Intention and Scope of Class

In every age throughout the history of western civilization there have been many sages, magi and thinkers, who gained unusual visions and insights into the hidden nature of man and the universe. Many books, manuscripts, schools and movements sprang from their efforts and great was the variety of their influence on culture in general. A critical understanding and the mapping out over time and geography of this phenomenon of Western Esotericism is now a blooming subject in academia and will be the focus of this course.

Once in a while a scholar comes along with a deep understanding and affinity for the subject and the ability to present his findings simply and clearly. One who can inspire us to retrieve that tradition and make it spiritually meaningful for modern times. Joscelyn Godwin belongs to that class and it will be his book "The Golden Thread: The Timeless Wisdom of the Western Mystery Traditions" that will be the starting point for this course.

Other topics that will be addressed are: the history of religious persecutions of representatives of the Wisdom Tradition; Theosophical interpretations of this material; comparison of Theosophical claims against the historical record; a periodization of western history based on a hypothesis suggested by H.P. Blavatsky, the founder of modern Theosophy; a critical study of other academic perceptions of Theosophy; and, time permitted, much more.

Facilitator: Govert Schuller. Editor of the Alpheus web site, author of the monograph Krishnamurti and the World Teacher Project: Some Theosophical Perceptions and the forthcoming article "Jean Overton Fuller, Master Narayan and the Krishnamurti-Scott-Anrias Issue," both published by the Theosophical History Journal