Showing results by narrator "Sandra Brautigam" in All Categories

Originally published in 1890 by Madame Blavatsky, this paper serves as part defense of and part biography of Franz Anton Mesmer. She discusses how science disavows magic while at the same time adopting and renaming identical concepts. She writes of the relationship between hypnotism and mesmerism, as well as how both were looked at within the scientific and occult communities across Europe at the time.

Toward the end of the Renaissance period, John Dee and Edward Kelly famously engaged in experiments with alchemy, crystal balls, and conversations with otherworldly entities during this important chapter of real occult and magical history. Here Adams explores the life of Dee and his relationship with Kelly, regarding these experiments. He offers examples of the sorts of dialogue that occurred, which Dee dutifully recorded for the sake of posterity. Adams also documents the tragic final years of the lives of both men, after they went their separate ways.

Annie Besant was a writer, lecturer, prominent Theosophist, and women's rights activist of her time. She was a frequent contributor to various Theosophical publications of her day. This piece by her is a short, basic introduction to occultism through the eyes of Theosophy as well as the differences between the Occultist and the Mystic.

Annie Besant was a writer, lecturer, prominent Theosophist and women's rights activist of her time. She was a frequent contributor to various Theosophical publications of her day. This particular piece dates to 1910, and she takes a philosophical examination of the mysteries of evil, as she puts it. She explains that there is a necessity for evil to exist, that it serves certain purposes, which she goes into detail about.

Annie Besant was a writer, lecturer, prominent theosophist, and women's rights activist of her time. She was a frequent contributor to various theosophical publications of her day. This piece by her, from 1912, is a short, basic introduction to mysticism through the eyes of theosophy. She writes about mysticism within Christianity and the Western Mystery Tradition in general. It's also interesting to note that she mentions the Illuminati in this piece, but in a philosophical rather than historical context, which is unusual for the time period.

Florence Farr was an actress, writer, and first-wave feminist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as an active member of the British occult community who regularly worked with her male counterparts in the fields of esoterica, being an initiate of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Collected here are seven of her magical essays: "Magic of a Symbol", "On the Play of the Image-Maker", "The Tetrad or Structure of the Mind", "Egyptian Use of Symbols", "The Philosophy Called Vedanta", "On the Kabbalah", and "The Rosicrucians and the Alchemists".

A writer, scholar in his own right, friend, and confidant, G. R. S. Mead offers a defense of his colleague, H. P. Blavatsky. During her life, she was often accused of being a charlatan. Mead offers first-hand knowledge of working with and knowing Madame Blavatsky and speaks out against reports that attempted to discredit her.

Annie Besant was a writer, lecturer, prominent Theosophist, and women’s rights activist of her time. She was a frequent contributor to various Theosophical publications of her day. This particular piece dates to 1911, and she’s lecturing on Christ from an intellectual but still spiritual standpoint. She encourages us to engage in critical discussion regarding historical evidence, authenticity of records, and his nature and purpose. She also touches on the Buddha, Blavatsky, Gnosticism, the mysteries, the ascended masters, and so forth.

C. Jinarajadasa was a writer, philosopher, and prominent Theosophist of his day and a Freemason. In this particular piece, originally from 1908, the author examines the life of Gautama and the religious reformation in Hinduism, which he championed at the time. The author lays out the four efforts, the ten meritorious acts, and the five meditations. He quotes from Plato and others, discusses Theosophy and somehow connects it all to the state of Nirvana, which he discusses at some length.

Beginning in ancient Egypt and working forward, writer P. W. Bullock takes an in-depth look at the various philosophies that collectively make up what we now call hermetic thought. Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus, the Egyptian Thoth, who was identified as early as the time of Plato with the Grecian Hermes, is not generally regarded as the real author of the Hermetic works popularly ascribed to him, and although these latter are considered to embody real Egyptian doctrine they are accorded, on the strength of internal evidence, a Grecian origin.

Notable theosophical author Mohini Chatterji offers enlightenment to the listener in this essay, intended for students who are interested in advancing to a higher level and desiring a push beyond rudimentary theosophical philosophy.

Following the publication of her main book in 1875, Mary Baker Eddy was giving regular lectures in Massachusetts, at Hawthorne Hall, near the Boston Commons and named for Nathaniel Hawthorne. Between the late 1870s and the mid 1880s, with a seating capacity of 250, Eddy regularly filled the hall on Sunday afternoons, with parishioners eager to hear her lectures, which were pivotal in helping to quickly build the Christian Science movement. Christian Healing is a lecture she gave in April of 1880.

Published in 1892, in this piece Mead explains that anyone can be a Theosophist, but in order to be considered an Occultist, the individual must be an agent of practice, not theory, and must have the wisdom to differentiate good from evil. Simply claiming to be an occultist and having basic knowledge on general subjects is not enough to truly be considered one. One of the great, underrated writers of Esoterica.

Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa was a writer, philosopher, Freemason, and prominent Theosophist of his day. In this particular piece, a lecture given in 1911 for the 36th annual convention of the Theosophical Society, the author speaks on reincarnation, consciousness, and the soul.

Originally published in 1887, writer Charles Johnston, a Theosophist and Sanskrit translator, decides to wax philosophically on the nature of man and religion in a poetically non-specific, meandering, transcendental, and existential sort of way.

Annie Besant was a writer, lecturer, prominent Theosophist and women's rights activist of her time. She was a frequent contributor to various Theosophical publications of her day. Here she writes about the qualifications of being a disciple, what an aspirant can expect, and what types of behavior their teacher may expect of them, as well as why we shouldn't judge other aspirants as not being worthy of having a teacher and what is to be gained by the whole process.

Mead notices that modern students often shrug off or dismiss the mysteries and wisdom of the ages, as unimportant. He argues that spirit is entirely absent from the religion of today, because it has been divorced from science. And, what was once considered religion to the primitive man is very different than what is considered religion now. Psychology, what he called the science of antiquity, is what is needed for the student of the mysteries to regain their foothold in the world.

A prolific and influential writer of his day, George Robert Stowe Mead was heavily involved in Hermetic and Gnostic scholarship of the time. Mead states that Theosophic faith is the precursor to Gnosis, and such is his approach to an introduction on the subject. He writes of the death of conventional knowledge and the birth of Theosophy and discusses his personal realizations and self-awakenings that led to his involvement with the Theosophical Society.

C. Jinarajadasa was a writer, philosopher, prominent Theosophist of his day, as well as a Freemason. In this particular piece (originally published in 1915), the author takes a scholarly examination and ritual dissection of the Catholic Mass. Among the many topics that he discusses are: the creed, the altar, the vestments, the collect and epistle, commemoration of the dead, Prajapati, and more.

C Jinarajadasa was a writer, philosopher, Freemason and prominent theosophist of his day. This particular piece is a lecture he gave in 1905, and he discusses consciousness, the inseparable duality of love and beauty, Plato's world of ideas, the divine mind and other related topics.