New Age Deception: The Celestine Prophesy

In 1993 author James Redfield published The Celestine Prophesy. This book is a page turner, the exciting adventure of a man searching for the spiritual truths found in an ancient manuscript from Peru. I actually thought it was a true story when I read it. It turned out to be a spiritual allegory. Basically the protagonist follows a series of "signs", one coincidence after another that leads him on his destined path. The theme is that mankind is evolving toward a new spiritual awakening, the end result being that we will no longer have bodies but will be pure spirits.

This sounds hokey, yes? No one bought this premise, right? At the time that I read it, probably the year it was published or soon after, my dad told me it was New Age. Well, I didn't want to hear that. The story was so exciting, and I honestly believed that these types of books were really teaching "universal spiritual truths." When I thought of New Age, Shirley MacLaine, crystals, and reincarnation came to mind. I was never interested in crystals and didn't believe in reincarnation. I did feel uncomfortable with the whole idea that people will evolve to no longer have bodies, and I had forgotten all about that until I started retracing my New Age/occult path in my mind.

Surely after 20 years all of this nonsense has been forgotten, with no lasting, harmful effects? It was a silly phase of youth, and I am over it. Um, no. In fact, just a few posts back (Nov. 6, Belief.), I used the word synchronicity and asserted that "There are no coincidences." What I was talking about in this article was a "Holy Spirit moment", but I used lingo and philosophy directly from A Celestine Prophesy!

This idea of there being no coincidences, of everything and everyone being related, literally being one, is a core teaching of New Age philosophy. If you keep your eyes and ears and intuition open, you will be given signs on your journey to spiritual awakening. The right people, circumstances, and things you need will all fall into place, as if by magic. The Universe will conspire to get you exactly what you want. And truly, book after book crossed my path, each feeding my spiritual hunger. But what I was being fed was a doctrine of lies. I thought I was reading about "universal spiritual truths", those truths common to all of the world's religions. And that is precisely the goal of the New Age: one world religion.

A few years ago I danced to a song, "Gypsy" by Khan Nal, with these lyrics: We don't need your lost religion to tell us who we are. We're all...one! One people, one spirit, one earth...  And who does New Age religion say we really are? It says we are God.

On Synchronicity and Unschooling

"There are no coincidences." This is what a homeschooling friend of mine said when I was trying to figure out how I suddenly became interested in unschooling and how I randomly came across Astra Taylor's youtube video. Today that friend's daughter showed up unexpectedly at my house. I might have expected her, since Tuesdays are our set day to have her come over in the afternoons, and my intention has been to teach her and Beezy belly dancing. We have indeed done a couple of lessons. But last week this friend was sick, and I have been in pain from throwing my back out and did not plan to teach the girls belly dance today.

I did plan to get back to Beezy's homeschooling studies, but once again some other plan seems to be at work, a certain heavenly Providence. I do think that she thrives on a certain degree of structure. A common refrain from her is, "Now what?" Sometimes I will suggest things for her to do, while other times I tell her to figure it out for herself. It seems that when our formal "school" time is done, she is just killing time until the public schooled kids get home and she can find someone to play with. This is one of the reasons unschooling appeals to me. While a certain amount of structure is beneficial, I want lesson times to be less compartmentalized from the rest of life. Some days there will not be anyone available to play with. At times I have to do things such as prepare meals, so I can't play with her. If her dad is at work or otherwise unavailable and there are no playmates on hand, Beezy needs to alleviate her own boredom. She needs to learn to be content in solitude, or to have some days that are just for our family to be together. We don't always have to be going somewhere or doing something. Even for a home educated child who does not have the distraction of television or homework to do and a limited number video games to play, our modern society still somehow delivers the message that we cannot, under any circumstances,  just be.

Yesterday school was closed for President's Day, and Beezy was invited to play at the home of a family friend. Today, as I mentioned, her homeschooling friend came over without my actively planning it, so once again we are not doing school, though we certainly could later on. My back injury has mysteriously coincided with the children having several days in a row off school and a bounty of time to spend with friends and cousins. I have been able to read and reflect about unschooling, to write and to dream. It seems to be a clear case of synchronicity, of God nudging me in a certain direction seemingly out of the blue and then giving me all of this time to sort it out. Divine Wisdom is allowing me to be physically unable to do much else but to pray, read, meditate, and journal. What a gift! I dare not ignore the message. Things are exactly as they are meant to be, in this moment, in this time. How different life would be to always live in God's time, seeking and following his will. I feel like I'm on the verge of the freedom and authenticity I have sought for years. But I know I can't make it all happen in one day, one week, one month, or one year. I have definitely turned a corner though, and I must trust that the Promised Land awaits!

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matt. 6:33)