New Age and Neopagan Religions in America

CHAPTER SEVEN The Age of Aquarius Although the idea of a New Age was popularized by Alice Bailey in the early twentieth century, the term had been around at least since the American Rev- olution before it was used self-consciously by Theosophists like her who believed a “master” would come to enlighten humanity and usher us into a new age. The concept picked up relevance as the s counterculture looked to- ward the Age of Aquarius as a utopian future of peace and equality. Move- ments aimed at social and personal transformation that emerged or were given new meaning in the s continue to shape New Age and Neopagan religions. Ideas about the expected new era vary among Neopagans and New Agers, just as they ranged in the s from social revolution to com- munal escape from society. But most agree that it will include a changed dy- namic between men and women, healthy diet, holistic healing practices, and peacefulness. Along with and related to holistic healing and feminist restructuring, en- vironmentalist concerns are seen as key in bringing about the transformation of society. Many New Agers and Neopagans believe that an ecologically vi- able relationship to the natural world will characterize the future age, when humans will live more harmoniously on earth. Some also believe the earth it- self, a living being that has been ill used by humanity, will bring about cataclysmic changes, while others expect a gradual dawning of enlightened consciousness among large numbers of people to usher in the New Age. Goddess religion will emerge from a “Great Purification,” claim some ob- servers, borrowing a phrase from Hopi prophecy: “Look at the freak weather phenomena all around us . Mother Nature is beginning to take things into 146 her own hands.” In their desire to shape the future through healing the body, instituting balanced gender roles, creating or rediscovering rituals and sacred spaces, transforming consciousness, and caring for the environment, New Agers and Neopagans get involved in social and environmental activism as well as inner work. Apocalyptic Thinking and the Aquarian Age One of the ways new religions attract members is by holding out an oppor- tunity to shape the future and to play a part in creating a new heaven on earth. Like their conservative Christian counterparts, some New Agers and Neo- pagans have an apocalyptic vision. They approach the Age of Aquarius in mythological terms by turning to ancient Hopi and Mayan prophecies and astrological theories. Historian Catherine Albanese explains that “in astrological thinking the stars symbolized not only the life paths of individuals but also the quality of time in general. In many cases an astrological ‘dispensa- tionalism’ prevailed, and astrologers claimed to read the coming of different eras in the stars.” According to Albanese, the Age of Aquarius, “an early name for the New Age, became a symbol for the consciousness that New Age people believed would replace old and outworn beliefs.” Some astrologers spread the theory that when the sun entered the constellation of Aquarius on the day of the spring equinox, the Aquarian Age would arrive. Albanese points out, however, that although “according to strict astrological charting the Age of Aquarius would arrive some years after the last decades of the twentieth century, the concept—like astrological belief in general—became an important ingredient in the New Age.” New Agers turned the idea of an imminent astrological shift into an apocalypse characterized by chaos and suffering that they believed would lead to an era of peace or a new age characterized by “Aquarian consciousness.” These views are based on an ancient system of predicting future events and understanding the present in relation to the positions of planets. In astrology the heavens are divided into twelve zodiac signs named for the constellations. The signs stay the same, but the constellations move in cycles. Each lines up with its corresponding sign for a little over , years, and the entire cycle takes over , years to complete. The so-called Piscean Age has lasted for about the , years during which the Piscean sign and constellation have been in alignment. The next alignment will be the sign and constellation of Aquarius, but precisely when the Aquarian Age will begin or 147 whether it has already begun is open to interpretation, because no one is re- ally sure when the Piscean Age began and exactly how long it has lasted. Many astrologers predict that the transition from one age to the next will be a time of chaos and cataclysm, while others believe the shift will be more gradual. They also stress the role of individuals in shaping the nature of this transition. Neopagan author Marian Green points to the individual as a source of power in the astrologically determined New Age: “We are changing from the astrological age of Pisces, in which people acted like schools of fish, all fol- lowing the same rules and the same patterns of life, to the new age of Aquar- ius. Aquarius is usually shown as a man with a water pot, pouring out a stream of water. This symbolises individuality.” Because astrology is a source of knowledge and guidance that both Neopagans and New Agers turn to, they share similar beliefs about the Age of Aquarius. Marilyn Ferguson, author of The Aquarian Conspiracy, also sees the shift to the age of “Aquar- ius, the waterbearer in the ancient zodiac, symbolizing flow and the quench- ing of an ancient thirst.” Ferguson’s book, published in , describes a network of “Aquarian conspirators” who emerged in the late s as a re- sult of the convergence of “the social activism of the s” and the “consciousness revolution” of the early s when “social transformation re- sulted from personal transformation—change from the inside out.” Ferguson explains that she chose the term “Aquarian” to give a positive note to the “conspiracy” that she feared might be understood as something nega- tive. “I was drawn to the symbolic power of the pervasive dream in our popular culture: that after a dark, violent age, the Piscean, we are entering a millennium of love and light.” Not only has the preceding age been violent, but some New Agers and Neopagans argue that violence is the only way to bring about change. Many New Age teachers and writers imagine that a global cleansing or purification is necessary before the New Age can take place. New Age vi- sionary and Ojibwa Indian Sun Bear describes prophecies from different eras and different cultures in his book Black Dawn, Bright Day: Indian Prophecies for the Millennium That Reveal the Fate of the Earth (). “Be aware,” he says. “There is always a warning.” Sun Bear believes that chaos will grow first in cities, where diseases and earthquakes will wreak havoc: “there will come a time of great destruction to the Earth. The wise people will know what to do and will move in a sacred manner to make the changes necessary for their own survival and for the survival of others. Those who do survive will be the people who have studied the prophecies and have learned how to 148 hear the Earth.” He assumes that a violent cleansing of the planet is necessary because “too many humans have become out of balance on the Earth Mother.” Those who remain afterward will “relearn the language of nature,” and Sun Bear and other New Age teachers are ready to show them how. In one of his books Sun Bear provides maps of safe places to live and lists of supplies to help survive a cataclysmic event. If the apocalypse is necessary, and many New Agers believe it is, then humans should prepare to live dif- ferently as they transition from one age to the next. People will learn new ways of existing more harmoniously on the planet, he predicts, and “will share the same level of consciousness, found in their own individual ways.” His comment captures an important aspect of the New Age view: in the future, global unity will prevail without the sacrifice of individuality and personal freedom. Many Neopagans also believe that the utopian society they envision will only be possible after a cataclysm. Witch Laurie Cabot expresses a popular belief that the earth is a goddess who will initiate the purification process: “The earth must adjust herself to the problems that human life has created for her. The great Titans of the earth are waking up to take part in this cleansing: fires, earthquakes, volcanoes, storms, droughts, floods. But even the end of the earth may not be a disaster when viewed from the perspective of the All. We just don’t know. At best we must heed these events as messages from the earth to reform our ways and live in harmony and balance with the earth and her many communities.” Cabot and others who look for a violent purification of the planet have little sympathy for humans because they believe that people have lived destructively on the earth and have brought this fate on themselves. Although unlike New Agers, they rarely focus on this topic during their rituals and festivals, Neopagan authors identify it as an un- derlying concern. In “What Next? Alternative Community in the Next Mil- lennium,” Neopagan Jim Cairo predicts that “the entire Earth will be thrown into a cultural Cuisinart set at high speed. The past will be gone, the present will be a jumble, and the future will be uncertain. Group living arrange- ments, extended families, the legal redefinition of the family—our very concept of what it means to be human—will all be changed.

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