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In the first post in this series, I introduced the subject of armed yogis – a concept which does much to perturb the common representation of yogis as peaceful ascetics given to inward, spiritual pursuits and generally unconcerned with the trappings of the material world. Continue reading »
I’ve recently finished reading Owen Davies’ new book A Supernatural War: Magic, Divination, and Faith during the First World War (Oxford University Press, 2018). Continue reading »
When you kissed me, my world turned around. Continue reading »
Books dealing with various aspects of queer spirituality seem to be becoming more popular at the moment, so for my first book review for the new year I thought I’d take a look at two books that use the title “Queer Magic”. Both titles are the Kindle editions. Continue reading »
“Each man travels through space enclosed within a case of his own building, surrounded by a mass of the forms created by his habitual thoughts. Through this medium he looks out upon the world, and naturally he sees everything tinged with its predominant colours. … until the man learns complete control of thought and feeling, he sees nothing as it really is, since all his observations must be made through this medium, which distorts and colours everything like badly-made glass.”
Thought-forms 1901
The concept of Thought-Forms – the belief that thoughts can exist independently of mind and cognition and can become entities in their own right is, of course, a staple of popular occult belief, and although it featured in early Theosophical texts, it was the writing of Annie Besant and Charles Webster Leadbeater that did much to popularise and systematize the concept. Many of the assertions concerning the nature of thought made by Besant and Leadbeater have become the explanatory logic behind a wide range of occult phenomena ranging from Tibetan Tulpas, 1 group Egregores, to Chaos Servitors. Continuing from the previous post I will examine Theosophical theories of Thought-Forms and how they reflected wider cultural concerns in the early twentieth century. Continue reading »
Notes:
For this essay, I’m going to look more closely at some of the occult theories associated with Theosophy – and in particular, the contributions of Charles Webster Leadbeater and to a lesser extent Annie Besant, as it is the collaborative work of these two individuals that did much to popularise the beliefs of the Theosophical Society, yet at the same time, introduced ideas which were at variance from those of Blavatsky – differences of doctrine – sometimes described as “Neo-Theosophy” or “Pseudo-Theosophy” – which are still being discussed by contemporary Theosophists. Furthermore, it is in the works of Leadbeater such as The Astral Plane, The Inner Life, Man Visible and Invisible, and The Chakras, that we can find the basis of much contemporary occult thought, although the Theosophical sources are, more often than not, unacknowledged. Continue reading »
Continuing from the previous post in this series which examined how Theosophical ideas about race reflected wider discourses of the period; I will now look in broad terms at the Theosophical Society’s relationship with Egypt, India and Tibet. Continue reading »
In this essay, I will examine the three countries which, for Blavatsky and her followers were particularly associated with occult wisdom – be it a secret tradition, or the home of spiritual masters: namely, Egypt, India, and Tibet. For each of these “places of power” I will try and examine the Theosophical relationship with them, and, with respect to India and Tibet, the legacies of that relationship. This first post will deal with issues related to racial theories, and I will examine the Theosophical relationship with India, Egypt, and Tibet in the second part. Continue reading »
If you are an occultist of any stripe, chances are you know what Chakras are. If you were interested in magic back in the 80’s and 90’s you definitely know what chakras are because they were covered in nearly every book on magic, witchcraft, Kabbalah, or occultism that was on the market, whether it made sense to cover them in the book or not. I still wonder if there was some kind of secret chakra tax-break for publishers in the 80’s. Unfortunately, what was written in those about chakras bore little resemblance to any teachings that originated in India. Like Karma, Tantra, and bland curry – the west put its own spin on it and never looked back to see if they got it right. Continue reading »
This series is based on lectures I gave at Treadwells Bookshop of London in 2006, examining the Theosophical Society and its legacy on contemporary occulture.
The Theosophical Society (TS) was the most influential of modern esoteric movements, not only for its role in shaping the contemporary occult subculture but in influencing the modern world as we know it. Over the course of this series of posts, I’ll be exploring different aspects of the Theosophical Society’s teachings and activities, and examining some of the more notable personalities associated with the Society, such as Annie Besant and Charles Webster Leadbeater. What I also want to attempt is to examine some of the beliefs which became associated with the Theosophical movement and place them in the context of wider currents stirring within the period. Continue reading »
