The mainstream circulates a number of myths about the New Age that have been repeated so often they are taken to be “common knowledge” about the movement. What they really are is “common errors,” and it’s time to set the record straight.
Myth #1 -- The New Age is an Occult Revival
Go to any big chain bookstore and look on the shelf marked “New Age,” and you will find hundreds of books on how to develop your psychic powers, how to talk to the dead, how to cast Wiccan spells, how to divine the future and all manner of esoteric subjects. This expediency of bookselling has somehow evolved into the cultural definition of the New Age as an occult revival. But in fact, one is only loosely related to the other.
Yes, a fair number of New Agers do have an interest in the occult or paranormal subjects -- as do many non-New Agers. The idealism of the New Age gives us a picture of reality that allows for many possibilities ruled out by materialism, and also provides a sense of philosophical freedom to explore and experiment with different ways of knowing. But just because the New Age accommodates the occult without demonizing it doesn’t mean that it encourages belief in occult practices.
Genuine idealism actually discourages preoccupations with anything other than the here and now experience. Furthermore, it gives us a comprehensive set of rules of knowledge so that we may better recognize what is real and what is not. (See Truth & Knowledge) It also stresses the acceptance of reality even when it doesn’t match our hopes and preconceptions.
The occult, like all esoteric subjects, focuses on mysteries and exclusive societies that pass on special “secrets.” But true New Age idealism does not come cloaked in secret. The New Age movement is an inclusive endeavor based on openness and transparency. Occult mysteries simply don’t hold up very well under the light the New Age hopes to shine on reality.
The cultural lumping together of the New Age and the occult has no foundation in reality. And there is no more reason to equate the New Age with the occult than with any other subject that is popular in the New Age. Certainly more New Agers have an interest in Buddhism than in the occult, and yet we don’t see bookstores slapping “New Age” over the section on Eastern religions. Or the section on alternative health. Or the sections on physics or humanistic psychology or environmentalism or any of the other subjects that attract New Age interest.
It's time to take the “New Age” sign off the shelves of books on ghosts and divination and simply call it by its real name: The Occult.
Myth #2 -- The New Age Promotes One-World Religion
The New Age emphasis on the underlying unity of all of mankind in the context of Spirit has often been interpreted to mean that the New Age wants nothing more than for all of us to cleave together in the “one world religion” so ominously prophesied in the Book of Revelations. This massive religion, some Christians fear, will then have unparalleled power to dominate the world.
This assumption is so far removed from what we actually see in the New Age that I cannot help but laugh whenever I stumble across it. The fact is, New Agers are so aggressively independent, and so determined to strike out on their own path, that some social observers have argued whether there is even such a thing as a New Age movement at all. Far from massing together into one-world religion, New Agers drift about in a million different religions of one, and, as we have seen, exercise precious little power at all.
Of course, I have also argued that we New Agers should indeed start joining together in a common identity, but this should be understood as a symbolic identity meant to help us realize our common hope of harmony, not an identity which demands specific belief or dogma.
The New Age is based in a philosophy that is open to question, not insistent on answers. It is not about starting a religion, but in serving as a vehicle by which many people discover and explore many religions. From Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Zen and Taoism, to aboriginal and pagan religions and even different forms of Christianity, New Agers have proven remarkably open to embracing all types of religions.
However, just because we observe -- and celebrate -- the common religious feeling that exists at the heart of different traditions, doesn’t mean we are trying to erase their individual distinctness. We do not want to “reduce the religious orchestra of the universe to mere monotones,” as one Hindu teacher wrote. On the contrary, we believe each tradition gains greater relevance and meaning to be seen in the context of the whole.
We understand that in order to move billions of disparate people up the mountain, up the spiral of development toward Spirit, we need the use of many disparate paths. We understand Christianity to be a true and powerful path toward God. Indeed, many of the most liberal of spiritual explorers find their journeys lead them back to Christianity, as we see with renowned religion scholar Huston Smith, or popular writers like Anne Lamott.
We New Agers respectfully honor the wisdom of all religions. And okay, I admit, I’ve hung a Celtic knot over the ceramic Buddha on my bathroom counter. But I don’t want to mash the two traditions together, or erase the uniqueness of each symbol. I just enjoy the sight of the two symbols sitting there in harmony, complementing each other.
The New Age recognizes that the world is vast and varied. It assures us there is enough room for all beliefs to co-exist peacefully, "each verified in its own way, from hour to hour and from life to life," in the words of philosopher-psychologist William James, "each attitude being a syllable in human nature's total message.” It takes the whole of us – and all our traditions and viewpoints -- to spell out the meaning completely.
Myth #3. New Age beliefs are intellectually unsound
There is an entire cottage industry, spearheaded by the materialist’s magazine Skeptical Inquirer, devoted to the “debunking” of silly ideas. The assumption of this industry – which has infected the culture at large -- is that because many silly ideas like trance channeling or “you create your own reality” pop up in the New Age, that means the entire set of New Age ideas is silly. This blanket assumption gets tossed over all New Agers, who are then characterized as not-too-bright and sadly lacking in critical thinking skills.
It is true that the New Age movement has seen its share of crazy scams and schemes. It is also true that scamming and scheming goes on in all parts of society, targeting all types of audiences, be they religious or secular. Financial pyramid schemes, pills that “melt” your fat, Pat Robertson telling his followers God wants them to send him money – scams and cons are common in all times, in all places, with people of all kinds of beliefs.
We cannot judge a philosophy solely by its lowest common denominator. Any set of beliefs is subject to the individual‘s abilities of discernment, and as individuals, we all live from different levels of spiritual development (See Spiritual Stages). Thus we see materialism expressed at one end of the spectrum by common thieves, and at the other end by the noble ideals of secular humanism. Or we see Christianity expressed at one of the spectrum by cults and snake-handling Pentecostals, and at the other end by the transformational ideology of Martin Luther King.
New Age idealism is likewise expressed at one end of the spectrum by phony Tarot Card readers or channelers of alien “messages,” and at the other end by the spirit-filled poetry of Rumi or the meticulously-constructed integral systems of Ken Wilber. The lack of discernment or gullibility of those who hang out at the lower end of the New Age spectrum does not mean the whole spectrum is lacking.
We need to keep in mind that the New Age isn’t really new at all, but the latest expression of the Perennial Philosophy that has been enlightening minds and uplifting souls for thousands of years. It is absurd to suggest that this time-tested philosophy is somehow lacking in intellectual rigor. The thinkers and philosophers who delineated this philosophy are prominent and many -- Pythagoras and Plato, Spinoza and Hegel, Emerson and Thoreau. As William Irwin Thompson points out in Reimagination of the World, one can't dismiss the work of such men "without pulling apart the architecture of Western civilization."
Myth #4. The New Age is the work of Satan
The New Age movement puts forth many messages about unity, interdependence, love, compassion, hope, peace and harmony. Never once have I heard a New Ager promote anything negative or evil. Never once have I heard a New Ager trash Jesus or the Bible or Christianity. In fact, countless New Age books pay homage to Jesus as the wisest of men. And yet--
Fundamentalist Christian literature is rife with books which characterize the New Age as evil, a plot hatched by the devil to lure good people away from God and onto the slippery slope to hell. Of course, some Christians believe any non-Christian idea or belief is a threat, yet a prominent number display a particular animosity toward New Age ideas. The New Age movement, says one professor of theology, “is the most dangerous enemy of Christianity in the world today.”
This is the most odious, and most destructive, of all myths about the New Age. Here we live in a country celebrated for its diversity, a country founded on the principles of freedom and tolerance, yet we still have individuals using religion as an excuse to accuse those with different beliefs of being evil.
Of course, one reason Christians are so fearful of the movement is because of inaccurate myths like the ones above—the New Age promotes one world religion, the New Age promotes the occult. The irony is that it is Christian writers who did most of the work in building up these myths in the first place. They are basically crying out in alarm at a picture of the New Age they themselves have painted.
Although I believe most Christians today are enlightened enough, and secure enough in their spirituality to allow that there are many paths up the mountain, historical Christianity is a religion that rests on claims of exclusivity. Fundamentalist Christians have every right to insist their religion is the only path of salvation. They have every right to declare others to be wrong, to be lost. But to encourage the view that others are puppets of evil for their different understanding of God is in itself a most evil thing.
We New Agers tend to brush off such talk, rightly believing that it says far more about the fearful minds that put forth the accusation than it does about us. But if we let such intolerance stand -- whether it is directed at New Agers or those of other religions or sexual orientation -- then we allow it to flourish. To accuse anyone of being “the enemy” or in cahoots with the devil is essentially hate speech, and should never be tolerated -- in public or private.
These myths about the New Age are misunderstandings based on a lack of complete information, but that doesn‘t mean they are harmless. Their steady circulation helps the mainstream push the movement, and its healing idealism, to the fringe of society, and ensures that it can never be a threat to the status quo.
But we New Agers very much want to challenge the status quo, we very much want to bring real change to our society. We therefore cannot passively cooperate with mainstream attempts to marginalize us. We cannot let these myths about the New Age stand. We have to replace them with the truth whenever we see an opportunity to do so.
When you hear a myth repeated about the New Age, take a moment to correct it. Tell the manager of the bookstore that “New Age” and “Occult” are not the same thing. If you run across an article that uses the term “New Age” to describe some whacky, intellectually unsound idea, send an email or letter to the writer and object to the misuse and degradation of the term. Most important, if you see or hear a religious attack against the New Age that suggests it is the work of Satan, do not allow such intolerance to pass unremarked.
The New Age might not be a religion in the usual definition of the word, but as a philosophy that serves to connect us with Spirit, New Agers should be accorded the respect allowed any other spiritual belief system. We have a right to be proud of the New Age. But if we don’t start standing up for the true essence of the movement, we might as well get used to skulking around the edges of society, invisible and ineffective, without the rights or the respect to which we are entitled.
Go to Case For Revival.
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