What Theosophy is
Theosophy is a modern esoteric movement founded in the late 19th century. The word comes from Greek roots usually translated as “divine wisdom.” The Theosophical Society, established in New York in 1875, set out to combine Western occultism with ideas drawn from Hinduism and Buddhism, and to present the result as a hidden “ancient wisdom” underlying all religions.
Helena Blavatsky
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891) was a Russian-born writer and the movement’s central figure. She co-founded the Theosophical Society with Henry Steel Olcott and William Quan Judge, among others. Her major books were Isis Unveiled (1877) and The Secret Doctrine (1888). She claimed that some of her teachings came from spiritual Masters or Mahatmas, a claim that has been debated ever since.
The society’s headquarters later moved to Adyar, near Madras (now Chennai) in India, where it remains a base for the main Theosophical Society.
Key teachings
Theosophical writings differ in detail, but common themes include:
- A single underlying truth shared, in part, by all major religions.
- Reincarnation and karma as part of a process of spiritual evolution.
- Hidden teachers. See The Ascended Masters.
- Cosmic cycles and “root races,” a scheme of human development that later writers elaborated. Some of these racial ideas are widely criticized today.
- Lost civilizations such as Atlantis. See Atlantis in Occult and New Age Spirituality.
- A record of events in the cosmos, which later Theosophists linked to the Akashic Records.
Is Theosophy a religion?
It depends on who you ask. The Theosophical Society has historically said it does not impose beliefs and that members may hold any faith or none; its stated aims include forming a nucleus of universal brotherhood and encouraging comparative study of religion, philosophy and science. Scholars, however, generally treat Theosophy as a new religious movement or esoteric tradition, since it offers a cosmology, a view of salvation as spiritual development, and revered texts. For a related distinction, see What is the difference between religion and Spiritualism?
What “occult science” means here
Blavatsky presented Theosophy as a synthesis of religion, philosophy and science. “Occult science” in this setting refers to claimed hidden laws of nature, such as the correspondence between human beings and the cosmos, supposed subtle bodies, and spiritual evolution. It is not science in the modern empirical sense, and its claims are not supported by scientific testing. Blavatsky did, however, present her work as reconciling science and religion, a theme discussed in Which religion is most aligned with science?
Controversies
In 1884-85 the Society for Psychical Research investigated claims about the Masters’ letters, and its report by Richard Hodgson concluded that Blavatsky had been involved in fraud. Later scholars have questioned parts of that report, but her reputation remained contested. Critics have also pointed to racial hierarchies in some Theosophical writings.
Splits and offshoots
After Blavatsky’s death the movement divided. Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater led the Adyar society, promoting the young Jiddu Krishnamurti as a coming World Teacher; he later rejected that role and dissolved the related organization in 1929. Judge’s American followers formed a separate body. Rudolf Steiner left to found Anthroposophy, and Alice Bailey developed another strand of Theosophy-derived teaching.
Legacy
Theosophy popularized terms and ideas now common in modern spirituality, including karma, reincarnation, spiritual masters and “ancient wisdom.” Its influence runs through the New Age movement and many later groups, even when they do not credit it.