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New Age Religion and Western Culture Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought

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New Age Religion and Western Culture Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought 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 X TABLE OF CONTENTS 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 Philosophy—Systems Thinking— The Holographic Paradigm C. Other Meanings of Holism 152 3. The Evolutionary Perspective 158 4. Some Additional Issues 168 The Transcendence of Space-Time—Mind 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 TABLE OF CONTENTS XI A. The "I am God" Theme 204 B. The Constitution of Human Beings 210 The (Higher) Self—The Unconscious—Ego and Personality— Subtle Bodies—The 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 Implications—Self-Responsi- bility—The Mechanics of Changing Reality—Creating Illness and Health C. Inner Realms 245 Cartographies of Consciousness—Journeys 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 Attractions—The Process and "Mechanics" of Reincarnation—Past-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 Relativism—Evolutionist Karma 3. The Negative 290 Limited Consciousness—Psychological "Negativities": Sin, Guilt, Fear 4. The Positive 296 Holistic Consciousness—The Positive: Love, Surrender, Forgive- ness CHAPTER ELEVEN. Visions of the Past 302 1. Introduction 302 2. Beginnings 304 Cosmogonic Myths—The Descent of Man 3. From Atlantis to the Holy Land 309 Atlantis—Egypt and the "Great White Brotherhood"— The Essenes and Jesus XII TABLE OF CONTENTS 4. The Age of Pisces 318 Christianity—The Rejection of Reincarnation—Cartesian/ Newtonian Thinking 5. Historical Religions versus Universal Spirituality 324 Exoteric Religions—Perennial Wisdom CHAPTER TWELVE. The New Age 331 1. Introduction 331 2. 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 344 The Potentials of Crisis—Evolution of Consciousness—The Human Contribution: Creating Critical Mass—Images 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 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 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, Alchemy—The 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 TABLE OF CONTENTS XIII 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 Swedenborg—Franz Anton Mesmer—Modern Spiri- tualism— Conclusion 2. The Impact of the Study of Religions 442 A. The Theosophical Synthesis 443 Proto-Theosophical Perspectives—The 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 Death—Reincarnation—The Law of Evo- lution 4. The Psychologization of Esotericism 482 A. Harmonial Religion 483 American Mesmerism and the Rise of New Thought—Func- tionalist Psychology—Harmonia! Religion and the Sacralization of the Psyche B. Carl Gustav Jung 496 Jung 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 514 New 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) 525 Bibliography 531 Index of Subjects 559 Index of Names 571.
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