The New age milieu in Lithuania: popular catholicism or religious alternative?

ENThe vast majority of Lithuanians declare themselves Catholics. However, a closer look shows that many in fact believe in diverse and sometimes contradicting religious and spiritual ideas. This chapter investigates this discrepancy with reference to the New Age milieu, its social boundaries and relations with mainstream Catholicism. Two cases from the New Age milieu in Lithuania will show how the Catholic hegemony impacts even such seemingly "alternative" religious environments. The New Age phenomenon, its definition and its social ramifications have been discussed widely in academic literature over the last three decades. In his definition Wouter Hanegraaff distinguishes between two perspectives on the New Age sensu stricto and sensu lato. The chapter aims to discuss the place of the New Age milieu within the religious field of Lithuanian and within Lithuanian society at large. Geographical, historical, and political causes have combined to seal Lithuania more or less off from Western ideas. [Taylor & Francis]