A Closer Look at the New Age Movement
Fra John Carlo Rosales, FFI
The author, a deacon and theology student, writes us: "About a year ago,
while I was in the waiting area of a subway station in Rome, I happened to get one of
many pamphlets that were scattered around. I was surprised by its contents. It read
something like this: "The New Age Movement...We use crystals...occult practices...'It
seemed to say that one can try this 'New Age program as an alternative way to solve
man's problems.
"Some months ago I was able to watch a program by Mother Angelica. The
guest speaker was Constance Cumbey, a practising American lawyer. The topic
discussed was the New Age movement. I was surprised by what Ms. Cumbey related
because I didn't realize that the New Age movement involved transcendental
meditation, reincarnation, the use of crystals, and other strange and occult ventures.
Constance Cumbey has written a book entitled <The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow>,
published in 1983, which covers at length the New Age Movement, a movement which
is rapidly spreading. In West Germany alone there are about 500,000 adherents as well
as countless sympathizers.[1] I also learned that the roots of the New Age movement
trace back to the Theosophical Society founded by Russian-born Helena Petrovna
Blavatsky in 1875, in New York."
Special abbreviations used in this article are the following:
CCC = <Catechism of the Catholic Church>, translation copyrighted 1994 by
Geoffrey Chapman- Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
DS = H. Denzinger and A Schonmtzer, SJ, <Enchiridion Symbolorum Def. Et
Decl...>, Barcelona, Herder: 1966.
GS = Vatican II, <Gaudium et spes>, 7 Dec. 1965.
LG = Vatican II, <Lumen gentium>, 21 Nov. 1964.
Origins and History
Helena Petrovna Hahn Blavatsky, born to a distinguished family in the Ukraine,
1831, was married to Gen. N.P. Blavatsky, but soon deserted him and left Russia.
According to the memoirs of her cousin Count Whitte, she spent some time in Cairo
and Tibet before arriving in New York in 1873. Through a common interest in
spiritualism, she became associated with Henry Steel Olcott, an American lawyer and
newspaperman and student of spiritualism, in the formation of occult groups,
culminating in the sixteen-member Theosophical Society.[2] In 1877 she published "Isis
Unveiled,"a collection of material from Eastern thought, serpent worship, witchcraft,
alchemy, and 19th century science, which she ascribes to her Tibetan masters but which
was often taken verbatim from fifty standard works on occult subjects in Olcott's
library. In 1878, the theosophist leaders went to India and settled in Adyaar near
Madras and left William Q. Judge, an Irish-born American, in charge of the American
section.[3] In 1888, Mme. Blavatsky formed an esoteric section of the Theosophical
Society in London for advanced study of the occult. Eventually this movement spread
among the English and Irish literary circles. In Dublin, the Irish Theosophical Society
was formed under the leadership of Charles Johnston. Mme. Blavatsky died on May 8
of 1891 in England and was succeeded by Anni Wood Besant who was born in London
of Irish ancestry in 1847.[4] A.W. Besant founded the Central Hindu College at
Banaras, India, in 1898 and the Indian Home Rule League in 1916. She also became
president of the Indian National Congress held in 1917. But before she became a
member of the Theosophical Society, she wrote under the pen name of "<Ajax>", in
England, in favour of free thought and birth control.[5] Meanwhile, a controversy
arose in the American section which led to a permanent division in 1894-95. Other
divisions within the movement led to the founding of the Temple of the People in 1899
at Syracuse, NY, and to the formation of the Universal Brotherhood at Point Loma,
California. These divisions were not due to differences in doctrine but rather to the
question of the legitimate line of prophetic succession.[6]
While the divisions were going on in America, the Adyar and London groups
became associated with the Old Catholic Church[7] by the ordination to its ranks of five
theosophists, among whom was the former Anglican clergyman Charles W.
Leadbeater, who played an important role in the formation of the Liberal Catholic
Church.[8] This Church blends theolsphical mysticism and Catholic Sacrementalism.
In 1902, Rudolf Steiner became the secretary general of the German section. However
when A. W. Besant recognized a young Hindu named Krishnamurti as the Messiah, R.
Steiner protested and separated from the Society along with 2400 German members
and formed the Anthroposophical Society in 1913.[9] There are other societies which
were formed through the Theosophical Society embracing basically the same principles.
Today, however it seems that the number of members in the Theosophical Society has
greatly decreased; nevertheless, its spiritual ideological influence and new religious
forms of thought are largely encountered in the New Age Movement.[10]
The New Age Movement began with a member of the Theosophical Society
named Alice A. Bailey. She was an Englishwoman who emigrated to America and who
lived from 1880 to 1949. She laid the real foundations of the New Age Movement and
is regarded as its high priestess. As a spiritist medium she allegedly received messages
from a so-called master of wisdom, the Tibetan Djwal Khul. These messages, which
she wrote under dictation from this demonic being were published in numerous
books.[11] Her secret teachings, which to this day are followed minutely in New Age
circles, set forth "The Plan for the New World Order."[12] According to some secret
instructions, the Movement was to keep out of the public eye until 1975.[13]
In 1968 and before, it was known as a movement advocating the "Age of
Aquarius."[14] This term is taken from astrology. The astronomical shifting of the
vernal equinox, which passes approximately every 2000 years through a new
constellation in the zodiac, is superstitiously believed by some astrologers to affect the
fate of our planet Earth. At the turn of the century the vernal equinox will pass from
the constellating Pisces (the Fishes) to the constellation Aquarius. Some reckon that this
already took place in 1962. The fish, a sign representing faith in Christ, was often used
by the Early Christians as a mark of identification. Hence New Age members believe
that the transition away from the zodiac sign of the Fishes means that the era of Christ
is coming to an end.[15]
What does the Theosophical Society teach?
Having known that the New Age Movement was formed through the
Theosophical Society founded by Mme. Blavatsky, it is important now to consider the
Society's doctrine. The word "Theosophy"comes from certain Greek words commonly
translated as "divine wisdom." It is a system of thought which has appeared in different
ages, taking different forms, and which has attempted to explain the nature of God, the
universe, and man's relation to them. Among the Orientals it is conspicuous in the
philosophical systems of China, India and Egypt. It is seen in the works of the
Gnostics, the Neo-Platonists, and the Cabalists, and in the speculations of Jakob Bohme
(1575 - 1624), Friedrich Willhelm Joseph von Schelling, and Johannes Meister Eckharad
(1260 - 1327), Pythagoras, Plato and Plotinus. During the Middle Ages, traces of the
teaching can be found in Masonry, and later in the Order of Rosicrucians,[16] and it has
at all times comprised the esoteric side of the great man-made religions of the
world.[17]
In the modern sense, theosophy is a modern Gnostic movement which attempts
a synthesis of religious, philosophical, and scientific insights drawn from many
traditions, but primarily from Hindu philosophy and occult sciences. We find
Theosophist denying fundamental Christian concepts about the nature of God and the
soul. They teach that God is immanent in the world and that He is not wholly external
to creation but a part of it - this is, in fact, pantheism. The evolution of the soul is a
fundamental doctrine of the Society. They believe that salvation comes from evolution
and at the same time deny the need for vicarious atonement. Evolution, in the
theosophic sense, is a process of self-realization or manifestation carried on by the
Cosmic Life by means of repeated incarnations. Its alleged purpose is the perfecting of
man and all creatures. All matter contains consciousness, which is evolving not in a
mechanical way, but as a result of a divine plan guided by intelligence. It is conceived
as a twofold movement. The first, involving an ascent into spirit. This is why the New
Age movement refuses a rationalistic-mechanical conception of the world. In
summary, the four key doctrines that are generally accepted among Theosophical
societies, not excluding the New Age Movement, are the divine origin of the soul in a
pantheistic sense, evolution reincarnation, and karma. The last doctrine comes from
Hinduism, and claims that the spirit advances to its goal through a succession of
earthly lives, and that the consequences of a man's actions in his present life are reaped
by his successor on earth in a fresh incarnation.[18]
The original goals of the Theosophical Society were to establish a library and to
circulate information concerning secret laws of nature. Later these objectives were
amplified, and as of 1967 are the following:
1. To form a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of humanity, without
distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or colour.
2. To encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy and science.
3. To investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in man.
A motto of the Theosphical Society is "There is no religion higher than Truth."
Their international headquarters where their president resides is in Adyar, India. It is
established in more than 50 countries, and it has among its adherents members of
almost all religious sects. In America, they publish a monthly magazine called <The
American Theosophist>, which is sent to all members and furnishes an exchange of
ideas among the lodges. Meanwhile, they sell a magazine called <Discovery>,
published annually, for non-members.[19]
Borrowing a system of doctrine from Theosophists, the New Age Movement has
given it adaptations and further development. They advocate a need for a new way of
thinking which considers all things as interdependent, which accordingly need to be
regarded holistically. Every individual must feel a part of nature and the whole
cosmos-a micro-cosmos in the macrocosms. Thus rational thinking, which proceeds
analytically and critically and which formed the basis of scientific method, is to give
way to synthetical thinking and intuitive knowledge based on non-rational experience.
The philosophy of the New Age Movement aims at reconciling all opposites in such
way that science and occultism are placed on a par. All ethical values collapse, good
and evil no longer exist. All is one. This explains their move towards a synthesis of all
religions. New Agers agree with Catholic Thomists in claiming that the ultimate goal
of man is to find happiness. Their main emphasis for the criterion of living is on
personal satisfaction and temporal success. Fear of apocalyptic events is therefore
channelled into escapism to a utopian "world society where there are no tensions."[20]
The New Age Movement as a Religion
The New Age movement has its own "holy scriptures,"prayers and mantras. It
also has its own spiritual centres, such as the Findhorn community in Scotland and the
Esalen Institute in California. Within the movement can be found priests and gurus, a
proclaimed "Messiah,"prophets and people with allegedly extraordinary powers.
Furthermore, the Movement proclaims that man is God and that man created God in
his own image. Indeed, true to their conviction that "all is one,"they consider man to be
a part of the Godhead, i.e., the "cosmic consciousness"or the "Force". All one needs to
do is to discover and develop his yoga and other methods. Ultimately, man is on his
way to godhood. It is even said that one may enter fully into the spirit of the God of
Force.[21]
Believing that God is a neutral force that can be manipulated either for good or
evil, New Age occultists are greatly interested in learning the means by which they can
achieve this. Thus at the centre of this New Age spirituality is faith in man in the all-
pervasive energy or life force throughout the cosmos.[22]
An essential part of the New Age Religion is the use of certain psycho
technologies. They include the following practices: meditation, yoga, Zen, hypnosis,
transpersonal psychology,[23] and positive thinking. The growing feminism has some
links with New Age spirituality. While feminist theology endeavours to represent the
God of the Bible as being both masculine and feminine or even as an exclusively
feminine godhead, the radical vanguard of the New Age feminist movement is already
demanding that the Christian faith be replaced by the myth of Gaia, "mother
Earth,"whose cult is now being revived and practised. What is common among many
New Age groups is a counterfeit religious experience such as contact with demons
through drugs, meditation, psycho technologies, and other ventures. They also believe
in UFO's and extra-terrestrial beings, from which they reputedly also receive messages.
The symbols used by the Movement are notable. For example, the occult Indo-
Germanic sign of good luck adopted by Adolf Hitler. The biblical number 666 (Apoc.
13.18) which according to Alice Bailey, possesses sacred qualities and which according
to New Age teaching should be used frequently in order to accelerate the progress of
civilization and the coming of the New Age. One of its most widely used signs is the
rainbow, which is meant to symbolize the bridge between man and the Great Universal
Mind, in the final analysis, Lucifer. Indeed, it is remarkable how frequent the sign of
the rainbow has become lately. You can find it, for instance, on promotional gifts,
stationeries, clothing and toys.[24]
A few other facts about the movement
While undertaking this study of the New Age movement, I was able to find a
volume of their authentic propaganda, totally New Age. One article, by Marilyn
Ferguson, states that a Gallup poll released in February, 1978, reported that 10 million
Americans were engaged in some aspect of Eastern religion, 9 million in spiritual
healing. Those involved in Eastern religions tended to be young adults, college
educated, living on either of the two coasts, about equally men and women. Catholic
and Protestant, at least nominally. The author tries to justify the need for a new
religion that will satisfy man's hunger for peace and happiness on this earth, and
proposes the New Age Religion as the way this would be accomplished. She also cites
western psychologists like William James, Carl Jung, Abraham Maslow, and Roberto
Assogioli, as trying to understand transcendent needs and the irrepressible hunger for
meaning which leads to an affirmation of the New Age Movement. Marilyn Ferguson
also wrote other material which has contributed a lot to the awareness of New Age
teaching among the general public. "Lauding the promised land of the New Age and
the joys of altered states of consciousness, it (her literature) propagates the New Age
Plan throughout the world.[25]
Another article in the volume speaks extensively of the New World Order,
which seems to be a main concern of New Agers. Five ethical principles are listed for
the New World order. They are:
1. The value of all human beings (despite New Agers'support for abortion).
2. The right of all human beings to satisfaction of their basic human needs,
physical, psychological and metaphysical.
3. Equality of opportunity for self-development for all human beings.
4. Recognition that these principles and goals must be achieved within
ecological tolerance of lands, seas, air, forests and the total carrying capacity of the
biosphere. (Hence their pacifism.)
5. Recognition that all these principles apply with equal emphasis to future
human generations and their biospheric life support system. Thus they include a
respect for all other life forms, and the Earth itself a respect which is often not the same
as our Christian respect.
Intermediate goals of the Movement
Although the New Age Movement's ultimate goal is world domination, there are
numerous intermediate goals of a political, social, and economic nature. These include
the following:
- a universal credit card system;
- a world food authority which would control the world's food supply;
-a a universal tax;
-a a universal draft, in spite of the Movement's pacifist ideas. After the
Movement presented itself to the public in 1975, further details came forth:
-the establishment of a world economic system;
- the replacement of private ownership of credit, transport and staple production
with ownership by a world directorate;
- the recognition of biological controls on a worldwide basis of population and
disease;
- a minimum standard of freedom and welfare throughout the world;
- a duty of subordinating personal life to that of a world directorate.
Professing peace and love, the Movement has succeeded in blinding many of its
adherents to its real goals and deceiving them in supporting the following:
-Aryanisim, i.e., the domination of the Western races; as with Hitler, this is
linked with anti-Semitism;
- mass planetary initiation, also called "Luciferic initiation,"i.e., an act of
consecration to Lucifer.
- cleansing action, i.e., the extermination of all those who disagree with the
Movement's goals;
- abortion and artificial insemination;
- forced limitation of family size;
- genetic control;
- death control, whereby a cult is made of death, which is regarded as a
euphoric experience and the transition to continuously new life cycles.[26]
An assessment and critique
The New Age Movement has already done much toward corrupting morality, in
our Christian sense, by creating its own values incompatible with Catholic Christianity.
At the outset it is difficult for ordinary persons, or even professionals, to recognize the
hidden agenda of this Movement because it is presented so nicely and so humanely and
with so much concern for the environment that it appeals to common sense to partake
in such a common concern. But in all their plans, as listed above for the New World
order, there is no due place for God. It is all humanistic and ecological. God for them
is not here on earth where everyone will be satisfied and live always in peace. On the
other hand, such an idealistic view cannot be realized because we are created not to live
forever on this earth, but to be with God forever in His Kingdom. That is why the
Church calls our sojourn here on earth a pilgrimage to the heavenly city. (GS 57) This
is not to mean, however, that we should neglect due care of God's creation; rather, this
involves not a lesser, but rather a greater commitment to working with (GS 57). But the
Church, to which we are all called in Christ Jesus, will receive perfection only in the
glory of heaven when together with the human race, the universe itself, which is so
closely related to man and which attains its destiny through him, will be perfectly re-
established in Christ. (LG 48; CCC 1042). Thus it is our duty to make this world a
better world; but we should not lose the view of our ultimate end - God Himself. (Cf.
CCC 27).
Since the New Age Movement contains the errors of Theosophy, as we have
seen, it shares the condemnation of Theosophy by the Holy Office. This condemnation
was confirmed by Pope Benedict XV on July 7, 1919. It puts the question: Can the
doctrines which today men call theosophical, be reconciled with Catholic doctrine, and
hence is it lawful to enroll in theosophical societies, take part in their gatherings, read
their books, periodicals, journals, writings? And replies: Negative in omnibus (In the
negative in everything). (DS 3648;ASS 11 (1919), p. 317)[27]
As we have seen above, the New Age Movement, together with Theosophical
Societies, involve occult ventures. The Church on her part rejects such practices. The
Catechism of the Catholic Church explicitly says that "...All forms of divination are to
be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices
falsely supposed to unveil the future...All practices of <magic> or <sorcery>, by which
one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a
supernatural power over others - even if this were for the sake of restoring health - are
gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be
condemned when accompanied by the intention on harming someone, or when they
have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible.
<Spiritism> often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part
warns the faithful against it. Recourse to the so-called traditional cures does not justify
either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another's credulity."(CCC
2116-2117).
Another problem that induces people to abandon their Catholic faith, or to
become lax in it, and venture into the New Age program is the problem of suffering.
This is a big problem indeed, but it is perhaps because they have lost the eschatological
view of the Christian Faith. Indeed, " the sufferings of this present time are not worth
comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." (Rom. 8:18; LG 48) On the other
hand, Pope John Paul II treats the problem of suffering extensively in his encyclical
<Salvifici Doloris>, on how suffering can be for our advantage and also for the
advantage of others in the order of charity.
Many things are involved in the New Age Movement which are not covered in
this article. However, I think that I have covered the essentials. It should be clear that
we should beware of its dangers to human society and to the individual, and at the
same time see a need, when opportune, to warn others.
Christian Order Magzine, Volume 37, Number .
January, 1996
ENDNOTES
1. Basilea Schlink, <New Age, from a Biblical Viewpoint>, Evangelical Sisters of Mary,
Darmstadt. West Germany, p. 6.
2. <Encyclopedia Brittanica,>, Vol. 18, p. 277.
3. Ibid., p. 278.
4. R.K. MacMaster, s.v. "Theosophy," in <The New Catholic Encyclopedia,> McGraw-
Hill Book Co., Washington D.C., 1967, pp. 74-75.
5. Eugene T. Adams, s.v. "Besant, Annie Wood" (1847-1933), from <The World Book
Encyclopedia,> Vol. 2, p. 212.
6. R.K. MacMaster, s.v. "Theosophy," in <The New Catholic Encyclopedia.>
7. A loosely associated group of schismatical, autonomous communities brought
together in the Union of Utrecht in 1889, which dissented from the First Vatican
Council.
8. This Church has many similarities to the Roman Catholic Church with regard to
doctrine and the sacraments: but it does not exclude Eastern beliefs such as
reincarnation.
9. Fulton J. Sheen, s.v. "Theosophy," in <The Catholic Encyclopedia Dictionary,> The
Gilmary Society, N.Y., 1929, p. 947.
10. <Nuouo Dizionano del Religione>, ed. Hans Waldesfels, San Paolo, Milano, 1993.
11. Basilea Schlink, <New Age>, p. 8.
12. This New World Order involves a New World Government and a New World
Religion, with the main political objective of global control, and advocates the
dissolution and/or destruction of individual nation states in the interest of peace and
conservation, according to Constance E. Cumbey, <The Hidden Dangers of the
Rainbow: The New Age Movement and Our Coming Age of Barbarism>, Huntington
House, Inc., Shreveport, Louisiana, USA: 1983, p. 63.
13. Ibid., p. 8.
14. M. Fuss, s.v. "New Age," in <Nuouo Dizionario delle Religioni>, p. 642.
15. Basilea Schlink, <New Age>, p. 13.
16. In Latin: <Fraternitas rosa crucis>, or Brotherhood of the Red Cross. A sect of this
name arose at the beginning of the 17th century, but traced its origin to the 16th century
Johann Valentin Andrea (who used the pseudonym Christian Rosencrenz, meaning
"rose cross"), who is said to have learned Arabian magic while travelling in the East.
The sect engaged in occultism and mysticism. From the 19th century it has been
considered by some to be a branch of Freemasonry. In recent decades there have been
at least three groups of Rosecrucians headquartered in various cities in the United
States.
17. James S. Perkins, s.v. "Theosophy," in <The Encyclopedia Americana>, Americana
Corp., N.Y., 1967.
18. H. M. Kallen, s.v. "Theosophist," in <The World Book Encyclopedia>.
19. James S. Perkins, s.v. "Theosophy," op. cit.
20. Basilea Schlink, <New Age>, p. 11.
21. E. Dowling, in the introduction to <The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Christ> as quoted
by B. Schlink, op. cit., p. 14.
22. B. Schlink, <New Age>, p. 14.
23. "Transpersonal psychology pertains to experiences reaching beyond the limits of the
individual, that is, beyond the limits of the personality and personal consciousness.
During which experiences the person sacrifices his or her independent personality and
allows himself to be ruled and manipulated by the psychotechnician in order to regress
into prior lives or submerge into other worlds." (B. Schlink, <New Age>, p. 31).
24. B. Schlink, <New Age>, pp. 13 18.
25. Basilea Schlink, <New Age>, p. 9.
26. Basilea Schlink, <New Age>, pp. 11-12.
27. Enrico Zoffoli, <Dizionario del Cristianesimo,> s.v. "Theosophy," Sinopsis Initiative
Culturale, Roma, 1992, p. 524.
Copyright (c) 1996 EWTN
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