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The Brill Handbook of the Theosophical Current represents pioneering research into an important but under-researched current. The three sections in this volume are devoted to the Theosophical Society, Theosophically influenced religious currents, and the interaction between Theosophy and surrounding culture.

This study investigates how madrasas for girls emerged in India, how they differ from madrasas for boys, and how female students come to interpret Islam through the teachings they receive in these schools.

Annie Besant published several autobiographical texts from 1878, starting with the preface to My Path to Atheism, when she was vice-president of the National Secular Society. Her first autobiography, Autobiographical Sketches, appeared in book form in 1885, the year she joined the Fabian Society, a decision she justified in 1886 with Why I Am a Socialist. When Besant converted to Theosophy in 1889, she wrote Why I Became a Theosophist, and her revised autobiography, Annie Besant: An Autobiography, was published in 1893, preceded by 1875 to 1891: A Fragment of Autobiography. Meanwhile, Besant penned her first biography of the Renaissance philosopher Giordano Bruno in 1876, a short sketch published in The National Reformer, the NSS weekly. She wrote a more detailed Story of Giordano Bruno, in 1884-5, at the time she joined the Socialist revival. Her fascination with Bruno took a new dimension from 1889, when she embraced the Theosophists’ belief in reincarnation: she had come to the conclusion that she had been Bruno in a past life when she lectured on Giordano Bruno: the Man and the Teacher in 1898, and delivered Le Message de Giordano Bruno au Monde moderne, in the Sorbonne in 1911. No study of Besant’s writings on Bruno has ever been published. So, this paper explores the reasons why Annie Besant wrote four biographies of Giordano Bruno between 1876 and 1911. It retraces her personal and spiritual evolution through an analysis of her biographies of Bruno as occult autobiographies, that transgress gender boundaries, and pursue the legitimization strategies developed by Besant in her openly autobiographical texts. Annie Besant publia plusieurs textes autobiographiques à partir de 1878, dont le premier est sa préface de My Path to Atheism, alors qu’elle était vice-présidente de la National Secular Society. Sa première autobiographie, Autobiographical Sketches, parut sous forme de livre en 1885, l’année où Besant adhéra à la Société fabienne, décision qu’elle justifia en 1886 avec Why I Am a Socialist. Lorsque Besant se convertit à la Théosophie en 1889, elle rédigea Why I Became a Theosophist, et publia son autobiographie révisée, Annie Besant : An Autobiography, en 1893, précédée de 1875 to 1891: A Fragment of Autobiography. Parallèlement, Besant écrivit sa première biographie du philosophe de la Renaissance Giordano Bruno en 1876, un court portrait pour le National Reformer, l’hebdomadaire de la NSS. Elle publia une histoire plus détaillée du philosophe, The Story of Giordano Bruno, en 1884-5, au moment de son ralliement au renouveau socialiste. La fascination de Besant pour Bruno acquit une nouvelle dimension à partir de 1889, et son adoption de la foi théosophe en la réincarnation. C’est convaincue qu’elle avait été Bruno dans une vie antérieure que Besant donna ses conférences sur Giordano Bruno: the Man and the Teacher, en 1898, et transmit Le Message de Giordano Bruno au Monde moderne, à la Sorbonne, en 1911. Aucune étude des écrits de Besant sur Bruno n’a été publiée jusqu’ici. Cet article explore donc les raisons pour lesquelles Annie Besant rédigea quatre biographies de Giordano Bruno entre 1876 et 1911. Il retrace l’évolution personnelle et spirituelle de Besant en analysant ses biographies de Bruno en tant qu’autobiographies occultes, qui transgressent les barrières de genres, tout en poursuivant les stratégies de légitimisation mises en place par Besant dans ses textes ouvertement autobiographiques.

This book explores the various ways, ranging over psychology, political philosophy and metaphysics, that both historical women and various conceptualizations of the female help shape Neoplatonism, one of the most influential philosophical schools of late antiquity, at various levels.

Fin-de-siècle occultism is usually regarded within the context of an \"occult revival\" that implies the modernization of an older esoteric tradition. However, this notion is rooted in esoteric identificatory discourses at the end of the nineteenth century. This article will discuss two major aspects of these discourses. First, French esotericists polemically distanced themselves from the \"Eastern\" esotericism of the Theosophical Society by constructing an ésotérisme occidental. It will be shown that this separation of \"East\" and \"West\" occurred as a reaction to the T.S., and should thus be seen as a \"nationalist\" response to a global phenomenon. Second, another major aspect of occultist identity formations will be highlighted: socialism. It will be shown that fin-de-siècle occultists were deeply involved with socialist theories in the July Monarchy vein but ambiguously distanced themselves from contemporary \"materialist\" socialisms. An analysis of this context will further help to understand the construction of an esoteric tradition.

In May 1904, the residents of Halcyon-a small utopian community on California's central coast-invited their neighbors to attend the grand opening of the Halcyon Hotel and Sanatorium. As part of the entertainment, guests were encouraged to have their hands X-rayed. For the founders and members of Halcyon, the X-ray was a demonstration of mysterious spiritual forces made practical to human beings. Radiance from Halcyonis the story not only of the community but also of its uniquely inventive members' contributions to religion and science. The new synthesis of religion and science attempted by Theosophy laid the foundation for advances produced by the children of the founding members, including microwave technology and atomic spectral analysis. Paul Eli Ivey's narrative starts in the 1890s in Syracuse, New York, with the rising of the Temple of the People, a splinter group of the theosophical movement. After developing its ideals for an agricultural and artisanal community, the Temple purchased land in California and in 1903 began to live its dream there. In addition to an intriguing account of how a little-known utopian religious community profoundly influenced modern science, Ivey offers a wide-ranging cultural history, encompassing Theosophy, novel healing modalities, esoteric architecture, Native American concepts of community, socialist utopias, and innovative modern music.

Purpose This paper responds to calls within the history of Australian education and Australian politics to examine posture or positioning toward the contemplative or spiritual in historical work. The purpose of this paper is to respond to these calls through a focus on the work of Jill Roe on alternative spiritualities, most notably Theosophy, in a way that demonstrates shifts in receptivity toward alternative spiritualities within work produced between 1986 and 2004. Design/methodology/approach Microhistory, in combination with a Foucauldian genealogical history of the present approach, is used to carry out and contextualise a close reading of three historical works by Jill Roe on alternative spiritualities. Subtle shifts in positioning toward the subject are highlighted to point to larger shifts in receptivity toward the contemplative and alternative spiritualities. Findings Close reading of three of Jill Roe’s publications on alternative spiritualities in Australia and New Zealand are found to reveal shifts from a more cautious positioning toward the subject matter in earlier works to more open positionings in later works. These findings are rendered legible, it is argued, in the context of the contemporary acceptance of mindfulness, meditation and the emergence of a new cultural category of contemporary spirituality. Originality/value This paper responds to calls for the re-evaluation of the posture taken in the field of education history toward notions of meditation, mindfulness and alternative spiritualities. It has shown one way to respond to such calls which takes into account present framings of these subjects and applies a close, microhistory, reading of text. Creative examinations that draw together threads of connection are modelled through examining Jill Roe’s work, particularly on Theosophy, to underscore continuities between Theosophy and Steiner education in Australia and New Zealand.

Abstract Although many new agers believe that enlightenment is the end goal of spiritual development, the importance of this concept has largely been overlooked by scholars until now. This article contextualizes the concept of enlightenment historically. After a detailed description of what the new age concept of enlightenment entails, it traces the origin of the concept to the late 19th-century \"Oriental reaction\" to Theosophy, when \"missionaries from the East\" like Vivekananda and Suzuki drew on transcendentalism, Theosophy, and recent innovations in psychology to articulate a paradigmatic expression of Asian soteriology. It highlights the importance of models of enlightenment in the transmission of Asian ideas and follows the trajectory that starts with Vivekananda and Suzuki to figures and currents like Aldous Huxley, 1960s counterculture, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and neo-advaita. Thereby, it provides an account of the formation of the new age concept of enlightenment.

The point of departure for this essay is the first part of the life of Guillem Rovirosa (1915–1934), before he became one of the most important social activists in post-war Spain. During those years he abandoned his Catholic faith and, accompanied by a few friends, embarked on a journey of exploration through Esperanto, naturism, spiritualism, and theosophy. This essay proposes the application of comparative microhistory to religious sociology. The author has sourced similar combinations from around the world in the same period and concludes that this melting pot was not unique. Quite the contrary, from Europe to the Far East, many people underwent similar experiences, usually of a countercultural nature and often linked to the idea of anti-authoritarianism and to its possible religious foundations.