Author:
York, Michael, 1939-
Imprint:Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield, c1995.
Descriptionxvii, 372 p. ; 24 cm.
Note:1. Introduction and Overview -- Available literature -- Pluralism of contemporary society and the New Age movement -- Church-sect typology as an investigative tool -- Sociology of religion and relevant sociological studies -- Sociological light on the New Age/Neo-pagan phenomenon -- Human Potential Movement -- Boundary maintenance and "conversion" -- occult metaphysical tradition -- New Age comments by sociologists -- Sociological comments on Neo-paganism -- Methodology -- Presentation -- 2. New Age Movement -- New Age's social, occult and spiritual dimensions -- New Age healing -- New Age vision -- Statistics -- External perceptions and responses -- Church Universal and Triumphant -- New Age spokespersons -- Marilyn Ferguson -- Ram Dass -- Werner Erhard -- Edgar Cayee -- Alice Bailey -- Ruth Montgomery -- Shirley MacLaine -- Jose Arguelles -- New Age and Christianity -- Teilhard de Chardin -- Living earth and the world-wide communications network -- 3. Neo-pagan Movement -- Neo-pagan representatives -- Margot Adler -- Starhawk -- Circle Network's Selena Fox -- Shan of London's House of the Goddess -- Vivianne Crowley -- Neo-pagan criticisms of New Age (Monica Sjoo) -- Nordic paganism -- Animism -- Neo-paganism and Christianity -- Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) -- external 'negative image' of paganism and witchcraft -- "Occult Census" and Satanism -- 4. New Age and Neo-paganism: Similarities, Contrasts and Relationships -- female metaphor -- Materialism-spiritualism -- Ritual -- Reincarnation -- Ephemerality -- Movement members' perception of mutual identity -- Mike Howard -- Marion Green -- Zachary Cox -- Beyond Britain -- gay community -- Feminism and metaphors of light and dark -- cost differential -- Neo-paganism as part of New Age -- Animism and shamanism -- New Age criticism of Neo-paganism -- cultural meaning-system shift -- New Age arena and the New Age/Neo-pagan imbalance -- 5. Survey Profiles of Particular New Age and Neo-pagan Groups -- Adler's 1985 Questionnaire -- Rejection of Satanism -- Use of the words 'witch' and 'pagan' -- Sorcerer's Apprentice Occult Census of 1989 -- Working of magic -- Animals -- Diet and medicine -- Newspapers, Television, politics -- Perception of public and self-image -- Social advantage and occult interest -- BMS Spirituality Survey of 1989 -- Religion, gender, age, education and profession -- Occult experiences and beliefs -- Social Composition of Selected London-based New Age and Neo-pagan Groups -- Profession -- HOG -- income, origins, and family background -- Education -- SJA -- income and family background; marital status compared with that of other groups -- Group Comparisons on the Basis of Religion and Perceptions of God -- SJA -- Pagan and control groups -- Belief in God -- Comparison of Group Members' Self-perception -- Sexual orientation -- Attitudes Towards Crucial Contemporary Issues -- Nuclear energy -- Abortion -- AIDS issue -- Familiarity with and Attitudes toward New Age -- Familiarity with and Attitudes toward Neo-paganism -- Pagan responses -- SJA and control groups -- Comparison of group descriptions of Neo-paganism -- Perception and Knowledge of NRMs -- Effects of Participation -- HOG (and PM) responses -- SJA responses -- Addendum -- 6. New Age and Neo-paganism as Practiced and Observed -- Methodology -- Pagan Moon of March 10, 1990 -- HOG's Pagan-At-Homes -- St. James' Alternatives -- Greater ritual use in Neo-paganism -- 7. Church-Sect Typologies -- Troeltsch's church-sect-mysticism typology -- Niebuhr's sect-to-church -- Becker's ecclesia, denomination, sect, and cult classification -- Yinger's typological modifications -- Berger's sectarian typology -- cult concept -- Campbell's concept of the cultic milieu -- Nelson's cult typology -- Stark and Bainbridge's typology of cults -- Eister's cult typology of cultural crisis response -- Wilson's fourfold subtypology of sects -- Martin's concept of the denomination -- Wilson's sevenfold subtypology of sects -- "church-sect obituary" -- Johnson's justification model of church, sect, etc., identity -- Robertson's typology based on legitimacy and membership -- Swatos's five-fold church-sect-denomination model -- further look at Wilson's sectarian typology -- Wallis's departure using the social movement -- Wallis: The concepts of legitimacy & schism, and his fourfold typology -- Robbins and Anthony's monistic-dualistic typology -- Wallis' rejection-accommodation-affirmation typology of NRMs -- Bird's devotee, discipleship, and apprenticeship movements -- Other classifications or taxonomies of NRMs -- Generic and quasi-historical classifications of NRMs -- 8. Conclusions: Evaluating Church-sect Theory, Its Modifications, and Replacements in Application to the New Age and Neo-pagan Movements -- Change-oriented movements -- Cult conceptual problems -- Geoffrey Nelson -- Church-sect theory and the New Age and Neo-pagan movements -- Bryan Wilson -- Rodney Stark and William Bainbridge -- Peter Berger -- Other contributions -- cultic underground -- Gerlach and Hine's concept of the SPIN -- Starhawk's circular structures of immanence -- SPIN concept and the church-sect typology -- SPIN of SPINs.
Bibliography Note:Includes bibliographical references (p. 335-354) and index.
