What Is Theosophy

"Theosophy" comes from the Greek "Theos" and "sophia" meaning literally "Divine Knowledge". It is a body of knowledge - accumulated since time immemorial - that answers the great questions of life - Who am I, Where am I going, What am I doing here, What is the nature of the soul, What is the origin of the universe and What can be said about the nature of divinity.

The term theosophy (in its Greek and other forms) had been used about 100 or so times over two millennia in western civilization before Madame Blavatsky. The term came to be the most appropriate word to describe her teachings and so, with a capital "T", Theosophy came to be the name given to that which she taught in the 19th century.

Some have, quite understandably, extended the meaning of the word to cover that entire body of knowledge known to Blavatsky's teachers - a portion of which was imparted to her. Some academics have taken to using the word to mean "comparative religion", now that the word has become well known - but this certainly dilutes the specific meaning it acquired during the time of Blavatsky. And regrettably, some writers in the 20th century have based themselves on her writings but subtly altered the teachings and then continued to call their writings Theosophy - misleading any number of students in the process.

We have selected books that convey the essence of Theosophy as Madame Blavatsky depicted. To all readers who wish to know more about Theosophy, and are hesitant, we suggest the books that Madame Blavatsky wrote, along with William Quan Judge. In this manner readers will receive the basic premise of Theosophy and will be able to discern errors in later proponents of the philosophy.