Table of Contents

List of Figures Acknowledgements Note on Quotations and Spellings List of Abbreviations Preface 1. Introduction 2. Theorizing New Age and Contemporary Spiritualities 3. Easternization: Indian Gurus and the West 4. Prem Rawat and Contextualizing Indian Religions in the West 5. Festivals And Music: Counterculture’s Religiosity? 6. The Significance of Glastonbury 7. Prem Rawat at Glastonbury: Occulture and Easternization? 8. The Aftermath of Glastonbury Fayre: Prem Rawat and Counterculture 9. Counterculture, Occulture and Easternization Revisited 10. Postscript Notes Bibliography Index

Promotional Information

Explores two key events that impacted the formation of contemporary spirituality in the 1970s: Glastonbury Fayre, 1971, and the arrival of Guru Maharaj Ji in the West.

About the Author

Ron Geaves is Visiting Professor in the School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University, UK. His recent publications include Islam and Britain (Bloomsbury, 2013), and The Study of Religion, 2nd edition(Bloomsbury, 2013).

Reviews

A fascinating spiritual and countercultural account of the child Guru Maharaj Ji’s appearance on the Pyramid Stage at the legendary 1971 Glastonbury Fayre, compellingly interwoven with personal memories from someone who really was there, and sharpened by insights from both religious studies and festival culture. This book invites us critically to re-evaluate Glastonbury’s religious resonance and is a significant contribution to our understanding of the history of Glastonbury Festival.
*George McKay, Research Council (AHRC) Leadership Fellow for Connected Communities, University of East Anglia, UK and editor of The Pop Festival (Bloomsbury, 2015) and author of Senseless Acts of Beauty, Glastonbury: A Very English Fair (2000)*