SEVERSON: And after we make our way past other jeep tours, and wait for the silence of a sky free of sightseeing helicopters, Marty translates a Native American poem.

MARTY: "Beauty to my life, beauty to my right, beauty above and beauty below me."

SEVERSON: Native American religion is an important part of New Ageism. So are Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity.

Ms. BUTLER: We all believe in a higher power. Whatever that is. Buddha, God, it doesn't matter. What the New Age is about is that it is saying hello, let's love ourselves. Let's release the guilt and shame. Let's take care of ourselves.

New Age is about fun too. This is actually a vortex in a can. Bit of humor for the relatives to take home.

SEVERSON: If not for the vortexes, or vortices, Sedona would be just another magnificent home for golfers, artists, and rich retires -- what it was once.

The awesome landscape of Sedona was a well-kept secret until the 1980s, when a traveling psychic said she was visited by a 3000-year-old druid. She said the Druid told her that there are powerful vortexes here in the red rock, like the one I'm standing on -- where the earth's spiritual energies are concentrated and magnified.

Dr. DONNA DARCY: I think that any type of religious person would feel that there is a God here. You have to feel it coming in.

SEVERSON: Only about 40 percent of Sedona's visitors are New Agers. Not everyone is convinced.

(To Frank Campbell): Can you feel the vibrations? Can you feel anything?

FRANK CAMPBELL: To be completely honest, no.

SANDY ROBBINS: I think it takes people away from the real truth, which is Jesus Christ. I think it stands in opposition to everything God stands for.

SEVERSON: There are several established religions in this town of 16,000, and apparently, religious harmony. Earlier this year, religious leaders met and agreed not to speak negatively of new age disciples or their beliefs.

Father J.C. Ortiz says there is no doubt that the presence of God can be felt here, but that it's a Catholic god, a Protestant god, a Jewish god.

FATHER ORTIZ: I don't think I would find fulfillment for your term New Ageism. For me, I think the fulfillment comes in living out the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Trying to be an example of what he taught us to be.

SEVERSON: Bill Leonard is dean of the Divinity School at Wake Forest University, and he is concerned about the growing popularity of New Ageism.

Dr. BILL LEONARD (Divinity School, Wake Forest University): One of the things that those of us who study religion and history might ask is whether or not some of these new age practices might represent what I call quick-fix religion. That is, you buy a crystal, you buy an amulet, involve yourself in incantations and chants as a way of hurriedly moving toward some kind of quick religious experience.

SEVERSON: One of the more common criticisms of New Age is that it is all about the individual.

Ms. BUTLER: The New Age is where we get in touch with our own self growth and take responsibility for our physical and spiritual and emotional health.

Dr. LEONARD: You have to ask, "are these religious practices narcissistic"? Are they so highly individualistic that they promote a kind of me-ism.

Ms. BUTLER: The culture of narcissism has gotten a bad rap. And it is about time that we started paying to ourselves. If we are not working on ourselves as human beings, if we are not taking care of our own needs, we become victimized. Or we become the people that our children can't look up to because we have never worked on ourselves.

SEVERSON: Remember, almost two out of three people who come here are searching -- for something.

Dr. LEONARD: You have people whose traditional religions just don't speak to them. And traditional religions can get set in their ways, and expect that simply because they claim to have truth, everybody should run to them.

Mrs. GARCIA: For the most part, I think it is hard to go. The message isn't clear. It is gibberish and it doesn't apply to your daily life.

GARCIA: Maybe it's that our religions in and of themselves as they are today are not getting us fully to where we need to be. The Generation Xers are just using other methods and added methods of getting there.

SEVERSON: But it is not only Gen Xers, it's also their parents who are standing on the 300-million-year old vortexes of Sedona. The City Council predicts the number of visitors will double in six years.

For RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY, I'm Lucky Severson in Sedona.