Religion vs. New Age | PART 1 | Introduction: a personal discovery that sparked the quest
If you've found yourself on this blog, chances are, you're someone who explores modern eclectic spirituality, commonly referred to as "New Age".
And if you’re indeed a "New Ager", I’m curious: how do you feel about religion? Does it have a place in your life, or do you see it as primitive, outdated, dogmatic, distorted, misinterpreted? The vast majority of spiritual seekers that I speak to tend to dismiss religion as a relic of the past.
Even though I was largely brought up in New Age as a child, somehow I never developed a distaste for time-honored paths such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism — in fact, I've always felt a sense of reverence for these traditions.
No matter what we think about a religion, once we step inside a place of worship, it's hard not to feel a sense of holiness or a distinct energy — a "mystical presence", as one of my teachers calls it. Would you agree? I've certainly felt it in every church and temple I've visited.
In recent months, several events have turned my inquiring mind toward religion.
One of them was watching someone that I knew close her successful metaphysical business and announce that she'd become a follower of Jesus. This was a wise and grounded person whom I greatly respected, so I was genuinely curious about her reasons for leaving New Age to pursue religion. So many have made this same choice before her! I wanted to understand.
And then there was a surprising personal experiment that really prompted me to start pursuing this topic of religion vs. New Age. Let me share a story to give some background on what inspired the questions that will be explored in this mini-series.
If you've spent any time in the world of New Age concepts and modalities, you know that there's one pesky issue that spiritually-aware folks often have to deal with, and that is: the need for energetic protection against denser, darker energies and spirits that like to get into our energy fields and cause a variety of challenges.
Like many practitioners of holistic modalities, over the years I've had to test various methods of energetic and spiritual protection to figure out what might work for me and for my clients. After much experimentation, I came to the sad conclusion that there is no 100% reliable method of psychic defense, at least not in my personal reality, though we can probably agree that some protection is better than none!
One day, while scrolling through social media, I came across a study. The details are now vague in my memory — regrettably, I didn't bookmark the post — but it was about an experiment where a group of people were subjected to some negative influence. The researchers found that only those wearing the Christian Cross around their neck were left unaffected by that influence — it's as if some invisible protective force kept them immune.
A little lightbulb went off in my mind. I'd already tried wearing things like protective crystals, mostly to no avail, but what if I tried wearing a symbol of faith this time, to see if somehow it might miraculously work better than everything else I'd tried so far?
Of course, this would have to be genuine — we can't expect some symbol to protect us unless we have a real connection to the tradition it comes from, right?
In my case, it had to be a Buddhist symbol, since that is the only "religion" — technically a spiritual path rather than religion — that I was initiated into and sincerely practiced at some point in this life, although I was no longer an active participant.
Fittingly, by this time, I'd already been feeling an intuitive pull to revisit and integrate the various spiritual traditions and trainings that I'd gone through over this lifetime. In case you're curious, my journey looked something like this:
was introduced to New Age and Eastern spirituality as a child;
briefly looked into Christianity as a young person, felt the spirit of it, but the conceptual framework didn't fit my understanding of the Universe;
was a serious practitioner of esoteric Buddhism throughout much of my 20s, studying with a wonderful Tibetan lama (who was only a few years older than me, but already quite the scholar!);
later spent some time with non-dual teachings — think Adyashanti and Eckhart Tolle — which supported me through a very confusing stage of awakening;
finally, came full circle and ended up back in New Age, becoming a practitioner of methods based on the Akashic Records, Regression, energy healing and so on.
And so, as a test — but also from a genuine impulse — I pulled out my old Buddhist chant book and notes, and did a few lineage practices.
My first impression: the words of the practices didn't matter that much — they seemed to be just keys to quickly reconnect me with the "energetic presence" of the tradition. Plugging back into that frequency brought back the same internal sense I used to feel in my "Buddhist era" — deep, warm, ancient...
I started wearing one of my old pendants shaped like a Buddhist symbol, which I'd kept all these years: the double vajra, a symbol of several profound meanings.
While I didn't expect much from this "test" inspired by a random social media post, the results stunned me.
During the first few weeks of wearing my double vajra, I experienced fewer attempts by dark energies to infringe on me than I'd had in a long time. There was no need for regular energy clearings, because almost nothing was "sticking" to my aura. If it did, it was only minor things.
Additionally, plugging back into the spirit of that old tradition brought some other unexpected gifts. I had noticeably more energy. I went through the day with more mindfulness, humility, and gentleness of spirit, handling daily frustrations with more grace than usual. There was a different quality of presence, and perhaps also a sense of having a spiritual "home" again.
It's hard to believe that after all the experience with fancy New Age practices and tools, the thing that gave me the most energetic protection and peace was... reconnecting with an old religion that I'd left behind years ago. (Don't worry, I haven't disavowed New Age to become a Buddhist nun — I'm happily holding space for all of it! 😉)
Now I really had some serious questions about religion!
Are we making a mistake by dismissing it as "outdated" and "primitive"?
What are we actually "plugging into" when we engage with a religion?
Are we missing out on some essential benefits when we engage only with New Age?
What makes religious symbols effective as energetic protection?
Does our energy field look different if we practice a religion vs. New Age alone? What are those differences?
I set out on a little research journey to explore these questions, and I'll be sharing with you everything I've discovered!
In Part 2 of this series, I’m delving into why some people leave New Age for religion, and exploring the intrinsic features of religion that we might be missing out on when we engage solely with New Age.
In Part 3, with the help of my colleague, I finally get answers to the questions above — from a non-physical Being, a galactic Akashic Guide, who offers us a goldmine of new knowledge! I'm really excited to share with you all the cool things we've learned from this wise Guide.
While initially my inquiry was driven by the desire to understand certain experiences, it is also my wish that the findings in this series help bridge the gap between sincere practitioners of religion and New Agers. It saddens me to often hear condescending things being said about religion in New Age communities. I didn't have to look far to find an example — here are some statements about Christians made very recently in an online forum for high-vibe holistic practitioners:
"Their ignorance and ugliness and sanctimonious self-righteousness comes from a place of fear."
"Leave them in their bubble, they will never be our clients anyway."
"We should start to ignore these people."
Ouch! How's that for unity consciousness? 😦
Judgment, of course, flows both ways between religious people and New Agers, and I really wish I could talk to both "camps". Since it's mostly fellow New Agers who read this blog, I at least want to make my case to you guys — by offering a few insights to hopefully show that both spiritual paths have value, both have faults, both can lead us toward the same higher goal, and there's something we can learn from each other.
So let's take an honest look, shall we? 😊
Proceed to PART 2 - Why people leave New Age and the unique perks of religion
Or skip to PART 3 - Akashic Guide speaks: difference between the auras of New Agers and religious seekers, power of symbols of faith, and what is God
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