Writing a modern Varieties of Religious Experience, Eugene Taylor traces the lineage of the American visionary tradition through three centuries as sus- tained in a continuous "shadow culture" outside the mainstream. Taylor be- gins by returning to America's first Great Awakening, examining churches that broke with tradition and practiced induced trances, ecstatic whirling, automatic utterances, and "falling down in the spirit." He then explores the Second Great Awakening, wherein the practice of phrenology, homeopathy, and mesmerism again attest to a widespread belief in the connection be- tween mind and body. Taylor demonstrates that the shadow culture exists not in opposition to science but as an integral, if more occult, part of it.

Like its predecessors, today's Great Awakening is rooted in a shadow culture the counterculture of the 1960s. From Zen meditation techniques employed by professional athletes, to the widespread popularity of acu- puncture and herbal medicine, from the ascension of yoga and yogurt, to the guiding principles of the 12-step movement, this new spirituality is evident everywhere.