NEW AGE RELIGIONAND WESTERN CULTURE

ESOTERICISM IN THE MIRROROF SECULAR THOUGHT

BY

WOUTER J. HANEGRAAFF

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 1Methodology 3A Preliminary Demarcation of the Field 7

Part OneORIENTATION: MAJOR TRENDS IN NEW AGE RELIGION

CHAPTER ONE. Channeling 23

A Brief Characteristic 23Channeling as Articulated Revelations 24Channeling Modes and Developmental Processes 27The 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 42The Alternative Therapies 42Healing as a Religious Phenomenon 44Main Currents 48The Sources (Eva Pierrakos; Ken Keyes; Leonard Orr & Sondra Ray;Shakti Gawain; Sanaya Roman; Henry Reed/Edgar Cayce; JeanHouston; 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 62New Age Science as Naturphilosophie 64Main Orientations 67The 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 77Neopaganism as Magic 79Main 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 94Introduction 94An Historical Sketch 94New Age sensu stricto: The Millenarian Vision 98New Age sensu lato 103The Sources (David Spangler; George Trevelyan; Gary Zukav;Marilyn Ferguson; Fritjof Capra; Peter Russell; Willis Harman;Shirley MacLaine; Matthew Fox) 104

Part TwoEXPOSITION: THE VARIETIES OF NEW AGE EXPERIENCE

CHAPTER SIX. The Nature of Reality 1131. Introduction: Attitudes to Experiential Reality 1132. The Meanings of Holism 119

A. The Ultimate Source of Manifestation 120B. Universal Interrelatedness 128

Parallellism and Bootstrap Philosophy—Systems Thinking—The Holographic Paradigm

C. Other Meanings of Holism 1523. The Evolutionary Perspective 1584. Some Additional Issues 168

The Transcendence of Space-Time—Mind and Matter—The Wilber Controversy

CHAPTER SEVEN. Meta-Empirical and Human Beings 1821. Introduction 1822. Divine Beings 183

A. God 183B. Christ 189

3. Intermediate Beings 194A. Beings of Ambiguous Status 194B. Entities, Angels, and Other Intermediate Beings 197

CHAPTER EIGHT. Matters of the Mind 203

1. Introduction 2032. Human Beings 204

TABLE OF CONTENTS XI

A. The "I am God" Theme 204B. The Constitution of Human Beings 210

The (Higher) Self—The Unconscious—Ego and Personality—Subtle Bodies—The Brain

3. The Metaphysics of Mind 224A. The Psychologization of Religion and Sacralization ofPsychology 224B. Creating Our Own Reality 229

The Law of Manifestation and its Implications—Self-Responsi-bility—The Mechanics of Changing Reality—Creating Illnessand Health

C. Inner Realms 245Cartographies of Consciousness—Journeys through InnerSpace

CHAPTER NINE. Death and Survival 256

1. introduction: The Experience of Death 2562. Other Realities 2593. Reincarnation and Beyond 262

New Age Reincarnationism and its Attractions—The Process and"Mechanics" of Reincarnation—Past-Life Recovery

CHAPTER TEN. Good and Evil 2761. introduction: The Paradox of Ethical Holism 2762. The Structure of Cosmic Justice 277

Non-Dual Ethics and the Problem of Relativism—EvolutionistKarma

3. The Negative 290Limited Consciousness—Psychological "Negativities": Sin, Guilt,Fear

4. The Positive 296Holistic Consciousness—The Positive: Love, Surrender, Forgive-ness

CHAPTER ELEVEN. Visions of the Past 302

1. Introduction 3022. Beginnings 304

Cosmogonic Myths—The Descent of Man3. From Atlantis to the Holy Land 309

Atlantis—Egypt and the "Great White Brotherhood"—The Essenes and Jesus

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4. The Age of Pisces 3 1 8

Christianity—The Rejection of Reincarnation—Cartesian/Newtonian Thinking

5. Historical Religions versus Universal Spirituality 324Exoteric Religions—Perennial Wisdom

CHAPTER TWELVE. The New Age 331

1. Introduction 3312. The Age of Aquarius 333

The Timing of the New Age—The "Pathos of Change"—The"Moderate" New Age—The Age of Light

3. The Shift from Old to New 344The Potentials of Crisis—Evolution of Consciousness—TheHuman Contribution: Creating Critical Mass—Images ofIntervention

4. Epilogue: Controversies over the New Age Sensu Lato 356

Part ThreeINTERPRETATION: NEW AGE RELIGION AND TRADITIONAL ESOTERICISM

CHAPTER THIRTEEN. Towards a Historical Perspective on New Age Reli-gion 365

1. A Short Evaluation 3652. Perspectives on the New Age 368

Hans Sebald—Christof Schorsch—J. 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 ofWestern Esotericism . . 384

A. "Esotericism" as Technical Terminology 384B. The Origins of Western Esotericism 386C. The Components of Western Esotericism 388

Philosophical Frameworks: Neopiatonism and Hermeticism—The "Occult Sciences": Magic, Astrology, Alchemy—TheTheosophical Component: Christian Kabbalah

D. The Worldview of Western Esotericism 3962. Esotericism between Renaissance and Enlightenment 401

A. The "Inner Church" and Esotericism 401B. The Factor of Reformation "Spiritualism" 403

3. A Clash of Worldviews 406

TABLE OF CONTENTS XIII

CHAPTER FIFTEEN. The Mirror of Secular Thought 4111. Esotericism Between Enlightenment and Counter-Enlight-enment 411

A. The Emergence of Romanticism 415B. The Emergence of Occultism 421

Emanuel Swedenborg—Franz Anton Mesmer—Modern Spiri-tualism— Conclusion

2. The Impact of the Study of Religions 442A. The Theosophical Synthesis 443

Proto-Theosophical Perspectives—The New TheosophyB. The Orient and American Transcendentalism 455

3. Evolution as Religion 462A. The "Metaphysical" Context 467B. The Theosophical Context 470

Spiritual Progress after Death—Reincarnation—The Law of Evo-lution

4. The Psychologization of Esotericism 482A. Harmonial Religion 483

American Mesmerism and the Rise of New Thought—Func-tionalist Psychology—Harmonia! Religion and the Sacralizationof the Psyche

B. Carl Gustav Jung 496Jung and German Romanticism—The Cult of the Interior Sun—Gnosticism, Alchemy, and Jungian Psychology

CHAPTER SIXTEEN. Conclusions: The New Age Movement and the

Nature of New Age Religion 514New Age as Culture Criticism—New Age as Secularized Esotericism—A Final Problem: The Demarcation in Time—Postscript

Appendix: Primary New Age Sources (in alphabetical order) 525Bibliography 531Index of Subjects 559Index of Names 571