NEW AGE RELIGION

AND WESTERN CULTURE

ESOTERICISM IN THE MIRROR
OF SECULAR THOUGHT

BY

WOUTER J. HANEGRAAFF

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 1
Methodology 3
A Preliminary Demarcation of the Field 7

Part One
ORIENTATION: MAJOR TRENDS IN NEW AGE RELIGION

CHAPTER ONE. Channeling 23

A Brief Characteristic 23
Channeling as Articulated Revelations 24
Channeling Modes and Developmental Processes 27
The Sources (Edgar Cayce; Eva Pierrakos; Jane Roberts;
A Course in Miracles; David Spangler; Ramala; JZ Knight;
Sanaya Roman; Shirley MacLaine) 34

CHAPTER TWO. Healing and Personal Growth 42

The Alternative Therapies 42
Healing as a Religious Phenomenon 44
Main Currents 48
The Sources (Eva Pierrakos; Ken Keyes; Leonard Orr & Sondra Ray;
Shakti Gawain; Sanaya Roman; Henry Reed/Edgar Cayce; Jean
Houston; Stanislav Grof; Ken Wilber; Michael Harner; Roger Walsh;
Louise L. Hay; Chris Griscom; Shirley MacLaine; Fritjof Capra) . . . 55

CHAPTER THREE. New Age Science 62

The Quest for a Unified Worldview 62
New Age Science as Naturphilosophie 64
Main Orientations 67
The Sources (David Bohm; F. David Peat; Michael Talbot; Ilya Pri-
gogine; Erich Jantsch; Rupert Sheldrake; Fritjof Capra; Ken Wilber;
Arthur M. Young) 70

CHAPTER FOUR. Neopaganism 77

The Phenomenon of Neopaganism 77
Neopaganism as Magic 79
Main Orientations 85
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The Sources (Janet & Stewart Farrar; Vivianne Crowley;

Starhawk; Zsuzsanna Budapest; Marian Green; Caitlin &
John Matthews; Murry Hope) 89

CHAPTER FIVE. New Age in a Restricted and in a General Sense 94

Introduction 94
An Historical Sketch 94
New Age sensu stricto: The Millenarian Vision 98
New Age sensu lato 103
The Sources (David Spangler; George Trevelyan; Gary Zukav;
Marilyn Ferguson; Fritjof Capra; Peter Russell; Willis Harman;
Shirley MacLaine; Matthew Fox) 104

Part Two
EXPOSITION: THE VARIETIES OF NEW AGE EXPERIENCE

CHAPTER SIX. The Nature of Reality 113

1. Introduction: Attitudes to Experiential Reality 113
2. The Meanings of Holism 119
A. The Ultimate Source of Manifestation 120
B. Universal Interrelatedness 128
Parallellism and Bootstrap PhilosophySystems Thinking
The Holographic Paradigm
C. Other Meanings of Holism 152
3. The Evolutionary Perspective 158
4. Some Additional Issues 168
The Transcendence of Space-TimeMind and Matter
The Wilber Controversy

CHAPTER SEVEN. Meta-Empirical and Human Beings 182

1. Introduction 182
2. Divine Beings 183
A. God 183
B. Christ 189
3. Intermediate Beings 194
A. Beings of Ambiguous Status 194
B. Entities, Angels, and Other Intermediate Beings 197

CHAPTER EIGHT. Matters of the Mind 203

1. Introduction 203
2. Human Beings 204
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A. The "I am God" Theme 204

B. The Constitution of Human Beings 210
The (Higher) SelfThe UnconsciousEgo and Personality
Subtle BodiesThe Brain
3. The Metaphysics of Mind 224
A. The Psychologization of Religion and Sacralization of
Psychology 224
B. Creating Our Own Reality 229
The Law of Manifestation and its ImplicationsSelf-Responsi-
bilityThe Mechanics of Changing RealityCreating Illness
and Health
C. Inner Realms 245
Cartographies of ConsciousnessJourneys through Inner
Space

CHAPTER NINE. Death and Survival 256

1. introduction: The Experience of Death 256
2. Other Realities 259
3. Reincarnation and Beyond 262
New Age Reincarnationism and its AttractionsThe Process and
"Mechanics" of ReincarnationPast-Life Recovery

CHAPTER TEN. Good and Evil 276

1. introduction: The Paradox of Ethical Holism 276
2. The Structure of Cosmic Justice 277
Non-Dual Ethics and the Problem of RelativismEvolutionist
Karma
3. The Negative 290
Limited ConsciousnessPsychological "Negativities": Sin, Guilt,
Fear
4. The Positive 296
Holistic ConsciousnessThe Positive: Love, Surrender, Forgive-
ness

CHAPTER ELEVEN. Visions of the Past 302

1. Introduction 302
2. Beginnings 304
Cosmogonic MythsThe Descent of Man
3. From Atlantis to the Holy Land 309
AtlantisEgypt and the "Great White Brotherhood"
The Essenes and Jesus
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318
4. The Age of Pisces
ChristianityThe Rejection of ReincarnationCartesian/
Newtonian Thinking
5. Historical Religions versus Universal Spirituality 324
Exoteric ReligionsPerennial Wisdom

CHAPTER TWELVE. The New Age 331

1. Introduction 331
2. The Age of Aquarius 333
The Timing of the New AgeThe "Pathos of Change"The
"Moderate" New AgeThe Age of Light
3. The Shift from Old to New 344
The Potentials of CrisisEvolution of ConsciousnessThe
Human Contribution: Creating Critical MassImages of
Intervention
4. Epilogue: Controversies over the New Age Sensu Lato 356

Part Three
INTERPRETATION: NEW AGE RELIGION AND TRADITIONAL ESOTERICISM

CHAPTER THIRTEEN. Towards a Historical Perspective on New Age Reli-

gion 365
1. A Short Evaluation 365
2. Perspectives on the New Age 368
Hans SebaldChristof SchorschJ. Gordon Melton (cum suis)
Christoph Bochinger
3. Desiderata for Academic Research 380

CHAPTER FOURTEEN. A Historical Framework 384

1. The Modern Hermeticist Revival and The Emergence of
Western Esotericism .. 384
A. "Esotericism" as Technical Terminology 384
B. The Origins of Western Esotericism 386
C. The Components of Western Esotericism 388
Philosophical Frameworks: Neopiatonism and Hermeticism
The "Occult Sciences": Magic, Astrology, AlchemyThe
Theosophical Component: Christian Kabbalah
D. The Worldview of Western Esotericism 396
2. Esotericism between Renaissance and Enlightenment 401
A. The "Inner Church" and Esotericism 401
B. The Factor of Reformation "Spiritualism" 403
3. A Clash of Worldviews 406
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN. The Mirror of Secular Thought 411

1. Esotericism Between Enlightenment and Counter-Enlight-
enment 411
A. The Emergence of Romanticism 415
B. The Emergence of Occultism 421
Emanuel SwedenborgFranz Anton MesmerModern Spiri-
tualism Conclusion
2. The Impact of the Study of Religions 442
A. The Theosophical Synthesis 443
Proto-Theosophical PerspectivesThe New Theosophy
B. The Orient and American Transcendentalism 455
3. Evolution as Religion 462
A. The "Metaphysical" Context 467
B. The Theosophical Context 470
Spiritual Progress after DeathReincarnationThe Law of Evo-
lution
4. The Psychologization of Esotericism 482
A. Harmonial Religion 483
American Mesmerism and the Rise of New ThoughtFunc-
tionalist PsychologyHarmonia! Religion and the Sacralization
of the Psyche
B. Carl Gustav Jung 496
Jung and German RomanticismThe Cult of the Interior Sun
Gnosticism, Alchemy, and Jungian Psychology

CHAPTER SIXTEEN. Conclusions: The New Age Movement and the

Nature of New Age Religion 514
New Age as Culture CriticismNew Age as Secularized Esotericism
A Final Problem: The Demarcation in TimePostscript

Appendix: Primary New Age Sources (in alphabetical order) 525

Bibliography 531
Index of Subjects 559
Index of Names 571