, Moon, and outer space; the term New Age refers to the coming astrological Age of Aquarius. It aims to create "a spirituality without borders or confining dogmas" that is inclusive and pluralistic. Another of its primary traits is holding to "a holistic worldview," thereby emphasising that the Mind, Body and Spirit are interrelated and that there is a form of Monism and unity throughout the universe. It further attempts to create "a worldview that includes both science and spirituality" and thereby embraces a number of forms of science and pseudoscience.

According to author Nevill Drury, the origins of the movement can be found in the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly through the works of the esotericists Emanuel Swedenborg, Franz Mesmer, Helena Blavatsky and George Gurdjieff, who laid some of the basic philosophical principles that would later influence the movement. It would gain further momentum in the 1960s, taking influence from metaphysics, self-help psychology, and the various Indian gurus who visited the West during that decade.

The New Age movement includes elements of older spiritual and religious traditions ranging from atheism and monotheism through classical pantheism, naturalistic pantheism, and panentheism to polytheism combined with science and Gaia philosophy; particularly archaeoastronomy, astronomy, ecology, environmentalism, the Gaia hypothesis, psychology, and physics. New Age practices and philosophies sometimes draw inspiration from major world religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Chinese folk religion, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism; with strong influences from East Asian religions, Gnosticism, Neopaganism, New Thought, Spiritualism, Theosophy, Universalism, and Western esotericism. The term New Age refers to the coming astrological Age of Aquarius.

The term New Age was used as early as 1809 by William Blake who described a coming era of spiritual and artistic advancement in his preface to Milton a Poem by stating: "... when the New Age is at leisure to pronounce, all will be set right ..."

Some of the New Age movement's constituent elements appeared initially in the nineteenth-century metaphysical movements: Spiritualism, Theosophy, and New Thought and also the alternative medicine movements of chiropractics and naturopathy.

A weekly journal of Christian liberalism and socialism titled The New Age was published as early as 1894; it was sold to a group of socialist writers headed by Alfred Richard Orage and Holbrook Jackson in 1907. Contributors included H. G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, and William Butler Yeats; the magazine became a forum for politics, literature, and the arts. Between 1908 and 1914, it was instrumental in pioneering the British avant-garde from Vorticism to Imagism. Orage met P. D. Ouspensky, a follower of Gurdjieff, in 1914 and began correspondence with Harry Houdini; he became less-interested in literature and art with an increased focus on mysticism and other spiritual topics; the magazine was sold in 1921. According to Brown University, The New Age "... helped to shape modernism in literature and the arts from 1907 to 1922."

Development

and other ancient sites are revered by many who practice New Age spirituality.]]

Popularisation behind these ideas has roots in the work of early twentieth-century writers such as D. H. Lawrence and William Butler Yeats. In the early- to mid-1900s, American mystic, theologian, and founder of the Association for Research and Enlightenment Edgar Cayce was a seminal influence on what later would be termed the New Age movement; he was known in particular for the practice some refer to as channeling. The psychologist Carl Jung was a proponent of the concept of the Age of Aquarius. In a letter to his friend Peter Baynes, dated 12 August 1940, Jung wrote a passage: "... This year reminds me of the enormous earthquake in 26 B.C. that shook down the great temple of Karnak. It was the prelude to the destruction of all temples, because a new time had begun. 1940 is the year when we approach the meridian of the first star in Aquarius. It is the premonitory earthquake of the New Age ..." Former Theosophist Rudolf Steiner and his Anthroposophical Movement are a major influence. Neo-Theosophist Alice Bailey published the book Discipleship in the New Age (1944), which used the term New Age in reference to the transition from the astrological age of Pisces to Aquarius. While claims of racial bias in the writings of Rudolf Steiner and Alice Bailey were made, Bailey was firmly opposed to the Axis powers; she believed that Adolf Hitler was possessed by the Dark Forces, and Steiner emphasized racial equality as a principle central to anthroposophical thought and humanity's progress. Any racial elements from these influences have not remained part of the Anthroposophical Society as contemporary adherents of the society have either not adopted or repudiated these beliefs. Another early usage of the term, was by the American artist, mystic, and philosopher Walter Russell, who spoke of "... this New Age philosophy of the spiritual re-awakening of man ... Man's purpose in this New Age is to acquire more and more knowledge ..." in his essay "Power Through Knowledge," which was also published in 1944.

Contemporary usage of the term

.]]

The subculture that later became known as New Age already existed in the early 1970s, based on and adopting ideas originally present in the counterculture of the 1960s. Both founded in 1962, the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California and the Findhorn Foundation—an intentional community, which continues to operate the Findhorn Ecovillage near Findhorn, Moray, Scotland—played an instrumental role during the early growth period of the New Age movement.

Widespread usage of the term New Age began in the mid-1970s (reflected in the title of monthly periodical New Age Journal) and probably influenced several thousand small metaphysical book- and gift-stores that increasingly defined themselves as "New Age bookstores." As a result of the large-scale activities surrounding the Harmonic Convergence in 1987, the American mass media further popularised the term as a label for the alternative spiritual subculture, including practices such as meditation, channeling, crystal healing, astral projection, psychic experience, holistic health, simple living, and environmentalism; or belief in phenomena such as Earth mysteries, ancient astronauts, extraterrestrial life, unidentified flying objects, crop circles, and reincarnation. Several New Age publications appeared by the late 1980s such as Psychic Guide (later renamed Body, Mind & Spirit), Yoga Journal, New Age Voice, New Age Retailer, and NAPRA ReView by the New Age Publishers and Retailers Alliance.

Several key events occurred, which raised public awareness of the New Age subculture: production of the musical Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical (1967) with its opening song "Aquarius" and its memorable line "This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius"; publication of Linda Goodman's best-selling astrology books Sun Signs (1968) and Love Signs (1978); the release of Shirley MacLaine's book Out on a Limb (1983), later adapted into a television mini-series with the same name (1987); and the "Harmonic Convergence" planetary alignment on August 16–17, 1987, organized by José Argüelles at Sedona in the U.S. state of Arizona. The claims of channelers Jane Roberts (Seth Material), Helen Schucman (A Course in Miracles), J. Z. Knight (Ramtha), Neale Donald Walsch (Conversations with God), and Rene Gaudette (The Wonders) contributed to the movement's growth. Relevant New Age works include the writings of James Redfield, Eckhart Tolle, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Christopher Hills, Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, John Holland, Gary Zukav, Wayne Dyer, and Rhonda Byrne.

While authors J. Gordon Melton, Wouter Hanegraaff, and Paul Heelas have emphasised personal aspects, Mark Satin, Theodore Roszak, Marilyn Ferguson, and Corinne McLaughlin have described New Age as a values-based sociopolitical movement.

Spirituality

While the New Age lacks any unified belief-system, many spiritual practices and philosophies are common among adherents of the movement—sometimes referred to as New Agers.

Lifestyle

New Age spirituality has led to a wide array of literature on the subject and an active niche market, with books, music, crafts, and services in alternative medicine available at New Age stores, fairs, and festivals.

Demographics

People who practice New Age spirituality or who embrace its lifestyle are included in the Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) demographic market segment, currently in a growth phase, related to sustainable living, green ecological initiatives, and generally composed of a relatively affluent and well-educated segment. The LOHAS market segment in 2006 was estimated at USD$300 billion, approximately 30 percent of the United States consumer market. According to The New York Times, a study by the Natural Marketing Institute showed that in 2000, 68 million Americans were included within the LOHAS demographic. The sociologist Paul H. Ray, who coined the term Cultural Creatives in his book (2000), states, "What you're seeing is a demand for products of equal quality that are also virtuous."

The New Age is strongly gendered; sociologist Ciara O'Connor argues that it shows a tension between commodification and women's empowerment.

Community

New Agers advocate living in a simple and sustainable manner to reduce humanity's impact on the natural resources of Earth; and they shun consumerism. The New Age movement has been centered around rebuilding a sense of community to counter social disintegration; this has been attempted through the formation of intentional communities, where individuals come together to live and work in a communal lifestyle.

Holistic health

Practitioners of New Age spirituality may use alternative medicine in addition to or in place of conventional medicine; while some conventional physicians have adopted aspects or the complete approach of holistic health.

Music

New Age music is peaceful music of various styles intended to create inspiration, relaxation, and positive feelings while listening. Studies have determined that New Age music can be an effective component of stress management.

The style began in the 1970s with the works of free-form jazz groups recording on the ECM label; such as Oregon, the Paul Winter Consort, and other pre-ambient bands; as well as ambient music performer Brian Eno and classical avant-garde musician Daniel Kobialka. In the early 1970s, it was mostly instrumental with both acoustic and electronic styles. New Age music evolved to include a wide range of styles from electronic space music using synthesizers and acoustic instrumentals using Native American flutes and drums, singing bowls, and world music sounds to spiritual chanting from other cultures.

Reception

Organized religion

Mainstream religious institutions have been largely critical of New Age spirituality. Author Johanna Michaelson published her own experiences with various New Age practices in The Beautiful Side of Evil (1982); after concluding these activities were demonic, she converted to Christianity. Michigan attorney and activist Constance Cumbey offered the first major criticism of the New Age movement from a Christian perspective in The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow: The New Age Movement and Our Coming Age of Barbarism (1983).

The Roman Catholic Church published A Christian reflection on the New Age in 2003, following a six-year study; the 90-page document criticizes New Age practices such as yoga, meditation, feng shui, and crystal healing. According to the Vatican, euphoric states attained through New Age practices should not be confused with prayer or viewed as signs of God's presence. Cardinal Paul Poupard, then-president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said the "New Age is a misleading answer to the oldest hopes of man".

Expressing agreement with the Vatican's position, Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention stated that many Baptists would regard New Age ideas as contrary to Christian tradition and doctrine.

Integral theory

The author Ken Wilber posits that most New Age thought falls into what he termed the pre/trans fallacy. According to Wilber, human developmental psychology moves from the pre-personal, through the personal, then to the transpersonal (spiritually advanced or enlightened) level. He regards 80 percent of New Age spirituality as pre-rational (pre-conventional) and as relying primarily on mythic-magical thinking; this contrasts with a post-rational (including and transcending rational) genuinely world-centric consciousness.

They have coined the term plastic medicine men to describe individuals, from within their own communities "who are prostituting our spiritual ways for their own selfish gain, with no regard for the spiritual well-being of the people as a whole."

In recent years New Age enthusiasts have become interested in the fact that a cycle of the Mayan calendar ends in December 2012. While the classical Maya themselves said very little about this date, contemporary people, especially those from New Age subcultures, have speculated extensively about it.

The art historian Jose Arguelles was a prominent New Age figure who created great interest in the date and he developed a calendar of his own, called Dreamspell, which appropriates selectively from Mayan codes. Dr Arguelles also established the Planet Art Network, a New Age group focused on the potentials of 2012 and the time leading up to the significant date. Many of Dr Arguelles’ predictions about the lead up to 2012 have failed to come to pass.

The anthropologist and journalist Will Black has spent several years investigating the New Age appropriation of 2012 and shamanism. In his book Beyond the End of the World – 2012 and Apocalypse, he suggests that Arguelles and other New Age enthusiasts have distorted the meaning of the Mayan calendar, ignored the existence of modern Mayans and have instead used it as “projection screen” on which a myriad of hopes, fears and fantasies are projected.

Will Black compares the New Age appropriation of the Mayan calendar with that of shamanism, which has been removed from its cultural origins by New Age appropriators.

Goddess movement

Followers of the Goddess movement have severely criticized the New Age as fundamentally patriarchal, analytical rather than intuitive, and as supporting the status quo, particularly in its implicit gender roles. Monica Sjöö, who worked with Zsuzsanna Budapest, Starhawk and other feminist pagans, pointed out that New Age "channelers" were virtually all women, but the "spirits" they purported to channel, offering guidance to humanity, were nearly all male. Sjöö was highly critical of Theosophy, the I AM Activity, and particularly Alice Bailey, whom she saw as promoting Nazi-like "Aryan" ideals. Sjöö's writings also condemn the New Age for its support of communication and information processing technologies which, she believes, may produce harmful low-level electromagnetic radiation.

See also

2012 phenomenon

Eco-communalism

Fad

Higher consciousness

New Age communities

Paradigm shift

Philosophy of happiness

Social conditioning

Social equality

Spiritual evolution

Transpersonal psychology

Notes and references

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

Category:Earth mysteries Category:Environmental movements Category:Esotericism Category:Metaphysics Category:Mysticism Category:Panentheism Category:Spirituality Category:Subcultures Category:Pseudoscience

Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
Name	Mattafix
Background	group_or_band
Origin	United Kingdom
Genre	Hip hop/rap, R&B;, reggae, dancehall, blues, jazz, soul, world
Years active	2005–2010
Label	Virgin Records (EMI International), Angel Records, Beegood Limited, Buddhist Punk
Current members	Marlon RoudettePreetesh Hirji

Mattafix are a UK duo, made up of Marlon Roudette and Preetesh Hirji. Their sound is a fusion of hip hop/rap, R&B;, reggae, dancehall, blues, jazz, soul and world. They won the Sopot International Song Festival in 2006.

Biography

Marlon Roudette was born in London and is the son of Cameron McVey, a British music producer, and Vonnie Roudette, a designer and artist from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. As a young child he moved with his mother and sister to St. Vincent, where he began his music career, and returned to London when he was 18. Preetesh Hirji was born in London of dual-Indian parentage and grew up in the heart of West London, where he started at Eastcote Studios on Kensal Road.

Signs of a Struggle (2005-2006)

Mattafix released their first single "11.30 (Dirtiest Trick in Town)" as a limited edition on Buddhist Punk Records on January 13, 2005. However, the song never charted.

Their second single, "Big City Life", was released by EMI on August 8, 2005. It was a considerable hit, managing a number 15 in the United Kingdom and a number 1 in Germany, Poland, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and New Zealand. It also had considerable success in other European countries where it reached the top 20. It can also be heard on the soundtrack to the hit video game FIFA World Cup Germany 2006, designed by EA Sports, and was included in the NOW! 62 UK compilation, the duo's first and only song to date, to be included in the series.

Signs of a Struggle received positive reviews and had success in Europe where the band toured extensively through out 2006-2008. Signs of a Struggle was a Triple J feature album in April, 2006.

The duo toured with the likes of Jem and Joss Stone on their UK tours to promote the album, and have also opened for Sting, in Milan, before a crowd of more than 100,000 people.

Their fourth single, "To & Fro", was released on March 13, 2006. The single was released as a download only in the United Kingdom.

Rhythm & Hymns (2007-2009)

On September 7, 2007, Mattafix released the first single, "Living Darfur", taken from their second album Rhythm & Hymns. It was available as a download only. The single was released physically on October 22, 2007. The video features Matt Damon in the intro. The track was featured as part of the Save Darfur Campaign. Working alongside humanitarian agencies operating in the region, the band filmed a video for the song in the refugee camps in the region. The video became extremely popular on youtube and to date is the only music video by an international group to be filmed in a war zone.

Speaking in June 2008 to noted UK R&B; writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul, Roudette explained the musical background to 'Rhythms & Hymns': "With this album I wanted to bring through more aspects of the live show, which is something maybe the first album lacked. You know, we do go out with a seven or eight-piece band, and that has become a big part of the Mattafix sound. So, in addition to keeping the hardcore element and programmed beats from last time round, with 'Rhythms & Hymns' we've also used a lot of live drums. Also, we've added quite a lot of influences that we got from the road. Particularly in places like Johannesburg, where we played a couple of great shows."

The album was released on November 23, 2007 in most European countries. In Australia, it was released on November 17, 2007.

Mattafix remixed Lady Gaga's song "Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)". Their remix appears on her iTunes Remix EP, however, not in the UK version.

Next album (2010-present)

Mattafix are currently working on a new album. In April 2010. Marlon Roudette made a video appearance where he spoke about recording and making the record in his home based studio.. However, via Facebook, it was announced that Roudette and Hirji had gone separate ways, due to their different new ideas for future projects. Marlon Roudette is now working on a solo project with the Universal label, apparently to be released in May 2011, which has brought abundant attention to fans. He is yet to come up with his new artist name; whether to stay with the name Mattafix, or choose a new stage name; perhaps his own. "Mattafix presents...Marlon..." was a quote from a late 2010 youtube video, as an updated possiblity for his album title and/or stage name. Marlon Roudette has confirmed that the new album is "not a radical shift but definitely different. More instrumentation and more in depth musical compositions." Marlon Roudette has stated that the album is pretty much completed, but the album is still being "fine tuned."

Discography

Albums

Singles

{|class="wikitable" !rowspan="2"|Year !rowspan="2"|Title !colspan="10"|Chart positions !rowspan="2"|Album |- !width="30"|AUS !width="30"|AUT !width="30"|BEL !width="30"|FRA !width="30"|GER !width="30"|ITA !width="30"|NZ !width="30"|NOR !width="30"|SWI !width="30"|UK |- and "the summer of 69" |rowspan="3"|2005 |"11.30 (Dirtiest Trick in Town)" |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |rowspan="5"| Signs of a Struggle |- |"Big City Life" |align="center"|19 |align="center"|1 |align="center"|12 |align="center"|17 |align="center"|1 |align="center"|1 |align="center"|1 |align="center"|3 |align="center"|1 |align="center"|15 |- |-rowspan="2"| |"Passer By" |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |- |rowspan="2"|2006 |"To & Fro" |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|56 |align="center"|— |align="center"|73 |align="center"|56 |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|56 |align="center"|— |- |"Cool Down the Pace" |align="center"|— |align="center"|52 |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|82 |align="center"|25 |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|63 |align="center"|— |- |2007 |"Living Darfur" |align="center"|— |align="center"|21 |align="center"|50 |align="center"|50 |align="center"|32 |align="center"|2 |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|13 |align="center"|— |rowspan="2"| Rhythm & Hymns |- |2008 |"Things Have Changed" |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |}

Music videos

References

External links

Official website

Category:Sopot International Song Festival winners Category:British hip hop groups