Some five years ago, we had a lot of things coming together: Covid conspiracy theories, and a proliferation of mis/disinformation and fake news.
We even saw the creation of a lunatic fringe in a sleepy ye Olde England...
This is a reflection of what is seen as the disturbing phenomenon known as Conspirituality:
a portmanteau neologism describing the overlap of conspiracy theories with spirituality, typically of New Age varieties
From the Journal of Contemporary Religion from 2011:
It offers a broad politico-spiritual philosophy based on two core convictions, the first traditional to conspiracy theory, the second rooted in the New Age: 1) a secret group covertly controls, or is trying to control, the political and social order, and 2) humanity is undergoing a "paradigm shift" in consciousness. Proponents believe that the best strategy for dealing with the threat of a totalitarian "new world order" is to act in accordance with an awakened "new paradigm" worldview.[4]
There's a website with regular podcasts and blog pieces devoted to looking at conspirituality:
Investigating the intersection of conspiracy theories and spiritual influence to uncover cults, pseudoscience, and authoritarian extremism.And it's a book:
Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat (Audio Download): Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, Julian Walker, Matthew Remski, PublicAffairs: Amazon.co.uk: Audible Books & Originals
It asks questions, as in this interview in Rolling Stone magazine: What is Conspirituality? Here's How Wellness World Got Red-Pilled
Why Are So Many Popular Wellness Influencers Red-Pilled?
Derek Beres, co-author of 'Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracies Became a Health Threat,' talks the rise of misinfo in self-help spaces
EJ Dickson - June 13, 2023
A few years ago, around the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a perplexing shift in the wellness space. Yoga teachers, holistic healers, crystal sellers — people who had never posted anything remotely political, seemed, all of a sudden, to start posting about the dangers of 5G radiation, surgical masks, blood-drinking pedophiles, and “gender ideology.” And while a few major influencers in the space spoke out against this trend, it seemed as if more and more wellness figures were getting red-pilled by the day.
This was the seed for the creation of Conspirituality, a podcast by Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, and Julian Walker about the intersection of the wellness space and (largely, right-wing) conspiracy theories. All three had a vested interest in investigating this topic: both Beres and Walker were involved in the yoga community for decades, while Remski was involved in several self-help groups that he later referred to as “cults.” And with the rise of the pandemic, with everyone and their mother seemingly posting baseless claims about Wayfair sex trafficking children and Covid vaccines killing young people, it was an opportune time for them to launch a podcast calling them out. (Editor’s note: the author of this article appeared on an episode of the Conspirituality podcast to discuss natural childbirth influencers.)
Now, Beres, Remski, and Walker have coauthored a book: Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat, which documents the modern-day rise of wellness gurus and misinformation peddlers like Kelly Brogan and JP Sears while probing the age-old racist roots of practices like contemporary yoga. Rolling Stone caught up with Beres to discuss celebrity influencers (and who he finds the scariest), Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s run for office, and Oprah’s surprising role in the misinfo space.
What is Conspirituality? Here's How Wellness World Got Red-Pilled
And finally, concern is going mainstream, with this recent piece in the New World/European magazine on the sick age of conspirituality:
The
sick age of conspirituality
Egged on by Trump and
RFK Jr, a deadly blend of conspiracy theory and wellness woo-woo is
going mainstream
Matthew
d’Ancona 1
October 2025
Two crazy old guys
talking nonsense about public health policy – right? Well, yes.
Last week, Donald Trump, flanked by his health and human services
secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, declared that pregnant women who take
Tylenol (paracetamol) increase the vulnerability of their babies to
autism: a lie.
The president claimed
that the Amish, many of whom shun modern medications and vaccines,
“have no autism”: another lie...
The
sick age of conspirituality - The New World
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