we should make special mention of study groups devoted to American trance-diagnostician Edgar Cayce, who inspired many of today's channelers. The British neo-Theosophist Alice Bailey's writings may have supplied the term ''New Age'' (or New Era). The Findhorn Foundation, an early intentional New Age community in northern Scotland founded in 1962 played a significant role. The movement in Russia has been heavily influenced by the legacy of Nicholas Roerich and Helena Roerich, who taught in the Theosophical tradition. Another former Theosophist, Rudolf Steiner, is a major influence, especially upon German-speaking New Agers. In Brazil, followers of Spiritualist writer Allan Kardec blend with the Africanized folk traditions of Candomblé and Umbanda. Key moments in raising public awareness of this subculture include the Harmonic Convergence organized by Jose Arguelles in Sedona, Arizona in 1987; and the wave of interest in the broadcast of Shirley MacLaine's television mini-series ''Out on a Limb'' (also 1987). This was an autobiographical account of her mid-life spiritual exploration. Also influential are the claims of channelers such as Jane Roberts (Seth) and J.Z. Knight (Ramtha), as well as revealed writings such as A Course In Miracles (Helen Shucman), The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield), Mutant Message Down Under (Marlo Morgan), and Conversations With God (Neale Donald Walsch). The question of which contemporary cultural elements ought to be included under the name of "New Age" is quite vexed. New Age channelers have many points of similarity with Spiritualist mediums. Many spiritual movements, such as neo-paganism and transpersonal psychology partially overlap with it. Many groups prefer to distance themselves from the possible negative connotations of the "New Age" name such as the media hoopla, commercialism, and perhaps hucksterism. For example, key individuals in the New Thought movement, such as Ernest Holmes, have focused on a more scientific approach and do not share New Age beliefs in reincarnation, magic, or channeling. Major attempts to present the New Age as a values-based sociopolitical movement included Mark Satin's New Age Politics (orig. 1976), Theodore Roszak's Person/Planet (1978), and Marilyn Ferguson's Aquarian Conspiracy (1980). The New Age is a wide menu of ideas and activities, from which participants in the subculture select their own preferred streams to patronise or identify with. ==Beliefs== The following are some common — though by no means universal — beliefs found among New Agers: # All humanity—indeed all life, everything in the universe—is spiritually interconnected, participating in the same Vitalism. “God” is one name for this energy. # Spiritual beings (e.g. angels, ascended masters, elementals, ghosts, and/or space aliens) exist, and will guide us, if we open ourselves to their guidance. # The human mind has deep levels and vast powers, which are capable even of overriding physical reality. “ You create your own reality.” # Nevertheless, this is subject to certain spiritual laws, such as the principle of cause and effect (karma). # The individual has a purpose here on earth, in the present surroundings, because there is a lesson to learn. The most important lesson is love. # Death is not the end. There is only life in different forms. What some refer to as an afterlife does not punish us but teaches us, perhaps through the mechanisms of reincarnation or near-death experiences. # Science and spirituality are ultimately harmonious. New discoveries in science (evolution, ESP, quantum mechanics), rightly understood, point to spiritual principles. # It shares with many major world religions the idea that Intuition or "divine guidance" is a more appropriate guide than rationalism, skepticism, or the scientific method. Western science wrongly neglects such things as parapsychology, meditation, and holistic health. # There exists a mystical core within all religions, Eastern and Western. Dogma and religious identity are not so important. # The Bible is a wise and holy book. Many important truths are not found in the Bible, or are referred to only very obliquely. Some say that Jesus was an Essene, or that he traveled to India in his youth to study Eastern religions. Others say that Jesus was a later, more advanced avatar of Buddha. # Feminine forms of spirituality, including feminine images of the divine, are viewed as having been subordinated, masked, or obliterated by patriarchal movements that were widely practiced when sacred teachings were first committed to writing. A renaissance of the feminine is particularly appropriate at this time. # Ancient civilizations such as Atlantis may truly have existed, leaving behind certain relics and monuments (the Great Pyramid, Stonehenge) whose true nature has not been discovered by mainstream historians. # There are no coincidences. Everything around you has spiritual meaning, and spiritual lessons to teach you. You are meant to be here, and are always exactly where you need to be to learn from what confronts you. # The mind has hidden Parapsychology and abilities, which have a spiritual significance. Dreams and psychic experiences are ways in which our souls express themselves. # Meditation, yoga, t'ai chi, and other Eastern practices are valuable and worthwhile. ==Quotations== In [http://www.dianebrandon.com/index_page0023.htm ''Experiential Spirituality and Contemporary Gnosis''] 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."'' This is a paraphrase of an idea first developed by Christian theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. As Deepak Chopra says, :"''...our bodies are contained within our consciousness, not our consciousness contained within our bodies." ==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 mutual perception of shared values, and the shibboleth 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 before. 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. ==Underlying Assumptions== Judging by its name, the New Age movement ought to involve millenarian claims, perhaps of a glorious future age which is about to begin. As such it could theoretically be traced back to the time of Zoroaster, or to biblical apocalypticism. While such expectations are encountered often enough—e.g., the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, pole shifts and paradigm shifts, the imminent end of the Mayan calendar—the predominant themes of the New Age are mystical rather than apocalyptic. Hence the widespread interest within this subculture in the mystical traditions within the world’s various religions, especially Vedanta, yoga, Tibetan Buddhism, Zen, Sufism, Taoism, shamanism, Kabbalah, Gnosticism, and mystical forms of Christianity. 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 (paranormal). Though many New Age 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. It just so happens that the New Age movement has 'adopted' many of the ideas of eastern religions, incorporated them into their own beliefs and practices. The gnostic approach of experiential insight and revelation of truth may be closest to the New Age methodology of prayers and spirituality. 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 those systems, 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. In keeping with its roots as a counter-cultural phenomenon and its syncretic nature, New Age adherents tend to emphasize a relativism 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 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. The New Age worldview typically involves 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 vitalism theories of health and disease provide further examples. 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. 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-intellectualism in nature. The emphasis on subjective knowledge and experience is a connection between New Age beliefs and postmodernism. The shift to a feeling of control over one's expression of spirituality reflects a trend towards personal responsibility, as well as personal empowerment.Its populist origins help characterize the New Age approach. This emphasizes an individual's choice in spiritual matters; the role of personal intuition and experience over societally sanctioned expert opinion and an experiential definition of reality. ==Language== 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 language 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. 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. See the following list:- *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). *Power. The "forces", and everything else, are energized by a Odic force 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 "Odic force"; 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 "Vitalism" that exists in so many traditional belief systems, and finds its expression in New Age concepts such as the alleged "Odic force" 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 "Odic force" 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. ==Critiques of the New Age== Major critiques of the New Age have emerged from evangelical Christians who reject all forms of occultism; from skeptics suspicious of paranormal claims and woolly beliefs in general; and from New Agers themselves. Some, including neo-paganism, 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. 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. New Age detractors also say that a true understanding of reason and empiricism produces just as rich an experience as the New Agers claim for themselves, but with emotions and feelings based on thinking and logic instead of the other way around. They also point out that the definition of ''empiricism'' is: ''"the view that experience, especially of the senses, is the only source of knowledge."'' ==Medicine== Many people with a New Age perspective also adopt Complementary and alternative medicine. Some rely on New Age related treatments exclusively, while others use them in combination with conventional medicine. This is completly compatible with New age belief in the unity of mind body spirit and the emphasis on things natural. Some techniques worthy of mention are herbal medicine, Ayurveda, acupuncture, homeopathy, iridology, auras and the use of Crystal healings in healing therapy. Some New Age writers have taken the belief that ''You create your own reality'' and applied it to disease with the conclusion that illnesses have a metaphysics origin and can be treated by a deep evaluation of long held negative emotional and spiritual attitudes. This has a parallel in the Christian notion that "it is done unto you as you believe." Notably, Louise Hay has published books containing lists of diseases and the associated negative belief, accompanied by the correcting positive belief. A cure may be sought by repeating the correcting positive affirmation. This approach has its origins in Christian Science. It has been criticised as seeming to blame the sufferer for causing the condition. Its supporters claim the intent is to enlighten the individual so that he or she can change the thinking that exacerbates the condition. Some followers of New Age thought may also believe certain individuals have the ability to heal, in a similar way to the healing practices reported to have been used by Jesus of Nazarath in the New Testament. It should be noted that, when considered ''purely'' as medical techniques, most of these systems of treatment are viewed with extreme skepticism and even as quackery by most scientific professionals. When tested using the same types of regimens as those applied to pharmaceutical drugs and surgical techniques (for example, double blind clinical studies), these systems may not yield demonstrable improvements over standard techniques, and some may even produce harm. 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 [http://www.sfms.org/sfm/sfm199f.htm San Francisco Medical Library]. 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. 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. The National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, are at 2005 carrying out research on determining which of these practices may be useful in support of conventional medical practice. ==Music== ''See a longer description at the New Age music article'' Although more rock than new age in genre the 1967 successful musical Hair (musical) 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. The first actual mention of the term was by United States rock and roll band The Velvet Underground in their not-so-optimistic 1969 song "New Age". A large percentage of music described as of New Age genre is instrumental, and electronic. Arguably, this music has its roots in the 1970s with the works of such free-form jazz groups recording on the ECM (record label) such as Oregon, the Paul Winter Group, and other pre-ambient bands; as well as ambient performers such as Brian Eno and easy listening artists like Solomon Keal. Vocal arrangements are also common. Enya, although claiming her music is not of this genre, has won a New Age Grammy Award for her music which utilizes vocals in a variety of languages, including Latin. Less well known is Medwyn Goodall, who relies mainly on electronic keyboard effects, and includes acoustic guitar as well. 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''. ==See also== *Philosophical ** Syncretism, Postmodernism, Karma, Vedas, Spirituality, Synchronicity, Myths, Mystery, Age of Aquarius, Transcendence, Multi-dimensionality, Odic force *Meditative ** Qi, Qigong, Prayer, Tantra, Meditation, Kundalini, Mandala, Trance *Music ** New Age music, Circle dance *Spiritual/Religious ** A Course In Miracles, Angels, Anthroposophy, Dances of Universal Peace, Goddess Worship, Hinduism, Jesus, Kabbala, Kardecist Spiritism, New religious movements, New Thought Movement, Rosicrucian, Rosicrucian Fellowship, Shamanism, Spirit guides, Sufism, Theosophy, Zen, *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, Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi, Wayne Dyer *Health ** Acupuncture, Aromatherapy, Ayurveda, Biorhythms, Brainwaves, Breatharians, Crystal healing, Reiki, Self-help, Visualization, Iridology, Chakras, Kirlian photography, Pyramid power, Color Therapy *Social Movements ** Encounter group movement, Large Group Awareness Trainings, MLMs, Rebirthing, Hundredth Monkey,
**New age travellers *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, Parapsychology, Psychokinesis, Remote viewing, Palmistry, Sorcery, Telepathy, Channeling, Long life *Geographic Energy Centers ** Avalon, Sacred sites, Bermuda Triangle, Atlantis, Lemuria (continent), Ley lines, Machu Picchu, Stonehenge, Portals, Power spots *Systems involved in control, prediction, or description of the physical world ** Alchemy, Astrology, Magick, Numerology, Odic force, Tarot, Feng Shui, Vastu *Aliens ** Alien abduction, Alien implants, Crop circles, Cattle mutilation, Area 51, Unidentified flying objects *Miscellaneous ** Ancient civilizations, Underground civilizations, Time travel, Forteana ===New Age communities=== Significant New Age communities exist in the following places: * Arcosanti, Arizona, United States * Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India * Boulder, Colorado, Colorado, United States * Byron Bay, Australia * Free State of Christiania, Copenhagen, Denmark * Federation of Damanhur, Italy * Dornach, Switzerland * Esalen at Big Sur, California * Findhorn Foundation, near Forres, Scotland * Glastonbury, Somerset, England * Monte Verità near Ascona, Switzerland * Mount Shasta, California, USA * Sedona, Arizona, USA * Totnes, Devon, England See also the Global Ecovillage Network article. ==External links== ===New Age belief=== * [http://www.xs4all.nl/~wichm/newage3.html Roots of New Age Movement] * [http://www.new-age-spirituality.com New Age Spirituality] * [http://www.radicalmiddle.com/newagepolitics.htm New Age Politics] * [http://www.celestinevision.com The Celestine Prophecy] * [http://www.marianne.com Marianne Williamson official website] * [http://www.acim.org A Course in Miracles] * [http://www.spirithistory.com/newage.html What is the New Age?] * [http://www.michaelteachings.com The Michael Teachings] * [http://www.enya.com Enya official website] * [http://www.medwyngoodall.com Medwyn Goodall official website] * [http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/nhl.html Nag Hammadi Library] * [http://www.leonardorr.com/english.php Leonard Orr- Rebirthing] * [http://www.castaneda.com/ Carlos Castaneda official website] * [http://swami-center.org/ Divine Way of Spiritual Heart] * [http://www.rosicrucian.com/zineen/magen119.htm Rosicrucian Age of Aquarius] * [http://www.zyworld.com/jamus/NewAge.htm New Age of Aquarius] * [http://www.muraqaba.netfirms.com/ Spiritual Vision] * [http://www.radicalmiddle.com/new_world_all.htm New World Alliance] * [http://observationsnperspectives.blogspot.com New Age Perspectives- A Spiritual blog for the New Age] ===New Age critics=== * [http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/interelg/documents/rc_pc_interelg_doc_20030203_new-age_en.html A Catholic Christian Reflection on the New Age] * [http://www.sram.org/ The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine] * [http://www.quackwatch.org Quackwatch] * [http://logosresourcepages.org/Occult/na-dict.htm Christian Logos Brief Dictionary of New Age Terminology] * [http://www.csicop.org/si/2001-11/alternative.html Magical Thinking in Complementary and Alternative Medicine] * [http://www.csicop.org/si/2004-05/new-age.html A New Ager's path to becoming a skeptic] ===New Age academic studies=== * [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SOR/is_3_61/ai_66498057 “Who Buys New Age Materials? Exploring Sociodemographic, Religious, Network, and Contextual Correlates Of New Age Consumption” Mears and Ellison 2000] * [http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/newage.html "Beyond Millennialism: The New Age Transformed" Melton, Institute for the Study of American Religion] * [http://nccam.nih.gov National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine] * [http://www.xs4all.nl/~wichm/newage3.html Roots of New Age Movement, a history] ===New Age metaphysics=== * [http://www.users.bigpond.com/phdaley/ Metaphysics for the New Age] * [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gnosticist_since_20050101/ Possibilities and Gnosis for Metaphysics] New AgePseudoscience Postmodernism
Talk archives: Talk:New Age (archive), Talk:New Age (archive 2), Talk:New Age (archive 3), Talk:New Age (archive 4, Talk:New Age(archive 5) ---- Returning to pre-Lumos version, which was clearer and more representative of actual New Age beliefs (as opposed to CSICOP). 19 March 2005 ==New Age/Revised Article - Deletion== * Hi there! Could someone inform me please what the deal is with New Age/Revised? Is that rewrite still valid? Or already incorporated? Or rejected for some reason? In the latter case, VfD'ing may be appropriate. Yours, User:Radiant!User_talk:Radiant!meta:mergist 13:22, Mar 30, 2005 (UTC) :This article is a Fork (software) from the New Age article and was created after a major rewrite was attempted by an anonymous user which removed lot of existing good work. As I recall the rewrite itself had a lot of useful things in it and the "Revised version" was creatred as a place to keep them visible while they were incorporated into the main article. I believe this is now complete and the "Revised" fork should now be deleted. User:Lumos3 21:37, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC) :: I have begun marking New Age/Revised for deletion. If anyone disagrees please comment here or on that article's discussion page. User:Lumos3 14:40, 23 Apr 2005 (UTC) :: The "fork" was a good idea, to avoid edit wars as well as to allow the anonymous user to have a visible sandbox. It may have served its purpose by now. The main article is OK ;-) I still need to get some NPOV New Age spin going for NA use of crystals. I use them but this would be a POV article, then. User:BF 22:31, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Merger with New Though Movement == The New Thought Movement describes some movements that originated in the USA in the late 19th century. Some of which may now be described by some people as new age and others not. The New Age is the name of a late 20th century movement. There is no question they should be merged in my mind. User:Lumos3 21:36, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Crystals == There is a link to Crystals - but that leads to a mainstream physics/chemistry type article. It isn't really clear what the New Age connection to crystals is. Maybe someone could add a page for this? I'll try to help out on this request. I removed the wiki link on crystals. User:BF 22:49, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Comments - snake bites its tail == I have a problem with the introduction, once again. Over the life of this article everyone who showed an interest always changed the introduction! And the reason they did was, everyone writes differently. When we introduce a topic of length, the author(s)' style starts to smooth out everything for readability. I haven't said anything, really, since it seems petty to complain about "how" the article reads. However, unless I am misreading, as the intro is now it shows a subtle shift that I don't like. * The movement is most visible where its ideas are traded, in specialist bookshops, music stores and fairs. There is no movement, period. It was once upon a time... as I wrote 3 years ago: the New Age silently, without any fanfare, changed western culture... one would think it had become the mainstream!(paraphrased). Generally, yes! Exchanging ideas(which is a better way to state the point than 'ideas are traded') is one way to make the individual visible to someone else. *Typical activities of this subculture include participation in study or meditation groups, attendance at lectures and fairs; the purchase of books, music, and other products such as crystals or incense; patronage of fortune-tellers, healers and spiritual counselors. These activities are not just New Age identifiers. Millions of people engage in them and the second half of the sentence after the semicolon is a misleading nonsequitur, and also grammatically incorrect. Teenagers buy music and incense, and other different age brackets do too. Does this imply there could be a teen subculture too? And if so, are some teens picking up the already-in-place New Age lifestyle from their parents? Healers and spiritual counselors are not specifically New Age derivative. They might appear to be, by those who live in a vault. I have not decided if I want to clean the junk out of this article yet. It's tantalizing, but for now I watch it grow in size, and see the snake biting its own tail. User:BF 23:12, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==A few comments== I'm the "anonymous user" who did that forked version. Yeah, feel free to delete it. I cleaned up some stuff today, mainly by moving things around. The biggest problem with the way it was before was, it wasn't clear. (Who what when where why?) And then there was a lot of overlap / duplication. Still is, actually--maybe somebody else wants to have a go. On the lifestyle stuff (books, crystals, fairs, etc.) I think this is very important. What do New Agers do? How do we know that they exist? Even if other people do many of the same things, it's still good to let people know that we're not (necessarily) talking about, for instance, a bunch of people who go to church on Sunday, or bite the heads off of chickens under the full moon, etc.. "Movement" needn't imply that they all agree with each other or anything. For instance, we habitually speak of the "anti-war movement" or the "civil rights movement". The fact that outsiders see them as part of one broad group is enough to qualify, no? ==Deleted the fork== I've deleted the fork under New age/revised. If anybody has any objections, drop in at my talk page. -- User:Sundar (User talk:Sundar · Special:Contributions/Sundar) 09:48, May 9, 2005 (UTC)
New Age is a classification of beliefs and movements that share common traits as described in the article New Age. A great many of these beliefs are drawn from several different cultures and religions from Hinduism and Buddhism to mystic Christianity and Hellenic religion. Cultural movements
Unless I'm missing something, cannot edit the category. It only shows the intro statement. User:BF 17:17, 16 Jun 2004 (UTC) :That is normal. The entries are automatically generated when the category has been added to the respective articles e.g. the entry channeling will show up as soon as in the article the categoryNew Age has been added. User:Andries 19:16, 16 Jun 2004 (UTC)
:: you can ommit |channeling from the above. New Age is sufficient. -- User:JeLuF 19:18, Jun 16, 2004 (UTC)
== How to edit and add articles ==
I'd like to help out here but there's no docs on how to do anything! If you noticed Mysticism is out of place it's because I did it. If you don't want me to help then I won't. User:BF 15:33, 17 Jun 2004 (UTC)
:I am certain I speak for everyone, BF, when I say we most definitely want you to help! As to including the mysticism article, let me try to do a quick "how-to." I presume that what you want to do is include the article Mysticism within the New Age category. What Andries is saying is that in order to add the Mysticism article to :Category:New Age, we have to go to and edit the Mysticism article page, rather than going to and editing the :Category:New Age page.
:So I went to the Mysticism article page and placed at the bottom of it the text string, "New Age" , and when I come back to the page for :Category:New Age, I find that, magically (no pun intended) and automatically, the Mysticism listing is now included in the category's alphabetic listings. If you go to the bottom of the Mysticism page, you will see what I have done.
:I have also deleted the entry you made, "New Age" from this category's page, because putting that here doesn't do anything.
:Hope that helps. Feel free to discuss further if I have been unclear in my explanation. Regards, --User:Gary D 08:47, 19 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Thank you Gary for helping. Quid pro quo ;) User:BF 13:24, 19 Jun 2004 (UTC)
==Additional intro material for category==
any more comments? is the intro on :Category:New Age illuminating? User:BF
:BF, I think this is interesting stuff you have added to the category intro, but I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better in the New Age article itself, rather than here in the introduction, because it seems more like substantive discussion of New Age and how New Age manifestations might be viewed by, say, skeptics. I would think the category intro, on the other hand, would consist mainly of statements concerning category scope, that is, what the browsing reader will and will not find in the category listings below. I would propose moving this addtional stuff into the New Age article itself, and then here on the category page citing the New Age article prominently as the flagship article for the category. --User:Gary D 20:26, 21 Jun 2004 (UTC)
==What's in, what's out==
Why is yoga and TM included into New Age? I think it should be included into Hinduism.User:Andries 21:13, 20 Jun 2004 (UTC)
They are part of the New Age lifestyle and even though yoga is ancient, its modern resurgence is associated with the New Age. Most of the related topics in the New Age article can be categorized here if they have some sort of subjective new age spin. If they have no relation at all(read the article again) they don't belong in this category. User:BF 01:12, 21 Jun 2004 (UTC)
:Andries, BF's explanation above was indeed what I had in mind when I added TM to the New Age category, but ironically, I had a very similar reason for adding Anthony Robbins and Neuro-Linguistic Programming to the New Age category, which entries BF herself (gender?) immediately removed. I figured we would have some problems with drawing boundaries, and have been trying to move slowly rather than just throwing everything in there all at once, so that we could have some time to work these issues out. On the other hand, we do need to move forward, even if it engenders some conflict. Perhaps there's a principled reason for Anthony Robbins being out and yoga being in--BF, what do you think? Andries, if you feel strongly enough about removing TM, I won't be offended if you do. (I also put TM's founder in here.) We may have to experiment for a while to see if we can cook up at least a rough consensus on all of these. --User:Gary D 01:27, 21 Jun 2004 (UTC)
I read each article listed in this category. Even a loose reference to said articles by New Age is reason enough. By the way, I am not the ultimate authority here on what goes where and why.
:I understand. However, you do represent one end of the spectrum (or the "range of skepticism," we might say) to be consulted here, so your views matter. I am trying to find a set of inclusion criteria that reconciles your view with those of Andries, who represents the other end of that spectrum.
I merely keep an eye on my pet article to ensure it isn't ruined by scientific zealots, as it was many times when Larry Sanger used to add gems of wisdom in the earlier Talks.
:I suspect that tension is part of what the Wikipedia project is all about, since encyclopedias have traditionally been edited by a small group; the thinking here being that a larger group's consensus will lead to a better product. We'll see.
Robbins still seems to be the same dude promoting his how to get rich schemes on his infomercials. I just don't feel that article even remotely relates to a new age lifestyle. The other one(NLP) is a scientific article, even though it has a pseudoscience flavor. A lot of new age products are like the old snake oil items peddled on wagons in the 1800's.
:BF, maybe you could give some more details on what would be in versus out as relates to "a new age lifestyle," because on the current basis I cannot really answer Andries' concern that Yoga and TM should be left out of this category as well. You mention pseudoscience and say below, "Tony Robbins is no Marianne Williamson," but Andries would probably say Marianne Williamson is also selling snake oil, and he might conclude that Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of TM, is no Marianne Williamson, either. Are we talking about a religious versus non-religious orientation as a criterion here? There are an awful lot of entries in the New Age article where religion is only tangentially involved, so it's hard to believe religious orientation could serve usefully to keep, say, the Human Potential Movement out of this category. I realize that's precisely the problem, that this is such an amorphous category, and largely driven by the time period when all these things happened. I am looking for the beginnings of some reasonably principled objective standard. Considering the wide gulf between your orientation and Andries' orientation, if the two of you were to come to some agreement on this, I suspect it would be a sturdy foundation. --User:Gary D 20:00, 21 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Furthermore, New Age is such a large container with so much in it I think minor edits on half the Wiki articles to update them with the NA spin could find a place here. But we don't want this at all. Tony Robbins is no Marianne Williamson. If you noticed, few New Age lecturers or authors have any articles on here. The reason is, there is a subtle opposition to non scientific writings here, especially with New Age because of how it revises so many terms cherished by the rocket men. Gender? Doesn't matter. The soul, like God, is genderless.
----
Why worry about Andries?
:I worry about Andries because he is a skeptic with an interest in this area.
I thought he was doing another category and you asked me to help out on this one, which I did.
:And I appreciate it. :-) Andries is not fond of this category, but I believe he has a great interest in it, as do you, if from another direction.
Many of the articles are multi-categorized. I wish I had a clue why this redundancy of categorizing articles exists. When I saw an article about "lists of people with 2 eyes in Idaho" (sarcastically speaking) on wiki a year ago, I fumed about the absence of authorship here...people drawing up lists of things.
:That is the benefit of hearing out both Andries and you--if all points of view have a say up front, perhaps we can avoid lots of redundancy and edit wars. --User:Gary D 03:13, 22 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Reminds me of the clever satire Herman Hesse wrote about in Magister Ludi-- The Glass Bead Game, with all this silliness and people jumping on it because they had nothing else better(or orginal) to do and say. If every time an article that is listed in this categorica schema causes a problem, I have better things to do. I'm not upset, I am perhaps out of body ;) Been reading and listening to Marianne's book and audio tape Everyday Grace. I just read 2 great articles on New Age that gets into all the questions asked in this discussion. http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/newage.html http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/newage_intro.html User:BF 02:41, 22 Jun 2004 (UTC)
==Put into :Category:Cultural movements?==
Hey BF, what do you think of putting this category as a subcategory into :Category:Cultural movements? That category already contains listings for Dadaism and Postmodernism. That sort of broad cultural category seems less restrictive than :Category:Religion, though that may be a fit, also. --User:Gary D 20:49, 22 Jun 2004 (UTC)
:I'm gonna be bold and put it there, as that is at least better than :Category:Orphaned categories where I'd put this otherwise. --User:Ssd 04:49, 23 Jun 2004 (UTC)
::Okay. We'll see if BF concurs. --User:Gary D 04:54, 23 Jun 2004 (UTC)
: Nice list of New Age articles, people :) User:BF 01:48, 26 Jan 2005 (UTC)
#redirect New Age
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New Age
New Age describes a broad movement in Western culture characterised by an individual eclectic approach to spiritual exploration. It has some attributes of a new, emerging religion but is currently a loose network of spiritual seekers, teachers, healers and other participants. The name "New Age" also refers to the market segment in which goods and services are sold to people in the movement. Rather than follow the lead of an organised religion, "New Agers" typically construct their own spiritual journey based on material taken as needed from the Mysticism traditions of all the Religion as well as shamanism, neopaganism and occultism. Participants are likely to dip into many diverse teachings and practises, some mainstream and some fringe, and formulate their own beliefs and practices based on their experiences in each. No clear membership or rigid boundaries actually exist. The movement is most visible where its ideas are traded--for example in specialist bookshops, music stores, and fairs. Most New Age activity may be characterized as a form of alternative spirituality. Even apparent exceptions (such as alternative health practices) often turn out to have some spiritual dimension (for example, the integration of mind, body, and spirit). "Alternative" here means, with respect to the dominant Western Judeo-Christian culture. It is no accident that most New Age ideas and practices seem to contain implicit critiques of mainstream Christianity in particular. An emphasis on meditation suggests that ordinary prayer is insufficient; belief in reincarnation (which not all New Agers accept) challenges familiar Christian doctrines of the afterlife. ==History== The name New Age was popularized by the American mass media during the late 1980s, to describe the alternative spiritual subculture interested in such things as meditation, channeling (mediumistic), reincarnation, Crystal healing, psychic experience, holistic health, environmentalism, and various “unsolved mysteries” such as UFOs, Earth mysteries and Crop circles. Typical activities of this subculture include participation in study or meditation groups, attendance at lectures and fairs; the purchase of books, music, and other products such as crystals or incense; patronage of fortune-tellers, healers and spiritual counselors. The New Age subculture already existed in the 1970s, and arguably continued themes from the 1960s counterculture. Earlier generations would have recognized some, but not all, of the New Age's constituent elements under the practices of Spiritualism, Theosophy, or some forms of New Thought Movement / the Metaphysical movement, all of which date back to the nineteenth century, as does alternative health. 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 cabbala. In the English-speaking world, we should make special mention of study groups devoted to American trance-diagnostician Edgar Cayce, who inspired many of today's channelers. The British neo-Theosophist Alice Bailey's writings may have supplied the term ''New Age'' (or New Era). The Findhorn Foundation, an early intentional New Age community in northern Scotland founded in 1962 played a significant role. The movement in Russia has been heavily influenced by the legacy of Nicholas Roerich and Helena Roerich, who taught in the Theosophical tradition. Another former Theosophist, Rudolf Steiner, is a major influence, especially upon German-speaking New Agers. In Brazil, followers of Spiritualist writer Allan Kardec blend with the Africanized folk traditions of Candomblé and Umbanda. Key moments in raising public awareness of this subculture include the Harmonic Convergence organized by Jose Arguelles in Sedona, Arizona in 1987; and the wave of interest in the broadcast of Shirley MacLaine's television mini-series ''Out on a Limb'' (also 1987). This was an autobiographical account of her mid-life spiritual exploration. Also influential are the claims of channelers such as Jane Roberts (Seth) and J.Z. Knight (Ramtha), as well as revealed writings such as A Course In Miracles (Helen Shucman), The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield), Mutant Message Down Under (Marlo Morgan), and Conversations With God (Neale Donald Walsch). The question of which contemporary cultural elements ought to be included under the name of "New Age" is quite vexed. New Age channelers have many points of similarity with Spiritualist mediums. Many spiritual movements, such as neo-paganism and transpersonal psychology partially overlap with it. Many groups prefer to distance themselves from the possible negative connotations of the "New Age" name such as the media hoopla, commercialism, and perhaps hucksterism. For example, key individuals in the New Thought movement, such as Ernest Holmes, have focused on a more scientific approach and do not share New Age beliefs in reincarnation, magic, or channeling. Major attempts to present the New Age as a values-based sociopolitical movement included Mark Satin's New Age Politics (orig. 1976), Theodore Roszak's Person/Planet (1978), and Marilyn Ferguson's Aquarian Conspiracy (1980). The New Age is a wide menu of ideas and activities, from which participants in the subculture select their own preferred streams to patronise or identify with. ==Beliefs== The following are some common — though by no means universal — beliefs found among New Agers: # All humanity—indeed all life, everything in the universe—is spiritually interconnected, participating in the same Vitalism. “God” is one name for this energy. # Spiritual beings (e.g. angels, ascended masters, elementals, ghosts, and/or space aliens) exist, and will guide us, if we open ourselves to their guidance. # The human mind has deep levels and vast powers, which are capable even of overriding physical reality. “ You create your own reality.” # Nevertheless, this is subject to certain spiritual laws, such as the principle of cause and effect (karma). # The individual has a purpose here on earth, in the present surroundings, because there is a lesson to learn. The most important lesson is love. # Death is not the end. There is only life in different forms. What some refer to as an afterlife does not punish us but teaches us, perhaps through the mechanisms of reincarnation or near-death experiences. # Science and spirituality are ultimately harmonious. New discoveries in science (evolution, ESP, quantum mechanics), rightly understood, point to spiritual principles. # It shares with many major world religions the idea that Intuition or "divine guidance" is a more appropriate guide than rationalism, skepticism, or the scientific method. Western science wrongly neglects such things as parapsychology, meditation, and holistic health. # There exists a mystical core within all religions, Eastern and Western. Dogma and religious identity are not so important. # The Bible is a wise and holy book. Many important truths are not found in the Bible, or are referred to only very obliquely. Some say that Jesus was an Essene, or that he traveled to India in his youth to study Eastern religions. Others say that Jesus was a later, more advanced avatar of Buddha. # Feminine forms of spirituality, including feminine images of the divine, are viewed as having been subordinated, masked, or obliterated by patriarchal movements that were widely practiced when sacred teachings were first committed to writing. A renaissance of the feminine is particularly appropriate at this time. # Ancient civilizations such as Atlantis may truly have existed, leaving behind certain relics and monuments (the Great Pyramid, Stonehenge) whose true nature has not been discovered by mainstream historians. # There are no coincidences. Everything around you has spiritual meaning, and spiritual lessons to teach you. You are meant to be here, and are always exactly where you need to be to learn from what confronts you. # The mind has hidden Parapsychology and abilities, which have a spiritual significance. Dreams and psychic experiences are ways in which our souls express themselves. # Meditation, yoga, t'ai chi, and other Eastern practices are valuable and worthwhile. ==Quotations== In [http://www.dianebrandon.com/index_page0023.htm ''Experiential Spirituality and Contemporary Gnosis''] 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."'' This is a paraphrase of an idea first developed by Christian theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. As Deepak Chopra says, :"''...our bodies are contained within our consciousness, not our consciousness contained within our bodies." ==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 mutual perception of shared values, and the shibboleth 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 before. 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. ==Underlying Assumptions== Judging by its name, the New Age movement ought to involve millenarian claims, perhaps of a glorious future age which is about to begin. As such it could theoretically be traced back to the time of Zoroaster, or to biblical apocalypticism. While such expectations are encountered often enough—e.g., the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, pole shifts and paradigm shifts, the imminent end of the Mayan calendar—the predominant themes of the New Age are mystical rather than apocalyptic. Hence the widespread interest within this subculture in the mystical traditions within the world’s various religions, especially Vedanta, yoga, Tibetan Buddhism, Zen, Sufism, Taoism, shamanism, Kabbalah, Gnosticism, and mystical forms of Christianity. 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 (paranormal). Though many New Age 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. It just so happens that the New Age movement has 'adopted' many of the ideas of eastern religions, incorporated them into their own beliefs and practices. The gnostic approach of experiential insight and revelation of truth may be closest to the New Age methodology of prayers and spirituality. 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 those systems, 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. In keeping with its roots as a counter-cultural phenomenon and its syncretic nature, New Age adherents tend to emphasize a relativism 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 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. The New Age worldview typically involves 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 vitalism theories of health and disease provide further examples. 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. 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-intellectualism in nature. The emphasis on subjective knowledge and experience is a connection between New Age beliefs and postmodernism. The shift to a feeling of control over one's expression of spirituality reflects a trend towards personal responsibility, as well as personal empowerment.Its populist origins help characterize the New Age approach. This emphasizes an individual's choice in spiritual matters; the role of personal intuition and experience over societally sanctioned expert opinion and an experiential definition of reality. ==Language== 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 language 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. 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. See the following list:- *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). *Power. The "forces", and everything else, are energized by a Odic force 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 "Odic force"; 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 "Vitalism" that exists in so many traditional belief systems, and finds its expression in New Age concepts such as the alleged "Odic force" 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 "Odic force" 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. ==Critiques of the New Age== Major critiques of the New Age have emerged from evangelical Christians who reject all forms of occultism; from skeptics suspicious of paranormal claims and woolly beliefs in general; and from New Agers themselves. Some, including neo-paganism, 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. 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. New Age detractors also say that a true understanding of reason and empiricism produces just as rich an experience as the New Agers claim for themselves, but with emotions and feelings based on thinking and logic instead of the other way around. They also point out that the definition of ''empiricism'' is: ''"the view that experience, especially of the senses, is the only source of knowledge."'' ==Medicine== Many people with a New Age perspective also adopt Complementary and alternative medicine. Some rely on New Age related treatments exclusively, while others use them in combination with conventional medicine. This is completly compatible with New age belief in the unity of mind body spirit and the emphasis on things natural. Some techniques worthy of mention are herbal medicine, Ayurveda, acupuncture, homeopathy, iridology, auras and the use of Crystal healings in healing therapy. Some New Age writers have taken the belief that ''You create your own reality'' and applied it to disease with the conclusion that illnesses have a metaphysics origin and can be treated by a deep evaluation of long held negative emotional and spiritual attitudes. This has a parallel in the Christian notion that "it is done unto you as you believe." Notably, Louise Hay has published books containing lists of diseases and the associated negative belief, accompanied by the correcting positive belief. A cure may be sought by repeating the correcting positive affirmation. This approach has its origins in Christian Science. It has been criticised as seeming to blame the sufferer for causing the condition. Its supporters claim the intent is to enlighten the individual so that he or she can change the thinking that exacerbates the condition. Some followers of New Age thought may also believe certain individuals have the ability to heal, in a similar way to the healing practices reported to have been used by Jesus of Nazarath in the New Testament. It should be noted that, when considered ''purely'' as medical techniques, most of these systems of treatment are viewed with extreme skepticism and even as quackery by most scientific professionals. When tested using the same types of regimens as those applied to pharmaceutical drugs and surgical techniques (for example, double blind clinical studies), these systems may not yield demonstrable improvements over standard techniques, and some may even produce harm. 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 [http://www.sfms.org/sfm/sfm199f.htm San Francisco Medical Library]. 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. 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. The National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, are at 2005 carrying out research on determining which of these practices may be useful in support of conventional medical practice. ==Music== ''See a longer description at the New Age music article'' Although more rock than new age in genre the 1967 successful musical Hair (musical) 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. The first actual mention of the term was by United States rock and roll band The Velvet Underground in their not-so-optimistic 1969 song "New Age". A large percentage of music described as of New Age genre is instrumental, and electronic. Arguably, this music has its roots in the 1970s with the works of such free-form jazz groups recording on the ECM (record label) such as Oregon, the Paul Winter Group, and other pre-ambient bands; as well as ambient performers such as Brian Eno and easy listening artists like Solomon Keal. Vocal arrangements are also common. Enya, although claiming her music is not of this genre, has won a New Age Grammy Award for her music which utilizes vocals in a variety of languages, including Latin. Less well known is Medwyn Goodall, who relies mainly on electronic keyboard effects, and includes acoustic guitar as well. 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''. ==See also== *Philosophical ** Syncretism, Postmodernism, Karma, Vedas, Spirituality, Synchronicity, Myths, Mystery, Age of Aquarius, Transcendence, Multi-dimensionality, Odic force *Meditative ** Qi, Qigong, Prayer, Tantra, Meditation, Kundalini, Mandala, Trance *Music ** New Age music, Circle dance *Spiritual/Religious ** A Course In Miracles, Angels, Anthroposophy, Dances of Universal Peace, Goddess Worship, Hinduism, Jesus, Kabbala, Kardecist Spiritism, New religious movements, New Thought Movement, Rosicrucian, Rosicrucian Fellowship, Shamanism, Spirit guides, Sufism, Theosophy, Zen, *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, Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi, Wayne Dyer *Health ** Acupuncture, Aromatherapy, Ayurveda, Biorhythms, Brainwaves, Breatharians, Crystal healing, Reiki, Self-help, Visualization, Iridology, Chakras, Kirlian photography, Pyramid power, Color Therapy *Social Movements ** Encounter group movement, Large Group Awareness Trainings, MLMs, Rebirthing, Hundredth Monkey,
**New age travellers *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, Parapsychology, Psychokinesis, Remote viewing, Palmistry, Sorcery, Telepathy, Channeling, Long life *Geographic Energy Centers ** Avalon, Sacred sites, Bermuda Triangle, Atlantis, Lemuria (continent), Ley lines, Machu Picchu, Stonehenge, Portals, Power spots *Systems involved in control, prediction, or description of the physical world ** Alchemy, Astrology, Magick, Numerology, Odic force, Tarot, Feng Shui, Vastu *Aliens ** Alien abduction, Alien implants, Crop circles, Cattle mutilation, Area 51, Unidentified flying objects *Miscellaneous ** Ancient civilizations, Underground civilizations, Time travel, Forteana ===New Age communities=== Significant New Age communities exist in the following places: * Arcosanti, Arizona, United States * Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India * Boulder, Colorado, Colorado, United States * Byron Bay, Australia * Free State of Christiania, Copenhagen, Denmark * Federation of Damanhur, Italy * Dornach, Switzerland * Esalen at Big Sur, California * Findhorn Foundation, near Forres, Scotland * Glastonbury, Somerset, England * Monte Verità near Ascona, Switzerland * Mount Shasta, California, USA * Sedona, Arizona, USA * Totnes, Devon, England See also the Global Ecovillage Network article. ==External links== ===New Age belief=== * [http://www.xs4all.nl/~wichm/newage3.html Roots of New Age Movement] * [http://www.new-age-spirituality.com New Age Spirituality] * [http://www.radicalmiddle.com/newagepolitics.htm New Age Politics] * [http://www.celestinevision.com The Celestine Prophecy] * [http://www.marianne.com Marianne Williamson official website] * [http://www.acim.org A Course in Miracles] * [http://www.spirithistory.com/newage.html What is the New Age?] * [http://www.michaelteachings.com The Michael Teachings] * [http://www.enya.com Enya official website] * [http://www.medwyngoodall.com Medwyn Goodall official website] * [http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/nhl.html Nag Hammadi Library] * [http://www.leonardorr.com/english.php Leonard Orr- Rebirthing] * [http://www.castaneda.com/ Carlos Castaneda official website] * [http://swami-center.org/ Divine Way of Spiritual Heart] * [http://www.rosicrucian.com/zineen/magen119.htm Rosicrucian Age of Aquarius] * [http://www.zyworld.com/jamus/NewAge.htm New Age of Aquarius] * [http://www.muraqaba.netfirms.com/ Spiritual Vision] * [http://www.radicalmiddle.com/new_world_all.htm New World Alliance] * [http://observationsnperspectives.blogspot.com New Age Perspectives- A Spiritual blog for the New Age] ===New Age critics=== * [http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/interelg/documents/rc_pc_interelg_doc_20030203_new-age_en.html A Catholic Christian Reflection on the New Age] * [http://www.sram.org/ The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine] * [http://www.quackwatch.org Quackwatch] * [http://logosresourcepages.org/Occult/na-dict.htm Christian Logos Brief Dictionary of New Age Terminology] * [http://www.csicop.org/si/2001-11/alternative.html Magical Thinking in Complementary and Alternative Medicine] * [http://www.csicop.org/si/2004-05/new-age.html A New Ager's path to becoming a skeptic] ===New Age academic studies=== * [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SOR/is_3_61/ai_66498057 “Who Buys New Age Materials? Exploring Sociodemographic, Religious, Network, and Contextual Correlates Of New Age Consumption” Mears and Ellison 2000] * [http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/newage.html "Beyond Millennialism: The New Age Transformed" Melton, Institute for the Study of American Religion] * [http://nccam.nih.gov National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine] * [http://www.xs4all.nl/~wichm/newage3.html Roots of New Age Movement, a history] ===New Age metaphysics=== * [http://www.users.bigpond.com/phdaley/ Metaphysics for the New Age] * [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gnosticist_since_20050101/ Possibilities and Gnosis for Metaphysics] New AgePseudoscience Postmodernism
New Age
Talk archives: Talk:New Age (archive), Talk:New Age (archive 2), Talk:New Age (archive 3), Talk:New Age (archive 4, Talk:New Age(archive 5) ---- Returning to pre-Lumos version, which was clearer and more representative of actual New Age beliefs (as opposed to CSICOP). 19 March 2005 ==New Age/Revised Article - Deletion== * Hi there! Could someone inform me please what the deal is with New Age/Revised? Is that rewrite still valid? Or already incorporated? Or rejected for some reason? In the latter case, VfD'ing may be appropriate. Yours, User:Radiant!User_talk:Radiant!meta:mergist 13:22, Mar 30, 2005 (UTC) :This article is a Fork (software) from the New Age article and was created after a major rewrite was attempted by an anonymous user which removed lot of existing good work. As I recall the rewrite itself had a lot of useful things in it and the "Revised version" was creatred as a place to keep them visible while they were incorporated into the main article. I believe this is now complete and the "Revised" fork should now be deleted. User:Lumos3 21:37, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC) :: I have begun marking New Age/Revised for deletion. If anyone disagrees please comment here or on that article's discussion page. User:Lumos3 14:40, 23 Apr 2005 (UTC) :: The "fork" was a good idea, to avoid edit wars as well as to allow the anonymous user to have a visible sandbox. It may have served its purpose by now. The main article is OK ;-) I still need to get some NPOV New Age spin going for NA use of crystals. I use them but this would be a POV article, then. User:BF 22:31, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Merger with New Though Movement == The New Thought Movement describes some movements that originated in the USA in the late 19th century. Some of which may now be described by some people as new age and others not. The New Age is the name of a late 20th century movement. There is no question they should be merged in my mind. User:Lumos3 21:36, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Crystals == There is a link to Crystals - but that leads to a mainstream physics/chemistry type article. It isn't really clear what the New Age connection to crystals is. Maybe someone could add a page for this? I'll try to help out on this request. I removed the wiki link on crystals. User:BF 22:49, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Comments - snake bites its tail == I have a problem with the introduction, once again. Over the life of this article everyone who showed an interest always changed the introduction! And the reason they did was, everyone writes differently. When we introduce a topic of length, the author(s)' style starts to smooth out everything for readability. I haven't said anything, really, since it seems petty to complain about "how" the article reads. However, unless I am misreading, as the intro is now it shows a subtle shift that I don't like. * The movement is most visible where its ideas are traded, in specialist bookshops, music stores and fairs. There is no movement, period. It was once upon a time... as I wrote 3 years ago: the New Age silently, without any fanfare, changed western culture... one would think it had become the mainstream!(paraphrased). Generally, yes! Exchanging ideas(which is a better way to state the point than 'ideas are traded') is one way to make the individual visible to someone else. *Typical activities of this subculture include participation in study or meditation groups, attendance at lectures and fairs; the purchase of books, music, and other products such as crystals or incense; patronage of fortune-tellers, healers and spiritual counselors. These activities are not just New Age identifiers. Millions of people engage in them and the second half of the sentence after the semicolon is a misleading nonsequitur, and also grammatically incorrect. Teenagers buy music and incense, and other different age brackets do too. Does this imply there could be a teen subculture too? And if so, are some teens picking up the already-in-place New Age lifestyle from their parents? Healers and spiritual counselors are not specifically New Age derivative. They might appear to be, by those who live in a vault. I have not decided if I want to clean the junk out of this article yet. It's tantalizing, but for now I watch it grow in size, and see the snake biting its own tail. User:BF 23:12, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==A few comments== I'm the "anonymous user" who did that forked version. Yeah, feel free to delete it. I cleaned up some stuff today, mainly by moving things around. The biggest problem with the way it was before was, it wasn't clear. (Who what when where why?) And then there was a lot of overlap / duplication. Still is, actually--maybe somebody else wants to have a go. On the lifestyle stuff (books, crystals, fairs, etc.) I think this is very important. What do New Agers do? How do we know that they exist? Even if other people do many of the same things, it's still good to let people know that we're not (necessarily) talking about, for instance, a bunch of people who go to church on Sunday, or bite the heads off of chickens under the full moon, etc.. "Movement" needn't imply that they all agree with each other or anything. For instance, we habitually speak of the "anti-war movement" or the "civil rights movement". The fact that outsiders see them as part of one broad group is enough to qualify, no? ==Deleted the fork== I've deleted the fork under New age/revised. If anybody has any objections, drop in at my talk page. -- User:Sundar (User talk:Sundar · Special:Contributions/Sundar) 09:48, May 9, 2005 (UTC)
New Age
New Age is a classification of beliefs and movements that share common traits as described in the article New Age. A great many of these beliefs are drawn from several different cultures and religions from Hinduism and Buddhism to mystic Christianity and Hellenic religion. Cultural movements
New Age
Unless I'm missing something, cannot edit the category. It only shows the intro statement. User:BF 17:17, 16 Jun 2004 (UTC) :That is normal. The entries are automatically generated when the category has been added to the respective articles e.g. the entry channeling will show up as soon as in the article the category
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#redirect New Age
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