If you’ve been around for the past few decades, you’ve likely heard of the term “new age.” You may understand it as an object of criticism from adherents of other established faiths. You may associate it with alternative approaches to medicine or practices of Eastern origins, such as yoga and meditation. You may think of certain types of ambient music as being New Age, but you’re not sure if it’s a religion, a spirituality, a movement, or a milieu. Let’s take a closer look at the New Age phenomenon and how it intersects with other belief systems and life approaches.
Defining New Age
There has been much debate and discussion when it comes to defining the scope of New Age. It can probably best be described as an eclectic set of practices and beliefs that emerged during the 1970s in Western society. The history of humans tends to be subdivided by discrete ages, and where past ages were ones of spiritual wisdom and technological advancement, the New Age would remedy the current period of spiritual decay.
The New Age milieu is centered around the idea that there is a holistic divinity in everything, including mankind. Spiritual authority of self, healing, and the unification of spirituality and science are some of the major themes of the movement. Scholars vary on describing this movement as a religion or a spirituality, but several beliefs are generally considered to be foundational:
- Individualism: A person and their experiences are the foremost authority when it comes to spiritual matters. Freedom and autonomy are emphasized.
- Theology: A belief in divinity is considered integral to New Age ideas. Although there are different understandings of this divinity, some common interpretations include the “Universal Principle” or a “life force” or single consciousness that is the origin of all things.
- Channeling: Many practitioners subscribe to the idea that humans can channel and connect with other spiritual entities for information, wisdom, revelation, and guidance. Such entities include deities, angels, extraterrestrials, elementals and spirits in nature, among others.
- Astrology: There is a consistent belief that this new period will be a utopia of love, abundance, and harmony, often identified as the “Age of Aquarius.”
- Alternative medicine: An emphasis on healing and alternative medicine is a major part of this milieu. Holistic health treatments such as acupuncture, yoga, homeopathy, aromatherapy, herbal medicine, crystals and other methods are associated with New Age healing.
- Science: The academic scientific establishment is considered an outmoded approach to understanding the world, but science and spirituality can and will be reconciled.
- Ethics and afterlife: While many faiths emphasize ethics and morals and their implications on life after death, there’s not a single view within the New Age milieu.
Checking the Numbers
According to surveys by the Pew Research Center, nearly 60% of American adults subscribe to at least one belief that would be considered New Age, such as reincarnation, psychics, astrology, or spiritual energy in objects. This would include many people who identify as Christian, both Protestants and Catholics. Almost half of evangelical Protestants affirm a belief in at least one New Age principle. Even among atheists, agnostics, and the unaffiliated, there is some belief to the tune of 22%, 56% and 78%, respectively. Almost 70% of women hold some type of belief in these principles versus 55% of men. There tends to be a larger percentage of belief among racial and ethnic minority groups, but persons over the age of 65 have lower numbers of believers than younger groups of adults.
When it comes to defining New Age as a religion or spirituality, you might be reminded of the Indian parable of the blind men and the elephant. Each individual could only imagine it based on the part of the elephant they could feel, including the trunk, the tusk, the legs and more. Similarly, the definition of New Age varies depending on who you talk to.