Do human beings have an eternal soul? Is it possible to manifest goodness in one’s life? Are love or wealth or peace of mind in the cards? These are the kinds of questions being asked today by millions of Americans who claim no brand-name religion.
A recent Pew Research survey detailing the religious landscape of the nation identified nearly 30% of U.S. adults as “nones”—people who claim no spiritual identity. While Pew surveys from recent years have shown their numbers leveling off after decades of sharp growth, many publishers see significant audience potential among those who seek meaning and purpose outside church doors and doctrines. Individual interpretations of the word spiritual vary greatly, so new and forthcoming books on the spirituality shelves cast a wide net, with coverage ranging from academic explorations to guides on manifesting one’s desires.
Bloomsbury Academic senior acquiring editor Richard Brown says he sees “more and more proposals and books on mindfulness, meditation, yoga, and more generally on how to lead a more engaged, more attuned life,” adding that “these draw on religious tradition and practice but aren’t grounded in religious tradition and practice.”
Some readers may want to discard religion and ideas about the afterlife altogether. That’s the focus of retired psychology professor and evolutionary biologist David Barish in a book Brown acquired, The Soul Delusion (Nov.). Barish dismisses the idea of a soul and of religions’ focus on its eternal fate, arguing that there is no afterlife. In his book, Barish writes, “No heaven and no hell actually
liberates the non-religious and frees them to answer Mary Oliver’s question, ‘What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?’ ”
Spirituality in practice
Expressing one’s beliefs in rituals and ceremonies carries spiritual freight for nones just as for followers of traditional religions. “Without our ancestors’ sense of frequent and intentional ceremony, we have lost the power to bring meaning to our everyday lives,” says Shari Dunbar Boyer, an herbalist who created dozens of contemporary rituals described in The Book of Modern Ceremony, due out from Workman in September.
Boyer’s book offers a fresh take on creating meaning, connection, and transformative experiences for people at every life stage, says Brooke Beckmann, the assistant editor who acquired the title. “There is an inherent connection between spirituality and self-care,” she explains. “As humans continue to seek ways to better themselves, their connections, and their communities, we’ll see an increase of books published at the intersection of spirituality and wellness.”
Popular psychology often cites self-esteem as a hallmark of emotional wellness. For religious people, self-worth is often rooted in the biblical passage that humankind was created in the image of God. Without that worldview, spiritual people look for different, personal paths to self-esteem. Author Christine Gutierrez, who describes herself as a “Latina licensed psychotherapist, self-worth expert, and spiritual thought leader,” is there to help with I Am Worthy: Break the Spell of Unworthiness, Reclaim Your Divinity, and Unearth Your True Power, out from Tarcher in August. Gutierrez, according to the publisher, blends “modern psychology with ancient wisdom,” rituals, ceremonies, reflection prompts, affirmations, manifestations, and healing meditations.
Seeking self-empowerment
For nones who have disconnected from traditional religion, finding meaning in life is often a personal project—one that, in some cases, is carried out via manifestation: the process of bringing desired outcomes to reality, often through visualization and focus. With that aim in mind, readers might find advice and encouragement in books such as Aligned Abundance: Release Expectations, Become Magnetic, and Manifest the Life of Your Dreams (out now) by Emma Mumford, who promises uncomplicated techniques that will do the transformative trick, according to publisher Watkins Media.
In the same take-charge-of-your-life vein, St. Martin’s Essentials offers two titles: Dreamifesting: Harnessing the Power of Your Dreams to Create the Life You Desire (Sept.) by dream expert Kelly Sullivan Walden, and Magnetic: The Secret to Manifesting Health, Wealth, Love and Happiness (Nov.) by personal growth coach Rochelle Fox. According to the publisher, Walden combines “motivational manifestation techniques and metaphysical spirituality with straightforward instructions,” while Fox offers an “attraction toolkit” to “train your mind to become a magnet for abundance and success in every area of your life.”
Many books aimed at nones focus on abundance. But Joel Fotinos, founder and publisher of St. Martin’s Essentials, says it’s not about piling up money but rather about achieving a state of mind that attracts “love, peace, creativity, health, and more.” He sees current authors writing about abundance building on ideas of earlier mind-body-spirit thinkers. “In this way,” he adds, “the wisdom library of the ages continues to grow and expand.”
Spiritual seekers, like traditional believers, often wonder what’s ahead and whether they can transform their lives, now and in the future. They’re a readership for whom mind-body-spirit publishers release stacks of tarot and oracle decks every year. For example, Inner Traditions’ Destiny imprint in June publishes Tarot as Storyteller: Psychic Development, Cartomancy, and Reading the Web of Fate by Slicrow, who, according to the publisher, promises to help readers find profound insights and learn to “utilize sacred space, and divine timing.” Another Destiny title, Palmistry for Happiness: The Transformational Power of Vedic Hand Reading (out now), is by palmist-astrologers Ghanshyam Singh Birla and Guylaine Vallée. They view their work as a spiritual practice offering people knowledge and tools to, in the words of Inner Traditions acquisition editor Jon Graham, “transform unhealthy habits and behaviors,” and shape their destinies.
Mysticism and mindfulness
Ella Chappell, editorial director for Watkins, says she sees spiritual-but-not-religious readers “moving away from individualistic philosophies and looking for ways of thinking that seek to connect us” and address the crises of our time. She points to mental health advocate Tom Davies’s Self-Obsession: How Our Need for Identity Threatens Our Wellbeing (May). In the book, Davies calls on readers to “free yourself from your psychological prison, and learn how to live the peaceful and joyful life that you deserve.”
Monkfish acquiring editor Jon Sweeney says readers can look for the spirituality at the heart of all religions in Zen teacher James Ishmael Ford’s book Zen at the End of Religion: An Introduction for the Curious, the Skeptical, and the Spiritual but Not Religious (May). Sweeney calls it an introduction to the essentials and foundations of the Zen path to enlightenment.
Buddhist, musician, and mindfulness teacher Ofosu Jones-Quartey, who writes and performs under the name Born I, shares songs, poems, and his life story in Lyrical Dharma: Hip-Hop as Mindfulness, out in July from Parallax, which says the melding of “music, mindfulness, and self-expression can provide a pathway to empowerment and well-being.”
There’s a hunger for books that focus on spirituality that mirrors the growing sales reported by Bible publishers during the past two years. Bloomsbury’s Brown observes both religion and spirituality tend to flourish during times of existential anxiety. “It will be interesting to see if that happens now with so many things in flux,” he says, “the global economic order, climate change, military threats, AI and technology, democracy under threat here and abroad, the pandemic.” Still, Brown doesn’t foresee a significant religious retrenchment or that the number of nones will keep growing exponentially. But when it comes to whether more people will be calling themselves simply spiritual, he adds, “The horse is out of the barn.”
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