In the Judeo-Christian tradition, we are told (via the Ten Commandments) that “Ye shall have no other gods before me.” Sounds simple enough…if one decides to subscribe to the “one true God” system of that and many other organized religions. Obviously, having God say this also provides an easy solution to the problem of competition and control. After all, one is much more likely to faithfully flip a few bucks into the alms basket every Sunday and
not check out the Wiccan coven down the road, if one has been specifically warned against it. And all such warnings generally come with the threat of all kinds of plague and damnation. Better to sing the hymns and go home for a nice chicken dinner.
That’s the classic picture: the Israelites bowing down before a Golden calf, expecting it to puke out some grits or a decent Chardonnay, at least. Can’t blame them really…that was one hard-ass trip they were making and the Big Guy upstairs didn’t seem to be interested in making it any easier. Was it a coincidence that that was the exact time that Moses ran down the mountain with those stone tablets? Hmmm.
Today, many of us are moving beyond those organized systems of spiritual thought and looking for things that make more sense to us. I believe that this is a result of a basic evolution…not in a physical sense, but an evolution of the soul. No need to get into that process for now; let it suffice to say that many of us have moved past the need for such a system to tell us how to live (and die). Make no mistake: those religions did serve their purpose when we were uneducated and unsophisticated. But we now have the tools and the intelligence to get a little more individually jiggy with it, and there’s no going back.
I believe (and I think this is an extremely widespread concept) that we are all, in effect, God. We are little bits of Consciousness, cast out into the void like so many dandelion seeds in order to produce the widest variety of experience possible. We have individual experiences within the veil and illusion of separation, but we are still a part of that Creator Consciousness and in the fullness of time will merge completely back into that cradle, taking our places in the Universal puzzle.
But the point is that we are God (“Ye are gods” – John 10:34) in fractal form. In a fractal, all the parts are each exactly like the whole. We are a repeating pattern, each piece of which is equally God.
So, where does idolatry fit into this “new” understanding?
“Ye shall have no other gods before me.”
Get the picture? If you are God, then what is idolatry? With this understanding that we are God (seeing that fractals of God are identical to the whole), it becomes evident that anything we hold up as being more Divine…more Sacred…or just plain Mo’ Better than our own Selves…is idolatry.
In this light, idolatry becomes just another way to deny responsibility for our own lives and souls. Instead of a Golden Calf, nowadays we worship crystals, gurus, methods of meditation, channelers, mediums, modalities of healing. Instead of seeing them as simple tools, we begin to see them as the end instead of the means to the end. Think “worship” is too strong a word? Take a closer look. I’ve seen people sit around in hushed, adoring anticipation, staring at a crystal skull and waiting for…what? Inspiration? Instructions? Of course, there was always someone there to relay and interpret the messages gained from this particular rock (or piece of plastic, in some cases). Not a whole lot different from Joseph Smith, with his magic stone in the bottom of a hat.
It’s only natural for us, when we’re in pain, to look for the easiest way out. It’s fine to look for all the possible tools to get us out of the dark pit we’ve put ourselves into. But we as a race are at a stage where we need to become totally, completely self-reliant as soon as we individually can.
My motto is that you get to decide what you believe. If it serves you, go crazy with it. Go ahead and check out the crystals and the meditation and the incense if it makes you feel better. But if you find yourself relying to any great extent on the trappings of spirituality in the long term, I suggest you examine the reason why you feel you need what amounts to a spiritual baby pacifier. If you truly believe that you are a Divine being…are you neutralizing that by placing the false gods of the New Age before yourself?
Hello, “R”,
Interesting that you feel qualified to determine which religions are “given by God”, and which are false. There are only a few ways that you can do this: either you feel within your own wisdom that one is more valid than the others…or, you blindly decide to believe what someone tells you to believe.
Either way, most of us are fortunate to live in a society where one is free to believe as one feels is right. You have every right to your opinion – hopefully you fully participate in this freedom by allowing others their beliefs as well.
And by the way -please do not post anonymously here any more. If you haven’t the courage of your convictions to identify yourself, any further comments from you will be unwelcome.
I was into the New Age for 10 years or so. I eventually realised that the Creator God is the truth.
I didnt realise it as if I swapped, but I found that it went against New Age belief. Then I learned how Satan is behind the New Age movement, the New Spirituality and every religion that is not given by God. This is not just because I said it. These things are true and have nothing to do with me personally. They are facts and will be verified with anyone who has an interest in truth.
New Agers do not seek the truth as much as settle for a cheap counterfeit. They settle for pleasure like anyone else except pride is their poison, rather than drink or sex or drugs, and even though everyone is similarly caught in pride. They specialise in pride you could say.
Hi Michael,
I would say that I am more entertained and in some cases educated by these New Age folks. Before I started blogging I thought that many were spiritually higher than me. But after blogging I can see how easy it is for people to jump on the bandwagon so to speak if they believe you have authority that they do not.
I too believe that we are all pieces of God and are connected to Source energy. I do get some fuel by reading about or listening to spiritual messages but I also know that it is my responsibility to deal with my life’s challenges.
Totally not your problem, if you’re not climbing up on the pedestal yourself. That’s their gig, so ignore it. Plus, once they get you up there they’ll probably change their mind and shove you off of it eventually.
OTOH, if everybody loves you, you might be doing something wrong, LOL…
Yeah, I went to one of those type of conferences, my first and last. Saw Gregg Braden on Friday night, which was the main reason I went. Totally unassuming and brilliant guy, and comes from a hard science background so he’s got credibility with me.
Next day they were singing “namaste” and dancing around bowing to one another – I beat feet out of there pronto. Might as well go to a holy roller church. 🙂
I can’t possibly do this justice at my current stage. I look at it like this – someone who is a bit above me reaches out a hand, and I reach mine out to someone below. And by that I simply mean, we are all equals – all being a part, and possibly even fractals – I hear this espoused often but have no way of knowing if it is true. Each will not be at the same place at the same time, so by helping each other, we help ourselves and everyone else. If we are the most knowledgable in the room, then we’re it.
I get very uneasy with how popular “new age” has suddenly become, and how often people will proudly tell you that they don’t support organized religion but they do support spirituality and how it has changed their life. Or, how learning about spirituality did not change but simply enhanced their religious beliefs. Intuition was on Oprah’s magazine cover last month. I would be tempted to throw it all away on that basis alone if I didn’t have enough personal experience to know there was merit in it. And so…is it true that we are all “waking up” and some people are just making a buck off of it, or is it Kool Aid? It’s a little bit scary how easily individuals give away their power to a “guru.”
All week I’ve been hearing “judge not lest ye be judged” ringing in my ear. The more I do this work, the more I seem to be placed on kind of a pedestal, and I don’t belong there.
“False gods of the new age” – very well said, Michael! Last year I attended one of the Hay House “I Can Do It!” conferences and I was slightly horrified at how people seemed to worship these new-age “leaders”. I wanted to yell, “They are human beings just like the rest of us!” but that would’ve been futile.
I think it’s easy for folks who are new to the “new age” (and I don’t really like that term too much) to see others who might know more about spirituality (or at least portray that image) as “above” them somehow. I hadn’t really thought that idolizing these folks was just an adult pacifier, in a sense. It’s a new way of looking at it.