Prophets of a New Age

Summary

Say “New Age” and many people think first of candles, crystals, incense, and Tarot cards. But this image, according to Martin Green, is a mere caricature of important cultural movements of the 18th and 19th centuries as well as our own era, affecting art, politics, religion, and everyday culture. These "New Ages" are pivotal eras that share a preoccupation with political change, experimental art, new ideas about medicine, sex, primitivism, and the familiar axis of love/nature/peace/spirituality. Martin Green analyzes the work and influence of such notables as Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy, William Blake and D. H. Lawrence, Gary Snyder, Annie Besant, Rachel Carson, and Carl Jung, among many others. The “ideas, icons, myths, and rituals” of these New Age prophets have left a lasting imprint on our current ideas. Green presents an immense amount of diverse material in a coherent, imaginative, and convincing form.

About the Author

Martin Green (1932–2010) was born in England. He was a writer, playwright, editor, and publisher. His numerous books explore psychoanalysis, philosophical nonviolence, countercultures, and adventure, among other social and intellectual topics.