Marilyn Ferguson - Impact and Reissue

Impact and Reissue

Indirectly supporting both Ferguson and her critics, the New Age movement, as popularly understood, did thrive in the 1980s and into the 1990s, though this was partially through such pop-cultural manifestations as the autobiographical works of actress Shirley MacLaine and the “Harmonic Convergence” festival of 1987. While the period was marked by undeniable evolution in the fields of politics, education and medicine, many other ideas and practices were transitory. Through it all Ferguson remained an optimist, albeit one who did not ignore the depth of society's chronic problems. Commenting in advance of the 1988 presidential election, she noted that “there is no panacea for our social maladies” – but there remained the power of belief. “Our ‘foolish illusion’ that we can effect change fosters in us the capacity to act – and therefore to bring about change.” ("The Great Depression . . . The Great Schizophrenia," Brain/Mind Bulletin, October 1988.)

In 1987 The Aquarian Conspiracy was reissued, featuring a new introduction by another of her allies, futurist-author John Naisbitt (Megatrends). While slowly developing a followup work, Ferguson returned her primary focus to reporting on scientific research in Brain-Mind Bulletin. There she continued to explore the links between body and mind and new theoretical models in neuroscience, physics, psychology, education and health until the newsletter ceased publication in 1996.