The theosophical enlightenment / Joscelyn Godwin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Godwin, Joscelyn, author.

Series:

SUNY series in Western esoteric traditions

SUNY series in Western esoteric traditions The theosophical enlightenment

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Occultism--Great Britain--History.

Occultism.

Theosophy--Great Britain--History.

Theosophy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 448 p. ) ill. ;

Place of Publication:

Albany, New York : State University of New York Press, [1994]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This is an intellectual history of occult and esoteric currents in the English-speaking world from the early Romantic period to the early twentieth century. The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875 by Helena P. Blavatsky, holds a crucial position as the place where all these currents temporarily united, before again diverging. The book's ambiguous title points to the author's thesis that Theosophy owed as much to the skeptical Enlightenment of the eighteenth century as it did to the concept of spiritual enlightenment with which it is more readily associated.The author respects his sources sufficiently to allow that their world, so different from that of academic reductionism, has a right to be exhibited on its own terms. At the same time he does not conceal the fact that he considers many of them deluded and deluding.In the context of theosophical history, this book is neither on the side of the blind votaries of Madame Blavatsky, nor on that of her enemies. It may, therefore, be expected to mildly annoy both sides.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface

ONE The Worship of the Generative Powers

TWO The Cult of the Sun

THREE The Blasphemers

FOUR The Shoemaker and the Squire

FIVE Magicians and Revolutionaries

SIX Neophytes and Initiates

SEVEN Artists and Astrologers

EIGHT Animal Magnetism

NINE Visions in the Crystal

TEN Hydesville and After

ELEVEN From the Orphic Circle to the Golden Dawn

TWELVE The Way to Christ

THIRTEEN Rosicrucian Pretenders

FOURTEEN Enter Madame Blavatsky

FIFTEEN Wisdom from the East

SIXTEEN The Hermetic Reaction

SEVENTEEN The Parting of East and West

Appendix A Transcription of Raja Rammohun Roy's letter to Robert Dale Owen

Appendix B Transcription of Hargrave jennings's letter to Bulwer-Lytton

Notes

Bibliography of Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (pages [419]-434) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-4384-0422-0

0-585-04522-4