Historical Dictionary of New Age Movements (Volume 49) (Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements Series, 49)

The Historical Dictionary of New Age Movements is a reference manual presenting the key concepts, activities, groups, people, and overlapping domains of the contemporary spirituality known as New Age. The focus includes historical antecedents as well as contemporary strategies for change and survival that link the groups and movements variously identifiable within the New Age rubric as an increasingly emergent twenty-first century religiosity. Du site de l'éd.: The decline of institutionalized religion in the increasingly secularized West has been offset by the contemporary spiritual development understood in the form of emerging New Age movements. This Dictionary presents the potpourri of spiritual and psycho-physical therapeutic practices associated with this affirmation of the individual's spiritual freedom, the expectation of a future golden age, the emphasis on self-development and the holistic pluralism that sets the dominant pulse for innovative spirituality in the twenty-first century. This reference furnishes profiles and explanations of New Age spokespeople and leaders, of a range of human potential and self-help practices, of countercultural spiritual developments, and of different groups and organizations that identify as New Age to let the reader decide for herself/himself whatever might be the sincerity, validity, hopes and possible usefulness to be found within the New Age effervescence. The dictionary consists of over 240 individual entries along with an introduction that describes the historical foundations of the New Age orientation and its relation with contemporary Western paganism. It also presents the sociological dimension of New Age expression as well as the kinds of criticism with which the New Age identity must contend. There is both a New Age Chronology and an extensive index that allows the reader access to many different themes and personalities that appear within the various entries that might otherwise be difficult to locate in a dictionary format. Designed to be of helpful use for students and serious academics alike as well as for practitioners of New Age spirituality

The decline of institutionalized religion in the increasingly secularized West has been offset by the contemporary spiritual development understood in the form of emerging New Age movements. This Dictionary presents the potpourri of spiritual and psycho-physical therapeutic practices associated with this affirmation of the individual's spiritual freedom, the expectation of a future golden age, the emphasis on self-development and the holistic pluralism that sets the dominant pulse for innovative spirituality in the twenty-first century. This reference furnishes profiles and explanations of New Age spokespeople and leaders, of a range of human potential and self-help practices, of countercultural spiritual developments, and of different groups and organizations that identify as New Age to let the reader decide for herself/himself whatever might be the sincerity, validity, hopes and possible usefulness to be found within the New Age effervescence. The dictionary consists of over 240 individual entries along with an introduction that describes the historical foundations of the New Age orientation and its relation with contemporary Western paganism. It also presents the sociological dimension of New Age expression as well as the kinds of criticism with which the New Age identity must contend. There is both a New Age Chronology and an extensive index that allows the reader access to many different themes and personalities that appear within the various entries that might otherwise be difficult to locate in a dictionary format. Designed to be of helpful use for students and serious academics alike as well as for practitioners of New Age spirituality.

"The New Age is clearly upon us, affecting millions of people in North America, Europe, and smaller contingents in some Asian countries and elsewhere. Just what the New Age is remains a bit of a mystery because there are so many different aspects, individual trends, and groups. To further complicate matters, most adherents tend to pick and choose what they practice, varying the composition from person to person and place to place. Among the more noticeable and wide-spread movements are alternative medicine, yoga, feng-shui, aromatherapy, and a new spirituality derived from the fusion of Western, Eastern, and other philosophies and religions." "The Historical Dictionary of New Age Movements examines various New Age concepts, spokespeople, and leaders; a range of human potential and self-help practices; countercultural spiritual developments; and different groups and organizations that identify themselves as New Age, without judging or categorizing them. More than 240 entries make this dictionary a valuable resource for students, practitioners, and serious academics."--Jacket