Theosophical Society

Scopo di queste pagine è fissare alcune premesse generali per una rilettura storica globale della psicosintesi. Per farlo è necessario adottare uno sguardo multifocale, in grado di evocare il contesto immediato e remoto dell’opera di Assagioli. La premessa è che la psicosintesi è spesso oggetto di malintesi e non detti, ascrivibili in buona parte al métissage operato dal pensiero di Assagioli, un pensiero sorretto da molte fonti e irradiante in varie direzioni. Assagioli era, come noto, un poliglotta e un attraversatore di mondi; alcuni di questi territori sono ancora poco mappati, storicamente compresi, e su di essi gravano preconcetti che non consentono di cogliere né l’originalità della psicosintesi, né tutta la portata della sua “funzione storica”. Qui vorrei provare a sondare alcune dimensioni di questa complessità. Per farlo seguirò il filo rosso delle psicotecniche di Assagioli, le cui origini sono (curiosamente) in parte poco note.

According to the Bible, Eve was the first to heed Satan’s advice to eat of the forbidden fruit. The notion of woman as the Devil’s accomplice is prominent throughout the history of Christianity. During the nineteenth century, rebellious females performed counter-readings of this misogynist tradition. Hereby, Lucifer was reconceptualised as a feminist liberator of womankind, and Eve became a heroine. In these reimaginings, Satan is an ally in the struggle against a patriarchy supported by God the Father and his male priests.

This study delineates how such Satanic feminism is expressed in a number of nineteenth-century esoteric works, literary texts, autobiographies, pamphlets and journals, newspaper articles, paintings, sculptures and even artefacts of consumer culture such as jewellery.

In the material, four motifs in particular are prominent: 1) interpretations of Eve’s role in the fall of man as something positive, 2) the witch as a proto-feminist figure, 3) the demon lover as an emancipator, 4) a feminised Satan contrasted with an oppressive male God. A fifth and less central motif is conceptions of Lilith, according to Jewish lore the unruly first wife of Adam, as the first feminist.

The analysis focuses on interfaces between esotericism and the political realm, as well as the interdependence of literature and the occult. New light is thus shed on neglected aspects of the intellectual history of feminism, Satanism and revisionary mythmaking. The study is informed by theories concerning counter-readings, counter-discourses and counter-myths, and in particular highlights the complex interplay of such phenomena and the hegemonic discourses that demonised feminism. A key theme in this context is the limits and paradoxes of inversion as a subversive strategy.

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Lorsqu’on cherche dans le Dictionnaire Historique de la Suisse l’article sur Georges Méautis (1890-1970), l’helléniste (docteur honoris causa de l’Université d’Athènes) et recteur de l’Université de Neuchâtel, pas un seul mot n’est consacré à ses idées philosophiques, même si elles sont le fondement de son enseignement et de toutes ses recherches et publications. On ne saurait dire si c’est par ignorance ou par préjugé contre les idées de Méautis de la part de la rédactrice de l’article en question.

Ghiaccio e fuoco, repulsione e attrazione lottano eternamente nell'Universo. Questa lotta determina la vita, la morte e la rinascita perpetua del cosmo. Uno scrittore tedesco, Elmar Brugg, ha scritto nel 1952 un'opera in lode di Horbiger, in cui dice: "Nessuna delle dottrine che spiegano l'Universo faceva entrare in gioco il principio di contraddizione, della lotta di due forze contrarie, di cui tuttavia l'anima dell'uomo si alimenta da millenni. Il merito imperituro di Horbiger è di aver risuscitato potentemente la conoscenza intuitiva dei nostri antenati attraverso il conflitto eterno del fuoco e del ghiaccio, cantato dall'Edda. Egli ha esposto questo conflitto agli occhi dei suoi contemporanei. Egli ha dato base scientifica a questa immagine grandiosa del mondo legata al dualismo della materia e della forza, della repulsione che disperde e dell'attrazione che riunisce."

This is the first conference of the newly established research network, Enchanted Modernities: Theosophy, modernism and the Arts c. 1875-1960, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. The conference will be organized in collaboration with the Centre for the History of Hermetic philosophy and related currents, University of Amsterdam.

This article presents the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary and the cognitive error made by Helena P. Blavatsky concerning this dogma. Blavatsky ascribed the term “Immaculate Conception” to the content of one of the basic tenets of the Christian faith, which is the Incarnation of the Lord. An additional mistake in connection with this error was the observation that it was only in the middle of the 19th century that the Church elevated this truth to the rank of dogma. The confusion of the conception of the Mother with the Incarnation of the Son, and the association of the latter with the term “Immaculate Conception” gave rise to further difficulties, when the new verse of the Litany of Loretto pointed to Mary as “immaculately conceived.” The doubled cognitive problem that H. P. Blavatsky had to face because of this led her to announce further fantastic theories about the Immaculate Conception, which were not challenged by anyone for the next 150 years. Her grave cognitive error is now widespread and responsible for the functioning in contemporary Western culture of popular expressions such as the “Immaculate Conception of Christ,” where the “immaculateness” of the conception means the absence of sexual intercourse leading to the conception of a child. As a result of the widespread use of expressions of this type the authentic content of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary remains unknown to many people. In the article, this issue is presented based on the sources, which testify to the agency of H. P. Blavatsky as regards the spread of this cognitive error in the Western culture.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, there were a myriad of racial theories circulating throughout Europe, all of which had their antecedents in the nineteenth century. A common link for these theories was an innate anti-Semitism that kept the Jewish “race” separate and denigrated. Within occult circles in Germany and Austria, Theosophical theories of race and human evolution were intermingled with Pan Germanic nationalism, anti-Semitism and nostalgic appeals to a Germanic heritage prior to Christianity. This potent cocktail of ideas were consumed heavily by various groups such as the German Order, the Thule Society, and promoted by Ariosophists such as Guido von List (1848-1919) and Jorg Lanz von Liebenfels (1874-1954). Together, these individuals and organizations laid the foundation for a variety of ideas that informed Nazi race theory and contributed to the Nazi Holocaust, claiming the lives of over 20 million. While there are no direct links, most, if not all of these individuals and organizations found inspiration and validation within the work of the Theosophical Society and in particular the materials of Madame Blavatsky.

From the middle of the 19th century Western World especially USA encountered with a phenomenon called “modern spiritualism”. The phenomenon experienced by American Fox sisters is thought to be the beginning of modern spiritualism. Prior to that case, names of E. Swedenborg and F. A. Mesmer expressed such as significant contributers in establishing the theoretical framework of modern spiritualism. This understanding which based on the principal that to communicate with dead people’s souls found him many supporters. Modern spiritualism also represented a revolt against the materialist and positivist thought of that period. The evocation seances held by mediums soon became widespread in the West. Several methods were used to communicate with the spirits in the seances. While these evocation seances were test field for some people, naturally many charlatans in these environments also derived. Modern spiritualism largely affected the esoteric and occult movements. One of the most important of these is undoubtedly the Theosophical Society. Doctrinaire leader of the society Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, had been in spiritualist groups throughout her life. Blavatsky, attended the evocation seances of that period in USA and showed many phenomena in this seances. Many of the founders of the Theosophical Society grew out of the spiritualist current with Blavatsky. While the Theosophical movement emerged with the impact of the spiritualism; the society has became the largest opponent to spiritualism in the period ahead. Blavatsky and society saw spiritualism as a hoax and entered into leadership of an universal esoteric understanding. Theosophical Society has had a significant impact on the next several religious, esoteric and occult movements. This article will evaluate the impact of modern spiritualism on the Theosophical Society.

A fresh and original translation from Sanskrit of the dashrajnya hymn (hymn 7.18 of Rig Veda) describing this defining battle between Aryan king Sudas and his Aryan as well as non-Aryan foes. The decisive battle led to the uprooting of many tribes from the Sapta Sindhu area.

Many existing beliefs are shown to be merely due to misunderstandings. Further, it is shown that the existing translations fall well short of the true meaning.
For example, no Matsya tribe was involved in this battle.

In this article, I aim to showcase the emergence of the so-called Ancient Astronaut Discourse (AAD) out of religious discourse as well as its continued religious functions despite all differences and pretensions to the contrary (i.e., the concerted effort to resemble legitimate or even superior science, specifically historiography and archaeology). In a second step, I sketch a concise literary history of this emergence itself, as well as the continuous mutual influence between the AAD and the realm of popular culture. This complex intertwinement is exemplified via the rather spectacular case of the "Stargate" science fiction franchise which adapted popular themes and theories from the AAD (in particular its Egyptian front focusing on the pyramids) in the mid-90s. With the success of the movie and the subsequent television shows, the direction of the influence then became strangely reversed: The eponymous Stargate device became integrated into AAD narratives, its fictional origins being silently dropped or explained away by conspiracy theories. I try to account for this development by a methodical approach in the vein of recent studies on fiction-based religions as well as Jean Baudrillard's concept of hyperreality and simulacra. Throughout all these observations, we encounter an imaginary Egypt as providing both the primary building blocks and the general backdrop of ancient mystery from and upon which the AAD's flying pyramids are built.

During the long nineteenth-century, spiritual, theological and philosophical ideas developed as esoteric religions flourished. These included Eastern philosophies such as reincarnation, and belief systems such as Blavatsky’s Theosophy taught these ideas alongside concepts of Divine Spiritual or Feminine energies. Many ideas consequently appeared within popular literature- especially within Gothic texts. Indeed, critics such as Maria Fleischhack argue that ‘Egyptianising fantastic fiction’ worked to combine ‘romantic quests with the belief in the supernatural.’  Two examples are H. Rider Haggard’s She and Bram Stoker’s The Jewel of Seven Stars; both involve a Divine Feminine and all-powerful ancient queen, exploring ideas of reincarnation and resurrection, and of life and death. This essay will argue that both Haggard and Stoker use these issues- alongside their malevolent ‘divine’ females- to critique the changing gender roles of the fin-de-siecle, as well as the dangers of seeking power. In other words, this essay demonstrates that both novels use the occult gothic to manifest a misogynist fear of women’s intellectual and sexual power. This can be seen through both authors’ use of the figure of the magical, ‘Oriental’ woman in order to warn against reaching too high in the search for hidden knowledge, especially in their geopolitical climate; by situating both Tera and Ayesha as reliant on explicitly male human intervention and desires, Stoker and Haggard attempt to limit their power within the novels.

In New York City in 1875, a group interested in Spiritualism and occult science founded what would become the Theosophical Society. Primarily the creation of Henry Steel Olcott and Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the Theosophical Society went through a number of early incarnations. One original version promised to teach occult powers. After Blavatsky found that she could not honor earlier promises to teach occultism, she shifted the focus of the Society to one that promoted Universal Brotherhood instead, highlighting notions of the body and demanding the control of emotion as a means to rebuff demands for training. With this refocusing, Blavatsky reestablished control of the Society and asserted herself as the central channel of esoteric knowledge. Thus, by shifting the focus from the attainment of occult powers to the more ambiguous “spiritual enlightenment,” Blavatsky erected an elaborate, centralized system of delayed spiritual gratification, a system contingent upon the individual's adoption of specific morals and values, while simultaneously maintaining control of the human body on all its levels: spiritual, social, physical, mental, and especially emotional.

ALTHOUGH the notion of race was central to Theosophical doctrines, most historians have avoided its thorough investigation. A scrutiny of this neglect can help us understand the many ambiguities and contradictions of nineteenth-and early twentieth-century colonialism and its ramifications for present-day scholarship. Theosophy is an exceptionally instructive case, as it functions like a burning glass for issues of race, knowledge and education, or social reform. In times where an examination of racial theories within the context of colonialism lends itself to ideological divisions, the discipline of religious studies is well equipped to grasp the historical complexities that stand behind charged subjects such as racism, cultural appropriation, and postcolonial concerns. In what follows, I will discuss previous approaches to racial Theosophical ideas and propose a combined perspective from religious studies and global history to address two main issues: first, the outright neglect of the subject of race within the study of Theosophy and esotericism more broadly; and second, current efforts to decenter the study of esotericism from its predominant "Western" focus that obfuscates not only "non-Western" historical actors but also non-white actors within the confines of "the West."

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G.R.S. Mead is an important but neglected historical personality of the British fin-de-siècle occult, Theosophical, and post-Theosophical milieu. While previous scholars of Theosophy have portrayed the Theosophical movement as quite cohesive in nature, I argue that it might have been a lot more pluralistic, with ostensibly key Theosophical concepts being open for debate. By a careful study of Mead’s editorial activity, his debates with other Theosophists in leading occultist journal over the period 1890s through 1910s, I illustrate that Mead held alternative views of key Theosophical concepts. This gives us a clue as to how the movement of Theosophy can be characterized differently. I suggest that we speak of many different “Theosophies” rather than one singular “Theosophy” to better capture the seemingly diverse makeup of the Theosophical movement. I look at three areas wherein Mead’s views differed from those of other important Theosophists: the concept of “the Masters” as spiritual authority, which sources to turn to and how to interpret them, and the question of whether occultism should be understood primarily in theoretical or in practical terms. I propose that by seeing Theosophy as a debating ground where many different Theosophists competed over the definition of their particular kind of Theosophy, we might also better account for why so many post-Theosophical currents emerged. Lastly, Mead’s concept of “Gnosis” might have served as a bridge between his Theosophical and post-Theosophical periods, as the concept’s meaning, along with Mead’s spiritual outlook, does not appear to have changed over time. This gives some consequences to how we conceive of post-Theosophy, since he does not fit neatly within that category.

Spanning the larger part of the twentieth century, the biography of
Jiddu Krishnamurti1 (1895-1986) seems like a tale told by the fireplace,
fit for a book of ancient legends, or, as some would insist, a new
testament. Diverging from the course his mentors planned for him, the
guru who refused to be a guru is revered by many in the contemporary
Western spiritual milieu. It seems that his very reluctance to play the
part designed for him, as well as his personal rebellion against the
authority of his guides and supervisors, only endear him all the more
to those who see him as a great spiritual teacher. What was the point at
which Krishnamurti’s life fundamentally changed its course and what
happened to him at that time? In this chapter, I analyze the crisis that
led Krishnamurti not only to depart from the Theosophical Society’s
leadership but also to change the character of his spiritual path and
teachings radically. I will present not only the biographical forces that
led Krishnamurti to that moment but also the social and ideational
preconditions that allowed him to adopt a completely divergent religious
worldview, one opposite in many ways to the one in which he had
been raised.

Tantra has formed an integral part of Asian religious history for centuries, but since "Arthur Avalon" introduced the concept to a global readership in the early twentieth century, Tantric traditions have exploded in popularity. While it was long believed that Sir John Woodroffe stood behind Avalon, it was in fact mainly a collaboration between learned South Asians. Julian Strube considers Tantra from the Indian perspective, offering rare insight into the active roles that Indians have played in its globalization and re-negotiation in local Indian contexts.

In the early twentieth century, Avalon's publications were crucial to Tantra's visibility in academia and the recognition of Tantra's vital role in South Asian culture. South Asian religious, social, and political life is inexorably intertwined with various Tantric scriptures and traditions, especially in Shaiva and Shakta contexts. In Bengal, Tantra was central to cultural dynamics including Vaishnava and Muslim currents, as well as universalist tendencies incorporating Christianity and esoteric movements such as New Thought, Spiritualism, and Theosophy.

Global Tantra contextualizes struggles about orthodoxy and reform in Bengal, and explores the global connections that shaped them. The study elides boundaries between academic disciplines as well as historical and regional contexts, providing insights into global debates about religion, science, esotericism, race, and national identity.

This MA dissertation explores the issues surrounding the plagiarism charges leveled by W.E. Coleman against Madame Blavatsky, and goes on to analyze the influence of the works of little-known Orientalist S.F. Dunlap on Blavatsky's famous 1877 study "Isis Unveiled."

Theosophist Frances Swiney (1847–1922) was a writer and women’s rights activist. She was mainly concerned with eugenics, sexuality, and feminism. Swiney’s writings and founding the League of Isis in 1907, directly reflects her interest in Theosophy. In her books; The Cosmic Procession or The Feminine Principle in Evolution (1906), The Mystery of the Circle and the Cross (1908), and The Esoteric Teaching of the Gnostics (1909), as well as in several articles in contemporary local and feminist newspapers and theosophical periodicals; Swiney, influenced by G. R. S. Mead, adapted Theosophical interpretations of “Gnosticism” for her feminist argumentation of a Divine Feminine within a cosmic evolution. She was personally and ideationally connected to the Theosophical Society and, therefore, influenced by its interpretations of Gnosticism and its ideas on gender, sexuality, and race. Combining theories on gender, religion, identity, discourse, and individual agency; this article answers the question to what extent and in what ways did Frances Swiney’s appropriations of Gnosticism influence her feminism and vice versa. It aims to illustrate how a biographical approach and focus on Frances Swiney as an influential, though controversial, individual in the British women’s suffrage and women’s rights movement, as well as within esoteric circles, can help to understand the interaction between personal experience and societal change (the possibility of an individual gendered agency in discourse). It aims to enhance the acknowledgement of the interrelation between gender, sexuality and religion, precisely alternative spiritualities and appropriations of “Gnostic” ideas, at that time. This piece stresses the importance of religion and spirituality, precisely, the influence of Gnostic ideas, on conceptions of gender, sex, and sexuality in the British first wave feminism. It puts this question in relation to the ongoing debate concerning the discursive emergence of religion, spirituality/esotericism, and science or secular/rational thought.

An essay, originally written c.2005 but slightly revised now (2013), examining the Indian vegetarian societies reported by the British vegetarian movement in the late-nineteenth century: providing some overview of the personnel, links to movements such as theosophy, journals and organisations.

Claims of traveling in the astral planes, the techniques and experiences recorded by individuals in such nineteenth-century groups as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Theosophical Society have been common since the late nineteenth century. During these astral travel episodes, the individual imaginatively leaves her or his physical body and travels to places in this world or another dimension. The travelers claim that their inner selves travel into an imaginative environment generally accessible only to themselves. Here they encounter various entities, objects, and structures with which they can interact. In 1895, prominent Theosophist and clairvoyant, Charles Webster Leadbeater (1854–1934) published The Astral Plane, which described the various sceneries, phenomena, and human and non-human inhabitants one might encounter in the astral environment. Within the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a nineteenth-century initiatory occult organization, travelling or “descrying” on the astral plane was an important activity an initiate was required to master in order to “obtain a clear idea of the relation of Man to the Universe, and to the spiritual planes”. These notions of the astral and the abilities and techniques to travel in it were adopted by many occultists, such as Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) and Edgar Cayce (1877–1945), and transmitted into the twentieth century. By the mid- to late twentieth century these ideas and techniques were diffused and incorporated into numerous groups and esoteric religions, the most prominent being New Age and neopaganism. With the emergence of computer technology, and the Internet specifically, various groups of people began to transfer the imaginative quality of the astral environment to cyberspace, and language that was previously used to refer to the astral was now used to describe cyber realms.

As Erik Davis, a self-described culture critic notes, “Both cyberspace and magical space are purely manifest in the imagination. … Both spaces are entirely constructed by your thoughts and beliefs.” Yet there were still significant impediments to cyberspace becoming just like the astral plane as described by nineteenth- and twentieth-century occultists. One was that text and static images on web pages still required the individual to look at the content and then imaginatively construct the “cyberastral” with their imaginations. The Internet was simply a way to deliver the content, but the person still had to imaginatively assemble it to bring the cyberastral realm alive. This process significantly changed with the emergence of three-dimensional graphical representation on the Internet. Another problem was the physical body. What happened to one’s body while in the astral? This question similarly occupied nineteenth-century occultists. Yet contemporary practitioners in the cyberastral have found new ways to deal with this question, or significantly adapted older solutions. The newest three-dimensional virtual worlds do provide the possibility to convincingly represent a cyberastral world, and some esoteric religious practitioners are using these worlds as places to practice their religion. One of these virtual environments is a computer system called Second Life. More than just seeing Second Life as an alternative place for communicating with others in virtual reality, some esoteric religious practitioners understand it to actually be the astral world. That is, they see no substantive difference between an imaginary astral plane described by the early occultists and the Second Life computer system itself. Moreover, this cyberastral environment has an added benefit that the astral environments visited by nineteenth-century occultists lacked: one can travel to the cyberastral and communicate with others while doing so. Thus the transfer of ideas about the astral plane to cyberspace and the development of sophisticated three-dimensional virtual worlds has led to the emergence of a particularly new type of astral plane, one that is imaginative, embodied, computer generated, and most importantly, social.

Theosophical movement in Indonesia has an important role for the rise of the  nationalist  movement  in  Indonesia.  Some  organizations  are  closely  related  to  the theosophy of which is Budi Oetomo, Indische Partij, and Jong Java. Soekarno, as one of the founders of Pancasila, has a close relationship with the theosophical figures. Therefore, Sukarno’s closeness to the theosophical figures is often used as
the main reason for raising the claim that Pancasila is derived from the values of the theosophical movement which is considered as an extension of Jewish Zionism. This study found that the dynamics of theosophical relationship with Soekarno can be  considered  very  neutral  and  dynamic  according  to  the  demands  of  the  times. 
When Soekarno was still in Surabaya, theosophy was instrumental in establishing the foundations of Soekarno’s knowledge. While in Bandung and Jakarta, Soekarno only positioned indigenous theorists as one of the political partners in fighting for the foundations of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI)