There seems to be a great deal of both cross over and confusion between what constitutes Pagan beliefs and what New Age beliefs. This article is not a definitive guide but simply my own thoughts on the subject from the perspective of a self confessed New-Ager turned Pagan. My understanding of New Age thinking is that it is predominantly focused on improving the World by bringing about self improvement or self empowerment. It tends to be predicated by the 1960’s and ‘70’s ideology of the dawning of a new astrological age, the age of Aquarius and with that a concomitant shift in humanities consiousness and ability to use ones mind to achieve a state akin to enlightenment. Strong influences on New Age thinking are Eastern esoteric traditions such as meditation techniques, chakra or body energy fields, acupuncture and acupressure and the principles of creating a harmonious environment found in Feng Shui. Mixed in with these are concepts of an early pre-historic age of enlightenment which is linked to the development of pyramid technology and the Egyptian concepts of re-birth and re-incarnation.
New Age beliefs take in a wide range of “alternative” teachings including, but not limited to, astrology, tarot, palmistry, chakras, crystal healing, tonal therapy (such as the use of singing bowls), astral projection and travelling, self improvement techniques, talking therapies (such as NLP), hypnosis and dream analysis. There are links through many of the key New Age thinkers to Freudian and Jungian psycho-analytical techniques and through the Eastern traditions to Gurus and Brahma of the Indian mystic traditions including asceticism. There is no obvious single path which an adherent can follow but each individual creates their own taking into account personal preference, balance and “feeling”.
Pagan beliefs, in my opinion, tend to stem from an awareness of ones place as a part of the natural World, and whilst there can be for some an urge to improve oneself physically and/or mentally, this is considered in terms of ones place within the framework of the wider World rather than as a path to personal enlightenment. In broad terms Paganism tends to draw together ideas from a range of views of pre-historic human beliefs, these being in the main extrapolated from archaeological discoveries and from fragmentary sources such as Roman and Greek writers. This, for me, leads to the first key difference in that New Age philosophy tends to focus inwards towards understanding the self, where Paganism tends to be outward focused seeking to find ones place in the natural World..That is not to suggest that there is no sense of “self” within Paganism, but simply that it is not the primary focus.
Paganism, as with New Age beliefs draws on a wide range of source material, from Eastern philosophy, Western and Middle Eastern mystery cults, pre and post Enlightenment Europe and pre-historic European and Middle Eastern culture, but a second key difference is that within Paganism, although eclecticism is common, there are well established and defined paths for those who chose to follow them, Druidry, Wicca, Shamanism, Heathenry and so on, although the mixing of paths is generally considered to be acceptable if done with care and respect. As previously mentioned, New Age philosophy tends not to have equivalent paths within the overall movement, tending to be more individually focused.
There is an argument that as a consequence of the structure of New Age beliefs there is a greater tendency for spiritual “teachers” to rise to prominence, and that this is not mirrored within Paganism. I am personally unconvinced by this argument, although I can see that it can be made, but does rather suggest that followers of New Age beliefs have more of a need for guidance which personally I feel is not correct. A better argument can I think be made in terms of practice. Whilst within the New Age movement there is a acknowledgment of the importance of the environment and its protection, there is not the reverence for the natural World that is found within Paganism. This creates one of the more heated debates at the junction between philosophies, that of the use of crystals for healing. There are ethically sourced crystals available, but these are not as readily available as it may appear, and provenance is extraordinarily difficult to ascertain. If you consider the difficulty faced in the Diamond trade, a far more heavily regulated area than semi-precious crystals, in limiting the trade in “blood diamonds” you can perhaps see the scale of the problem. Commercial crystal extraction is a tremendously damaging process and should be anathema to a Pagan, and yet it can form part of the core belief of New Age thinking, being at the heart of chakra healing and of course crystal healing itself.
I am aware that many pagans use, or have used crystals and I wonder at the environmental cost of that use on a global scale.
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