Week 9 - Anna Le

After reading the article, “New Age Commodification and Appropriation of Spirituality” by Michael York, I realized that spirituality has been appropriated long before the rise of crystals and astrology memes in today’s era since the article was written in 2001. In this ‘age of information’ era, anyone can look up videos or articles relating to any spirituality concepts or religious practices and have their own individualized understanding of certain religions and spirituality. What the author says is true in a sense where I have gained multiple perspectives from multiple different sources to understand religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, etc. No longer do we need to enter a Buddhist temple to learn meditation techniques or attend Sunday mass to learn about the bible because we can read about it on the internet. The author implicitly writes about commodification and appropriation of spirituality in a negative manner however, I do not necessarily think new-age is bad. What matters is that people feel fulfilled and find meaning with that learn along with experiences with their spirituality even if Bath and Body Works sell crystal-scented or astrology-themed candles.

• York, M. (2001). New age commodification and appropriation of spirituality. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 16(3), 361-372. doi: 10.1080/13537900120077177
• [Bath and body works astrology candles]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ebay.com/itm/BATH-AND-BODY-WORKS-ASTROLOGY-SIGN-EARTH-FIRE-WATER-AIR-MEDIUM-CANDLE-X4-NEW-/123298128485?_ul=NI