As I previously mentioned in my video on the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, there are two pillars upholding modern esoteric thought and practice. The first is, indeed, the Golden Dawn, and the second is Theosophy.

You may have never heard, or you may have a vague knowledge of it, but that doesn’t imply that it hasn’t substantially affected your views by its influential impact on the wider esoteric milieu.

The Astral plane, perennialism, the employment of Eastern concepts and techniques in esoteric practices are but a few significant contributions that the Theosophical Society has given to the occult world.

So, come along and let’s explore together the Theosophical Movement and Thought.

Hello everyone I’m Dr Angela Puca and welcome to my Symposium. I’m a PhD and a Religious Studies scholar and this is your online resource for the academic study of Magic, Esotericism, Paganism, Shamanism and all things occult.

So let’s explore Theosophy. As Carlson highlights, at the core of Theosophical thought is the belief that there is a single, universal occult tradition “The Secret Doctrine”, ancient but ageless, on which all religions, past and present, are in part based. This ancient “wisdom tradition” not only unites all religions but also religion, science, and philosophy. This grand synthesis is able to explain and embrace everything: God, the Universe, Humanity, Being, Creation, everything!

Have you ever heard a more transparent example of perennialism?

Theosophists also maintain that this core truth from which all religions and philosophies derive has always been known to the great religious figures and spiritual adepts of the past and from all over the world, from the ancient Egyptian Magi to Blavatsky herself!

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the lead theorist behind Theosophy, deemed this ‘mother doctrine’ not to be a religion but rather a belief system based on absolute knowledge.

As a result, Theosophy is primarily a form of Gnosis. It’s not a faith or an ecstatic revelation but ‘esoteric knowledge and ‘spiritual science’, as Rudolf Steiner remarked.

The basic principles of the theosophical doctrine are found in the two books by Blavatsky, ‘Isis Unveiled’ and ‘The Secret Doctrine’. Other Theosophists have contributed to giving coherence to the system outlined in these books. Examples are Mrs Besant’s “Ancient Wisdom and Esoteric Christianity”, A. P. Sinnett’s “Esoteric Buddhism”, and R Rudolf Steiner’s “Theosophy and Outline of Occult Science”.
(Carlson, 2016, p. 114)

The Theosophical Society was founded in New York City in 1875 by Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (1832–1907), George Henry Felt (1831–1906), and Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831–1891).

The founders evaluated a few names, but they eventually opted for the word Theosophy, derived from the combination of the ancient Greek words ‘theos’ and ‘sophia’, meaning God-Wisdom or Wisdom of God. They also capitalised the word to distinguish themselves from Christian theosophers such as Jacob Böhme (1575–1624).

As Gruffman observes, in its inception, the Theosophical Society had its roots in 19th-century Spiritualism, namely those European and North American occult currents that believed in and practised communication with the spirits of the dead. When Blavatsky travelled to New York, in 1875, she wrote that she was going there “on behalf of Truth in modern spiritualism … to unveil what is and expose what is not.” She also stated that they wanted to “replace spiritualist belief with the philosophy of Occultism.”

Thus, the Theosophical Society can be seen as a post-Spiritualist movement, which makes the early interest of the society in occult practices such as astral travel unsurprising. Over time, Theosophists became more interested in the theory than in the practice, and hence the latter element subsided.

The Theosophical Society was an international and perhaps colonial association that, by the end of the nineteenth century, had branches in British India, North America, Australia, and Europe. It was also open to people of all backgrounds seeking occult wisdom. Indeed the one objective of the society in 1875 was: “to collect and diffuse a knowledge of the laws which govern the universe.”

In 1878, the objectives were extended to include a number of instructions for members, saying that they had to “acquire an intimate knowledge of natural law, especially its occult manifestations”;

To “possess their inner and psychical self … and study to develop their latent powers”;

To “personally exemplify the highest morality and religious aspiration”;

To “oppose the materialism of science and every form of dogmatic theology, especially the Christian”;

Also to “make known among Western nations the long-suppressed facts about Oriental religious philosophies”;

And to “counteract … the efforts of missionaries to delude the so-called ‘Heathen’ and ‘Pagans’”;

And lastly to “disseminate a knowledge of the sublime teachings … of the archaic period”; and “aid in the institution of a Brotherhood of Humanity.”

The objectives of the Theosophical Society have been revised continuously over the years, but since 1881 tend to concern three matters, that are exemplified by the objectives that they put forth in 1886:

1. The first is to form the nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed and colour.

2. The second is to promote the study of Aryan and other Eastern literature, religions, and sciences.

3. A third objective, pursued by some of the members of the Society, is to investigate unexplained laws of nature and the psychical powers of man and, I guess, woman.

The early Theosophical Society engaged in various psychical experiments and investigations but soon became more of a society for research. In 1878, Olcott was elected as the president of the society while Sinnett started to claim that he was in contact with the same “Masters” or “Mahatmas” of Tibet who had been Blavatsky’s alleged teachers of ancient wisdom and inspired much of her written works. Blavatsky was then prompted to ‘prove’ the existence of these masters and did so by publishing the now-famous “Mahatma Letters,” preserved today at the British Library.

In these letters, “Masters” Morya Hoomi and Koot Hoomi expanded on themes Blavatsky had presented in “Isis Unveiled,” such as the presentation of a cosmological system in which human beings incarnated on earth through seven “Root Races,” as well as offering practical advice, including the promulgation of the requirements for disciples.

Despite the internal conflict, the Theosophical Society kept growing in memberships during the 1880s. In 1885, Blavatsky left India for England, where she completed the writing of “The Secret Doctrine” in 1888 and created, that same year, a new organization within the Theosophical Society, called as the Esoteric Section. (Gruffman, 2020, pp. 13–16)

Theosophy includes a vast array of religious concepts, occult texts, esoteric treatises, scientific discoveries, exotic terms, texts and concepts from India, Tibet, Ancient Egypt and elsewhere, Gnostic and Hermetic theories, wild speculations regarding fabled continents like Atlantis and Lemuria, and assorted elements of late nineteenth-century culture. All the various elements are held together as one ideological composite.

Cohesion is definitely maintained thanks to the underlying perennialist approach but there’s another concept that reveals to be crucial in this respect. And that’s the idea of the Masters or the Mahatmas, a collective of spiritually evolved beings. These Masters, according to the claim, possess insights into a truly ancient wisdom tradition, from which all genuine Western and Eastern religions and philosophies derive. Their profound insights were now becoming available to intrepid spiritual seekers thanks to the efforts of the leaders of the Theosophical Society. As explained by Hammer and Rothstein, ‘The various sources on which Blavatsky drew were harmonised and presented as reflexes of this vast, overarching wisdom tradition.

The postulated tradition included a highly complex and detailed cosmology and anthropology, predicated on the concept of evolution, and comprising, among much else, a view of history that included the legendary continents of Lemuria and Atlantis; a view of the human being as composed of several material and subtle “bodies”; and by the early 1880s it began to include karma and reincarnation as key to understanding how human beings are able to progress spiritually over vast aeons of time’.

(Hammer and Rothstein, 2013, pp. 1–2)

Now, this is, of course, only a brief introduction to Theosophy and cannot be exhaustive by definition. Let me know in the comments if you’d be interested in more videos on Theosophical concepts, practices, and theorists. Rudolf Steiner would definitely be an interesting one to cover as well as a more detailed analysis of Blavatsky’s works and the different Theosophical currents.

But as for now, this is it for today’s episode. If you like my project and want me to keep the Academic Fun going, including making more videos on Theosophy and the Theosophical Society I would really appreciate it if you would consider supporting my work with a one-off PayPal donation, by joining Memberships or my Inner Symposium on Patreon. Where you will get access to our Discord server, monthly lectures and lots of other perks, depending on your chosen tier. This project can really only exist thanks to your support.

And if you don’t have the means to support financially I would also appreciate other kinds of support, for instance, liking and sharing this video with your friends, subscribing to the channel, activating the notification bell, so that you will always be notified and will never miss a new upload from me. Let me know what you think about what I said and what you know about Theosophy and how impactful do you perceive it being in your personal worldview when it comes to Magick and the belief system associated with your esoteric practices. Let me know all in the comments. Thank you so much for being here and stay tuned, you know what’s coming, stay tuned for all the Academic Fun.

Bye for now.

REFERENCES

Carlson, M. (2016) No Religion Higher Than Truth. Princeton University Press. Available at: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691636337/no-religion-higher-than-truth (Accessed: 28 September 2022).

Gruffman, P. (2020) The Quest for Gnosis : G. R. S. Mead’s Conception of Theosophy. Stockholm University. Available at: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-192416 (Accessed: 28 September 2022).

Hammer, O. and Rothstein, M. (eds) (2013) Handbook of the Theosophical Current. Brill. Available at: https://brill.com/view/title/22123 (Accessed: 28 September 2022).

Uploaded 1 Oct 2022