booklogging

There's a lot to like about this book. It is written in an accessible manner and I found the balance between descriptions of, for example, pagan rituals and contextualizing commentary to be just right to maintain reading momentum without feeling that I wanted to stop too often to investigate the indexed sources. The book is written too in a sympathetic way which perhaps implicitly affirms the diverse beliefs described without employing devices that overtly distance the writer from them. In one place (p.142) this seems to break down and the reader may gain the impression that we are witnessing 'scare quotes' when perhaps we are merely party to “quotes” [sic] but perhaps this is mere ambiguity.

The book sticks to the brief implied in the title and elucidates its subject with an overview of the present situation in the USA (which is what 'America' seems generally to mean, though occasionally a Canadian situation appears) and some helpful definitions of and distinctions between neopaganism and New Age. Helpful because I am used to hearing or reading very sharp distinctions made when in fact there are a number of commonalities. Ms Pike does justice to both aspects of definition and all through the book there are further nuggets of like/unlike definitions arising from the points of reflection. There is then a historical roots survey situating alternative spirituality in American history which I found very helpful as one new to more detailed study of US history and it was useful to see some of the strands of esoteric spirituality that have carried over into the contemporary scene in their historical context but without overburdening the relatively uninformed-about-US-history reader [such as myself] with too much detail. Similarly the presentation of the 1960's was given with enough detail to form a coherent and explanatory narrative without becoming hard to follow.

This scene setting [“part one”] takes up about two-thirds of the book and the rest [“part two”] is three chapters looking at healing, sex and gender, and then attitudes to what might be termed epochalism. Healing is looked at broadly and well linked to the theme of the Self, and as such draws on the useful work done by Heelas and others in cultural analysis around the themes of self-creation of identity etc. It struck me, for Christian readers, how useful this kind of analysis might be also for examining charismatic Christianity in relation to healing ministries; further evidencing the cultural drivers for this kind of spirituality. The chapter on gender and sexuality seems, again, to be a good overview of the main themes and usefully generalizes a broad range of evidence making good use of contextual factors. Again attention is drawn, helpfully, to the similarities and differences between new age and neopagan approaches and connections between the themes of sexuality and other areas such as healing and social structures are discussed.

The final chapter looks at an apocalyptic strand of thinking and other attitudes to the feeling that a new cultural age has been or is being entered. How this affects attitudes and lifestyles is then examined and there is a point of comparison to premillenialist Christianity [which is, of course, more prevalent in the USA than elsewhere]. There is some discussion of the role of the internet -including the intriguing suggestion that many pagans “work in computer-related fields” -I wanted to see a reference here and wonder whether this has turned up an area for further study; certainly I have half-noticed this and wonder whether it is [a] true and if so, [b] how come? I was also left intrigued by one of the final remarks Pike makes: having noted the relatively commonplace themes of secularization and personalization of religion; another dimension to the theory which is the rise of alternate ritual spaces in which people find religious community. This is certainly an idea which deserves more attention and in this book we have been given a good taster. Given the outward similarities between the rituals exemplified in this book and what I have experienced as part of Christian “alternative worship”, I think she may have a point.

I will put this on book lists for people studying contemporary spirituality and I would certainly be prepared to make it a standard reference text for people starting to look into new age spiritualities and neopaganism as the text lends itself to a relatively easy introduction yet with enough in it to satisfy those looking for further reading and developing their knowledge further.

Pike, Sarah M. New Age and Neopagan Religions in America. Columbia Contemporary American Religion Series. 2004. New York, Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231124023. Hb, 220pp incl indexes.