What Is New Age?

dc.contributor.advisorGusterson, Hugh
dc.contributor.authorRose, Joshua D
dc.creatorRose, Joshua D
dc.date2011-05-04
dc.date.accessioned2011-05-25T18:55:16Z
dc.date.availableNO_RESTRICTION
dc.date.available2011-05-25T18:55:16Z
dc.date.issued2011-05-25
dc.description.abstractThe aim of this thesis is to explain the nature and ideological structure of the religious sub-culture of new age in America. Ethnographic data was gathered from conducting interviews and through participant observation in the towns of Lily Dale, NY and Mount Shasta, CA during the summers of 2008 and 2009. Literary research was conducted from academic as well as non-academic 'new age' sources. This thesis concludes that new age belief systems possess three key characteristics: they are alternative; they are ecosophical; they have a decentralized structure (both in its beliefs and in its leadership style). Furthermore, the ideological structure of new age is nebulous, and without a core, presenting itself as a cultural phenomenon that is impossible to define, while the groupings of beliefs in it have distinct characteristics: a cultural paradox.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1920/6382
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.subjectNew Age
dc.subjectSpirituality
dc.subjectLily Dale
dc.subjectMount Shasta
dc.subjectAnthropology of religion
dc.subjectExtraterrestrial
dc.titleWhat Is New Age?
dc.typeThesis
thesis.degree.disciplineAnthropology
thesis.degree.grantorGeorge Mason University
thesis.degree.levelMaster's
thesis.degree.nameMasters in Anthropology

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