Has the alt-right ruined the new age movement?

Q: Hi Elle! I wanted to know if you think all new age stuff is bad or if there are some good things in it too. I’ve only ever seen you talk about the alt-right pipeline, but do you think that has contaminated the entire new age movement? Thank you! I learn a lot from your site!

A: Hi there! Definitely not. The thing about “new age” is that we all might mean something slightly different when we say it. I understand where someone is coming from initially when they think it is all alt-right/far right stuff, but that is a reductive and flawed perspective to settle on permanently. The most important thing to note is that almost everything in the new age movement hails from ancient or Indigenous cultures as well as Black cultures and cultures of people of the global majority. Many traditions come from vast and varied ethnic groups with beautiful cultures who, in many ways, had parts of those cultures erased or taken from them. These original practices were not colonialist or white supremacist at all, nor were they appropriative… they belonged to the people practicing them. So, if we use a massive blanket statement like, “All new age is alt-right,” we might be attempting to say, “The new age practices I see have been appropriated by people to whom those practices do not originally belong and have been twisted to suit their own internalized agendas, whether consciously or unconsciously.” It sounds fair, right? The problem is that it is deeply disrespectful to the people to whom those original practices belong. I think it is completely unfair to say that the alt-right has influenced everything under the massive umbrella that is “new age” when there are tons of practitioners who are Black, Indigenous, or people of the global majority who are not integrating those same problems into their own spiritual experience. In fact, they are often educating and working to deconstruct those things! Some people might separate out “new age” as a distinct terminology meant to separate colonialized spiritualities from original practices or traditional cultures, but I have had so many Black, Indigenous, and people of the global majority tell me that this perspective still feels hurtful to them; therefore, I have discarded it.

I can understand why people come to Sedona, see the (alt-right) new age stuff going on and think it’s all bad, but that is why I try to be super clear in my writings when I address anything referring to the new age. In my work, I am looking through the Sedona lens and am addressing neo-fundamentalism and alt-right pipelines—nothing more than that. I am not here to deconstruct ancient and sacred practices related to the new age, witchcraft, religious, or pagan precincts. Think of it like this… The western world’s psychology roots are founded in misogyny, white supremacy, colonialism, ableism, and a host of other problems. However, I am not here to deconstruct psychology as a whole or say that everyone IN psychology is part of the problem (not true at all!). There are many people of the global majority, Indigenous people, Black People, and, yes, white people as well who are doing the good work! Unfortunately, there are still many ways in which we need to chip away at what never served us well and create healing instead. (That’s honestly a big understatement… The work is big and far-reaching.) Many modalities within modern psychology come from ancient traditions. Some are being practiced well and as intended, but others have been appropriated and distorted (weaponized). This is not a fault of ancient cultures but is indicative of how we have often channeled violence and supremacy through the vehicle of providing mental health care to others. It also does not mean that practices cannot change or evolve over time, but that there is a difference between the natural evolution of a practice and the theft of it by people who did not create it. I had a Black psychology professor once who took our entire class through the colonialist roots of western psychology. She also took the time to talk about the modalities that were incredibly good in psychology and talked about where they came from (usually Indigenous and Black communities as well as communities of people of the global majority). I am so grateful to her for using her time and energy to educate our class on topics that are often glossed over in courses like the one I was taking. It made a big impact on me and my peers, and it is something that created a legacy of insight and healing that I would have otherwise missed.

Anyway, my point is that so many practices under the new age umbrella are beautiful and beneficial, but we do need to practice them properly and honor the cultures and roots they came from (and that’s IF it is appropriate for us to practice whichever modality or spiritual system we are discussing in the first place). There are so many open practices we can utilize to commune with our spiritual selves, deities, gods, or whatever we believe in. =) We just need to have the humility and integrity to delve into these practices/traditions properly and with respect. If those of us who are white are honest with ourselves, almost all of us have messed up in the past or been flippant with our approach to certain spiritual traditions.

This was such a great question, and my perspective would have been an absolute trainwreck without the Indigenous people, Black people, and people of the global majority in my life who have deeply informed it. We cannot know what is going on in a person’s life or peer behind the curtain to see how they are practicing under the new age umbrella. There are valid and worthy new age practices created by many diverse people, and I do not feel that they deserve to be judged or lumped in with the alt-right or appropriative pipelines.