This book offers the first serious exploration of the many different aspects of alternative spirituality. While there is much talk of 'spirituality' now, no other collection has specifically addressed its many 'alternative' -non-ecclesiastical in the broadest sense - manifestations. The authors aim to open up a relatively unexplored and often quite hidden dimension of religion in the modern world through non-confessional, critical study. They establish both the vibrancy of contemporary experiments in alternative spirituality, as well as its historical pedigree. The broad range of subject...

Vernacular religion is religion as people experience, understand, and practice it. It shapes everyday culture and disrupts the traditional boundaries between 'official' and 'folk' religion. The book analyses vernacular religion in a range of Christian denominations as well as in indigenous and New Age religion from the nineteenth century to today. How these differing expressions of belief are shaped by their individual, communal and national contexts is also explored. What is revealed is the consistency of genres, the persistence of certain key issues, and how globalization in all its...