What's Wrong With The "New Age"?

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><script type="text/javascript" src="http://hb.lycos.com/hb.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ratings.lycos.com/ratings/lycosRating.js.php"></script> <script type="text/javascript"><![CDATA[//><!]]></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://scripts.lycos.com/catman/init.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-start.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-middle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-end.js"></script> <noscript> <img src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/img/common/ot_noscript.gif?rand=931891" alt="" width="1" height="1" />  <iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="728" height="90" src="http://ad.yieldmanager.com/st?ad_type=iframe&ad_size=728x90&section=209094"></iframe>  </noscript> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="041d4c00dduajq.gif"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="95" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 46 WIDTH="91"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="46" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="91" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> My Opinion</div> <div> Feel free to disagree,</div> <div> or to add to this in the message forum.</div> <bR> <div> Copyright 2001- 2005</div> <div> by Susan Holm</div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#003333" FACE="Arial" ><B>Galens World</b></FONT>     |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Galens World"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Galen"><U>About Galen</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contacting Me"><U>Contacting Me</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Readings, Classes, Scheduling Informatio"><U>Readings, Classes, Scheduling Information</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="THE BOOK SHOPPE And Links To Other Site"><U>THE BOOK SHOPPE  And Links To Other Sites</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id52.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Facing Fibromyalgia "><U>Facing Fibromyalgia </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Honor"><U>Honor</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Spiritual Workout"><U>Spiritual Workout</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Balancing Act"><U>Balancing Act</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Risk....."><U>Risk.....</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Workbook..."><U>Workbook...</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Road To Happiness"><U>Road To Happiness</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Yeah.... but......"><U>Yeah.... but......</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id50.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Whats CHANGE Got To Do With It?"><U>What's CHANGE Got To Do With It?</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Whats RIGHT With The New Age?"><U>What's RIGHT With The "New Age"?</U></A>   |   <B>What's Wrong With The "New Age"?</b>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PSYCHICS do I need to hire one?"><U>PSYCHICS do I need to hire one?</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Great Ego Debate"><U>The Great Ego Debate</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="_"><U>--Type Title Here--</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Guest Book"><U>Guest Book</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Message Board Forum"><U>Message Board Forum</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="England Journey"><U>England Journey</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Basics In Astrology"><U>Basics In Astrology</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id53.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Why War, Daddy?"><U>Why War, Daddy?</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Political Links: "><U>Political Links: </U></A></div> <div> What's Wrong With The "New Age"?</div> <div> There's nothing new under the sun....</div> <bR> <div> Yet there appears to be a movement afoot that speaks of a "New Age".... there are "New Agers", New Age reading materials, New Age seminars, New Age Churches.... New Age premises.</div> <bR> <div> The problem I have here is that none of it is "New".  It's recycled STUFF, masking itself under a title that falsely assumes the same as your average TV Commercial for detergent: That "NEW" is better, "New And Improved" spirituality?</div> <bR> <div> People are smarter than that; we know that "NEW" often means "more expensive"; before the most recent "New Age Movement", one could go to any rock shop and purchase any of a number of precious and semi-precious stones for next to nothing. Now, it's not uncommon to see the same ROCK being sold in a New Age Store for 3000% mark-up!</div> <bR> <div> Did the rocks become "more powerful" as they helped someone get rich off the earth's resources?</div> <bR> <div> Stones are beautiful.  I have nothing against them, I share my space with a fair number of them (yes, even some I paid WAY too much for).  Do I think they are a necessary POWER SOURCE?</div> <bR> <div> Hardly; I do respect and cherish my mother planet, Earth, and I celebrate that she has produced some truly incredible natural gifts for humanity to enjoy.  But, wearing a rose quartz isn't going to attract love into my life, nor will meditating with the appropriate stones placed stragtegically on various points of my body or in the room, going to make me be able to see more clearly, channel better, or bring abundance into my life; Tho it might make the rock seller wealthy, if I have a stone I LIKE, it's not the price I paid that empowers it, it's the fact that I enjoy it's raw beauty.</div> <bR> <div> New Age Healing modalities are the next in the list.  In most states, a recognized healing modality, such as massage therapy, is licensed by the state, and practitioners are required to pass tests, including certification in ethics.  There are no licensing boards or governed regulations for "New Age" Healers.  Anyone can CALL themselves a "healer" and accept money for their services.  Medical professionals often recommend a licensed massage therapist assist with the healing of a patient; They recognize the legitimate benefits of a trained massage therapist.  However, if someone is suffering from an illness or injury that isn't being "cured" by traditional methods, they can become victim to any number of "healers" who's credentials might be as lame as "Read A Book" on the topic.</div> <bR> <div> There are countless online classes available (for a healthy fee) that promise that taking that class will make the student a Certified Healer.  Certified by whom?</div> <bR> <div> Most people are realizing that it's possible for anyone to heal themselves. Taking on the responsibility to heal others, however, is a weighty decision; in untrained hands, messing with the energy flow of another can be a violation, similar to spiritual rape.</div> <bR> <div> I have heard the argument that the receiver of any such healing energy has the "right" to refuse the energy.  But if they are unaware of the issues their "healer" are bringing into the healing, what if, in accepting it, they are opening themselves up to a real break in their OWN bodies ability to heal?</div> <bR> <div> The body has a natural polarity.  Knowing this, and empowering it as a personal experience, is ethical.</div> <bR> <div> Taking away ones right to choose, is not.</div> <bR> <div> There are New Age cruises, 7 days of being throroughly trained by the seminar leaders, in any number of New Age Studies.  There are New Age tours to the pyramids; Now I would love to see the pyramids, myself, but I don't need to go there with a group that expects to channel King Tut or Cleopatra.  </div> <bR> <div> I have been to Stonehenge, and yes, the energy rush was incredible.  Far too personal an experience to be treated like a trip to Disneyworld, tho.  I feel strongly that each person would feel very differently, visiting any of the number of sites in the world that stirs the consciousness.</div> <bR> <div> It's the individual experience that empowers the individual.  While it can be shared, in words, perception is going to take a lead as each person's perception is MEANT to be different.</div> <bR> <div> Now, I'm a professional psychic, and astrologer.  Am I part of the "New Age" Movement?  No, I don't believe I am.  I feel that my work is just a step in the path of those people who come to me as clients.  They can accept or reject my reading for them, they will always be able to make other choices, or change the "fate" of the issues confronted in the reading.  </div> <bR> <div> One of my favorite quotes by noted author and astrologer: ROBERT HAND reads:</div> <bR> <div> <I><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.gif" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The horoscope seems to act as a schematic diagram of one's intentions in life. It only shows what one is going to experience because one intends to experience it. It is a description not of what is going to happen, (that is, destiny), but of what one is and what shape one is going to give to one's life.</I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> And that is how it should be. We own our own lives, no psychic, tarot reader, astrologer, Reiki Master, Rune or IChing is going to change that fact.  Yet many people have turned over their choices, waiting for permission to live their lives because they have become New Age Believers.</div> <bR> <div> The New Age isn't meant to be a BELIEF SYSTEM.  If it's anything, it's an opening to new ideas, (to the person doing the studying) new concepts (to the person), new ideas (to the person).  It's not meant to replace one's previous religious beliefs, and "New Agers" don't appear to be any happier,  more forgiving, more loving, living more abundantly, than........ well, Old Agers, I suppose would be the polarity of new age......</div> <bR> <div> Spending any time with a group of self-proclaimed New Agers is an interesting experience.  One will be exposed to any number of belief systems, in a very short period of time.  There are those who come from  Pagan background, from a Christian background, from Hindu or Buddhist teachings, all believing that they have found The Path, and while, perhaps slightly more respectful of the differences in reaching that stage of awareness, it seems just as necessary to share their personal experience as real as any others.  </div> <bR> <div> It's glorious to watch them unfold as they become more open about their own experiences; it's also interesting to question their concepts, to watch them try to maintain that "All Is One" numbing peacefulness that seems to be the goal of the "New Age".</div> <bR> <div> Manipulating energy seems to be a foundation of the current New Age Movement.</div> <bR> <div> Light the right colored candle, and you will get: 1) love 2) money 3) a new car 4) a new job....</div> <bR> <div> Purchase and cherish the right rock, and you can become more 1) powerful 2) healthy</div> <div> 3) attractive 4) Spiritually Intuned......</div> <bR> <div> And what is MOST interesting of all... if you FAIL to achieve the goal you set out to achieve within the new age parameters? .......... you didn't DO it right. You didn't believe enough, you didn't have enough faith... You wrote your monthly "Abundance check" wrong..... or maybe your rock needs to be "cleansed".</div> <bR> <div> <I><B>GEEZE!</b></I></div> <bR> <div> Manifesting works, of this I have no doubt, I have witnessed it and experienced it.  Allowing my mind to work in balance with the rest of me, I know I can change anything in my own personal life, but <U>to manipulate another is wrong, in my opinion,</U> and no belief system makes it right.</div> <bR> <div> There was an interesting episode of X-Files that I recall. Where Mulder gets a "Genie".  Yes, he gets to make the traditional three wishes.  Being Mulder, he of course, wants to make this be THE best possible 3 wishes imaginable.  Not like the other more "selfish" wishers that this Genie has encountered, he determines that the only way to wish is to wish unselfishly.  So he wishes for world peace; and instantly, he is aware that there is no one else on earth anymore; he's all alone, with abandoned cars on the streets, and emptiness everywhere.  The Genie, in her genie-like bitchiness, took his "wish" literally, and because his wish was to change the hearts of every living soul on earth (there are some who simply do NOT wish for peace in any way.......)  she showed him that wishes take us literally............. and so does the Universe.</div> <bR> <div> The New Age doesn't have to be about manipulating others or trying to control others; astrologically, with the planets in specific aspects for the last 60 or so years, it's not impossible for humanity to be doing some of it's greatest work to date.  The "AGE OF AQUARIUS" could become a reality, as more and more people find their own spiritual rhythm and reality and work towards aquarian-like endeavors, which certainly appear to be a healthy thing for the people AND the planet we call home.</div> <bR> <div> Another issue I have here is that "New Agers" seem to have a passive "it's Karma" answer to everything.  Rather than create social changes by taking action, pretty much anything can be blamed (or credited) to KARMA.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >(added 7/11/01)</FONT> Now, as I understand Karma, it's an opportunity to acquire knowledge,  a learning tool.  Yet, some people seem to be firmly committed to the belief that anything "bad" that happens to them is the result of them having done something "bad" before (in this lifetime, or in another). Seldom, however, do we see someone who has something incredibly "good" happen to them credit THAT to Karma! </div> <bR> <div> Karma as a reward or punishment, doesn't work for me.  It simply IS.</div> <bR> <div> Yet, when one sees an obvious social WRONG being done (child abuse, for example) HOW can one lean on the KARMA OF THE VICTIM to explain it?</div> <bR> <div> I've heard it explained that such a "challenged child" is really an "advanced soul, coming to this lifetime to undergo this suffering to teach those who learn of its abuse compassion".</div> <bR> <div> Advanced soul: denotes a "level" of awareness.  Levels seriously play into the whole New Age Mentality it appears, with the goal being to ADVANCE ONES SOUL. Suffering, apparently, is the ultimate way to "advance".</div> <bR> <div> WHY would our Creator make this to be so?  Of course, I've then heard New Agers advance the theory here that it was HUMANITY that put in the suffering gig, that it's not required to grow.  There appears to be a pat answer for everything, all leaning towards an extremely passive way of living.</div> <bR> <div> Passive as in NUMB.</div> <bR> <div> Change doesn't occur at the individual level NOR as a group (tribe) thru passive inaction.  And Change is required as a means to grow.  As a person, AND as a part of The Tribe.</div> <bR> <div> <B>From Margaret Thaler Singers' book: CULTS IN OUR MIDST: (Page 310)</b></div> <div> <B>    "Uncritical Passivity:</b></div> <div> <B>Many former (cult) members find themselves accepting almost anything they hear, just as they were trained to do.  They cannot listen and judge; they listen, believe and obey".</b></div> <bR> <div> Therefore, when "New Age" becomes a cult experience,  the mind has become trained to accept "KARMA" as its DUE.</div> <bR> <div> I cannot accept the abuse of a child as the child's "Karma". Nor do I feel that watching a woman being beaten or seeing a nation held hostage by a murderous leader, nor any of the other myriad of other social wrongs, be held under some form of GROUP KARMA.  A plane crashes: who's KARMA caused that?  </div> <bR> <div> Shifting ones' awareness, seeking knowledge and being more loving cannot be a bad thing in the short or long term.  </div> <bR> <div> Accepting responsibility for ones own life, and celebrating this gift of life certainly can heal the wounds of the world.</div> <bR> <div> FEELINGS are good things....... regardless of the age.....New, Old, or Middle-aged.</div> <bR> <div> Sincerely,</div> <div> Galen</div> <div> 07/08/01</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>