The Encyclopedia of World Religions

318 S new religions

in one part of the universe, including the heavens, and others, including human beings. Movement of the stars and planets can affect events on earth and the lives of its inhabitants. Gemstones or col ors can be in harmony with various days of the week or organs of the body, and thus can affect the potency of healing energies. No less important are New Age beliefs about consciousness. It is usually assumed that consciousness and matter are both universal forces, like two sides of the same coin, so one can always affect the other. New Age follow ers attempt to use meditation and concentrated thought to change health and even events in the outer world. New Age people accept what earlier thinkers called the “great chain of being” doc trine: Centers of consciousness can rise above humanity just as they can descend below it into animals and plants; the higher conscious ness would be what we call spirits, saints, mas ters, angels, and demigods, up to God Supreme. For many New Age people these entities are important as companions and guides and can sometimes be “channeled” or enabled to speak through human mediums during trances. Though perhaps perceived as less vogue than they were around the 1980s, New Age attitudes have continued to be powerful in popular culture in the 21st century. Further reading: James R. Lewis, The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of New Age Religions (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus, 2003); Shirley MacLaine, Out on a Limb, Rpt. (New York: Bantam, 1999); J. Gordon Melton, New Age Encyclopedia (Detroit: Gale, 1990); Sarah Pike, New Age and Neopagan Religions in America (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004). new religions Religions that have arisen recently, generally within the last few generations. Some religions are very old, but new religions are continually appearing as well. Thousands have arisen in the 20th century alone, especially in rapidly changing societies such as Africa and parts of Asia. New religious

The New Age movement has roots in the ancient world, especially Platonic philosophy. Some of its ideas, such as astrology and cosmic energy, have long enjoyed a sort of underground coexistence with the dominant religions of Europe and North America for centuries. Their outlook might be considered an alternative to the spiritual mainstream. This side surfaced strongly in the 19th century in New England Transcendentalism, SPIRITUALISM , and N EW T HOUGHT , and in movements like T HEOSOPHY . The term New Age itself goes back to that period. But its most immediate predeces sor was the famous “counterculture” of the 1960s. Many New Age concepts and practices became popular in that era, and the New Age movement began in the wake of the 1960s. For all its diversity, the New Age movement has certain common core ideas. Most basic is the concept of energy. Many philosophies, both East ern and Western, have postulated a basic, universal energy, much like the “Force” in Star Wars, most intense in biological organisms, that drives and regulates all things. When it is balanced and flow ing freely in a person, she or he is in good health. When it is not, there is disease. But there are pro cesses, for example, acupuncture and YOGA , to remove blockages and restore the energy’s proper flow. New Age approaches to healing and health generally are grounded on this energy concept. They are called “alternative medicine” because they differ in this respect from mainline medicine, which is centered more on fighting and destroying disease-causing organisms. Some New Age adherents believe that energy can also be worked with in its universal aspect. Certain objects, such as crystals, may be particu lar sources or transmitters of it. Properly placed crystals can send cosmic energy to a person and help restore his or her own energy. Some New Age teachers have postulated “energy vortexes” or “power spots” on Earth, for example, Sedona, Ari zona, and Mount Shasta in California, where the energy is especially accessible. Others believe that cosmic energy also oper ates through what the ancients called “correspon dences,” subtle lines of force between phenomena