When we hear the word “New Age”, what is the first thing that pops into our minds? Probably a new form of thinking, where ideas are welcomed and change is encouraged. It is probably a period in history, something in the likes of the “Pre-historic age” or the “Medieval Age”. It is probably happening right now, the 21st century where life is modern and “New Age” refers to everything that is currently happening.

As a matter of fact, the “New Age movement” is something that has been happening for quite some time and is not really new. There are a lot of different branches of the “New Age movement”, which includes New Age art, New Age music, New Age Spirituality and so on. So what exactly is “New Age” and how does it affect our lives today?

What does “New Age” mean?

If you do a simple search in Google, you would probably come up with a million different and confusing search results that will take you to a lot of different sites that are religious in nature. There is nothing confusing about this, because the term “New Age” is actually coined to describe a spiritual movement for the modern world. In a nutshell, the New Age movement’s main aim is to be a boundless and borderless spiritual movement that combines the Western and Eastern culture to create the perfect and holistic approach when it comes to spirituality. It is the movement which combines all of the theories of the past 2000+ years and rejects all of the unnecessary and unrealistic baggage that plagues most common religions and ways of thinking. The New Age movement believes in the importance of a perfect balance between the three main components of humanity: Body, Mind and Spirit.

• The Body is the shell or the basic physical manifestation of the human being, and it is the main toll that we use to interact with the physical world;
• The Mind is the non-physical or the subconscious aspect of the human being, and it is the tool that we use in order for us to create and imagine the things we need that can manifest itself in the physical world;
• The Spirit is the metaphysical, and it basically deals with the “being” of the human existence.

If during more primitive times, religion or spirituality cannot live side-by-side with science, the New Age movement actually claims that human beings live for the Body, Mind and Spirit. Perfect balance should be created between the three fundamental aspects of the human so that we can continually grow in understanding and wisdom. As you can imagine, this brings a whole new perspective to the way a lot of people do things, especially the way they think. This New Age Movement actually started a revolution in a lot of things, including modern art and contemporary art, music, religion and spirituality, politics, social behaviors and life in general. Most of things that we thought couldn’t go together is completely meshed together by the New Age movement, and these are the two things that stood in complete disagreement over the millennia: science and religion.

A brief history of the New Age Movement and its impact

The New Age Movement actually started in the 20th century, when a lot of scientists and religious individuals started to question why their two fields seem to repel each other. A lot of these individuals are devout and religious men and women who began questioning the mysteries of religion and why they seem to conflict greatly with the facts of science. This brought out the idea that Science and Religion could, in fact live harmoniously together and the meshing of the two gave the world a new insight to the way we see life in general. It is no surprise then that a lot of movements were born out of the New Age way of thinking:

• New age art. When you say art, you generally think about art galleries, art and photos, and a fine art gallery. The fact is, art is a rather general term, which includes music and literature as well. The New Age art movement is basically the art which transcends the physical, mental and spiritual boundaries of man. It deals with the higher awareness of a human to his own existence which leads to better understanding and wisdom.
• New Age Spirituality. In terms of spiritual impact, New Age is more concentrated on the human being in general and our relationship to the universe. It combines a lot of the aspects of different religions, including: atheism, monotheism, pantheism and polytheism. All of these religions, combined with science, is the basis of the New Age spiritual movement. It draws inspiration from all of the popular religions throughout the ages and uses the most useful and practical practices of the said religious movements
• New Age Lifestyle. Basically, the New Age Lifestyle follows one simple rule: create a sustainable environment through simple living standards that will help ease the burden and the depletion of our Earth’s natural resources

A whole new meaning to New Age art

New Age art is a revolution in art movement that is exactly what the New Age represents: free-flowing and without boundaries. It is much more than getting your art and photos in a fine art gallery, but more of crating art so that it increases awareness of the human to his own glory and existence. New Age art is so much more than contemporary art, abstract art or even modern art, because it basically deals with the combination of the body, mind and spirit to create awareness and to transcend the boundaries that limit us to our very own existence. It is in these reasons why New Age seems a little bit of a mixture of contemporary and abstract styles, and New Age music seems to be a bit more about relaxation, inspiration and meditation; New Age art is further continuing the job to promote spirituality and awareness and it transcends all manner of ethical and spiritual backgrounds.

The continuing role of the New Age artists in the modern age

New Age art artists are spiritual in nature. They tend to create their art forms in a way that promotes spirituality and one’s relationship to his self. It is therefore important that a new age artist be completely aware and is educated in the means of meditation, relaxation, and creating the perfect balance of the body, mind and spirit so that it shows in his or her art, whether it be in the form of art and photos or music.