Theosophy

Theosophy is a body of belief which holds that all religions are attempts by man to ascertain "the Divine", and as such each religion has a portion of the truth. Theosophy, as a coherent belief system, developed from the writings of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (also Hélène). Together with Henry Steel Olcott, William Quan Judge, and others she founded the Theosophical Society in 1875.

A brief history of Theosophy

Theosophists trace the origin of Theosophy to the universal striving for divinity that existed in all ancient cultures. It is found in an unbroken chain in India but existed in ancient Greece and also in the writings of Plato (427-347 BCE), Plotinus (204-270 BCE) and other neo-Platonists, as well as Jakob Boehme (1575-1624). Some relevant quotes:

Related Topics:
India - Greece - Plato - 427 - 347 - BCE - Plotinus - 204 - 270 - Neo-Platonists - Jakob Boehme - 1575 - 1624

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: ...we are imprisoned in the body, like an oyster in his shell.

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: — The Socrates of Plato, Phaedrus

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: To the philosopher, the body is "a disturbing element, hindering the soul from the acquisition of knowledge..."

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: ...what is purification but...the release of the soul from the chains of the body?

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: — The Socrates of Plato, Phaedo

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Modern Theosophical esotericism, however, begins with Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891) usually known as Madame Blavatsky. In 1875 she founded the Theosophical Society in New York City together with Henry Steel Olcott, who was a lawyer and writer; William Quan Judge; and others. Madame Blavatsky was a world traveller who eventually settled in India where, with Olcott, she established the headquarters of the Society. She claimed numerous psychic and spiritualist powers and incorporated them in a blend of Eastern religions including Buddhism and Hinduism. These became the basic pillars of the Theosophical movement.

Related Topics:
Esotericism - 1831 - 1891 - Madame Blavatsky - 1875 - Theosophical Society - New York City - Henry Steel Olcott - Lawyer - Writer - William Quan Judge - India

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Upon Blavatsky's death in 1891, several Theosophical societies emerged following a schism in 1895. Annie Besant became leader of the society based in Adyar India, while William Quan Judge headed another Theosophical Society in New York which later moved to Point Loma, Covina, and Pasadena, California under a series of leaders: Katherine Tingley, Godfrey de Puruker, Colonel Conger, James A. Long, and Grace F. Knoche. The great pulp fiction writer Talbot Mundy was a member of the Point Loma group, and wrote many articles for its newsletter.

Related Topics:
1891 - Schism - 1895 - Annie Besant - Adyar - Point Loma - Covina - Pasadena, California - Katherine Tingley - Godfrey de Puruker - Colonel Conger - James A. Long - Grace F. Knoche - Pulp fiction - Talbot Mundy

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In Germany, Rudolf Steiner created a succesful branch. He became even more famous for his ideas about education, resulting in an international network of "Steiner Schools". After the death of William Quan Judge, another society, the United Lodge of Theosophists, emerged, recognizing no leader after Judge; it is now based in Los Angeles, California.

Related Topics:
Germany - Rudolf Steiner - Steiner School - United Lodge of Theosophists - Los Angeles, California

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At its strongest in membership and intensity during the 1920s there were around 7,000 adherents in the United States.

Related Topics:
1920s - United States

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http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2298/is_2_17/ai_61551810/pg_2

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Artists who investigated Theosophy, aside from the musicians listed below, include Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Franz Kafka, W. B. Yeats, and T. S. Eliot, in Europe, and Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, Wallace Stevens, and James Jones{{fn|1}} in America.

Related Topics:
Artist - Musician - Wassily Kandinsky - Piet Mondrian - Franz Kafka - W. B. Yeats - T. S. Eliot - Europe - Arthur Dove - Marsden Hartley - Wallace Stevens - James Jones

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http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2298/is_2_17/ai_61551810/pg_2

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Music

Composers such as Ruth Crawford-Seeger, Dane Rudhyar, and most famously Alexander Scriabin, were Theosophists whose beliefs influenced their music, especially by providing a justification or rationale for their dissonant counterpoint. According to Rudhyar, Scriabin was "the one great pioneer of the new music of a reborn Western civilization, the father of the future musician." (Rudhyar 1926b, 899) and an antidote to "the Latin reactionaries and their apostle, Stravinsky" and the "rule-ordained" music of "Schoenberg's group". (Ibid., 900-901) Scriabin devised a quartal synthetic chord, often called his "mystic" chord, and before his death Scriabin planned a multimedia work, to be performed in the Himalayas, that would bring about the armageddon, "a grandiose religious synthesis of all arts which would herald the birth of a new world". (AMG http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47F1DD94AA97F20C393327BD3B17BCD10DF7CFB9811326A5DD3A13C49840138E253F89593E4BD3CEB3BF4B32FA44509CCC8EE56F8906037388CE4A366285E36&sql=41:7982~T1). This piece, Mysterium, was never realized.

Related Topics:
Ruth Crawford-Seeger - Dane Rudhyar - Alexander Scriabin - Dissonant counterpoint - Quartal - Synthetic chord - Armageddon

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Early 20th-century literary references to Theosophy

In the play Juno and the Paycock (1924) by Sean O'Casey set in pre-independence Dublin one of the secondary characters is a Theosophist. This character is quite shallow and is thought to reflect the emptiness of the movement as it was embodied in the Ireland of the time.

Related Topics:
Juno and the Paycock - 1924 - Sean O'Casey - Dublin - Ireland

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