Walter Russell (1871–1963) was an American polymath best known for his achievements in painting, sculpture, architecture, and for his controversial unified theory in physics and cosmogony. He posited that the universe was founded on the unifying principle of rhythmic balanced interchange. This physical theory, laid out primarily in his books "The Secret of Light" and "The Message of the Divine Iliad", continues to be rejected by mainstream academia. This is mainly due to the fact that scientists assume the existence of matter and Dr. Russell assumes the existence of mind. Russell was also accomplished in philosophy, music, ice-skating, and as a professor at the institution he founded, the University of Science and Philosophy. He is also credited for coining the term 'New Age', which did not become a mainstream term until much later.
The term "New Age" in its contemporary sense can be traced back at least to 1944. That year, American artist and philosopher Walter Russell published the essay "Power Through Knowledge" in which he discussed “…this New Age philosophy of the spiritual re-awakening of man…”
As a mystic and visionary of the type described in Richard Maurice Bucke's 1901 work, Cosmic Consciousness, Russell accepted Bucke's premise that not only the human body, but also human consciousness, has evolved in stages. Human consciousness periodically makes progressive leaps, such as that from animal awareness to rational self-awareness many millennia ago. Russell believed with Dr. Bucke that humankind is now on the brink of making another key, evolutionary leap in consciousness. The next cycle of human evolution, said Bucke, will be from rational self-consciousness to spiritual super-consciousness on the order of that experienced by the great sages, religious figures, and mystics of the past 2,500 years and on up to today.
The idea was not that everyone would suddenly become a Christ, a Mozart, or an Einstein overnight. Rather, Bucke held that with each passing generation, more and more human beings will become routinely aware of their primary transcendent relationship to God, eternity, and the all-powerful creative source of the universe. Generations from now, Bucke believed, this level of enlightened, saint-like consciousness will be as common as rational self-awareness is now. In 1901, Bucke estimated that the number of individuals who have achieved this cosmically-conscious level of existence was extremely small, but he speculated that their numbers were increasing steadily.
So it was that in 1947-48, Russell wrote: “This New Age is marking the dawn of a new world-thought. That new thought is a new cosmic concept of the value of man to man. The whole world is discovering that all mankind is one and that the unity of man is real – not just an abstract idea. Mankind is beginning to discover that the hurt of any man hurts every man, and, conversely, the uplift of any man uplifts every man” (Message of the Divine Iliad, vol. 2, p. 69). Russell’s predictions about what the New Age would bring included “a marriage between religion and science” (MDI p 257).
Russell appeared to believe that this "New Age" would begin in 1946, based on a vision he had in 1921. As well, his generation was the direct witness of the struggles of man that pinnacled through the World Wars, stirring greater query to the ways of men.
Russell's literary works can be found at the University of Science and Philosophy (The University of Science and Philosophy was a home-study educational institution founded in 1949 by Russell and his wife Lao Russell) and can found today at:
http://www.philosophy.org/
His books include:
The Universal One, The Secret of Light, The Message of the Divine Iliad, vols. 1 & 2, A New Concept of the Universe, The Electric Nature of the Universe, The Secret of Working Knowingly with God, The Self Multiplication Principle, The Fifth Kingdom Man, The Immortality of Man
does any of this sound familiar to anyone?