Do we tend to accept as cultural things that were considered as a sub-cultural?
Is there in present time a difference between science and quasi-science?
While being in the process of looking for meaningful values and while trying to reach a deeper understanding of their inner life or being in the process of discovering the relationship between man and the universe, Westerners developed an interest in esoteric sciences like astrology or numerology. They are also interested in old religious systems like Egyptian, Indian or Chinese ones. It is even common today to use acupuncture or energy exercises.
What we describe as an alternative discipline or alternative science often implies a distinction between science and quasi-science, and it seems that we have to balance between the two of them. There are certain questions that seem to be extremely far from what European science was considered to be and which are nowadays proved by that European science. Here we think of telepathy, telekinesis, healing meditation, Chinese acupuncture and phenomena like an embryo or flower reaction to music etc.
In European societies, during the Christian era, astrology was thought to be a sort of a superstition and it was not recognized by the societies as it belonged to subculture. It was slightly similar to the subjects that belong to Feng shui today. Although during the Renaissance people in European societies learned a lot about esoteric geometry and built religious buildings by using that knowledge, it was not accepted by the official culture. More or less the same was with Feng shui in China, mention by Kwan Lau in the book Feng Shui For Today: Arranging Your Life For Health & Wealth (Weatherhill, 1996).