New Age

A spiritual movement that is very individualized has come to be called "New Age" thinking. It means alternative thinking, people moving away from traditional religions, or keeping traditions but looking for something more. It's a hodgepodge of beliefs and practices. People make it up for themselves; in traditional religions you're not supposed to do that.

One New Age movement that gets some attention is the practice of witchcraft or wicca. Contemporary women who seek to remove the stigma cast by the persecution of "witches" in earlier times find a great spiritual awareness in the old teachings.

Practiced mostly by women, often these precepts are based in healing -- remedies, a knowledge of herbs, and the awareness of the seasonal cycles that govern all life on the planet. Many see the atrocities visited on women who were branded as "witches" as a need to crush the innate creative and healing powers of women. Often these were midwives, healers, and other women of great wisdom and kindness, whose lives were devoted to helping their communities.

More on Spirituality:

Spirituality
Gurus, Cults, and Mysticism
Religion
Science, Spirituality and Astrology
Worship and Vision