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A Vision of the Aquarian Age: The Emerging Spiritual World View
Examines the spiritual nature of humanity and the wholeness of the universe and argues that the world is being transformed by a spiritual awakening
171 pages, Paperback
First published September 28, 1984
About the author
George Trevelyan
26 books3 followersSir George Lowthian Trevelyan 4th Baronet, was a New Age thinker.
In 1942, after hearing a lecture given by Dr Walter Stein, a student of Rudolf Steiner, Trevelyan discovered a spiritual world-view. During his lifetime he explored beliefs in angels, the calming effects of crystals and the power of ley lines, alongside organic farming and communal living.
In 1942, after hearing a lecture given by Dr Walter Stein, a student of Rudolf Steiner, Trevelyan discovered a spiritual world-view. During his lifetime he explored beliefs in angels, the calming effects of crystals and the power of ley lines, alongside organic farming and communal living.
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April 5, 2026
WAS THE ‘NEW AGE’ JUST AROUND THE CORNER IN THE 1970s?
Sir George Lowthian Trevelyan (1906-1996) was a British educator who was very prominent in the New Age movement; he was also associated with the Findhorn Foundation and the Teilhard de Chardin Society.
He wrote in the Foreword to this 1977 book, “This book is in no sense dogma to be believed. It is an attempt at exploration of Ideas which are alive and can therefore enter our consciousness and bring change… A remarkable change is taking place in the intellectual climate of our time. The holistic world view is penetrating our consciousness and superceding the rational materialism which is surely proving inadequate to explain our fantastic universe. Really we are recovering what was called the Ageless Wisdom of the ancient Mysteries, that the Earth is a sentient creature and not just dead minerals, that the human being is in essence spiritual, a droplet of Divinity housed in the temple of the body. This vision, once apprehended, lifts the basic fear of death in our death-ridden culture. The body may be destroyed, but the soul/spirit in each of us is deathless and immortal.
“Our age is filled with prophecies of doom and breakdown… but the greater truth is that there is no death without rebirth, no renewal without the breaking down of outdated structures and habit patterns… behind disaster is a transforming power at work out of the Living Whole, which can cleanse the planet, sweep away much that is negative and bring in a New Age. We certainly approach years of dramatic change. Technocratic man in greed, avarice and ignorance has failed lamentably in his stewardship of the planet and the Living Earth hits back at him in ever increasing disaster.
“But the grasping of the holistic world view leads directly to the emergence of an alternative lifestyle, working with the Living Earth and not merely raping and polluting her. This means nothing less than the emergence of a new human species, filled with a love for all life and a readiness to serve the Whole in caring, cooperation and compassion… Certainly the vision of the spiritual nature of man and the universe brings the conviction that the human potential is unlimited and that we stand at the threshold over which a quantum leap in consciousness is possible. Cosmic consciousness, a blending of mind with Universal Mind, is being achieved and demonstrated by more and more people… we are working with energies of life and being from the ocean of Divine Intelligence which can bring about change. There never was such a generation in which to be alive. ‘Look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.’” (Pg. 1-3)
In the first chapter, he states, “The emerging world view is essentially simple… A materialistic culture like our own… is preoccupied with facts and things… The spiritual world view stands in contrast to this position. It sees the world of Creative Spirit as primary---a realm of Absolute Being and Creative Intelligence, from which the phenomenal world or material world are derived… The spiritual world view is a vision of wholeness, an apprehension of the essential unity of all life… The inner core of man, that which in each of us might be called spirit, is a droplet of the divine source. As such, it is imperishable and eternal, for life cannot be extinguished.” (Pg. 6-7)
Later, he adds, “The spiritual world view accommodates the certainty that we all have invisible guides. So to speak, who are lovingly watching over our progress, and that we have a higher self, a spiritual principle, towards which we must perpetually aspire. All our sufferings are designed to teach us to overcome our lower desires, so that each of us may reunite with his or her own higher self.” (Pg. 13)
He observes, “This note of joy is a real sign of the new age. It seems to run through so many of the contemporary groups that characterize our era… Thus the whole of life becomes sacred. And once the same divinity is seen to be working within all diversity, all aspects of daily life begin to take on something of a ritual character… The spiritual world view, once experienced, cannot but permeate all our thoughts and actions… one awakens to the certainty of invisible planes of consciousness interweaving with our material world---regions people by those we love, who have moved on through the gate of physical death.” (Pg. 18-19)
He notes, “In this new order all living things are experienced as divine. A quite new orientation takes shape, Teilhard de Chardin called it ‘homing upon the Omega point.’ … Mankind has evolved to an unprecedented degree of ego-centered self-consciousness, with all its desolating sense of aloneness and separation… he may transcend that state, may discover that his inner being is spiritual, immortal and already one with the Whole.” (Pg. 20-21)
He argues, “If we posit the spirit as an eternal being, we must necessarily conclude that it existed before we were born as individuals. It descends into incarnation… as an already developed entity. The implications of this premise are immense. Firstly, it offers a very different perspective to those of materialistic culture on the question of survival after death… A much more important problem is preexistence… [which] introduces much graver issues of responsibility and purpose… We must learn to see birth as… a descent into the tomb of a body, and death as the release again into light and expansion of awareness.” (Pg. 33-34) Later, he adds, “Preexistence implies that a soul chooses voluntarily to incarnate.” (Pg. 46)
He observes, “An integral part of the picture of reincarnation is Karma, the Law of Compensation… Everything we do, whatever its moral value, brings its compensation, either in this life or a subsequent one… If we have badly wronged another in one life, it may be necessary to expiate the deed by returning to earth and meeting the same person in a later life, where we might… make some great sacrifice on his behalf. Until this is accomplished, our own soul is held back in its upward journey towards the light. And ultimately, the advanced soul, having wholly transcended self and egoism, will be filled with … love for all being. At that point, it will no longer need to return to earthly incarnation for further training… Karma…. Is not an inexorable law of punishment. Rather, it is a loving influence working on the souls of men until they can awaken to the spirit.” (Pg. 43-45)
He asserts, “The truth is that, in a most profound sense, the New Age is already here, waiting for us to bring it into manifestation by lifting and opening our awareness and allowing the timeless to be earthed. It is thus dependent on us when and where the New Age manifests.” (Pg. 73) He continues, “What it amounts to is a planting of the soul in the soul of the spirit, so that it may flower into new creativity…. Here is the real new birth that must come about in each soul through the creative flow of the higher Self. Here is the coming of the New Age.” (Pg. 75) Later, he adds, “The advent of this New Age means axiomatically that to the spirit all things are possible. In the spirit (Oneness) is abundance. And here we touch a new economic law for a new society… Our collective Higher Self is building a new world, right down into material society, and it wants nothing but the highest quality on all levels.” (Pg. 99-100)
He also cautions, “It is certainly apparent that mankind is approaching a great spiritual crisis or turning point, a partial consequence of its entry into the Aquarian Age. The seers and adepts of our time foresee profound inner changes before the end of the century… And the higher worlds are deeply concerned with what happens on this planet. They are prepared to pour in the powers of light for the redemption of mankind---but only if a sufficient number of men will invoke them and call on them to descend.” (Pg. 85)
He asks, “Is it purely fanciful in these rationalistic times to speak again of the nature spirits?… At Findhorn.. a remarkable experiment in cooperation between man and the invisible worlds was undertaken---a New Age community in which all aspects of life were dedicated to serving the spirit and its purpose… The whole unified field of consciousness of the nature spirits knew… that a group of men had made contact, and was willing to cooperate with them… such cooperation can indeed turn the deserts into blossoming gardens. And purify the pollution of the planet… The first step … was indicated in Rudolf Steiner’s Biodynamic system of horticulture and agriculture; and, more recently, research in America has provided scientific demonstration of an astonishing sensitivity in plants, hitherto inconceivable… surveyed in ‘The Secret Life of Plants,’ by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird.” (Pg. 120-121)
Perhaps surprisingly, he even suggests, “the Book of Revelation, seems to speak directly to our present condition… The images of the Apocalypse imply and portend a great cleansing of that within our culture which allows selfish exploitation of the earth’s resources… in the name of profit-making.” (Pg. 133, 135) Later, he adds, “Among those involved in any spiritual movement, there is always the risk of Luciferic infiltration… The Antichrist may work through the vehicle of ostensible light. We must be perpetually on guard…” (Pg. 145)
This book was one of the ‘classic’ books predicting that ‘New Age’ was just on the horizon. Of course, time (and unfulfilled predictions) has made us more cynical; but this book still will be of keen interest to those wanting a ‘picture’ of this vision at a given point in time.
Sir George Lowthian Trevelyan (1906-1996) was a British educator who was very prominent in the New Age movement; he was also associated with the Findhorn Foundation and the Teilhard de Chardin Society.
He wrote in the Foreword to this 1977 book, “This book is in no sense dogma to be believed. It is an attempt at exploration of Ideas which are alive and can therefore enter our consciousness and bring change… A remarkable change is taking place in the intellectual climate of our time. The holistic world view is penetrating our consciousness and superceding the rational materialism which is surely proving inadequate to explain our fantastic universe. Really we are recovering what was called the Ageless Wisdom of the ancient Mysteries, that the Earth is a sentient creature and not just dead minerals, that the human being is in essence spiritual, a droplet of Divinity housed in the temple of the body. This vision, once apprehended, lifts the basic fear of death in our death-ridden culture. The body may be destroyed, but the soul/spirit in each of us is deathless and immortal.
“Our age is filled with prophecies of doom and breakdown… but the greater truth is that there is no death without rebirth, no renewal without the breaking down of outdated structures and habit patterns… behind disaster is a transforming power at work out of the Living Whole, which can cleanse the planet, sweep away much that is negative and bring in a New Age. We certainly approach years of dramatic change. Technocratic man in greed, avarice and ignorance has failed lamentably in his stewardship of the planet and the Living Earth hits back at him in ever increasing disaster.
“But the grasping of the holistic world view leads directly to the emergence of an alternative lifestyle, working with the Living Earth and not merely raping and polluting her. This means nothing less than the emergence of a new human species, filled with a love for all life and a readiness to serve the Whole in caring, cooperation and compassion… Certainly the vision of the spiritual nature of man and the universe brings the conviction that the human potential is unlimited and that we stand at the threshold over which a quantum leap in consciousness is possible. Cosmic consciousness, a blending of mind with Universal Mind, is being achieved and demonstrated by more and more people… we are working with energies of life and being from the ocean of Divine Intelligence which can bring about change. There never was such a generation in which to be alive. ‘Look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.’” (Pg. 1-3)
In the first chapter, he states, “The emerging world view is essentially simple… A materialistic culture like our own… is preoccupied with facts and things… The spiritual world view stands in contrast to this position. It sees the world of Creative Spirit as primary---a realm of Absolute Being and Creative Intelligence, from which the phenomenal world or material world are derived… The spiritual world view is a vision of wholeness, an apprehension of the essential unity of all life… The inner core of man, that which in each of us might be called spirit, is a droplet of the divine source. As such, it is imperishable and eternal, for life cannot be extinguished.” (Pg. 6-7)
Later, he adds, “The spiritual world view accommodates the certainty that we all have invisible guides. So to speak, who are lovingly watching over our progress, and that we have a higher self, a spiritual principle, towards which we must perpetually aspire. All our sufferings are designed to teach us to overcome our lower desires, so that each of us may reunite with his or her own higher self.” (Pg. 13)
He observes, “This note of joy is a real sign of the new age. It seems to run through so many of the contemporary groups that characterize our era… Thus the whole of life becomes sacred. And once the same divinity is seen to be working within all diversity, all aspects of daily life begin to take on something of a ritual character… The spiritual world view, once experienced, cannot but permeate all our thoughts and actions… one awakens to the certainty of invisible planes of consciousness interweaving with our material world---regions people by those we love, who have moved on through the gate of physical death.” (Pg. 18-19)
He notes, “In this new order all living things are experienced as divine. A quite new orientation takes shape, Teilhard de Chardin called it ‘homing upon the Omega point.’ … Mankind has evolved to an unprecedented degree of ego-centered self-consciousness, with all its desolating sense of aloneness and separation… he may transcend that state, may discover that his inner being is spiritual, immortal and already one with the Whole.” (Pg. 20-21)
He argues, “If we posit the spirit as an eternal being, we must necessarily conclude that it existed before we were born as individuals. It descends into incarnation… as an already developed entity. The implications of this premise are immense. Firstly, it offers a very different perspective to those of materialistic culture on the question of survival after death… A much more important problem is preexistence… [which] introduces much graver issues of responsibility and purpose… We must learn to see birth as… a descent into the tomb of a body, and death as the release again into light and expansion of awareness.” (Pg. 33-34) Later, he adds, “Preexistence implies that a soul chooses voluntarily to incarnate.” (Pg. 46)
He observes, “An integral part of the picture of reincarnation is Karma, the Law of Compensation… Everything we do, whatever its moral value, brings its compensation, either in this life or a subsequent one… If we have badly wronged another in one life, it may be necessary to expiate the deed by returning to earth and meeting the same person in a later life, where we might… make some great sacrifice on his behalf. Until this is accomplished, our own soul is held back in its upward journey towards the light. And ultimately, the advanced soul, having wholly transcended self and egoism, will be filled with … love for all being. At that point, it will no longer need to return to earthly incarnation for further training… Karma…. Is not an inexorable law of punishment. Rather, it is a loving influence working on the souls of men until they can awaken to the spirit.” (Pg. 43-45)
He asserts, “The truth is that, in a most profound sense, the New Age is already here, waiting for us to bring it into manifestation by lifting and opening our awareness and allowing the timeless to be earthed. It is thus dependent on us when and where the New Age manifests.” (Pg. 73) He continues, “What it amounts to is a planting of the soul in the soul of the spirit, so that it may flower into new creativity…. Here is the real new birth that must come about in each soul through the creative flow of the higher Self. Here is the coming of the New Age.” (Pg. 75) Later, he adds, “The advent of this New Age means axiomatically that to the spirit all things are possible. In the spirit (Oneness) is abundance. And here we touch a new economic law for a new society… Our collective Higher Self is building a new world, right down into material society, and it wants nothing but the highest quality on all levels.” (Pg. 99-100)
He also cautions, “It is certainly apparent that mankind is approaching a great spiritual crisis or turning point, a partial consequence of its entry into the Aquarian Age. The seers and adepts of our time foresee profound inner changes before the end of the century… And the higher worlds are deeply concerned with what happens on this planet. They are prepared to pour in the powers of light for the redemption of mankind---but only if a sufficient number of men will invoke them and call on them to descend.” (Pg. 85)
He asks, “Is it purely fanciful in these rationalistic times to speak again of the nature spirits?… At Findhorn.. a remarkable experiment in cooperation between man and the invisible worlds was undertaken---a New Age community in which all aspects of life were dedicated to serving the spirit and its purpose… The whole unified field of consciousness of the nature spirits knew… that a group of men had made contact, and was willing to cooperate with them… such cooperation can indeed turn the deserts into blossoming gardens. And purify the pollution of the planet… The first step … was indicated in Rudolf Steiner’s Biodynamic system of horticulture and agriculture; and, more recently, research in America has provided scientific demonstration of an astonishing sensitivity in plants, hitherto inconceivable… surveyed in ‘The Secret Life of Plants,’ by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird.” (Pg. 120-121)
Perhaps surprisingly, he even suggests, “the Book of Revelation, seems to speak directly to our present condition… The images of the Apocalypse imply and portend a great cleansing of that within our culture which allows selfish exploitation of the earth’s resources… in the name of profit-making.” (Pg. 133, 135) Later, he adds, “Among those involved in any spiritual movement, there is always the risk of Luciferic infiltration… The Antichrist may work through the vehicle of ostensible light. We must be perpetually on guard…” (Pg. 145)
This book was one of the ‘classic’ books predicting that ‘New Age’ was just on the horizon. Of course, time (and unfulfilled predictions) has made us more cynical; but this book still will be of keen interest to those wanting a ‘picture’ of this vision at a given point in time.
October 1, 2023
I found this book quite difficult to digest but I am rating as 4 stars because I believe it has alot of merit and is a book that I would like to revisist again in the future maybe when I have more time to digest it! I feel it is q boom that needs to be studied rather then read and at this point in time I wasn't quite feeling it. It was wholly believable though and so I liked that it really affirmed a strong sense of faith. I wasn't keen on the chapter regarding the apocalypse and the chapter after that which talked alot about the dark side, I'd rather focus on the light as my brain is way to sensitive to that kind of stuff. Overall a gem for any esoteric library.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews