Contemporary American Religion: New Age and Neopagan Religions in America

Description

Columbia Contemporary American Religion Ser.: New Age and Neopagan Religions in America by Sarah M. Pike (2004, Hardcover)
Product Information
From Shirley MacLaine's spiritual biography Out on a Limb to the teenage witches in the film The Craft, New Age and Neopagan beliefs have made sensationalistic headlines. In the mid- to late 1990s, several important scholarly studies of the New Age and Neopagan movements were published, attesting to academic as well as popular recognition that these religions are a significant presence on the contemporary North American religious landscape. Self-help books by New Age channelers and psychics are a large and growing market; annual spending on channeling, self-help businesses, and alternative health care is at to billion; an estimated 12 million Americans are involved with New Age activities; and American Neopagans are estimated at around 200,000. New Age and Neopagan Religions in America introduces the beliefs and practices behind the public faces of these controversial movements, which have been growing steadily in late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century America. What is the New Age movement, and how is it different from and similar to Neopaganism in its underlying beliefs and still-evolving practices? Where did these decentralized and eclectic movements come from, and why have they grown and flourished at this point in American religious history? What is the relationship between the New Age and Neopaganism and other religions in America, particularly Christianity, which is often construed as antagonistic to them? Drawing on historical and ethnographic accounts, Sarah Pike explores these questions and offers a sympathetic yet critical treatment of religious practices often marginalized yet soaring in popularity. The book provides a general introduction to the varieties of New Age and Neopagan religions in the United States today as well as an account of their nineteenth-century roots and emergence from the 1960s counterculture. Covering such topics as healing, gender and sexuality, millennialism, and ritual experience, it also furnishes a rich description and analysis of the spiritual worlds and social networks created by participants.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Columbia University Press
ISBN-10
0231124023
ISBN-13
9780231124027
eBay Product ID (ePID)
30418638
Product Key Features
Format
Hardcover
Publication Year
2004
Language
English
Dimensions
Weight
16.6 Oz
Width
6.1in.
Height
0.8in.
Length
9.2in.
Additional Product Features
Dewey Edition
22
Table of Content
Ancient Mysteries in Contemporary America Introduction to the Religious Worlds of Neopagans and New Agers Early Varieties of Alternative Spirituality in American Religious History The 1960s Watershed Years Healing and Techniques of the Self "All Acts of Love and Pleasure Are My Rituals": Sex, Gender, and the Sacred The Age of Aquarius
Dewey Decimal
299/.93
Illustrated
Yes
Grade from
College Graduate Beginner
Age Level
Scholarly & Professional
Series
Columbia Contemporary American Religion Ser.
Copyright Date
2004
Author
Sarah M. Pike
Number of Pages
256 Pages
Lc Classification Number
Bp605.N48p55 2004
Reviews
"This work offers general readers a scholarly assessment of Neopaganism and the New Age movement.... Pike provides an overview of key themes of these movements and traces their beliefs back to 19th-century traditions of mesmerism, seances, Swedenborgianism, and Theosophy.... her book provides a necessary complement to Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon and Paul Heelas's The New Age Movement. " -- Library Journal, "She offers a superb introduction to the visions and practices of both neopagan and New Age movements....Highly recommended." -- Choice, "Pike makes a substantial contribution to our understanding of New Age and Neopagan religions in America..." -- David H. Vila, John Brown University, Religious Studies Review, "A superb introduction to the visions and practices of both neopagan and New Age movements.... Highly recommended." -- Choice, "This book works wonderfully to introduce readers to the fascinating and still developing religions... An excellent text for courses." -- Cynthia Eller, Journal of Religion, Pike makes a substantial contribution to our understanding of New Age and Neopagan religions in America..., A superb introduction to the visions and practices of both neopagan and New Age movements.... Highly recommended., "A view from the mountain...an admirable job of weaving together multiple strands of New Age practice into a single pattern." -- Michael F. Brown, Natural History, "[A] lucid and interesting survey of esoteric and New-Age religions." -- Philip Jenkins, Journal of American History, This book works wonderfully to introduce readers to the fascinating and still developing religions... An excellent text for courses., A view from the mountain...an admirable job of weaving together multiple strands of New Age practice into a single pattern., "She offers superb introduction to the visions and practices of both neopagan and New Age movements...High recommended." -- Choice, A clear and well-written primer for what is a bedazzling array of religious worldviews and practices., "This work offers general readers a scholarly assessment of Neopaganism and the New Age movement.... Pike provides an overview of key themes of these movements and traces their beliefs back to 19th-century traditions of mesmerism, seances, Swedenborgianism, and Theosophy.... her book provides a necessary complement to Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moonand Paul Heelas's The New Age Movement." -- Library Journal, "Pike's study is fascinating in all its detail...Hers is an accesible style." -- Dan Barnett, Enterprise Record, This work offers general readers a scholarly assessment of Neopaganism and the New Age movement.... Pike provides an overview of key themes of these movements and traces their beliefs back to 19th-century traditions of mesmerism, seances, Swedenborgianism, and Theosophy.... her book provides a necessary complement to Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon and Paul Heelas's The New Age Movement.
Lccn
2003-061844
Ex-library copy, contains usual library markings and stamps, barcodes, card sleeve/date-due slip, withdrawn / discard stamps. This book shows the moderate wear associated with a former circulating copy.
Library identifying information inside and stamped on the side edges of the book were redacted with a felt-tip marker and/or discard/withdrawn stamps by the library.
This book does not contain highlighting or underlining and is clean and tight in its binding. There is no water damage, and is from a non-smoking environment.
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