Especially in uncertain social times, many people look to the outside world for support and try out all sorts of things.
Openness to new things is a great quality, but without discernment it can lead us down a tricky rabbit hole.
New Age spirituality is something that divides many opinions.
On the one hand, it is very exciting because you learn something about the world and yourself and rituals can give you support and strength. On the other hand, it's like a tool that many people use without proper introduction and guidance and get themselves into mental and psychological trouble.
What is it all about?
You could say it's a soup of religious, esoteric and spiritual traditions and I think this is what happens when you say “many cooks spoil the soup” because everyone thinks something different is good and appropriate.
New Age spirituality includes many beliefs and practices, including:
Energy healing (Reiki, chakras, crystals)
Astrology and tarot cards, pendulum
Meditation, yoga
Channeling of souls, beings
Manifestation (law of attraction)
Belief in universal energy and cosmic consciousness
You should question the following beliefs:
1. “You must always stay positive, then everything will be fine.”
We are human and always being positive is extremely unrealistic.
There are fixed laws of nature and this includes the fact that there are polarities. Even in our emotions and feelings.
We can categorize them according to how we feel: Good and bad feelings, which manifest themselves physically as emotions.
All experiences are stored in our body and it is important that we regularly let our emotions out, including anger (e.g. sport, boxing, shouting), sadness (crying) and joy.
The obsession with healing
No matter how much you do, you are never good enough. Or so it seems. There's a billion-dollar business behind it, with lots of books, content and seminars that naturally profit from it. If you realized that you no longer needed anything from the outside, you wouldn't spend any more money on it. The illusion of wanting to be perfect leaves people feeling inadequate and not enough. Which leads me to the next point.
“Gurus and spiritual guides are the answer.”
I think we can only find the answers through our individual experiences and our personal connection to God or Goddess.
Inspiring role models is a great thing, but when it becomes a mass show where a person is worshipped like God, you have to ask yourself what interests are really behind it.
A good example of this is the book “The Secret” which got many on the path in the first place, but today it is known that pretty much everyone involved is a fraud.
Well-known gurus and spiritual leaders are smart entrepreneurs. They make their money by getting people to put all their hope and faith in a person, often leaving them in despair.
It is also not uncommon for gurus to collect not only money and free labor, but also the energy of their followers.
“You create everything you think.”
How would you explain that bad things happen to children?
Manifestation is much more complicated and no one has a 100% answer.
They mainly talk about the “law of attraction” which is only one of the 7 hermetic laws. This simply ignores the fact that there is much more to it.
It creates the illusion of control and at the same time a guilty conscience because you may have manifested something stupid despite positive thoughts. This can lead to feelings of guilt.
It is rarely mentioned that our subconscious is much stronger than our conscious mind. That's why it's important to deal with your own subconscious and undergo therapy if necessary.
“There is neither good nor bad.”
This sentence has slipped in from Satanism (“Do what thy will”) and is there to cover things up. People become numb and no longer see what is actually going wrong and go along with it. Real facts are attributed to fantasy.
This eliminates moral attitudes and values. It also justifies addictions, e.g. to alcohol.
I think we should see the value in reducing our own suffering and that of the world. Doing what is good for us in the long term, not just for a few minutes.
Do we really live by our own moral values? Or have we been told that it's “okay”?
We need compassion, empathy & intuition.
“There are no negative beings, only angels.”
Many people who have practiced New Age spirituality are now atheists or have sought refuge in the church because they have become afraid.
With things like channeling, but also with other practices, negative beings can sometimes appear. It depends on the lifestyle and thoughts, for example. Addictions are a magnet for this. That's why you need the right training or in-depth knowledge to know how to deal with it.
Even if you only practise yoga, meditation, reiki or tarot, you should know that it exists. It opens you up, makes you more sensitive, more vulnerable and may open doors to psychic abilities
It is important to “close” yourself energetically again after these practices.
This is why Shavasana and grounding are so important. For example by walking barefoot.
Balance is a law. There are positive beings who want to do something good and negative beings who want to upset your balance & energy, just like people.
I don't think we need to be afraid, but we should be careful.
Walk with a pure heart, keep your vibration high (especially through diet), don't do any new age practices, for example if you have an addiction, eat a lot of meat or have sex with different, strange people. Ground yourself as much as possible <3 Ahimsa
“You are your own God.”
From my point of view, there is something bigger than me, and at the same time God lives through me. And it doesn't need a name, I just have to look at nature. An incredible intelligence.
Conclusion
New Age spirituality is all about how we deal with it.
We won't be healed by affirmations or expensive programs alone and we need sound judgment and perhaps we'd be better off choosing our own truth and authenticity.
Also, I think it's just not for everyone. If you're looking for your identity or the ultimate solution to your problems in it, I don't think it's right for you.
Questions about how we can develop superpowers, become rich through our thoughts or become spiritually enlightened take us away from what is really important.
Self-observation, self-awareness, love, joy and the knowledge that every second in our lives can be spiritual is much more important.
I personally work with traditional yoga, things like gemstones, oracle cards and I create individual, intuitive affirmations.
For protection and harmony, I work a lot with sounds, frequencies and mantras.
Even as a child, I created my own practices and rituals, intuitively and I was always very curious about the occult (that which is hidden).
I hope I was able to give you some helpful impulses and clarity about it.
What experiences have you had with it and what do you think about it? Feel free to leave me a comment.
Ahimsa,
Chantal ♡
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