John E. Fetzer and the Quest for the New Age

John E. Fetzer (1901-1991) was a pioneer in the development of radio who went on to invest successfully in many other business interests and founded the Fetzer Institute in the 1970s. This biography focuses on his spiritual quest, beginning with his family background in Seventh-day Adventism as a point of departure for a much wider search. Fundamental to his quest was a faith articulated as early as 1927 as a 'magnetic influence for the good, upon every life with which we come into contact' entailing in the process creative inspiration and service to humanity. The idea of vibration frequency is natural for a radio man with an interest in Tesla who define humanity as 'though free to think and act, we are all held together, like the stars in the firmament, with ties inseparable. These ties we cannot see, but we can feel them…. I see a friend hurt, and it hurts me too; my friend and I are one…does this not prove that each of us is only a part of the whole?' (p. 38)

Fetzer's journey took in spiritualism in the 1930s (its nine principles are enunciated, including belief in Infinite Intelligence), ancient wisdom in the form of Freemasonry, Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, and the work of Alice Bailey as well as Theosophy, which form the core of his philosophy. He also took an interest in parapsychology from the 1950s on, and supported research projects in this domain in pursuing an understanding of the science of spirit (he also had numerous channellings from Jim Gordon, which are codified into an inspiring set of personal goals as conduits of Light, Love and Spirit – p. 166). His mature worldview (p. 123) posits an intelligent Divine Energy and the ultimate goal of human life 'to transform one's consciousness into superconsciousness or Christ consciousness by completely unblocking the flow', as a result of which we can achieve health, happiness and prosperity (echoes of New Thought here and some similarities with his fellow philanthropist Sir John Templeton). At one point, the major focus of the Institute was health, but this has now shifted to love and forgiveness as a way of catalysing global spiritual transformation.

I was privileged to visit to the Institute in 1994, by which time it had its own triangular building and worked to help 'nurture and bring humanity forward to a new level of awareness and potential.' It was striking that all staff stopped work for 20 minutes every afternoon, during which time they could meditate or cultivate their spiritual development in some other way. Fetzer's vision was of a New Age in a non-pejorative sense – a belief in potential spiritual transformation of the planet in which the transformation of science from materialist to spiritual monism plays a key role. As I write, this hope is still very much alive and focused around the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on the winter solstice. However, I feel that this transformation requires a much greater coherence than has yet been achieved, but collaborative platforms such as Humanity Rising and the outreach of Internet petition sites are promising avenues. Although the book documents the spiritual quest of one remarkable individual, the universal outlook emerging from it will be a source of continuing inspiration.