New religious movements and personal spirituality

Religion

The New Human Potential Movement answers current political, social, and spiritual needs. Characterized by a return to polytheism, the New Human Potential Movement also acknowledges the power of the individual to become a god too. Therefore, the New Human Potential Movement is equal parts religion, philosophy, and self-help movement. The religion formed in part to challenge the tyranny of monotheism and also draws from feminist neo-pagan religious traditions such as Wicca. However, the New Human Potential Movement is not neo-pagan. Ceremonial magick such as the type practiced by Aliester Crowley and the Ordo Templi Orientis fereconatures much more prominently in the ritual and theory of the New Human Potential Movement. An eclectic new religion, the New Human Potential Movement appeals to human beings from a wide range of social, economic, and cultural backgrounds. Offering an alternative to old, outmoded religious doctrine, the New Human Potential Movement infuses religion with politics, social awareness, and psychological empowerment.

The New Human Potential Movement began in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2005. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the city struggled to reconvene around its shared values. A city of such tremendous historical import and cultural cohesion should have been able to formulate a cohesive response to the natural disaster, but the failed response of the United States government forced too many of New Orleans residents out of their homes and places of employment. As a result, the city lost a significant number of residents who had previously been stalwarts in the religious community. Christian churches failed to bring the community together, and faith in the old religions such as that of Christianity was waning.

A group of local and long-time residents had formed a study group years before the hurricane hit. The study group focused on the Theosopical Society, the Golden Dawn, spiritualism, and New Age philosophy. Occasionally the group would examine the impact of Tibetan Buddhism on their lives, and meditation sessions became a regular part of the group's practice. After a while, the group began incorporating the local voodoo traditions into its lexicon and canon of beliefs. An eclectic, typically New Orleans worldview was formed: one that combined magic with creative self-expression. Added to the mix was the fact that the members of the growing group were as diverse as any other in North America. Members were rich, poor, and everything in between. African-America, Creole, Jewish, and Native American members counted themselves as members of the group.

The group met twice a month at an alternating members' household. Most of the meetings took place at the homes of two individuals: Ms. Jane Conkey and Mr. James Delveaux. Delveaux had a soft spot for Crowley and the Golden Dawn traditions and built in his home a ritual room in which members could meditate and take part in ceremonial magic rites. Thus begun the ritualistic traditions of what would soon become the New Human Potential Movement.

An organically formed religion, none of its founders ever claimed credit for developing the central doctrines of the faith. In fact, a few members of the New Human Potential Movement deny that "religion" is the right word to use to describe their faith. Whether or not the New Human Potential Movement is a religion is currently a topic for debate among scholars. Just as Prothero notes that the Theosophical Movement has been occasionally dismissed as a cult, so too has the New Human Potential Movement. According to Prothero, Theosophy has been deemed a cult but it is not. It is also a misconception that theosophy developed as "an organization devoted in large measure to promoting Asian religious traditions," (Prothero 197). The New Human Potential Movement also acknowledged the wealth of wisdom contained within Asian religious traditions without being derivative thereof. The New Human Potential Movement shares much in common with the Theosophical Society. In fact the aims of theosophy when it was founded was to "form the nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood of Humanity without distinction of race, creed, or color," and also "to promote the study of Aryan and other Eastern literature, religions, and sciences," and also "to investigate the hidden mysteries of nature." (Prothero 197). New Human Potential Movement members have written books but none have penned a book that is recognized as a sacred text or as a key piece of religious dogma.

As an eclectic faith, the New Human Potential Movement has a less rigid code of ethics than most other religions do. Like ceremonial magickal traditions, moral relativism and ambiguity is tolerated. However, there are a few beliefs that are cohesive enough for scholars to define the New Human Potential Movement as a religion rather than as a cult or a simple offshoot of New Ageism. One of those beliefs is that human beings are evolving psychically as well as physically. A belief in Darwinism is strong among New Human Potential Movement members, who categorically deny the efficacy of any mythological creation story including that of the Hebrew Bible. The central aim of the religion of the New Human Potential Movement is to foster psychic development, human telepathy, and other forms of what is sometimes called extrasensory perception. Rites and rituals, which are guarded with extreme secrecy, are ostensibly designed to foster human psychic development. There are no leaders, and no hierarchy of individuals in the New Human Potential Movement. Some group members serve in mentoring roles, coaching new members and guiding them towards reading material and spiritual practices that focus the mind and foster psychic growth.

Another core belief of the New Human Potential Movement is that religion serves a social and political function. If the New Human Potential Movement has any ethics, it is that religion has an obligation to fulfill social and political goals. Those goals center on social justice and equality. Of primary concern to members of the New Human Potential Movement is feminism, which is believed to be the final frontier of human political and social evolution. Members honor the past via a tribute to matriarchal societies such as those of the native Americas but the New Human Potential Movement fosters a sense of gender neutrality. Human sexuality is viewed as a means by which to cultivate spiritual growth and in the tradition of the Ordo Templi Orientis, sex magick is sometimes performed at New Human Potential Movement meetings.