William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats (June 13, 1865 – January 28, 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, mystic and public figure. Yeats was one of the driving forces behind the Irish Literary Revival and was co-founder of the Abbey Theatre.

Mysticism

Yeats had a life-long interest in mysticism, spiritualism, and astrology. In 1885, he and some friends formed the Dublin Hermetic Order. This society held its first meeting on June 16, with Yeats in the chair. The same year, the Dublin Theosophical lodge was opened with the involvement of Brahmin Mohini Chatterjee. Yeats attended his first séance the following year. Later, Yeats became heavily involved with hermeticist and theosophical beliefs, and in 1900 he became head of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which he had joined in 1890. After his marriage, he and his wife dabbled with a form of automatic writing.

Related Topics:
Spiritualism - Astrology - 1885 - June 16 - Séance - Theosophical - 1900 - Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn - Automatic writing

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Yeats' mystical inclinations, informed by Hindu religion (Yeats translated The Ten Principal Upanishads (1938) with Shri Purohit Swami), theosophical beliefs and the occult, formed much of the basis of his late poetry, which some critics have attacked as lacking in intellectual or philosophical insights.

Related Topics:
Hindu - 1938 - Shri Purohit Swami - Occult - Philosophical

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