Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions

804 Pages·10.567 MB·English

by  Henri P. P. Gooren (eds.)

EncyclopediaofLatinAmericanReligions
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_1-1
#SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2015
Afro American Religious and New Age Practices
MiriamRabeloa*andLucianaDuccinib
aDepartmentofAnthropology,UFBA,Salvador,Bahia,Brazil
bColegiadodeCiênciasSociais,UniversidadeFederaldoValedoSãoFrancisco,Petrolina,Pernambuco,Brazil
Keywords
Afro-American religions; Traditions; Syncretism; Individual trajectories
Definition
Afro-American religions in Latin America resulted from complex syntheses between the religious
traditions of the different African ethnic groups that were joined by slavery in the Americas, local
indigenous traditions, and Catholicism (the religion of the colonizers). They comprise a wide variety of
practices and groups, from the domestic-based but highly structured Caribbean Santería and Brazilian
Candomblé to the María Lionza groups of Venezuela and the tendas of Umbanda in various Southern
Cone metropolitan areas. The ways in which these religions have interacted with the New Age
movement – whose success among Latin America’s urban middle classes has been widely
documented – are an important question of research.
Introduction
DespitethehighlysyncreticcharacteroftheNewAgemovementandthesignificantpresenceofreligions
ofAfricanbackgroundinLatinAmerica,theliteratureonNewAgemakeslittlereferencetotheinfluence
ofAfro-Americanreligiosityonitspractices.AuthorslikeCarvalho(1994),Amaral(2000),andMagnani
(2000) actually note that whereas eastern religions and therapeutics, European pagan traditions, esoteric
spiritualismofthenineteenthcentury,andAmericanindigenousritualshaveallfoundanimportantplace
in New Age syntheses, elements of Afro-American origin have been markedly absent from them. More
recently,thisviewhasbeencontestedbyOliveira(2014),onthebasisofstudiesoftheBrazilianValedo
Amanhecer (Valley of the Dawn), a mystical-esoteric movement in which caboclos, a class of Afro-
Brazilian spirits, figure prominently. The Valley of the Dawn, however, seems to stand as an exception.
Comparing New Age and Afro-American Religious Traditions
GiventhevarietyofAfro-Americanreligions,itishardtomakegeneralizingstatementsconcerningtheir
relationswiththeNewAgemovement.Thus,ratherthanattemptingtoofferanexhaustivesurveyofthese
relations,thisshortoverviewwillconsidertwomainmethodologicalstrategiesthroughwhichtheycanbe
approached and comment on some of the findings of research based on these strategies.
The first strategy involves research on the organizational and/or cosmological features of New Age
groupsandAfro-Americanreligions.Thisapproachneedstodrawcomparisonsbetweenthetworeligious
*Email:[email protected]
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forms in order to locate elements that may either hinder or facilitate approximations and exchanges
between them and may render afar toostaticpictureofthe traditions studied –hence thecriticism it has
beensubjectedto.Nevertheless,wedofindcontrastsbetweenNewAgeandAfro-Americanreligionsthat
may help understand their relations.
Thefirstcontrastreferstotheplaceaccordedtotraditionwithineachofthesereligiousforms.Although
there is a wide variety of groups within the broad category of Afro-American religions, many acknowl-
edgesomekindoflinktoAfricantraditionandsomeexplicitlycultivatethislinkasameansofaffirming
identity and seeking legitimacy in their local contexts (Argyriadis et al. 2011; Capone 2004; Johnson
2002).ButwhereasAfro-Americanreligionstendtodefinethemselvesinrelationtoacommonlyshared
tradition, these ideas find no place in the New Age movement. Here it is authenticity to the self, or
individualautonomy,ratherthantraditionthatmustbesoughtafterandjustifiesallkindsofsynthesesand
forms of spiritual experimentation.
The second contrast refers to the types of organization found within both fields. Afro-American
religions are more or less hierarchical communities in which relations between members are often
organized on the basis of a family model and the distribution of authority generally follows a principle
of seniority (Lima 2003). There is of course much variation within this general model (Cf. Pollak-Eltz
2004; Macallister 2002) – some groups are more loosely structured, while others are highly hierarchical
andimposeheavydemandsonmembers’behaviorinsidethegroup.Alsoreligiousbondstendtooverlap
withkinshipandneighborhoodties–sothatrelationswithinthegrouptendtobebothverypersonaland,
ideallyatleast,alsomoredurable.Enteringthereligiouscommunityisoftendependentoninitiationand,
in some cases, a lengthy and demanding process of participation and learning is required to attain the
status of elders. Adepts are not only subordinated to their seniors but also to the deities and spirits, and
usuallybothhumansandsacredbeingsaredirectlylinkedtoconcreteplaces–thatis,theculthouseisnot
merely the space where they gather but the place where their power is firmly grounded.
AllthesefeaturesarenotonlyabsentfromNewAgegroupsbutseemtobeexplicitlyrejected.Instead
ofconstitutingcommunitiesthatstrivetobindindividualsonthebasisoflong-lastingbonds,theNewAge
movementfavorstheformationofcircuitsandfluidnetworks(Amaral2000;Magnani2000)inwhichan
autonomous self may be developed (Carozzi 1999).
Giventhesecontrastingfeatures,itmaybeassumedthatthelessconcernedwithfidelitytotraditionand
the less rigidly structured Afro-American religious groups are, the more they will be open to the
incorporation of different ideas and practices (and probably, more of their features will find a way into
New Age circuits). It has been suggested that spirit possession, which is a central feature of Afro-
Americanreligions,maypromoteacertaindegreeofopennesstoinnovation–butinthiscaseoneshould
considerthekindofspiritsthatareworshippedineachgroup.Thatis,themorethespiritsarefull-blown
agents with idiosyncratic inclinations that must be respected by humans, the more they are likely to
emerge as vehicles of innovation. Communicating freely and openly with humans, spirits such as the
Brazilian caboclos and exus or the Venezuelan malandros (Pollak-Eltz 2004) are more prone to bring in
new elements than the more aloof and silent African deities of the Candomble´ and Regla de Ocha, for
instance. In the Afro-Brazilian religious field, it is the more syncretic Umbanda – a religion where
caboclos and exus play a central role – rather than the rigidly structured Candomblé that has figured
more intensely in ongoing exchanges with the New Age movement. Oliveira (2014) refers both to an
esotericmodalityofUmbanda(umbandaesote´rica)whichhasincorporatedmanyNewAgeelementsand
to esoteric groups heavily influenced by Umbanda practices (esoterismo de umbanda).
Researchers also show differences between the concept of the person underlying the cosmology and
ritualpracticeofAfro-AmericanreligionsandNewAgecircuits.Theformerconceiveofthepersonasan
internally differentiated and potentially tense composite that must be constructed through the ritual
activationandcultivationofbondswithdeitiesand/orspirits(Goldman1987;Bastide1973).Thisprocess
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implies both some reduction of individual autonomy and a model of individuation dependent on the
developmentofrelationswithgods,ancestors,spirits,etc.(themorerelated,themorethepersonemerges
as a singular, differentiated being). The New Age movement instead places high value on individual
autonomyandseemstoinvestinmakingpersonsattunedtotheirinnerselves–aunifiedsacredcorethatis
seen to reflect an equally sacred cosmos. Despite these differences, however, as Prandi (1991) notes in
respect to the Brazilian Candomble´, ongoing ritual exchanges with deities also act to strengthen her to
carry out her personal goals and inclinations in the world. One of their sociological consequences is
precisely to sanction the individual pursuit of self-realization (and this may be another route of approx-
imation between Afro-American religions and New Age).
Alsorelevantforthepresentdiscussionistobrieflyconsiderhowtheconceptoftraditionhasbeenused
inresearchonsyncretismandreligiousinnovation.Ithasbeenarguedthatthetendencytotreattraditions
as self-contained systems precludes an understanding of the forms of exchange, appropriation, and
articulation operating between religions and reinforces the unfruitful dichotomy between tradition and
innovation.Oneofthewaysbywhichscholarshavesoughttocounterthisviewhasbeentosubstitutefor
an inventory of the main traits that define a religious tradition, an attention to the possibilities of
innovation (articulation, exchange, transformation) that inhere in a religion’s ritual and cosmological
knowledge(Brown2003;Palmié2002;Johnson2002;EspirítoSantoandPanagiotopoulosinpress).As
thelattershow,forexample,thenotionofcamin˜o(pathway)ofAfro-Cubancosmology–whichrefersto
the unfolding relations that define a person – enables various articulations between living humans, the
dead, and the orishas and, on another scale, between the different “traditions” that specialize in each
category of spirit and/or in specific modalities of ritual intervention. Suppress this example, if the
reference to Espirito Santo and Panagiotopoulos is to be suppressed.
Individual Trajectories and the Building of Religious Connections
ProcessesofexchangeandarticulationtakingplacebetweenNewAgeandAfro-American religionscan
also be documented through research that focuses on the trajectories and religious experiences of
followers and potential adepts. This methodological strategy privileges questions concerning the social
background offollowers and the contexts, practices, and relations through which they learn religion and
move between different religions.
Participants of New Age circuits in Latin America are predominantly middle-class urban dwellers.
Their religious knowledge is built through attendance to workshops, fairs, and centers of alternative
therapiesaswellastheuseofsites,blogs,andmagazinesspecializedinNewAgetopics.Afro-American
religions, by contrast, are historically associated with the experience of slavery and social exclusion of
Africansandtheirdescendants(Macallister2002;Bastide2001[1958])inLatinAmericaandthusduring
muchoftheirhistorywererestricted tothelowerstrataofLatin-Americansocietyandlookeduponwith
suspicionby theelite. Mostofthese religions suffered periods ofintensepersecution bythe state(Braga
1995) – though some were later converted into important representatives of their country’s cultural
heritage and identity.
IntheAfro-Americanreligiousfield,accesstoknowledgeoftenrequiresinitiationandiscloselyrelated
totheestablishmentofmoreorlessdurablelinkswiththereligiouscommunity,thespirits,andtheplaces
of cult. Traditionally, followers come from families with previous connections with this field, and many
have had contact with these religions since childhood.
At first sight, there seem to be few intersections between the trajectories of followers from each
religiousfield–theirclassbackground,religiousexperiences,andpathwaysoflearningareverydifferent.
Nevertheless, important crossroads can be discerned. The growing participation of the middle classes in
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Afro-American religions hascertainly contributedtocreatingaspaceofmutualinfluenceandexchange.
Though changes in the demographics of these religions have not followed a unified pattern, occurring
under the influence of different local and national contexts, most can no longer be classified as predom-
inantly “ethnic” religions or as restricted to the impoverished sectors of Latin-American society. These
changeshavetodobothwiththegrowthofablackmiddleclassinLatinAmerica(inBrazil,forinstance,
manyblackadeptsofCandombléandUmbandabelongtothemiddleclasses)andtheincreasingnumber
ofwhitemiddleclassindividualswhojoinAfro-Americanreligions.Thepossibilityofapproachingthese
religions as clients for magical services and/or as attendants to public rituals (Johnson 2002; Macallister
2002;Bastide2001[1958])providesanimportantrouteofaccessforthemiddleclasses,whoseinterestin
Afro-American religions was boosted by the cultural atmosphere of the late 1960s with its emphasis on
experimentation, on the value of alternative modes of knowledge and rationality, and on the search for
original, authentic cultural practices (elements that also contributed to the emergence and success of the
New Age movement in the continent).
Closelyrelatedtothisistheproliferationofmagazines,sites,andblogsdevotedtospirituality(broadly
defined) or even more specifically to the dissemination of knowledge concerning Afro-American reli-
gions:thereonefindsinformationonthepantheonofAfricandeitiesandtheirmyths,thecorpusofsongs
anddances,theuseofherbsandmagicalformulas,anddivination(somesitesevenofferonlinereadings).
Often this information is displayed alongside pieces devoted to other religious traditions or is directly
inspired by New Age ideas. These media have helped make Afro-American religions more familiar to a
widercircleofpeoplebuttheyhavealsobeenavidlyconsumedbyindividualswithdifferentlinkstoAfro-
American religiosity, including religious leaders – both as a means of creating religious ties beyond the
immediate group of belonging and as an alternative means of access to sacred knowledge that is usually
kept under the rigid control of ritual elders. If one adds to this the fact that Afro-American religious
communities have become a space of interclass contact, it is not surprising to find New Age reinterpre-
tations ofAfro-American ritualpracticesandmythscirculating among theclients, adepts, andleaders of
those communities.
Approximations and exchanges between the two religious complexes have also been facilitated by
Spiritism, whose significance in the Latin-American religious field cannot be underestimated. The
trajectories of both followers of New Age circuits and adepts of Afro-American religions often include
participationinSpiritistgroups–fromKardecistcenterstothemorepopular,syncretic,anddomesticcults
of spirit guides. As some scholars have pointed out, in Latin America, Spiritism has allowed for
interesting possibilities of interreligious (and interclass) dialogue providing a sort of lingua franca for
translating,connecting,andarticulatingelementsfromdifferentreligioustraditions.Commentingonthe
significanceofSpiritisminBrazil,Sanchisnotesthatitdefines“anatmosphere...thatendsupcreatinga
kindofcommonlanguageintheworldviewofBrazilians”(1997:106).AndPalmié(2002)suggeststhat
Kardecist Spiritist notions of evolution and illumination may have provided a wider framework for the
integrationofelementsfromdifferentAfro-Cubanreligioustraditions.Thesamecanbesaidinrespectto
theKardecistnotionofenergy:theideaofenergyflowsconnectingalllivingthingsandsubjecttochange
(increase or decrease) due to a variety of circumstances and modes of intervention not only holds an
importantplaceinNewAgediscourseandtherapeuticsbutfindsanequivalentinthe(Yoruba)conceptof
asè (the axe´ or ache´ of Afro-American cosmology).
Certain contexts also seem to greatly favor the multiplication of connections between Afro-American
andNewAgeconcepts.Amongthem,contextsofillnessandhealingstandout,particularlysituationsin
which sufferers and their families engage in intensive experimentation with the different therapeutic
alternatives available to them and in which healers themselves, mobilized by the urge to solve their
clients’afflictions,lookwithinterestatthepracticesoftheircompetitors.Healingplaysanimportantrole
inmostAfro-AmericanreligionsandalsointheNewAgemovement.Thus,theappropriation,adaptation,
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orreframingofhealingtechniquesandobjects(herbalbaths,fumigations,diets,etc.)canbeeasilyfound
among both New Age and Afro-American religious healers, and attention to such processes can be a
fruitful strategy for studying the interrelations between these religions forms.
Final Remarks
ThisshortoverviewexaminedsomeofthewaysinwhichrelationsbetweenAfro-Americanreligionsand
NewAgecircuitsorgroupsmaybeapproachedbyresearchers.Twomaintheoreticalandmethodological
strategieswereoutlined–onethatexploresthewaysinwhichtraditionsinteractandanotherthatseeksto
document connections by looking at religious trajectories. Rather than advocating the superiority of one
strategyovertheother,wehaveattemptedtoshowthatstatementsregardingthelackorinherentfragility
of connections between New Age and Afro-American religions may be an effect of the methodological
starting point of the studies on which they were based. Attention to both the dynamic character of
traditions and to the creative work of their leaders and followers may help further illuminate the matter.
Cross-References
▶Alternative Therapies
▶Counterculture
▶Divination Practices
▶Energy
▶New Age and Health
▶Valley of the Dawn
References
Amaral L (2000) Carnaval da alma. Vozes, Petrópolis
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pleine recomposition. Hermann, París
Bastide R (1973) Le principe d'individuation (contribuition à une filosophie africaine). In: Colloques
Internationaux du C.N.R.S
Bastide R (2001 [1958]) O Candomblé da Bahia: rito nagô. Companhia das Letras, São Paulo
Braga J (1995) Na gamela do feitiço. Repressão e resistência nos Candomblés da Bahia. EDUFBA,
Salvador
Brown DH (2003) Santería enthroned: art, ritual, and innovation in Afro-Cuban religion. Chicago
University Press, Chicago
Capone S (2004) A busca da África no Candomblé. Tradição e poder no Brasil. Contra Capa Livraria/
Pallas, Rio de Janeiro
Carozzi MJ (1999) La autonomía como religion: la nueva era. Alteridades 9(18):19–38
Carvalho JJ (1994) O Encontro e velhas e novas religiões: esboço de uma teoria dos estilos de
espiritualidade. In: Moreira A, Zicman R (eds) Misticismo e novas religiões. Vozes, Petrópolis,
pp 67–98
EspirítoSantoD,PanagiotopoulosA(inpress)Beyondtradition,beyondinvention:cosmictechnologies
and creativity in contemporary Afro-Cuban religions. Sean Kingston Publishing, Surrey
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GoldmanM(1987)AConstruçãoRitualdaPessoa:apossessãonoCandomblé.In:MarcondesdeMoura
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Johnson PC (2002) Secrets, gossip and gods. The transformation of Brazilian Candomblé. Oxford
University Press, Oxford
Lima VC (2003) A Família de Santo nos Candomblés Jeje-Nagôs da Bahia: um estudo de relações
intergrupais. Corrupio, Salvador
Macallister E (2002) Rara! Vodou, power and performance in Haiti and its diaspora. University of
California Press, Berkeley
Magnani JG (2000) O Brasil da Nova Era. Jorge Zahar Editor, Rio de Janeiro
OliveiraA(2014)ANovaEracomAxé:UmbandaEsotéricaeEsoterismoUmbandistanoBrasil.Revista
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PalmiéS(2002)Wizards&scientists.ExplorationinAfro-Cubanmodernity&tradition.DukeUniversity
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Pollak-EltzA(2004)MaríaLionza:mitoycultovenezoelano,ayeryhoy40añosdetrabajoenelcampo,
2ath edn. Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Caracas
Prandi JR (1991) Os candomblés de São Paulo. Hucitec, EDUSP, São Paulo
Sanchis P (1997) O campo religioso no Brasil. In: ORO AP, STEIL, CA Globalização e religião. Vozes,
Petrópolis, pp 103–115
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Age of Aquarius
AmurabiOliveira*
DepartmentofSociologyandPoliticalScience,FederalUniversityofSantaCatarina,Florianópolis,SantaCatarina,Brazil
Keywords
New Age; New religious Movements; New Millennium
Definition
The Age of Aquarius in principle is an astrological age that would start around the twenty-first century
(approximately in 2010), representing a change that would occur approximately every 2 Ma, and would
be the one that would succeed the age of Pisces. It began when the Sun at the time of autumnal equinox
(southern hemisphere) or spring (northern hemisphere), moved in front of the constellation Aquarius.
WhiletheageofPiscesbeganwiththeadventofChristianityanditwouldhavetakentolimitthevalues
identifiedwiththeWesternwayoflife,theAgeofAquariusinvolvedprofoundchangesinwaysofacting,
feeling, and thinking, in that men started to relate to the nature and the supernatural, which would be
possible due to the rebalancing between the poles that were in opposition and conflict (Magnani 2000).
Introduction
These issues gain greater visibility with the proximity of the arrival of the third millennium, when new
utopias are drawn up, and even though we may refer the New Age phenomenon as a set of broader
transformations,whosegenesiscanbefoundinthenineteenthcentury(Amaral2000),itisreasonableto
assume that these terms have become practically equivalent, since it would be with the Age of Aquarius
that would emerge as a New Era.
Although the Aquarian Age is not an exclusively religious phenomenon, since it covers a number of
practical and rather diffuse speeches, it emerges in a scenario marked by the end of inherited religious
identities (Hervieu-Léger 2008), which enables the invention of new arrangements in a broad dialogue
with cultural elements that are recontextualized. For Amaral (2000, 2003), this phenomenon is charac-
terizedbythepossibilitytoarrangeorrearrangedisarrayedelementsfromexistingtraditions,usingthem
as metaphors to express performatively a particular view at a certain moment, with particular objectives
posts.
In this process of a revival of the number of existing practices it is important to note that we’re not
referring to an automatic transmigration between the so-called European esotericism and practices
experienced in the twentieth and twenty-first century because we must consider that these factors had
the greatest impact on modernity and globalization across the world, especially in Latin America.
Moreover, the field of study of the esoteric religions has referred, mostly, to the rites and doctrinal
elementsreservedtothemembersadmittedtoamorerestrictedcenter,whereas,exoterichasbeensentto
the public part of the ceremonial (Boas 1994), and the Age of Aquarius is precisely an extension of
practicesthatwouldenableamoreholisticexperience,aswellasthepublicwhocouldaccessthisreality.
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Gain space in this new time beyond the esotericism and European occultism, which are deeply
reworked for the formulation of a “new gnosis” (Mello 2004), the American transcendentalism of the
nineteenth century, and theosophy, developed by Helena Blavatsky, Henry S. Olcott, and Annie
Besant, etc.
With the advent of the counterculture movement and the consequent increase in the flux between the
EastandWestwiththe“invasionofthegurus”intheWesternworldalongwithitseasternphilosophiesor
oriental inspiration, the movement takes clearer features, which are outlined even more with the
infiltration of the scientific character of discourse (or pseudoscientific as stated by some) having as
landmark,thepublicationofFritjofCapra’stheTaoofPhysics(1974).Perhapsthesearetwoofthemain
poles that were set in the opposite way and tend to take on new contours in the Age of Aquarius:
West/East,Science/FaithalsohighlightthebinomialBody/Mind,whichbecomethoughtwithinaholistic
perspective, which is even more evident compared to alternative therapies that diffuse in this period
(Martins 1999; Tavares 2012).
It is important to note that this phenomenon is related to the advent of the modern individual that can
activate knowledge that is continually renewed reflexively, so that this process of transformation that is
advertised in the Age of Aquarius is thinking mainly but not limited to the level in the subject, not at
random religions that emerge at this time are also known as self religions (Andrade 2002).
We are dealing, therefore, with a myriad of discourses, practices, and sociocultural arrangements that
cover infinity of realities, both religious and nonreligious but whose inspiration leads to a kaleidoscopic
experience(Amaral2000).Nevertheless,theAgeofAquariusdoesnotproduceaunifieddoctrinalbasis;
onthecontrary,itisamovementwhoseoneofthepillarsispreciselyanantinomy,aunifieddoctrinalbasis
at least in its general aspect considering that within their heterogeneity there are also movements that
produce a rigid doctrinal basis, seated in complex hierarchical structures, which does not mean it is not
formed a coherent whole (Lacroix 1996).
Wecanaffirm,ingeneralterms,thattheAgeofAquariusbecomesimportantatdifferenttimesaround
theworld,sothat,inLatinAmerica,wewillhavegreatervisibilityofthisesotericculturefromthe1970s
and 1980s (Andrade 2002). It is worth highlighting that the political moment in most of Latin America,
partly explains the cultural debate centering around other issues, considering the presence of numerous
politicaldictatorshipsinthathistoricalmoment,butontheotherhand,attentionthefactthattherewasan
intense debate about the counterculture movement in the same period, broadly, which was significant
giventhatthecounterculturemovementwasdeeplyattachedtotheprofusionoftheseideasintheAgeof
Aquarius should be drawn into attention (Amaral 2000; Magnani 2000).
Oneelementthatplayedacentralroleinthedisseminationofideaswasthemagazinesthatbegantobe
publishedthatturnedtothesetopicsaswellastheexplosionofself-help booksandotherswithmystical
character, as the literature produced by the Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho (1947–), which began to
function as true circulation channels of ideas. In parallel to this movement, events with very different
character were organized but they had in common the defense of a more holistic perspective and the
announcementofanewtimeapproachingorthatwhichhadalreadybegun.Withdifferentformatssuchas
seminars,lectureseries,workshopsetc.,thereisstillacleardirectionfortheSelfimprovement(D’Andrea
2000), which does not exclude the collective dimension of lived experience.
Anotherimportantdimensiontobehighlightedishowtheclassisrelatedtothedisseminationofideas
relating to the Age of Aquarius in Latin America. Initially this was a phenomenon almost exclusively
belonging to the middle and upper classes, moreover there was the existence of a series with more
universal character references that placed the Indians at the north American plains, the Castañeda, the
Incas, the Siberian shamanism – not to mention the presence of European esotericism, Eastern philoso-
phies, antiquity mystery cults, wicca tradition, and Celtic paganism (Magnani 2006).
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The social changes that have been experienced, accompanied by a greater profusion of ideas
concerning the Age of Aquarius, as well as a gradual incorporation of the lower classes to a wider
consumeruniverse,enabledtheemergenceofnewarrangementsinwhichthesediscoursesandpractices
initiallyexperiencednowbelinkedalsowithotherexistinginpopularreligiosityandculture,thustakinga
completely new character (Oliveira 2014).
For example, the oracular practices that exist in the various African-American religions, as well as
indigenousshamanismthathappenedtobereframedwithinwhatiscalledtheneoshamanism,besidesthe
use of herbs, teas, and other therapeutic techniques and ritualistic character existing in Latin America,
began to articulate what the discourses present in the idea of an Age of Aquarius. We can interpret
this process also as a rebalancing of Poles, considering the opposition between the erudite and the
popular, which correlates to the cultural changes experienced in Latin America in recent decades
and how the many influences that have been reworked forging what Canclini (1997) called “Hybrid
Cultures.”
This does not mean that the fusion of the various elements is something new in the proposal of the
AquarianAge;infactitisnot.Whatisnewistheintroductionoffeaturesthatwerenotpresentandthatare
linkedtosocialandculturallystigmatizedgroups,and,therefore,requireareconstructionofmeaningthat
theypossess,tyingupthechangesnotonlyreligiousbutalsopolitical,ethnic,andeconomic,thepresence
of elements derived from popular culture in Latin America amidst the “mystical-esoteric nebula” only
made possible in the context of broader changes of these societies, which enables us to rethink the
symbolic hierarchies historically constructed.
The announcement of the new times that came with the Age of Aquarius is marked, therefore, by
overcoming a range of antinomies, and Latin America that formed by erudite and popular poles,
especially in the religious field, would be one of that most highlight. The holistic perspective seems to
be one that would allow a mooring between all these possibilities, what happens in the individual and
community level, be it a community that is an ephemeral phenomenon (Amaral 2000) or some other
structurethatthefromamoreconventionalmodel(Oliveira2012,2013),becausethechangesannounced
by the Aquarian Age can be experienced in many ways, there is a wide range of possibilities to achieve
self improvement.
The Practices in the Age of Aquarius
The dawn of the Age of Aquarius brings the promise of a new time, a renegotiation between poles that
wereseparated,asthebodyandthemind(orsoulwithinamorespiritualvision).Facedwiththisscenario,
the body is no longer perceived as a machine, and is now thought from a holistic perspective, giving it
another centrality. Now through bodily practices, people seek mental and spiritual elevation. About
change that began in the West in the way of understanding bodies, Martins (1999) states that the
redefinition of the human body does not reach, however, only the physical body, but it’s all the social
imaginarythatisreinstituted.AgainstaCartesianrationalismthatwantedtoeliminateemotions,fantasies,
and imagination, emerges a body language that questions the old body instrument and values culturally
the fantastic images, emotions, and desires.
Thereisthusanotherproposedembodiment–thechangearoundyourimaginaryimpliedalsoachange
intermsofsocialpractices.AttheheartoftheissuesbroughtbytheAgeofAquariusarealsopresentthe
paradigm shifts with respect to the body. The meeting between the west and the east, linked to the
counterculturemovement, madetheemergenceofascenario inwhich newbodypractices begantogain
prominence possible, although in principle they were boundalmost exclusively to the middle classes, in
Latin America these changes begin to be felt between the decades the 1950s and 1970s, which occurs
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EncyclopediaofLatinAmericanReligions
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_2-1
#SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2015
parallel to the great growth of some cities, a result of the strengthening of national industrialization.
In this period, it begins to open a holistic perspective of looking at the body and dialoging with the
reflections brought by the counterculture and the Eastern culture (Melo 2011), although the academic
visibility of these issues is seen later.
Thesearchforsuch“alternative”isalsoputinthemidstofaperceptionprocessofthelimitsofWestern
culture, indealingwiththeproblems byitself sothatthesubjects seekanswers sometimes inpremodern
practices, “archaic” as those related to shamanism, indigenous rituals, and Eastern practices such as
acupuncture,yoga,theayurveda,theReiki,etc.AccordingtoBastide(2006),whiletheidealofmodernity
is spreading around the world has witnessed just in the central countries of modernity, and more
particularly in the privileged classes, a reaction movement, a movement “against modernity” marked
by the resurgence of archaic existence forms that end to end reverse contemporary forms of being.
There is a democratization of religious ecstasy is marked by the body control and this control is not
performed by an outside agent but through a process of self-knowledge that leads to a new body control
and to a reencounter with the mind/spirit.
Thebodythusbecomesagatewaytothesoulandself-knowledge.Thepracticesthatseektheseresults
in the Age of Aquarius usually have a mediator, who explains and introduces the subject as a particular
practice,whichcanbedoneinworkshops,exhibitions, courses,lectures, holisticcenters etc.,orthrough
mediumsthatallowtheaccesstotheinformationinamoreindividualizedway,suchasmagazines,books,
internet sites, and social networks. The type of casual frequenter that Magnani refers to (1999) usually
seeks to have as many experiences that gain new meanings in relation to the previous path of the
practitioner, but there are other types that turn to a greater depth in some practices existing in the Age
of Aquarius.
ThesepracticesleadtoabreakfromtheparadigmofmodernWesternbiomedicine,bringingabroader
notion ofthebody,from concepts suchasharmony,energy flow,holism, etc,which become commonin
thevocabularyofthosewhoseekmeaninginthisuniverse.Theeventspasstobeunderstoodfromtheidea
of balance/imbalance, harmony/disharmony, so that the practices of the Age of Aquarius seek to build a
self- knowledge thatisrealized intheindividual and collective plan.Thus,suchpractices convergewith
the changes announced in this new era of humanity.
Cross-References
▶Body and New Age
▶Christianism and New Age
▶End of New Age
▶Energy
▶Gnosis
▶Neo-Esotericism
▶New Age
▶Newarization
▶Sel Help Industry
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