Theosophy

Theosophy - Founded in 1875 by Helena Blavatsky (also known as Madame Blavatsky) and Henry Steel Olcott.
The current Theosophical Society (International and American) enumerates three "objects" of Theosophy: (1)
to create a Universal Brotherhood of Humanity without distinction related to race, creed, sex, caste, or color;
(2) to encourage the study of Comparative Religion, Philosophy, and Science; (3) to investigate unexplained
laws of nature and the powers latent in man. Theosophy may be seen as complementary or non-
contradictory to a person's existing religious beliefs and practices. The International Theosophy Society
defines Theosophy as "the wisdom underlying all religions when they are stripped of accretions and
superstitions. It offers a philosophy which renders life intelligible and demonstrates that justice and love
guide the cosmos. Its teachings aid the unfoldment of the latent spiritual nature in the human being, without
dependence." Blavatsky and Olcott moved the Theosophical Society to India in 1878, established
headquarters in Adyar, and published the first issue of The Theosophist in October of 1879. Annie Besant
became an integral member of the Theosophist movement after joining in 1889, and took over leadership of
the Society after the deaths of Blavatsky (d.1891) and Olcott (d.1907). Blavatsky, Olcott, and Besant
published extensively about Theosophy, published initially by the Theosophical Publishing House, which is
also responsible for the printing of The Theosophist journal and the quarterly Adyar Newsletter.

Cateogies: 19th C, 20th C, contemporary movement, India, global movement, occult;

Primary Sources:

 The Theosophical Society in America: http://www.theosophical.org/

 The Theosophical Society (International): http://www.ts-adyar.org/content/home
 The Theosophical Society International Headquarters (Pasadena, CA): http://www.theosociety.org/
 Theosophical University Press (Pasedena, CA): http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/tup-onl.htm
 United Lodge of Theosophists: http://www.ult.org/
 Theosophy Library Online: http://theosophy.org/
 Internet Sacred Text Archive, "Theosophy": http://www.sacred-texts.com/the/index.htm
 Besant, Annie. The Origins of Theosophy. J. Gordon Melton, editor. New York: Garland Publishers,
1990.
o ("Reprint of 13 pamphlets from 1883-1890")
 Besant, Annie. Popular Lectures on Theosophy. 2nd Ed. Adyar, India: Theosophist Office, 1912.
 Blavatsky, Helena P. Isis Unveiled. New York: J.W. Bouton, 1877.
 Blavatsky, Helena P. The Key to Theosophy. London & New York: Theosophical Publishing Company,
1889(?).
 Blavatsky, Helena P. The Secret Doctrine: The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy.
o Vol. I "Cosmogenesis" London, New York, & Adyar: Theosophical Publishing Company, 1888.
o Vol. II "Anthropogenesis"
 Blavatsky, Helena P. The Theosophical Glossary. London, New York, and Adyar: Theosophical
Publishing Society, 1892.
 Cooper, Irving Steiger. Theosophy Simplified. Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Press, 1964.
 Iyer, Raghavan Narasimham. The Dawning of Wisdom: Essays on Walking the Path. Compiled by the
Editorial Board of the Theosophy Trust. Washington, D.C.: Theosophy Trust, 2007.
 Judge, William Quan. The Ocean of Theosophy. Los Angeles, CA: United Lodge of Theosophists, 1915.
 Mills, Joy. The One True Adventure: Theosophy and the Quest for Meaning. Wheaton, IL: Quest
Books/Theosophical Publishing House, 2008.
 Rogers, Louis William. Elementary Theosophy. Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Press, 1956.
 Steiner, Rudolf. Theosophy: An Introduction to the Supersensible Knowledge of the World and the
Destination of Man. Chicago & New York: Rand, McNally, & Company, 1910.
  Theosophical Society in America. A Primer of Theosophy: A Very Condensed Outline. Chicago: Rajput
Press, 1909. (public domain)

Secondary Sources:

 Blavatsky Study Center: http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/

 Blavatsky Net - Theosophy (Theosophy Foundation of Georgia): http://www.blavatsky.net/
 Cranston, Sylvia L. HPB: The Extraordinary Life and Influence of Helena Blavatsky, Founder of the
Modern Theosophical Movement. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1993.
 Early Theosophical (& Theosophical Related) Publications Online:
http://blavatskyarchives.com/theosophypdfs/early_theosophical_publications.htm
 Evans, Henry Ridgely. Hours with the Ghosts: or, Nineteenth Century Witchcraft. Illustrated
Investigations into the Phenomena of Spiritualism and Theosophy. Chicago: Laird & Lee, 1897.
 Faivre, Antoine and Jacob Needleman. eds. Modern Esoteric Spirituality. New York: Crossroad, 1992.
["Theosophy and the Theosophical Society" by Emily B. Sellon and Renee Weber]
 Gilchrist, Cherry. Theosophy: The Wisdom of Ages. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996.
 Harris, Iverson L. Theosophy Under Fire: A Miniature 'Key to Theosophy' as Recorded in a Legal
Deposition. San Diego, CA: 1970. (Publisher unknown)
 Kuhn, Alvin Boyd. Theosophy: A Modern Revival of an Ancient Wisdom. Studies in Religion and
Culture, American Series, No. 2. New York: H. Holt and Company, 1930.
 Lachman, Gary. Politics and the Occult: The Left, the Right, and the Radically Unseen. Wheaton, IL:
Quest Books/Theosophical Publishing House, 2008.
 Rudolf Steiner (founder of esoteric offshoot of Theosophy known as Anthroposophy):
o Rudolf Steiner Web: http://www.rudolfsteinerweb.com/
o Rudolf Steiner Archive: http://www.rsarchive.org/
o Rudolf Steiner School ("The First Waldorf School in North America"):
http://www.steiner.edu/
 The Theosophical Network: http://www.theosophy.net/
 Theosophy Trust: http://theosophytrust.org/
 Washington, Peter. Madame Blavatsky's Baboon: A History of the Mystics, Mediums, and Misfits
Who Brought Spiritualism to America. New York: Shocken Books, 1995.

Scholarly Sources:
Theosophical History: http://www.theohistory.org/
Bevir, Mark. "Theosophy as a Political Movement" in Gurus and Their Followers: New Religious Reform
Movements in Colonial India. Antony Copley, editor. New Delhi & Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2000.
Carlson, Maria. "No Religion Higher than Truth": A History of the Theosophical Movement in Russia, 1875-
1922. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993.
Daschke, Dereck and W. Michael Ashcraft. eds. New Religious Movements: A Documentary Reader. New York:
New York University Press, 2005. [Part II: Theosophy - 2 entries]
Dixon, Joy. "Ancient Wisdom, Modern Motherhood: Theosophy and the Colonial Syncretic" in Gender,
Sexuality, and Colonial Modernities. Antoinette Burton, editor. London & New York: Routledge, 1999.
Dixon, Joy. Divine Feminine: Theosophy and Feminism in England. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University
Press, 2001.
Faivre, Antoine. Theosophy, Imagination, Tradition: Studies in Western Esotericism. Christine Rhone, trans.
Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2000.
Godwin, Joscelyn. The Theosophical Enlightenment. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1994.
Gomes, Michael. Theosophy in the Nineteenth Century: An Annotated Bibliography. New York: Garland
Publishers, 1994.
Johnson, K. Paul. Initiates of Theosophical Masters. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1995.
Lewis, James R. ed. Theosophy. New York: Garland Publishers, 1990.
Pels, Peter. "Occult Truths: Race, Conjecture, and Theosophy in Victorian Anthropology" in Excluded
Ancestors, Inventible Traditions: Essays Towards a More Inclusive History of Anthropology. Richard
Handler, editor. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2000.
Sharp, Lynn L. Secular Spirituality: Reincarnation and Spiritism in Nineteenth-Century France. Lanham, MD:
Lexington Books, 2006.
Sutin, Lawrence. All is Change: The Two-Thousand-Year Journey of Buddhism to the West. New York: Little,
Brown, & Co., 2006. [Chapter 6: "Rise of Theosophy and the 'Great Game' "]