New age to postmodern age: the cultural location of metaphysical belief

摘要

As a cultural trend or a religious force the nature of the New Age has been persistently unclear. This paper proposes that, as a movement, it manifests an older set of concerns and an ancient worldview, according to the particular cultural conditions of the time. The first section provides a comprehensive analysis of the New Age, outlining its origins in the Western occult metaphysical tradition, through its assimilation of aspects of Eastern philosophy and modem science, to its current status as an influential, and increasingly mainstream, cultural phenomenon. The second section assesses the relationship between the new age and science, forming an illustrative example of the proposed influence of contemporary cultural values on the characteristics and forms of the movement. The final section places it within the debate on secularisation and the status of the religious as we move from the modem to the postmodern era.