Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society was founded on November 17, 1875, in New York City by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Colonel Henry Steel Olcott, William Quan Judge, and sixteen others. Describing Theosophy as the synthesis of science, religion, and philosophy, the founders drew upon Neoplatonism, Western occultism, Hinduism, and Buddhism to construct an elaborate esoteric cosmology. Blavatsky claimed the Society's doctrines were received from the Mahatmas or Masters—a brotherhood of highly evolved adepts possessing supernatural powers including clairvoyance, astral projection, and extraordinarily long lifespans. Her magnum opus, The Secret Doctrine (1888), presented an emanationist cosmology of seven cosmic planes, sevenfold planetary constitutions, and seven Root Races tracing humanity's spiritual evolution through lost continents including Lemuria and Atlantis. In 1882, Blavatsky and Olcott relocated to India, establishing the Society's international headquarters at Adyar, Chennai, where it remains today. Under Annie Besant's presidency (from 1907), the Society proclaimed Jiddu Krishnamurti as the vehicle for the coming World Teacher in 1909, a claim that proved deeply divisive. Rudolf Steiner and the German-speaking Theosophists split in 1912 to form the Anthroposophical Society. Krishnamurti himself repudiated the World Teacher role in 1929, triggering a major crisis. Despite these schisms, the Theosophical Society's influence has been immense: nearly every occult and mystical movement of the 20th century traces roots to Blavatsky and Theosophy, including Anthroposophy, the Alice Bailey school, the I Am movement, Agni Yoga, and the broader New Age movement. Prominent figures influenced by Theosophy include Thomas Edison, W.B. Yeats, Kandinsky, Maria Montessori, and Mahatma Gandhi.