3 NEW AGE AND CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY

3.1. New Age as spirituality

New Age is often referred to by those who promote it as a “new spirituality”. It seems ironic to call it “new” when so many of its ideas have been taken from ancient religions and cultures. But what really is new is that New Age is a conscious search for an alternative to Western culture and its Judaeo-Christian religious roots. “Spirituality” in this way refers to the inner experience of harmony and unity with the whole of reality, which heals each human person's feelings of imperfection and finiteness. People discover their profound connectedness with the sacred universal force or energy which is the nucleus of all life. When they have made this discovery, men and women can set out on a path to perfection, which will enable them to sort out their personal lives and their relationship to the world, and to take their place in the universal process of becoming and in the New Genesis of a world in constant evolution. The result is a cosmic mysticism ⁵¹ based on people's awareness of a universe burgeoning with dynamic energies. Thus cosmic energy, vibration, light, God, love – even the supreme Self – all refer to one and the same reality, the primal source present in every being.

This spirituality consists of two distinct elements, one metaphysical, the other psychological. The metaphysical component comes from New Age's esoteric and theosophical roots, and is basically a new form of gnosis. Access to the divine is by knowledge of hidden mysteries, in each individual's search for “the real behind what is only apparent, the origin beyond time, the transcendent beyond what is merely fleeting, the primordial tradition behind merely ephemeral tradition, the other behind the self, the cosmic divinity beyond the incarnate individual”. Esoteric spirituality “is an investigation of Being beyond the separateness of beings, a sort of nostalgia for lost unity”.⁵²  

“Here one can see the gnostic matrix of esoteric spirituality. It is evident when the children of Aquarius search for the Transcendent Unity of religions. They tend to pick out of the historical religions only the esoteric nucleus, whose guardians they claim to be. They somehow deny history and will not accept that spirituality can be rooted in time or in any institution. Jesus of Nazareth is not God, but one of the many historical manifestations of the cosmic and universal Christ”.⁵³

The psychological component of this kind of spirituality comes from the encounter between esoteric culture and psychology (cf. 2.32). New Age thus becomes an experience of personal psycho- spiritual transformation, seen as analogous to religious experience. For some people this transformation takes the form of a deep mystical experience, after a personal crisis or a lengthy spiritual search. For others it comes from the use of meditation or some sort of therapy, or from paranormal experiences which alter states of consciousness and provide insight into the unity of reality.⁵⁴

3.2. Spiritual narcissism?

Several authors see New Age spirituality as a kind of spiritual narcissism or pseudo-mysticism. It is interesting to note that this criticism was put forward even by an important exponent of New Age, David Spangler, who, in his later works, distanced himself from the more esoteric aspects of this current of thought.

He wrote that, in the more popular forms of New Age, “individuals and groups are living out their own fantasies of adventure and power, usually of an occult or millenarian form.... The principal characteristic of this level is attachment to a private world of ego- fulfilment and a consequent (though not always apparent) withdrawal from the world. On this level, the New Age has become populated with strange and exotic beings, masters, adepts, extraterrestrials; it is a place of psychic powers and occult mysteries, of conspiracies and hidden teachings”.⁵⁵

In a later work, David Spangler lists what he sees as the negative elements or “shadows” of the New Age: “alienation from the past in the name of the future; attachment to novelty for its own sake...; indiscriminateness and lack of discernment in the name of wholeness and communion, hence the failure to understand or respect the role of boundaries...; confusion of psychic phenomena with wisdom, of channeling with spirituality, of the New Age perspective with ultimate truth”.⁵⁶ But, in the end, Spangler is convinced that selfish, irrational narcissism is limited to just a few new- agers. The positive aspects he stresses are the function of New Age as an image of change and as an incarnation of the sacred, a movement in which most people are “very serious seekers after truth”, working in the interest of life and inner growth.

The commercial aspect of many products and therapies which bear the New Age label is brought out by David Toolan, an American Jesuit who spent several years in the New Age milieu. He observes that new-agers have discovered the inner life and are fascinated by the prospect of being responsible for the world, but that they are also easily overcome by a tendency to individualism and to viewing everything as an object of consumption. In this sense, while it is not Christian, New Age spirituality is not Buddhist either, inasmuch as it does not involve self-denial. The dream of mystical union seems to lead, in practice, to a merely virtual union, which, in the end, leaves people more alone and unsatisfied.

3.3. The Cosmic Christ

In the early days of Christianity, believers in Jesus Christ were forced to face up to the gnostic religions. They did not ignore them, but took the challenge positively and applied the terms used of cosmic deities to Christ himself. The clearest example of this is in the famous hymn to Christ in Saint Paul 's letter to the Christians at Colossae :

“He is the image of the unseen God and the first-born of all creation,
for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth:
everything visible and everything invisible,
Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers–
all things were created through him and for him.
Before anything was created, he existed, and he holds all things in unity.
Now the Church is his body, he is its head.
As he is the Beginning, he was first to be born from the dead,
so that he should be first in every way;
because God wanted all perfection to be found in him
and all things to be reconciled through him and for him,
everything in heaven and everything on earth,
when he made peace by his death on the cross” ( Col 1: 15-20).

For these early Christians, there was no new cosmic age to come; what they were celebrating with this hymn was the Fulfilment of all things which had begun in Christ. “Time is indeed fulfilled by the very fact that God, in the Incarnation, came down into human history. Eternity entered into time: what 'fulfilment' could be greater than this? What other 'fulfilment' would be possible?” ⁵⁷ Gnostic belief in cosmic powers and some obscure kind of destiny withdraws the possibility of a relationship to a personal God revealed in Christ. For Christians, the real cosmic Christ is the one who is present actively in the various members of his body, which is the Church. They do not look to impersonal cosmic powers, but to the loving care of a personal God; for them cosmic bio-centrism has to be transposed into a set of social relationships (in the Church); and they are not locked into a cyclical pattern of cosmic events, but focus on the historical Jesus, in particular on his crucifixion and resurrection. We find in the Letter to the Colossians and in the New Testament a doctrine of God different from that implicit in New Age thought: the Christian conception of God is one of a Trinity of Persons who has created the human race out of a desire to share the communion of Trinitarian life with creaturely persons. Properly understood, this means that authentic spirituality is not so much our search for God but God's search for us.

Another, completely different, view of the cosmic significance of Christ has become current in New Age circles. “The Cosmic Christ is the divine pattern that connects in the person of Jesus Christ (but by no means is limited to that person). The divine pattern of connectivity was made flesh and set up its tent among us (John 1:14).... The Cosmic Christ... leads a new exodus from the bondage and pessimistic views of a Newtonian, mechanistic universe so ripe with competition, winners and losers, dualisms, anthropocentrism, and the boredom that comes when our exciting universe is pictured as a machine bereft of mystery and mysticism. The Cosmic Christ is local and historical, indeed intimate to human history. The Cosmic Christ might be living next door or even inside one's deepest and truest self”.⁵⁸ Although this statement may not satisfy everyone involved in New Age, it does catch the tone very well, and it shows with absolute clarity where the differences between these two views of Christ lie. For New Age the Cosmic Christ is seen as a pattern which can be repeated in many people, places and times; it is the bearer of an enormous paradigm shift; it is ultimately a potential within us.

According to Christian belief, Jesus Christ is not a pattern, but a divine person whose human-divine figure reveals the mystery of the Father's love for every person throughout history (Jn 3:16); he lives in us because he shares his life with us, but it is neither imposed nor automatic. All men and women are invited to share his life, to live “in Christ”.

3.4. Christian mysticism and New Age mysticism

For Christians, the spiritual life is a relationship with God which gradually through his grace becomes deeper, and in the process also sheds light on our relationship with our fellow men and women, and with the universe. Spirituality in New Age terms means experiencing states of consciousness dominated by a sense of harmony and fusion with the Whole. So “mysticism” refers not to meeting the transcendent God in the fulness of love, but to the experience engendered by turning in on oneself, an exhilarating sense of being at one with the universe, a sense of letting one's individuality sink into the great ocean of Being.⁵⁹

This fundamental distinction is evident at all levels of comparison between Christian mysticism and New Age mysticism. The New Age way of purification is based on awareness of unease or alienation, which is to be overcome by immersion into the Whole. In order to be converted, a person needs to make use of techniques which lead to the experience of illumination. This transforms a person's consciousness and opens him or her to contact with the divinity, which is understood as the deepest essence of reality.

The techniques and methods offered in this immanentist religious system, which has no concept of God as person, proceed 'from below'. Although they involve a descent into the depths of one's own heart or soul, they constitute an essentially human enterprise on the part of a person who seeks to rise towards divinity by his or her own efforts. It is often an “ascent” on the level of consciousness to what is understood to be a liberating awareness of “the god within”. Not everyone has access to these techniques, whose benefits are restricted to a privileged spiritual 'aristocracy'.

The essential element in Christian faith, however, is God's descent towards his creatures, particularly towards the humblest, those who are weakest and least gifted according to the values of the “world”. There are spiritual techniques which it is useful to learn, but God is able to by-pass them or do without them. A Christian's “method of getting closer to God is not based on any technique in the strict sense of the word. That would contradict the spirit of childhood called for by the Gospel. The heart of genuine Christian mysticism is not technique: it is always a gift of God; and the one who benefits from it knows himself to be unworthy”.⁶⁰  

For Christians, conversion is turning back to the Father, through the Son, in docility to the power of the Holy Spirit. The more people progress in their relationship with God – which is always and in every way a free gift – the more acute is the need to be converted from sin, spiritual myopia and self-infatuation, all of which obstruct a trusting self-abandonment to God and openness to other men and women.

All meditation techniques need to be purged of presumption and pretentiousness. Christian prayer is not an exercise in self-contemplation, stillness and self-emptying, but a dialogue of love, one which “implies an attitude of conversion, a flight from 'self' to the 'You' of God”.⁶¹ It leads to an increasingly complete surrender to God's will, whereby we are invited to a deep, genuine solidarity with our brothers and sisters.⁶²

3.5. The “god within“ and “theosis”

Here is a key point of contrast between New Age and Christianity. So much New Age literature is shot through with the conviction that there is no divine being “out there”, or in any real way distinct from the rest of reality. From Jung's time onwards there has been a stream of people professing belief in “the god within”. Our problem, in a New Age perspective, is our inability to recognise our own divinity, an inability which can be overcome with the help of guidance and the use of a whole variety of techniques for unlocking our hidden (divine) potential. The fundamental idea is that 'God' is deep within ourselves. We are gods, and we discover the unlimited power within us by peeling off layers of inauthenticity.⁶³ The more this potential is recognised, the more it is realised, and in this sense the New Age has its own idea of theosis, becoming divine or, more precisely, recognising and accepting that we are divine. We are said by some to be living in “an age in which our understanding of God has to be interiorised: from the Almighty God out there to God the dynamic, creative power within the very centre of all being: God as Spirit”.⁶⁴  

In the Preface to Book V of Adversus Haereses, Saint Irenaeus refers to “Jesus Christ, who did, through His transcendent love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself”. Here theosis, the Christian understanding of divinisation, comes about not through our own efforts alone, but with the assistance of God's grace working in and through us. It inevitably involves an initial awareness of incompleteness and even sinfulness, in no way an exaltation of the self. Furthermore, it unfolds as an introduction into the life of the Trinity, a perfect case of distinction at the heart of unity; it is synergy rather than fusion. This all comes about as the result of a personal encounter, an offer of a new kind of life. Life in Christ is not something so personal and private that it is restricted to the realm of consciousness. Nor is it merely a new level of awareness. It involves being transformed in our soul and in our body by participation in the sacramental life of the Church.

4 NEW AGE AND CHRISTIAN FAITH IN CONTRAST

It is difficult to separate the individual elements of New Age religiosity – innocent though they may appear – from the overarching framework which permeates the whole thought-world on the New Age movement. The gnostic nature of this movement calls us to judge it in its entirety. From the point of view of Christian faith, it is not possible to isolate some elements of New Age religiosity as acceptable to Christians, while rejecting others. Since the New Age movement makes much of a communication with nature, of cosmic knowledge of a universal good – thereby negating the revealed contents of Christian faith – it cannot be viewed as positive or innocuous. In a cultural environment, marked by religious relativism, it is necessary to signal a warning against the attempt to place New Age religiosity on the same level as Christian faith, making the difference between faith and belief seem relative, thus creating greater confusion for the unwary. In this regard, it is useful to remember the exhortation of St. Paul “to instruct certain people not to teach false doctrine or to concern themselves with myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the plan of God that is to be received by faith” (1 Tim 1:3-4). Some practices are incorrectly labeled as New Age simply as a marketing strategy to make them sell better, but are not truly associated with its worldview. This only adds to the confusion. It is therefore necessary to accurately identify those elements which belong to the New Age movement, and which cannot be accepted by those who are faithful to Christ and his Church.

The following questions may be the easiest key to evaluating some of the central elements of New Age thought and practice from a Christian standpoint. “New Age” refers to the ideas which circulate about God, the human being and the world, the people with whom Christians may have conversations on religious matters, the publicity material for meditation groups, therapies and the like, explicit statements on religion and so on. Some of these questions applied to people and ideas not explicitly labelled New Age would reveal further unnamed or unacknowledged links with the whole New Age atmosphere.

_* Is God a being with whom we have a relationship or something to be used or a force to be harnessed?

The New Age concept of God is rather diffuse, whereas the Christian concept is a very clear one. The New Age god is an impersonal energy, really a particular extension or component of the cosmos; god in this sense is the life-force or soul of the world. Divinity is to be found in every being, in a gradation “from the lowest crystal of the mineral world up to and beyond the Galactic God himself, about Whom we can say nothing at all. This is not a man but a Great Consciousness”.⁶⁵ In some “classic” New Age writings, it is clear that human beings are meant to think of themselves as gods: this is more fully developed in some people than in others. God is no longer to be sought beyond the world, but deep within myself.⁶⁶ Even when “God” is something outside myself, it is there to be manipulated.

This is very different from the Christian understanding of God as the maker of heaven and earth and the source of all personal life. God is in himself personal, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who created the universe in order to share the communion of his life with creaturely persons. “God, who 'dwells in unapproachable light', wants to communicate his own divine life to the men he freely created, in order to adopt them as his sons in his only-begotten Son. By revealing himself God wishes to make them capable of responding to him, and of knowing him, and of loving him far beyond their own natural capacity”.⁶⁷God is not identified with the Life-principle understood as the “Spirit” or “basic energy” of the cosmos, but is that love which is absolutely different from the world, and yet creatively present in everything, and leading human beings to salvation.  

_* Is there just one Jesus Christ, or are there thousands of Christs? 

Jesus Christ is often presented in New Age literature as one among many wise men, or initiates, or avatars, whereas in Christian tradition He is the Son of God. Here are some common points in New Age approaches: 

– the personal and individual historical Jesus is distinct from the eternal, impersonal universal Christ; 

– Jesus is not considered to be the only Christ; 

– the death of Jesus on the cross is either denied or re-interpreted to exclude the idea that He, as Christ, could have suffered; 

– extra-biblical documents (like the neo-gnostic gospels) are considered authentic sources for the knowledge of aspects of the life of Jesus which are not to be found in the canon of Scripture. Other revelations about Jesus, made available by entities, spirit guides and ascended masters, or even through the Akasha Chronicles, are basic for New Age christology; 

– a kind of esoteric exegesis is applied to biblical texts to purify Christianity of the formal religion which inhibits access to its esoteric essence.⁶⁸ 

In the Christian Tradition Jesus Christ is the Jesus of Nazareth about which the gospels speak, the son of Mary and the only Son of God, true man and true God, the full revelation of divine truth, unique Saviour of the world: “for our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father”.⁶⁹ 

_* The human being: is there one universal being or are there many individuals? 

“The point of New Age techniques is to reproduce mystical states at will, as if it were a matter of laboratory material. Rebirth, biofeedback, sensory isolation, holotropic breathing, hypnosis, mantras, fasting, sleep deprivation and transcendental meditation are attempts to control these states and to experience them continuously”.⁷⁰ These practices all create an atmosphere of psychic weakness (and vulnerability). When the object of the exercise is that we should re-invent our selves, there is a real question of who “I” am. “God within us” and holistic union with the whole cosmos underline this question. Isolated individual personalities would be pathological in terms of New Age (in particular transpersonal psychology). But “the real danger is the holistic paradigm. New Age is thinking based on totalitarian unity and that is why it is a danger...”.⁷¹ More moderately: “We are authentic when we 'take charge of' ourselves, when our choice and reactions flow spontaneously from our deepest needs, when our behaviour and expressed feelings reflect our personal wholeness”.⁷² The Human Potential Movement is the clearest example of the conviction that humans are divine, or contain a divine spark within themselves. 

The Christian approach grows out of the Scriptural teachings about human nature; men and women are created in God's image and likeness (Gen 1.27) and God takes great consideration of them, much to the relieved surprise of the Psalmist (cf. Ps 8). The human person is a mystery fully revealed only in Jesus Christ (cf. GS 22),and in fact becomes authentically human properly in his relationship with Christ through the gift of the Spirit.⁷³This is far from the caricature of anthropocentrism ascribed to Christianity and rejected by many New Age authors and practitioners. 

_* Do we save ourselves or is salvation a free gift from God? 

The key is to discover by what or by whom we believe we are saved. Do we save ourselves by our own actions, as is often the case in New Age explanations, or are we saved by God's love? Key words are self-fulfilment and self-realisation, self-redemption. New Age is essentially Pelagian in its understanding of about human nature.⁷⁴ 

For Christians, salvation depends on a participation in the passion, death and resurrection of Christ, and on a direct personal relationship with God rather than on any technique. The human situation, affected as it is by original sin and by personal sin, can only be rectified by God's action: sin is an offense against God, and only God can reconcile us to himself. In the divine plan of salvation, human beings have been saved by Jesus Christ who, as God and man, is the one mediator of redemption. In Christianity salvation is not an experience of self, a meditative and intuitive dwelling within oneself, but much more the forgiveness of sin, being lifted out of profound ambivalences in oneself and the calming of nature by the gift of communion with a loving God. The way to salvation is not found simply in a self-induced transformation of consciousness, but in a liberation from sin and its consequences which then leads us to struggle against sin in ourselves and in the society around us. It necessarily moves us toward loving solidarity with our neighbour in need. 

_* Do we invent truth or do we embrace it? 

New Agetruth is about good vibrations, cosmic correspondences, harmony and ecstasy, in general pleasant experiences. It is a matter of finding one's own truth in accordance with the feel- good factor. Evaluating religion and ethical questions is obviously relative to one's own feelings and experiences. 

Jesus Christ is presented in Christian teaching as “The Way, the Truth and the Life” (Jn 14.6). His followers are asked to open their whole lives to him and to his values, in other words to an objective set of

_* Prayer and meditation: are we talking to ourselves or to God? 

The tendency to confuse psychology and spirituality makes it hard not to insist that many of the meditation techniques now used are not prayer. They are often a good preparation for prayer, but no more, even if they lead to a more pleasant state of mind or bodily comfort. The experiences involved are genuinely intense, but to remain at this level is to remain alone, not yet in the presence of the other. The achievement of silence can confront us with emptiness, rather than the silence of contemplating the beloved. It is also true that techniques for going deeper into one's own soul are ultimately an appeal to one's own ability to reach the divine, or even to become divine: if they forget God's search for the human heart they are still not Christian prayer. Even when it is seen as a link with the Universal Energy, “such an easy 'relationship' with God, where God's function is seen as supplying all our needs, shows the selfishness at the heart of this New Age”.⁷⁵ 

New Age practices are not really prayer, in that they are generally a question of introspection or fusion with cosmic energy, as opposed to the double orientation of Christian prayer, which involves introspection but is essentially also a meeting with God. Far from being a merely human effort, Christian mysticism is essentially a dialogue which “implies an attitude of conversion, a flight from 'self' to the 'you' of God”.⁷⁶“The Christian, even when he is alone and prays in secret, he is conscious that he always prays for the good of the Church in union with Christ, in the Holy Spirit and together with all the saints”.⁷⁷ 

_* Are we tempted to deny sin or do we accept that there is such a thing? 

In New Age there is no real concept of sin, but rather one of imperfect knowledge; what is needed is enlightenment, which can be reached through particular psycho-physical techniques. Those who take part in New Age activities will not be told what to believe, what to do or what not to do, but: “There are a thousand ways of exploring inner reality. Go where your intelligence and intuition lead you. Trust yourself”.⁷⁸ Authority has shifted from a theistic location to within the self. The most serious problem perceived in New Age thinking is alienation from the whole cosmos, rather than personal failure or sin. The remedy is to become more and more immersed in the whole of being. In some New Age writings and practices, it is clear that one life is not enough, so there have to be reincarnations to allow people to realise their full potential. 

In the Christian perspective “only the light of divine Revelation clarifies the reality of sin and particularly of the sin committed at mankind's origins. Without the knowledge Revelation gives of God we cannot recognize sin clearly and are tempted to explain it as merely a development flaw, a psychological weakness, a mistake, or the necessary consequence of an inadequate social structure, etc. Only in the knowledge of God's plan for man can we grasp that sin is an abuse of freedom that God gives to created persons so that they are capable of loving him and loving one another”.⁷⁹Sin is an offense against reason, truth and right conscience; it is a failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity...⁸⁰Sin is an offense against God... sin sets itself against God's love for us and turns our hearts away from it... Sin is thus 'love of oneself even to contempt of God'”.⁸¹ 

_* Are we encouraged to reject or accept suffering and death? 

Some New Age writers view suffering as self-imposed, or as bad karma,or at least as a failure to harness one's own resources. Others concentrate on methods of achieving success and wealth (e.g. Deepak Chopra, José Silva et al.). In New Age, reincarnation is often seen as a necessary element in spiritual growth, a stage in progressive spiritual evolution which began before we were born and will continue after we die. In our present lives the experience of the death of other people provokes a healthy crisis. 

Both cosmic unity and reincarnation are irreconcilable with the Christian belief that a human person is a distinct being, who lives one life, for which he or she is fully responsible: this understanding of the person puts into question both responsibility and freedom. Christians know that “in the cross of Christ not only is the redemption accomplished through suffering, but also human suffering itself has been redeemed. Christ – without any fault of his own – took on himself 'the total evil of sin'. The experience of this evil determined the incomparable extent of Christ's suffering, which became the price of the redemption... The Redeemer suffered in place of man and for man. Every man has his own share in the redemption, Each one is also called to share in that suffering through which the redemption was accomplished. He is called to share in that suffering through which all human suffering has also been redeemed. In bringing about the redemption through suffering, Christ has also raised human suffering to the level of the redemption. Thus each man in his suffering can also become a sharer in the redemptive suffering of Christ”.⁸² 

_* Is social commitment something shirked or positively sought after? 

Much in New Age is unashamedly self-promotion, but some leading figures in the movement claim that it is unfair to judge the whole movement by a minority of selfish, irrational and narcissistic people, or to allow oneself to be dazzled by some of their more bizarre practices, which are a block to seeing in New Age a genuine spiritual search and spirituality.⁸³ The fusion of individuals into the cosmic self, the relativisation or abolition of difference and opposition in a cosmic harmony, is unacceptable to Christianity.  

Where there is true love, there has to be a different other (person). A genuine Christian searches for unity in the capacity and freedom of the other to say “yes” or “no” to the gift of love. Union is seen in Christianity as communion, unity as community. 

_* Is our future in the stars or do we help to construct it? 

The New Age which is dawning will be peopled by perfect, androgynous beings who are totally in command of the cosmic laws of nature. In this scenario, Christianity has to be eliminated and give way to a global religion and a new world order. 

Christians are in a constant state of vigilance, ready for the last days when Christ will come again; their New Age began 2000 years ago, with Christ, who is none other than “Jesus of Nazareth; he is the Word of God made man for the salvation of all”. His Holy Spirit is present and active in the hearts of individuals, in “society and history, peoples, cultures and religions”. In fact, “the Spirit of the Father, bestowed abundantly by the Son, is the animator of all”.⁸⁴We live in the last times. 

On the one hand, it is clear that many New Age practices seem to those involved in them not to raise doctrinal questions; but, at the same time, it is undeniable that these practices themselves communicate, even if only indirectly, a mentality which can influence thinking and inspire a very particular vision of reality. Certainly New Age creates its own atmosphere, and it can be hard to distinguish between things which are innocuous and those which really need to be questioned. However, it is well to be aware that the doctrine of the Christ spread in New Age circles is inspired by the theosophical teachings of Helena Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophy and Alice Bailey's “ Arcane School ”. Their contemporary followers are not only promoting their ideas now, but also working with New Agers to develop a completely new understanding of reality, a doctrine known by some observers as “New Age truth”.⁸⁵  

5 JESUS CHRIST OFFERS US THE WATER OF LIFE

The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord. He is at the heart of every Christian action, and every Christian message. So the Church constantly returns to meet her Lord. The Gospels tell of many meetings with Jesus, from the shepherds in Bethlehem to the two thieves crucified with him, from the wise elders who listened to him in the Temple to the disciples walking miserably towards Emmaus. But one episode that speaks really clearly about what he offers us is the story of his encounter with the Samaritan woman by Jacob's well in the fourth chapter of John's Gospel; it has even been described as “a paradigm for our engagement with truth”.⁸⁶ The experience of meeting the stranger who offers us the water of life is a key to the way Christians can and should engage in dialogue with anyone who does not know Jesus. 

One of the attractive elements of John's account of this meeting is that it takes the woman a while even to glimpse what Jesus means by the water 'of life', or 'living' water (verse 11). Even so, she is fascinated – not only by the stranger himself, but also by his message – and this makes her listen. After her initial shock at realising what Jesus knew about her (“You are right in saying 'I have no husband': for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband; this you said truly”, verses 17- 18), she was quite open to his word: “I see you are a prophet, Sir” (verse 19). The dialogue about the adoration of God begins: “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews” (verse 22). Jesus touched her heart and so prepared her to listen to what He had to say about Himself as the Messiah: “I who am speaking to you – I am he” (verse 26), prepared her to open her heart to the true adoration in Spirit and the self-revelation of Jesus as God's Anointed. 

¹Helen Bergin o.p., “Living One's Truth”, in The Furrow, January 2000,
p. 12. 

The woman “put down her water jar and hurried back to the town to tell the people” all about the man (verse 28). The remarkable effect on the woman of her encounter with the stranger made them so curious that they, too, “started walking towards him” (verse 30). They soon accepted the truth of his identity: “Now we no longer believe because of what you told us; we have heard him ourselves and we know that he really is the saviour of the world” (verse 42). They move from hearing about Jesus to knowing him personally, then understanding the universal significance of his identity. This all happens because their minds, their hearts and more are engaged. 

The fact that the story takes place by a well is significant. Jesus offers the woman “a spring... welling up to eternal life” (verse 14). The gracious way in which Jesus deals with the woman is a model for pastoral effectiveness, helping others to be truthful without suffering in the challenging process of self-recognition (“he told me every thing I have done“, verse 39). This approach could yield a rich harvest in terms of people who may have been attracted to the water-carrier (Aquarius) but who are genuinely still seeking the truth. They should be invited to listen to Jesus, who offers us not simply something that will quench our thirst today, but the hidden spiritual depths of “living water”. It is important to acknowledge the sincerity of people searching for the truth; there is no question of deceit or of self-deception. It is also important to be patient, as any good educator knows. A person embraced by the truth is suddenly energised by a completely new sense of freedom, especially from past failures and fears, and “the one who strives for self-knowledge, like the woman at the well, will affect others with a desire to know the truth that can free them too”.⁸⁷ 

An invitation to meet Jesus Christ, the bearer of the water of life, will carry more weight if it is made by someone who has clearly been profoundly affected by his or her own encounter with Jesus, because it is made not by someone who has simply heard about him, but by someone who can be sure “that he really is the saviour of the world” (verse 42). It is a matter of letting people react in their own way, at their own pace, and letting God do the rest. 

6 POINTS TO NOTE

6.1. Guidance and sound formation are needed 

Christ or Aquarius? New Age is almost always linked with “alternatives”, either an alternative vision of reality or an alternative way of improving one's current situation (magic).⁸⁸ Alternatives offer people not two possibilities, but only the possibility of choosing one thing in preference to another: in terms of religion, New Age offers an alternative to the Judaeo-Christian heritage. The Age of Aquarius is conceived as one which will replace the predominantly Christian Age of Pisces. New Age thinkers are acutely aware of this; some of them are convinced that the coming change is inevitable, while others are actively committed to assisting its arrival. People who wonder if it is possible to believe in both Christ and Aquarius can only benefit from knowing that this is very much an “either-or” situation. “No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn” (Lk 16.13). Christians have only to think of the difference between the wise men from the East and King Herod to recognise the powerful effects of choice for or against Christ. It must never be forgotten that many of the movements which have fed the New Age are explicitly anti-Christian. Their stance towards Christianity is not neutral, but neutralising: despite what is often said about openness to all religious standpoints, traditional Christianity is not sincerely regarded as an acceptable alternative. In fact, it is occasionally made abundantly clear that “there is no tolerable place for true Christianity”, and there are even arguments justifying anti-Christian behaviour.⁸⁹ This opposition initially was confined to the rarefied realms of those who go beyond a superficial attachment to New Age, but has begun more recently to permeate all levels of the “alternative” culture which has an extraordinarily powerful appeal, above all in sophisticated Western societies.  

Fusion or confusion? New Age traditions consciously and deliberately blur real differences: between creator and creation, between humanity and nature, between religion and psychology, between subjective and objective reality. The idealistic intention is always to overcome the scandal of division, but in New Age theory it is a question of the systematic fusion of elements which have generally been clearly distinguished in Western culture. Is it, perhaps, fair to call it “confusion”? It is not playing with words to say that New Age thrives on confusion. The Christian tradition has always valued the role of reason in justifying faith and in understanding God, the world and the human person.⁹⁰ New Age has caught the mood of many in rejecting cold, calculating, inhuman reason. While this is a positive insight, recalling the need for a balance involving all our faculties, it does not justify sidelining a faculty which is essential for a fully human life. Rationality has the advantage of universality: it is freely available to everyone, quite unlike the mysterious and fascinating character of esoteric or gnostic “mystical” religion. Anything which promotes conceptual confusion or secrecy needs to be very carefully scrutinised. It hides rather than reveals the ultimate nature of reality. It corresponds to the post-modern loss of confidence in the bold certainties of former times, which often involves taking refuge in irrationality. The challenge is to show how a healthy partnership between faith and reason enhances human life and encourages respect for creation. 

Create your own reality. The widespread New Age conviction that one creates one's own reality is appealing, but illusory. It is crystallised in Jung's theory that the human being is a gateway from the outer world into an inner world of infinite dimensions, where each person is Abraxas, who gives birth to his own world or devours it. The star that shines in this infinite inner world is man's God and goal. The most poignant and problematic consequence of the acceptance of the idea that people create their own reality is the question of suffering and death: people with severe handicaps or incurable diseases feel cheated and demeaned when confronted by the suggestion that they have brought their misfortune upon themselves, or that their inability to change things points to a weakness in their approach to life. This is far from being a purely academic issue: it has profound implications in the Church's pastoral approach to the difficult existential questions everyone faces. Our limitations are a fact of life, and part of being a creature. Death and bereavement present a challenge and an opportunity, because the temptation to take refuge in a westernised reworking of the notion of reincarnation is clear proof of people's fear of death and their desire to live forever. Do we make the most of our opportunities to recall what is promised by God in the resurrection of Jesus Christ? How real is the faith in the resurrection of the body, which Christians proclaim every Sunday in the creed? The New Age idea that we are in some sense also gods is one which is very much in question here. The whole question depends, of course, on one's definition of reality. A sound approach to epistemology and psychology needs to be reinforced – in the appropriate way – at every level of Catholic education, formation and preaching. It is important constantly to focus on effective ways of speaking of transcendence. The fundamental difficulty of all New Age thought is that this transcendence is strictly a self-transcendeence to be achieved within a closed universe. 

Pastoral resources. In Chapter 8 an indication is given regarding the principal documents of the Catholic Church in which can be found an evaluation of the ideas of New Age. In the first place comes the address of Pope John Paul II which was quoted in the Foreword. The Pope recognizes in this cultural trend some positive aspects, such as “the search for new meaning in life, a new ecological sensitivity and the desire to go beyond a cold, rationalistic religiosity”. But he also calls the attention of the faithful to certain ambiguous elements which are incompatible with the Christian faith: these movements “pay little heed to Revelation”, “they tend to relativize religious doctrine in favor of a vague worldview”, “they often propose a pantheistic concept of God”, “they replace personal responsibility to God for our actions with a sense of duty to the cosmos, thus overturning the true concept of sin and the need for redemption through Christ”.⁹¹  

6.2. Practical steps 

First of all, it is worth saying once again that not everyone or everything in the broad sweep of New Age is linked to the theories of the movement in the same ways. Likewise, the label itself is often misapplied or extended to phenomena which can be categorised in other ways. The term New Age has even been abused to demonise people and practices. It is essential to see whether phenomena linked to this movement, however loosely, reflect or conflict with a Christian vision of God, the human person and the world. The mere use of the term New Age in itself means little, if anything. The relationship of the person, group, practice or commodity to the central tenets of Christianity is what counts. 

_*The Catholic Church has its own very effective networks, which could be better used. For example, there is a large number of pastoral centres, cultural centres and centres of spirituality. Ideally, these could also be used to address the confusion about New Age religiosity in a variety of creative ways, such as providing a forum for discussion and study. It must unfortunately be admitted that there are too many cases where Catholic centres of spirituality are actively involved in diffusing New Age religiosity in the Church. This would of course have to be corrected, not only to stop the spread of confusion and error, but also so that they might be effective in promoting true Christian spirituality. Catholic cultural centres, in particular, are not only teaching institutions but spaces for honest dialogue.⁹² Some excellent specialist institutions deal with all these questions. These are precious resources, which ought to be shared generously in areas that are less well provided for.  

_*Quite a few New Age groups welcome every opportunity to explain their philosophy and activities to others. Encounters with these groups should be approached with care, and should always involve persons who are capable of both explaining Catholic faith and spirituality, and of reflecting critically on New Age thought and practice. It is extremely important to check the credentials of people, groups and institutions claiming to offer guidance and information on New Age. In some cases what has started out as impartial investigation has later become active promotion of, or advocacy on behalf of, “alternative religions”. Some international institutions are actively pursuing campaigns which promote respect for “religious diversity”, and claim religious status for some questionable organisations. This fits in with the New Age vision of moving into an age where the limited character of particular religions gives way to the universality of a new religion or spirituality. Genuine dialogue, on the other hand, will always respect diversity from the outset, and will never seek to blur distinctions in a fusion of all religious traditions. 

_*Some local New Age groups refer to their meetings as “prayer groups”. Those people who are invited to such groups need to look for the marks of genuine Christian spirituality, and to be wary if there is any sort of initiation ceremony. Such groups take advantage of a person's lack of theological or spiritual formation to lure them gradually into what may in fact be a form of false worship. Christians must be taught about the true object and content of prayer – in the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ, to the Father – in order to judge rightly the intention of a “prayer group”. Christian prayer and the God of Jesus Christ will easily be recognised.⁹³ Many people are convinced that there is no harm in 'borrowing' from the wisdom of the East, but the example of Transcendental Meditation (TM) should make Christians cautious about the prospect of committing themselves unknowingly to another religion (in this case, Hinduism), despite what TM's promoters claim about its religious neutrality. There is no problem with learning how to meditate, but the object or content of the exercise clearly determines whether it relates to the God revealed by Jesus Christ, to some other revelation, or simply to the hidden depths of the self.  

_*Christian groups which promote care for the earth as God's creation also need to be given due recognition. The question of respect for creation is one which could also be approached creatively in Catholic schools. A great deal of what is proposed by the more radical elements of the ecological movement is difficult to reconcile with Catholic faith. Care for the environment in general terms is a timely sign of a fresh concern for what God has given us, perhaps a necessary mark of Christian stewardship of creation, but “deep ecology” is often based on pantheistic and occasionally gnostic principles.⁹⁴ 

_*The beginning of the Third Millennium offers a real kairos for evangelisation. People's minds and hearts are already unusually open to reliable information on the Christian understanding of time and salvation history. Emphasising what is lacking in other approaches should not be the main priority. It is more a question of constantly revisiting the sources of our own faith, so that we can offer a good, sound presentation of the Christian message. We can be proud of what we have been given on trust, so we need to resist the pressures of the dominant culture to bury these gifts (cf. Mt 25.24-30). One of the most useful tools available is the Catechism of the Catholic Church. There is also an immense heritage of ways to holiness in the lives of Christian men and women past and present. Where Christianity's rich symbolism, and its artistic, aesthetical and musical traditions are unknown or have been forgotten, there is much work to be done for Christians themselves, and ultimately also for anyone searching for an experience or a greater awareness of God's presence. Dialogue between Christians and people attracted to the New Age will be more successful if it takes into account the appeal of what touches the emotions and symbolic language. If our task is to know, love and serve Jesus Christ, it is of paramount importance to start with a good knowledge of the Scriptures. But, most of all, coming to meet the Lord Jesus in prayer and in the sacraments, which are precisely the moments when our ordinary life is hallowed, is the surest way of making sense of the whole Christian message.  

_*Perhaps the simplest, the most obvious and the most urgent measure to be taken, which might also be the most effective, would be to make the most of the riches of the Christian spiritual heritage. The great religious orders have strong traditions of meditation and spirituality, which could be made more available through courses or periods in which their houses might welcome genuine seekers. This is already being done, but more is needed. Helping people in their spiritual search by offering them proven techniques and experiences of real prayer could open a dialogue with them which would reveal the riches of Christian tradition, and perhaps clarify a great deal about New Age in the process. 

In a vivid and useful image, one of the New Age movement's own exponents has compared traditional religions to cathedrals, and New Age to a worldwide fair. The New Age Movement is seen as an invitation to Christians to bring the message of the cathedrals to the fair which now covers the whole world. This image offers Christians a positive challenge, since it is always time to take the message of the cathedrals to the people in the fair. Christians need not, indeed, must not wait for an invitation to bring the message of the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who are looking for the answers to their questions, for spiritual food that satisfies, for living water. Following the image proposed, Christians must issue forth from the cathedral, nourished by word and sacrament, to bring the Gospel into every aspect of everyday life – “Go! The Mass is ended!” In Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte the Holy Father remarks on the great interest in spirituality found in the secular world of today, and how other religions are responding to this demand in appealing ways. He goes on to issue a challenge to Christians in this regard: “But we who have received the grace of believing in Christ, the revealer of the Father and the Savior of the world, have a duty to show to what depths the relationship with Christ can lead” (n. 33). To those shopping around in the world's fair of religious proposals, the appeal of Christianity will be felt first of all in the witness of the members of the Church, in their trust, calm, patience and cheerfulness, and in their concrete love of neighbour, all the fruit of their faith nourished in authentic personal prayer.

7 APPENDIX

7.1. Some brief formulations of New Age ideas 

William Bloom's 1992 formulation of New Age quoted in Heelas, p. 225f.: 

_*All life – all existence – is the manifestation of Spirit, of the Unknowable, of that supreme consciousness known by many different names in many different cultures. 

_*The purpose and dynamic of all existence is to bring Love, Wisdom, Enlightenment... into full manifestation. 

_*All religions are the expression of this same inner reality. 

_*All life, as we perceive it with the five human senses or with scientific instruments, is only the outer veil of an invisible, inner and causal reality. 

_*Similarly, human beings are twofold creatures – with: (i) an outer temporary personality; and (ii) a multi-dimensional inner being (soul or higher self). 

_*The outer personality is limited and tends towards love. 

_*The purpose of the incarnation of the inner being is to bring the vibrations of the outer personality into a resonance of love. 

_*All souls in incarnation are free to choose their own spiritual path. 

_*Our spiritual teachers are those whose souls are liberated from the need to incarnate and who express unconditional love, wisdom and enlightenment. Some of these great beings are well- known and have inspired the world religions. Some are unknown and work invisibly. 

_*All life, in its different forms and states, is interconnected energy – and this includes our deeds, feelings and thoughts. We, therefore, work with Spirit and these energies in co-creating our reality. 

_*Although held in the dynamic of cosmic love, we are jointly responsible for the state of our selves, of our environment and of all life. 

_*During this period of time, the evolution of the planet and of humanity has reached a point when we are undergoing a fundamental spiritual change in our individual and mass consciousness. This is why we talk of a New Age. This new consciousness is the result of the increasingly successful incarnation of what some people call the energies of cosmic love. This new consciousness demonstrates itself in an instinctive understanding of the sacredness and, in particular, the interconnectedness of all existence. 

_*This new consciousness and this new understanding of the dynamic interdependence of all life mean that we are currently in the process of volving a completely new planetary culture. 

Heelas (p. 226) Jeremy Tarcher's “complementary formulation”. 

1. The world, including the human race, constitutes an expression of a higher, more comprehensive divine nature. 

2. Hidden within each human being is a higher divine self, which is a manifestation of the higher, more comprehensive divine nature. 

3. This higher nature can be awakened and can become the center of the individual's everyday life. 

4. This awakening is the reason for the existence of each individual life. 

David Spangler is quoted in Actualité des religions nº 8, septembre 1999, p. 43, on the principal characteristics of the New Age vision, which is: 

_*holistic (globalising, because there is one single reality-energy); 

_*ecological (earth-Gaia is our mother; each of us is a neurone of earth's central nervous system); 

_*androgynous (rainbow and Yin/Yang are both NA symbols, to do with the complementarity of contraries, esp. masculine and feminine); 

_*mystical (finding the sacred in every thing, the most ordinary things); 

_*planetary (people must be at one and the same time anchored in their own culture and open to a universal dimension, capable of promoting love, compassion, peace and even the establishment of world government). 

7.2. A Select Glossary 

Age of Aquarius: each astrological age of about 2146 years is named according to one of the signs of the zodiac, but the “great days” go in reverse order, so the current Age of Pisces is about to end, and the Age of Aquarius will be ushered in. Each Age has its own cosmic energies; the energy in Pisces has made it an era of wars and conflicts. But Aquarius is set to be an era of harmony, justice, peace, unity etc. In this aspect, New Age accepts historical inevitability. Some reckon the age of Aries was the time of the Jewish religion, the age of Pisces that of Christianity, Aquarius the age of a universal religion. 

Androgyny: is not hermaphroditism, i.e. existence with the physical characteristics of both sexes, but an awareness of the presence in every person of male and female elements; it is said to be a state of balanced inner harmony of the animus and anima. In New Age, it is a state resulting from a new awareness of this double mode of being and existing that is characteristic of every man and every woman. The more it spreads, the more it will assist in the transformation of interpersonal conduct. 

Anthroposophy: a theosophical doctrine originally popularised by the Croat Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), who left the Theosophical Society after being leader of its German branch from 1902 to 1913. It is an esoteric doctrine meant to initiate people into “objective knowledge” in the spiritual-divine sphere. Steiner believed it had helped him explore the laws of evolution of the cosmos and of humanity. Every physical being has a corresponding spiritual being, and earthly life is influenced by astral energies and spiritual essences. The Akasha Chronicle is said to be a “cosmic memory” available to initiates.⁹⁵  

Channeling: psychic mediums claim to act as channels for information from other selves, usually disembodied entities living on a higher plane. It links beings as diverse as ascended masters, angels, gods, group entities, nature spirits and the Higher Self. 

Christ: in New Age the historical figure of Jesus is but one incarnation of an idea or an energy or set of vibrations. For Alice Bailey, a great day of supplication is needed, when all believers will create such a concentration of spiritual energy that there will be a further incarnation, which will reveal how people can save themselves.... For many people, Jesus is nothing more than a spiritual master who, like Buddha, Moses and Mohammed, amongst others, has been penetrated by the cosmic Christ. The cosmic Christ is also known as christic energy at the basis of each being and the whole of being. Individuals need to be initiated gradually into awareness
of this christic characteristic they are all said to have. Christ – in New Age terms – represents the highest state of perfection of the self.⁹⁶ 

Crystals : are reckoned to vibrate at significant frequencies. Hence they are useful in self-transformation. They are used in various therapies and in meditation, visualisation, 'astral travel' or as lucky charms. From the outside looking in, they have no intrinsic power, but are simply beautiful. 

Depth Psychology: the school of psychology founded by C.G. Jung, a former disciple of Freud. Jung recognised that religion and spiritual matters were important for wholeness and health. The interpretation of dreams and the analysis of archetypes were key elements in his method. Archetypes are forms which belong to the inherited structure of the human psyche; they appear in the recurrent motifs or images in dreams, fantasies, myths and fairy tales. 

Enneagram: (from the Greek ennéa = nine + gramma = sign) the name refers to a diagram composed of a circle with nine points on its circumference, connected within the circle by a triangle and a hexangle. It was originally used for divination, but has become known as the symbol for a system of personality typology consisting of nine standard character types. It became popular after the publication of Helen Palmer's book The Enneagram,⁹⁷ but she recognises her indebtedness to the Russian esoteric thinker and practitioner G.I. Gurdjieff, the Chilean psychologist Claudio Naranjo and author Oscar Ichazo, founder of Arica. The origin of the enneagram remains shrouded in mystery, but some maintain that it comes from Sufi mysticism. 

Esotericism: (from the Greek esotéros = that which is within) it generally refers to an ancient and hidden body of knowledge available only to initiated groups, who portray themselves as guardians of the truths hidden from the majority of humankind. The initiation process takes people from a merely external, superficial, knowledge of reality to the inner truth and, in the process, awakens their consciousness at a deeper level. People are invited to undertake this “inner journey” to discover the “divine spark” within them. Salvation, in this context, coincides with a discovery of the Self. 

Evolution: in New Age it is much more than a question of living beings evolving towards superior life forms; the physical model is projected on to the spiritual realm, so that an immanent power within human beings would propel them towards superior spiritual life forms. Human beings are said not to have full control over this power, but their good or bad actions can accelerate or retard their progress. The whole of creation, including humanity, is seen to be moving inexorably towards a fusion with the divine. Reincarnation clearly has an important place in this view of a progressive spiritual evolution which is said to begin before birth and continue after death.⁹⁸ 

Expansion of consciousness: if the cosmos is seen as one continuous chain of being, all levels of existence – mineral, vegetable, animal, human, cosmic and divine beings – are interdependent. Human beings are said to become aware of their place in this holistic vision of global reality by expanding their consciousness well beyond its normal limits. The New Age offers a huge variety of techniques to help people reach a higher level of perceiving reality, a way of overcoming the separation between subjects and between subjects and objects in the knowing process, concluding in total fusion of what normal, inferior, awareness sees as separate or distinct realities.  

Feng-shui: a form of geomancy, in this case an occult Chinese method of deciphering the hidden presence of positive and negative currents in buildings and other places, on the basis of a knowledge of earthly and atmospheric forces. “Just like the human body or the cosmos, sites are places criss-crossed by influxes whose correct balance is the source of health and life”.⁹⁹ 

Gnosis: in a generic sense, it is a form of knowledge that is not intellectual, but visionary or mystical, thought to be revealed and capable of joining the human being to the divine mystery. In the first centuries of Christianity, the Fathers of the Church struggled against gnosticism, inasmuch as it was at odds with faith. Some see a reborth of gnostic ideas in much New Age thinking, and some authors connected with New Age actually quote early gnosticism. However, the greater emphasis in New Age on monism and even pantheism or panentheism encourages some to use the term neo-gnosticism to distinguish New Age gnosis from ancient gnosticism. 

Great White Brotherhood: Mrs. Blavatsky claimed to have contact with the mahatmas, or masters, exalted beings who together constitute the Great White Brotherhood. She saw them as guiding the evolution of the human race and directing the work of the Theosophical Society. 

Hermeticism: philosophical and religious practices and speculations linked to the writings in the Corpus Hermeticum, and the Alexandrian texts attributed to the mythical Hermes Trismegistos. When they first became known during the Renaissance, they were thought to reveal pre-Christian doctrines, but later studies showed they dated from the first century of the christian era.¹⁰⁰ Alexandrian hermeticism is a major resource for modern esotericism, and the two have much in common: eclecticism, a refutation of ontological dualism, an affirmation of the positive and symbolic character of the universe, the idea of the fall and later restoration of mankind. Hermetic speculation has strengthened belief in an ancient fundamental tradition or a so-called philosophia perennis falsely considered as common to all religious traditions. The high and ceremonial forms of magic developed from Renaissance Hermeticism.  

Holism: a key concept in the “new paradigm”, claiming to provide a theoretical frame integrating the entire worldview of modern man. In contrast with an experience of increasing fragmentation in science and everyday life, “wholeness” is put forward as a central methodological and ontological concept. Humanity fits into the universe as part of a single living organism, a harmonious network of dynamic relationships. The classic distinction between subject and object, for which Descartes and Newton are typically blamed, is challenged by various scientists who offer a bridge between science and religion. Humanity is part of a universal network (eco-system, family) of nature and world, and must seek harmony with every element of this quasi-transcendent authority. When one understands one's place in nature, in the cosmos which is also divine, one also understands that “wholeness” and “holiness” are one and the same thing. The clearest articulation of the concept of holism is in the “Gaia” hypothesis.¹⁰¹ 

Human Potential Movement: since its beginnings ( Esalen , California , in the 1960s), this has grown into a network of groups promoting the release of the innate human capacity for creativity through self-realisation. Various techniques of personal transformation are used more and more by companies in management training programmes, ultimately for very normal economic reasons. Transpersonal Technologies, the Movement for Inner Spiritual Awareness, Organisational Development and Organisational Transformation are all put forward as non-religious, but in reality company employees can find themselves being submitted to an alien 'spirituality' in a situation which raises questions about personal freedom. There are clear links between Eastern spirituality and psychotherapy, while Jungian psychology and the Human Potential Movement have been very influential on Shamanism and “reconstructed” forms of Paganism like Druidry and Wicca. In a general sense, “personal growth” can be understood as the shape “religious salvation” takes in the New Age movement: it is affirmed that deliverance from human suffering and weakness will be reached by developing our human potential, which results in our increasingly getting in touch with our inner divinity.¹⁰²  

Initiation: in religious ethnology it is the cognitive and/or experiential journey whereby a person is admitted, either alone or as part of a group, by means of particular rituals to membership of a religious community, a secret society (e.g. Freemasonry) or a mystery association (magical, esoteric-occult, gnostic, theosophical etc.). 

Karma: (from the Sanskrit root Kri = action, deed) a key notion in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, but one whose meaning has not always been the same. In the ancient Vedic period it referred to the ritual action, especially sacrifice, by means of which a person gained access to the happiness or blessedness of the afterlife. When Jainism and Buddhism appeared (about 6 centuries before Christ), Karma lost its salvific meaning: the way to liberation was knowledge of the Atman or “self”. In the doctrine of samsara, it was understood as the incessant cycle of human birth and death (Huinduism) or of rebirth (Buddhism).¹⁰³ In New Age contexts, the “law of karma” is often seen as the moral equivalent of cosmic evolution. It is no longer to do with evil or suffering – illusions to be experienced as part of a “cosmic game” – but is the universal law of cause and effect, part of the tendency of the interconnected universe towards moral balance.¹⁰⁴

Monism: the metaphysical belief that differences between beings are illusory. There is only one universal being, of which every thing and every person is a part. Inasmuch as New Age monism includes the idea that reality is fundamentally spiritual, it is a contemporary form of pantheism (sometimes explicitly a rejection of materialism, particularly Marxism). Its claim to resolve all dualism leaves no room for a transcendent God, so everything is God. A further problem arises for Christianity when the question of the origin of evil is raised. C.G. Jung saw evil as the “shadow side” of the God who, in classical theism, is all goodness. 

Mysticism: New Age mysticism is turning inwards on oneself rather than communion with God who is “totally other”. It is fusion with the universe, an ultimate annihilation of the individual in the unity of the whole. Experience of Self is taken to be experience of divinity, so one looks within to discover authentic wisdom, creativity and power. 

Neopaganism: a title often rejected by many to whom it is applied, it refers to a current that runs parallel to New Age and often interacts with it. In the great wave of reaction against traditional religions, specifically the Judaeo-Christian heritage of the West, many have revisited ancient indigenous, traditional, pagan religions. Whatever preceded Christianity is reckoned to be more genuine to the spirit of the land or the nation, an uncontaminated form of natural religion, in touch with the powers of nature, often matriarchal, magical or Shamanic. Humanity will, it is said, be healthier if it returns to the natural cycle of (agricultural) festivals and to a general affirmation of life. Some “neo-pagan” religions are recent reconstructions whose authentic relationship to original forms can be questioned, particularly in cases where they are dominated by modern ideological components like ecology, feminism or, in a few cases, myths of racial purity.¹⁰⁵ 

New Age Music: this is a booming industry. The music concerned is very often packaged as a means of achieving harmony with oneself or the world, and some of it is “Celtic” or druidic. Some New Age composers claim their music is meant to build bridges between the conscious and the unconscious, but this is probably more so when, besides melodies, there is meditative and rhythmic repetition of key phrases. As with many elements of the New Age phenomenon, some music is meant to bring people further into the New Age Movement, but most is simply commercial or artistic. 

New Thought: a 19^th century religious movement founded in the United States of America . Its origins were in idealism, of which it was a popularised form. God was said to be totally good, and evil merely an illusion; the basic reality was the mind. Since one's mind is what causes the events in one's life, one has to take ultimate responsibility for every aspect of one's situation. 

Occultism: occult (hidden) knowledge, and the hidden forces of the mind and of nature, are at the basis of beliefs and practices linked to a presumed secret “perennial philosophy” derived from ancient Greek magic and alchemy, on the one hand, and Jewish mysticism, on the other. They are kept hidden by a code of secrecy imposed on those initiated into the groups and societies that guard the knowledge and techniques involved. In the 19th century, spiritualism and the Theosophical Society introduced new forms of occultism which have, in turn, influenced various currents in the New Age. 

Pantheism: (Greek pan = everything and theos = God) the belief that everything is God or, sometimes, that everything is in God and God is in everything (panentheism). Every element of the universe is divine, and the divinity is equally present in everything. There is no space in this view for God as a distinct being in the sense of classical theism. 

Parapsychology: treats of such things as extrasensory perception, mental telepathy, telekinesis, psychic healing and communication with spirits via mediums or channeling. Despite fierce criticism from scientists, parapsychology has gone from strength to strength, and fits neatly into the view popular in some areas of the New Age that human beings have extraordinary psychic abilities, but often only in an undeveloped state.  

Planetary Consciousness: this world-view developed in the 1980s to foster loyalty to the community of humanity rather than to nations, tribes or other established social groups. It can be seen as the heir to movements in the early 20th century that promoted a world government. The consciousness of the unity of humanity sits well with the Gaia hypothesis. 

Positive Thinking: the conviction that people can change physical reality or external circumstances by altering their mental attitude, by thinking positively and constructively. Sometimes it is a matter of becoming consciously aware of unconsciously held beliefs that determine our life-situation. Positive thinkers are promised health and wholeness, often prosperity and even immortality. 

Rebirthing: In the early 1970s Leonard Orr described rebirthing as a process by which a person can identify and isolate areas in his or her consciousness that are unresolved and at the source of present problems. 

Reincarnation: in a New Age context, reincarnation is linked to the concept of ascendant evolution towards becoming divine. As opposed to Indian religions or those derived from them, New Age views reincarnation as progression of the individual soul towards a more perfect state. What is reincarnated is essentially something immaterial or spiritual; more precisely, it is consciousness, that spark of energy in the person that shares in cosmic or “christic” energy. Death is nothing but the passage of the soul from one body to another. 

Rosicrucians: these are Western occult groups involved in alchemy, astrology, Theosophy and kabbalistic interpretationsof scripture. The Rosicrucian Fellowship contributed to the revival of astrology in the 20^th century, and the Ancient and Mystical Order of the Rosae Crucis (AMORC) linked success with a presumed ability to materialise mental images of health, riches and happiness. 

Shamanism: practices and beliefs linked to communication with the spirits of nature and the spirits of dead people through ritualised possession (by the spirits) of a shaman, who serves as a medium. It has been attractive in New Age circles because it stresses harmony with the forces of nature and healing. There is also a romanticised image of indigenous religions and their closeness to the earth and to nature.  

Spiritualism: While there have always been attempts to contact the spirits of the dead, 19^th century spiritualism is reckoned to be one of the currents that flow into the New Age. It developed against the background of the ideas of Swedenborg and Mesmer, and became a new kind of religion. Madame Blavatsky was a medium, and so spiritualism had a great influence on the Theosophical Society, although there the emphasis was on contact with entities from the distant past rather than people who had died only recently. Allan Kardec was influential in the spread of spiritualism in Afro- Brasilian religions. There are also spiritualist elements in some New Religious Movements in Japan . 

Theosophy: an ancient term, which originally referred to a kind of mysticism. It has been linked to Greek Gnostics and Neoplatonists, to Meister Eckhart, Nicholas of Cusa and Jakob Boehme. The name was given new emphasis by the Theosophical Society, founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and others in 1875. Theosophical mysticism tends to be monistic, stressing the essential unity of the spiritual and material components of the universe. It also looks for the hidden forces that cause matter and spirit to interact, in such a way that human and divine minds eventually meet. Here is where theosophy offers mystical redemption or enlightenment. 

Transcendentalism: This was a 19^th century movement of writers and thinkers in New England, who shared an idealistic set of beliefs in the essential unity of creation, the innate goodness of the human person, and the superiority of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths. The chief figure is Ralph Waldo Emerson, who moved away from orthodox Christianity, through Unitarianism to a new natural mysticism which integrated concepts from Hinduism with popular American ones like individualism, personal responsibility and the need to succeed. 

Wicca: an old English term for witches that has been given to a neo-pagan revival of some elements of ritual magic. It was invented in England in 1939 by Gerald Gardner, who based it on some scholarly texts, according to which medieval European witchcraft was an ancient nature religion persecuted by Christians. Called “the Craft”, it grew rapidly in the 1960s in the United States , where it encountered “women's spirituality”.  

7.3. Key New Age places 

Esalen:a community founded in Big Sur, California, in 1962 by Michael Murphy and Richard Price, whose main aim was to arrive at a self-realisation of being through nudism and visions, as well as “bland medicines”. It has become one of the most important centresof the Human Potential Movement, and has spread ideas about holistic medicine in the worlds of education, politics and economics. This has been done through courses in comparative religion, mythology, mysticism, meditation, psychotherapy, expansion of consciousness and so on. Along with Findhorn, it is seen as a key place in the growth of Aquarian consciousness. The Esalen Soviet-American Institute co-operated with Soviet officials on the Health Promotion Project. 

Findhorn:this holistic farming community started by Peter and Eileen Caddy achieved the growth of enormous plants by unorthodox methods. The founding of the Findhorn community in Scotland in 1965 was an important milestone in the movement which bears the label of the 'New Age'. In fact, Findhorn 'was seen as embodying its principal ideals of transformation'. The quest for a universal consciousness, the goal of harmony with nature, the vision of a transformed world, and the practice of channeling, all of which have become hallmarks of the New Age Movement, were present at Findhorn from its foundation. The success of this community led to its becoming a model for, and/or an inspiration to, other groups, such as Alternatives in London, Esalen in Big Sur, California, and the Open Center and Omega Institute in New York”.¹⁰⁶ 

Monte Verità:a utopian community near Ascona in Switzerland . Since the end of the 19th century it was a meeting point for European and American exponents of the counter-culture in the fields of politics, psychology, art and ecology. The Eranos conferences have been held there every year since 1933, gathering some of the great luminaries of the New Age. The yearbooks make clear the intention to create an integrated world religion.¹⁰⁷ It is fascinating to see the list of those who have gathered over the years at Monte Verità. 

8 RESOURCES

Documents of the Catholic Church's magisterium 

John Paul II, Address to the United States Bishops of Iowa , Kansas , Missouri and Nebraska on their “Ad Limina” visit, 28 May 1993. 

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter to Bishops on Certain Aspects of Christian Meditation (Orationis Formas), Vatican City (Vatican Polyglot Press) 1989. 

International Theological Commission, Some Current Questions Concerning Eschatology, 1992, Nos. 9-10 (on reincarnation). 

International Theological Commission, Some Questions on the Theology of Redemption, 1995, I/29 and II/35-36. 

Argentine Bishops' Conference Committee for Culture, Frente a una Nueva Era. Desafio a la pastoral en el horizonte de la Nueva Evangelización, 1993. 

Irish Theological Commission, A New Age of the Spirit? A Catholic Response to the New Age Phenomenon, Dublin 1994. 

Godfried Danneels, Au-delà de la mort: réincarnation et resurrection, Pastoral Letter, Easter 1991. 

Godfried Danneels, Christ or Aquarius? Pastoral Letter, Christmas 1990 (Veritas, Dublin ). 

Carlo Maccari, “La 'mistica cosmica' del New Age”, in Religioni e Sette nel Mondo 1996/2. 

Carlo Maccari, La New Age di fronte alla fede cristiana, Turin (LDC) 1994. 

Edward Anthony McCarthy, The New Age Movement, Pastoral Instruction, 1992. 

Paul Poupard, Felicità e fede cristiana, Casale Monferrato (Ed. Piemme) 1992. 

Joseph Ratzinger, La fede e la teologia ai nostri giorni, Guadalajara , May 1996, in L'Osservatore Romano 27 October 1996. 

Norberto Rivera Carrera, Instrucción Pastoral sobre el New Age, 7 January 1996. 

Christoph von Schönborn, Risurrezione e reincarnazione, (Italian translation) Casale Monferrato (Piemme) 1990. 

J. Francis Stafford , Il movimento “New Age”, in L'Osservatore Romano, 30 October 1992. 

Working Group on New Religious Movements (ed.), Vatican City , Sects and New Religious Movements. An Anthology of Texts From the Catholic Church, Washington (USCC) 1995. 

Christian studies 

Raúl Berzosa Martinez , Nueva Era y Cristianismo. Entre el diálogo y la ruptura, Madrid (BAC) 1995. 

André Fortin, Les Galeries du Nouvel Age: un chrétien s'y promène, Ottawa (Novalis) 1993. 

Claude Labrecque, Une religion américaine. Pistes de discernement chrétien sur les courants populaires du “Nouvel Age”, Montréal (Médiaspaul) 1994. 

The Methodist Faith and Order Committee, The New Age Movement Report to Conference 1994. 

Aidan Nichols, “The New Age Movement”, in The Month, March 1992, pp. 84-89. 

Alessandro Olivieri Pennesi , Il Cristo del New Age. Indagine critica, Vatican City (Libreria Editrice Vaticana) 1999. 

Ökumenische Arbeitsgruppe “Neue Religiöse Bewegungen in der Schweiz”, New Age – aus christlicher Sicht, Freiburg (Paulusverlag) 1987. 

Mitch Pacwa s.j., Catholics and the New Age. How Good People are being drawn into Jungian Psychology, the Enneagram and the New Age of Aquarius, Ann Arbor MI (Servant) 1992. 

John Saliba, Christian Responses to the New Age Movement. A Critical Assessment, London (Chapman) 1999. 

Josef Südbrack, SJ, Neue Religiosität - Herausforderung für die Christen, Mainz (Matthias-Grünewald-Verlag) 1987 = La nuova religiosità: una sfida per i cristiani, Brescia (Queriniana) 1988. 

“Theologie für Laien” secretariat, Faszination Esoterik, Zürich (Theologie für Laien) 1996. 

David Toolan, Facing West from California 's Shores. A Jesuit's Journey into New Age Consciousness, New York (Crossroad) 1987. 

Juan Carlos Urrea Viera, “New Age”. Visión Histórico-Doctrinal y Principales Desafíos, Santafé de Bogotá (CELAM) 1996. 

Jean Vernette, “L'avventura spirituale dei figli dell'Acquario”, in Religioni e Sette nel Mondo 1996/2. 

Jean Vernette, Jésus dans la nouvelle religiosité, Paris (Desclée) 1987. 

Jean Vernette, Le New Age, Paris (P.U.F.) 1992. 

9 GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

9.1. Some New Age books 

William Bloom, The New Age. An Anthology of Essential Writings, London (Rider) 1991. 

Fritjof Capra, The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism, Berkeley (Shambhala) 1975. 

Fritjof Capra, The Turning Point: Science, Society and the Rising Culture,
Toronto (Bantam) 1983. 

Benjamin Creme, The Reappearance of Christ and the Masters of Wisdom,
London (Tara Press) 1979. 

Marilyn Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy. Personal and Social Transformation in Our Time, Los Angeles (Tarcher) 1980. 

Chris Griscom, Ecstasy is a New Frequency: Teachings of the Light Institute, New York (Simon & Schuster) 1987. 

Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Chicago ( University of Chicago Press) 1970. 

David Spangler, The New Age Vision, Forres (Findhorn Publications) 1980. 

David Spangler, Revelation: The Birth of a New Age, San Francisco ( Rainbow Bridge ) 1976. 

David Spangler, Towards a Planetary Vision, Forres (Findhorn Publications) 1977. 

David Spangler, The New Age, Issaquah (The Morningtown Press) 1988. 

David Spangler, The Rebirth of the Sacred, London (Gateway Books) 1988. 

9.2. Historical, descriptive and analytical works 

Christoph Bochinger, “New Age” und moderne Religion: Religionswissenschaftliche Untersuchungen, Gütersloh (Kaiser) 1994. 

Bernard Franck, Lexique du Nouvel-Age, Limoges (Droguet-Ardant) 1993. 

Hans Gasper, Joachim Müller and Friederike Valentin, Lexikon der Sekten, Sondergruppen und Weltanschauungen. Fakten, Hintergründe, Klärungen, updated edition, Freiburg-Basel-Vienna (Herder) 2000. See, inter alia, the article “New Age” by Christoph Schorsch, Karl R. Essmann and Medard Kehl, and “Reinkarnation” by Reinhard Hümmel. 

Manabu Haga and Robert J. Kisala (eds.), “The New Age in Japan ”, in Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Fall 1995, vol. 22, numbers 3 & 4. 

Wouter Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and Western Culture. Esotericism in the Mirror of Nature, Leiden - New York -Köln (Brill) 1996. This book has an extensive bibliography. 

Paul Heelas, The New Age Movement. The Celebration of the Self and the Sacralization of Modernity, Oxford (Blackwell) 1996. 

Massimo Introvigne, New Age & Next Age, Casale Monferrato (Piemme) 2000. 

Michel Lacroix, L'Ideologia della New Age, Milano (Il Saggiatore) 1998. 

J. Gordon Melton, New Age Encyclopedia, Detroit (Gale Research Inc) 1990. 

Elliot Miller, A Crash Course in the New Age, Eastbourne (Monarch) 1989. 

Georges Minois, Histoire de l'athéisme, Paris (Fayard) 1998. 

Arild Romarheim, The Aquarian Christ. Jesus Christ as Portrayed by New Religious Movements, Hong Kong (Good Tiding) 1992. 

Hans-Jürgen Ruppert, Durchbruch zur Innenwelt. Spirituelle Impulse aus New Age und Esoterik in kritischer Beleuchtung, Stuttgart (Quell Verlag) 1988. 

Edwin Schur, The Awareness Trap. Self-Absorption instead of Social Change, New York (McGraw Hill) 1977. 

Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge, The Future of Religion. Secularisation, Revival and Cult Formation, Berkeley ( University of California Press) 1985. 

Steven Sutcliffe and Marion Bowman (eds.), Beyond the New Age. Exploring Alternative Spirituality, Edinburgh ( Edinburgh University Press), 2000. 

Charles Taylor, Sources of the Self. The Making of the Modern Identity, Cambridge ( Cambridge University Press) 1989. 

Charles Taylor, The Ethics of Authenticity, London ( Harvard University Press) 1991 

Edênio Valle s.v.d., “Psicologia e energias da mente: teorias alternativas”, in A Igreja Católica diante do pluralismo religioso do Brasil (III). Estudos da CNBB n. 71, São Paulo (paulus) 1994. 

World Commission on Culture and Development, Our Creative Diversity. Report of the World Commission on Culture and Development, Paris
(UNESCO) 1995. 

M. York, “The New Age Movement in Great Britain ”, in Syzygy. Journal of Alternative Religion and Culture, 1:2-3 (1992) Stanford CA . 

¹Paul Heelas, The New Age Movement. The Celebration of the Self and the Sacralization of Modernity, Oxford (Blackwell) 1996, p. 137. 

²Cf. P. Heelas, op. cit., p. 164f. 

³Cf. P. Heelas, op. cit., p. 173. 

⁴Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Dominum et vivificantem (18 May
1986), 53. 

⁵Cf. Gilbert Markus o.p., “Celtic Schmeltic”, (1) in Spirituality, vol. 4,
November-December 1998, No 21, pp. 379-383 and (2) in Spirituality, vol. 5, January-February 1999, No. 22, pp. 57-61. 

⁶John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, (Knopf) 1994, 90. 

⁷Cf. particularly Massimo Introvigne, New Age & Next Age, Casale Monferrato (Piemme) 2000. 

⁸M. Introvigne, op. cit., p. 267. 

⁹Cf. Michel Lacroix, L'Ideologia della New Age, Milano (il Saggiatore) 1998, p. 86. The word “sect” is used here not in any pejorative sense, but rather to denote a sociological phenomenon. 

¹⁰Cf. Wouter J. Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and Western Culture. Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought, Leiden - New York -Köln (Brill) 1996, p. 377 and elsewhere. 

¹¹Cf. Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge, The Future of Religion. Secularisation, Revival and Cult Formation, Berkeley ( University of California Press) 1985. 

¹²Cf. M. Lacroix, op. cit., p. 8. 

¹³The Swiss “Theologie für Laien” course entitled Faszination Esoterik puts this clearly. Cf. “Kursmappe 1 – New Age und Esoterik”, text to accompany slides, p. 9. 

¹⁴The term was already in use in the title of The New Age Magazine, which was being published by the Ancient Accepted Scottish Masonic Rite in the southern jurisdiction of the United States of America as early as 1900 Cf. M. York, “The New Age Movement in Great Britain”, in Syzygy. Journal of Alternative Religion and Culture, 1: 2-3 (1992), Stanford CA , p. 156, note 6. The exact timing and nature of the change to the New Age are interpreted variously by different authors; estimates of timing range from 1967 to 2376. 

¹⁵In late 1977, Marilyn Ferguson sent a questionnaire to 210 “persons engaged in social transformation”, whom she also calls “Aquarian Conspirators”. The following is interesting: “When respondents were asked to name individuals whose ideas had influenced them, either through personal contact or through their writings, those most often named, in order of frequency, were Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, C.G. Jung, Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, Aldous Huxley, Robert Assagioli, and J. Krishnamurti. “Others frequently mentioned: Paul Tillich, Hermann Hesse, Alfred North Whitehead, Martin Buber, Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead, Gregory Bateson, Tarthang Tulku, Alan Watts, Sri Aurobindo, Swami Muktananda, D.T. Suzuki, Thomas Merton, Willis Harman, Kenneth Boulding, Elise Boulding, Erich Fromm, Marshall McLuhan, Buckminster Fuller, Frederic Spiegelberg, Alfred Korzybski, Heinz von Foerster, John Lilly, Werner Erhard, Oscar Ichazo, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Joseph Chilton Pearce, Karl Pribram, Gardner Murphy, and Albert Einstein”: The Aquarian Conspiracy. Personal and Social Transformation in Our Time, Los Angeles (Tarcher) 1980, p. 50 (note 1) and p. 434.  

¹⁶W.J. Hanegraaff, op. cit., p. 520. 

¹⁷Irish Theological Commission, A New Age of the Spirit? A Catholic Response to the New Age Phenomenon, Dublin 1994, chapter 3. 

¹⁸Cf. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Chicago ( University of Chicago Press), 1970, p. 175. 

¹⁹Cf. Alessandro Olivieri Pennesi , Il Cristo del New Age. Indagine critica, Vatican City (Libreria Editrice Vaticana) 1999, passim, but especially pp. 11-34. See Also section 4 below. 

²⁰It is worth recalling the lyrics of this song, which quickly imprinted themselves on to the minds of a whole generation in North America and Western Europe : “When the Moon is in the Seventh House, and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then Peace will guide the Planets, and Love will steer the Stars. This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius... Harmony and understanding, ympathy and trust abounding; no more falsehoods or derision - golden living, dreams of visions, mystic crystal revelation, and the mind's true liberation. Aquarius...”. 

²¹P. Heelas, op. cit., p. 1f. The August 1978 journal of the Berkeley Christian Coalition puts it this way: “Just ten years ago the funky drug-based spirituality of the hippies and the mysticism of the Western yogi were restricted to the counterculture. Today, both have found their way into the mainstream of our cultural mentality. Science, the health professions, and the arts, not to mention psychology and religion, are all engaged in a fundamental reconstruction of their basic premises”. Quoted in Marilyn Ferguson, op. cit., p. 370f. 

²²Cf. Chris Griscom, Ecstasy is a New Frequency: Teachings of the Light Institute, New York (Simon & Schuster) 1987, p. 82. 

²³See the Glossary of New Age terms, §7.2 above.

²⁴Cf. W.J. Hanegraaff, op. cit., chapter 15 (“The Mirror of Secular Thought”). The system of correspondences is clearly inherited from traditional esotericism, but it has a new meaning for those who (consciously or not) follow Swedenborg. While every natural element in traditional esoteric doctrine had the divine life within it, for Swedenborg nature is a dead reflection of the living spiritual world. This idea is very much at the heart of the post-modern vision of a disenchanted world and various attempts to “re-enchant” it. Blavatsky rejected correspondences, and Jung emphatically relativised causality in favour of the esoteric world-view of correspondences. 

²⁵W.J. Hanegraaff, op. cit., pp. 54-55. 

²⁶Cf. Reinhard Hümmel, “Reinkarnation”, in Hans Gasper, Joachim Müller, Friederike Valentin (eds.), Lexikon der Sekten, Sondergruppen und Weltanschauungen. Fakten, Hintergründe, Klärungen, Freiburg-Basel-Wien (Herder) 2000, 886-893. 

²⁷Michael Fuss, “New Age and Europe – A Challenge for Theology”, in Mission Studies Vol. VIII-2, 16, 1991, p. 192. 

²⁸Ibid., loc. cit. 

²⁹Ibid.,p. 193. 

³⁰Ibid.,p. 199. 

³¹Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some Aspects of Christian Meditation (Orationis Formas), 1989, 14.
Cf. Gaudium et Spes, 19; Fides et Ratio, 22. 

³²W.J. Hanegraaff, op. cit., p. 448f. The objectives are quoted from the final (1896) version, earlier versions of which stressed the irrationality of “bigotry” and the urgency of promoting non-sectarian education. Hanegraaff quotes J. Gordon Melton's description of New Age religion as rooted in the “occult-metaphysical” tradition (ibid., p. 455). 

³³W.J. Hanegraaff, op. cit., p. 513. 

³⁴Thomas M. King s.j., “Jung and Catholic Spirituality”, in America, 3 April 1999, p. 14. The author points out that New Age devotees “quote passages dealing with the I Ching, astrology and Zen, while Catholics quote passages dealing with Christian mystics, the liturgy and the psychological value of the sacrament of reconciliation” (p. 12). He also lists Catholic personalities and spiritual institutions clearly inspired and guided by Jung's psychology. 

³⁵Cf. W.J. Hanegraaff, op. cit., p. 501f. 

³⁶Carl Gustav Jung, Wandlungen und Symbole der Libido, quoted in Hanegraaff, op. cit., p. 503. 

³⁷On this point cf. Michel Schooyans, L'Évangile face au désordre mondial, with a preface by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Paris (Fayard) 1997. 

³⁸Quoted in the Maranatha Community's The True and the False New Age. Introductory Ecumenical Notes, Manchester (Maranatha) 1993, 8.10 – the original page numbering is not specified. 

³⁹Michel Lacroix, L'Ideologia della New Age, Milano (il Saggiatore) 1998,
p. 84f. 

⁴⁰Cf. the section on David Spangler's ideas in Actualité des religions nº 8, septembre 1999, p. 43. 

⁴¹M. Ferguson, op. cit., p. 407. 

⁴²Ibid.,p. 411. 

⁴³“To be an American... is precisely to imagine a destiny rather than inherit one. We have always been inhabitants of myth rather than history”: Leslie Fiedler, quoted in M. Ferguson, op. cit., p. 142. 

⁴⁴Cf. P. Heelas, op. cit., p. 173f. 

⁴⁵David Spangler, The New Age, Issaquah (Mornington Press) 1988, p. 14. 

⁴⁶P. Heelas, op. cit., p. 168. 

⁴⁷See the Preface to Michel Schooyans, L'Évangile face au désordre mondial,
op. cit. This quotation is translated from the Italian, Il nuovo disordine mondiale, Cinisello Balsamo (San Paolo) 2000, p. 6. 

⁴⁸Cf. Our Creative Diversity. Report of the World Commission on Culture and Development, Paris (UNESCO) 1995, which illustrates the importance given to celebrating and promoting diversity. 

⁴⁹Cf. Christoph Bochinger, “New Age” und moderne Religion: Religionswissenschaftliche Untersuchungen, Gütersloh (Kaiser) 1994, especially chapter 3. 

⁵⁰The shortcomings of techniques which are not yet prayer are discussed below in § 3.4, “Christian mysticism and New Age mysticism”. 

⁵¹Cf. Carlo Maccari, “La 'mistica cosmica' del New Age”, in Religioni e Sette nel Mondo 1996/2. 

⁵²Jean Vernette, “L'avventura spirituale dei figli dell'Acquario”, in Religioni e Sette nel Mondo 1996/2, p. 42f. 

⁵³J. Vernette, loc. cit. 

⁵⁴Cf. J. Gordon Melton, New Age Encyclopedia, Detroit (Gale Research) 1990, pp. xiii-xiv. 

⁵⁵David Spangler, The Rebirth of the Sacred, London (Gateway Books) 1984, p. 78f. 

⁵⁶David Spangler, The New Age, op. cit., p. 13f. 

⁵⁷John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente (10 November 1994), 9. 

⁵⁸Matthew Fox, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ. The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance, San Francisco (Harper & Row) 1988, p. 135. 

⁵⁹Cf. the document issued by the Argentine Bishops' Conference Committee for Culture: Frente a una Nueva Era. Desafío a la pastoral en el horizonte de la Nueva Evangelización, 1993. 

⁶⁰Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Orationis Formas, 23. 

⁶¹Ibid.,3. See the sections on meditation and contemplative prayer in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, §§. 2705-2719. 

⁶²Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Orationis Formas, 13. 

⁶³Cf. Brendan Pelphrey, “I said, You are Gods. Orthodox Christian Theosis and Deification in the New Religious Movements” in Spirituality East and West, Easter 2000 (No. 13). 

⁶⁴Adrian Smith, God and the Aquarian Age. The new era of the Kingdom, Great Wakering (McCrimmons) 1990, p. 49.  

⁶⁵Cf. Benjamin Creme, The Reappearance of Christ and the Masters of Wisdom, London (Tara Press) 1979, p. 116. 

⁶⁶Cf. Jean Vernette, Le New Age, Paris (P.U.F.) 1992 (Collection Encyclopédique Que sais-je?), p. 14. 

⁶⁷Catechism of the Catholic Church, 52. 

⁶⁸Cf. Alessandro Olivieri Pennesi , Il Cristo del New Age. Indagine Critica , Vatican City (Libreria Editrice Vaticana) 1999, especially pages 13-34. The list of common points is on p. 33. 

⁶⁹The Nicene Creed. 

⁷⁰Michel Lacroix, L'Ideologia della New Age, Milano (Il Saggiatore) 1998,
p. 74. 

⁷¹Ibid.,p. 68. 

⁷²Edwin Schur, The Awareness Trap. Self-Absorption instead of Social Change, New York (McGraw Hill) 1977, p. 68. 

⁷³Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, §§ 355-383. 

⁷⁴Cf. Paul Heelas, The New Age Movement. The Celebration of the Self and the Sacralization of Modernity, Oxford (Blackwell) 1996, p. 161. 

⁷⁵A Catholic Response to the New Age Phenomenon,Irish Theological Commission 1994, chapter 3. 

⁷⁶Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Orationis Formas, 3. 

⁷⁷Ibid.,7. 

⁷⁸William Bloom, The New Age. An Anthology of Essential Writings, London (Rider) 1991, p. xvi. 

⁷⁹Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 387. 

⁸⁰Ibid., § 1849. 

⁸¹Ibid., § 1850. 

⁸²John Paul II, Apostolic Letter on human suffering “Salvifici doloris” (11 February 1984), 19. 

⁸³Cf. David Spangler, The New Age, op. cit., p. 28. 

⁸⁴Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio (7 December 1990), 6, 28, and the Declaration Dominus Jesus (6 August 2000) by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 12. 

⁸⁵Cf. R. Rhodes, The Counterfeit Christ of the New Age Movement, Grand Rapids (Baker) 1990, p. 129. 

⁸⁶Helen Bergin o.p., “Living One's Truth”, in The Furrow, January 2000,
p. 12. 

⁸⁷Ibid.,p. 15. 

⁸⁸Cf. P. Heelas, op. cit., p. 138. 

⁸⁹Elliot Miller, A Crash Course in the New Age, Eastbourne (Monarch) 1989, p. 122. For documentation on the vehemently anti-Christian stance of spiritualism, cf. R. Laurence Moore, “Spiritualism”, in Edwin S. Gaustad (ed.), The Rise of Adventism: Religion and Society in Mid-Nineteenth-Century America, New York 1974, pp. 79-103, and also R. Laurence Moore, In Search of White Crows: Spiritualism, Parapsychology, and American Culture, New York (Oxford University Press) 1977. 

⁹⁰Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical letter Fides et Ratio (14 September 1998),
36-48. 

⁹¹Cf. John Paul II, Address to the United States Bishops of Iowa , Kansas , Missouri and Nebraska on their “Ad Limina” visit, 28 May 1993.  

⁹²Cf. John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa
(14 September 1995), 103. The Pontifical Council for Culture has published a handbook listing these centres throughout the world: Catholic Cultural Centres (3rd edition, Vatican City , 2001). 

⁹³Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Orationis Formas, and § 3 above. 

⁹⁴This is one area where lack of information can allow those responsible for education to be misled by groups whose real agenda is inimical to the Gospel message. It is particularly the case in schools, where a captive curious young audience is an ideal target for ideological merchandising. Cf. the caveat in Massimo Introvigne, New Age & Next Age, Casale Monferrato (Piemme) 2000, p. 277f. 

⁹⁵Cf. J. Badewien, Antroposofia, in H. Waldenfels (ed.) Nuovo Dizionario delle Religioni, Cinisello Balsamo (San Paolo) 1993, 41. 

⁹⁶Cf. Raúl Berzosa Martinez, Nueva Era y Cristianismo, Madrid (BAC) 1995, 214. 

⁹⁷Helen Palmer, The Enneagram, New York (Harper-Row) 1989. 

⁹⁸Cf. document of the Argentine Episcopal Committee for Culture, op. cit. 

⁹⁹J. Gernet, in J.-P. Vernant et al., Divination et Rationalité, Paris (Seuil) 1974, p. 55. 

¹⁰⁰Cf. Susan Greenwood, “Gender and Power in Magical Practices”, in Steven Sutcliffe and Marion Bowman (eds.), Beyond New Age. Exploring Alternative Spirituality, Edinburgh ( Edinburgh University Press) 2000, p. 139. 

¹⁰¹Cf. M. Fuss, op. cit., 198-199. 

¹⁰²For a brief but clear treatment of the Human Potential Movement, see Elizabeth Puttick, “Personal Development: the Spiritualisation and Secularisation of the Human Potential Movement”, in: Steven Sutcliffe and Marion Bowman (eds.), Beyond New Age. Exploring Alternative Spirituality, Edinburgh ( Edinburgh University Press) 2000, pp. 201-219. 

¹⁰³Cf. C. Maccari, La “New Age” di fronte alla fede cristiana, Leumann-Torino (LDC) 1994, 168. 

¹⁰⁴Cf. W.J. Hanegraaff, op. cit., 283-290. 

¹⁰⁵On this last, very delicate, point, see Eckhard Türk's article “Neonazismus” in Hans Gasper, Joachim Müller, Friederike Valentin (eds.), Lexikon der Sekten, Sondergruppen und Weltanschauungen. Fakten, Hintergründe, Klärungen, Freiburg- Basel-Wien (Herder) 2000, p. 726. 

¹⁰⁶Cf. John Saliba, Christian Responses to the New Age Movement. A Critical Assessment, London , (Geoffrey Chapman) 1999, p.1. 

¹⁰⁷Cf. M. Fuss, op. cit., 195-196.

Taken from:
L'Osservatore Romano
Weekly Edition in English
13/20 August 2003, special insert

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