New Age 2.0: It’s Time for an Upgrade
Bug Fixes and Performance Enhancements for the Conscientious Seeker
I used to resent it when mainstream journalists use the term “new agey” as an insult. When I came across it used that way in a magazine, I was like, “This same exact issue has an article about yoga and a blurb about meditation and an infographic about the health-boosting benefits of nature. Oh and a monthly astrology column. Ungrateful much?”
Now, though, after witnessing the behavior of many a new age guru and new age seeker during the troubling events of the previous year, I understand how “new agey” could possibly be seen as a pretty gross thing to be.
In the 1980s, psychotherapist and Buddhist teacher John Welwood coined the term spiritual bypassing, defining it as a “tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks.”
If you’re a new ager, or a witch, or if you’re among the significant percentage of people who describe themselves as spiritual-but-not-religious, you may have noticed the spiritual bypassing extravaganza that so overtly took over many of our online communities when COVID hit…And also a few months later when the Black Lives Matter movement became more visible after the killing of George Floyd…And also roughly half a year after that when insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol.
You may have heard the phrase “The only way out is through.” But instead of going through these challenges with everyone else, many alternative spiritual influencers, adherents, and practitioners tried to go around them.
They attempted to rise above the threat of COVID by being healthy or positive or spiritual enough.
They tried to make the virus and the racism and the police brutality disappear by denying they actually existed.
And they desperately formulated alternative narratives for all these news stories with a murky, conflicting, often covertly racist and anti-semitic cocktail of conspiracy theories including (but not limited to) stories about reptile people, space lasers, and a child trafficking pizza parlor.
But before I start to sound too self-righteous, let me go back. When I first learned there were new agers who thought Trump was a “lightworker,” that the virus was a hoax and that masks were a way for “the people in power” to “make us comply,” and that vaccines contained tracking devices, I was dumbfounded. I saw all of it as a bizarre and unforeseeable turn. Not to mention, I was furious. But then I looked more deeply and I discovered not only that the philosophical underpinnings of the new age were laced with problems, but also that I was personally perpetuating some of those problems.
…I mean, not intentionally! Accidentally. By not recognizing them within my very own belief system.
It’s interesting to me to remember back to New Year’s 2020, when my coven and I were talking about how it was going to be “the year of perfect vision.” We imagined – because of the name, you know like 20/20 – we would see things more clearly than we ever had before. And maybe 2020 (and the first part of 2021) didn’t allow me to see everything perfectly, but it definitely brought a lot of things into greater focus and a lot of other things into the light.
For example, believing we create our own reality has a dark side: blaming people for not thinking positively enough when they are poor, sick, or disenfranchised. There’s another name for that: victim blaming.
While I had heard this criticism of new age thinking in the past, I dismissed it by telling myself not all new agers were guilty of this or that the critics just didn’t really understand. But in the wake of the pandemic and subsequent events, like so many of us, I began looking more deeply at the privilege I was born into, and how I could be more effective at creating positive change. One of the ways I did this was by reading The Life You Can Save: How to Do Your Part to End World Poverty.
Then, one day when I was cleaning house and listening to 101 Power Thoughts by Louise Hay, I heard her say this:
“There is so much money and so many riches in the world; far more than we know. If it were all distributed equally, within a month or so, those who have money now would have more, and those who are poor now would once again be poor. For wealth has to do with consciousness and deservability.”
Suddenly, that didn’t seem so true, or so helpful. Because in The Life You Can Save (by philosopher and global thought leader Peter Singer), I had recently read these words:
“…in 2009, four Harvard and MIT graduate students studying development economics decided to see what would happen if they gave poor families in Kenya money with no strings attached. What would they do with it? One view is that if you give poor people cash, they will spend it on alcohol, prostitutes, or gambling, and in a short time they won’t be any better off. Another view, favored by many economists, is that no one knows better than the people themselves what will benefit them, so why not give them the cash and let them decide? The students decided to find out, using their own money to give participating families the equivalent of about $1000. The results were promising. Many of the recipients used the money to replace their leaky thatched roof with a metal one that enabled them to keep themselves and their food supplies dry. In the long run, the roof paid for itself, because thatched roofs have to be replaced each year, but poor families were unable to save up enough to buy a metal roof. Spending on alcohol, as a proportion of total income, did not increase.”
He then goes on to describe what happened when these same researchers provided cash transfers to families in extreme poverty over an extended period of time:
“Their results, which are borne out by other trials of cash transfers, have demonstrated that giving money to poor families:
- Does not reduce the amount that adults work, but does reduce child labor;
- Raises school attendance;
- Increases economic autonomy;
- Increases women’s decision-making power;
- Leads to greater diversity in diet;
- Stimulates more use of health services.”
So, obviously, in contrast to Louise Hay’s statement, giving money to people who need it helps them build wealth and wellbeing in the longterm.
…But the bit about reducing child labor stands out to me. I never had to perform labor as a child, did you? Was Louise Hay thinking of child labor when she said what she said? Because I really can’t imagine a poverty stricken child affirming their way out of working in a sweatshop. Being able to attend school because your family has a bit more money, on the other hand, does seem like it would probably help.
Does our mindset affect our ability to earn and retain money? Of course. But that doesn’t mean privilege doesn’t exist, or that people who are poor brought their financial hardships upon themselves.
So, moving forward, let’s definitely continue to look deeply at our limiting beliefs about wealth and prosperity so that we can open up to more abundance. But let’s also be aware that just as some people were born into more privilege than we were, others were born into far, far less. And, if we’re lucky enough to have a surplus of wealth, let’s share it whenever we can.
(Here’s my favorite charity for doing just that.)
Similarly, we have to stop victim blaming when people get sick or run into any other kind of challenge. For example, I also heard Louise Hay say (in that very same recording), “As I keep my thoughts positive, life brings me only good experiences.”
Um…nope!
Even though I still value a lot of what Louise Hay taught, the Buddha was closer to the truth when he said “All life is suffering.” Or, at least, all life contains suffering. Some lives more than others.
Some of us will get COVID. Some of us will get cancer. Some of us will experience poverty. And all of us – at some point – will feel grief, heartache, pain, devastation, and loss.
And none of that says anything about our morals, character, or degree of spiritual evolution.
Victim blaming not only hurts the victims, it also hurts us. Because we will not escape suffering, no matter how positively we think.
So instead of trying to avoid challenges by thinking positively enough, let’s use our spirituality to help us move through our challenges with grace. Let’s learn how to open our hearts to our struggles and to have compassion with ourselves as we face them.
I wanted to write about some other problematic concepts I recently realized were baked into the new age – like fetishizing purity, oversimplifying intuition, mistrusting science, and saying “everything happens for a reason” – but this is already starting to get a little long. If y’all like this post, maybe I’ll revisit this topic in the future.
(Update: here is part 2 in this series about rethinking new age concepts. And here is part 3.)
Did you have any similar epiphanies over this past year? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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Wow. Just got around to reading this and…yes. it has been difficult to feel able to spiritually grow because of certain well known gurus. So much I put aside because of not feeling capable of doing it “right”. And from the disgust and disbelief when trusted friends who appeared to be on a similar spiritual journey turned to q anon, anti science conspiracy theories, questionable practices, and the Maga cult. And it is difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff sometimes. Late finding this trio of posts, but thank you. A relief to know I am not alone.
Oh, glad you found them! And thanks for commenting too – you’re making me think maybe it’s time for me to revisit these and share them again.
In these dangerous and difficult, often emotionally overwhelming, times politically, socially, economically, spiritually…others may, again or for the first time, like me, find these posts helpful. Posting them again would be timely and encouraging. Thank you.
Thank you for the nudge!
Oh that Louise Hay line about deservability has been eating at me the last few years. I still really value a lot of her work, but … ick. Thank you for writing this — I’m just sorry it took me so long to get around to reading it.
Teryn, I’m glad you know what I mean! And thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment. This is probably the blog post I’m most proud of writing. In addition to the other two in the series. So thank you again. ❤️
Thanks for this article. You have no idea how much better it makes me feel. I’ve been self-harming because the New Age community has taught me well to internalize and blame myself for everything that has happened to me. It was they who contributed to last year’s suicide attempt. I will never reach out to those kinds of people ever again. They have no idea the severity of the damage they have caused people. Don’t even get me started on the predatory “healing” services and what they say after they take your money and it doesn’t work.
Great article isn’t it. Sounds like you’re in a different, more empowered place now Jasper. Tess has great resources indeed
Rach, thank you. ❤️
Jasper, I’m very sorry to hear about your self-harming and suicide attempt! Are you speaking with, or have you spoken with, a therapist or counselor?
Thanks so much for putting this out there, Tess. This has neatly expressed stuff that has been troubling me for a very long time in regard to the New Age/alternative spirituality movement. I look forward to reading more and seeing how you engage with the world in a way that is magical and also with eyes open 🙂
So glad you like the post, Valerie! Thanks for reading.
Thank you so much. This was such a great read. I belong to an online occult community, and I find myself cringing every time there is a post or comment that is all about the law of attraction and “good vibes only”. The delusional idea that “your thoughts create your reality and that you attract trauma, poverty, and illness to your life” – it makes me want to scream or cry or both. I’m in the process of healing from some very traumatic experiences, and it hurts when people only want me to “just stay positive” when I’m triggered, depressed, etc. I wish more people could understand how their words and beliefs do more harm than good sometimes.
Thank you again; I am grateful for your awesome insight.
You put into words, what I have been thinking for some time now. An important post. Thank yo
Thank you so much for this! A lot of the law of attraction and spiritual positivity has left a bad taste in my mouth for awhile. It has come off as victim blaming, as you said. I’m glad to hear leaders in the spiritual communities acknowledging this.
Thank you Tess for your insight and thoughtfulness. I have written before about an unhealthy mentor who turned on me during the time Doreen Virtue changed. She was once a charismatic angel healer blond , blue eyed, rocking hour glass figure. She was wealthy and lured many followers with her sweet smile and light filled talk. I am a minority Asian woman, a mother, a wife and a daughter of immigrants. She began to try to undermine my confidence in every way. She called my natural psychic abilities evil and not chosen by God. She tossed bible quotes to me and threatened me with hell fire brimstone. She tried to get me to give her thousands of dollars to get rid of my supposed “demonic abilities ” that only she alone was worthy to have. She chanted some obscure Buddhist chant that was chanted wrong. I knew the chant and didn’t correct her. She stared at me and said that she was more special than me, and that I was only Asian physically. She continued to make fun of my Asian built, my face and my culture and my lack of wealth. Another Asian girl’s spirit got broken and She gave up her spiritual path, after having her savings emptied by this teacher. I left and cut all ties with this teacher and group. It hurt. I almost gave up my spiritual path. Then my aging ill parents died one by one.I slowly started going on social media and found your web site. I began expressing myself and healing with your kind and common sense words. This article validates all the lessons I learned. Recently with the rise of Asian hate crimes again I am reminded of all I experienced in my childhood. Now my daughter regretfully knows now what I went through. I only pray that all this shall pass and everyone eventually evolves to care for each other with compassion and love in their hearts.
I’m sorry you (and others) suffered that way and glad you found Tess and her community. I’m sending you a hug!
A lot of these comments made me teary! I’m glad this post resonated with so many of you. I’m definitely planning to stay with this theme for my next post. Stay tuned.
Dear Tess,
Thank you for your bravery : for being brave enough to re-examine yourself, to change, to create interrogations for all of us, who read you, and others spiritual authors.
Thank you for standing in your truth.
And thank you for giving a clear voice to that topic. I personally had reservations about some “new-age” practices for some times, about how they could end creating guilt instead of wellness, indifference instead of compassion, but I would not have been able to express it like you.
We have something in common you and I : you were raised in a funeral home, and I work in a cemetery since 2018. Lately I have said to my partner that despite the very difficult time I am going through at work because of COVID, I was indeed very lucky to work in such a place, because it has protected me from all the conspirations theories that were spread around. It was impossible for me not to face the reality.
But I am not very good with words, (and English is not my mother tongue). I did not know exactly how to express myself, and in the spiritual world we are so easily disqualified by “not being spiritual enough”.
So thank you for speaking out for some of us.
With best wishes,
Celine
Tess,
Please continue speaking on this! We need your voice of reason. 2020 was a year of serious spiritual re evaluation for me. Problems require solutions, not denial.
Thank you for this post!!!!
Tess,
Thank you for saying what I’ve been and I’m sure so many have been shaking their heads at. I’m so happy you have the insight to see and share with the witch community your thoughts. I read this article and was like YES! Such important insight. Thanks for sharing.
Love this, Tess! I’ve been very distressed by the lack of reason/logic in the New Age world for quite a while now. There’s a long history – centuries, perhaps millenia – of people making stuff up because it sounds good, or makes them more popular, not because it’s good sense. Science is no more evil than many New Age thought forms, and I don’t understand why people reject research and hard work in favor of untrue, panic-inducing opinions.
Wise, brave stuff here. Thank you.
I have long admired you, Tess, but never more than in the last year when you began to challenge some long-held ideas and took some heat for it. I agree with what you’ve said, and I encourage you to keep speaking your (and my) truth. I, too, have been horrified by the attitude of some in the spiritual community. I would definitely like to hear more of what you have to say on this subject. It’s refreshing to find a spiritual leader who also is blessed with common sense and a deep regard for others.
Hi Tess, this completely resonated with me! Since the start of the pandemic, I was really questioning so much of the positive thinking / law of attraction stuff that if given so much energy to over the last 15 years. In the face of a pandemic, it seemed very toxic. I’ve been having such a rethink and figuring out what works and what doesn’t. Thank you for sharing!
Please keep this going. I completely resonated with this. I hardly ever read the emails in my inbox and just went through and checked over 400 off, individually and your title grabbed me.. The “2.0” has been my focus , i thought ooooh what is Tess up to?? It totally was not what I was “expecting” with the whole upgrading and manifesting and teaching of the last few years from gurus..This email was exactly what i needed to read.
Yes, I loved this post. These problems have not come during the last year, they have been around for some time, and one of the reason why I quit the New age people. I’m glad you’re focusing on this, it probably saves a few souls from “thinking positively” when they should be soving their own problems instead. Please revisit this subject again, and lots of love to you❤️💐🌼
Tess, this is excellent! You have such an important voice in the occult community (not going to say New Age here!), so for you to articulate these steps towards positive and personal change are so valuable. Right now, as you are aware, there is a rift between various leaders in the Pagan/Witch community about COVID and vaccines. Some of this does seem, sadly, to be based in magical thinking that biological mechanisms can be overcome with just the right spellcraft. As you wrote so eloquently above, that answer is obviously “no”.
Anyway, thank you for stepping out and being so brave in being a strong voice for common and humane sense in the occult community. It’s so needed right now, and there is so much work still to do! You are on the right track!
Hi Tess, I just wanted to say this was a breath of fresh air to me. Spiritual bypassing was a concept a bit shady to me and now I get it better and can be vigilant about it… it’s so easy to bypass instead of actually feeling the feels. And My intention is to feel, and be human with all that comes with it.
Thank you so much and please do write more about that !
Love
Hi Tess,
This was refreshing to read!
I have felt over the past few years that being spiritual was actually doing me more harm than good as I often ended up blaming myself when things were difficult. The thought from Louise Hay about being positive brings good experiences, I have always looked on that as keeping a positive mindset will allow me to maintain my positivity in spite of challenging situations. I hope you continue this thread!
My best to you🌷
Tess, I am so happy to read this perspective. Please continue to write more along these lines.
I am new to all of this, and I try to expose myself to multiple teachers/ lines of thinking.
What is becoming increasingly frustrating is that there are more (not less) who balk at being questioned; if you critically examine what is being discussed, they will say you are ungrounded; and, the list goes on.
The discussions are a moving goal post. Discussions lack depth, maturity, and rigorous understanding. I have come to recognize how difficult it is to find a good solid true teacher, one who knows what they know and is humble to say what they do not know. If I did not have my share of good experiences along my path, I would have completely switched off from pursuing/ staying on this path.
I thought academia had ego and the inability to say “I don’t know” – I find myself on the cusp of changing my view to now including healers, new age spiritual gurus, and coaches. And, I personally find it distressing, when one turns to them, and the insight offered is shallow. Their myopia and ego about their understanding of the subject matter particularly when juxtaposed with their inconsistency and inability to respond adequately without resorting to a fallacy or deflection scares me, when something as vast as the universe is being discussed.
We need to read more articles such as these because rarely does one come across an insight that is thought through and presenting another perspective. Kudos to you for discussing this!
Not sure about this. Spirituality helped me a lot when I was insecure and it gave me a lot of insights.
The cd from Louise hay saved my life in the period 1998-2002.
It gave me the power to learn Bach flower remedies and essential oil therapy. That took me to a huge self investigation; through the problem and not around it.
I learned my girls to love themselves and to give them handles i learned them positive affirmation aka positieve thinking.
Besides that I am pagan, and I love the way nature gives me tools to build my own future.
This article of you gives me a ‘that is so wrong’ feeling.
Positive thing is that I read your article until the end for the frist time.
And… it feels also a bit that you forgot about the fact that everything has a dark side; night and day, sun and moon, cold and warm, etc. It can’t be light without the dark. So embrace the whole package.
Plus; we have choosen this life long before we came to earth… and there is no such thing às coincidence.
We all have lessons to learn and being ill, poor, rich, etc is one of them.
Looks like another book in the works with this article. Speaking of victim blaming, an ethical sticking point is the concept of karma. If something bad happens to someone there is often some reaction like “They must be paying for something they did. Karma!” This is a total misunderstanding of karma and, frankly, an inhumane approach that hurts the person more. Phyllis Currott addressed this long ago by challenging the 3-fold law, creating quite a backlash for herself. You’re spot on, Tess! Hope you continue to un-pack these ideas.
I love this article so much, definitely interested in more on this issue. The new age movement desperately needs more critical thinking around beliefs systems and leaders willing to speak out on it. Thank you for doing this! You’re a real one Tess!
Wow, very thoughtful and well-written article – thank you Tess for having us continually examine our own beliefs and tweak them as necessary. We must see what philosophies resonate with us until a better one comes along and integrate those new aspects into our present understanding. I’m not sure exactly where I fall on this topic as there are certainly contradictions – I have the most trouble understanding where all the children fall in the big picture. Maybe there is something that takes place while we are in non-physical form before we choose to enter humanity that we are just not aware of. Anyway, please do share any new thoughts or revelations you may have about this in the future!
I’m so glad this post resonated! Thanks for these great comments and for all the encouragement.
Victim blaming has recently been given its title to call out the mindsets and subsequent behaviours of those who are seemingly less compassionate, more self righteous and somehow, more fearful of an already increasingly suspicious world. It’s good to call it out when we see and it is humbling to acknowledge that there is no panacea to the multitudes of complexity in worldly unfairness, misfortunes and devastation that is experienced by sentient beings. Relativity bias shows us this. Our own lived experience of what our individual spirituality affords us is unique and can never be quantified and equated to the lived experience of another person but it can provide a positive reminder that if we are honest with our selves and recognise the significance and potential power of integrity to signpost any one ‘truth’, this gives credence to how it feels to be empathetic towards one another. I very much view the theory of our lived experiences as multi faceted, like a crystal. It is constantly changing according to where the light meets its edges, how it is turned etc and the more it is studied, the more ‘truth’ is revealed abs experienced in innumerate ways.
I enjoyed reading. Thank you Tess for putting this into perspective for me😊
This was a great post. I’m not sure where I fall on the spirituality spectrum any more, and still making up my mind about magic and various “Pagan” practices. But I am reading and learning and keeping an open mind, to see what truths resonate with me.
But I have seen and read a good deal of “new age” spirituality that doesn’t seem to exist in the same universe as me. It’s so white, so upper middle class, so privileged, and so statements like the one by Louise Hay are a like a large flashing red light to me, telling me to stay away.
But then I read your wonderful post and realize I’m being judgmental and lumping in everyone together. I really appreciate your content, Tess, because it contains a clarity that opens my mind to the numerous possibilities available to me spiritually. I hope you continue with this topic and sharing your particular insight. Thank you.
I enjoyed reading this and think you have brought up some interesting points that I have not considered. Thank you!
You wrote: I wanted to write about some other problematic concepts I recently realized were baked into the new age – like fetishizing purity, oversimplifying intuition, mistrusting science, and saying “everything happens for a reason” – but this is already starting to get a little long. If y’all like this post, maybe I’ll revisit this topic in the future.
I definitely would be interested in knowing more about fetishing purity and oversimplifying intuition. Please talk about these things!
That article was so right on the nose, the money, whatever. Thank you. Well written.
Really well written and great points made! Thanks Tess x
Well said, Tess. Thank you for bringing light into the darkness.
Lisa, thank you for reading!
Thank you Tess for such a wonderful thought provoking post! I think it’s always healthy to be open to re-examining your beliefs, especially in the current times with the tidal waves of change.
Susan, well said! I so agree. Thank you for the kind words about the post.
I LOVE THIS!! Yes, please continue this thread in future posts. Thank you, Tess! xo
Remy, I’m so glad you love it! Thank you.