Theosophy News Worldwide 3rd Quarter 2020

This issue was published on 2020-10-20 or 3 years 5 months ago.

Editorial

Dear friends of Theosophy,

I'm proud to present the all new Theosophy World Newsletter, hosted on its own domain Theosophy.News!

But it's not just that: I've revised the newsletter and upgraded it, f.e. the integration of social media posts (Facebook, Twitter) and videos (YouTube) and I also set up a comment section (remains open until the next issue) at the bottom of the newsletter, but see all this and more for yourself. Within the Topic of the quarter I share with you some technical background if this relaunch-process. What remains is the uniqueness of this project within the movement and the indispensability of reading it, if you want to be quickly informed about what happened in the last quarter regarding Theosophy.

And it was a really moving quarter. I saw large and serious efforts to spread Theosophical teachings, such as the founding of a Virtual Centre for Theosophical Studies or the opening of the Salon of Theosophy, alongside more virtual theosophical events than ever before, f.e. the International Theosophy Conference (ITC). I saw Theosophy mentioned positive f.e. in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times in regards to Agnes Pelton, but also in an awful way, f.e. with effort to connect Theosophy to the "Far Right" and "QAnon"-Conspiracy-Theorists. Also the evil lie, that "Many [significant] Nazis were influenced by variants of Theosophy" is still and again and again trumpeted out into the world, unchallenged.

And last but not least, there was again a lot of theosophical content published, in magazines or various blogs. You can figure out all this and much, much more in this 27th issue of Theosophy World News Newsletter, even if it is not a complete reproduction of all new theosophical content in all languages and all media - it is a great help and time saver.

The question of the last issue to the readers, if TS Adyar in North-America (TSA) should help the people and not vice versa, was answered 80:20 with a clear yes.

And now I wish you an interesting reading and a peaceful autumn.

With kind regards from Germany

Steven Otto
Editor of Theosophy World News

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You will find the following sections below:

Topic of the quarter

How to: Open Source Website with Newsletter

It may be a bit off-topic, but I would like to share with you some experiences of how I work, based on the technical background of this newsletter.

Precondition

First you need of course a domain for a website and a webhoster, which I presuppose. Something else I presuppose is, I almost only rely on software that

is open source and thus in the public domain or free of charge, whose source code is open and can be further developed by the user or is developed by a community as usual and which can be hosted by the user himself, i.e. you can download the software and install it on your own webserver (or in your webspace at your webhoster)

Like everything else, it has advantages and disadvantages, but I love this independence and the idea behind, open source is lived idealism.

Working basis

I have installed a current Ubuntu operating system in a virtual machine (e.g. Virtualbox, not Open Source but free of charge), and a web server (LAMP) and some additional software, f.e. Geany, in it, so that I can develop the pages locally and then move them to the web server. Virtual machines have the advantage that it is portable and easy to backup. If I have a new computer, I simply copy my virtual machine and continue working, but state of the art is today containers, e.g. dockers.

Website

I am a Drupalist, so I use the Web-CMS Drupal as a basis for my web pages. Drupal is one of the most used CMS with the largest community. Even if the beginner has a hard time at first, it is worth it, because the modular system offers everything your heart desires. I work with Drupal 9, it is advisable to work with Composer and Drush, which must be installed in the virtual machine to work with it.

Analysis

I use Matomo, an analysis software that collects anonymous data, e.g. how many people visit the site etc. This software is also installed on my web server and can be used for many pages. You integrate a code from Matomo into your website and everything is measured. For privacy reasons it is very good to get along without Google. But for this you need some technical understanding, but for all this there are also many instructions on the net.

Mailings

Here I use Mautic in the same way as the Analytics system. It is a complete direct marketing suite. You can send e-mails, even use marketing automation, your own templates, with user management, there are statistics about the read rate, everything you need for a newsletter. I have a campaign that allows double opt-in and even tricks the spambots.

And isn't it wonderful what is possible today without costs (except domain, webhoster and internet connection) with a little technical understanding (although I have to admit here that I studied computer science in media) and some ambition (and time of course :)?

I hope this little overview helps some of you. If you have questions, use the comment function.

Press outside the movement about Theosophy

Theosophy

_{dailytimes.com.pk}

Perspectives: ‘Annie Besant’

The glimpse of outer beauty with the illumination of inner beauty is, indeed, a supernatural phenomenon. Annie Besant was the beetle of mental elevation, the dawn of the enlightenment, the song of compassion, a milestone of humanity and philanthropy in the caliginous sky of sub-continent.
read more

_{cbdnews.com.au}

Heritage highlights: Hoddle Grid review recommends swathe of new protections

The review recommended heritage protection for the headquarters of the Australian Theosophical Society, a 1920s building that currently has an application for demolition and redevelopment as a hotel. The society purchased the site in the early ‘70s and moved into the refurbished building in 1975.
read more

False Allegations

_{thebigsmoke.com.au}

Yoga and conspiracy theories: When the Nazis and New Age overlap

Many Nazis were influenced by variants of Theosophy, an occult ‘spiritual science’ which emerged in the late 19th century, and which put forward a spiritual theory of evolution, in which humans’ spiritual progress is guided by ‘hidden masters’ via successive races. Theosophy was also popular with progressives, but its racial and authoritarian aspects attracted those on the Right.
read more

_trtworld.com

Why the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon is going global

Liyanage asserted that QAnon gets a natural foothold in Europe, noting that “thinkers of the New Right, Theosophy and Esoteric Nazism closely resonate with QAnon’s wider belief system.”
read more

_{telegraphindia.com}

Loss of direction

The esoteric cults and schools of mysticism, which lent credence to the wishful historiography, included Theosophy of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-91) brought to India by Annie Besant (1847-1933) and the early writings of Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950).
read more

Other

_{finebooksmagazine.com}

A Hollywood Filmmaker’s Beguiling and Inspiring Collection

Merhige’s expansive collection contains not just books, but esoterica like an 1888 hand-painted tarot deck bearing the stamp of Madame Blavatsky, who co-founded the Theosophical Society in New York.
read more

_livemint.com

Opinion | A brief history of getting high in India

The roots of the 1960s counterculture and rise of new age beliefs are complex but I will trace one thread that connects to India and to Rajput. It begins with Helena Blavatsky, founder of the Theosophical movement which claimed to uncover occult truths unifying all religion, philosophy and science
read more

_patheos.com

The Transgender Monk: Recalling the Remarkable Lobzang Jivaka

He’d been raised Anglican. But he discovered Gurdjieff, and then Theosophy. And, he from there he had developed an interest in Buddhism.
read more

_ibna.ir

Khoy to host 6th Int’l Conference of Shams and Rumi

The event which is held annually has been organized by Trusteeship of Shams Mausoleum in Khoy in cooperation with Iran’s Research ‎Center of Theosophy and Philosophy, the Scientific Association of Islamic Mysticism as well as some other research institutes.
read more

_{indepthnews.net}

Ladakh Buddhist Monk Leads A Campaign for Peaceful Resolution of Border Conflict

"Although India, over the many centuries, is home to nine darshanas or philosophical visions (today's) spiritual leadership is very narrowly focused on ritual than theosophy or philosophy."
read more

_{lareviewofbooks.org}

“Mordew” and the New Leftist Imaginary

Who killed God and why, as well as who currently is a god and why, are the core questions to the secret of the novel and its system of magical theosophy, which is as Leibnizian and complex as any real magic deserves to be.
read more

_{newrepublic.com}

The Problem With Redemption for Wagner

For the pioneering sexologist Richard von Krafft-Ebing, listening to Wagner was a badge of gay identity; for Madame Blavatsky, the founder of Theosophy, his music held mystical meanings; for August Bebel, who helped create Germany’s Social Democratic Party, he was a prophet of socialism.
read more

_theava.com

Buzz & Barbara, Hippies?

While he was a duty-driven Capricorn, loyal and reliable to friends and neighbors alike, Barbara was those, but also sometimes revealed a strongly mystical religious bent, such as having an informal relationship with Theosophy and its prophet Madame Blavatsky.
read more

_{autostraddle.com}

65 Queer and Feminist Books Coming Your Way in Fall 2020

A queer feminist history of American mystical women, An American Covenant covers the lives of five women: Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans; Cora L. V. Scott, 19th century Spiritualist; Helena Blavatsky, mother of Theosophy;
read more

_pen.org

The PEN Ten: An Interview with Peter Meech

4. What is the last book you read? What are you reading next? The last book I read was Sylvia Cranston’s H.P.B. The Extraordinary Life and Influence of Helena Blavatsky: Founder of the Theosophical Movement.
read more

Art

_nytimes.com

The Whitney Reopens With 3 Powerhouse Shows

There is nothing quite like Pelton’s paintings in 20th-century American art. It is not just their much-admired spirituality that distinguishes them — their blend of theosophy, Buddhism, astrology and the occult was not unusual among artists of the moment.
read more

_hotpress.com

Gurus, Methods, and Teachers: Van Morrison in the 1980s

Beautiful Vision ranks - to my mind at least - as his second greatest album of the decade. In discussing it, we could go on about the influence of the theosophical writings of Alice Bailey, who expanded the Hindu notion of divine rays as the creative forces in the universe.
read more

_{http://koreatimes.co.kr/}

3 artists explore new horizons of abstract art

"The three female artists who blazed trails in abstract art were inspired by supernatural ideas ― spiritualism for Houghton, theosophy for Klint and naturopathy for Kunz.
read more

_{goldenplec.com}

Sufjan Stevens: The Ascension

Lyrically, while ‘The Ascension’ is underscored by three esoteric philosophies (theosophy, anthroposophy and Confucianism), as well as his own orthodox Christianity, Stevens’ songwriting is open-ended and carries enough vernacular to appeal to a confused and disenfranchised world at large. It is both insular and outward.
read more

_{Wall Street Journal}

‘Agnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist’ Review: Where Mystical Meets Magnificent

Pelton was drawn to the occult, particularly Theosophy and Agni Yoga. As Whitney curator Barbara Haskell said at the press preview, “Pelton doesn’t look to nature, but to a path to spiritual understanding, separate from the world.”
read more

_qcnerve.com

‘Hanging Tree’ Book and Exhibit Celebrate the Genius of Freeman Vines

Freeman Vines is no stranger to that unseen world, with interests ranging from the pagan religion Wicca to 19th-century occultist Madam Helena Blavatsky, founder of Theosophy, an amalgam of Western esoteric beliefs and Eastern religions.
read more

The “Wisdom religion” is the inheritance of all the nations, the world over.

HPB, SD:1:xviii (Itroductory)

Upcoming events

_{TS Adyar Australia}

R E A R R A N G E D: National Convention

from july 2021 to january 2022 Perth, Australia
more information

_{TS Adyar Europe}

39th European Congress 2021

Healing oneself, healing the World, 2 to 7 August 2021 York, England
more information

_{TS Adyar Australia}

National Convention 2021

23 – 30 January 2021, St. Catherine’s on Park, Perth
more information

_{TS Adyar}

145th International Convention

Cycles of Awareness, 27 - 30 December 2020 to be held online
more information

_{TS Adyar}

The School of Wisdom

Cycles of Awareness, 17 - 26 November 2020 to be held online (Zoom)
more information

_{European School of Theosophy}

R E A R R A N G E D: European School of Theosophy 2020

The Mystery of Consciousness, 6 to 13 October 2020 online, on ZOOM
more information

News from Theosophical Societies

TOS USA published an article Ways to Stay Healthy, also an An Update on its Call to Action, see also was TOS has done in the recent year here.

TS Adyar Australia published Letters to the members now digital, see here A Series of 22 letters from the National President. See also there, some so called Testimonials,Theosophists speak about Theosophy and the Theosophical Society and also the Theosophy in Australia Quarterly was published.

The TS (Pasadena) Australasian Section published it'S latest Theosophy Downunder-Issue.

On the site of the TS Adyar Indian Section you can find the Bombay Theosophical Federation Bulletin August 2020 (f.e. with a short Info about the founding of the Virtual Centre for Theosophical Studies) and September 2020-Issue and also the Indian Theosophist Magazine with it's July, August and September-Issue.

TS Adyar HQ in Chennai celebrated Dr. Annie Besant's Birthday and you can watch the Celebration on YouTube, because it was Live-streamed. It also published The Theosophist September and the the August-Issue, the latest Adyar Newsletter (ANL) and there was also a digital birthday-celebtration for HPB, but it's not online.

TS (Adyar) in (North-) America published some articles from the latest Quest Magazine. It also published many videos, f.e. Tim Boyd - Next Steps: The Ageless Wisdom in Shifting, The Opening of the 134th Summer National Convention of the Theosophical Society in America or Barbara Hebert - The President's Blog: September, see much more on its YT Channel.

TS Adyar England relaunched it's website.

“The Voice of the Silence” audio book was published on the ULT England-Website.

You can also watch all the International Theosophy Conferences 2020 Videos (it was held online this year) on ITC's YT Channel.

To be true, religion and philosophy must offer the solution of every problem. That the world is in such a bad condition morally is a conclusive evidence that none of its religions and philosophies--those of the civilized races less than any other--have ever possessed the TRUTH. The right and logical explanations on the subject of the problems of the great dual principles, right and wrong, good and evil, liberty and despotism, pain and pleasure, egotism and altruism, are as impossible to them now as they were 1880 years ago. They are as far from the solution as they ever were, but. . . . "To these there must be somewhere a consistent solution, and if our doctrines will show their competence to offer it, then the world will be the first one to confess, that ours must be the true philosophy, the true religion, the true light, which gives truth and nothing but the TRUTH. . . .

From the article "The Theosophical Society: Its Mission and Its Future" by H. P. Blavatsky, published in Lucifer, August 1888 and especially this paragraph HPB has quoted from the so-called "Maha Cohan Letter".

Theosophical Magazines

_{The TS Pasadena Amnerican Section}

The Spiral Path

publisher, 003 Autumnal Equinox 2020

_{TS (Adyar) in Australia}

Theosophy in Australia Quarterly

Newsletter/Quarterly of the TS (Adyar) in Australia
publisher, September 2020 (pdf)

_{The TS (Pasadena) Australasian Section}

Theosophy Downunder

Newsletter of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena) Australasian Section
publisher, September 2020 (pdf)

_{The Aquarian Theosophist}

The Aquarian Theosophist

publisher, September 2020 (pdf), August 2020 (pdf), July 2020 (pdf)

_{United Lodge of Theosophists (ULT)}

The Theosophical Movement Magazine

publisher, July 2020 (pdf), August 2020 (pdf), -September 2020 (pdf)

_{The TS Adyar Indian Section}

The Indian Theosophist Magazine

publisher, July 2020 (pdf), August (pdf), September 2020 (pdf)

_{The TS Adyar in North-America}

The Quest Magazine

publisher, Winter 2020 (pdf)

New books

_{Sydney Morning Herald}

Searching for the Spirit, Jill Roe, Wakefield Press, $39.95

First published in 1986 with the great title Beyond Belief, this revised edition traces the history of Theosophy – the alternative religious movement that drew on western thought and eastern religion – in Australia from the late 19th century to the beginning of World War Two.
read more

There are often in the mentioned magazines above book-reviews.

Articles from Theosophical sites

TheoScience.org

David Reigle Blog

Ongoing glossary of terms relating to the Book of Dzyan: mūla-prakṛti
Ongoing glossary of terms relating to the Book of Dzyan: para-brahman

Theos Talk

Theos-talk has reincarnated at groups.io is now called Theosophy@groups.io You can join theosophy@groups.io (the successor group) and carry on discussions there. Anyone can join by sending a msg to: theosophy+subscribe@groups.io