Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

NEW AGE

A term that became popular in the 1980s and is used to describe a nebulous, quasi-religious set of beliefs encom-passing a wide array of notions, such as Spritualism, Astrology, Mysticism, the Occult, Reincarnation, Para-Psychology, ecology and planetary awareness, as well as a commitment to complimentary medicine and the pseudo-scientific applications of the 'healing powers' of crystals and pyramids.

New Age beliefs and practices are largely confmed to the industrialised West, and the origins of the movement can be traced to the social and political unrest in the 1960s, dissatisfaction with obsessive materialism, the influence of Eastern religions, experimentation with psy-chedelic drugs, the development of humanistic psychology and increased eco-consciousness. Despite hostility from the popular media and the establishment, New Age ideas now permeate many areas of mainstream culture, notably in the areas of behavioural medicine, physics, psychology and even business.

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc