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theosophy (thê-òs´e-fê) noun
plural theosophies
1. Religious philosophy or speculation about the nature of the soul based on mystical insight into the nature of god.
2. Often Theosophy. The beliefs of a religious sect, the Theosophical Society, founded in New York City in 1875, incorporating aspects of Buddhism and Brahmanism.
[Medieval Latin theosophia, from Late Greek : Greek theo-, theo- + Greek sophia, wisdom.]
- the´osoph´ic (-e-sòf´îk) or the´osoph´ical (-î-kel) adjective
- the´osoph´ically adverb
- theos´ophist noun
 

theosophy

theosophy, [Gr., = divine wisdom], philosophical system with affinities to MYSTICISM that claims insight into the nature of God and the world through direct knowledge, philosophical speculation, or a physical process. Theosophy deduces the essentially spiritual nature of the universe from an assumption of the absolute reality of the essence of God. Theosophists generally believe that evil exists as a product of finite human desires; individuals can overcome it by arousing their latent spiritual powers. Emphasis is given to allegorical interpretation of sacred writings and doctrines. The Renaissance philosopher PARACELSUS combined scientific ideas with theosophical speculation. More recent theosophists include Jakob BOEHME, F.W.J. SCHELLING, and Emanuel SWEDENBORG. Asian philosophy and theology, especially of India, contain a vast body of theosophical doctrine, and modern theosophy draws much of its vocabulary from Indian sources. The Theosophical Society, with which theosophy is now generally identified, was founded in 1875 by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. CABALA; GNOSTICISM; NEOPLATONISM.

The Theosophical Movement, absurd and politically suspect as it was, nevertheless inspired many artists and designers with its visual manifestations of spirituality. Among those who took it directly into their works included Wassili Kandinsky and Mondrian, but also the influential Czech painter Frank Kupka and Edvard Munch.

The Theosophical Society was founded by Colonel Henry Steel Olcott and Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, a pudgy, crafty, cigar-smoking trickster from Russia.  The movement combined the pulp appeal of popular magic with headier mystic thoughts; Blavatsky's endless books are cut and paste collages of Freemasonry, Hermeticism, potted "Eastern" metaphysics, and her own science-fiction tales of telepathic Tibetan masters and Atlantean cataclysms.  But as the historian Joscelyn Godwin argues, Blavatsky's group also represented Enlightenment values that had nothing to do with Buddha's claim to fame and everything to do with the freethinking spirit of progress.  The Theosophists loathed conventional Christianity, embraced emancipatory social movements, and called for a new global politics of "universal brotherhood."  They were the gnostics of modernism.

- Erik Davis - _Techgnosis: Myth, Magic & Mysticism In The Age Of Information_

• Point Loma, San Diego
• Nicholas Roerich
• Theosophical Library - located in Pasadena, California
• track _Blavatsky Smokes_ MP3 (192k) by Vulva off of _From The Cockpit_ CD #021 on Rephlex (1995)

first mention of Theosophy in Usenet:

From: utcsrgv!simon (utcsrgv!simon)
 Subject: the unexplained
 Newsgroups: net.general, net.news.group
 Date: 1982-11-19 11:27:26 PST

There does not appear to be a newsgroup for discussing such things as paranormal phenomena, occultism, theosophy, eastern philosophies and so on. If there is interest in creating such a group (or if an appropriate group already exists) please send me mail.
                        Simon Gibbs
                        ...!decvax!utzoo!utcsrgv!simon

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