Gilhus/New Age in Norway, 6. Alternative Medicine

Alternative medicine and alternative therapy (CAM) is a vital part of New Age or alternative spirituality, in Norway as well as elsewhere. However, those health-oriented, spiritual practices conventionally labelled alternative medicine might be analyzed from a wide range of different perspectives. I provide a sketchy overview of the phenomenon of alternative medicine and therapy in Norway and seek to give a preliminary answer to what it means to consider such practices as religion. I use the spatial model of religion outlined by Smith (2003) and further adapted by Gilhus (2013) for the purpose of categorizing and gaining a certain overview of CAM in Norway “as” religion/resembling religion or religious or spiritual practices. This categorization is not meant to be conclusive; rather, it is more of a model “to think with” and part of a further discussion of the relationship between alternative medicine and religion towards the end of the chapter.