Theosophy

A synthesis claiming one hidden wisdom beneath every religion.

from 1875 CE → · US & India, then worldwide · Modern & New

Theosophy, organized in 1875 by Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott, taught that all religions are surface expressions of a single ancient wisdom, weaving Hindu and Buddhist ideas of reincarnation and spiritual evolution together with Western esotericism. It spoke of hidden masters guiding human progress and helped introduce Eastern thought to the modern West. Its influence runs directly into the New Age, Anthroposophy, and much of modern alternative spirituality.

Key figures

• Helena Blavatsky (co-founder)
• Henry Steel Olcott

Texts

• The Secret Doctrine
• Isis Unveiled

Beliefs

• One ancient wisdom behind all religions
• Spiritual evolution across many lives
• Hidden masters guiding humanity

Rituals

• Study and meditation
• Comparative religion
• Lectures and lodges

Grew from

• Spiritualism
• Hinduism
• Buddhism
• Hermeticism

Connections in the atlas

• Rudolf Steiner
• Mount Shasta
• Swedenborg’s Earths in the Universe
• Third eye and bindi
• ? Was Atlantis real?
• Mount Shasta — Lemuria & 'beings'
• Modern psychological and sun-sign astrology
• ▶ The contactees
• Karma
• Buddhism
• Annie Besant
• Isis Unveiled