The New Age
There is a new documentary out about famous New Age Shaman Carlos Castaneda. The film called “Carlos Castaneda: Enigma of a Sorcerer” airs the debate over whether Castaneda was an authentic spiritual leader or just a fraud and a con, as New York Times writer Dave Kehr exclaims “it becomes hard to tell just what Castaneda was advocating, apart from the liberal use of psychedelic drugs.”
Castaneda was just one star in the wildly lucrative “New Age” movement of the 70′s and 80′s. Paganism in America (especially in more conservative areas) was often wrapped up in the New Age subculture for most of this period. New Age shops and conventions were often the only (safe) way to find other pagans or pagan-related material before the advent of the Internet and a more robust pagan infrastructure of shops and socials.
So while I’m glad that several of these “gurus” are getting the critical attention they deserve. I’m also a tad grateful for the port in the storm during those early years (my first books on Wicca were bought from a New Age shop) even if it meant putting up with some pretty vapid stuff at times.
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