From New Dawn 154 (Jan-Feb 2016) Until recently the academic world paid almost no attention to the Western mystical and esoteric traditions. If any scholars strayed into these areas, they did so gingerly and apologetically, often feeling the need to […]
new age
The Mystique of the Manor: Australia’s Occult Centre Revealed
From New Dawn 152 (Sept-Oct 2015) Pilgrims have been drawn to the other-worldly auras of hallowed sites, both natural and man-made, all around the globe since antiquity. One such sanctuary sits right in the heart of Sydney and, although it […]
What Happened to the New Age? Sorting Truth from Nonsense
This article was published in New Dawn 147 (Nov-Dec 2014). Not long ago I was walking through the aisles of a New Age fair in the suburbs of Chicago. All the usual suspects were there: booths for Baha’i and Eckankar; […]
Will Thinking Make It So? An Interview With Mitch Horowitz
This article was published in New Dawn 142 (Jan-Feb 2014) Much of today’s writing about spirituality is loaded with nonsense. Often it consists of little more than wild speculation, shoddy reasoning, and the repetition of a few stale truisms. A […]
Ritual Magic in Theory & Practice
Several years ago I decided to do an evening-long introduction to ritual magic at the New York Open Center, one of the city’s best-known gathering places for mind, body, and spirit activities. Soon before it was about to start I […]