Nelson has one of the highest rates of new age followers in the country and one expert suggesting the “Nelson lifestyle” is the reason why.
0.73 per cent of the population checked the box for spiritualism and new age religions in the 2013 census making Nelson a close second to Thames-Coromandel on 0.74 per cent.
Owner of Possibilities new age book and gift store, Avery Dash, says he believes Nelson has a large number of people following new age practices due to the laid back lifestyle the area provides.
“The lifestyle is very easy and laid back. [New age people] used to come here for apple pickling and then they stayed on. We have a strong arts and craft scene and a strong spiritual scene with a lot of little communities dotted around the hillsides”
He says he can understand why Nelson would have a higher population of new age following residents compared to some of the main centres.
“I think people how are into learning about themselves and wanting to live a gentler life would prefer not to live in Wellington or Auckland. You come down to nelson as a lifestyle choice, not to get rich.”
0.49 per cent of Wellingtonians and 0.37 per cent of Aucklanders identified as new age followers. The chatham Islands had no followers and Kaikoura had the next lowest with 0.17 per cent.
In Nelson 339 people identified as following spiritualism or new age religions although Avery believes the actual number is much higher.
“I would think that’s really low,” Avery says, “I know I didn’t put that down under religion, I just put nothing. I would think it’s much higher than that.”
He says new age is becoming more mainstream with people choosing to home school or send their kids to Steiner schools to experience different ways of learning. He believes people are often drawn to Nelson due to it’s high number of new age people.
“Because there are a lot of them it’s more like-minded, it brings an energy in. I get people who come to Nelson who have heard about us from Hawaii. It’s just the vibration and the feeling that brings them here.”
