Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, Vol 33, No 1 (2020)

A Network of Awakening Souls: Examining New Age Facebook Groups in Australia

Misha Hoo
Issued Date: 23 Jul 2020

Abstract


The New Age spiritual milieu has been characterised as increasingly diffuse and lacking in cohesion as it evolves away from its counter-cultural and millenarian roots. It has also been criticised for its dependence on capitalist-driven consumption, with noticeably less attention given to what the New Age produces. However, whilst New Age certainly relies on the free market to sustain a multitude of spiritual businesses, its facilitators also play an instrumental role in the dissemination of ideologies and the building of community based on a shared ethos. Markets can therefore function as sites for meaningful enquiry into the ideologies, activities and cohesiveness of New Age culture. An examination of New Age Facebook groups in Australia demonstrates the spiritual milieu is less fragmented than it may appear. Instead, this national network is unified by its shared values and bound together by a core doctrine of holistic self-spirituality.

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DOI: 10.1558/jasr.39744

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