Author: Helena Petrovna BlavatskyPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Theosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 376
Book Description
Divine Feminine
Author: Joy DixonPublisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 0801875307
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 316
Book Description
Honorable Mention for the Wallace K. Ferguson Prize from the Canadian Historical AssociationChosen by Choice Magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title of 2003 In 1891, newspapers all over the world carried reports of the death of H. P. Blavatsky, the mysterious Russian woman who was the spiritual founder of the Theosophical Society. With the help of the equally mysterious Mahatmas who were her teachers, Blavatsky claimed to have brought the "ancient wisdom of the East" to the rescue of a materialistic West. In England, Blavatsky's earliest followers were mostly men, but a generation later the Theosophical Society was dominated by women, and theosophy had become a crucial part of feminist political culture. Divine Feminine is the first full-length study of the relationship between alternative or esoteric spirituality and the feminist movement in England. Historian Joy Dixon examines the Theosophical Society's claims that women and the East were the repositories of spiritual forces which English men had forfeited in their scramble for material and imperial power. Theosophists produced arguments that became key tools in many feminist campaigns. Many women of the Theosophical Society became suffragists to promote the spiritualizing of politics, attempting to create a political role for women as a way to "sacralize the public sphere." Dixon also shows that theosophy provides much of the framework and the vocabulary for today's New Age movement. Many of the assumptions about class, race, and gender which marked the emergence of esoteric religions at the end of the nineteenth century continue to shape alternative spiritualities today.
Theosophy across Boundaries
Author: Hans Martin KrämerPublisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438480431
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 616
Book Description
Theosophy across Boundaries brings a global history approach to the study of esotericism, highlighting the important role of Theosophy in the general histories of religion, science, philosophy, art, and politics. The first half of the book consists of seven perspectives on the activities of the Theosophical Society in very different regional contexts, ranging from India, Vietnam, China, and Japan to Victorian Britain and Israel, shedding new light on the entanglement of "Western" and "Oriental" ideas around 1900. The second half explores specific cultural influences that Theosophy exerted in the spheres of literature, art, and politics, using case studies from Sri Lanka, Burma, India, Japan, Ireland, Germany, and Russia. The examples clearly show that Theosophy was part of a truly global movement, thus providing an outstanding example of the complex entanglements of the global religious history of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Theosophy for Beginners
Author: Catherine W. ChristiePublisher:
ISBN: 9780996716550
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 122
Book Description
Originally published in 1910, this little book by Catherine W. Christie opens the door to the vast body of Theosophical teachings. Acknowledging in her introduction that the book was "imperfect and inadequate, when viewed in the light of the sublime fullness of the Ancient Wisdom," hoped that it "may interest some who would be discouraged at the sight of a fuller or more learned exposition." She continued: "I have endeavored, by the use of simple language and a simple style, so to present these teachings that my readers can use them in their daily life, and thus prove their truth and value to themselves." The book begins with an overview of the Ancient Wisdom. It then covers the topics of brotherhood; reincarnation and karma; alchemy and magic; our mental, astral and physical bodies; the etheric double; the astral and mental planes of nature; the method of returning to earth-life; life in the new bodies; the power of thought and thought-forms; fairies and nature-spirits; action and motive; and the goal of humanity. Marcia Morris, who wrote the Foreword for this new edition, found a copy of Theosophy for Beginners in the late 1960s. It has been her most treasured companion on the Path ever since.
Yeats and Theosophy
Author: Ken MonteithPublisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135915628
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 253
Book Description
When H. P. Blavatsky, the controversial head of the turn of the century movement Theosophy, defined "a true Theosophist" in her book The Key to Theosophy, she could have just as easily have been describing W. B. Yeats. Blavatsky writes, "A true Theosophist must put in practice the loftiest moral ideal, must strive to realize his unity with the whole of humanity, and work ceaselessly for others." Although Yeats joined Blavatsky's group in 1887, and subsequently left to help form The Golden Dawn in 1890, Yeats's career as poet and politician were very much in line with the methods set forth by Blavatsky's doctrine. My project explores how Yeats employs this pop-culture occultism in the creation of his own national literary aesthetic. This project not only examines the influence theosophy has on the literary work Yeats produced in the late 1880's and 1890's, but also Yeats's work as literary critic and anthology editor during that time. While Yeats uses theosophy's metaphysical world view to provide an underlying structure for some of his earliest poetry and drama, he uses theosophy's methods of investigation and argument to discover a metaphysical literary tradition which incorporates all of his own literary heroes into an Irish cultural tradition. Theosophy provides a methodology for Yeats to argue that both Shelley and Blake (for example) are part of a tradition that includes himself. Basing his argument in theosophy, Yeats can argue that the Irish people are a distinct race with a culture more "sincere" and "natural" than that of England.
Author: Antoine Faivre
Author: Rudolf SteinerH.P. Blavatsky and the Theosophical Movement
Author: Charles J. RyanPublisher:
ISBN: 9780911500806
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
With careful documentation and persuasive exposition the author presents an authentic account of the chief incidents in H P Blavatsky's life, her ideals, and her unswerving dedication to the service of Humanity. Controversial matters and H P Blavatsky and controversy go hand in hand -- about which today there may still be differences in opinion, are examined because they touch closely on fundamentals. They are discussed with the author's penetrating insight, yet with an impersonal touch not lacking in persuasive charm. Includes an important record of the later history of the Theosophical Society and a listing of world-wide Theosophical Societies and Groups representative of the Theosophical Movement today.
Spiritualism, Madame Blavatsky & Theosophy
Author: Rudolf SteinerPublisher: SteinerBooks
ISBN: 9780880104951
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 310
Book Description
Selections from the Works of Rudolf Steiner Without the spiritualist movement and the amazing personality of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the creator of the Theosophical Society, the spiritual revolution of the twentieth century--the so-called New Age, with all its movers and shakers--would be unimaginable. And the work of Rudolf Steiner, G.I. Gurdjieff, René Guénon, Hazrat Inayat Khan, Sri Aurobindo, R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz, and C.G. Jung could not have become what it was. In this fascinating volume on the Theosophical movement, Rudolf Steiner, one of its primary participants, tells his story in his own words. We are told of the origins of the theosophical movement in spiritualism and somnambulism. We are given Steiner's own version of the relationship between Anthroposophy and Theosophy through his White Lotus Day Lectures, given over several years on the anniversary of Madame Blavatsky's death. Steiner then moves into the realm of occult history, where he relates Theosophy to its historical ground in Western esotericism, especially Rosicrucianism. He reveals events from the seventeenth century that led to the emergence of Freemasonry and other secret societies, as well as the hidden history of the creation of Theosophy in the nineteenth century and the conflicts that still reverberate today between the Anglo-Saxon and Germanic occult streams.
Author: Rudolf Steiner