New Age

Many of the ideas of the New Age movement are elements of older spiritual and religious traditions, from both east and west, melded with modern ideas from science especially psychology and ecology. Out of the movement have come a wide-ranging literature on spirituality, new musical styles and even crafts - most visible in specialty shops and New Age fairs. The name "New Age" also refers to part of the LOHAS market segment in which its goods and services are sold to people in the movement.

Definitions

Though there are no formal or definitive boundaries for membership; those who are likely to sample many

diverse teachings and practices (from both 'mainstream' and 'fringe' traditions) and to formulate their own

beliefs and practices based on their experiences can be considered as New Age. 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 mystical traditions of the worlds religions, also including shamanism, neopaganism and occultism.

Most New Age practices and beliefs may be characterized as a form of alternative spirituality or alternative religion. Even apparent exceptions, such as alternative medicine or traditional medicine practices, often have some spiritual dimension —such as a conceptual integration of mind, body, and spirit.

The term New Age is generally limited to a Western or modern context where the Judeo-Christian tradition and/or Positivism are dominant, so the use of "alternative" in New Age thought generally implies a contrast with these dominant religious and or scientific beliefs. Hence, many New Age ideas and practices contain either explicit or implied critiques of organised mainstream Christianity —emphasis on meditation suggests that simple prayer and faith is insufficient. Belief in reincarnation (which not all New Age followers accept) challenges familiar Christian doctrines of the afterlife.

Beliefs

Those categorizin

g themselves following as New Agers have multifarious beliefs, never the less certain themes emerge.

All humanity—indeed all life, everything in the universe—is spiritually interconnected, participating in the same energy. “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.” [12] 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.

New Age 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 considered by some, but not all, to be a wise and holy book. Many important truths are 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 avatar of Buddha. Feminine forms of spirituality, including feminine images of the divine, such as the female Aeon Sophia in Gnosticism, 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.

Meditation, yoga, t'ai chi ch'üan, and other Eastern practices are valuable and worthwhile. A certain critical mass of people with a highly spiritual consciousness will bring about a sudden change in the whole population. See Hundredth Monkey.

Science and spirituality are ultimately harmonious. New discoveries in science, e.g. evolution and quantum mechanics, when rightly understood, point to spiritual principles.

An appeal to the language of nature and mathematics, as evidenced by numerology in Kabbala, gnosticism etc., to discern the nature of god.

Some New Age writers influenced by Kabbala are moving away from the association of life and afterlife with karma and instead emphasizing our collective creative work and responsibility.

The food you eat has an effect on your mind as well as your body. It is generally preferable to eat fresh organic vegetarian food.

Ultimately every interpersonal relationship has the potential to be a helpful experience in terms of our own growth. We learn about ourselves through our relationships with other people by getting to see what we need to work on ourselves and what strengths we bring to the other party in order to help them in their life. All our relationships are destined to be repeated until they are healed, if necessary over many lifetimes. As Souls seeking wholeness, our goal is eventually to learn to love everyone we come in contact with.

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. [18] Certain geographic locations are believed to eminate special energy, which may be male or female in character. Many such places may have been considered sacred in the worlds religions or as healing places by indigenous native populations. Sacred places Rocks and crystals have special psychic energies and can be an aid to meditation and healing.

There are no coincidences (see Synchronicity). 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 powers and abilities, which have a spiritual significance. Dreams and psychic experiences are ways in which our souls express themselves. A positive attitude supported by affirmations will achieve success in anything.

There is a 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.

Medicine

Many people with a New Age perspective also adopt complementary and alternative medicine. [33] Some rely on New Age treatments exclusively, while others use them in combination with conventional medicine. This approach is regarded as completely compatible with New age belief in the unity of mind, body, spirit, and the emphasis on things of a natural origin. Some noteworthy New Age techniques are herbal medicine, Ayurveda, acupuncture, homeopathy, iridology, auras, and the use of crystals 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 metaphysical 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 Nazareth 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 rarely yield demonstrable improvements over standard techniques. Direct harm can result from a treatment such as acupuncture (bruising, dizziness, infection), from poorly prescribed herbal medicine or from an untrained person self-administering herbal medicines. Indirect harm can result when a person seeks new age treatment as a replacement for a proven scientific treatment, and in some cases this has resulted in death.

However, one benefit of New Age medicine's popularity, and its criticism of conventional medicine, has been to encourage many medical practitioners to pay closer attention to the entire patient's needs rather than just her or his specific disease San Francisco Medical Library. 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

Although more rock than new age in genre, the 1967 successful musical Hair with its opening song "Aquarius" and the memorable line "This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius" brought the New Age concept to the attention of a huge worldwide audience. The first actual use of the term in pop music was by American rock and roll band The Velvet Underground in their pessimistic 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 label such as Oregon, the Paul Winter Group, and other pre-ambient bands; as well as ambient performers such as Brian Eno. The Greek artist Yanni, one of the "superstars" of the New Age genre, relies heavily on synthesizers and instrumental "world music" sounds.

Vocal arrangements are also common. Enya, although claiming her music is not of this genre, has won a New Age Grammy 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. Additionally, instrumental albums often come with "liner notes" encouraging the music's use in meditation, and many albums have been recorded with specific design for this purpose.

While other genres like psy-trance/goa trance are not associated with New Age in their philosophies they can in some ways be likened to a New Age perspective. Psy-trance, especially, suggests a fusion of transcendental feeling and the individual's connectedness with the cosmos. This experience and the dance culture surrounding it may carry cultural memes about technology, parapsychology, artificial intelligence, as well as a view that thoughts may in fact determine reality.
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