2. What are New Religious Movements?
“Alternative Religious Movements”; “New Age Religions”; Pagan/Neo-Pagan
religious or spiritual group/movement/practice that has arisen or been
incorporated in the Western world from the end of the 19th cent. to the present
some examples from the text (Table 6.1, p. 219):
Latter-Day Saints; Buddhism; Yoga; Krishna Consciousness; Wicca
(Witchcraft); Christian World Liberation Front; Jews for Jesus; Scientology;
Christian Science; Satanism; Nation of Islam
focus today on reconstructionist religions; eg. Wicca, Druidry, Santeria, etc.
3. Pre-Modern Background to New Religious Movements:
Magic in the Middle Ages:
Angels and Demons
charms and incantations
Folk remedies/herbs
potions, poultices, etc.
Astrology
Zodiac signs and planetary alignments
Alchemy
can be traced back to Ancient Egypt
Egyptian and Greek Alchemy highly
allegorical
Four elements: earth, air, fire, water
introduction of Arab texts means use of
laboratory equipment & “scientific method”
later becomes basis of modern chemistry
4. Hermeticism:
Alchemy, Astrology, and Theurgy
Attributed to Hermes Trismegistus
both religion and philosophy
at the heart of occult revival of late 19th century
Four elements; “As above, so below”
influences many esoteric societies: Freemasons;
Rosicrucians; Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn:
founded in 1887 by Freemasons William Robert
Woodman, William Wynn Westcott, and S. L.
MacGregor Mathers
adopted an initiatory system of degrees and inner/outer
orders based on Freemasonry
mainly focused on theurgy
incorporated astrology, alchemy, qabbalah
some notable members include: William Butler Yeats,
Bram Stoker, and Aleister Crowley
5. Aleister Crowley, OTO and Thelema:
born 1875 in England; died 1947 in England
parents were strict conservative Christians
displayed tendency toward deviance and shock
value from early age
called in his day “The wickedest man in the world”
controversial involvement in Golden Dawn
began writing rituals while in Golden Dawn
first encounters Aiwass in Egypt in 1904; Aiwass reveals The Book of
the Law; “do what thou wilt”; basis of Thelema
in 1912 Theodor Reuss asks Crowley to take over Ordo Templi
Orientis (OTO) in Britain; later brings OTO to America
experiments throughout his life with extreme forms of sexuality and
hard drugs; often credited with popularizing sex magic in the West
frequently associated with Satanism
Crowley’s rituals can still be seen in many New Religious Movements
6. Gerald Gardner and Wicca:
Wicca is an earth-centered religion that worships a
God and Goddess (theoretically) equally
one of the largest New Relgious Movements and
one of the fastest growing
Gerald Gardner (1884 - 1964) considered the
“Father of Wicca”
claims initiation into New Forest Coven
later sets up Bricket Wood Coven and publishes
Witchcraft Today (1954)
Gardner met Crowley in 1947 and was initiated
into the OTO
Gardner incorporated material written by Crowley
Doreen Valiente initiated into Gardner’s coven,
becomes High Priestess, and helps rewrite rituals to
remove Crowley’s influence
controversy over publicity, “skyclad” rituals, and
new set of rules sparks rebellion and slpintering
7. Druidry/Druidism:
druidry is a nature-based
religion without strict dogma,
central authority, texts or
leaders
developed from romanticized
ideas of historical Celtic
practices that arose throughout
the 17th-19th centuries
formal organizations began appearing in early 20th century, based on
“historical” practices and Freemansonry
Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids formed in 1964 and is currently the
largest with over 10,000 members
Reformed Druids of North America formed as a protest to a college
requirement for attendance of regular religious rituals
in recognition that much of the “historical” information on the Celts
available at the time has now been debunked, many Druids are revising
their practices to reflect more historical accuracy
8. Heathernism/Asatru:
Germanic/Norse reconstructionist religion
originally emerged in late 19th century as
romanticized mystical tradition
association to Nazi party caused extreme decline
of interest
revived in 1960’s with backing of folklore and
historical research
attracts more strictly reconstructionist adherents
controversy over belief held by some that only
those of Germanic/Norse decent can practice
Voudou/Santeria:
traditional West African religion, most
often synctretized with Roman Catholocism
practiced in West Africa, Cuba (Santeria),
Haiti, Louisiana, etc.
increase in popularity with the rise of other
New Religious Movements
9. Native North American Religion and Shamanism:
Shamanism as New Age religion is
based on communication with the spirit
world
Native North American religion is NOT
Shamanism
many New Age groups have
incorporated elements of Native North
American spirituality such as the sweat
lodge, pipe ceremony, vision quest,
medicine wheel, and animal/spirit guides
many Natives find appropriation of their spirituality by those of
European descent distasteful
Lakota drafted Declaration of War on Exploiters of Lakota Spirituality
10. Native North American Religion and Shamanism:
Shamanism as New Age religion is
based on communication with the spirit
world
Native North American religion is NOT
Shamanism
many New Age groups have
incorporated elements of Native North
American spirituality such as the sweat
lodge, pipe ceremony, vision quest,
medicine wheel, and animal/spirit guides
many Natives find appropriation of their spirituality by those of
European descent distasteful
Lakota drafted Declaration of War on Exploiters of Lakota Spirituality
