The Pageless Book

New Age spirituality is one of those subjects on which I cannot seem to form a solid opinion. It is hard to define, but generally encompasses a belief in angels, psychic powers, energy crystals, reincarnation, aliens, and divination. My knee-jerk reaction is to discount it entirely as a miscellaneous collection of modern myths and superstitions blended together to form a very misinformed, but well intentioned, spiritual path. To be honest, that reactionary opinion comes from a very smug place of intellectual superiority which doesn’t suit me well at all. I may tell myself that I am above such non-sense, but then I put myself in the position of defending my own brand of non-sense.

I also put myself in the position of being a hypocrite – I own several decks of tarot cards and have been known to use them on occasion. Somehow, fool myself into thinking that tarot reading is *different* than the rest of New Age spirituality. Because I’ve studied the history of the tarot and view it more as a psychological tool, I can assure myself that I’m not gullible or superstitious. Yet, is it really about being gullible or superstitious?

How is a prayer for health any different than Rikki healing? On the surface, both practices are attempts to influence unseen forces to the benefit of others. With prayer, you are seeking the blessings of a Divine Source that exists independently of yourself. Rikki healing, on the other hand, utilizes the divine power within the healer. The big three religions in Western culture - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - teaches that humanity is imperfect, unworthy, and unclean. They teach that we are all less than divine, daring only to touch at the hem of God’s robes, as we are not worthy of any closer contact. New Age spirituality seems to challenge this idea, asserting that we are all divine - even the people who seem least divine. In going against traditional religion, it also go against what might be called “common sense.” The truth is that it merely goes against our learned bias.

New Age spirituality also seems to exist merely to thumb its nose at intellectualism. Perhaps it is a direct reaction to our culture’s insistence that everything fit into the small box of what we consider logical? We tend to neglect the emotional and intuitive side in favor of reasoning and proof. While logic holds a special place in being one of humanity’s most useful tools, it represents only a portion of human experience. Sometimes we need to let go of logic and reasoning to understand truth on a more intuitive level. Again, it is a learned bias to believe that this intuitive head-space not serious enough to be considered valid spirituality.

Speaking of “seriousness”, have you ever noticed that constant negativity is always taken more seriously than constant optimism? Because New Age spirituality is consistently optimistic and upbeat, it can be easily dismissed as being silly and foolish. Pessimism, however, should not be given any more consideration than optimism. I believe that pessimism is often more foolish than optimism.

Probably the biggest complaint people have about New Age spirituality is that it seems to be a mish-mash of unproven sciences, superstitions, and the musings of snake-oil salesmen. Even this has a positive aspect to it - no one can deny the creativity of New Age spirituality. Spirituality should be about creativity. These people have fun with their beliefs, and are unashamed to do so.

Does this mean that I will be taking up a crystal waving? No, not likely. I still find it to be too much for me on many levels. What it does mean is that there are several aspects of New Age spirituality that can be learned from and admired. I can learn from it’s creativity and optimism, it’s intuitiveness, and the affirmation of individual divinity. And if I wander into a New Age book store once in a while, it means I don’t have to feel guilty about it… Did I mention they have really cool stuff?

First Photo by Muji Tra. Second Image by Jon Parise. Final Image by Steve Jurvetson.