An examination of the new age movement: Who is involved and what constitutes its spirituality

Through substantial new quantitative research, I have found that participants of the New Age Movement are not young and not especially well‐off, but tend to be middle‐aged or older, and are represented throughout the entire economic spectrum. Moreover, their spirituality encompasses a wide variety of influences drawn from all religious traditions and spiritual concerns. While a great deal of social and spiritual common focus seems to exist in the Movement as a whole, my findings show that there is no one specific type of person who might be considered as being particularly active in the New Age. Furthermore, because of the wide variety of spiritual influences and the individual nature of participants’ spiritual quests, there does not appear to be a strong leaning to any one type of spirituality from which a more formalised New Age religious institution might arise. Through this new research, many claims about who is involved in the New Age Movement and what form their spirituality might take have been reviewed and I demonstrate that there are sizeable inaccuracies among the reports of some commentators.     

Shadow and Spirituality

When we confront the meaning of spirituality in education confusion and conflict can arise as they arise from the confrontation with spirituality in ourselves. This occurs both at the personal and at the collective level, according to writers such as C.G. Jung. Failure to understand that human spirituality includes a shadow side of this kind is precisely what leads many forms of human spiritual expression, including organized religion, into deep splits and schisms. It is unsurprising, therefore, that the willing, but perhaps, nä L ve attempts of contemporary educationalists to understand spirituality within education in a wholly positive light have themselves run into trouble. This paper will attempt to argue that without balancing contemporary educational debate about spirituality against some writers', including C.G. Jung's, deepest insights into the place of shadow in spirituality, children will yet again be sold a misfaction [1] about the nature of that aspect of human being and becoming. This, in turn will merely deepen the chaos, confusion and conflict arising from the earnest and well-intentioned, but perhaps nä L ve, attempt to make spirituality part of the cross-curricular experience of all children in all common schools.[2]     

Drama,Spirituality and the Curriculum

The field of drama and moral education has been given some theoretical attention in recent years but little if any theorising has been applied to the area of drama and spiritual education. In UK schools, however, the spiritual education of children is seen as one of a school's core functions and a spiritual dimension has often been important in the global history of drama and acting. Various and conflicting definitions of spirituality and approaches to spiritual education exist. In this article, I begin with an attempt to make connections between these approaches and recent epistemologies of drama education. I then outline a possible theoretical framework for defining spirituality, influenced largely by anthropological and cultural studies, and exemplify it by drawing upon examples from existing practices in the fields of theatre and educational drama. I then conclude by speculating as to how these ideas might find practical expression within a drama curriculum.     

Restoring the Image: Spirituality, Faith, and Cognitive Disability

There is a great deal of theological confusion within the church as to the level of participation people with profound cognitive disabilities should be allowed within the orders of the church. For some, sacramental participation without intellectual comprehension is dishonoring to God, while for others, lack of cognitive ability precludes any kind of meaningful spiritual life. This paper sets out some of the various positions and argues that faith and spirituality are not intellectual concepts, but relational realities. It is only in and through our relationships that any of us can learn anything about the divine. A relational understanding of faith and spirituality as outlined here offers the church the freedom to avoid evaluating a person's spiritual life according to intellectual criteria and to begin to find new ways of preaching the Word to those who have no words.     

The Spirituality of Compassion: A Public Health Response to Ageing and End-of-Life Care

SUMMARY

The recent revival of interest in spirituality in later life marks a significant step forward in the person-centred care of ageing people. The benefits will, however, be of limited value if we do not attend to the settings in which spirituality is to be lived. In contemporary society many aged people are located in environments unsympathetic to spiritual belief and practice. Health care settings focus on professionally-assessed physical needs and are dominated by concerns about the cost of services. The national social policies that direct health care services and less directly shape older people's place in contemporary society are strongly influenced by globalised neoliberal economic policies characterised by individualism, competition, and greed. For robust and viable spirituality to develop at the individual level we need compassionate social policies that support interdependence within communities and between nations.     

Resisting Self-spirituality: Counselling as Spirituality in the Dialogues of Hans Schauder and Marcus Lefébure

In the 1980s, a short series of dialogues on counselling between Hans Schauder (1911–2001), a medically trained counsellor, and Marcus Lefébure (1933–2012), a Roman Catholic monk, were published in the UK. These dialogues present counselling as a form of contemporary spirituality, arguing that counselling facilitates spiritual experience and that psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic concepts can be understood in spiritual terms. However, the dialogues also present a critique of the authorisation of subjectivity within both counselling and spirituality; in so doing, they anticipate and elaborate later criticisms of Paul Heelas and Linda Woodhead's spiritual revolution thesis. The resistance in the Schauder–Lefébure dialogues to Self-spirituality indicates that they align more with politically critical progressive spirituality than with accommodationist capitalist spirituality.     

The Emerging Meanings of Religiousness and Spirituality: Problems and Prospects

This article examines traditional and modern psychological characterizations of religiousness and spirituality. Three ways in which religiousness and spirituality are polarized by contemporary theorists are examined: organized religion versus personal spirituality; substantive religion versus functional spirituality; and negative religiousness versus positive spirituality. An alternative approach to understanding religiousness and spirituality is presented that integrates rather than polarizes these constructs, and sets boundaries to the discipline while acknowledging the diversity of religious and spiritual expressions. Directions for future investigations of these two constructs are presented.     

IS NATURE ENOUGH? ROBERT FROST REPLIES IN “THE MOST OF IT”

Abstract. In his poem “The Most of It” Robert Frost explores whether nature alone is sufficient to satisfy human spiritual yearnings. At first pass, the poem reads like a dark statement about the absence of any higher intelligence in the natural world, and it has been interpreted this way by many, including the person who inspired Frost to write it, Wade Van Dore. However, on careful reading Frost's poem also contains a subtle celebration of nature's spiritual assets. By creating a work with two possible meanings, Frost indicates that the answer to whether “nature is enough” is in the eye of the beholder. Because much of the poem's hopeful message resides in its meter, Frost also seems to be saying that nature will be enough mainly for those who appreciate nuance and accept ambiguity. For those so predisposed, a spirituality based in the belief that “nature is enough” requires no unverifiable entity for personal fulfillment and may ameliorate environmental problems that increasingly jeopardize human well‐being.     

THE SPIRIT IN THE NETWORK: MODELS FOR SPIRITUALITY IN A TECHNOLOGICAL CULTURE

Can a technological culture accommodate spiritual experience and spiritual thinking? If so, what kind of spirituality? I explore the relation between technology and spirituality by constructing and discussing several models for spirituality in a technological culture. I show that although gnostic and animistic interpretations and responses to technology are popular challenges to secularization and disenchantment claims, both the Christian tradition and contemporary posthumanist theory provide interesting alternatives to guide our spiritual experiences and thinking in a technological culture. I analyze how creational, network, and cyborg metaphors defy suggestions of (individual) animation or alienation and instead offer different ways of conceptualizing and experiencing communion between the material and the spiritual.     

Do young boys and girls have distinct and different approaches and needs in relation to spiritual development?

Difficulties are outlined in how to consider whether boys and girls have distinctive approaches and needs in relation to spiritual development, especially the lack of any agreed definition of spiritual development and the nature of the research literature relating to gender. I explore this without presupposing, or excluding, any particular definition, arguing that, whatever one's assumptions and beliefs about spirituality, these influence, and are influenced by, assumptions and beliefs about gender, and vice versa. I present empirical evidence on aspects associated with personal well‐being indicating outcomes strongly differentiated by gender. I examine research evidence in relation to gender within a range of areas commonly associated with spirituality and highlight some gaps. I argue that considering spiritual development through the lens of gender and gender through that of spiritual development can illuminate one's understanding of both concepts. I suggest some possible implications for future research and for teachers of young children.     

Science,spirituality and truth: acknowledging difference for spiritual dialogue and human well‐being

This article seeks to explain why spiritual education must be clear about the nature of spiritual knowledge and truth and how it differs from the knowledge and truth generated by science. The author argues this is important in order that spirituality and science are equally valued, and in order that spiritual pedagogy appropriately reflects the nature of spiritual truth in the context of spiritual diversity and commitment. Based on these arguments, and inspired both by the ideas of inter‐faith dialogue and the philosophy of Michael Bakhtin, the author then suggests a dialogical approach to spiritual pedagogy for spiritual development and wellbeing. The article suggests education will best enhance human wellbeing if it is positive about the contributions of both science and spirituality, and if it promotes understanding of spiritual difference and commitment.     

“It’s Like Playing with a Nuclear Bomb”

Abstract

Most observers of the evangelical purity culture situate it within a form of contemporary evangelicalism that prioritizes personal spiritual growth and self-fulfillment. As a result, portrayals of the movement emphasize the therapeutic individualism and optimism of new paradigm spirituality. But the new paradigm does not help us explain the language of spiritual warfare and what Jason Bivins calls a religion of fear within purity rhetoric. Evangelical purity culture is as equally informed by a religion of accommodation and new paradigm spirituality as it is by a religion of fear and the remnants of cold war fundamentalism. This discordance makes sense only when the contemporary purity culture is placed within a broader historical trajectory that marks its genesis in the fundamentalist resurgence of the 1940s, not the 1970s when new paradigm churches first emerged. By examining the seemingly discordant elements of evangelical purity culture, historians are able to recognize the theological and historical continuity between evangelicalism’s religion of fear and religion of accommodation.     

Exploring mystery: can Christian meditation at school nurture students’ relationships with God?

ABSTRACT

While there is growing international interest in meditation and mindfulness initiatives in schools, little research has focused on exploring the impact of such practices on students’ spirituality. This paper reports data from a mixed method study involving primary school classes engaged in the regular practice of Christian meditation between Years 4 to 6 in Catholic schools in New South Wales, Australia. Student focus group data (n = 114 students) and a student survey (n = 250 students) suggest Christian meditation offers an inclusive and ‘hospitable’ space for many students, where their spiritual well-being can be nurtured, including their connection to God. However, the findings suggest that accompanying dialogue with students around the purpose and possibilities of Christian meditation may help to better situate the practice as a ‘hospitable space’ thus enabling deeper engagement with the spiritual in contemporary Catholic classrooms.     

Spiritualists,Aliens and UFOs: Extraterrestrials as spirit guides

One of the most striking innovations within contemporary North American Spiritualism is the adoption of extraterrestrials as spirit guides by some contemporary Spiritualists. It is here that the New Age fascination with extraterrestrials and UFOs has taken on a uniquely Spiritualist form. Extraterrestrials have come to represent for many Spiritualists the successful achievement of the ultimate Spiritualist goal: the union between spirituality and science. Extraterrestrials are seen as spiritually superior to us because their science exceeds our own; their ‘science’ is perceived superior because it incorporates recognition of spiritual ‘truth’. Consequently, within the North American Spiritualist context, the adoption of extraterrestrials as spirit guides can be seen both as a ‘rationalisation’ of Spiritualist belief through a strong idealisation of ‘science’, and as a critique of orthodox science for ignoring the ‘spiritual’ realm. For several of the Spiritualists with whom I worked, extraterrestrials have consequently become excellent choices for spirit guides.     

What Do the Spiritual and Religious Traditions Offer the Practicing Psychologist?

There has been a remarkable amount of interest in the relationship among spirituality, religion, psychology, and health of late. Contemporary interest in spirituality and religion is hot among not only the general population but among professionals in the mental and physical health disciplines. While most people believe in God and consider themselves to be spiritual, religious, or both, most mental health professionals have little if any training in this area. Psychologists can use spiritual and religious principles and tools to better serve their clients even if they do not share the same religious interests. The purpose of this article is to offer thirteen spiritual and religious tools common among all of the major religious traditions that can be used by contemporary professional psychologists in clinical practice to enhance the already high quality professional services that they provide. Examples of spiritually and religiously integrated treatment along with several ethical precautions are noted as well. This article is based on book project by Plante currently in press.     

A Thirst for God or Consumer Spirituality? Cultivating Disciplined Practices of Being Engaged by God

This essay offers a critique of contemporary popular spirituality, specifically by focusing on Thomas Moore's best-selling book Care of the Soul . Moore's perspective is juxtaposed with Bernard of Clairvaux's Sermons on the Song of Songs, displaying the widely divergent views of God, the self, and the practices of spiritual living. The essay also sketches several reasons which help to explain the popularity of generic spirituality such as Moore's, and it concludes by responding to some potential objections to the account offered in the essay. Overall, the essay displays the marked contrasts between disciplined practices of Christian spirituality and the simulacra of consumer spirituality.     

The spirituality of people with late-stage dementia: a review of the research literature,a critical analysis and some implications for person-centred spirituality and dementia care

If spirituality is fundamental to personhood, it must be as integral to the life of a person with dementia as to any other person. In this paper, the author uses a three-stage process to explore the features, meanings and significance of spirituality in late-stage dementia. First, a critical literature review is undertaken to evaluate the present state of research and its methodological limitations. The second stage of the argument comprises a critical analysis of the available models of how spirituality may persist beyond the loss of cognitive and communicative capacity, leading the elucidation of two dimensions to spirituality (duration over time and the role of social space) that can sometimes be overlooked. Finally, these findings are brought to bear on wider questions of how person-centred spiritual care may be offered to people with dementia and the role of shared social values in building spiritual resilience.     

Talking of God and Talking of Fairies: Discourses of spiritual development in the works of George MacDonald and in the curriculum

By law schools in England and Wales are required to promote the spiritual development of their pupils and school inspectors must report on how well they do so. This is a very recent local legislative enactment of a timeless and universal concern. A spiritual dimension to human life, however resistant to definition or measurement, has been recognized for as long as men and women have consciously reflected on their condition. The determination to seek the spiritual well-being of the young antedates the trial of Socrates and the writing of the book of Proverbs. Obvious as it is, this point does need to be made. It could be supposed from much of the discussion in educational circles that interest in spiritual development was unknown before the 1944 Education Act. That said, there are questions to be asked about the education of the spirit which, if not new, acquire an immediacy from the social and cultural conditions specific to our time and from the requirements of current educational legislation. To one question in particular today's debate about spiritual development as a curricular requirement continually returns. It is whether a coherent spirituality requires the support of a religious tradition. Students in our schools come from a diversity of religious backgrounds. At the same time--and often at the same school--many come from homes which long ago took leave of God. What is to be the relationship in such schools between the spiritual development which they are statutorily obliged to promote and traditional religious world-views whether these are still devoutly followed or long abandoned? Do notions of spirituality and spiritual development have any coherence without secure anchorage in a religious tradition with it specific truth-claims? In this article I shall argue that, while clearly spiritual education can be based on the claims of a religious tradition, such a confessional framework is not necessary for the concept of spiritual education to be coherent and for its implementation within the curriculum to be possible. There is, in a word, a spirituality without religion. In developing this argument I shall appeal to a Victorian writer of fairy tales, George MacDonald, whom we shall meet a little later.     

身体美学的启迪与反思

舒斯特曼提出来的“身体美学”日渐得到人们的重视。利用传统中国哲学和中国医学中所包含的身心一元论思想指导下的身体观来说明身体美学的可能性和重要意义,思考有中国文化特色的身体美学的一个重要特点及其对于当前流行的美容实践的启迪。