Das unsichtbare neue Zeitalter: "New Age", privatisierte Religion und kultisches Milieu

In: Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, Band 41, Heft 3, S. 504-525

Abstract

As modernity is usually called disenchanted, new religious movements, New Age and occultism
are taken to mark a u-turn in the social development of religion. They are regarded as indicators of a "postmodern" religion. It is suggested that these movements follow the pattern
of the invisible religion observed by Thomas Luckmann in the 1960s. They are syncretistic and individualistic as an "esoteric culture"; their structure, the "cultic milieu", can be characterized
by a low degree of institutionalization and by commercialization of a magical market. From the
point of view of the consumer, the esoteric culture offers a 'holistic' understanding of reality.
The attraction of esoteric culture lies in a comprehensive integration of knowledge which in its
legitimate versions, in specialized institutional spheres, has become structurally invisible or
'occult' in modern societies.