New Age Theologies... What Are They?

Throughout the forums, I've noticed that members regularly use the term 'New Age' as if it is something just recently thought up (60's) and that it is a useless alternative to organized religion.

I consider those who ridicule such ideas 'out of hand' are doing so in order to bolster their affiliation with established religions rather that accept the possibility that there just might be something to them

I propose that, while some thinking evident in the movement (if I can call it that) seem to be truly 'new', they actually are not new ideas, but are instead a return to pre-Christian theologies and therefore must, for the most part, be thousands of years old.



Perhaps they are even the solid foundations upon which most of our contemporary organized religions have been built upon.

Here is a list of some of the main ideas;

link

New Age beliefs:
A number of fundamental beliefs are held by many New Age followers; individuals are encouraged to "shop" for the beliefs and practices that they feel most comfortable with:

-Monism: All that exists is derived from a single source of divine energy.

-Pantheism: All that exists is God; God is all that exists. This leads naturally to the concept of the divinity of the individual, that we are all Gods. They do not seek God as revealed in a sacred text or as exists in a remote heaven; they seek God within the self and throughout the entire universe.

-Panentheism: God is all that exists. God is at once the entire universe, and transcends the universe as well.
Reincarnation: After death, we are reborn and live another life as a human. This cycle repeats itself many times. This belief is similar to the concept of transmigration of the soul in Hinduism.

-Karma: The good and bad deeds that we do adds and subtracts from our accumulated record, our karma. At the end of our life, we are rewarded or punished according to our karma by being reincarnated into either a painful or good new life. This belief is linked to that of reincarnation and is also derived from Hinduism

-An Aura is believed to be an energy field radiated by the body. Invisible to most people, it can be detected by some as a shimmering, multi-colored field surrounding the body. Those skilled in detecting and interpreting auras can diagnose an individual's state of mind, and their spiritual and physical health.

-Personal Transformation A profoundly intense mystical experience will lead to the acceptance and use of New Age beliefs and practices. Guided imagery, hypnosis, meditation, and (sometimes) the use of hallucinogenic drugs are useful to bring about and enhance this transformation. Believers hope to develop new potentials within themselves: the ability to heal oneself and others, psychic powers, a new understanding of the workings of the universe, etc. Later, when sufficient numbers of people have achieved these powers, a major spiritual, physical, psychological and cultural planet-wide transformation is expected.

-Ecological Responsibility: A belief in the importance of uniting to preserve the health of the earth, which is often looked upon as Gaia, (Mother Earth) a living entity.

- Universal Religion: Since all is God, then only one reality exists, and all religions are simply different paths to that ultimate reality. The universal religion can be visualized as a mountain, with many sadhanas (spiritual paths) to the summit. Some are hard; others easy. There is no one correct path. All paths eventually reach the top. They anticipate that a new universal religion which contains elements of all current faiths will evolve and become generally accepted worldwide.

-New World Order As the Age of Aquarius unfolds, a New Age will develop. This will be a utopia in which there is world government, and end to wars, disease, hunger, pollution, and poverty. Gender, racial, religious and other forms of discrimination will cease. People's allegiance to their tribe or nation will be replaced by a concern for the entire world and its people.

What items do you feel best reflect your own thoughts and what might this list have left out?

en.wikipedia.org...
www.xs4all.nl...
link

Originally posted by masqua
Throughout the forums, I've noticed that members regularly use the term 'New Age' as if it is ..... a useless alternative to organized religion.

The 'New' of NewAge is somewhat an oxymoron, in one sense...

but i see the 'New' as meaning having a New look at alternatives to
western Christianity (Catholic & Protestant) which has narrow and
fundamental ways that one can 'progress' and 'grow' one's soul or
spiritual nature.
The NewAge has a great emphasis on the world we're in now...
than storing up treasures in a future 'heaven' as per OldWorld Christianity

Now, there are some Newer
NewAge philosophies that are recent, and will have to show me they aren't useless,
for instance Scientology &/or Dianetics
and a lot of 'cults' like Moonies, etc
but NewAge thought is encompassing and embracing rather than fundamentalist, so i can accept the characterization of NewAge as;
"...it is a useless alternative to organized religion"



for my own reasons, i have profound connection with the NewAge
ideas about morphic resonance/universal consciousness/noo-sphere
and shamanism with upper & lower worlds, dream time, etcetera.

thank you for the OP

As somewhat of a "New Ager" myself, I think I may be able to help a little. The "New Age" movement has sort of created a problem for itself because it cannot be easily defined. It is essentially a mixture of the Abrahamic faiths with the eastern religions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Shintoism.

Now, in the last 15 years it has broken off into all kinds of other directions. Earth relligions are considered "new age." Kabbalahism is considered "new age." Scientology is considered "new age." God have mercy!!

It is really an ununified belief system. Some refer it as being "The lazy man's theology." I don't really agree with that beause there are some really profound concepts in the "new age" arena, but, ... people are welcome to think as they wish.

It's not so much the theologies, as outlined in your post above, that I have a problem with, in ref to the term New Age (I've used many of the old systems myself and still do, and also I'm a pantheist)

What I personally consider to be 'New Agers', and who I don't want to be lumped in with, are the likes who advertise their 'services' to 're-unite you with your own guardian angel' for a nice sum of money for which they'll usually throw in a drawing of said Angel and a poem written uniquely for you by said Angel etc. etc. Or you see ads for a week on a Greek island (again for a nice sum) where you can lie naked on stones and give birth to a rock after re-uniting with Mother Earth etc. These people usually introduce their services with the hook of 'improve your life' - in a Born Again Christian kind of way. And are also into 'networking' in a way that appears more business minded than philanthropic.

Having studied Kabbalah privately for several years, I saw a samll ad in a newspaper for a Kabbalah group (before the celebs were into it) and I went along in the hope of meeting like-minded people. When I got there, it was obviously a commercial venture, with a fridge full of the now famous 'Kabbalah Water' (FFS!) and those hideous posters on the wall, those with ocean views and platitudes that are supposed to inspire you but only serve to demean the deep philosophical teachings of Kabbalah. I left in disgust before the 'class' began, and on the way out was handed a leaflet listing the upcoming courses...all promising to improve your life and all costing around £600-700. That is New Age Kabbalah. Not genuine Kabbalah.

I have no qualms with people following their own path - when the pupil is ready, the teacher will appear, and they don't usually ask for money!

That's my little rant

I'm going to have to say I subscribe to the "Pantheism" ideology.

Even though I was raised Christian, I no longer feel that a narrow definition of "what is and isn't" in God's plan appeals to me.

I feel I had a good foundation, and my studies into theology have shown me that essentially, all spiritual texts are pointing to the same thing if you're able to see beyond semantics.

I also believe the concept of duality is directly reflected in pantheism, in that if "god is everything" then there is also a dark side to that divinity as well. However, I choose not to pursue this avenue too deeply. It is there, and being aware of it is all that is needed to avoid pitfalls.

Hopefully we, as a spiritual community of people, can learn to overlook the shadow nature of the world and ourselves, and move forward into the light.

Some may not choose this path, and that is by all means, their choice.

But still, I find it hard not to try and appeal to the goodness in people.

Yeah, the Kabbalah is rather misunderstood by many. There is Madonna's "Kabbalah" and then there is the real deal. I like you do have a problem when the "New Age" is lumped with some of this bizzaro stuff like: Meet your personal angel or see a real unicorn. How the hell did things like unicorns ever become affiliated with "New Age" theology?

Like I said, I am a bit of a "New Ager" myself and there is much of this that they try to pass off as being "New Age" that is not what I would claim at all.

Masqua, as to your suggestion that many of the religions now existent were somehow shaped from "New Age" ideas you are probably correct. The "New age" is not new at all. As I stated, it is a mixture of beliefs that comprise all of the world's religions.

Anthropologically, there have always been (wo)men within "primitive" societies who were looked upon as possessing special knowledge and power. Medicine men, or shamans, had undergone a spontaneous catharsis, or were initiated and felt called upon to maintain contact with the spirit world for the clan.


When communities became more complex and organized there was little place for these loners. Society began to specialize, people realized and felt drawn to form groups, guilds, or societies, to ensure continuance and growing perfection. Contact with the spirit world was given into the hands of organized religion, which also provided an established answer to questions about the unknown and the Highest Power.

People who felt endowed with special powers could hardly adapt themselves to the corset of established faith. They went underground. Yet they endeavoured to contact kindred spirits and pupils willing to follow in their footsteps to pass on the work.

Esoteric tradition became handed down in spiritual groups, communes, or fraternities. Their mutual devotion resulted in a high degree of perfection comparable to the guilds of craftsmen. In their mystical experiences they beheld a spiritual reality that could hardly be reconciled with the dogmatic representation given by the churches. When passing on their experiences, they had to exercise extreme caution, lest being accused of heresy. Yet knowledgeable minds would understand their veiled writings, symbolic representations, or even gestures.
In spite of all hindrances and opposition, hidden (occult) spiritual tradition reached unknown shores! One of them being Europe, where interest in ancient traditions was revived at various times.

New Age

LOL. Yes, I think your built in BS Monitor is working well SpeakerofTruth. The unicorns and celebs etc doesn't help, and people tend to pigeon hole other people when they dont understand where you are coming from.

Generalise, you wrote:

Hopefully we, as a spiritual community of people, can learn to overlook the shadow nature of the world and ourselves, and move forward into the light.

Some may not choose this path, and that is by all means, their choice.

But still, I find it hard not to try and appeal to the goodness in people.

It's admirable to see the goodness in yourself and others, but think of the roots of a tree, underground in the dark. The roots go as deeply into the dark as the tree grows up into the light. It's only by looking into our own dark places and understanding them, that we can understand the darkness in others, and this usually leads to being able to see everyone as being the same. People tend to put on masks to cover or hide or overlook their shadowy parts, but you can't move forward with a mask on. Darkness and shadows don't take away from the goodness - they are usually protecting an ego, and only by exploring your own ego, and finding it hiding in all those places, realising why you react in a certain way in a certain situation, that you can sort it out. It's all just varying degrees of light really

In a nutshell it's life without the One True God.

The New Age will be brought about when the Antichrist comes to power. Won't that be exciting and then everyone can get what they want........ for a short time.

Originally posted by masqua
What items do you feel best reflect your own thoughts and what might this list have left out?

ALL of 'thee' ABOVE!

Ideas come and live then die...morph and change and fly away...yet they are like homing Pigeons! The ONE God's guaranteed umbilical cord with his beloved baby lamb (US) - the silver cord of the soul is the collective consciousness that we are beginning to manifest as the 'Mind of Christ' - and the new age term is 'Christ consciousness'.

I find that if are aware of our selves and accept 'me' AS IS yet approach life as a 'fixer upper' full of promise and profitable for ALL...we become conscious of something bigger than SELF...which is the ALL which is the life force of the human race...if we can love ourselves, both as YIN and YANG, and use intentional and focused thought to eliminate NEGATIVE energy from our little sphere and only emit and allow in the POSITIVE...then we only can love without any sort of judgment - more willing to ourselves suffer so that another doesn't have to...that is the manifestation of the Second Coming of Christ!

Unity and PEACE! But there is one thing I have learned, soundly and without contradiction...the SWORD comes to divide but the WORD has BOTH the first and the last!

IOW - the BEST is saved for the last - and the last will last forever.
Better to have 7000 years of war followed by endless millenia of peace and prosperity for our children and our children's children!
(which will really be us, returning in the cycle/circle of LIFE)

We must relearn the things that we did not learn the first go around...we are learning in the space of 'one season' which is approx. 13,000 years in the bigger time cycle...we lost the world and then buried ourselves in it, so to speak - because we desired to learn our lesson and not have to suffer sorrows at the hands of one another ever again.

So - yes - I truly believe that ALL of what we know and suspect and even fear these days in relation to spirituality/God/self is rooted in what many know as Babylon but more properly would be called Sumer. But the root of Sumer was not Sumer but a civilization long gone in which we did not live as 'beasts' (meaning in such a dense and cold amalgamation of light - which the cause of what we perceive to be mortality and blindness - being born 'in sin.')

We lived in the next higher level of our bodies - I forget what it is usually called - if it is the Desire body or what...

I'm not at all versed in the various jargons and their parent philosophies - mine is a UNIverse...
All in ONE and ONE for all
United we stand and divided we fall

This idea of gravity's unwillingness to yield to selfish human ways applies both to grace as well as towers (be they Old or New York or ancient/modern Babylon!)

We have ALL got to start watching out for one another - as the Buddha (east) said: 'if you do not care for eachother, who will care for you?' and Christ (west) said: Love your neighbor as yourself.

TRUTH doesn't change - if it is naked....but a change of clothes seems to change the inner person, to the sight of our eyes!

But change comes from inside - just as all things do. We are OUT doors first then we can enter IN doors!

I can respect those who believe in The One True God and leave it at that... no problem.

you say:

everyone can get what they want........ for a short time.

??? really? Do you suppose that Christians are for sure the Chosen People or has The One True God not changed his mind yet?

As far as I know, there is another religion in Jerusalem upon which Christianity was originally based and they still consider themselves to be the Chosen People as well.

So who is it?





But, this is getting way off-topic, isn't it (?), because here we are actually having a look at so-called NEW AGE theologies and where they started in the first place.

Perhaps you could start another thread talking about The antiChrist, the One True God and how it all fits together.

Originally posted by Sun Matrix
The New Age will be brought about when the Antichrist comes to power. Won't that be exciting and then everyone can get what they want........ for a short time.

Sun Matrix, while I don't think that the "anti-Christ" will come under the banner of the "New Age," actually I think he will despise "New agers," I do think that you are correct that for a short period, everyone will get what they want. Unfortunately, it will be short lived. You are correct in saying that.

[edit on 24-3-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

Originally posted by masqua
I can respect those who believe in The One True God and leave it at that... no problem. you say: everyone can get what they want........ for a short time.

??? really? Do you suppose that Christians are for sure the Chosen People or has The One True God not changed his mind yet?

As far as I know, there is another religion in Jerusalem upon which Christianity was originally based and they still consider themselves to be the Chosen People as well.

So who is it?


But, this is getting way off-topic, isn't it (?), because here we are actually having a look at so-called NEW AGE theologies and where they started in the first place.

Perhaps you could start another thread talking about The antiChrist, the One True God and how it all fits together.

To keep from going off topic...I answered your questions right here. (SIX DOWN FROM THE TOP.)

www.abovetopsecret.com...

There is a very significant undercurrent in some of the UFO oriented 'new age' beliefs, that mirrors an old Gnostic mantra that the Universe is inherently cruel and evil therefore the creator is evil, and the path to enlightenment is ultimately the path to escape this 'prison'. ATS heavyweight John Lear is one example of a person with beliefs something along these lines.

I'm no expert but I believe this idea is common among many of the ancient 'mystery' religions. Please correct me if I'm wrong on any or all the above. It's a fascinating religious concept for CT buffs, white is black, good is bad etc.

I think the original question was "What are New Age beliefs?" so I guess I l'll reply to that - nothing; there is no consensus. It seems to be a term used largely by people wishing to dismiss other people's personal religious beliefs without having to justify that dismissal. What always astounds me is the lack of respect given to people with idiosyncratic religious beliefs. Religious bigotry towards those with traditional beliefs is recognized for what it is, but outside of that there often seems to be little respect. This of course is one of the many tests of a tolerant, democratic society. As near as I can determine, the recent history of "new age" beliefs seems to have derived through many convoluted threads from 19th century spiritualism (read theosophism here)

en.wikipedia.org...

; which itself of course derives from many antecedants. Personally I find a lot of very optimistic belief systems somewhat "fluffy" and cliched - and of course as mentioned linked to commercial ventures.
A serious consideration of this "class" of belief systems entails I think an examination of the specifics in question - which belief systems and when?
Are we talking about Jane Roberts Seth channelings? or is it Ram Dass? Are we considering the Micheal books authored by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro? Or do we talk about the contactee phenomenon in the 40's? Come to think of it - there does seem to be a thread weaving throughout all of these beliefs - that of idealism in the technical sense. Idealism is not really about going about the world with rose coloured glasses; but, the conviction that reality is actually composed of mind stuff, not stuff stuff. The question of whether or not it is "new" seems irrelevant to me. The fascination with the new has more to do with modernism as a trend.

Ultimately it seems that any philosophy/idea/weltangshung that contradicts a soley materialistic view of reality is considered new age. Traditional religions are excepted from this rule for purely prcatical reasons.
Generally speaking, these religious ventures have something of an ideological truce with the materialistic virtues. No one accuses an atheist of being psychopathic.
Also - the gnostic question is more complex than a simple Zoroastrian belief in good vs. evil. As I understand gnosticism, the material world is created by a demiurge, which in itself is not evil but a certain manifestation of the divine, which is understood properly as unfortuneate - a necessary evil. The demiurge is a manifestion of pure will which is seen as ancillary to the act of creation.

In my personal opinion, the New Age Movement is tied in with record sales of the New Age genre. Enya kicked it in the mid 90's, full swing.

As I understand its offering in this sense, New Age is an adaptation of current models of religion, often leaving out the parts the subscriber does not like, while substituting from another religion that which is more appropriate, for them. It's kind of like a hodge podge of sorts.

The one common theme brought about is the use of meditation, where you attempt to contact whatever it is you seek: Inner Self, Conscious contact with, projection, out-of-body experience, whatever.