Origins & History<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe late 1800s were a strange time to be religious in the United States. As industrialization spread rapidly and more people moved to cities for work, multiple new religious and philosophical communities arose by necessity. Immigrants from Asia brought their religions, adding a new influx of ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This created the ideal social and religious environment for Theosophy. An increasing awareness of the theory of evolution challenged the creation narrative of Christianity, more people were embracing socially liberal ideas, and there were increasing feelings of anti-clericalism. In short, people wanted a way to reconcile science, religion, and liberation, and Theosophy claimed to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was born in Russia. A very free thinker for her time and station in society, she traveled often and gained exposure to a variety of occult and mystical traditions. It was on her travels to the United States that she met Henry Steel Olcott.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1875, Blavatsky, Olcott, and a man named William Quan Judge founded the Theosophical Society. Two years later, Blavatsky published Isis Unveiled, a key writing in Theosophy that outlined her esoteric philosophy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She called Theosophy a blend of science, religion, and philosophy, and claimed that it was helping to revive an ancient wisdom that would unify all of the world’s religions into a single, coherent belief system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Five years later, Olcott and Blavatsky moved to India. While Theosophy spread quickly there, Blavatsky experienced health problems, a scandal, and accusations of defrauding people with faked paranormal phenomena. She returned to Europe in 1885, where she died of influenza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before her death, Blavatsky named several potential successors. After her passing, Olcott, Judge, and Annie Besant met in London to discuss the movement’s future. The discussion broke down when Judge claimed to be in contact with the Masters, who told him that he and Besant were to lead the movement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Olcott said that Judge’s notes from the Masters were forgeries, and Judge informed Besant that the Masters had told him that Olcott was planning to kill her. It didn’t go well, and culminated in the American branch of the Theosophical Society voting to secede.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Olcott then sent Besant to the United States to gain supporters for the Society. Upon his death in 1907, she became his successor. In the years that followed, amid charges of child sexual assault by six of its priests and a wave of resignations, many members initiated a “Back to Blavatsky” movement that resulted in further divisions within the Society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n