Ancient Wisdom Revived: A History of the Theosophical Movement

by Bruce F. Campbell

Recounts how Madame Helena Blavatsky revived the ancient Western tradition of Gnosticism to begin the Theosophical movement in the U.S

Genres: History, Theosophy, Nonfiction

259 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1980

Reviews

[Gary Reger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bruce Campbell traces the rather strange career of Theosophy from its founding in the late nineteenth century to about 1975 or so. The tale is complicated because of the confused and sometimes contradictory theoretical pronouncements of its founder Madame Blavatsky and her acolytes and the fierce struggles for power in its leadership, which resulted in fragmentation and competing entities claiming preeminence.

Campbell aims for a balanced and objective account; he only partly succeeds. In order to appear unbiased, he ends up leaning over backwards not to over-criticize the ideas in Theosophy, many of which were derived and distorted out of Indian Hindu and Buddhist thinking. But he can't really escape the fact that Theosophy is a muddle, that Blavatsky's writings are essentially unreadable (believe me, I have tried), and that its leaders have had to go through contortions to try to keep it up to date and suppress its abundant nonsense.

However, to the best of my knowledge, there's no other academic study of Theosophy (at least, on Amazon you just find shelves of Theosophic literature), so Campbell's book is still the place to go for an overview of this peculiar phenomenon.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A CRITICAL STUDY OF THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT, BY A FORMER ADHERENT

When this book was published in 1980, author Bruce Campbell was "for several years a member of Nature of the Soul, a theosophically related meditation group, [and] has taught religion at Indiana University and at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he is currently affiliated with the Institute of Religious Studies."

He wrote in the Preface, "This book appears at a time when the relation between the Theosophical movement and American society is changing. The movement has been outside the religious mainstream ... since it was founded... With the recent rise of interest in Asian and nontraditional religions, however, Theosophy has taken on a new aura. It is a 'grandfather' movement, the predecessor by a century of today's interest in non-Judeo-Christian religions. As such, it has a new respectability...

"This book... views appreciatively the contributions of the Theosophical movement to culture and society; on the other hand, it discusses Theosophy's problems and inner conflicts... This book is an attempt to use the tools of the scholar to understand and to lay a foundation for the improvement of the tradition expressed in the Theosophical movement." (Pg. vii-viii)

He notes that Helena Petrovna Blavatsky "lived a life that could perhaps best be called Bohemian. During this quarter century, she apparently had a familarity with 'hasheesh'... And there is considerable evidence pointing to a long-term affair with the itinerant opera singer Agardi Metrovich. Several independent sources report Helena was known as Madame Metrovich and that she and Metrovich lived together for several periods over a considerable number of years in Italy, the Middle East, and Russia. There is evidence she had liaisons with other men as well." (Pg. 5)

He points out, "The term 'theosophy,' meaning divine wisdom, had become common in the seventeenth century. It was used to refer to the strain of the occult, mystical speculation associated with the Kabala and with the writings of ... occultists..." (Pg. 28)

On the charge of plagiarism leveled against Blavatsky, he wrote, "A sample of several dozen of the alleged plagiarisms were checked ... In every case, I found the passage from 'Isis [Revealed]' verbatim in the source given... Many of these quotations were of a single sentence... One might argue that the total is a small amount of a two-volume work that runs to many hundred pages, or that her unattributed borrowing was consistent with some nineteenth century standards of attribution. Still, the number two thousand suggests plagiarism on a large scale and... challenges the Theosophical interpretation of the sources of Madame Blavatsky's writings." (Pg. 34)

He suggests, "There was a great deal of circumstantial evidence suggesting that Madame Blavatsky was responsible for the Mahatma letters. Most of the letters were written on a peculiar sort of handmade rice paper. Col. Olcott reported Madame Blavatsky always carried a supply of it with her, and a Russian friend ... once found a packet of envelopes of this paper in a drawer of her writing table. Several handwriting experts testified that most of the Mahatma letters were written by Madame Blavatsky herself... There is no doubt that the tone and style of the letters closely resemble those of H.P.B.'s writing... the letters are full of expressions... that appear frequently in the acknowledged writings of Madame Blavatsky... All these factors point to Madame Blavatsky... as the probable author." (Pg. 57-58)

He observes, "Another source of doubt about the existence of the Masters lies in the contradiction between their alleged omniscience and the inconsistencies in Theosophical teaching. As noted earlier, the doctrine of reincarnation appears in all major Theosophical writings after about 1880, but Isis Unveiled, which purports to present the same ancient, universal wisdom-religion and to be derived from the Masters... does not teach reincarnation." (Pg. 60)

He details the controversy over Charles Leadbeater's role in instructing young boys: "The admissions left him open to prosecution under the criminal laws of both England and the United States. By a split vote, the Council recommended acceptance of Leadbeater's resignation." (Pg. 116)

This book will greatly interest those looking for more history about the Theosophical Society.