ABSTRACT
Olav Hammer, following Richard Noll, uses the term 'Jungianism' to describe a form of 'modern psycho-religion' based on the cult-like role assigned to Jung as a New Age guru. Jung’s unique understanding of the meaning of Aquarius as the constellation of the incoming Aion is not traceable to any ancient or medieval source. Wouter Hanegraaff, in his important work, New Age Religion and Western Culture, refers to the New Age 'in sensu strictu': those currents of ideas which focus on the expectation of an imminent Aquarian Age and an accompanying radical shift in consciousness reflecting the meaning of the astrological constellation. The German esotericist Rudolf Steiner, whose Anthroposophical Society rejected the Eastern inclinations of the Theosophists but retained many of their ideas, likewise subscribed to the idea of a New Age, and referred to it as the 'Age of Christ's Second Coming'.
