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To: alt.magick.tyagi,talk.religion.newage,sci.psychology.transpersonal,alt.consciousness,talk.religion.misc,alt.satanism From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nyrltothp) Subject: New Age Blues and the Shadow Date: 24 Jul 1996 11:21:43 -0700 kaliyuga 49960713 AA1 (in part inspired by personal email) in reflecting on the new age as a kind of banished Christian syncretism, and considering its lack of a 'dark side', I was struck by the following excerpts during my studies of my favorite (shadowy) subjects: Part 6 'Meeting Darkness on the Path: The Hidden Sides of Religion and Spirituality' ... for most participants in the new age, the shadow has been conspicuous by its absence. Seekers often are led to believe that, with the right teacher or the right practice, they can transcend to highter levels of awareness without dealing with their more petty vices or ugly emotional attachments. As Colorado journalist Marc Barasch puts it: "Spirituality, as repackaged for the new age, is a confection of love and light, purified of pilgrimmage and penance, of defeat and descent, of harrowing and humility." _Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature_, Edited by C. Zweig and J. Abrams (text by the editors, page 130). _____________________________________________________________ this has also been reflected in my limited exposure to the new age community, within an annual local faire and through various explorations of local groups and popular books. the dark is rejected, perhaps in consonance with the surrounding (and arguably underlying) Christian culture. other articles within this section of the Zweig/Abrams book (which I am now reading and heartily recommend, published 1991 by Tarcher/Putnam) include the following text. these strike me as hitting on important points that I'd see discussed within the newage community at large: 31. A Heretic in a New Age Community W. Brugh Joy ... When I shared my... current impressions at one of the [Findhorn] community's evening gatherings, I presented a different picture [than previous years]... and a difficult one. I said that the forthcoming period was to be a time for contraction and for the release of physical assets. The community had enjoyed a phase of increase and abundance, but the counterphase of that cycle was approaching. Best to prepare for it ahead of time, I said. I talked about the consequences of feeling "special" and how doing battle against the "evils of the world" not only creates the "enemy," but is actually a projection of the darker aspects of the community onto the world screen. Needless to say, the talk was not popular and I was fast falling into the "unwelcome guest" category.... When we attempt to deny what *is*, to deny such things as the natural cycles of time and space, enormous energy is required. That energy is then not available as a resource for other activities. In this case, the denial by the vast majority of the members of the community of anything that threatened their external values and beliefs was evident. The wisdom of recognizing both expansion and contraction was not part of the general belief system of the Findhorn community, as it is not part of the New Age thought process in general. Despite assertions by most partisans of the New Age that they are promoting such virtues as selfless service to the world, New Age beliefs in the specialness and innocence of the New Age are, in my opinion, regressive... toward the infantile, if not the fetal. Such ideation tends to be self-centered... concentrating, for example, on images that ignore the contribution of the destructive. Ibid, p. 150. _____________________________________________________ it is a focus upon creation to the detriment of destruction, on light (in symbology and metaphor) to the detriment of darkness, which I feel gives the newage community its most horrendous slant. apparently some with the newage community have realized this (and become heretics). I would also include something from the next essay: 31. NEW AGE FUNDAMENTALISM John Babbs I went last night, as I have so manyk other nights, to one of these wonderful New Age gatherings. And I don't think I can take it any more. I get sick. I must escape the torture of being blessed to death during evenings such as this. There is something frighteningly unreal about them that I can't quite put my finger on. All I know is that afterwards I want to scream profanities, drink whisky out of a bottle, go to sleazy blues joints, and chase wild, wild women.... I guess I have been to over a hundred of these wonderful evenings. Beautiful people. Soft. Gentle. Spiritual. Visionary. Fascinting. But underlying all of this beauty lurks a darkness, only thinly veiled by beatific platitudes of sweetness. I call this beast New Age Fundamentalism, a belief that I am right and everyone else is wrong, stupid or evil; a belief that I represent the forces of light and goodness, while everyone else is duped by the forces of evil. It is not ever actually stated. It is veiled, but, still, it is there.... What is so maddening about New Age Fundamen- talists is that their judgements and moralizing are hidden behind facades of New Age doctrine, behind smoke screens of "we love everyone" and "we are one." Ibid, p. 160. ____________________________________________________________ I've felt within some newagers this smug self-satisfaction in certainty also (I suppose not entirely free from it myself at all times), and eventually I've come to be accused of 'abandoning the cause' as I withdraw my support for newage activities (networking, admin support of local events, etc.). I suppose this is true, and yet I feel that these issues are those which are most often pointed out by those who are critical of the community, of its sometimes airheaded focus on bliss and 'positive energies' to the exclusion of real, hard, NEGATIVE human feelings like anger, sorrow and rage (negative in the sense of coming to endpoints, separations, breakage). the same might be said of what is called 'bambi wicca' in the Neopagan community. newagers claim there is "room for everything" within its enclosure, and yet too often I don't see that this "room" is actually *housing* the things which are most controversial, most difficult and dangerous to our coveted ideologies and pie-in-the-sky ideals. too often the new age is about shifting uneasily away from those with the 'wrong energies' or 'bad vibes' without looking carefully enough for my tastes at what makes these energies and vibes 'bad' or 'wrong'. public commentary welcome. nyrlthotp
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