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Rating: 
Summary: New Agers are Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.
Review: Dear Oh Dear... Another paganistic and beastly concoction disguised as spiritual awakening. Obviously influenced by the likes of A A Bailey, H P Blavatsky, Aleister Crowley and other Beastly doers of deception. Notice the 666 slightly camouflaged but still blatantly obvious on the front cover? I urge you to read this but to be analytical and on your guard as many of the buzzwords and phrases have alternative meanings. Good people DO NOT be fooled by this ungodly attempt at corrupting the hearts and minds of vulnerable people. May the true God (not some spirit of the earth or a LSD-trip) bless you all.
Rating: 
Summary: No satanic plots here, just a paradigm shift
Review: How ironic, that the Christian fundamentalist reviewers here have taken the title of this book so LITERALLY, as referring to some kind of sinster plot. Then again, fundamentalists take everything literally, so what's new? The "conspiracy" is a metaphor: As Marilyn Ferguson herself explains in the book, the word "conspire" literally means "to breath together" (con="with" as in "congregate," + "spire" as in "respiration") which is more like a reference to yoga than to some secret cabal. As for the silly claim that the "satanic" number 666 is somehow encoded in the logo on the cover, it takes a big stretch of the imagination to see it. (I should clarify that, as a Jew, I don't even believe in the 666 stuff, which comes out of Christianity, but, for the sake of discussion, I address it here.) What the logo reminds ME of is a triple Moebius strip -- that's a single-sided surface that every mathematician is familiar with. The strange thing about a Moebius strip is that you can start drawing a line on what you think is one of two sides, only to find out that your line meets itself without ever lifting your pencil from the paper. This -- not 666 -- is the symbol for what Ferguson was talking about. The "conspiracy" is a shift to a more holistic worldview, where "us and them" is replaced by groups of humanity working and "breathing" together. Now granted, much of the book is outdated (it was published over 20 years ago) but there are many areas where Ferguson was right on target. Workplaces have shifted away from the hierarchical "boss" mode to group teamwork. Holistic views of health care are now accepted by the general public and some branches of the medical profession. (Very lucky for me, since my chiropractor has literally kept me out of a wheelchair). "Whole brain learning" -- using both the left and right halves of the brain -- has greatly enriched the curriculum. Intercultural understanding has increased, so that "white Christian Europe" is no longer seen as the only way for a human being to be "civilized." And most religions -- with perhaps the exception of the fundamentalists noted above -- have recognized that people need inner spirituality as well as outward ritual forms. Whether this is really a "new age" or simply a re-discovery of old principles is debatable. Native American tribes were working in circular groups and thinking "nonlinear" long before Ferguson suggested the idea. My own religion, Judaism, has had a mystical side for thousands of years. The Chinese were using acupuncture and herbal medicine when the Europeans were still in the Dark Ages. Perhaps the real "conspiracy" has been the sharing of all this knowledge, made possible for the first time through global communications such as the Internet, where you are now reading this review. In my opinion, all this sharing has benefited humanity -- and if that's "satanic," I'll eat my yarmulke.
Rating:
Summary: No Beasts, No Satanic Symbols, Just a Good, Solid Book
Review: In my early 20s, this book set my mind on fire because it cleared away the doom-encrusted blindness of a prosaic protestant Christian (aka "dead spirituality") upbringing. Having read in the fields of perceptual door-cleansing for many years, I now see it as a good generalist overview with a lot of heart. I recommend it highly to anyone just starting their search.
Rating:
Summary: No Beasts, No Satanic Symbols, Just a Good, Solid Book
Review: In my early 20s, this book set my mind on fire because it cleared away the doom-encrusted blindness of a prosaic protestant Christian (aka "dead spirituality") upbringing. Having read in the fields of perceptual door-cleansing for many years, I now see it as a good generalist overview with a lot of heart. I recommend it highly to anyone just starting their search.
Rating: 
Summary: Well meaning, but naive.
Review: Most either love it or hate it, few rate it other than 1 or 5.
It has been hailed as the handbook of the New Age. Most New Agers have a well thumbed copy on their shelf. Fundies decry it as the Devil's work. It is still selling in the "crystal dolphin" bookshops.
There are many laudable sentiments and good intentions in this book. There are reasonable positions passionately argued for. There is even a lot of truth. However, it does suffer from a typical New Age problem. In her optimism, the author paints a very rosy picture. Although she does not say it, the impression one is left with is that one can gain enlightenment on a weekend workshop, or on an acid trip.
Countless conspirators have ended up either becoming disillusioned with the pervasive New Age charlatanry, or have gone "off with the fairies" after too many unguided excursions into "alternative realities".
The book is intellectually either dishonest or naive. It promotes the philosophical relativism that makes the most absurd delusions merely different "realities". It really provides the popular culture in which the Post-Modernist lunatic fringe can be given some credence. In short, it is a recipe for escapism. One need only spend some time in New Age circles to see how far they are from the superior beings they tend to believe they are.
The constant invocation of Kuhn's magical mantra "paradigm shift", lulls the reader into thinking that there is something scientific about the alchemical transformation implied. She further abuses science by claiming that there are two kinds of science, old & new, linear & non-linear. She uses science to give credence to her ideas, while at the same time discrediting science as a vision of a dead mechanistic universe. All of these points paint a very inaccurate picture of what science is about.
As compelling and well written as this book is, it is seriously flawed. It does point out things that we could do better, but it has helped spawn an industry of self delusion. For anyone really interested in self development or spiritual exploration, I would strongly recommend Chogyam Trungpa's "Cutting through Spiritual Materialism" as an antidote to the less healthy aspects of the Aquarian Conspiracy.
Rating: 
Summary: don't start your movement before reading this book
Review: The Aquarian Conspiracy is an excellent read! Why didn't I give it 5 stars?! Well, because I was disconcerted by the mention of LSD trips in this book. Other than that, this book is excellent learning material and a great way to expand your consciousness. I appreciate this book because it focuses on the idea of paradigm shifts and not on cults or large humanitarian movements. The Aquarian Conspiracy emphasizes that people need to shift their essential train of thought before any large social movement can be successful. In other words, if a society embarks on any given worldwide humanitarian movement but still works into the plan its old prejudices, then the movement will surely fail and the people that were supposed to be helped become the victims of that given movement.
The Aquarian Conspiracy exemplifies how a paradigm shift can be used to ease the tension that is inherent in several of our societies main institutions such as education, health care, politics, religion, careers, and marriage. The reader is warned several times that a personal paradigm shift will likely disrupt their lives. This shift may result in a major career change and a divorce. But the book also encourages the reader to move past this personal loss and realize that this pain is necessary for achieving self-actualization or better yet, SELF-LOVE!
Rating:
Summary: mark of the beast
Review: This book was a kind of manifesto for the New Age movement (now more often called the new spirituality) of the 1980s. Ferguson was a breathless chronicaler of mostly fringe ideas in psychology, science, and social science. She rallied the troops and dreamed big dreams. I interact in-depth with the essential worldview--pantheistic monism--of this book in my several books on the New Age movement. It deifies the self while uprooting it from its proper mooring in the personal Creator and Redeemer of the universe. It is relativistic morally and unable to provide objective standards for human conduct. It denies the darkner side of human nature and opts for a utopianism of post-dated checks. The New Age has become mainstrain in many ways today. Now we have Deepak Chopra, James Redfield, and others. Ferguson is no longer a key player. Nevertheless, the flaws and unkept promises of this worldview and spirituality should alert the wise to follow another path.<
Rating: 
Summary: Good book, not great, lots of interesting points
Review: This work is not anything that you do not already you do not know. It is the way the book is assembled that will change the way you think and feel towards the world we live in today. Social tranformation must first come from an interpersonal level and then at a group level is essential for the change that is needed to bring Humanity into the next millenium and beyond. This written blueprint contains all vital information to help us to change the institutions bringing us closer to a true world harmony.
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