Paper short abstract:

The paper focuses on Castaneda's concept of “power” and its relation to “energy”, the core doctrinal trait of alternative spirituality. The phenomenon sheds light both on the role of the image of technology and the re-invention of indigenous religions in contemporary spirituality.

Paper long abstract:

The concept of “energy” is often cited as the most important doctrinal trait of the so-called New Age Spirituality. Its influence vastly exceeds the confines of spirituality, spilling into the popular culture and public discourse. The paper focuses on its specific rendering in the writings of Carlos Castaneda: his concepts such as “luminous eggs”, “power” and “Eagle” shed interesting light on some of the core questions that surround the concept of “energy” as a mirror of the process of sacralization of technology in our society. At the same time, the paper shows how the concept of “energy” permeates both academic and non-academic understanding of the precolonial religions of the Americas, thus reshaping our interpretation of indigenous cultures to fit the spiritual needs of the contemporary global West