Published Sources / Further Reading

The following works provide useful background for understanding the distinctive religious, spiritual, New Age, and metaphysical environment of Sedona and the Verde Valley. The list includes studies specifically focused on Sedona as well as broader works on New Age spirituality, metaphysical religion, nature religion, and religion in the American West.

Sedona and New Age Spirituality

Crockford, Susannah. Ripples of the Universe: Spirituality in Sedona, Arizona. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2021.

Crockford, Susannah. “Becoming a Being of Pure Consciousness: Fasting and New Age Spirituality.” Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 23, no. 1 (2019): 38–59.

Crockford, Susannah. “How to Manifest Abundance: Money and the Rematerialization of Exchange in Sedona, Arizona, USA.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 28, no. 3 (2022): 920–937.

Sutphen, Dick. Sedona, Psychic Energy Vortexes: True Stories of Healing and Transformation from One of the World’s Most Powerful Energy Centres. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2022. Originally published 1986.

Shapiro, Robert, and Janet McClure. Sedona Vortex Guide Book. Flagstaff, AZ: Light Technology Publishing, 1991.

New Age, Metaphysical Religion, and Alternative Spirituality

Albanese, Catherine L. A Republic of Mind and Spirit: A Cultural History of American Metaphysical Religion. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007.

Albanese, Catherine L. Nature Religion in America: From the Algonkian Indians to the New Age. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.

Hanegraaff, Wouter J. New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought. Leiden: Brill, 1996.

Heelas, Paul. The New Age Movement: The Celebration of the Self and the Sacralization of Modernity. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996.

Kemp, Daren, and James R. Lewis, eds. Handbook of New Age. Leiden: Brill, 2007.

Sutcliffe, Steven J. Children of the New Age: A History of Spiritual Practices. London: Routledge, 2003.

Urban, Hugh B. New Age, Neopagan, and New Religious Movements: Alternative Spirituality in Contemporary America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2015.

Religion and Sacred Landscape in the American West

Szasz, Ferenc Morton. Religion in the Modern American West. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2002.

Martin, Joel W. The Land Looks After Us: A History of Native American Religion. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

McPherson, Robert S. Sacred Land, Sacred View: Navajo Perceptions of the Four Corners Region. Provo, UT: Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, Brigham Young University, 1992.

A Note on Sources

Some works listed above approach Sedona and alternative spirituality from an academic perspective, while others represent the beliefs and interpretations of participants themselves. Their inclusion does not imply endorsement by the directory. Together they provide useful perspectives on the development and diversity of Sedona’s religious and spiritual culture.