Theosophy

The word theosophy, “divine wisdom,” is ancient, but the term is now most frequently used in reference to the teachings and work of the Theosophical Society, established in New York in 1875. Its principal founders were Henry Steel Olcott (1832–1907), the first president, who served until his death; Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831–1891), the leading articulator, in voluminous writings, of the Theosophical worldview; and William Quan Judge (1851–1896), a later president of the Theosophical Society in America. [Page 1277]Theosophy was a significant agent in the globalization of religion.

Many original Theosophists had been Spiritualists, but under the guidance of Blavatsky were led to probe more deeply into ancient and cosmic mysteries of which that novel faith seemed only to scratch the surface. In particular, Theosophists believed that an “ancient wisdom” could be uncovered that underlay philosophy and religion around the globe but of which India was now a major reservoir. Among the chief tenets of this wisdom were cosmic oneness, the interactive spiritual and material evolution of the universe, karma and reincarnation, the journey of the individual “pilgrim” through life after life, and the existence of advanced souls called “mahatmas” or “masters,” who guide the evolution of the world and who can assist others in their pilgrimage.

In the East, the work of Blavatsky, Olcott, and others enhanced Hindu and Buddhist understandings of their faiths as legitimate world religions with much to offer others. At the same time, Theosophical lecturers and writings popularized awareness in the West of concepts such as karma, reincarnation, and spiritual masters not only in major cities but in smaller places as well. (In 1900, there were Theosophical lodges in towns such as Pierre, South Dakota, and Sheridan, Wyoming.)

Theosophy, like Spiritualism just before it, epitomized globalism in another sense also. Those two were among the first significant independent spiritual groups to originate in America. They claimed to be, like the new nation, democratic. They also emphasized, in a new scientific age, that they were amenable to scientific verification, not dependent on “blind faith” in traditional authority. Moreover, at home and around the globe, they popularized themselves by employing dramatic new technologies: the print media, in the first years of truly widespread literacy, and travel by trains and steamships, with their relative speed and comfort. (On their first journey to India, in 1879, Blavatsky and Olcott passed through the Suez Canal only a decade after its opening.) On another level, unusual for the 19th century, Theosophy saw the pluralism of global religion, not as grounds for missionary competition alone but as a means to the deepening of wisdom.