Toward a New Spirituality

About

For millennia spirituality has been an integral part of human life, affecting the way we experience the world, the people around us, and ourselves. Existing in every culture, and affecting everything from architecture to the calendar, our tendency toward the spiritual has had a considerable influence on the world we find ourselves in today.

Since the enlightenment, rational thought and scientific method have supplanted spirituality as the main lens through which we understand the world. This has had many advantages, leading to enormous strides in technology, public health, and means of mobility. However, in a society which has put rational thought and the economy above all else, we find ourselves in the middle of a pandemic, at an environmental crisis point, and with a growing proportion of people, especially young people, suffering from mental health difficulties which for many are a consequence of the difficulties of living in this sort of society.

At this point of crisis, spirituality has found a renewed popularity. Suggesting, perhaps, that something might be missing for many in modern Western society. Today people explore spirituality in magic, astrology, shamanism, the natural world and Eastern spiritual practices like yoga and meditation. Toward a New Spirituality presents work which engages with these and related spiritual practices, highlighting the myriad ways in which people are approaching spirituality in the 21st century.