A Pilgrim in Aquarius

Rating:
Summary: Insightful, responsible guide to the search for the sacred.
Review: This is a well-written and comprehensive guidebook to the New Age, written by one who has traveled its roads. David Spangler distinguishes between the New Age and the New Age movement, and into the latter he lumps the fringe groups beloved of the media for their sensationalism. For him, the New Age is the consciousness of the sacred rising like a benign tide amongst us, breaking into our human world. He warns that this consciousness is filtered by our personalities, and that there will be those unable to handle "the sacred world of love and wisdom, fiery intelligence and passionate will, imagination and delight," and that this failure sometimes leads to bizarre manifestations.

He emphasizes that when one is on the spiritual path, it is important to ask the right questions to ensure that one is serving the whole and not one's ego. He warns of cults. "At the slightest whiff of a power game, look for the exit." He has no use for prophecies of apocalyptic disaster, describing them as movie-like projections of the seer's own fear and anger.

David Spangler was on his way to becoming a molecular biologist before mystical experiences intervened, and as befits this background, he writes objectively and with authority. He identifies fantasies and illusions on the one hand, commercial greed and power trips on the other, and gives the reader directions for a clear middle path towards a more benign future. If you read nothing else about the New Age, read this. (Tony Mitton)