VitorMSAlmeida.pt

As I am beginning a two-week trip, my thoughts will be more restricted and simplified; access and the necessary time are not guaranteed.

One of the things I have discussed before are the so-called “gurus” of the New Age, so I begin by warning that this movement has nothing to do with philosophy, and not only with occultism and spiritualism.

The New Age is eclectic by nature: it mixes elements of Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Native American, Australian and Andean traditions, shamanism, Kabbalah, Western esotericism and much more. The problem is not the cultural dialogue itself, but the way it occurs:
Decontextualization and simplification: Sacred practices are reduced to techniques of “well-being,” “energy” or “personal healing.”

Classic examples include:
– Yoga and chakras: Transformed into physical exercise or energy therapy, often detached from their Hindu philosophical and religious foundations.
– Tantra: Sexualized and commercialized as “sacred sex,” far from its classical meaning and opening the possibility for “sex work.”
– Mindfulness: A secularized version of Buddhist practices, often presented as “scientific” without mentioning the original worldview.
– Smudging (purification with white sage), dreamcatchers, sweat lodges, didgeridoo, and totems: Elements from Native American and Australian peoples sold in kits or workshops by non-Indigenous people.
– Romanticization and exoticism: Non-Western cultures are idealized as “more authentically spiritual,” “closer to nature,” or “pure ancestors,” serving as an antidote to the malaise of Western modernity. This reinforces stereotypes (the “wise Indian,” the “Eastern mystic”) and ignores the contemporary reality of these peoples.
– Commercialization (“plastic shamans”): “Plastic shamans” (a term used by indigenous critics and academics) offer workshops, books, courses, and products (crystals, amulets, rituals) based on other people’s traditions. They profit from what, in many cultures of origin, is not sold or requires lengthy community initiation. There are allegations of financial exploitation and disrespect for sacred protocols.

Cases in the Americas: Appropriations of Andean spirituality (Pachamama, offerings, “Andean mysticism”) and indigenous rituals reconfigured into New Age circuits of self-care and spiritual ecology. They often appear in “meetings” associated with Egyptian symbolism such as the “Eye of Osiris” and Buddhist symbolism in order to attract attention through the “market.”