Some background on the New Age Movement

My background on the new age movement began while I was in high school. I was 15 or 16 years old and I think it was 1985 or 1986. The high school I attended was in Portage, Michigan, a suburb of Kalamazoo. Portage Northern High School was my school and it is located 15 minutes away from two malls, at least on foot. My friend and I often stayed after school, walked to the malls and took the city bus home. City buses often have “regulars” who ride these buses every day. One day my friend was discussing a book an older, visually-impaired man was avidly reading. This man passed on his book to my friend who in turn shared it with me. The book was called The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow written by Constance Cumbey. This really was the first book that blew the cover off the new age movement (NAM) and how it truly is a world wide movement determined to bring about a new world order and a new world messiah. New agers believe this messiah will fulfill all the major religions that wait for a central figure to come and bring peace and harmony in the world. For us Christians this messiah would be advertised as the second coming of Christ, although he won’t be Jesus. They believe Jesus was only one person who achieved something called the Christ consciousness. Their new age “Christ” has also gained this Christ consciousness, but even more than Jesus.

Through her book I learned about one of the major sources of “theology” of the NAM, a series of books written by Alice A. Bailey. Although, supposedly it wasn’t written by her, but the Tibetan master that somehow lived and spoke through her. A local bookstore carried most of her books and I had some opportunities to browse and even buy some of these books. I searched for more new age books cited in Ms. Cumbey’s book to really see how big this thing was. I found The Aquarian Conspiracy by Marilyn Ferguson and bought it. Although over the years I have since lost it. I digested the major buzzwords of the NAM, so that I was ready in case I came across any new agers.

My very first encounter with a New Ager was one of my teachers at my high school. The class was called “Family Issues” and the teacher had used many buzzwords in her lectures. She recommended that we all should learn how to do relaxation techniques and talked about how everything is interconnected and interdependent. When she recommended that we all read The Aquarian Conspiracy, I was certain I was dealing with someone who embraced the NAM. She wore crystal necklaces. I decided that from that moment on I would keep The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow in my backpack the next time she recommended the other book again. The day came when she asked how many students ever heard of The Aquarian Conspiracy. I raised my hand and she sounded surprised. Then I pulled out Ms. Cumbey’s book and asked if she or the other students heard of this particular book. It was Constance Cumbey versus Marilyn Ferguson. The teacher said she never heard of the book and I explained the basic premise of The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow. She didn’t have much to say in response. Unfortunately, she had the upper hand on me. I ended up failing her class (surprise, surprise!) and having to take study hall for the rest of the year.

One positive consequence with me reading The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow was that I began going through the Bible and reading up on the “end time prophecies.” For some reason my friend and I were into listening to the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Although this was not necessarily a work of faith, I began reading the four books of the Gospel to compare how accurate the musical was in its account of Jesus’ final entry into Jerusalem. I even decided one time to read the Bible from beginning to end. The only Bible I had at my home was the Revised Standard Version. After graduating from high school and when I began my college career at the local community college, all of this Bible reading and growing concerns over the NAM, I decided to ask Jesus to come into my life. I guess it was what being “born again” is all about. I wanted to quit college and my current job and follow Jesus to the ends of the Earth. Before I did anything rash, I talked with a pastor of some Pentecostal church about my decision, and he convinced me I could stay in college, keep my job, and still follow Jesus because this could be part of God’s will for my life. He invited me to visit his church, but my dad and my brother began attending a local United Methodist Church in Portage. That’s the church I eventually joined. Although there is a lot of New Age infiltration in the UMC, there is still a very strong conservative and traditional voice to help balance out the other. I thought of the parable of the weeds in Matthew 13: 24-30. Of course, now the New Age infiltration is starting to get larger than the conservative and tradition voices. The scales are tipping. Hopefully, we won’t go the way of the Episcopal Church.

Every now and then for the last twenty years I’ve kept tabs on the NAM, which is easier now with the Internet. I’ve found Benjamin Crème and his Share International web site, which even has a photo of Maitreya the Christ. Although I’m a bit skeptical of how accurate this picture is (it reminds me of the infamous out-of-focus video of Bigfoot that was proven a hoax), but it still highlights how very active the NAM truly is. I’m surprised how successful the NAM has been able to saturate our culture with their ideology and how their buzzwords are now a part of our every day language.

Well, this is some of my background. I’ll have more stuff later on.