Your Opinion About Theosophy?

[Japetos]

What's your opinion about Theosophy?
Do you belong to Theosophical Society?

[Milesian]

I'm not really clued up about it but I see adverts at times for Madame Blatvsky's Theosophical Society.

I believe it is a spin off of the Illumati, League of the Just, and other proto- and pseudo-Masonic sects.
Not really my sort of thing, I leave the New Age stuff to others to confuse and confound themselves with

[Siegfried]

I don't know much about Theosophy, but isn't it related to the New Age movement? I vaguely recall reading that the mission statement of the Theosophical Society included the promotion of interracial brotherhood, equality and other gay stuff I don't believe in.

[Oskorei]

I don't know much about Theosophy, but isn't it related to the New Age movement? I vaguely recall reading that the mission statement of the Theosophical Society included the promotion of interracial brotherhood, equality and other gay stuff I don't believe in.

They also believed in the existence of several, evolving, Root-races, of which the Aryan was the most recent, and highest. I also think that they are into Hierarchic thinking.

Many Occult Racialists have relied heavily on Theosophy, like the Ariosophists, Madole of the NRP, and today Varg Vikernes.

[Oskorei]

Here is a nice summary of the Theosophist theory of "root-races"

The Theosophical Root Races

In the fractal divisions of Theosphy each stage and cycle and plane is divided into seven subdivisions of the same. This goes for the evolutionary cycles of man as much for everything else. If then we take the Earth globe (era) of the present evolutionary or cosmic Round, this is made up of seven great Racio-Spiritual divisions, called "Root Races", which represent teh racpitualtion of the Rounds as a whole. These are as follows
1) Polarians
2) Hyperboreans
3) Lemurians
4) Atlanteans
5) Aryans
6) 6th Root Race
7) 7th Root Race
The first root race was primarily spiritual (Astral/Etheric), and did not leave physical remains. The second (tee Hyperborean) were also non-physical (etheric).
The Lemurians were the first with physical bodies. They were described as a race of three eyed giants and inhabited a "lost continent" of Lemuria which is where the Indian and Pacific oceans now are. Mdern theosophistts identify Lemuria with the actual ancient supercontinent of Gondwanaland.
The Atlanteans are generally considered to have had great occult and/or technological powers, and inhabited the lost continent of Atlantis, which was destroyed due to their abuse of psychic powers or whatever (the versions of this late 19th/early 20th century myth of hubris and the arrogant Atlanteans, given by Blavatsky, Leadbeater, Steiner, A. Bailey, Edgar Cayce, and others all differ in detail). The survivors became the present fifth or Aryan race.
The Atlantean Root Race consisted of the following sub-races
1) Rohmahls
2) Tlavatlis
3) Toltecs
4) First Turanians
5) Original Semites
6) Akkadians
7) Mongolians
It was from the 5th sub-race of Atlanteans, known today as the Semites, that the first Aryans emerged (not the rigid symbolism, the 5th subrace becomes the 5th race), migrating to India and producing what was known in those distant times as the Rama Empire. According to one interpretation they were rivals to the Atlanteans in the leadership of the ante-dilluvian World and it led to a war between the two empires, including ancient nuclear warfare.
The Fifth Root Race - the Aryan
According to Theosophical doctrine we are presently at the fifth stage, referred to as the Aryans. A few words about this term. Ethnologically, the Ayrans (the word means "noble" in Sanskrit) were the original Indo-European nomadic tribesmen, a war-like race of horsemen that moved east to India and West into the near East and Europe. Feminist historians argue that when they got to Europe they destroyed the peace-loving earth-wisdom pagan matriachial societies and replaced them with war-like sky-god worshipping patriarchial societies such as we still have today. It is unfortunate that the term "aryan" was adopted and perverted by Hitler and his intellectual predecessor's fantasies of an "Aryan" Overman, and is still used today by right-wing white power extremists. It has actually been suggested (by Trevor Ravenscroft in his classic work "Spear of Destiny) and by others as well, that Hitler and his inner circle were actually black magicians and perverted the genuine symbols, e.g. turning the swastika (a solar symbol) counter-clockwise (we are asumming here the trailing edges are "blown back" and pointing the opposite direction to the rotation), in order to focus on destruction and negativity (note the swastika on the Theosophical logo spins "clockwise"). Other critical historians and history of occult scholars tend to pooh-pooh or downplay the idea of Hitler having occult knowldge. He did consult astrologers, but that doesnt make him an occultist. Also swatsikas in India, Tibet, and elsewhere are represented counter-clockwise as well as clockwise anyway. Taking the middle way perhaps the best explanation my own opinion here lies midway between the believers and the critics. In any case it should be understood that Aryan when used in the Theosophical context has absolutely nothing to do with Hitler or Nazism, and the sort of racist ideology espoused by white power etc woudl be abhorrant to every Theosophist.
This is not to say that the early orthodox and heterodox theosophists like Blavatsky, Leadbeater, and Steiner were totally free of racism. In fact their writing are just full of the entrenched white colonial european ethnocentricism that dominated the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The current Root Race, the apex of human evolution, is still European. At least one passage in Blavatsy's writings point at anti-semitism (the Jews are referred to as an unatural bridge between the 4th and 5th races). Tribal peoples are referred to by Leadbeater and Steiner as "the savage", the lowest rung on the human evolutionary ladder, and Leadbeater goes into some detail comparing the aura of the "savage" with that of the civilised (European) man. According to Gregory Tillet in his excellent biography (Elder Brother), Leadbeater was also a mild racist who hated being in India where the Theosophical headqurters were (the Adyar Branch in Madras). Interestingly, Steiner rejected the term Aryan for the fifth Root Race, prefering the clumsy "Post-Atlantic". Nevertheless his writings reflect eurocentric prejhudice every but as much as his predecessors.
The constituent "sub-races" of the Aryan (5th or present) race are as follows
1) Hindus
2) Sumerians
3) Egyptians
4) Hellenes
5) Europeans
6) Nova men
7) ?
These exact same stages were used by Rudolph Steiner as the seven culture periods of the Post-Atlantic (current) era.

The 6th race constitute a new coming racial expression, which will demonstrate a group consciousness and telepathic rapport, high intelligence and intuitive skills, combined with numerous other qualities. This formualtion, very innovative and forward looking when it first appeared, now seems very dated, as the future of nanotech, cyborgs, genetic engineering, transhumanism and the Singularity seems like drastically overtaking any theosophical version of a coming race.


http://www.kheper.net/topics/Theosophy/root_races.html

[Nick the Pilot]

Hi everybody!

Is anybody here still interested in discussing Theosophy? I have been a member of Theosophy for many years, and would like to hear other people's take on Theosophy.

[Fortis_in_Arduis]

Yeah! My mum is into Steiner, and wanted to send me to a Steiner school.

Steiner said that the the parsnip was the new potato. I am anti-potato too, and I don't like potato people either. Do you want to take it from there?

[Moody]

Steiner

Steiner's movement was Anthroposophy, not Theosophy, however.

The Anthroposophists certainly have some interesting ideas, including notions of Europe's spiritual evolution through history, for example.
Of course Steiner was influenced by Theosophy which came out of the 19th century

I wouldn't describe Theosophy as 'New Age' as it clearly pre-dates all that, and was actually part of the Occult revival.

It certainly had a racial in outlook as has been shown above, although these elements may be toned down today.

There is a Theosophical society in London too, and they give lectures on a regular basis.

I suppose there is a general resistance today towards systems of thought, like Theosophy, which are all-encompassing - metaphysical systems, if you like.
They are hard to accept as we tend to be cynical about such things and are far more fragmented in our thinking.

I have long had Blavatsky's 'The Secret Doctrine', but have found that - while I can read some of it - it never really grabs me for long enough, certainly not for the length of time needed to make a committment to it.
This probably says more about me than about Theosophy, however.

[Nick the Pilot]

Fortis,

Yes, Steiner was a proponent of Anthroposophy, not Theosophy. Anthroposophy was an off-shoot of Theosophy, and many of the concepts are the same.

Moody,

Yes, European culture's spiritual evolution, and the spiritual evolution of the entire human race is a key Theosophical concept.

You said,

"I wouldn't describe Theosophy as 'New Age' as it clearly pre-dates all that, and was actually part of the Occult revival."

--> Imagine, if you will, the religious scene in New York City in 1875. Reincarnation and karma were unheard of, religions like Buddhism and Hinduism were virtually unknown, and “New Age” bookstores had yet to appear. Into the middle of all this, Madame Blavatsky brought her new and revolutionary ideas.

Today, karma and reincarnation are familiar words to most Americans. Not so in 1875. Theosophy takes credit for popularizing the ideas of karma and reincarnation in the western world.

On the "occult" topic, I wonder if you are usijng the word occult as it was meant in Blavatsky's books, or as it is used today. Occult today means witchcraft. Not so in Blavatsky's books of the 1800's. Then, she meant concepts that were unknown to the average person, such as karma, reincarnation, pantheism as a central Christian teaching, etc.

On the "New Age" topic, I give Blavatsky credit for being one of the most important people for starting the entire New Age movement. We owe her a great debt for starting it all, way back then.

"It certainly had a racial in outlook as has been shown above, although these elements may be toned down today."

--> I would still describe Theosophy as radical, although, as you say, it has become more accepted since the 1800's. The mere fact that words like karma and reincarnation have become everyday words shows that progress is being made.

"I suppose there is a general resistance today towards systems of thought, like Theosophy, which are all-encompassing - metaphysical systems, if you like."

--> People want religion that is easy, and does not make them think too much. As a matter of fact, I think that is the general trend in religion today, the simplifying of religion. Theosophy, however, goes in the exact opposite direction. Dogmatic religions actually try to quash questioning and open-thinking. Theosophy is dedicated to questioning and open-thinking.

"There is a Theosophical society in London too, and they give lectures on a regular basis."

http://www.theosophical-society.org.uk/

"They are hard to accept as we tend to be cynical about such things and are far more fragmented in our thinking."

--> Blavatsky predicted that Theosophy would not be popular, and she was right.

"I have long had Blavatsky's 'The Secret Doctrine', but have found that - while I can read some of it - it never really grabs me for long enough...."

--> The Secret Doctrine is a very difficult book to read. A person cannot just sit down and read it — a great deal of pre-study is required. I have prepared a study guide, if you are interested.

[Moody]

Imagine, if you will, the religious scene in New York City in 1875. Reincarnation and karma were unheard of, religions like Buddhism and Hinduism were virtually unknown, and “New Age” bookstores had yet to appear. Into the middle of all this, Madame Blavatsky brought her new and revolutionary ideas.

Although such eastern ideas had already appeared in the philosophy of Schopenhauer [1788-1860] - an important cultural influence, not least on Wagner and Nietzsche.

Today, karma and reincarnation are familiar words to most Americans. Not so in 1875. Theosophy takes credit for popularizing the ideas of karma and reincarnation in the western world.

I would agree there, although what of the controversy which suggested that Blavastky had palgiarised many of her ideas?
Also, Vivekananda toured the USA in the late 19th century and had quite an impact.

On the "occult" topic, I wonder if you are using the word occult as it was meant in Blavatsky's books, or as it is used today.

The former; as has already been mentioned, Theosophy had an important influence on people like von List, Lanz and Crowley.

The Secret Doctrine is a very difficult book to read. A person cannot just sit down and read it — a great deal of pre-study is required. I have prepared a study guide, if you are interested.

I'm certainly interested.