Abstract
A prevalent belief among New Age adherents is that a new golden epoch is about to dawn. Channels, claiming to relay messages from disembodied entities, have been pivotal in shaping and spreading this belief. Analysis of twentieth century Israeli and American channels demonstrates that while explicit eschatological motifs prevalent in the 1920s and 1950s seem to have dissipated in the personal-growth oriented era of the 1970s, in actuality, eschatological thinking is still widespread, but in milder forms. Said thinking is then grouped into four analytical categories, arranged under the rubrics of source of change (human influence or external forces); and extent of change (partial or total). While only “softer” eschatological motifs dominate the current channeling scene, they are one of its main drawing points.
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Klin-Oron, A. (2017). Messages for the End: Eschatological Thought in Twentieth Century Channeling. In: Feraro, S., Lewis, J. (eds) Contemporary Alternative Spiritualities in Israel. Palgrave Studies in New Religions and Alternative Spiritualities. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53913-7_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53913-7_9
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