The New Age smorgasbord

“På spaning efter helheten” (Looking for wholeness) is a Swedish book by Olav Hammer, a professor of comparative religion. Hammer's book is a popularized and critical introduction to the New Age, and was readily available in a paperback edition long after its original publication date. I suspect many Swedes have read it. It has even been used as a college textbook for undergraduates.

As already indicated, Hammer is a skeptic and hence hammers (pun intended) the New Age phenomenon rather severely. Its origins aren't ancient, many of its claims are pseudoscientific, there is no perennial tradition, and quantum physics don't prove the spiritual worldview. New Age is a modern “smorgasbord” of disconnected elements, which every believer or practitioner can combine as he (or she!) sees fit. Or buy, if she can afford it, since the New Age also turns out to be immensely commercialized.

Despite this skeptical take, “På spaning efter helheten” is nevertheless a worthwhile read even for neutrals or true believers, due to its almost encyclopedic scope. Hammer covers Theosophy, astrology, Jung, Michael Harner's Neo-Shamanism, channeling, Findhorn and various alternative therapies. Traditionalism á la Guénon makes a brief guest appearance. The book feels somewhat dated, and a similar panorama today would presumably have to include Ken Wilber, the 2012 phenomenon and, of course, the interface between spirituality and the World Wide Web. Other items have passed their pull date, such as James Redfield's “The Celestine Prophecy”. Yet, as Hammer points out himself, the staples at the New Age smorgasbord have remained pretty much the same since the 1960's!

While I happen to disagree with some of Hammer's claims (get real, quantum physics aren't “materialist” in the traditional sense), it's nevertheless a good thing that somebody have taken the time to provide the new agers with a reality check concerning the wilder claims popular within the milieu.

Perhaps we all need Olav Hammer as part of that elusive higher wholeness…