WORLDVIEWS IN TRANSITION: A STUDY OF THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA by HELENA CHRISTINA STEYN submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY in the subject RELIGIOUS STUDIES atthe UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA PROMOTER: PROF J S KRiiGER CO-PROMOTER: DR W J SCHURINK NOVEMBER 1992 This thesis is dedicated to my mother ~'·\RY I ·'::'.' . 1~83 ·07- J ~ 299 '930 968 STEY Xla~ I·\~~ees ! '.''2:~'~.~c= 1111111111111 01491843 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my profound appreciation to: Prof JS Kri.iger, my promoter and mentor, who has carefully guided my studies since my first introduction to Religious Studies thirteen years ago. It was he who inspired me to embark on this project and whose thoughtful, patient guidance and encour­ agement subsequently enabled me to persevere and bring this project to fruition. Dr W J Schurink, my co-promoter and a pioneer in the actualisation of the qualita­ tive research method in South Africa. He kept a watchful eye on the methodology of this project and astutely steered me through the many pitfalls inherent in a qualitative study. The Centre for Research Development (HSRC, South Africa) who sponsored the project and made available a significant grant. The opinions and conclusions in this study are, however, my own and cannot be attributed to the Centre. Monica Strassner, Saretha Botha and Cariena Zeelie, the subject reference librar­ ians who cheerfully and efficiently shouldered much of the responsibility for obtain­ ing the many books and articles that the study required. Yvonne Kemp, who skilfully edited the thesis, and Thea Eicker who assisted with the many intricacies that still elude me of working on a PC. I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the thirty individuals who consented to assist me in this project. Although they must remain anonymous, I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation to each and every one for the time they so generously spent with me and for trusting me with many of their innermost feel­ ings. This report could not have materialised without their participation. To the three participants who agreed to read parts of the final report, and whose comments are included in an appendix, I am very grateful. To my family, my mothers, brothers and sisters, all of whom supported me in their own special ways, I owe more than I can express in words. It is, however, to my hus­ band Rennie, and children Helene and Almero, that I owe the most. Not only are they a constant source of support and encouragement, but their being here gives meaning to all I do. SUMMARY In recent years the New Age movement has attracted much attention in our society and the reaction to it has often been one of fear and confusion. The purpose of this exploratory study is to provide empirical data on the movement in an unbiased, non­ judgmental way. The qualitative research approach, and more specifically the phenomenological method, are utilised in order to arrive at some understanding of the phenomenon and what it means to its adherents. Firstly, a framework comprising vertical historical streams (the alternative tradition in the west, the eastern philosophies, humanistic and transpersonal psychology and the new physics) from which the movement issues, and horizontal levels which represent different layers of the movement (the commercial, the level of personal empowerment, social transformation, and the rebirth of the sacred), is established in order to give context to the seemingly contradictory data on the New Age move­ ment. Secondly, central concepts concerning the spiritual dimension of the movement are isolated and explored in unstructured interviews with carefully selected participants. Next, the vision and expectations of a New Age are explored and the New Age worldview with regard to the concept of God, an holistic cosmology, anthropology and theodicy is investigated. This is followed by discussions of the central issues of direct knowledge as opposed to dogma and doctrines, and the important goals of personal, social and planetary healing and transformation. From these data an ideal-typical South African New Ager is constructed, providing the reader with an instrument with which to identify manifestations of the move­ ment. Reasons for the movement's growth are found in disillusionment with mod­ ernity and the subsequent spiritual reawakening and paradigm shift that followers are experiencing. It is concluded that the core of the New Age movement represents a popular manifestation of the constructive postmodern worldview that is espoused by leading thinkers of our time. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 01 1.1 FORMULATION AND DEMARCATION OF THE PROBLEM .............. 02 1.1.1 Clarification of key concepts .......................................................................... 02 a Religion ................................................................................................... <'2 b New Age movement ............................................................................. 05 1.1.2 Religion in contemporary society - context of the enquiry ....................... 05 1.2 METHODOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY ......... :................................ 09 1.2.1 Methodological considerations ...................................................................... 09 a Personal background ............................................................................ 09 b Operationalisation of the term 'New Age' ........................................ 10 c Interpretive strategy .............................................................................. 10 d Temporal limitations and context ...................................................... 15 e Unit of analysis ...................................................................................... 15 1.2.2 Natural history of the project. ........................................................................ 16 a Literature survey ................................................................................... 17 b Isolating basic concepts ........................................................................ 17 c Confirming concepts through content analysis of New Age documents ......................................................................................... 18 d Participant observation ........................................................................ 20 e Selecting participants for unstructured interviews ........................... 21 f Profile of the participants ..................................................................... 23 g Planning the course of the interview .................................................. 24 h Personal experience of the fieldwork and interviews ...................... 25 i Analysis of data ...................................................................................... 27 j Validation ................................................................................................ 27 k Notes on references .............................................................................. 28 1 Layout of report. ..................................................................................... 28 NOTES ...................................................................................................................... 28 ii i 2 LITERATURE SURVEY ........................................................................................ 32 2.1 THE AIM OF THE CHAPTER .......................................................................... 32 2.2 NEW AGERS ON THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT ....................................... 33 2.3 SIGNIFICANT AUTHORS WHO PREDATE THE MOVEMENT .......... 36 2.4 LITERATURE ON ISSUES OF IMPORTANCE IN NEW AGE CIRCLES ............................................................................................................ 39 2.5 DESCRIPTIONS AND EVALUATIONS ......................................................... 45 2.5.1 Literature by scholars of religion and sociologists ..................................... 45 2.5.2 Evaluations by scientists and humanists ....................................................... 47 2.5.3 Evaluations from a Christian perspective .................................................... 48 2.6 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 51 NOTES ...................................................................................................................... 51 3 HISTORICAL ROOTS OF THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT............................ 56 3.1 THE AIM OF THE CHAPTER .......................................................................... 57 3.2 THE MYTH OF A GOLDEN AGE ................................................................... 58 3.3 FOUR MAJOR PRECURSORS OF THE MOVEMENT............................. 59 3.3.1 The alternative tradition in the west.. ...................................... ~ .................... 60 a Clarification of the terms 'occult' and 'esoteric' ............................... 62 b The alternative tradition through the ages ....................................... 63 c The counter-culture movement in the United States ...................... 98 3.3.2 Eastern philosophies ..................................................................................... 100 a Hinduism .............................................................................................