Proceedings of the 1st Arts & Humanities Conference, Venice

“SPIRITUALIT(IES)” AND “CRIES” FOR “MOTHER GAIA” IN THE 20TH-CENTURY AND IN CONTEMPORARY EUROPE

SILVIA CARNELLI

Abstract:

Monte Verità and Glastonbury are two representatives of the so called “alternative wave” developing in Europe from the beginning of the 20th century. Rooted in Romanticism, it nowadays survives within the New Age culture. The alternative community and sanatorium Monte Verità (Switzerland), founded in 1900, became a meeting point for naturism, occultism and theosophy, interreligious dialogue and psychology, anarchism and the avant-garde during the century. Just the same, the Christian pilgrim place Glastonbury (England) has gathered Hippies, mystics, New Pagans, Ley-Line and earth-energies Hunters and New Agers, especially since the 1970s. In particular, both places have become “sacred” centers for those “new” spiritual currents sharing a common belief to the “Mother”: the “divine” energy that, being the source of all creation, is identified as feminine. Based on this conception of “God/dess”, several nature- (and “Mother”-) oriented healing businesses have been established in both places, amongst others through the support of various media channels. Furthermore, these “new” proposed ways of life mostly result from the integration of pre-Christian Celtic elements with Eastern imports (e.g. yoga and shiatsu). Finally, it is this eclectic mixture resulting in the belief to the “Mother” that constitutes their “alternativeness”: first, with regard to the rather “Father-based” Christian tradition; second, with regard to the capitalized and industrialized Western world. For all these reasons, Monte Verità and Glastonbury are two interesting outstanding examples to start the discussion about the “revolution” in the European social and religious practices of the 20th and of the 21st century.

Keywords: 20th-century Counterculture; 21st- century New Age; “Back to Mother-Nature”; Holism (Body, Mind and Soul); Human Well-Being and Sustainability; Business of Illness; “New” old religions; Eastern Imports; “Alternative(s)” to Christianity

DOI: 10.20472/AHC.2016.001.002

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