Gnostic evil and the postmodern
In the context of depth psychology, a link between individual experiences, gnosis and the contemporary world becomes self-evident. Therefore, during the course of the twentieth century, numerous movements embrace both esoteric spirituality and everyday encounters in multiple and highly individualised ways, providing a 'creative reinterpretation of traditional esotericism under the impact of modernity' (Hanegraaff 1996, 383). These groups are often embedded in new critical approaches to human history, philosophy, as well as religious studies, frequently taking a form of counter-cultural activism with esoteric overtones. Hence, Western esotericism in the twentieth century exists as a fluid body of different groupings and individuals who emphasize the illusory nature of materiality, oppose any form of orthodoxy, and, as Needleman (1993) aptly remarks, exemplify 'allergy to authoritarianism of any kind' (xxix).
One of the most lively, widespread and openly esoteric currents of this period is the New Age culture. …show more content…
Therefore, they offer a constructivist criticism, similar to postmodern scepticism towards any kind of essentialist logic. As Kripal (2007) suggests, 'mystically speaking, postmodernism is certainly promising' (9), and this is particularly true in regard to postmodern identification of the illusory nature of all totalising systems. Crucially, in writings of Jean Baudrillard (1983; 1987; 2002)―a notorious figure from the post-structuralist camp―we find the current condition described as a fusion of the real and the hyperreal. 'Gnostic Baudrillard', as Jonathan Smith's (2004) views him, describes the Demiurgic universe as a simulacrum of higher spheres, and suggests that unless we look within ourselves, we cannot move in the external world of simulated
In the context of depth psychology, a link between individual experiences, gnosis and the contemporary world becomes self-evident. Therefore, during the course of the twentieth century, numerous movements embrace both esoteric spirituality and everyday encounters in multiple and highly individualised ways, providing a 'creative reinterpretation of traditional esotericism under the impact of modernity' (Hanegraaff 1996, 383). These groups are often embedded in new critical approaches to human history, philosophy, as well as religious studies, frequently taking a form of counter-cultural activism with esoteric overtones. Hence, Western esotericism in the twentieth century exists as a fluid body of different groupings and individuals who emphasize the illusory nature of materiality, oppose any form of orthodoxy, and, as Needleman (1993) aptly remarks, exemplify 'allergy to authoritarianism of any kind' (xxix).
One of the most lively, widespread and openly esoteric currents of this period is the New Age culture. …show more content…
Therefore, they offer a constructivist criticism, similar to postmodern scepticism towards any kind of essentialist logic. As Kripal (2007) suggests, 'mystically speaking, postmodernism is certainly promising' (9), and this is particularly true in regard to postmodern identification of the illusory nature of all totalising systems. Crucially, in writings of Jean Baudrillard (1983; 1987; 2002)―a notorious figure from the post-structuralist camp―we find the current condition described as a fusion of the real and the hyperreal. 'Gnostic Baudrillard', as Jonathan Smith's (2004) views him, describes the Demiurgic universe as a simulacrum of higher spheres, and suggests that unless we look within ourselves, we cannot move in the external world of simulated