New Age Spirituality is all about getting back your power. Not that you ever lost it. Sometimes you gave your power away, misplaced it, or forgot you had power in the first place.

And why does the term: "New Age Spirituality"... seem to bother some religious leaders, especially leaders of the Christian faith? After all, we are in a new age: The Age of Aquarius. The concept of an Age exists within ancient spiritual traditions, and lasts 2000 years. It denotes a change process, occurring during those 2000 years, for the evolution of consciousness, for the good of all. The energy which entered this plane over 2000 years ago, at the beginning of what astrology calls the Piscean Age...was Agape (brotherly and sisterly love) - love of one human being for another, simply because each is worthy of love and part of the same human family. That energy is only now being accepted in any general manner. It has taken us the entire Age for us to "get it."

Christ brought this love-energy to our world over 2000 years ago, and we humans have been working on it ever since. We are just beginning to open, to sisters and brothers everywhere. And now that The Age of Aquarius is finally here...maybe we have developed that critical mass of love-energy that is needed for this New Age Spirituality. This time, the message expands to, "not only are we brothers and sisters...we are one." The Piscean Age taught us, we are all connected; we must love one another as ourselves. The "other" is an illusion. You and I are one consciousness, reflected in an infinite rainbow of seeming difference. All is one.

The Age of Aquarius is referred to as the "New Age," but there is nothing new about it. It is simply an evolution in human thinking. "New Age" thinking, asks that each person take responsibility for everything that happens in life...because everything in life is connected. We must learn to love ourselves; for out of love for one’s self, comes love for others. The person who is bound by a negative image, wallowing in self-doubt, does not permit time or energy to really care about anyone else. When

The best way to inner peace...is to go within. How do you go within? You meditate. If prayer is talking to God, (Divine Intelligence, Source, Creator or whatever word you prefer to use) then "meditation" is the art of listening to God, while in an altered state of consciousness.

By going within, you connect with your God-Source, and you can receive all the answers to any question about your life that you might pose. This is what gives you back your power. For truly, you are a child of God, and as a child of God...a co-creator, One with the Infinite. You do not need a priest or a minister to intercede for you. And that scares your religious leaders. They recognize that you no longer need them in the same way you did in the past. They also recognize; they can no longer control you, through guilt or fear. Is it any wonder the words, or the concept of New Age Spirituality frightens religious leaders?

There is no doubt: We have left the Piscean Age, symbolized by the sign of the fish...and have entered the Aquarian Age symbolized by the water bearer. It is time to take back your power. It is time to remember you had it all along.

Elaine Murray is a retired elementary school teacher who lives on the shores of Lake Erie in Southern Ontario, Canada. She received her B.A. from the University of Western Ontario and is the author of "A Layman's Guide to New Age & Spiritual Terms", published by Blue Dolphin in 1993. She can be reached by e-mailing her at jaguare@kwic.com