I. What is New Age ?
1. Nature and meaning of the phenomenon. The term New Age, which literally means "New Era", is meant to suggest the sense of a renovatio mundi tied to a change in the general mentality in the various movements that are within this perspective would be the architects and spokesman. There are other expressions, more or less equivalent, as Age Nouvelle in French, and 'Age of Aquarius, "which alludes to the astrological details of type, ie a transition from the old Age of Pisces to a new Age , understood as a step to be a Old Age the New Age . Recently some authors have also introduced the term Next Age (the next Era), which was originally launched by a major car manufacturer's advertising American car to advertise a particularly innovative, but is now used by some scholars of new forms of religion to mean a sort of crisis in the New Age phenomenon and its rebirth in new forms.
Since the 80s of the twentieth century, in describing the complex world of New Age in its entirety, it also began to use the formula New Age Movement (NAM), to emphasize the active role and convergent of different groups and individuals in the construction New Era. In fact, the New Age is not a real "movement" clearly defined boundaries, and neither could be described as a "cult" in the strict sense (although its rightful place among the issues which it must deal with those who study the phenomenon of sects), but rather a mood, a mindset, a "network" in which a series of different ways of thinking, sometimes similar, sometimes different, but linked by a common denominator. To answer the question about the identity of the sociological NAM could use an expression that has had great luck in American journalism, calling the NAM as a metanetwork ( Network of networks). The definition is interesting, especially if one considers the meaning of the word network, which can be understood as a spontaneous creation, designed to guide and direct the interests and choices of people, offering opportunities directly, also outside the institutionally established channels. In confirmation of this view places the greatest amount of Internet sites devoted to New Age or resume his most popular themes (INFORMATION, VI), and can become a major tool for dissemination and survival. The New Age can be thought of as a metanetwork if we conceive it as a "cultural atmosphere" that collects, organizes, standardizes, blends or juxtaposes a set of requirements that have the greatest common denominator in the fact of wanting to be alternatives to the proposals of the official institutions in all fields. Therefore, we can talk about the phenomenon of contemporary society in areas as diverse: from the medical world (nudist clubs and some aspects of "alternative" medicine) and continue into the world of consumer goods (products strictly "natural" music, books Holidays or submitted with the label New Age ), then finishes in the more strictly anthropological and "religious", that comes here to be closer, and in which has the highest range of proposals (see below , V-VI). In this context, it also places the problem of the relationship between New Age mentality and modern science (see below , IV).
2. The problem of the unity of the phenomenon and its social impact . If the expression New Age can be considered a sort of "umbrella" that covers a variety of different entities with each other, even with a common denominator when we question the relationship between New Age, modern science and Christian faith , we question directly relating to the doctrinal identity of the phenomenon. But we can speak in a unified manner of New Age doctrines ? The question - an epistemological point of view - is doubly problematic: on the one hand there is in fact the question of sources (there is a "canon" of texts recognized as being representative of the New Age mentality as a whole, or individual texts considered as such by all those who find themselves under the umbrella in question), on the other hand, the claim that first found in the works produced in a New Age , about the identity of that doctrine is that in this line of thought there is no universally accepted dogma. Different authors use different forms of expression to assert their own doctrine of relativism New Age, but on this point, the convergence is complete. So we could say that it is a relativism "made absolute" and - beyond the contradiction of that position, which belongs also to some schools of philosophy - the account gives us a strong enough criterion to identify the doctrinal features in some way common to the various New Age groups : it is quite difficult to identify what we all say, it is easier to identify what all deny (for example, the claim that there can be no "dogma" is shared so nearly unanimous), and then outline the emerging doctrinal identity, however, does not tolerate being confused with the perspective from which it dissociates.
The social organization of this "movement", said he was extremely fluid, in the sense that there is a unitary structure hierarchically organized, there are no points of reference or official spokesman acknowledged as such, but the very fact of characterized as a metanetwork (a complex system of structures, in turn, organized a "network") makes the ideas very pervasive. The informal nature of many of the ways in which it comes into contact with the atmosphere New Age, in fact, leads to "lower their guard" in the sense that it is often difficult for individuals to recognize and realize the connotations of the process of change in mentality that can easily be started without clear where it could conduct. May be illustrative in this sense, the words with which virtually opens a book that we now consider a "classic" New Age , The Celestine Prophecy: "For almost half a century a new consciousness has become part of the human universe, an awareness of what might be called transcendent, spiritual. If you find yourself reading this book, perhaps you've already noticed what's going on because I feel it inside you. At this moment in history we seem particularly attuned to the development of life itself, with those fortuitous events that happen at the right time to meet people and make us able to start our life in a new direction and inspiration. Perhaps we can grasp the higher meaning of these mysterious events more than they ever did the people who lived before us. We know that each of us life is a spiritual revelation, seductive and magical, that no philosophy or religion has so far failed to clarify the whole. And we also learn something else: we know that when we understand what's going on, setting in motion this kind of growth is kept alive, the human race will make an incredible leap forward finally reaching the new style of life that has followed over its entire history. This story is offered to you to achieve new understanding. If she hits you, expressing something that is already perceived in life, that your past experience to someone else - because I believe that our new awareness of spirituality is expanding exactly in this direction, not more by fads or advertising weird but on a personal level through a kind of positive psychological contagion among people "(Redfield, 1994, p. 6).
The level of involvement, in many cases, it can remain at a very shallow, limiting, for example, to the use of certain products or services, even if it can it be that this first level of involvement of others will follow, more and more radicals, in a sort of spiraling downward where it is not easy to identify the "threshold" clearly distinguishable. So it's hard groped to draw a "map" of the spread of New Age and most still do the estimates of the number of people involved, because a lot depend on the indicators chosen and the degree of approximation would still be very large. This that can be said to give an overall assessment of the phenomenon in today's culture, is that there are significant affinities between some of the doctrinal and psychological elements within the landscape of the New Age and some emerging trends that appear in the current mentality of advanced industrial societies, with a mutually reinforcing with each other and vice versa.
II. Some historical
1. Looking for a beginning . The elusive indefinability the New Age phenomenon we have just reported it prevents us from indicating a "birth date" for something unique that combines multiple realities, each of which has its own history and its own "precedents." From a doctrinal analysis we will emphasize the profound similarities between Gnostic mentality and culture New Age, but from a historical perspective we can not push us so far behind in research of the genesis of what is today this mentality, there was almost a sort of secret thread that unites all the great heresies making them go back to the diagnosis as "mother" of their large family. But if we think that what characterizes the New Age as such is the centrality given the imminent arrival of a new era, characterized by peace, prosperity and harmony, guaranteed on the basis a widespread awareness of pantheistic, not without significant type of astrological references, then we can show the work L'Ere du Verseau (published esoterism Frenchman Paul Le Cour, 1937) a significant precedent for what we now call New Age . He, however, may itself be regarded as heir to earlier esoteric traditions and run the risk of having to climb until times too far from the historical-cultural phenomenon of which we are dealing with. We can also take as its starting point the creation of some of those who today are considered among the best known and undisputed landmarks mentality New Age , considering them as the first "tips of the iceberg" of a phenomenon perhaps already present in the underground level, but still unable to come to the surface. We then symbolically taken as the reference point
2. The gradual clarification of the identity New Age. In the history of the movement we find a second line of the watershed from the moment he begins to take shape a kind of "self-express" the consistency of the NAM understood as metanetwork , ie as a "network of network structures" having real relationships with each other explicitly captured as such. An important role in this respect is played by David Spangler, who began a significant work of dissemination through conferences and pamphlets, from the late 60s, until in 1973 a part of the material he produced is collected in a large volume , The New Age Vision, published in Scotland at the Findhorn community. In those years he also said the other word in some way equivalent, which is to Age of Aquarius , which is discussed also in the popular musical, Hair (1968), where the song The Age of Aquarius explicitly expresses some of the crucial issues of the New Age mentality . At the beginning of the '70s can be placed on the publication of the first "guide" New Age, with lists of libraries, shopping centers, places of spirituality and alternative healing, yoga schools and whatever else was in line with perceived expectations in the era of renewal "movement" is beginning to recognize the bearer. In any case, we can classify the historical rise of New Age as part of the larger and more complex cultural crisis and that generation has gone through and still goes through the advanced Western societies after World War II. It contributes to a variety of factors which have found expression in a variety of movements "breaking" (just think of the events of '68), both in the form of groups are strongly oriented toward social engagement, either in the form of experience "escape" from a reality where you feel uncomfortable, either in the form of the revival of fundamentalist sects and apocalyptic millenarianism old and new, either in the form of a vague but consistent "network" of relations that unite in a more subtle or less strong than anyone (individuals or organizations) have attitudes or beliefs that they profess, rightly or wrongly, they believe could help create a "new cultural paradigm and society", as in the case of New Age .
A phenomenon that can help you understand how the expansion of this mentality is the "community" New Age emerged in various parts of the planet. The head of this type of community is already mentioned in Findhorn, Scotland, founded in 1962, but similar experiences have been raised a bit 'all over the world. As an example we can cite the community of Christiania, founded in 1971 on the outskirts of Copenhagen, with the illegal occupation of abandoned military area and now has about a thousand inhabitants, or Arcosanti, an "ideal city" built in Arizona according to ecological criteria, which can hold about five thousand inhabitants. Italy is active in the community of Damanhur, founded in 1979 by Oberto Airaudi at Baldissero Canavese, in Valchiusella, and the Village Green Cavallirio in the province of Novara, led by Bernardino Del Boca. The town of Damanhur, which looks like a set of neo-pagan, has broadened considerably in the eighties, generating a multiplicity of parallel centers in other locations in the Canavese. The community has a significant economic and commercial structure that includes a publishing house, a travel agency, a luxurious conference center, numerous initiatives to promote the image and the dissemination of ideas that circulate in it. Aspiration of Damanhur is to become a real "city state", even with a currency for domestic use.
Finally, there are some authors, especially among sociologists, that tend to "downplay" the phenomenon by presenting it as a movement through his life's course, which seems to be able to see the decline, or at least of evolution: the marketing of many symbols of the New Age seems to portend more its metabolism within the consumer society, rather than a transfiguration of it thanks to New Age ideas . For this reason some groups, perhaps influenced by the same words to describe how they have changed its name Next Age , thus intending to mark the distance from a New Age partly contaminated by relationships with the company consumer.
III. Main features of the doctrinal New Age
1. An anti-dogmatic relativism . We have already observed that one of the recurring elements of the installation of the various doctrinal spokesman New Age cut off is the denial that there may be established in a dogmatic certainties, "the only dogma is that there is no dogma, we paraphrase different expressions of widely distributed in the environment. Actually, this very statement is given without that serene equidistance from its contradictory, which would be suspect that - like any relativism allegedly claiming to be radical - self-destructs. It helps us shape the global horizon, however, they are in and the other New Age doctrines : a worldview in which every individual is a "measure" of its truth, both in terms of content, both of view of how the lands to their subjective beliefs, except for certain "exemptions" that are pretty clear. First of all is that of a religious perspective revealed that there are no dogmatic content of faith. It is also worth to observe how the individual elements of New Age thinking , taken one by one, do not exhibit a character of special highlight many beliefs are found Eastern cultures and religions, in other groups of area-gnostic esoteric that you have arrived on the scene of Western culture in centuries past, the so-called Human Potential Movement (consider, for example, a Scientology group or EST-The Forum, in whose bed was born rebirthing technique ). What is characteristic of New Age is the way in which all these elements are part of a collection, in architecture, which has characteristics which converged and which may offer a clue.
2. All is One . Everything that exists is but a fragment of the unique substance or reality: the world, in other words, is not made from inert matter nor energy nor unconscious, but one reality, divine and conscious, albeit impersonal (SOUL, II). The terms used to designate it, in fact, they point out that impersonal Principle, Mind, Power, Unity and, especially, energy. The latter term is particularly suited to a variety of evocative metaphors in explaining the different levels in which to structure the reality that different energy levels, with varying degrees of "awareness" of his being part of one cosmic energy, or 's only reality "divine." The various forms of mysticism ecological terms, where we have to say shortly, are framed in a very linear within this horizon of explanation. It is worthwhile to point out how such a conception of God, based on a radical pantheism positively stated, though it seems to result in a sort of exaltation of the sacred and precious nature of every existing reality, it actually translates into a denial of the divine, so as we are accustomed to conceive it in our culture: if everything is divine (in the sense of a deity immanent), then nothing is characterized as divine (in the sense of a transcendent reality). You can also say that the starting point of New Age theories not to be found neither in the theological, or at metaphysical or cosmological, but rather about the human person. Properly speaking, the point of departure is linked to some instances of existence that can be very different but have one common denominator, on the basis of these instances is a reflection of an anthropological processes that replaces the horizon in a holistic and horizon in this space that is the theory of which is the pantheistic vision New Age of "divine".
3. Man is part of the divine . The assertion that man is part of the divine is very close to the starting point of New Age theories . Logical consequence of the doctrine that "All is one, from a point of view this is an existential perspective, especially in the West, has had a major impact on the mentality and behavior of individuals. Man New Age has a structure "sandwich" composed of several elements: physical, psychic and pneumatic (spiritual in the strong sense), plus a vague plot of levels of mysterious relations with the environment in which he lives, designed to itself as a living reality interwoven with multiple energies to a different degree of awareness. " The awakening of awareness of the proximity between humans and the natural environment, such as different aspects of a single divine reality, is the almost "statutory" the most famous New Age community , to Findhorn. Based on the biblical doctrine of man created in the image and likeness of God, says a representative of the movement, "without understanding the true meaning we have done everything possible to make these words on the material [cf. 1.26 to 28 January]. The earth and every living thing had no choice but to submit to our technical superiority. The idea of \u200b\u200ban intelligence, a spirit or a god who acts in nature and gives an order in all its manifestations, was dismissed as a myth of the simple and primitive civilizations. The task of Findhorn is to revive the myth "(Giovetti, 1990, p. 71).
To give an idea of \u200b\u200bthe context in which the community operates a nod to its history is enough: it is born in the north of Scotland on the initiative of Eileen Caddy and a group of people who had gathered around her (including her husband the children's friend Dorothy); beginning of his "spiritual mission" would be a "call" in which God himself would have turned - in words clear and understandable - the invitation to bear witness to the transforming sand dunes of the area in a beautiful garden, not without the help of "positive energy" are particularly abundant in that place. Among the peculiarities experience, very indicative of the mentality New Age, there are frequent communications between the organic farmers of Findhorn and the vital spirits (devas ) of different plant species. We can understand the tone of these communications in the message that the "demigods of pears" was sent to Dorothy: "For you I am a being of great beauty, that you found my reality, which is free and represents the divine and perfect life. This small tree in the garden is my expression. You know of course that the inner beauty becomes more apparent at the time of flowering and the fruit has a unique shape and detail. However you think this tree can represent only to a limited extent. Come and try to feel at one with the tree. Lodged in him and feel like being one with him, as he feels the spirit of the tree. Feel the love for the tree spirit, the spirit is the tree and we are one. In this moment you are one with us. We believe that heaven should bow to the ground when you participate in our life then our unity becomes greater "(cited in Giovetti, 1990, pp. 48-49).
4. The fate of human awakening of consciousness and reincarnation . The human journey is a journey of "awakening of consciousness", in particular the awareness of be part of a "whole" divine. In a universe that is nothing but an expression of one infinite Self and divine every criterion of objective validity loses meaning, becomes in fact the eyes of New Agers a hoax can be the sole criterion of truth (which is the immersion of one's self in the one Divine Self). The awakening of consciousness is possible if we embrace a new way of thinking, and in that sense, it is indicative that the symbolic use is made of a scientific discovery regarding the separation of functions between the left hemisphere (where they manage the functions related to logical thinking) and right (responsible for the emotional dimension, creative, artistic). Starting from the observation that Western culture has always favored the excessively left brain thinking, it takes the body as a new proposal to assume the mental model right brain thinking, "thinking with the right brain," capable of fostering the emergence of a new mentality characterized by profound distancing than the customs of Western culture in general and the modern one in particular. A key consideration of certainty and truth becomes therefore the experience and intuition: it is of course the experience and intuition "sovraconcettuali, spanning and knowingly refuse as ordinary rational knowledge.
In this context we find the doctrine of reincarnation, on the one hand, draws obvious influences of Eastern religions, but on the other side shows peculiar characteristics that define the character to a design everything, "western" (SOUL, III .1). First, the doctrine of reincarnation within the New Age does not evoke a sort of impersonal cosmic justice to which man is subjected against his will, but draws occidentalissima idea of \u200b\u200ba "second chance" to realize that growth of inner awareness that very often a single life is not enough to do: you may be able think of a journey of indefinite length, in which a life is not enough if it can be available than you want, as long as the process of maturation of a global consciousness will not be completed. It becomes clear that this way of thinking about reincarnation is dampened Enlightenment-positivist myth of unlimited progress of mankind, passed on the individual level (a view that ethics should more properly call "teaching" you continue to fail until you has reached a full understanding of their error). Secondly, as rightly observed by Julien Ries, the doctrine of reincarnation is meeting with the mass culture of a secular man looking for new myths that go to replace those that no longer believes, better adapted to a kind of individualistic mentality: "The stories of past lives are new myths that are mixed anecdotes of bizarre sexuality and savage violence. Everyone has the right to their own myth, everyone can conceive its origin, its destiny, its own incarnations. Everyone can build their own creation myth, and then its genesis. New Age market the children of Aquarius are the guides to the past lives with a collection of recipes and techniques: self-hypnosis, deep meditation, astral travel, etc.. With the help of these guides the user to reincarnation can reconstruct the story of his past lives and, starting from here, I create her current "(J. Ries, New Age and Reincarnation," Religions and sects in the world ", 1996, n. 5, p. 54 ).
5. A great room for "spiritual techniques" . The growth of inner awareness of being part of the divine presupposes the use of techniques that can be schematically divided into three main categories: the technical control of the self (with some alteration of consciousness), the techniques that govern the relationship with others, and techniques to "communicate" with other levels of consciousness. The first type of techniques, a classic example of which can be in one of the most representative texts of the movement (see MacLaine, 1985, p. 281), is based mainly on the control of breathing and feeling, not excluding the use of hallucinogenic drugs or any practice exercises are intended to have altered the state of waking consciousness. We report the story of Shirley MacLaine gives one of his "mystical experience" realizzatasi the exotic setting of a source in the Andes, while the actress was lying in a pool of sulfuric water, sparkling, "I breathed more slowly, I felt, and a bit 'of time I realized that the beat of my heart had the same rhythm of the breath, so that seemed in sync. Gradually, the time slipped away until he had more conscience. The candle's flame continued to falter, but now beginning to be the center of my mind. I felt that my body floats, not only arms, but all myself. Slowly I became the water, and each bubble it was an integral part. A double, a wonderful feeling: I was fully conscious, present to myself and yet most of what surrounded me. [...] Then I heard the link between my breath and pulsating energy that surrounded me. It was as if the very air pulse, and in fact the air was me. I was in the air, water, darkness, walls, bubbles, the candle, the bottom of the slippery stones, even the mighty river that flowed out "(MacLaine, 1985, p. 281). The second group of techniques, that of the control of the relational dynamics, corresponds largely to the methods developed by various schools of psychology, such as Esalen (whose role in the New Age, from its very beginning, it is already noted). The third category concerns the "spiritual techniques" that are expected to enter into communication with other dimensions of reality that we live in our conscious life.
These techniques may be briefly located within what is called Channeling, a sort of natural evolution of spiritual practices traced in New Age (see Porcher, 1998). The ambition of its spokesmen is to include, within the Channeling , not only all the phenomena of Spiritualism its classical manifestation, but any form of "divine" in any religious context has arisen: this would be many "faces" of the same reality that, in his deep, would be substantially uniform. In practice, the Channeling wants to "take over" of all phenomena "mystics" of all religions from ancient times, making multifarious manifestations of the same divine principle which pervades everything, and that always tends to occur, it is evident here the influence of New Age . Unlike traditional spiritualism, in fact, the Channeling is part of a holistic perspective in which not only gives you less and less importance to the "phenomena" physically verifiable, but you can also see a preference to "entities" of non-human nature : collective spirit, "masters mysterious" 
angels, fairies, extraterrestrial beings, and not the pagan gods. Here, for example, as the multi-personal entities that would be presented with the name of Seth, is expressed in a "classic" of modern Channeling Jane Roberts wrote: "The self that you know is nothing but a fragment of your whole identity. These fragments of self are not linked together, however, as the beads of a rosary. Instead resemble much more the layers of an onion, or slices of orange, all interlinked through one vitality evolventisi and in various areas while giving rise to the same source. [...] There is not anything - rocks, minerals, plants, animals and air - which is not penetrated by its own specific kind of consciousness. So you are in a constant turmoil of life, a field of energy conscious, and you yourselves physically composed of conscious cells that carry within themselves the realization of one's identity, that cooperate willingly to form the body structure which is your physical body " (Roberts, 1987, p. 30).
6. A global transformation on a global scale ... and not only . If it is true that man is by nature part of the divine, why is not everybody capture such "evidence"? Mankind has a problem: he suffers a sort of metaphysical amnesia "that has made us lose sight of their true identity. It is perhaps the most important of the beliefs that are in the complex landscape of New Age, indeed this is precisely the belief as "qualifying", from which the whole movement that draws its raison d'etre and is based on ' assumed that the personal transformation of men (through awareness of their belonging to the One-All) necessarily leads to a cosmic transformation, which we would see the signs already evident and which would coincide with the astrological age of Aquarius. Because of the phenomenon the precession of the equinoxes (which is not an astrological conjecture, but an astronomical phenomenon due to a physical motion of rotation "on top" of the earth), the point of intersection between the circles of the celestial equator and the ecliptic "precedes" , that moves slowly over time, from a constellation of the Zodiac to another. By interpreting these movements as a "great year in the world", every two thousand years or take a sort of "new era". We are right on the dividing line of such a historic transition from the "old" age of Pisces (characterized by division, violence, reckless exploitation of nature) the "new" age of Aquarius (characterized by peace, brotherhood, respect for the environment, inner harmony). At that time accrue to and harmonize all the eschatological expectations of all religions and all cultures around the world: each "relocated" to its rightful place (ie in anticipation of this one was great that we are moving) is included in the light a higher degree of "awareness".
Why such a "soft revolution" may finally be implemented would be necessary for the followers of the movement, a large mobilization of consciences. Should say that a large number of people embrace the lifestyle Aquarian and works to spread, until their number reaches a critical mass that could trigger a global transformation, that is a "shift" paradigm in mind all of humanity. You will not need a revolution, much less violent actions, but only a gradual change in the thinking of men in different fields "strategic" for the New Age take effect desired. The above-mentioned strategic areas can be so identified, limited to the most significant and widely considered to be of crucial importance: the sensitivity to environmental problems (you can also see some link between the world New Age and the emergence and spread of some powerful environmental movements), a pacifist culture averse to all forms of war and imperialism, feminism understood as a reaction to a culture too "macho", whose features are find all the "old age" (violence, oppression, the focus on creativity rationality and emotion, etc.)..
IV. New Age and contemporary science
1. The revolution in scientific paradigms . The idea of \u200b\u200ba cultural paradigm shift is linked to the introduction of some innovations that have played a "landmark" the invention of the wheel, the discovery of writing, the invention of printing, the "Copernican revolution", etc.. It is not difficult to understand how in a New Age we tend to believe that even in science it is today experiencing a similar change of paradigm, however, are carefully considering the ways in which people claim to substantiate this claim. The reflections of modern epistemologists, such as those of Thomas Kuhn and others, are read in a New Age as a sort of "prophecy" of an imminent reversal of the entire paradigm of reference of all the modern sciences (epistemology, II-III). A first expression This attitude can be found in the so-called "Gnosis of Princeton", a term which, since 1969, some scientists were given initially gathered around the prestigious American university, who expressed a holistic positions. The cultural roots are common to those of the hippie phenomenon , especially with regard to the influences of matrix and the prospect of Eastern pantheistic, even if the style and methods are different, with the traits of that intellectual aristocracy that characterized the more protagonists. To summarize them over the characters from a text by R. Ruyer, which illustrates the features of the new diagnosis, having taken care to obtain also approve of those involved: "The New Gnosis
Among the most important spokesman for a re-visitation in a pantheistic sense of modern science undoubtedly shape the physicist Fritjof Capra, author of works ( The Tao of Physics, 1975 and The turning point , 1982) very popular in New Age environment. To understand the peculiarity of his approach, we can build on attributes which introduces the experience of "mysticism" that inaugurated The Tao of Physics "in a late summer afternoon, sitting by the ocean, watching the waves and feel the rhythm of my breath, when I suddenly became aware that everything around me was taking part in a gigantic cosmic dance. Being a physicist, I knew that the sand, rocks, water and air around me were made up of molecules and atoms vibrate, and these in turn were made up of particles which interacted with one another by creating and destroying other particles . I also knew that the Earth's atmosphere was continually bombarded by a rain of cosmic rays, particles of high energy undergoing multiple collisions as they penetrated the air. All this was familiar from my research in high energy physics, but until that moment I had only experienced it through charts, diagrams and mathematical theories. Sitting on that beach my former experiences came to life, "saw" cascades down from outer space, energy, in which they were created and destroyed in rhythmic pulses; "saw" the atoms of the elements and those of my body participating in this cosmic dance of energy, I felt its rhythm and I "heard" the sound, and at that moment I knew that this was the dance of Siva, the Lord of Dancers worshiped by Hindus. For a long time I studied theoretical physics and for several years I worked in research. At the same time, I had become very interested in Eastern mysticism and had begun to see the parallels to modern physics. I was particularly attracted to the puzzling aspects of Zen which reminded me of the puzzles of quantum mechanics. At first, however, the attempt to relate the two was a purely intellectual exercise. To overcome the gap that exists between the rational, analytical thinking, meditative experience of mystical truth, was very difficult for me, and still is "(tr. it. 19893 Milano, pp. 11-12).
may be useful to point out that if the way in which Capra subjectively reaches the certainty of what he says is his personal experience, content of his reflections are not presented as the pure result of a subjective perception of reality, but as the explanation of a sort of historical destiny of Western culture. The volume mentioned though with a fascinating language, and some parts of the history of Western culture understood as a kind of eclipse of the original mystical experience, both the history of science in the twentieth century, which highlights the progressive "crisis" understood as deterministic and scientistic paradigm crisis. The route is dotted with quotations from the texts of the great religious traditions of the East (Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, etc..), But the great common message to all is, in essence, the heart of New Age doctrine : All Is One - all is One. "The most important characteristic of the Eastern world view - one might almost say the essence - is the awareness of unity and mutual interrelation of all things and all events, the finding that all phenomena are manifestations of the world a basic oneness. [...] In ordinary life, we are not aware of this unity of all things, but divide the world into separate objects and events. Of course, this division is useful and necessary to move in our everyday environment, but it is a fundamental aspect of reality. It is an abstraction created by our intellect that distinguishes and classifies. [...] The basic oneness of the universe is not only the main feature of mystical experience, but it is also one of the most important revelations of modern physics. It becomes apparent at the atomic level and manifests itself more clearly as it penetrates deep into the subject, to the world of subatomic particles "(ibid. , pp. 147-149). To support this thesis are examples taken from observation of physical and some phrases Heisenberg, which is reported this expression: "The world appears as a complicated tissue of events, where several species of connections alternate, overlap and combine, resulting in the structure of all "(ibid. , p. 158).
The same course is a second work of Capra, The Turning Point . Science, Society and the Rising Culture (1982), whose very name ( The turning point ) is derived from Eastern and work more accurately, state the name of a hexagram Chinese opera I 'Ching . The work is divided into four parts: the first introduces the basic themes of the text, the second and third represent a historical analysis and a fierce critique of the Cartesian mind-reductionist, the fourth part outlines the new vision of reality proposed by the author, the "cultural revolution" capable of changing the world. After having considered holistic medicine, transpersonal psychology, systemic approaches to the economy and ecology, Capra explains how the "turning point" where would our civilization is reflected in the transition to an era known as "solar" "The transition to the solar age is now truly underway, not simply in terms of new technologies, but in a broader sense, in terms of a profound transformation of our entire society and culture. The shift from mechanistic to the ecological paradigm is not something that will happen at some point in the future but is happening right now in our science, our individual and collective attitudes and values, and in our patterns of social organization. The new paradigm is better understood by individuals and small communities to large academic and social institutions, which often tend to be locked in Cartesian thought. To facilitate the cultural transformation will therefore be necessary to restructure our system of information and education, so that new knowledge can be presented and discussed in an appropriate manner. [...] The new vision of reality is a vision label in a way that goes far beyond the immediate concerns of environmental protection. To emphasize this deeper meaning of ecology, philosophers and scientists have begun to make a distinction between "deep ecology" and "shallow environmentalism". While the shallow environmentalism is interested in a more efficient monitoring and management of the natural environment for the benefit of man, the deep ecology movement recognizes that the ecological balance requires profound changes in our perception of the role of humans in ' ecosystem. In short, it will require a new philosophical and religious basis "(tr. com. Milan 1984, pp. 337-340).
the background of this vision "green" New Era, also fit the so-called Gaia Hypothesis , launched since 1969 by the British scientist James Lovelock and a Boston University biologist, Lynn Margulis (DEVELOPMENT V , Geology, VII). Based on some comments that could be interpreted as phenomena of homeostasis and self-regulation on a large scale, maybe even on a planetary scale, this hypothesis describes the Earth Anthropic Principle, III).
2. alternative medicine and holistic therapies. The history of scientific medicine began, as is known, with Hippocrates and the centuries remedies and therapies that have been tried, with varying degrees of success are countless. The phenomenon of "medicine alternative, however, has more recent roots and arises in the context of a reaction to the increasingly invasive technologies, especially in the nineteenth and twentieth century. It may be useful in this direction, refer to the figure of the Viennese physician Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), who studied the effects of therapeutic application of magnets to the diseased parts of the body, in the belief that diseases are nothing but a "magnetic imbalance" inside that would have been sufficient "offset" to get effective treatment. Studies on mineral magnetism were simply a starting point, because soon Mesmer will assume the existence of a "fluid" widespread, similar to the magnets, which is released by many living things and, especially, from the body of men particularly susceptible (including, of course, himself) that could be called "healers". Convinced that he developed in his scientifically impeccable technique "cure", it sends a statement in 1775 the Academy of Sciences in Paris, Royal Society of London and the Academy of Berlin, without any effect. Many years later, the founders of three well-known alternative medicines: Christian Samuel Hahnemann, homeopathy for Daniel David Palmer, medicine chiropractic and Andrew Taylor for osteopathy, will refer to him in fairly consistent even if - it should be noted - their disciplines will feed progressively covered by mainstream science, while maintaining their specificity. Even more like the New Age mentality from its very beginning is the Movement for holistic medicine, which reacts specifically to the positivist model in which it appears - especially in the nineteenth century - the Western medical science: this would cure the body considered as a machine, which takes into consideration each time the individual "pieces" without considering the profound interrelationship between the body (in its entirety), the psyche and spirit. The common ground of the reaction to the excesses mechanistic positivism, stand out, however, schools of thought that are inspired by very different theoretical horizons. For example, the official organization of the American movement for holistic medicine ( American Holistic Medical Association ) recognizes institutions that are considered among the accredited centers also say that such theoretical foundations of their clinical practices, the doctrine of reincarnation and the use reading the "memory Akasha.
The use of alternative medicine can not be considered a New Age practice , being equidistant from the therapies considered culturally different religious or philosophical perspectives, which have gradually inserted, as already noted, the practice of medicine commonly understood. What we want to emphasize here is how the use of such practices, in a New Age , is covered by a further meaning in the sense that they are regarded as a re-appropriation of their own body, freeing them from the bondage of traditional medicine and consuming the "ritual" of its alternative therapies almost as magical and mystical gestures that lead to growth of "global awareness", the primary objective of the movement. The same
Capra, in his view the prospect of the world, we include a holistic approach to health care, taking traditions of cultures without writing, from Shamanism. After having reviewed the approach and the Hippocratic have dwelt at length on the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine, the scientist asks how to "embody" a holistic model in our culture. So I think to find a meaningful mediation "hinge" in Japanese culture, which belongs to the oriental tradition and that right now, after accepting a century ago the introduction of the Western mind, would rediscover care systems more closely linked to their particular origins "a very striking difference between eastern and western approach to health problems is that, in the company of the Far East in general, the subjective knowledge is greatly appreciated. Even in a modern scientific country as Japan places a high value to the subjective experience and subjective knowledge is considered no less important than the rational deductive thought. [...] One consequence of this attitude is a typical lack of interest in East Asian doctors to measure, backed by the knowledge that the doctor deals with living systems in continuous flux which is considered sufficient for qualitative measures ( The turning point , 1984, p. 265). The transfer of these ideas in Our culture involves a critique of the mechanistic model of the "old era", to pave the way for its holistic model of the new "in the last three hundred years our culture has been dominated by the conception of the human body as a machine, to be analyzed in its various parts . The mind is separated from the body, the disease is seen as a malfunctioning of biological mechanisms, and health is defined as the absence of disease. This view is now slowly being eclipsed by a holistic and ecological world that sees the universe not a machine, but rather a living system, which insists on the essential concept of interrelation and interdependence of all phenomena and strives to understand the nature not only in terms of basic structures, but also of underlying dynamic processes. The systemic view of living organisms would seem to provide the ideal base for a new approach to health and health care that was fully compatible with the new paradigm is rooted in our cultural heritage "(ibid. , p. 267).
3. UFO movements. The literature dealing and associated phenomena, mainly in non-scientific research of mysterious flying objects of extraterrestrial origin and the close contacts that would follow with lucky representatives of the human species must be seen also in the atmosphere perfectly New Age . Again, to affect its adherents are not the purely scientific aspects (on which you could just prudent to suspend the proceedings; (EXTRATERRESTRIAL, VITA, II), but rather a series of elements can easily be traced back to the New Age mysticism, as attested by the stories and doctrines of the various movements 'UFO' (the initials: UFOs, Unidentified Flying Object or "unidentified flying object).
A first example of this can be represented by the group named Mark Age-, founded in 1960 by Charles Boyd Gentzel and Pauline Sharpe, two mediums who claim to be in contact with a body Hierarchical ", consisting of entities that would use interstellar flying saucers" essential "and tasked to govern the solar system in forty years (1960-2000) of transition from the Age of Pisces to the Aquarian. On the same course is also the group called its of Heralds of the New Age always be placed in the context of channeling , who claims to receive messages from the deceased Gloria Lee, another medium that had operated within the group Mark Age and was left to die during a hunger strike led to persuade the U.S. authorities to listen to his "revelations" extraterrestrials. The most famous group among these is the Raelian Movement, founded in 1975 by French journalist Claude Vorilhon, who took to calling himself Rael. This is an atheist movement who, explicitly denying the existence of God says that men would be produced in the laboratory by scientists in the distant past of an advanced people living on another planet (the Elohim ). Beyond a series of fanciful doctrines, for which Satan was the leader of an opposition party on that distant planet and the whole biblical story should be understood as a skillfully guided by the direction of these extraterrestrials, it should be noted here the most characteristic element plant Raelian doctrine, one that's men would be guided by sophisticated electronic equipment from the same Elohim. The reward of the righteous (ie those who had obediently allowed to drive) would be a sort of "re-creation" for a happy life on the planet of the Elohim , where the lucky Rael had the privilege of doing a sort of inspection visit that he relates in great detail, in reference to the intense sexual satisfaction that the alien would have allowed him solicitous welcome. The rest is recommended to followers the greatest sexual freedom, which "way" privileged to achieve a state of harmony and peace.
Movements UFO reveal, in a sense, the other soul to say the least bizarre of the relationship between New Age and modern science, in which case you are not a mere opposition to the spread of its research and technology derived therefrom, but simply a kind of transfiguration of doctrine, in which science is transformed into fiction, but not a pure play of the spirit - as happens in science fiction novels consciously designed as such - but the intention to affirm the reality of facts and episodes ( the followers of the UFO movement truly believe that the leaders of movements, have met with the extraterrestrial guides). The conflictual relationship with modern science, in this case, it consumes through a conceptual confusion that leads to the desired boundaries of reality and fantasy, with a total surrender by the movement of persons, the use of effective parameters of scientific rigor as such.
V. and New Age gnosis: elements for a comparison between the two doctrines
1. A "vexed question" ancient roots . To take stock speculation on the New Age mentality is appropriate to refer to a specific question of the historical-epistemological today debated enough about his ideal matrix background: this is either less than a modern form of Gnosticism? The question is not purely academic, because the answer presupposes a better explanation of the New Age mentality . The interested reader can find additional information on the salient features of the doctrines of the major Gnostic systems in other works (see A. Porcher, The New Age: a form of modern gnosticism , "Religions and sects in the world", 1996, No. 6 , pp. 51-77), we are going to summarize at least three: a) the "rebellion in the face of radical evil" (God is good because the hurt?) which translates into an essentially dualistic mentality expressed in different ways ( dualism "original" tradition of Persian dualism "derivative" of the diagnosis of Syrian-Egyptian cultural area), but having in common b) a profound anti-cosmismo "understood as a form of reaction with respect to the classical view of man greek, so the universe is orderly, harmonious and basically" good ", while to the Gnostics is the fruit of a bumbling demiurge c) the "deification of man" resulting in the idea of \u200b\u200ba "self-redemption" brought about through the acquisition of "gnosis" (ie true knowledge), awareness of being, of right and by nature, unless the present condition of poverty and called to a shining destiny. Modern interpreters of New Age discuss about the Gnostic character of the system of doctrine, on the basis of considerations that typically depend on the stronger focus of either of the above elements: If you mainly emphasize the first and third of the hallmarks of gnosis, then the similarities with the New Age seem obvious, but if it is so prevalent stresses the second, then you better show the differences.
In one of his works, John Filoramo (1990), the leading Italian scholar of Gnostic culture, explicitly states "the structure and nature of the Gnostic conceptions of New Age," referring in the first proper place in the '"ecological consciousness" or, rather, that their consciousness of deep ecology , able to overcome the traditional dichotomies of the traditional paradigm: matter and spirit, body and soul. The "spiritual consciousness" is, therefore, a holistic consciousness , which recognizes the unity of all because he knows part of it. [...] The special divinity of man is, therefore, that by birth he has a divine spark, which relates it to the deity of the Whole. Hence the need to revive, to recover this dimension, the ego helps us to empirical and social forgetting "(p. 38). On a line Introvigne different ranks (1994) which, although fairly nuanced contrasts the "duality" of the ancient Gnostic systems "monism" of the New Age : "Certainly there are hooks, and the New Age lies in a more modern general "return of Gnosticism." However, the systems of ancient Gnosticism, whether from a certain point of view are monists - because our world and have the matter philosophically precarious existence -, on the other hand are dualists for the world and matter are considered the result of a "fall" or the activity of creation of a lesser god if not malicious, the Demiurge. The subject and the world are therefore the kingdom of evil and darkness from which the Gnostic must laboriously began to rise. [...] The New Age instead sees its "unification" of spirit and matter as an alternative to dualism. [...] The New Age can still be made part of a wider concept of "neo-gnosticism" but as long as you point out that this is a form of neo-gnosticism in the psychological attitude towards the world , body and matter are different than most of the ancient Gnostic schools (pp. 98-99).
2. Criteria for a "comparison dynamic "between the two cultural contexts . We can ask whether and in what way we can talk about the New Age as a form of "return" of Gnosticism, which, mutatis mutandis , would tend to fit into our culture with deep analogies to the way in which he spread the nosis old. Since this is a "break" with respect to a given culture against which he became highly critical accents, all forms of gnosis (ancient or modern) can not be considered "absolute," pure and simple phenomenological juxtaposition of descriptive characteristics, but must be considered dynamically and in a "relative", ie in relation to culture the dialectically opposed, so we may assume a kind of cross-comparison analog ancient Gnosticism and modern Gnosis, in reference to their respective cultures. First, we should note the significant similarities in historical context: as in the World of Late Antiquity, when you say the Gnostic sects as such, is going through a period of crisis in terms of social, cultural and religious, so today (several decades) we are in a world created and developed between opposing nationalism and deep ethnic tensions, with the specter of disaster is not entirely disappeared at the global level that the man may still cause. This situation is the crisis of the great ideologies, relativism is widespread, both in philosophical and religious matters, and an increasingly individualistic mentality at all levels.
Secondly, should look at the doctrinal and structural similarities in between ancient Gnosticism and New Age . We believe that the fundamental differences are confined to more symbolic forms of expression and the level of quotas at the level of the basic theoretical structures, both in relation to the overall vision of the world, both in relation to the deep structural homologies, both in relation to principium Redemptionis is that in both cases a form of gnosticism. The parallelism could be so displayed:
| ancient Gnosis | New Age |
| attitude toward the "dominant culture" | |
| deep uneasiness with the culture of their time, basically from philosophical views expressed of the world resting on the intuition of a "orderly and harmonious universe" governed by rational laws and intelligible | deep uneasiness with the culture of their time, basically expressed by a scientistic and economistic type of mentality, which has lost an overall view of things and tends to "split" and "dominate" what in nature is united and should be respected |
| reaction to the culture of their time in that context, takes the form of an "anti-cosmismo, sometimes overtly dualistic | reaction to the culture of his time that, in this context takes the form of a" monism of rupture, "in contrast with modern Western scientism |
| fundamental theoretical structure | |
| Perfect harmony of the divine pleroma | All Is One (All is One, by nature and law) |
| break with harmony by a "lesser god" who is so excluded from pleroma | "In fact" came up with the current culture of division, fragmented, uncoordinated manner, losing sight of the original unity of all |
| a result of this failure comes this world material, corrupt and evil, where the man (eon top purest form of God) finds himself a "prisoner" | The current Western Christian culture (typical of the Age of Pisces) is the result of this neglect and its fruits are metaphysical hatred, violence, oppression, environmental destruction. .. |
| It calls for a mission of redemption, through the "awakening" operated by a superior divinity (eg Logos ) | is urgent to produce an "awakening of consciousness" through the "conspiracy sweet "New Age of that will a radical change of cultural paradigm |
| soteriological Result of gnosis is the return of man to the divine harmony in the Pleroma from which and to which it belongs, by right | Result of this awakening of the soteriological awareness will be the incipient arrival of the Age of Aquarius, which is characterized by peace, prosperity, harmony and love |
| "Principle of redemption" | |
| is gnosis, the "saving knowledge" that may acquire for initiation and is the rediscovery of their own divine nature. | is the "global awareness", a "saving knowledge" that will succeed thanks to all those who have already discovered that "all is one." |
| The expressive forms of saving gnosis are mostly intra-flowered horizon mitopoietico | The expression of the awakening of consciousness (though not disdaining imaginative expressions) are mostly in the form of explicit criticism culturally specific aspects of the dominant paradigm |
3. The rejection of Western culture all'autoredenzione the new diagnosis. The most strongly shared by Gnosticism and New Age is probably the deep rebellion against the evil. This attitude is reflected especially in the rejection of the dominant culture, which the Gnostics of the ancient world was represented by the great philosophical and religious systems of the Hellenistic period, while New Age horizon is represented by the Western scientific culture (deeply rationalistic and mechanistic virtually ) on the one hand and the traditional religions with Christianity head in the other. The strong emphasis on the need for a profound paradigm shift mentally, as a condition for the inevitable advent of an era of peace and prosperity, is to express our culture towards an assessment, not too veiled condemnation without appeal, which equivalent to a modern version of Gnosticism dell'anticosmismo its old. The second part is the actual Gnostic promise un'autoredenzione through the use of specific "techniques" spiritual. In this way the subject (or his guru reference) keeps the "control" of the various stages of the process of inner growth, unless consciously give to exercise when it is stated that the new paradigm must focus on the mental dimension instinctive and irrational experience.
In this perspective, every experience can be understood and accepted without the need for particular forms of self-criticism and, above all, without the hassle of having to deal with the experience of sin. As in ancient Gnosticism, in fact, the man of the New Age feels "not guilty" of their errors because they depend on a lack of "awareness" of what would be the correct behavior, and in any case, all experiences, even negative ones, help to grow in a given way: if "it feels" to implement a certain behavior, we must act accordingly with spontaneity, because the spiritual growth that every man will certainly realize that improvement is accompanied by ethical and just hope. Particularly incisive in this regard are the words of the card. G. Danneels, who in a pastoral letter titled ol'Acquario Christ. The antichrist is already among us? (Malines-Brussels, 1990) offers a lucid and accurate analysis of the salient features of the Aquarian mentality: "According to the
1. Two radically different visions of God, man, salvation . Reflections on the Gnostic doctrine dell'autoredenzione that characterizes the New Age mentality we have already introduced in the heart of the confrontation between New Age and Christian faith. The idea of \u200b\u200bGod that is proposed by the New Age movement , an impersonal and immanent god, is the negation of linear and direct personal and transcendent God that characterizes the great monotheistic religions in general and Christianity in particular (for the texts of pastoral nature, cf. Bibliography, esp. the collection edited by R. Macias Alatorre, 1995). The mystery of the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus Christ, then the contrasts are not too original doctrine common to the various forms of esotericism, that Jesus is merely a creature of particular intellectual and moral evolution, a teacher, a guru, but not the savior humanity. Moreover, if the man is in no way be considered a sinner, much less than a god who is not a person, not seen for what should be "saved", if not from ignorance (lack of awareness) where you can save itself, but rather with the help of a technique or a guru, the doctrine of reincarnation also denies the Christian view directly of eternal life. We briefly remark on the theoretical level this distance calling some lapidary expressions of Bishop Edward A. McCarthy in another pastoral letter, The New Age Movement (Miami, 1992): "There is total failure of a personal God. There's total omission of the revelation of God through Jesus Christ, the total ignorance of the mystery of God, the incarnation of God who became man in Jesus Christ. There is a total neglect of redemption through Jesus Christ Holy Spirit, the Church established by Jesus, the proceedings after death, heaven or hell "(cited in Macias Alatorre, 1995, p. 53).
Also on the actual conduct of the distance is considerable. The reversal of mental paradigm, the dynamics of prayer, for example, is radical in Christian prayer and the prayer you have to accept as a gift relationship with a "You" that exceeds the ontologically and in whose hands is entrusted, the use of meditation techniques that more or less automatically "produce" effects of a spiritual un'autoreferenzialità involves relations with God, which inevitably translates into a similar self in relationships with others. Betrayed the precept of love of God above all things (and thus also on themselves), the second commandment of loving one's neighbor as oneself, may in turn be filtered by their own personal needs or the needs of your own journey of self-liberation, which can also provide a more or less temporary lack of interest in the fate of others: after all, as for the other - a view New Age - are following their own path of self-redemption that inevitably, sooner or later lead to a fate necessarily happy, so why fretting of temporary unhappiness of someone? Probably it is "written" in the book of his destiny as a key step to purify from errors made in the past.
2. The need for a balanced pastoral attitude. Pastoral issues that bind to the comparison with New Age culture lie essentially on two fronts: the clarity of their identity and how to search a fruitful dialogue. The first side has some difficulties should not be ignored. The fact that Christianity, like all other religions, including the horizon is New Age as one of the many forms of spiritual elevation - whose real meaning is not that claimed by the Church, but that from time to time consider the various gurus give love him - sets pretty significant problems. One is the so-called "dual membership" (that is being simultaneously Christian and follow the mindset New Age) It is also clearly very much in line with the logic of the movement, but by no means in line with the logic of Christ. Given, then, the peculiar characteristics of metanetwork , you can also consider the case of a "partial dual membership, so helping to live a Christian faith - maybe some 'warmed - with elements that belong to the doctrinal New Age view: belief in reincarnation, consider the world as a kind of unique living being, believing it unnecessary to mediation of the Church, its sacraments and its ministers in the various stages of their spiritual life. On all these trouble spots is a need for clarity, so that Christians have full knowledge of what is syntonic and what is dystonic to the identity of their own faith and to that extent, "the New Age is a great challenge to Christianity. Not only because it spread with such intensity, but also because if expressly with Christianity, although it incorporates portions of the whole Christian heritage, beginning with the Bible. In addition, the
Once cleared up any possible misunderstanding it can detect the possible convergence between some of the content of Christianity and the ideas put forward the Age of Aquarius (which should not surprise, since several of them - as in the case of many alternative religious movements - resulting from transposition of the Christian message). It should also state whether the context of this comparison interreligious dialogue must be to or not, given the character shown by the subjectivist and syncretistic movement that, for this, rather than assume the character of a cultural nature of sectarian and only side effect rather than a religion. In any case, it would still be a discussion and a dialogue on values \u200b\u200bcommon to all "men of good will." Greater respect for nature, a wise care for their health, the desire for a spirituality that does not merely routine or extrinsic formalisms, the hope of a world free of conflict and which will allow for peace, equality and brotherhood, made the necessary clarifications on the origin and ultimate reason for these aspirations, are nonetheless a fruitful ground for dialogue. But even more important is evangelization capable of revealing the true origin, anthropological, cultural and religious identity of these aspirations and their fulfillment in the mystery of the Incarnate Word, in its dealings with the historical and existential of every human being and a sense of the whole universe.
Bibliography:
pastoral Documents: A. GRAP, the New Age and the research she happiness, "The United Documents" 34 (1989), pp. 615-619; G. Danneels, Christ or Aquarius . The Antichrist is already among us? [or. "Documentation Catholique, 3.2.1991, 73 (1991), pp. 117-129], "The United Documents" 36 (1991), pp. 414-424; ITALIAN BISHOPS 'CONFERENCE, prepared by the Secretariat for Ecumenism and dialogue, The Church and the sects , pastoral note, EDB, Bologna 1993, R. MACIAS Alatorre (ed.) sects and new religious movements. Texts of the Catholic Church (1986-1994) , New Town, Rome 1995.
Studies on and New Age phenomena connected to it: M. Eliade, Occultism, Witchcraft and Cultural Fashions. Essays in comparative religion (1976), Sansoni, Firenze 1982; H.-C. PUECH, Phenomenology of Gnosis, in the footsteps of Gnosis , Adelphi, Milano 1985; G. Filoramo, The anticipation of the end, history of Gnosticism , Laterza, Roma-Bari 1987; J. ANKERBERG, J. WELDON, The facts on the New Age Movement , Harvest House Publishers, Eugene (OR) 1988; R. CHANDLER, Understanding the New Age, Word Publishing, Dallas-London-Sydney-Singapore 1988; E. MILLER, A Crash Course on the New Age Movement , Baker Books, Grand Rapids (MI) 1989; G. Filoramo, The awakening of gnosis or become god , Laterza, Roma-Bari 1990; M. INTROVIGNE, JF MAYER, E. ZUCCHINI, The new religious movements, LDC, Torino 1990; M. INTROVIGNE, The Magician's Hat , Sugarco, Milan 1990; JG Melton, New Age Encyclopedia, Gale Research, Detroit (MI) 1990; R. GIBELLINI, The sweet turning , "The Kingdom News" 36 (1991), pp. 425-429; G. Schiwy, New Age spirit. New Age and Christianity , Queriniana, Brescia 1991; J. Vernetti The New Age. At the dawn of the Aquarian Age , Pauline, Cinisello Balsamo 1992, Mendeleev, on spiritualism, Boringhieri Bollati, Torino 1992; R. BOSCH, New Age. The religious utopia de fin de siglo , Atlántida, Buenos Aires 1993; H. Martensen, Reincarnation and the Catholic doctrine, Christianity, Piacenza 1993; AN Terrin, New Age. The religiosity of the postmodern , EDB, Bologna 1993, M. INTROVIGNE, 1962-1992 History of New Age, Christianity, Piacenza 1994, J. Vernetti What is New Age , Sugarco, Milan 1994; V. Strappazzon, communicate with the afterlife, again, Milan 1995; B. RIVA The New Age between secularization and nostalgia , Ponte Vecchio, Cesena 1997; A. Porcher, Spiritualism, San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo 1998; C. Siniscalco, the God of California. The New Age film , Ente dello Spettacolo Editore, Rome 1998. Lastly, two monographs, New Age 1 and 2 New Age, the magazine "religions and sects in the world" (Gris, Bologna), 2 (1996), nn. 5-6, with contributions by P. Poupard ( Editorial ), G. Ferrari ( What is New Age ), A. Olivieri Pennesi ( The Christ of the New Age ), J. Ries ( New Age and Reincarnation ), J. Vernette ( by changes in consciousness in the brain and the inner awakening and The spiritual adventure of the children of Aquarius ), R. Bergeron ( New Age in Quebec), S. Ferrari and G. Trapani ( Enneagram: Some questions for discussion ), C. Maccari ( The cosmic mysticism of the New Age ), A. Porcher ( The New Age: a form of modern gnosticism ), M. Hot Beccari ( Rei-ki, energy healing ), D. Gagnon ( The angels and the New Age ).
Some of the main text area of \u200b\u200bNew Age : C. CASTANEDA, Teachings of Don Juan. A Yaqui way to knowledge , Astrolabe, Rome 1970; R. Ruyer, Gnosis of Princeton. The science in search of a religion (1974), Nardini, Firenze 1980; M. FERGUSON, The Aquarian Conspiracy. Personal and Social Transformation in the 1980s , P. Tarcher, Los Angeles 1980 (revised edition: Los Angeles 1987); F. CAPRA, The turning point. Science, society and culture emerging (1982), Feltrinelli, Milano 1984, S. MacLaine, out there on a branch , Sperling & Kupfer, Milano 1985, J. ROBERTS, Seth. Messages from another dimension (1970), Mediterranee, Rome 1986, J. KLIMA, Channeling , P. Tarcher, Los Angeles 1987; J. ROBERTS, Communications Seth. Create your world (1972), Mediterranee, Rome 1987; F. GOAT, The Tao of Physics (1975), Adelphi, Milano 19893, S. MacLaine, look for them inside, Sperling & Kupfer, Milano 1989; P. Giovetto, Findhorn. A way of life for the man of the millennium , Mediterranee, Rome 1990, S. MacLaine, 's all about playing the life , Sperling & Kupfer, Milano 1994, J. Redfield, The Celestine Prophecy , Corbaccio, Milano 1994.
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