Eurasian Alchemy as an Anti-Authoritarian Form of Esotericism
Author: Nikolay Smirnov Now, when I hear the term ‘Russian New Age’ in the context of the war in Ukraine with the ongoing transformation of Russian society into something more and more...
Tagged: New Age culture
The Gurdjieff Movement in Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia: Past and Present I
Author: Sergey Pakhomov Terminology, Chronology, and Early Stages of Development The terms “Gurdjieff Movement” and “Gurdjieffism” are used here in their broadest sense, referring to the entirety of George Gurdjieff’s (1866–1949) ideas...
Citizen Diplomats in the Garden: Biointensive for Russia from the 1980s to the Present
Author: Carol Vesecky Back in the day, as a homemaker and mother in Palo Alto, I volunteered at church and in community organizations, and fundraised for UNICEF. I managed our home for...
“She Was Awakened by a Tall Humanoid”: Why People Need Alien-Abduction Narratives
Author: Alexander Panchenko Whether we consider New Age ontologies to be “religious” or not, we still need to analyze which super- or non-human intentional agents are involved in New Age beliefs and...
The Siberian Village of Okunevo: Fieldnotes from a Place of Power
Author: Yulia Senina (European University at Saint Petersburg) In addition to the Russian Orthodox Church and Protestant movements (predominantly Pentecostal), there is a multitude of new and diverse religious movements, spiritual teachings,...
New Age Diplomacy: The Role of the Esalen Institute in Ending the Cold War
Author: Birgit Menzel This paper has been presented at the 51st ASEEES Annual Convention held in San Francisco, CA, on November 23, 2019. In the early 1980s, one of the most dramatic...
The 2019 ASEEES Annual Convention
Our New Age project team is delighted to announce its participation at the 51st ASEEES Annual Convention, which will take place from 23 to 26 November 2019 in San Francisco, California. The...
Ritual Feast and Transpersonal Experience: Ossetian Religious Traditionalists in Search of Legitimization
Author: Sergei Shtyrkov The Republic of North Ossetia is special among other North Caucasian national republics of Russia (“national” means having a non-Russian ethnic majority as the main nation, the titular ethnic...
“Traditional” in Russian New Age Communities of Ecovillagers
Author: Julia Andreeva For many religious groups in Russia references to “folk,” “traditional,” and “heritage” play an important role in their popular theology. Usually, these markers allow them to emphasize the antagonism...
Alexander Panchenko on the New Age Project
In this interview with Alexander Panchenko, the head of the Russian project team, we learn about his understanding of New Age culture, his personal connection to our object of research as well...
