Spiritualism, Madame Blavatsky, and Theosophy C: An Eyewitness View of Occult History

by Steiner, Rudolf; Bamford, Christopher; Bamford, Christopher

• ISBN13: 9780880104951
• ISBN10: 0880104953
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-11-01
• Publisher: Hushion House Publishing

Summary

The Spiritual Revolution of the twentieth century -- the "New Age" -- is unimaginable without the spiritualist movement and the formidable personality of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the creator of the Theosophical Society. Without these two, the work of Rudolf Steiner, G. I. Gurdjieff, Hazrat Inayat Khan, Sri Aurobindo, and C. G. Jung, and could not have been what it was.

In this fascinating volume on the Theosophical movement, Rudolf Steiner, one of its leading participants, tells his own story in his own words about the origins of the theosophical movement in spiritualism and somnambulism, as well as his own version of Anthroposophy's relation to Theosophy. Steiner also relates Theosophy to its historical ground in Western esotericism, above all Rosicrucianism. He reveals events from the seventeenth century that led to the emergence of Freemasonry and other secret societies, the hidden history of the creation of Theosophy itself in the nineteenth century, and conflicts that are still reverberating between Anglo-Saxon and Germanic occult streams today.

Table of Contents

Introduction	7	(10)
Christopher Bamford
Prologue: A Personal Statement
(From ``The Barr Document'' for Edouard Schure)	17	(8)
Part One: Spiritualism, Somnambulism, and Theosophy
Theosophy and Spiritualism
Berlin, February 1, 1904	25	(15)
Theosophy and Somnambulism
Berlin, March 7, 1904	40	(18)
The History of Spiritualism
Berlin, May 30, 1904	58	(19)
The History of Hypnotism
Berlin, June 6, 1904	77	(18)
Part Two: White Lotus Day Lectures In Honor of the Anniversary of the Death of Madame Blavatsky
The Return of the Mysteries
Berlin, May 7, 1906	95	(10)
Remembering Madame Blavatsky
Munich, May 8, 1907	105	(6)
Christ and the Further Development of Conscience
Berlin, May 8, 1910	111	(15)
Ancient Wisdom and the Heralding of the Christ Impulse
Cologne, May 8, 1912	126	(17)
Part Three: Hidden Aspects of Occult History
Materialism and Occultism
Dornach, October 10, 1915	143	(9)
The Founding of the Theosophical Society
Dornach, October 11, 1915	152	(14)
The Significance of the Eighth Sphere
Dornach, October 17, 1915	166	(15)
More on the Eighth Sphere
Dornach, October 18, 1915	181	(13)
Some Background to the Role of Madame Blavatsky
Berlin, March 28, 1916	194	(11)
Occult Brotherhoods
Berlin, April 4, 1916	205	(9)
Madame Blavatsky's Occult Imprisonment
Dornach, December 26, 1916	214	(11)
Part Four: From Theosophy to Anthroposophy
Homeless Souls
Dornach, June 10, 1923	225	(8)
The Unveiling of Spiritual Truths
Dornach, June 11, 1923	233	(13)
The Opposition to Spiritual Revelations
Dornach, June 12, 1923	246	(8)
Spiritual Truths and the Physical World
Dornach, June 13, 1923	254	(10)
The Decline of the Theosophical Society
Dornach, June 14, 1923	264	(10)
The Emergence of the Anthroposophical Movement
Dornach, June 15, 1923	274	(11)
Notes	285	(16)
Sources and Background Reading	301