What is New Age?

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BarbaraTherese

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I am not too sure I am in the right forum. If I am not, let me know, and I will ask a moderator to shift into the correct Forum.

I am rather intrigued by the term “new age”. I wonder in other members can explain for me what it is and what it is not under the following terms. I am not really looking for arguments presented for or against any new age type of teaching. Rather simply that “…” is new age. Perhaps others have links that can explain this for an everyday Catholic i.e. what exactly new age teachings are.

For example, I know someone who insists we are a “resurrection people” and we are, but this person seems to almost want to dismiss the Passion from Catholic thinking altogether in favour of replacing with alerting to modern day suffering. The same person has no time at all for someone who has love of the Crucified Christ with the cross central to their spirituality. I tend to think this is “new age” type of stuff. The other point I find concerning is that this same person seems to be really insensitive to suffering (strangely enough) - seemingly wanting Catholics to be people of Joy and we are, but not insensitive to suffering. We are not totally dismissive of the person who is bowed down by suffering of some kind, and to my mind, this is anti Catholic and anti Gospel. I call this type of attitude, “new age”. Am I on the right track of “new age” or am I way off.

Reputable and sound articles sure would help me in this and I am not really well educated at all - average. So I cannot read a complex document… I would like to understand what is “new age” type of teachings. It seems to me, and I may be wrong, that it is a philosophy creeping into what are claimed to be Catholic teachings almost insidiously and unnoticed …and it seems to me that some thinking they are holding to Catholic teaching have a mixture of Catholic teaching, but also new age type of concepts or philosophy in some areas, and all unknowingly.

Thanks heaps…Barb:)
 
And you would be correct in your suspicions.

‘New Age’ is difficult to define. But I think Moira Noonan best describes it as having, at its heart, the trinity of Me, Myself, and I instead of The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

It is an umbrella term that includes, but is not limited to, the use of crystals and ‘animal spirits or guides’, any form of divination, ghost-hunting, many eastern transcendental practices, the list goes on and on.

The problem is that it is now so pervasive that it is creeping into teaching styles, and everyday life. Used to you had to go to a special meeting to find this stuff. Now, your next door neighbor is probably a witch and her kids could be teaching yours yoga on the playground at the local parish school. My neice tells of a teacher (religion of all things) who brought a ouija board to school and let them play with it. It must be okay if the parish religion teacher let them, right?!

Did not mean to rant. I was formerly involved in NAM and neo-paganism and it angers me that it IS so pervasive. I cannot get away from it as it is everywhere. Apparently, even in our Holy Catholic Church.
 
BarbaraTherese said:
I am not too sure I am in the right forum. If I am not, let me know, and I will ask a moderator to shift into the correct Forum.

I am rather intrigued by the term “new age”. I wonder in other members can explain for me what it is and what it is not under the following terms. I am not really looking for arguments presented for or against any new age type of teaching. Rather simply that “…” is new age. Perhaps others have links that can explain this for an everyday Catholic i.e. what exactly new age teachings are.

For example, I know someone who insists we are a “resurrection people” and we are, but this person seems to almost want to dismiss the Passion from Catholic thinking altogether in favour of replacing with alerting to modern day suffering. The same person has no time at all for someone who has love of the Crucified Christ with the cross central to their spirituality. I tend to think this is “new age” type of stuff. The other point I find concerning is that this same person seems to be really insensitive to suffering (strangely enough) - seemingly wanting Catholics to be people of Joy and we are, but not insensitive to suffering. We are not totally dismissive of the person who is bowed down by suffering of some kind, and to my mind, this is anti Catholic and anti Gospel. I call this type of attitude, “new age”. Am I on the right track of “new age” or am I way off.

Reputable and sound articles sure would help me in this and I am not really well educated at all - average. So I cannot read a complex document… I would like to understand what is “new age” type of teachings. It seems to me, and I may be wrong, that it is a philosophy creeping into what are claimed to be Catholic teachings almost insidiously and unnoticed …and it seems to me that some thinking they are holding to Catholic teaching have a mixture of Catholic teaching, but also new age type of concepts or philosophy in some areas, and all unknowingly.

Thanks heaps…Barb:)
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In my experience, New Age is a sort of conglomeration of neo-paganism, gnosticism, occultism, eastern mysticism and other “isms” sometimes under a thinly disguised veneer of Christianity, often not. It seems to me that often the basic premise is that Man is his own god. A good example of this is the author Marianne Williamson, who has written the book A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course of Miracles which was and is a best-seller and spawned a number of workshops and seminars, sometimes being sponsored by Catholic parishes. It is very deceptive, but an astute Christian can pick up the deception fairly easily. She talks about the “Christ-Consciousness” that we are to develop ( a term, BTW that should send up red flags) but in reality she is saying that YOU are Christ.

There is another best-seller called The Celestine Prophecy which was big a number of years ago and spawned a number of these seminars, one of which my friend persuaded some friends and me to attend. I read the book, which was an interesting piece of fiction, and went to the seminar, and after about 1/2 hour, we all got an uncomfortable feeling that something was not right. The presenter was an ex-priest, and the seminar, which ran about 6 weeks, was held at the Motherhouse of an order of sisters in the area. We continued to go because we wanted an education in this area, and we got it. This man, a practicing Catholic, used the principles of Jungian psychology and the writings of Teilhard de Chadin to explain the book, and his spirituality consisted of a strange mixture of this and astrology, tarot cards, ancient Hawiian spirituality, other occult practices, and Catholicism. Most of the attendees were Catholics, many of whom were his followers, and he ran a sort of Spirituality Center in the area that dealt with these things. My head was reeling after each one of these sessions. Upon questioning this man and backing him into a corner, so to speak, he admitted that he denied the actual physical resurrection of Christ, although he attended Mass every Sunday and received the Sacraments.

I have also seen New Age spirituality practiced in Masses out west which I attended as part of a conference, this time in the form of nebulous prayers to the Creator, Reedemer, and Sactifier, and to the Four Winds and Native American spirituality. We were asked to take off our shoes, because we were standing on “holy ground” (the floor of a ballroom of a hotel). The organization that sponsored this is now defunct. Very strange. It seems to me that God was grounding me to recongnize such deceptions, because all of this occured in a relativly short period of time in my life.

This is what I have run into, and I am sure it only covers the tip of the iceberg. It is subltly pervasive in our religion, I cannot believe the number of Catholics that are influenced by this deception from Hell itself.

I am not sure that what the person you described espouses is really New Age, according to my experience, which admittedly is limited, but maybe some very bad theology and a sugar-coating of the Gospel, combined with poor catechesis and a “feel-good” spirituality, rather than New Age, but I don’t know the person.
 
Almost any Christian book store will probably have several books on the New Age problem and what’s involved. In short, New Age is a conglomeration of every old superstitous practice under the sun and then some including good luck charms, amulets, magic crystals, astrology, pantheism, incarnation, spiritualism, etc. 🙂
 
Technically speaking, the New Age and NRM’s (new religious movements) are not the same.
New Age is no more than slopping together various spiritual practices from varied sources. It is cafeteria religion for the individual. There are no boundries to its adhearants, anything goes (other than authority)
 
tobias said:
Technically speaking, the New Age and NRM’s (new religious movements) are not the same.
New Age is no more than slopping together various spiritual practices from varied sources. It is cafeteria religion for the individual. There are no boundries to its adhearants, anything goes (other than authority)
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Thank you Tobias…Actually this is what I am noticing in line with your comments above more or less. A person appears to be quite traditional and loyal to Rome and the Magisterium and our Catholic theology etc. But then a sentence or two in what they are saying rings “wrong”…and I am now realizing that it is lifted from New Age. This is the insidious nature of such a philosophy as New Age… one can be holding to it in part (in this instance) and not realizing it, taking it in fact for sound Catholic teaching…i.e. they do not realize that it is not so.
Sadly, I have even heard such ‘liftings from New Age’ (knowingly or not) from the pulpit - i.e. the bulk of the homily is sound Catholic teaching…but that sentence or two that just does not ring right.
I call it “insidious” for the precise reason, one can hold to an aspect or aspects of New Age and perhaps not realize it at all and take it for Catholic teaching. Those not well educated in the Faith are especially prone and vulnerable I think. Insidious!

Barb:)
 
From what I have seen of it, its a way of turning away from God. Its the step out of the box people, who say do what you want, dont believe everything you are taught, etc. Alot of it is opposite of what we are taught in the bible. It seems that one way or another it a way to replace God with either a symbol, or something. Its better to remember there is One God, We have the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. three persons one God.
 
Thank you to all who have posted into this thread. It is now a matter of me reading any links given, and then putting my thoughts together after taking in all Posts on what New Age is. I may have questions, and if so, I will post them into this thread probably.

Thank you…Barb:)
 
A few years ago I had a catalogue from St Anthony Press, a Catholic publisher. I was troubled by a couple of the books they offered on prayer, as they discussed aligning one’s ‘chakras’ and ‘mudras’(sp?). Isn’t ‘chakra’ a Hindu or Buddhist term, and what would that have to do with Catholic prayer?
 
Hi Barbara:)
ewtn.com/library/indexes/NEWAGE.htm
If you want one more link, this is EWTN’s list of articles on new age and cults.

Also, New Age is a blend of everything nice without anything not-nice, like sin. So its super easy to practice!😃
 
RNRobert said:
A few years ago I had a catalogue from St Anthony Press, a Catholic publisher. I was troubled by a couple of the books they offered on prayer, as they discussed aligning one’s ‘chakras’ and ‘mudras’(sp?). Isn’t ‘chakra’ a Hindu or Buddhist term, and what would that have to do with Catholic prayer?
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You are correct, it does not belong in a Catholic book.
Buddhist meditation requires certain postures. I dont’ believe Christian prayer emphasizes posture. Buddhist meditation is not centered on God but on oneself and “attaining” various enlightened states of mind. Hense, the right postures help one to sit for long hours in one position without having pain or numbing in one’s limbs.
 
Thanks Lisa44 and Nickname for the links:thumbsup: …and to all… I have made a note of this thread to read what has been posted and the links, and try to put something together in my head to inform me on New Age…and I will be filing this thread in my files as information on New Age, for any future reference if needed.🙂

Thank you all again…Barb:)
 
Since it is old heresy, it is someone not learning from someone else’s mistake.
 
catholic answers live has been having programs with sharon lee giganti as guest. she was a new ager for a long time, until two terrible things happened to people near to her. she finally “woke up” to the evils of the new age and now she is trying to educate others.

she will be on again at the end of october, the 27th. you can probably listen live on-line.
catholic.com/radio/calendar.php
oprah and the new age

there are also three other shows in the archives that you can listen to online.
catholic.com/radio/calendar.php?type=month&calendar=1&category=&month=09&year=2008
sept 15 - does oprah have the last word?
sept 15 - tackling the new age: the third jesus

catholic.com/radio/calendar.php?type=month&calendar=1&category=0&month=07&year=2008
july 4 - a dangerous contradiction to christianity
 
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