Shadow Culture: Psychology and Spirituality in America

by Eugene Taylor

A modern Varieties of Religious Experience that traces the sources of the New Age movement through three hundred years of "alternative" spirituality America is witnessing a third Great Awakening, an explosion of interest in esoteric and mystical religious experience. Often referred to as New Age or pop psychology-especially by its detractors-this new awakening is a profoundly psychological one, stressing the alteration of consciousness, the integration of mind and body, and the connection between physical and mental health. Shadow Culture finds the roots of the New Age in the sermons of Jonathan Edwards, the writings of Emerson and Thoreau, and the counterculture of the 1960s. It will appeal to anyone interested in the resurgence of spiritualism in America, from New Age seekers to Gnostics, from agnostics to Unitarians, from Swedenborgians to practicing Buddhists.

Genres: Psychology, History, Religion, Spirituality, Occult, Nonfiction, Philosophy

320 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1999

About the author

Taylor was a prominent historian of psychology, a research historian at Harvard Medical School, the curator of Gordon Allport’s papers, and an internationally renowned scholar on the work of William James. He was also the founder of the Cambridge Institute of Psychology and Religion, a board member of the Philemon Foundation, a fellow in two APA divisions, and a founding member of The New Existentialists.

He held degrees from Southern Methodist University, Harvard Divinity School (where he was the 1983 William James Lecturer), and a PhD in the History and Philosophy of Psychology from Boston University.

An early student of humanistic psychology, Taylor was present at some of the earliest transpersonal psychology conferences in the 1970s. Combined with his long-standing interest in Eastern religions, this exposure helped develop his scholarly interest in the study of consciousness itself, which he placed at the center of the psychological experience. Psychology, he emphasized, is a 'person centered science,' in which the subjective experiences of everyone involved are at the center of best practice. He held that the current 'neuro-revolution' in science will further affirm this: that the effort to study the neurons of the brain for the stirrings of consciousness will lead to the realization that there is no 'empirical' way to study consciousness without involving radical subjectivity. To take that subjectivity into account as central to understanding rather than futilely trying to dismiss it was, he said, the essence of good science.

'There is no science anywhere that does not involve someone’s personal consciousness somewhere,' he wrote.

His work at Saybrook, where he at various times chaired the programs in Consciousness Studies and Humanistic & Transpersonal Psychology, inspired many to follow in his footsteps and put existential psychology at the center of their own work and practice.

Reviews

[Kitap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Describes the "shadow" side or counterrculture of American religious and spiritual history from the Great Awakening to contemporary psychospirituality

[Marianne Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating and illuminating history of spiritual and psychological 'counter-culture' in the USA. Especially relevant for the way it sheds light on the evolving cultural undercurrents that inform our present, deeply divided situation.

[Danny Mindich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good secondary source for research on History of American Spirituality + Folk Culture.

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shadow Culture, in Taylor's usage, is referring primarily to the folk psychology and spirituality movements in the United States. The bulk of the book focuses on the history of these often marginalized and maligned groups while demonstrating their influence on US culture. This is a fascinating read for those interested in the spiritual subcultures of the United States.

[Jann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting overview of culture, in the search for meaning in the self, has evolved toward the "new age", as it relates to an alternative approach to religion, psychology, and science.