Theosophical Society
Looking for meaning or just another faction of the occult?
What is Theosopy?
…occult movement originating in the 19th century with roots that can be traced to ancient Gnosticism and Neoplatonism. The term theosophy, derived from the Greek theos (“god”) and sophia(“wisdom”), is generally understood to mean “divine wisdom.” Forms of this doctrine were held in antiquity by the Manichaeans, an Iranian dualist sect, and in the Middle Ages by two groups of dualist heretics, the Bogomils in Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire and the Cathari in southern France and Italy. In modern times, theosophical views have been held by Rosicrucians and by speculative Freemasons. The international New Age movement of the 1970s and ’80s originated among independent theosophical groups in the United Kingdom.
In her [Blavatsky] early writings she referred to this Wisdom-Religion as pre-Vedic Buddhism.
We can assert, with entire plausibility, that there is not one of all these sects—Kabalism, Judaism, and our present Christianity included—but sprang from the two main branches of that one mother-trunk, the once universal religion, which antedated the Vedic ages—we speak of that prehistoric Buddhism which merged later into Brahmanism.
We repeat again, Buddhism is but the primitive source of Brahman-ism.
Pre-Vedic Brahmanism and Buddhism are the double source from which all religions sprang; . . .
Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891) is the Mother of the New Age movement. Mahatma Gandhi said: "Theosophy is the teaching of Madame Blavatsky. It is Hinduism at its best."
Source Archive
Beginnings
The Theosophical Society was founded in late 1875, in New York City, by Russian noblewoman, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, and an American attorney, Colonel Henry Steel Olcott, along with another attorney, William Quan Judge, and a number of other individuals in search of the Ancient Wisdom.
Mme. Blavatsky was the first Russian woman to be naturalized as an American citizen. As a young woman, she traveled all over the world in search of wisdom about life and the reason for human existence. Eventually, Blavatsky brought the spiritual wisdom of the East and that of the ancient Western mysteries to the modern West, where they were virtually unknown. Her writings became the first exposition of what is today known as modern Theosophy.
By 1886 William Q. Judge had established an American Section of the international Society comprising branches in fourteen cities. Rapid growth took place under his guidance, so that by 1895 there were 102 American branches with nearly 6000 members. It was legally renamed The Theosophical Society in America (TSA) in 1934, and exists under that name to this day.
Today the international TS has members in almost seventy countries around the world. The Society was influential in the creation of many later esoteric movements, a number of which were founded by former TS members. Some notable cases are Dr. Gérard Encausse (Papus), founder of the modern Martinist Order in France; William W. Westcott, cofounder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the U.K.; Max Heindel, founder of the Rosicrucian Fellowship in the United States; Alice Bailey, founder of the Arcane School; Rudolf Steiner, founder of the international Anthroposophical Society; the Russian painter Nicholas Roerich and his wife Helena, founders of the Agni Yoga Society; and Guy and Edna Ballard, founders of the I AM Movement, among others.
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Three Objects of the Theosophical Society
To form a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of humanity without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or colour.
To encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy, and science.
To investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in man.
The word brotherhood in the First Object is used without reference to gender. The brotherhood is also a sisterhood. This Object aims at offering a space for people to come together and share their search for Truth, regardless of any external differences. In fact it encourages us to see external differences as enriching our human experience instead of being sources of intolerance and war.
The Second Object encourages research into this truth of our unity. It thus encourages a comparative study of three different avenues humanity has taken toward the understanding of life: religion, philosophy, and science. The Society was thus the first organization in modern times to promote interfaith activities systematically and worldwide. One of its first aims was to bring to the West the wisdom of the East, at a time when non-Western religions were derided as mere superstitions.
The Society was also the first organization working to bridge the gap between science and spirituality in a time when they were regarded as absolutely incompatible.
…the Third Object encourages us to investigate what has sometimes been called the “hidden side” of life and of human beings. Theosophy holds that it is very important to learn about the deep purpose of life and the spiritual laws that guide our evolution, and also to discover how to awaken to the spiritual potential that lies in every one of us. This is the only sure foundation to peace within ourselves and on earth. We cannot attain real harmony and cooperation merely through politics and social reform (though these may be necessary), but through the transformation of the human heart and mind.
Memorandum of Association
1. The name of the Association is The Theosophical Society.
2. The objects for which the Society is established are:
I. To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour.
II. To encourage the study of Comparative Religion, Philosophy and Science.
III. To investigate unexplained laws of Nature and the powers latent in man.
(a) The holding and management of all funds raised for the above objects.
(b) The purchase or acquisition on lease or in exchange or on hire or by gift or otherwise of any real or personal property, and any rights or privileges necessary or convenient for the purposes of the Society.
(c) The sale, improvement, management and development of all or any part of the property of the Society.
(d) The doing of all such things as are incidental or conducive to the attainment of the above objects or any of them, including the founding and maintenance of a library or libraries.
3. The names, addresses and occupations of the persons who are members of, and form the first General Council which is the governing body of the Society, are as follows:
GENERAL COUNCIL
Ex-Officio
President-Founder: – H. S. Olcott, Adyar, Madras, Author.
Vice-President: – A. P. Sinnett, London. England, Author.
Recording Secretary: – Hon. Sir S. Subramania Aiyar, Madras, Justice of the High Court.
Treasurer: – W. A. English, M. D., Adyar, Madras, Retired Physician.
Alexander Fullerton, General Secretary, American Section, 7, West 8th St., New York.
Upendra Nath Basu, B.A., LL.B., General Secretary, Indian Section, Benares, U.P.
Bertram Keightley, M.A., General Secretary, British Section, 28, Albemarle St., London, W.
W.G. John, General Secretary, Australasian Section, 42, Margaret Street, Sydney, N.S.W.
Arvid Knos, General Secretary, Scandinavian Section, Engelbrechtsgatan, 7, Stockholm, Sweden.
C. W. Sanders, General Secretary, New Zealand Section, Queen Street, Auckland, New Zealand.
W. B. Fricke, General Secretary, Netherlands Section, 76, Amsteldijk, Amsterdam.
Th. Pascal, M. D., General Secretary, French Section, 59, Avenue de la Bourdonnais, Paris.
Decio Calvari, General Secretary, Italian Section, 380, Corso Umberto I., Rome.
Dr Rudolf Steiner, General Secretary, German Section, 95, Kaiserallee, Friendenau, Berlin.
Jose M. Masso, Acting General Secretary, Cuban Section, Havana, Cuba.
Additional
Annie Besant, Benares, Author, [for 3 years]. G.R.S. Mead, London, Author, [for 3 years].
Khan Bahadur Naorojl Dorabji Khandalvala, Poona, Special Judge, [for 3 years].
Dinshaw Jivaji Edal Behtram, Surat, Physician, [for 2 years].
Francesca E. Arundale, Benares, Author, [for 2 years].
Tammacharla Ramachandra Row, Gooty, Retired Sub-Judge, [for 1 year].
Charles Blech, Paris, France, Retired, Manufacturer, [for 1 year).
4. The Founders
Henry Steel Olcott, who with the late Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and others founded The Theosophical Society at New York, United States of America, in the year 1875, shall hold during his lifetime, the position of President, with the title of ‘President-Founder’, and he shall have alone, the authority and responsibility and shall exercise the functions provided in the Rules and Regulation; for the Executive Committee, meetings of which he may call for consultation and advice as he may desire.
5. Income and property applied to promotion of objects
The income and property of the Society, whencesoever derived, shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the objects of the Society as set forth in this Memorandum of Association, and no portion thereof shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly by way of dividends, bonus, or otherwise by way of profits to the persons who at any time are or have been members of the Society or to any of them or to any person claiming through any of them: Provided that nothing herein contained shall prevent the payment in good faith of remuneration to any officers or servants of the Society or to any members thereof or other person in return for any services rendered to the Society.
6. Members of General Council not answerable
No member or members of the General Council shall be answerable for any loss arising in the administration or application of the said trust funds or sums of money or for any damage to or deterioration in the said trust premises unless such loss, damage or deterioration shall happen by or through his or their wilful default or neglect.
7. Vesting of Property on dissolution
If upon the dissolution of the Society there shall remain after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities any property whatsoever, the same shall not be paid to or distributed among the members of the Society or any of them but shall be given or transferred to some other Society or Association, Institution or Institutions, having objects similar to the objects of this Society, to be determined by the votes of not less than three-fifths of the members of the Society present personally or by proxy, at a meeting called for the purpose, or in default thereof by such Judge or Court of Law as may have jurisdiction in the matter.
8. Filing of Rules and Regulations, Memorandum
A copy of the Rules and Regulations of the said Theosophical Society is filed with this Memorandum of Association, and the undersigned being seven of the members of the Governing Body of the said Society do hereby certify that such copy of such Rules and Regulations of the said Theosophical Society is correct.
As witness our several and respective hands, this...day of March 1905.
Witnesses to the signatures: (Sd.) WM GLENNY KEAGEY ...
“ ARTHUR RICHARDSON ...
“ PYARE LAL ...
“ PEROZE P. MEHERJEE ...
(Sd.) H. S. OLCOTT
“ W. A. ENGLISH
“ SUBRAMANIAM
“ FRANCESCA E. ARUNDALE
“ UPPENDRA NATH BASU
“ ANNIE BESANT
“ N. D. KHANDALVALAF
Rules and Regulations
The Rules and Regulations are rather lengthy and contain legalese. For the sake of brevity, the links to said document is below.
Beliefs
The various forms of theosophical speculation have certain common characteristics. The first is an emphasis on mystical experience. Theosophical writers hold that there is a deeper spiritual reality and that direct contact with that reality can be established through intuition, meditation, revelation, or some other state transcending normal human consciousness. Theosophists also emphasize esoteric doctrine. Modern theosophists claim that all world religions contain such an inner teaching, and much attention is devoted to deciphering the meaning concealed in sacred texts. In addition, most theosophical speculation reveals a fascination with supernatural or other extraordinary occurrences and with the achievement of higher psychic and spiritual powers. Theosphists maintain that knowledge of the divine wisdom gives access to the mysteries of nature and humankind’s inner essence. Finally, theosophy displays a characteristic preference for monism (see pluralism and monism)—the view that reality is constituted of one principle or substance, such as mind or spirit. Although theosophists recognize the basic distinctions between the phenomenal world and a higher spiritual reality and between the human and the divine, which suggests dualism, most theosophists also affirm an overarching, all-encompassing unity that subsumes all differentiation. Associated with their monism are the beliefs that God is utterly transcendentand impersonal, that creation is the product of spiritual emanations from God, and that humans are sparks of the divine trapped in the material world who desire to return to their spiritual home.
Key Tenets
Insights
By definition, theosophy is a cross between theology and philosophy. In practice, it is a religion—although its 34,000 practitioners in 45 countries maintain that it is not. Theosophists have always claimed divine insight, revealed in some cases on shafts of mystical "astral light."
Their practice is an ancient one. Theosophy was taught by the sun-worshiping Egyptians, the oracular Greeks, the fire burners of Zarathustra. To one degree or another, its tenets are alive today among the Brahmans, Buddhists and Hindus of India, not to mention all the world's hippies. In the West, however, theosophical thought had been all but dead since the 7th century, when Moslem armies swept out of Arabia and disrupted communications between Europe and the East. Then, in the 19th century, came Madame Blavatsky.
Madame Blavatsky's doctrine is a very strange and stringent creed, highly moral despite her own aberrations, bizarre but engrossing as a compendium of comparative religion. Although H.P.B. quoted knowingly and relevantly from such ancient tracts as the Egyptian Book of the Dead and the Chaldean Kabalah, her main sources turned out to be 1) revelations from a secret inner circle of Eastern arahats ("masters of esoteric philosophy"), with whom she may have communicated by telepathy, and 2) "secret portions of the Book of Dzyan," a work so highly classified that only Madame Blavatsky ever heard of it. Also included in her Secret Doctrine is an ancient Greek incantation-"Aski -ka-taski -haix -tetrax -damname neus-aision"—supposedly powerful enough to cleanse a person possessed by devils.
H.P.B. divided the earth's inhabitants into seven successive "root races," each more immoral than the one before. The first two races, she proclaimed, were semi-spiritual "shadows of the shadow of God." The third was a race of fourarmed men who inhabited a lost continent named Lemuria and were doomed 60 million years ago when they discovered sex. The fourth, recognizably human, went down with Atlantis 12,000 years ago, sunk by sex plus power. Our own race, which got off to a bad start with Adam, is the fifth, and it too may be about to expire—or perhaps find strange new powers. In her magically mystical prose, H.P.B. forecast that "occultism must win the day, before the present era reaches Saturn's triple septenary of the present cycle in Europe—in other words, before the end of the 21st century A.D."
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Theosophical Society – The Beliefs
The Theosophical Society is nothing more than a hypothetical modern form of Hindu and Buddha philosophy of re-incarnation which states that “God and man are the two phases of the eternal life and consciousness that constitutes our universe. . .” God is considered the universe, the “impersonal It” and individual man is eternally evolving in divine attributes and power ultimately becoming the incarnate personage of God.
Denouncement of Christ -Theosophist’s proudly denounce the sovereign authority of Christ, asserting that man is God in the making through his individual innate and divine effort thus a Savior and salvation is not necessary. Faith is inferior to knowledge.
Claiming to be God -Theosophists teach that humans, in physical body, and in spirit body and soul consciousness, are an eternal pre-existent portion of God and that over time they are ultimately absorbed into the fullness of “It,” complete oneness with the universe and beyond. Theosophy teaches that humans are God in person and a “god” in the making. The Buddhist call this “nirvana.”
Multiple Reincarnations, Multiple Bodies, Multiple “Planes” -Theosophist’s teach that a human soul begins each reincarnate birth having a “trinity” of bodies in one, physical, and two invisible bodies, astral, and mental. During Yoga or sleep, the astral and mental bodies leave the physical and dwell in the astral world, gaining deeper knowledge allowing him to advance in his evolution toward perfection.
Death and the Intermediate State -Between each concurrent reincarnation, they claim that a person’s soul experiences a type of hell called “Kamaloka,” an intermediate state of existence somewhere in the gloomy outer darkness to suffer for their past sins. There, they await another reincarnation to live in a new physical body on earth.
Finished Product of Human Evolution -Theosophists teach that man becomes a finished product of human evolution after completing at least seven multiple reincarnations, and seven multiple spiritual realms or “planes” of enlightenment and personal achievement. When they reach the finish line, a place like heaven awaits them called “Devachan.” Here, their soul and mental body is absorbed into the totality of the universe and beyond, and that their astral body and former physical bodies become nonexistent. In essence, humans become the universe-God in person.
Incarnation of Theosophists -Theosophy declares that when a person attains the fullness of God, they incarnate themselves within a Theosophist who then becomes a world teacher, who then becomes another Christ on earth. This implies that there is always at least one incarnate God, clothed in flesh, dwelling with humans on earth through out each new era of time.
Key Figures
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky Founder
William Quan Judge Founder
Colonel Henry Steel Olcott Founder
Assessment
Despite its relatively small membership, the Theosophical Society has been very influential. The society not only pioneered the promotion of Eastern thought in the West but also inspired the creation of more than 100 esoteric religious movements, including the Alice Bailey movement (Arcane School), the I Am movement, the Church Universal and Triumphant, and the Liberal Catholic Church.
Locations
Symbol
Closing
Not a major religion but a foundational one for a bunch of others. Founded in 1875, and without modern air transportation, by 1905 it had spread to the above 11 Countries and continued to expand from there. It eventually gave birth to many other religious orders, spreading like a cancer across the Globe; the partial list is:
Martinist Order in France
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the U.K.
Rosicrucian Fellowship in the United States
Arcane School
Anthroposophical Society
Agni Yoga Society
I AM Movement
Liberal Catholic Church
The symbols within their symbol is telling. Another great read, thank you.