Theos-Talk Archives (April 2002 Message tt00274)

Carol Stream, April 23, 2002,

Dear friends and intrestees,

It is a pleasure again to announce another installment on Alpheus of some
high quality articles. This time the following articles were obtained: 1) A
defense of Leadbeater's clairvoyance, an issue which came up in the 60s when
a prominent Theosophist alleged that Leadbeater was self-deluded; 2) an
examination of Annie Besant's deeper intellectual motivation, concluding
that, given her background, it was quite coherent; 3) an exposé of the
enigmatic Priory of Sion, a French society catapulted to notoriety by the
book "Holy Blood, Holy Grail"; 4) an illuminating and inspiring essay on the
civilizing influence of esoteric groups; 5) a link to Annie Besant's review
of Blavatsky's magnum opus "The Secret Doctrine"; 6) a link to another
response to Paul Johnson's thesis on the Masters; and three links to very
informative Web sites: 7) "Exploring Theosophy," 8) "Dawn Magazine" and 9)
"The Francis Bacon Research Trust."

In order to preserve resources--if you like to print the articles offered at
Alpheus--most of the articles now also have a printable version, which can
save up to 60% of paper.

Govert Schuller

P.S.: Announcing: “A Spiritual Exposé: Hatred of America, Why Millions Are
Captivated by Lord of the Rings” A free Internet broadcasting lecture by
Carla Groenewegen, longtime teacher of esoteric arcana. Promises to provide
some interesting insights into the esoteric side of history, current affairs
and literature. Date & time: Sunday, April 28, 2002, 2:00 - 4:00 P.M. (CST)
http://www.icmerlin.com/america/

New on Alpheus:
http://www.alpheus.org/html/new.html

1) On Alpheus: "C. W. Leadbeater: A Great Occultist" Defense of CWL's
clairvoyance to E.L. Gardner's challenge in his "There Is No Religion Higher
Than Truth." Contributions from Geoffrey Hodson, Hugh Shearman, Marijn
Brandt and a collective letter signed by twenty-two of CWL's former pupils.
http://www.alpheus.org/html/articles/theosophy/oncwl1.html

2) On Alpheus: "Annie Besant's Quest for Truth: Christianity, Secularism,
and New Age Thought" Another highly interesting article by political
scientist Mark Bevir. "This essay examines the intellectual coherence of
Annie Besant's life in such a way as to explore the rise of New Age thought
in its relation to the Victorian crisis of faith." An effective response to
James Webb's theory that Theosophy is a "flight from reason" as alleged in
his book "The Occult Underground." [126KB]
http://www.alpheus.org/html/articles/theosophy/bevir3.html

3) On Alpheus: "The Priory of Sion Hoax" Article by Robert Richardson
exposing French extreme right-wing forces behind the Priory of Sion myth. A
plausible answer to the many questions raised by Michael Baigent et.al. in
their bestseller "Holy Blood, Holy Grail." Originally published by Gnosis
(No. 51, Spring 1999). [50KB]
http://www.alpheus.org/html/articles/esoteric_history/richardson1.html

4) On Alpheus: "Dream of the Sages" Inspiring article by Robert Richardson
about the influence of esoteric groups from Pharaoic Egypt till Renaissance
Europe with a very strong paragraph on the influence of the Knights Templar.
"He shows that the common characteristic of all these groups is their
spiritually-orientated goal of positively impacting the entire direction of
society." Very appropriate on this, for some, symbolic date. Originally
published by New Dawn (No. 64, January-February 2001). [71KB]
http://www.alpheus.org/html/articles/esoteric_history/richardson2.html

5) Link to: "The Theosophical Mahatmas: A Critique of Paul Johnson's New
Myth" By David Pratt. A critique of Johnson's thesis, as stated and
elaborated in his several books, that the Masters as depicted by Blavatsky
were not truthful reports, but fictionalized accounts based on several real
live historical persons she had met during her extensive travels.
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dp5/johnson.htm

6) Link to: "Among the Adepts: Madame Blavatsky on The 'Secret Doctrine' "
Historical article-length book review by Annie Besant of HPB's The Secret
Doctrine. First published in The Pall Mall Gazette (London), April 25, 1889.
Reviewing this book was instrumental in converting Annie Besant to the cause
of Theosophy.
http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/besant1888.htm

7) Link to: Exploring Theosophy: The Synthesis of Science, Religion and
Philosophy. Collection of the many interesting articles written by the
editor David Pratt.
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dp5/homepage.htm

8) Link to: New Dawn: A Journal of Alternative News & Information. "New Dawn
brings together the 'political' and the 'metaphysical' to assist people in
the transformation from consumer idiots to critically thinking, aware and
developing individuals." Edited by David Jones.
http://www.newdawnmagazine.com

9) The Francis Bacon Research Trust. "The FBRT researches the life and works
of Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626), a great Initiate and secret Master,
President of the Rosicrucians, a philosopher, poet, judge and statesman."
Website designed and written by Peter Dawkins.
http://www.fbrt.org.uk/index.html


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