What Theosophy did for us – I: Introduction
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.
I’m sure most readers will have heard of the Theosophical Society, if only in passing – and one of the things that I find interesting about them is that so many of the subjects which Theosophical authors either originated or popularised, have become ubiquitous in modern occult writings – to the extent that they are generally treated as ‘factual’ and rarely questioned or examined.
Concepts popularised through Theosophy include: reincarnation, the clairvoyant investigation of past lives and the aura, the notion of the Akashic records, the psychic atmosphere of places, the modern notion of ‘vibrations’, Shambhala, Atlantis & Lemuria, evolution as a spiritual process, tattvas, the 7 chakras, karma, the Mahatmas, World Teachers, and the occult hierarchy of hidden masters (of which more later) and initiation; the astral plane and its denizens. Without Theosophy, the modern New Age movement would not have come into existence. Theosophy had a direct influence on the founding of the Findhorn community, and also hugely influenced the I AM movement, the Liberal Catholic Church, and Christian Science.
Some notables who were either involved directly or have been influenced by the teachings of the Theosophical Society include:
Gandhi – he was introduced to HPB in 1890, and in his autobiography, he acknowledges that if it hadn’t been for his involvement in the TS, he would not have read the Bhagavad-Gita. It was Annie Besant, president of the TS between 1907 and 1933, who first bestowed the title Mahatma (“great soul”) upon Gandhi. Pandit Nehru also acknowledged that he owed a debt to the TS for allowing him to view the sacred texts of India in a different light.
W.Y. Evans-Wentz – translator of the Tibetan Book of the Dead
William E Gates – a pioneer of research into ancient Mayan culture
The chemist William Crookes, psychologist Frederick Myers, Tibetan traveler Alexandra David-Neel, and Thomas Edison.
In the arts, notables include James Joyce, W.B. Yeats (he described Mme Blavatsky as “a sort of female Dr. Johnson”), AE Russell, Nicholas & Helen Roerich, Wassily Kandinski – one of the founders of modern abstract art, and the Dutch painter, Piet Mondrian. There is also a link between the TS and Rudyard Kipling – who began his writing career as a journalist working for the newspaper The Pioneer, which was edited by AP Sinnett, author of Esoteric Buddhism – and some of Kipling’s early writings are said to contain theosophical themes. Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz was also a theosophist.
The Society also attracted many social reformers: Annie Besant, who was described as “the most infamous woman in England” due to her early advocation of birth control. She also played a key role in orchestrating demonstrations against Irish coercion by the Radical Federation (including the infamous ‘Bloody Sunday’ demonstration in 1889) and helped set up the Matchmaker’s Union. Annie Besant joined the TS and was its president between 1907 and 1933; Anti-vivisectionist campaigner Dr. Anna Kingsford (she gained her medical degree in Paris, because, in common with other women of her generation, she was barred from becoming a doctor in England) was briefly president of the London Lodge of the TS, before creating her own Hermetic Society. Edward Carpenter, for example, described Blavatsky’s writings as “a preparation for the new universe of the twentieth century.”
Foundation
So how did the Theosophical Society come about, what was its message – it’s “mission statement” if you will, and why was it so attractive to so many creative and dynamic individuals?
Victorian England was a turbulent period – the onset of the Industrial Revolution; the rise of scientific inquiry and its challenge of religious values; the development of modern international communications and rising discontent amongst the disenfranchised lower classes. Socialist organizations inspired by Marx and Engels arose, and in 1859 Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species which did much to further challenge the faith of many Victorians.
James Webb describes the crisis of consciousness in the 19th century as:
“What was happening was the final collapse of the old world-order which had first been rudely assaulted during the Renaissance and Reformation… just when the Age of Reason seemed to be bearing fruit in the 19th century, there was an unexpected reaction against the very method which had brought success, a wild return to archaic forms of belief, and among the intelligentsia a sinister concentration on superstitions which had been thought buried . . “
Some historians have characterized the 19th-century occult revival as a response to a society in crisis – a response to the anxiety and disillusionment brought on by social changes. Alex Owen (in her book The Place of Enchantment: British Occultism and the Culture of the Modern) however, believes that such characterizations ignore how the various movements were bound up with leading social and cultural preoccupations and that they were regarded by many as complements to social conscience and political engagement, This entwining worked in complex ways to provide spiritual parallels to different visions of progress and evolution.
According to Owen, the 19th-century occult revival embodied many of the most significant late-Victorian intellectual trends: a distaste for materialism; an ongoing (although qualified) enthusiasm for science. It owed much to the development of new fields of academic interest such as folklore, anthropology, Egyptology, and comparative religion, and the study of languages and cultures. It was also influenced by the growing translation of sacred texts from India and the writings of colonial administrators and missionaries, and by the growth of the “mystic East” in the popular imagination. 19th-century occultism was also influenced by the Victorian fondness for archaic origins, for secret societies, and gothic fiction such as Rider Haggard and Bram Stoker. ‘Popular’ manifestations of occultism became fashionable, and George Bernard Shaw remarked that the later Victorians were “addicted to table-rapping, materialization, seances, clairvoyance, palmistry, crystal-gazing and the like.”
In the 1850s, Spiritualism arrived in England from America and became hugely popular – gaining adherents from all social classes and varieties of belief. Indeed, Spiritualism’s broad appeal – which ranged from Christians to Freethinkers and secularists – was drawn in part on its ‘commonsense’ criteria and the manifest proof provided by the spirits themselves.
Whilst Spiritualism was popular amongst people of all social classes, it was particularly popular amongst the educated middle and upper classes. One contemporary commentator, writing in The Westminster Review (1858) noted that “the higher the class, the more fiercely did it rage through it.” Spiritualism attempted to incorporate both existing beliefs regarding spirituality and the new enthusiasm for Science. It also appealed to the Victorian tradition of strong family ties with the hope that these ties could transcend death. In has been estimated that by the latter part of the 19th century, the number of active Spiritualists in the UK alone was in five figures, and the number of those interested, perhaps ten times greater.
The late Victorian period also saw the emergence of popular occult magazines such as The Borderland, founded in 1893 which aimed to reach “the great mass of ordinary people” and The Occult Review, founded in 1905.
The Theosophical Society emerged at a time when the discussion of Eastern religions was part of educated Victorian public life, and, whilst the majority of western thinkers dismissed Indian culture as ‘backward’, there was a significant minority who began to turn to a romanticized view of the East as an alternative to an overly materialistic and soul-less West. Although prominent scholars such as Max Muller occasionally derided the misinterpretations of theosophists and romantics, ‘popular’ orientalism thrived.
Madame Blavatsky
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (HPB) was born in Ukraine on 30 July 1831. In 1841 she married General Nikifor Blavatsky, the vice-governor of Erivan. It seems that she left her husband after a few months and embarked on a life of adventure and travel – which took her to India, Egypt, Tibet, and America – all at a time when few women traveled alone.
In 1858 she became a Spiritualist after meeting Daniel Douglas Home in Paris.
In 1874, HPB arrived in the USA, where Spiritualism was flourishing, and, whilst investigating the Spiritualist manifestations of the Eddy family in Vermont, she met Colonel Henry Steel Olcott. HPB and Olcott wrote many articles for the New York popular press about Spiritualist phenomena, which attracted many others interested in esoteric phenomena. A small group began to form around HPB, and out of this emerged the Theosophical Society, founded on November 17th, 1875, with Olcott as the president and Blavatsky as Secretary. The movement spread rapidly, and within a few years, lodges were established in England, Greece, Germany, Russia, France, and India. The term “theosophical” – wisdom concerning God – carries Neoplatonic associations and was used to describe the writings of Jacob Boehme.
By 1881 the objects – the Great Work – of the Theosophical Society were stated as:
Isis Unveiled
In 1877 the first of HPB’s books were published – Isis Unveiled (selling out of its initial print run within ten days of its publication), a two-volume work titled I: Science and II: Theology. A small but growing group of disciples came to HPB’s “lamasery” as her residence in New York was known, and in 1879 she and the Colonel arrived in England, establishing the English headquarters of the TS in Great Russell Street, near the British Museum. Within a few weeks they departed for India and in 1880, in Ceylon, both Blavatsky and Olcott took pansil – they became Buddhists. This act in itself drew the disfavor of the authorities. In Ceylon, British officials regarded Theosophy as seditious, as it called into question the very basis for the British presence there – the superiority of Christianity over Buddhism. Olcott aligned himself with Buddhist protests over Christian missionary attempts to eradicate Buddhism, and he is still honored in Sri Lanka for his efforts.
Isis Unveiled denounces, in no uncertain terms, the scientific materialism of Darwin and Huxley. She attacks the kind of views expounded by scientists such as John Tyndall, who in 1874 stated:
“We shall wrest from theology, the entire domain of cosmological theory. All schemes and systems which thus infringe upon the domain of science must, insofar as they do this, submit to its control and, and relinquish all thoughts of controlling it.”
Blavatsky challenges both the emerging science and the theology of the period:
“Between these two conflicting Titans – Science and Theology – is a bewildered public, fast losing all belief in man’s personal immortality, in a deity of any kind, and rapidly descending to the level of a mere animal existence. Such is the picture of the hour, illumined by the bright noonday sun of this Christian and scientific era!”
The Break from Spiritualism
Although HPB initially defended Spiritualism from charges of fraud (she was by all accounts, an accomplished medium herself) she gradually distanced herself from it.
Alex Owen, in her book The Darkened Room argues that women were considered at that time to be innately predisposed towards mediumship due to their “feminine virtues” (one of which was passivity). Yet, she says, women as mediums not only reinforced the Victorian stereotypes of femininity, it also challenged them, insofar as women mediums became “voices of authority”. She also looks at class issues, discussing one particular case in a middle-class household where the female medium was a servant. Part of Owen’s argument is that women played a central role in the early Spiritualist movement as mediums, healers and pioneers, yet unlike their male counterparts, they were less prone to writing up their experiences for public consumption and becoming ‘spokespersons’ for spiritualist causes. Owen also discusses how women mediums were dismissed by the burgeoning medical establishment as suffering from hysteria (she discusses the case of a middle-class woman who was incarcerated in various asylums for over a decade on the basis of her practice of automatic writing). Early psychologists such as Janet and Hartmann described mediumship as indicative of hysteria or multiple personalities, yet it was the investigation of mediumship which spurred Frederick Myers to form his theory of the “subliminal mind.”
Another element which winds into the passive trance notion is the Darwinian idea of “primitive religion” as expounded by early anthropologists such as Edward Tylor, coupled with the orientalist gendering of cultures such as India and Africa as ‘female’.
Blavatsky also uses the “passivity” argument in her criticism of mediumship, albeit for different reasons. In Isis Unveiled for example, she writes:
“Mediumship is the opposite of adeptship; the medium is the passive instrument of foreign influences, the adept actively controls himself and all inferior potencies.”
She portrays Spiritualism as necromancy and makes a clear distinction between the higher powers central to the Theosophical enterprise, and the mere “shells” of Spiritualist communication. A view echoed by other 19th century magicians such as Emma Harding Britten and Anna Kingsford. This distinction between spiritualism and the “occult sciences” is probably what prejudiced later magicians such as Crowley against mediumship and let to the idea of will as being central to the performance of magic. From the 1870s onwards, occultists stress both the necessity for Will and self-control:
“Thus we see how far apart the medium and the Adept are, for the latter, instead of being controlled, controls all forces with an iron will. He has, in truth, made Nature his “ally, pupil and servant.”
and
“Most men live in and by desire, mistaking it for will. But he who would achieve must separate will from desire, and make will the ruler; for desire is unstable and ever-changing, whilst will is steady and constant.”
Blavatsky asserted that what the Spiritualists believed were spirits of the dead communicating and producing the various phenomena such as table-rapping, were for the most part “shells” – psychic detritus left behind by human beings in their spiritual evolution. As Jocelyn Godwin notes, Spiritualists who believed they were conversing with Benjamin Franklin or their grandmothers were “bluntly told that they were being bamboozled.”
Furthermore, she asserted that her corrective to the excesses of Spiritualism was done under the direction of her Masters – she writes that she was sent from Paris to America in order to demonstrate the reality of the phenomena, yet at the same time to show “the fallacy” of the spiritualist interpretations.
In 1894, the theosophist Alfred Percy Sinnett declared, in a lecture to the London Lodge of the TS:
“I am fully prepared to believe that spiritualism has thus had, from the first, a certain amount of adept support. Without this, Theosophists will feel pretty sure, a great many of its developments, in the beginning, would have been impossible. Now, however, the whole system has acquired such momentum that it has, I venture to think, entirely outrun the original design in one way; though in another – in reference to the effort to show mankind at large, that forces independent of the physical plane are at work around us – it has attained a very imperfect success.”
Spiritualism was, in these terms, a phenomenon that was being ultimately directed by the secret brotherhoods and masters that were so central to the Theosophical enterprise.
The Appeal of Theosophy
Blavatsky expounded a perspective – shared by spiritualists – that militant Victorian science had no room for the spiritual and for spiritual experience. Nicholas Goodrich Clarke notes that one of the attractions of Theosophy was that it supplied “dignity and purpose to man’s earthly life, within a cosmic context”.
Theosophy also provided a moral doctrine. It was argued that, when life incarnated in physical bodies, humans made the mistake of thinking of themselves as independent beings, giving rise to selfish behavior. As Theosophy proposed that all life is one life, so exponents such as Annie Besant argued that human beings would come to recognize that “our duty to common human need.” This moral commitment proved attractive to many 19th century socialists, Fabians, and humanitarians, although there was something of an elitist tinge to it – the emphasis on an organizing society for the good of all – as Annie Besant put it, “the weak have rights, the strong have duties.”
The metaphysical basis of the existence of the Theosophical Society was summarised by HPB (in her Collected Writings) as follows:
“Now it is a fundamental doctrine of Theosophy that the “separateness” which we feel between ourselves and the world of living beings around us is an illusion, not a reality. In very deed and truth, all men are one, not in a feeling of sentimental gush and hysterical enthusiasm, but in sober earnest. As all Eastern philosophy teaches, there is but one self in all the infinite Universe, and what we men call “self” is but the illusionary reflection of the one self in the heaving waters of earth. True Occultism is the destruction of the false idea of Self, and therefore true spiritual perfection and knowledge are nothing else but the complete identification of our finite “selves” with the Great All. It follows, therefore, that no spiritual progress at all is possible except by and through the bulk of Humanity. It is only when the whole of Humanity has attained happiness that the individual can hope to become permanently happy — for the individual is an inseparable part of the Whole.
Hence there is no contradiction whatever between the altruistic maxims of Theosophy and its injunction to kill out all desire for material things, to strive after spiritual perfection. For spiritual perfection and spiritual knowledge can only be reached on the spiritual plane; in other words, only in that state in which all sense of separateness, all selfishness, all feeling of personal interest and desire, has been merged in the wider consciousness of the unity of Mankind.
With regard to faculties and talents, the answer is simple. They should be developed and cultivated for the service of Humanity, of which we are all parts, and to which we owe our full and ungrudging service.”
Theosophy brought together themes of moral order and spiritual progress, whilst attempting to unify science and theology by viewing them as shards of an original secret doctrine. This “secret doctrine” is the key to all science and theology, and will be the only religion of the future, at least according to Mme. Blavatsky. She also asserted that ancient civilisations possessed superior knowledge and that this wisdom has been passed down by secret occult brotherhoods. It is also, through the recovery of this secret wisdom that the human race will evolve. This secret wisdom is generally referred to as the Perennial Tradition, and the Philosophia Perennis was first popularised by Leibniz, drawing on the writings of the 16th century Christian mystic, Augustine Stuech.
In Isis, HPB says:
“What we desire to prove is, that underlying every popular religion was the same ancient wisdom-doctrine, one professed and practiced by the initiates of every country, who alone were aware of its existence and importance.”
Aldous Huxley, in his 1944 work The Perennial Philosophy, described the essence of this belief as:
“Philosophia Perennis . . . the metaphysic that recognizes a divine Reality substantial to the world of things and lives and minds; the psychology that finds in the soul something similar to, or even identical with, divine Reality; the ethic that places man’s final end in the knowledge of the immanent and transcendent Ground of all being — the thing is immemorial and universal. Rudiments of the Perennial Philosophy may be found among the traditionary lore of primitive peoples in every region of the world, and in its fully developed forms it has a place in every one of the higher religions.”
For Perennialists, (spiritual) experience is a cross-cultural constant: it is a fundamental unity given different modes of expression Differences arise from interpretation, not essence.
The Masters
Related to the theme of the ancient, enduring wisdom were its keepers – the Masters or Adepts – sometimes referred to as the Great White Brotherhood or “The White Lodge” (it later transpired that there were evil ‘Black’ brothers as well) who watched over humanity and steered human evolution. Whilst these Masters were capable of feats of extraordinary power, it was stressed that they were not supernatural – they were part of the natural order. Annie Besant described them in these terms:
“EVER the idea of the Masters, the Elder Brothers of Humanity, sends a thrill through the human heart, and any words about them are eagerly and gladly welcomed. The idea of there being anything illogical in the conception of these great Beings, these perfected Men, has quite passed away from the West, as though it had not been. It is now realised that the existence of such Beings is natural, and that, given evolution, these highest products of evolution are a natural necessity. Many are beginning to see in the great figures of the past, evidence that such Men are, and recognizes recognises them in the past, hope springs forward to find them in the present.”
(The Masters 1912)
The ‘reality’ of the Masters was demonstrated by theosophists by invoking history – and moreover, attesting the evidence of personal experience of these beings – and to those who wished to experience such contacts for themselves, Besant adds:
“But you may say: We want first-hand evidence for ourselves. You can have it; but you must take the way. You can have the evidence amounting to demonstration for yourselves if you choose to take the trouble, if you choose to give the time. Not an unreasonable demand.
“If you want to verify for yourselves the experiments of some great chemist, can you do it by simply going into a laboratory and mixing together the things that you find there? If you want to verify some of the latest experiments in chemical science, do you suppose that you can do it for yourselves, without giving years of trouble and of study to master the science in which you want to carry out a critical experiment? And what would you think of the value of the criticism of some person absolutely ignorant of chemistry, if he said the experiment could not be performed, merely because he was not able to do it without training and without knowledge?”
The identity and residences of these masters changed throughout different stages of the TS’s development. In the next post, I’ll examine the role of Egypt, India & Tibet as ‘places of power’ in relation to occult wisdom. The Theosophical understanding of the nature of the masters also changed as different factions within the TS developed. For example, under the influence of CW Leadbeater, the masters became an “inner government.” Leadbeater biographer Geoffrey Tillet makes the rather telling point that Leadbeater’s clairvoyant investigations and numerous exchanges with various Masters always confirmed his opinions:
“…the Masters were little more than the supernatural upper classes who pontificated with the air of Victorian Anglican Bishops addressing candidates for confirmation.”
(The Elder Brother p268)
As ‘contact’ with the Masters increasingly became, within the TS, an appeal to a ‘higher’ authority on various factions and personalities, there was a good deal of questioning regarding just ‘who’ was in legitimate contact with true Masters and who was possibly being duped by “shadow forces”.
Alice Bailey, for example, was effectively ‘demonised’ by some members of the TS after she declared that she was receiving transmissions from the Master DK – she was accused of “working for the Black Lodge”.
HPB, throughout her life, continually stressed that she was acting under orders of the masters, and that she was but their messenger and pupil. It was the ‘brothers’ who instructed her to go to New York, and then on to India.
The identity of the masters – particularly those who turned up in person before Blavatsky, Colonel Olcott and A.P. Sinnett continues to be controversial. Paul Johnson for example, has controversially proposed that the masters known to Blavatsky – such as Koot Hoomi and Morya – were, rather than higher beings or entirely fictional creations, in actuality, living religious & political figures, some of which were involved in Indian Nationalism (see The Masters Revealed 1994).
Considered as a mythos – or a metahistory – the Theosophical Mahatmas could be seen as direct precursors of the Golden Dawn’s “Secret Chiefs”, the Illuminati, – perhaps even the various shadowy figures and entities lurking in the depths of modern conspiracy theories.
The Dawn of a New Age
Theosophists argued that the 19th century – and its materialism – represented the nadir of human evolution. From the 20th century, humanity would become increasingly spiritual in nature, guided by the masters.
In The Key to Theosophy, HPB predicts the future of the TS:
“It will gradually leaven and permeate the great mass of thinking and intelligent people with its large-minded and noble ideas of Religion, Duty, and Philanthropy. Slowly but surely it will burst asunder the iron fetters of creeds and dogmas, of social and caste prejudices; it will break down racial and national antipathies and barriers, and will open the way to the practical realisation of the Brotherhood of all men. Through its teaching, through the philosophy which it has rendered accessible and intelligible to the modern mind, the West will learn to understand and appreciate the East at its true value. Further, the development of the psychic powers and faculties, the premonitory symptoms of which are already visible in America, will proceed healthily and normally. Mankind will be saved from the terrible dangers, both mentally and bodily, which are inevitable when that unfolding takes place, as it threatens to do, in a hotbed of selfishness and all evil passions. Man’s mental and psychic growth will proceed in harmony with his moral improvement, while his material surroundings will reflect the peace and fraternal goodwill which will reign in his mind, instead of the discord and strife which is everywhere around us apparent today”
Part of the appeal of Theosophy was that by becoming members, men and women were participating in a great and momentous process of change that was underway. It does seem that from the early 1880s onwards there was a growing feeling that the old order was passing away and that society was on the brink of a new age – and for many, this would be a new age characterised by both spiritual and social evolution. Edward Carpenter described the mood as the converging of many streams:
“The Socialist and Anarchist Propaganda, the Feminist and Suffragette upheaval, the huge Trade-Union growth, the Theosophic movement, the new currents in the Theatrical, Musical and Artistic worlds, the torrent even of change in the religious world…”
(My Day and Dreams, 1916)
Similarly, the Fabian socialist Holbrook Jackson writes of “a wave of transcendentalism” sweeping England – not only a concern for the spiritual life, but also with that of social regeneration and the abolition of ‘social evils’ such as poverty. As Alex Own notes, those who moved in the UK’s occult circles were just as likely to be ardent socialists, anti-vivisectionists or vegetarians. So Theosophy was very much articulating and reflecting a wider social concern.
Sources
Bishop, Peter, Dreams of Power: Tibetan Buddhism and the Western Imagination The Athlone Press, 1993
Faivre, Atoine & Needleman, Jacob (eds) Modern Esoteric Spirituality SCM Press, 1993
Ryan, Charles. J, H.P. Blavatsky and the Theosophical Movement Theosophical University Press, 1975
Owen, Alex, The Darkened Room: Women, Power, and Spiritualism in Late Victorian England University of Chicago Press, 1989
Owen, Alex, The Place of Enchantment, British Occultism and the Culture of the Modern University of Chicago Press, 2004
King, Richard, Orientalism and Religion: Postcolonial Theory, India and the Mystic East Routledge, 1999
Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (ed), Helena Blavatsky North Atlantic Books, 2004
Noll, Richard, The Jung Cult: Origins of a Charismatic Movement Princeton University Press, 1994
Hornung, Erik, The Secret Lore of Egypt: It’s Impact on the West Cornell University Press, 2001
Wilson, A.N., The Victorians, Arrow Books 2003
Godwin, Jocelyn, The Theosophical Enlightenment SUNY, 1994
Tillett, Gregory, The Elder Brother: A biography of Charles Webster Leadbeater RKP, 1982
Sugirtharajah, Sharada, Imagining Hinduism, A Postcolonial Perspective Routledge, 2003
Dodin, Thierry & Rather, Heinz (eds), Imagining Tibet, Perceptions, Projections, Fantasies,Wisdom Publications, 2001
