Of Antler and Wing: The Convergence of Paganism with the New Age

In the line of work that I do, I have many opportunities to attend trade shows and fairs, setting up my business information and a small array of books and such for purchase.  Many times, given the titles of books on display and perhaps my brochure outlining services and modalities I provide, I have found myself facing the question “Are you New Age?”  Though some of what I do and what I offer does touch on aspects that are considered New Age, it is not a tag I have felt resonated with either my personal path or work.  But the question has often caused me pause.  Stymied on how to respond, I have pondered: What is New Age exactly?  What constitutes New Age practices?  What is different about what I do?  And, if not New Age, then what am I?
 
What defines the New Age Movement?
 
There are so many elements that contribute to the thinking, philosophy, and practices of the New Age, it is a challenge to pin down.  Rooted in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century philosophies of New Thought and Theosophy, the New Age Movement gained new form through the social consciousness and activism of the 1960’s, becoming increasingly popular and cemented with new nomenclature as a ‘movement’ in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.  The New Age Movement tends to constellate around principles of ‘love and light’ and, in its strictest form, hearkens the arrival of Maitreya, the Buddhist bodhisattva who will teach the law of dharma to alleviate human suffering.  Its name is a nod to the concept of the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, although astrologers do not agree on when this New Age will actually occur. Some calculations have it arriving several hundred years from now.   Regardless, the New Age movement overall tends to subscribe to the belief that we are moving into a new age of consciousness, bringing peace, acceptance and love to all beings on a global scale, prompted by individual consciousness-raising.  To facilitate this process, certain practices became associated with the Movement.

​For the full article on The Healing Wheel blog at PaganSquare, click the picture above.