Editing New Age (section)

==Commercial aspects==
[[File:New Age shop and Healing centre, St Albans, Hertfordshire.jpg|thumb|right|alt=New Age store along stone street with bicycles parked out front and large crystals behind display windows|Isis, a New Age shop named after the [[Isis|Ancient Egyptian goddess]] that was located in St Albans, southern England]]

Some New Agers advocate living in a [[simple living|simple]] and [[sustainable living|sustainable]] manner to reduce humanity's impact on the [[natural resource]]s of Earth; and they shun [[consumerism]].{{sfn|Heelas|1996|pp=74–75}}<ref>{{Citation|last=Spring|first=Joel H.|title=How Educational Ideologies Are Shaping Global Society: Intergovernmental Organizations, NGO's, and the Decline of the Nation-state|publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates|location=Mahwah, New Jersey, US|year=2004|edition=illustrated|page=119|chapter=Chapter 4: Love the Biosphere: Environmental Ideologies Shaping Global Society|isbn=978-0805849158|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Xssc9_3FPgC&q=%22Sustainable+living%22+new+agers&pg=PA119|access-date=2009-03-27}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The New Age movement has been centered around rebuilding a [[sense of community]] to counter [[social disintegration]]; this has been attempted through the formation of [[intentional communities]], where individuals come together to live and work in a communal lifestyle.<ref>{{Harvnb |Lewis|1992 | pp=200–201}}</ref> New Age centres have been set up in various parts of the world, representing an institutionalised form of the movement.{{sfn|York|1995|pp=40–41}} Notable examples include the [[Naropa Institute]] in [[Boulder, Colorado]], [[Hollyhock Retreat|Holly Hock Farm]] near to [[Vancouver]], the [[Wrekin Trust]] in [[West Malvern]], [[Worcestershire]], and the Skyros Centre in [[Skyros]].{{sfn|York|1995|p=41}} Criticising mainstream Western education as counterproductive to the ethos of the movement, many New Age groups have established their own schools for the education of children, although in other cases such groups have sought to introduce New Age spiritual techniques into pre-existing establishments.{{sfn|Heelas|1996|pp=77–78}}

Bruce argued that in seeking to "denying the validity of externally imposed controls and privileging the divine within", the New Age sought to dismantle pre-existing social order, but that it failed to present anything adequate in its place.{{sfn|Bruce|1998|pp=32–33}} Heelas, however, cautioned that Bruce had arrived at this conclusion based on "flimsy evidence",{{sfn|Heelas|1998|p=258}} and Aldred argued that only a minority of New Agers participate in community-focused activities; instead, she argued, the majority of New Agers participate mainly through the purchase of books and products targeted at the New Age market, positioning New Age as a primarily consumerist and commercial movement.<ref name="Aldred-2000"/>

===Fairs and festivals===
New Age spirituality has led to a wide array of literature on the subject and an active niche market, with books, music, crafts, and services in alternative medicine available at New Age stores, [[fair]]s, and [[festival]]s.{{citation needed|date=September 2014}}
New Age fairs—sometimes known as "Mind, Body, Spirit fairs", "psychic fairs", or "alternative health fairs"—are spaces in which a variety of goods and services are displayed by different vendors, including forms of alternative medicine and esoteric practices such as palmistry or tarot card reading.{{sfn|Sutcliffe|2003a|pp=181–183}} An example is the [[Mind Body Spirit Festival]], held annually in the United Kingdom,{{sfnm|1a1=Partridge|1y=2004|1p=65|2a1=MacKian|2y=2012|2p=24}} at which—the religious studies scholar Christopher Partridge noted—one could encounter "a wide range of beliefs and practices from crystal healing to ... [[Kirlian photography]] to psychic art, from angels to past-life therapy, from Theosophy to UFO religion, and from New Age music to the vegetarianism of Suma Chign Hai."{{sfn|Partridge|2004|p=65}} Similar festivals are held across Europe and in Australia and the United States.{{sfn|MacKian|2012|p=24}}

===Approaches to financial prosperity and business===
A number of New Age proponents have emphasised the use of spiritual techniques as a tool for attaining financial prosperity, thus moving the movement away from its counter-cultural origins.{{sfn|Heelas|1996|pp=60–62}} Commenting on this "New Age capitalism", Hess observed that it was largely small-scale and entrepreneurial, focused around small companies run by members of the [[petite bourgeoisie]], rather than being dominated by large scale multinational corporations.{{sfn|Hess|1993|p=38}} The links between New Age and commercial products have resulted in the accusation that New Age itself is little more than a manifestation of [[consumerism]].{{sfn|Heelas|2006|p=6}} This idea is generally rejected by New Age participants, who often reject any link between their practices and consumerist activities.{{sfn|Heelas|2006|p=85}}

Embracing this attitude, various books have been published espousing such an ethos, established New Age centres have held spiritual retreats and classes aimed specifically at business people, and New Age groups have developed specialised training for businesses.{{sfn|Heelas|1996|pp=62–65}} During the 1980s, many U.S. corporations—among them [[IBM]], [[AT&T]], and [[General Motors]]—embraced New Age seminars, hoping that they could increase productivity and efficiency among their workforce,{{sfn|Rupert|1992|p=127}} although in several cases this resulted in employees bringing legal action against their employers, saying that such seminars had infringed on their religious beliefs or damaged their psychological health.{{sfn|Rupert|1992|p=133}} However, the use of spiritual techniques as a method for attaining [[Profit (economics)|profit]] has been an issue of major dispute within the wider New Age movement,{{sfnm|1a1=Melton|1y=1992|1p=23|2a1=Heelas|2y=1996|2p=86}} with New Agers such as Spangler and [[Matthew Fox (priest)|Matthew Fox]] criticising what they see as trends within the community that are narcissistic and lack a social conscience.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|pp=358–361}} In particular, the movement's commercial elements have caused problems given that they often conflict with its general economically egalitarian ethos; as York highlighted, "a tension exists in New Age between socialistic egalitarianism and capitalistic private enterprise".{{sfn|York|1995|p=40}}

Given that it encourages individuals to choose [[spiritual practices]] on the grounds of personal preference and thus encourages them to behave as a consumer, the New Age has been considered to be well suited to modern society.{{sfn|Partridge|2004|p=34}}

===Music===
{{See also|List of new-age music artists|List of ambient artists}}

The term "[[new-age music]]" is applied, sometimes negatively, to forms of [[ambient music]], a genre that developed in the 1960s and was popularised in the 1970s, particularly with the work of [[Brian Eno]].{{sfn|Partridge|2004|p=175}} The genre's relaxing nature resulted in it becoming popular within New Age circles,{{sfn|Partridge|2004|p=175}} with some forms of the genre having a specifically New Age orientation.{{sfn|Partridge|2004|p=178}} Studies have determined that new-age music can be an effective component of [[stress management]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Principles and Practice of Stress Management, Third Edition |editor-last=Lehrer |editor-first=Paul M. |editor2=Robert L. Woolfolk |editor3=Wesley E. Sime |year=2007|pages=46–47|isbn=978-1593850005|publisher=Guilford Press|location=New York}}</ref>

The style began in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the works of free-form jazz groups recording on the [[ECM (record label)|ECM]] label; such as [[Oregon (band)|Oregon]], the [[Paul Winter Consort]], and other pre-ambient bands; as well as ambient music performer Brian Eno, classical avant-garde musician [[Daniel Kobialka]],<ref name="Birosik-1989">{{cite book |last=Birosik |first=Patti Jean |year=1989 |title=The New Age Music Guide |publisher=Collier Books |isbn=978-0020416401}}</ref><ref name="Werkhoven-1997">{{cite book |last=Werkhoven |first=Henk N. |year=1997 |title=The International Guide to New Age Music |publisher=Billboard Books / Crown Publishing Group |isbn=978-0823076611}}</ref> and the [[psychoacoustics|psychoacoustic]] ''[[environments (album series)|environments]]'' recordings of [[Irv Teibel]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Giaimo|first1=Cara|title=The Man Who Recorded, Tamed and Then Sold Nature Sounds to America|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-man-who-recorded-tamed-and-then-sold-nature-sounds-to-america|website=Atlas Obscura|date=5 April 2016|access-date=27 September 2016|archive-date=25 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160925021705/http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-man-who-recorded-tamed-and-then-sold-nature-sounds-to-america|url-status=live}}</ref> In the early 1970s, it was mostly instrumental with both acoustic and electronic styles. New-age music evolved to include a wide range of styles from electronic [[space music]] using [[synthesizer]]s and acoustic instrumentals using [[Native American flute]]s and [[drum]]s, [[singing bowl]]s, Australian [[didgeridoo]]s and [[world music]] sounds to spiritual [[chant]]ing from other cultures.<ref name="Birosik-1989" /><ref name="Werkhoven-1997" />