The New Age movement represents the historically innovative phenomenon of a secular type of religion based upon a radically private symbolism. This thesis is developed against the background of a three-part definition of religion, according to which “religion” in general may manifest in the form of either “religions” or “spiritualities”. Secularization, in this context, refers not to a decline or disappearance but to a through transformation of religion under the impact of new developments. The essence of this process lies in the autonomization of “spiritualities” with respect to “religions”: while spiritualities had traditionally been embedded in the collective symbolism of an existing religion, New Age spiritualities are manifestations of a radically private symbolism embedded directly in secular culture. From a historical point of view, this phenomenon is new and unprecedented. Special attention is given to how and why private symbolism in the New Age context tends to concentrate on “the Self” and its spiritual evolution.
Some years ago a considerable stir was caused in the Dutch popular media by a novel which had climbed the bestseller lists with almost unprecedented speed and then stubbornly refused to vanish from the number one position. The book was written by an American, James Red eld, and had a catchy title: The Celestine Prophecy. Following its phenomenal success, an accompanying Celestine Workbook quickly appeared; and by the time everybody knew that the Celestine Prophecy was about the revelation of "nine spiritual insights," the time was deemed ripe for a follow-up entitled The Tenth Insight, quickly followed by its own workbook. The end is not yet in sight: at the time of writing those who thirst for more may pro t from yet a third volume in the series, The Celestine Vision, again with its own workbook. Even though these later volumes have not attained the same sales as the rst, they must still be considered highly successful books, as attested by their prolonged presence on the Dutch bestseller lists. The "celestine phenomenon" is an international one-on the World Wide Web the nine insights are the subject of enthusiastic discussion, Red eld's books have spawned a whole range of secondary products (books of aphorisms, videotapes, and so on), and the lessons of the workbooks 1 This is a revised English translation of a text that has been published in Dutch, as Christelijke Spiritualiteit en New Age: Over de rol van "Celestijnse Beloftes" in een seculiere samenleving (Utrechtse Theologische Reeks 36), Utrecht 1997. The
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