There is no clear definition for the New Age movement. It is simply a term that lumps together a wide variety of beliefs, customs and practices, from acupuncture to astrology, Gnosticism, Wicca and various indigenous belief systems that have only recently been acknowledged in the West.
It has proven to be a powerful base of belief for people of all ages, religious and cultural backgrounds, many of whom used it to find the ethical and spiritual leadership they desired, but found missing from traditional forms of religion.
The strength of the movement in South Africa can be measured in monetary terms and by the massive growth of the complementary health industry (which includes traditional medicine), now believed to be worth at least R2billion a year.
Below are five individuals who have made the mind, body, spirit ”industry” their vocation. Their backgrounds are as diverse as the philosophies they espouse and they have helped many others find their spiritual path.
Marietjie Venter
Cape Town-based marriage officer Marietjie Venter is an ordained non-denominational pastor who is adamant that New Thought should not be confused with New Age. New Thought focuses on the teachings of Jesus and finding one’s inner Christ, as opposed to orthodox Christian theology.
Venter, who grew up attending the Dutch Reformed Church, is one of a growing number of Afrikaners who have moved from the traditional church to worship outside of rigid structures. Venter started practising yoga at the age of 12 and ran a yoga school with her mother in Port Elizabeth for several years.
”The Eastern way of looking at things intrigued me,” she remembers. ”[It] explained a lot of things about religion and the spirit that I didn’t find in church.” Venter later left the Dutch Reformed Church because she deemed it too judgemental of ”everything that was different and didn’t fit in a box”.
She assists a growing number of modern couples looking for tailor-made spiritual ceremonies such as marriages, christenings and memorials. ”More and more people today choose not to follow any specific religious path, and therefore don’t even attend church,” she reasons.
”They feel that the prescriptive nature of religion is too restricted in the expression of their spirituality. This choice does not make them anti-God or even un-spiritual.
”Religion is supposed to ‘bind us back’ to source. However, many feel that it has become a system of walled enclosures, guarded by fate and fanaticism.”
Chris Erasmus
For Chris Erasmus, editor of bi-monthly holistic magazine Odyssey, the so-called New Age movement is nothing but a repackaging of universal ideas that individuals incorporate for themselves, instead of having them pre-packaged in a dogmatic way.
”The establishment’s objection to it is that it allows freedom to the point where they ask, ‘Where is the structure, where is the accountability, where’s the moral code, where are the Ten Commandments?’” he says. ”It’s free form, with no single authority, no one source and no scripture. It’s hard to define. Calling it a movement is a nonsensical approach. What’s really new is the freedom with which people are mixing and matching ideas from different elements.”
Haroun Kola
Haroun Kola, a massage therapist of Islamic upbringing, practises a variation of the ancient Hawaiian ka huna massage form, which he sets to contemporary music. Kola has decided to operate outside the context of organised religion, learning to be a ”free thinker and making up my beliefs for myself”.
Kola wants to take his hybrid method — which fuses ka huna and nia (neuromuscular integrative action) and encompasses martial arts, healing and dance — to the masses by rebranding it as Amaholy Lomi (derived from the Hawaiian term lomi, meaning to knead or rub).
Kola does does not believe in a new age, but in ”galactic human consciousness”, which entails a gradual shift from a parochial world view.
Mathole Motshekga
The Kara Heritage Institute, headed by former Gauteng premier Mathole Motshekga, highlights the importance of indigenous knowledge systems. The institute’s teachings are founded on Egyptian (Khemetic) astrology, which Motshekga says predates Greek astrology and religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
”There is nothing like that,” he argues against the so-called New Age. ”What they are doing is going back to ancient African star religions.”
Motshekga says people have been indoctrinated to doubt astrology by being subjected to religions that condemned it. ”African indigenous knowledge systems were recorded, are available for study and can be used for human development. The medicine we use, the food we eat and the clothes we wear — we could use these for economic growth.”
Linda Long
For the past 18 years, Linda Long has owned the House of Isis in Rosebank, Johannesburg, which stocks crystals, meditation CDs, self-help books, incense, therapeutic oils and statues of various deities.
”Isis is the all nurturing mother goddess [in Egyptian mythology] and she’s a healer as well. In ancient Egypt, the House of Isis was like a temple,” she explains.
Long sees herself as more than just a shopkeeper, she is someone who guides and advises her clients on which crystals and oils to use and which books and tapes are suitable for their needs.
”People always say, ‘How can you have all these statues of Jesus and Buddah in here?’ And I say, ‘Each one has their own way back to God.’
”We’re helping people heal, whichever route they take. The New Age is about taking your personal power back, being responsible for your thoughts, feelings and action. It’s about peace, love and compassion for your neighbour.”