![](https://assets.cambridge.org/97811080/72649/cover/9781108072649.jpg)
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Online publication date:
- October 2011
- Print publication year:
- 2011
- First published in:
- 1885
- Online ISBN:
- 9780511974625
- Subjects:
- History of Ideas, History, General, History of Ideas and Intellectual History
12th August 2024: digital purchasing is currently unavailable on Cambridge Core. Due to recent technical disruption affecting our publishing operation, we are experiencing some delays to publication. We are working hard to restore services as soon as possible and apologise for the inconvenience. For further updates please visit our website: https://www.cambridge.org/news-and-insights/technical-incident
The renowned lawyer and journalist Henry Steel Olcott (1832–1907) published this work in 1885. In this work Olcott carefully lays out his arguments for the basis of theosophy, arguing for the truth of all religions because they share the same ancient roots or 'ur-religion'. As a founding member and the first president of the Theosophical Society, Olcott uses the work to set out the aims and objectives of the Society and attempts to reconcile his spiritual beliefs with science, reason and modernity. The work also includes accounts of his attempted empirical investigations into hypnotism, mesmerism and other spiritualist activities. The final chapters include discussions of India, Buddhism and Zoroastrian religion. The work was deeply influenced by Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891), then Olcott's close friend but later his opponent. It is a key text of the nineteenth-century theosophical movement and is an indispensable source for research into Victorian occult philosophy.
* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.
Usage data cannot currently be displayed.