Misplaced Pages

#967032

163-519: Influenced by Theosophy and I AM , the Church originated as The Summit Lighthouse , established by Mark L. Prophet in 1958. He claimed to be a Messenger who was channeling messages to humanity from the Ascended Masters. In 1961, he married Elizabeth Clare Prophet , whom he announced was also a Messenger. In 1965, they moved to Colorado Springs. In 1975, Mark died and Elizabeth reformulated

326-535: A macrobiotic diet with little red meat. Rock music is frowned upon, with some practitioners deeming it unhealthy. The Church Universal and Triumphant was strongly influenced by two earlier religious movements, Theosophy and I AM. Theosophy had been established largely by Helena Blavatsky , a woman born in the Russian Empire but who moved to the United States. There, during the 1880s, she presented

489-593: A new religious movement and a form of occultism from within Western esotericism . As presented by Blavatsky, Theosophy teaches that there is an ancient and secretive brotherhood of spiritual adepts known as the Masters , who are found around the world but primarily centered in Tibet . These Masters were alleged by Blavatsky to have cultivated great wisdom and supernatural powers, and Theosophists believe they initiated

652-500: A " cult ". The Church Universal and Triumphant is classified as a new religious movement , while the geographers Paul Starrs and John Wright termed it a sect . It has also been described as a New Age organization. Melton characterised it as part of the "Western metaphysical tradition". The Catholic Church originated the phrase " Church Militant and Church Triumphant " to refer to Christians in Heaven. In 1895, Mary Baker Eddy used

815-452: A "secret doctrine" that was known to Plato and early Hindu sages and which continues to underpin the center of every religion. She promoted the idea that ancient societies exhibited a unity of science and religion that humanity has since lost, with their achievements and knowledge being far in excess of what modern scholars believe about them. Blavatsky also taught that a secret brotherhood has conserved this ancient wisdom religion throughout

978-440: A "universally eclectic religious movement", while scholar J. Jeffrey Franklin characterized Theosophy as a "hybrid religion" for its syncretic combination of elements from various other sources. More specifically, Theosophy has been categorized as a new religious movement . Scholars have also classified Theosophy as a form of Western esotericism . Campbell for instance referred to it as "an esoteric religious tradition", while

1141-697: A 200-acre ranch outside the city which they leased. In 1969 they established a regional teaching center in Santa Barbara, calling it "the Motherhouse". By 1971 this was being used as the site for the administration of a two-week training course, called the Ascended Master University. In 1970 they also launched the Montessori International School for the children of their followers, which was based on

1304-431: A 21-year old undergraduate student of political science , Elizabeth Clare Ytreberg (nee Wulf). Born to a German father and Swiss mother, the latter of whom was a Christian Scientist , Elizabeth had an interest in esotericism. Like Prophet, Elizabeth was married, but they swiftly established a relationship, annulled their existing marriages, and married each other. Between 1961 and 1966, Prophet trained his new wife to become

1467-750: A Jewish perspective). For Christians, the concept of a Judeo-Christian tradition comfortably suggests that Judaism progresses into Christianity—that Judaism is somehow completed in Christianity. The concept of a Judeo-Christian tradition flows from the Christian theology of supersession, whereby the Christian covenant (or Testament) with God supersedes the Jewish one. Christianity, according to this belief, reforms and replaces Judaism. The belief, therefore, implies, first, that Judaism needs reformation and replacement, and second, that modern Judaism remains merely as

1630-675: A campaign for Indian Home Rule, founding a group called the Home Rule League. She established the New India newspaper, and after continuing to promote Indian independence in the paper's pages during the First World War she was interned for several months. This helped to boost her status within the independence movement, and at the age of 70 she was appointed President of the Indian National Congress ,

1793-425: A ceremonial sword, called on the archangel Michael to "let the bombs descend." In the prophecy's aftermath, Prophet maintained that the nuclear attack had failed to materialise not because her original predictions were incorrect, but because the Church's prayers had led to divine intervention to avert the disaster. Another explanation offered by the church (by minister Neroli Duffy) was that Prophet had never predicted

SECTION 10

#1732783593968

1956-740: A co-Messenger of the Ascended Masters, claiming that he was going so with the assistance of two Ascended Masters in particular, Morya and Saint Germain. In 1962 the Prophets moved the Summit Lighthouse headquarters to Fairfax, Virginia, establishing a teaching center in their home. They then established an inner circle of dedicated members within the Lighthouse, known as the Keepers of the Flame Fraternity. There, they purchased

2119-444: A fraternity of human men who are highly evolved, in terms of having both moral development and intellectual attainment. They are said to have achieved extra-long life spans, and to have gained supernatural powers, including clairvoyance and the ability to instantly project their soul out of their body to any other location . These are powers that they have allegedly attained through many years of training. According to Blavatsky, by

2282-575: A fuller development of Nietzsche's argument can be found in the prior work, On the Genealogy of Morality . The concept of Judeo-Christian ethics or Judeo-Christian values in an ethical (rather than a theological or liturgical) sense was used by George Orwell in 1939, along with the phrase "the Judaeo-Christian scheme of morals". According to theologian Richard L. Rubenstein , the "normative Judaeo-Christian interpretation of history"

2445-676: A largely honorary position. In December 1908, Leadbeater was readmitted to the Society; this generated a wave of resignations, with the Sydney branch seceding to form the Independent Theosophical Society. Leadbeater traveled to Adyar, where he met a young boy living there, Jiddu Krishnamurti , and pronounced him to be the next incarnation of a figure called the World Teacher . He subsequently took control of

2608-461: A letter by Alexander McCaul which is dated October 17, 1821. The term in this case referred to Jewish converts to Christianity . The term was similarly used by Joseph Wolff in 1829, in reference to a type of church that would observe some Jewish traditions in order to convert Jews. Mark Silk states in the early 19th century the term was "most widely used (in French as well as English) to refer to

2771-462: A literal account of history, "we may be doing it a disservice." He instead suggested that it could be read as Blavatsky's attempt to formulate "a new myth for the modern age, or as a huge, fantastic science fiction story". Blavatsky taught that Lord Maitreya—a figure she borrowed from Buddhism—would come to Earth as a messianic figure. Her ideas on this were expanded upon by Besant and Leadbeater. They said that Maitreya had previously incarnated onto

2934-416: A mechanised printing press, allowing them to greatly expand the production of Ashram Notes . Mark Prophet's 1965 book The Soulless Ones reflected his growing concerns about extraterrestrials whom he thought were combating the Ascended Masters' efforts to perfect human society. The Prophets briefly relocated to Vienna, Virginia and then in 1965 to Colorado Springs. There they bought a 19th-century mansion in

3097-458: A much-publicized wartime tragedy, the sinking of the Dorchester , the ship's multi-faith chaplains gave up their lifebelts to evacuate seamen and stood together "arm in arm in prayer" as the ship sank. A 1948 postage stamp commemorated their heroism with the words: "interfaith in action." In the 1950s, "a spiritual and cultural revival washed over American Jewry" in response to the trauma of

3260-400: A prior life. In Blavatsky's words, karma and reincarnation were "inextricably interwoven". However, she did not believe that karma had always been the system that governed reincarnation; she believed that it came into being when humans developed egos, and that one day will also no longer be required. Besant and Leadbeater said they were able to investigate people's past lives through reading

3423-507: A religion. In his history of the Theosophical movement, Bruce F. Campbell noted that Theosophy promoted "a religious world-view" using "explicitly religious terms" and that its central tenets are not unequivocal fact, but rather rely on belief. Olav Hammer and Mikael Rothstein termed it "one of the modern world's most important religious traditions". Various scholars have pointed to its eclectic nature; Joscelyn Godwin described it as

SECTION 20

#1732783593968

3586-667: A seemingly logical theology based on pseudoscience." At a meeting of the Miracle Club in New York City on 7 September 1875, Blavatsky, Olcott, and Judge agreed to establish an organisation, with Charles Sotheran suggesting that they call it the Theosophical Society . Prior to adopting the name "Theosophical", they had debated various potential names, among them the Egyptological Society,

3749-534: A short prison sentence. Prophet met locals in Montana to calm fears that her community planned to attack others; she denied any knowledge of Hamilton's plans, although many observers did not believe these denials. Environmentalist concerns were also raised about their activities and the impact they had on the adjacent Yellowstone National Park. In April 1990, CUT storage tanks leaked, spilling 21,000 gallons of diesel and 11,500 gallons of gasoline. The Mol Herron shelter

3912-439: A successive order on each planet; thus when mineral evolution ends on the first planet and it proceeds on to vegetable evolution, then mineral evolution begins on the second planet. Theosophy teaches that human evolution is tied in with this planetary and wider cosmic evolution. In The Secret Doctrine , Blavatsky advocated the idea of seven " Root Races ", each of which was divided into seven Sub-Races. In Blavatsky's cosmogony,

4075-508: A sudden seizure, leaving his wife, then aged 33, as the group's sole leader, as well as their sole Messenger of the Ascended Masters. She announced that Mark had become an Ascended Master known as Lanello; this was similar to a claim made by Edna Ballard after Guy Ballard's death. Elizabeth then stated that she felt called by Jesus to reconstitute the Summit Lighthouse in new form as the Church Universal and Triumphant. As part of this,

4238-455: A survivalist strategy as an attempt to survive such a cataclysm. The Church hoped that they would be able to emerge from the apocalypse to build a new age. Affirmations and decrees were an important part of CUT practice. Followers of the group were encouraged to recite statements called decrees; doing so was claimed to have multiple functions, including to mitigate karma and to attune the Earth to

4401-439: A tractor trailer’s worth of Isuzu pickup trucks. Beneath the bunker, in a chamber, they had more than five million dollars’ worth of gold and silver bullion, as well as twenty-five thousand dollars in pennies. (Paper currency, they suspected, would have little use in the postapocalyptic world.) And they had guns: fifty AR-15s and thousands upon thousands of rounds of ammunition, for defense against roving bands of marauders. All told,

4564-642: A year. Olcott then sent Besant to the United States to gain support for the Adyar-based Society. In this she was successful, gaining thousands of new members and establishing many new branches. Besant had developed a friendship with the Theosophist Charles Webster Leadbeater , and together they co-wrote a number of books. Leadbeater was controversial, and concerns were raised when he was found to have instructed two boys in masturbation . The American Section of

4727-421: Is "derived primarily from the writings" of Blavatsky, however revisions and innovations have also been produced by subsequent Theosophists such as Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater. Blavatsky said that these Theosophical doctrines were not her own invention, but had been received from a brotherhood of secretive spiritual adepts whom she referred to as the "Masters" or "Mahatmas". Central to Theosophical belief

4890-591: Is a religious and philosophical system established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky , and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neoplatonism and Indian religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism . Although many adherents maintain that Theosophy is not a religion, it is variably categorized by religious scholars as both

5053-513: Is believed to have sponsored attempts to promote the freedom of the soul. The Church taught that Saint-Germain lives on Earth as the prophet Samuel , Joseph , Merlin , Roger Bacon , Christopher Columbus , and Francis Bacon . It also espoused the belief that Saint-Germain inspired the United States constitution. The CUT identified as being part of the Judeo-Christian tradition. It presented Jesus of Nazareth as an Ascended Master who

Church Universal and Triumphant - Misplaced Pages Continue

5216-567: Is seen as the instrument through which prophecies of the end times are fulfilled. The use of the term "Judeo-Christian" in 21st century discourse has been criticized for equating two different faiths and being a vector for Islamophobia by exclusion. The Jewish community's attitude towards the concept has been mixed. In the 1930s, "In the face of worldwide anti-semitic efforts to stigmatize and destroy Judaism, influential Christians and Jews in America labored to uphold it, pushing Judaism from

5379-547: Is the idea that a group of spiritual adepts known as the Masters not only exist but were responsible for the production of early Theosophical texts. For most Theosophists, these Masters are deemed to be the real founders of the modern Theosophical movement. In Theosophical literature, these Masters are also referred to as the Mahatmas, Adepts, Masters of Wisdom, Masters of Compassion, and Elder Brothers. They are perceived to be

5542-658: Is the meetings of the United Lodge of Theosophy, which has been characterized as having a "quasi-sacred and quasi-liturgical" character. The American social situation from which the Theosophical Society emerged was one of great upheaval, and the religious situation was one of challenge to orthodox Christianity. The forces that had surfaced in spiritualism included anticlericalism, anti-institutionalism, eclecticism, social liberalism, and belief in progress and individual effort. Occultism, mediated to America in

5705-527: Is to treat human suffering, such as a plague, as punishment for human guilt. According to historian K. Healan Gaston, the term became a descriptor of the U.S. in the 1930s, when the country sought to forge a unified cultural identity in an attempt to distinguish itself from fascism and communism in Europe. Becoming part of the American civil religion by the 1940s, the term rose to greater prominence during

5868-566: The Cold War , especially when it was used to express opposition to communist atheism . In the 1970s, the term became particularly associated with the American Christian right . It is sometimes employed in a separate context in political attempts to restrict immigration and LGBT rights . The rise of antisemitism in the 1930s led concerned Protestants, Catholics, and Jews to take steps to increase mutual understanding and lessen

6031-556: The Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist group. Prophet related that the Montana ranch offered her followers "protection from economic collapse, bank failure, civil disorder, war, and cataclysm". The ranch became home to around 600 Church members, all of whom had to be members of the Keepers of the Flame. Many established homes on an area around 15 miles north of the ranch, near the hamlet of Emigrant; they called it Glastonbury after

6194-617: The Renaissance period , possibly originating in the 1575 Arbatel De Magia Veterum , a Latin grimoire and the first work to draw a dualism between what it calls "anthroposophia" (human knowledge) and "theosophia" (divine knowledge). It had consequently been used in various esoterics contexts for example by the Philaletheians and by the Christian mystic Jakob Böhme . In her book The Key to Theosophy , Blavatsky claims that

6357-520: The United States , the term was widely used during the Cold War in an attempt to invoke a unified American identity opposed to communism . The use of the term " Abrahamic religions " to refer to the common grouping of faiths which are attributed to Abraham ( Islam , the Baháʼí Faith , Samaritanism , Druzism , and other faiths in addition to Judaism and Christianity) is also sometimes seen as problematic. The term "Judæo Christian" first appears in

6520-627: The akashic record , an etheric store of all the knowledge of the universe. They, for instance, stated to have attained knowledge of their own past lives as monkey-like creatures residing on the moon, where they served as pets to the "Moon-man" (a prior incarnation of the Master Morya), his wife (Koot Humi), and their child (the Lord Maitreya). When they were attacked by "savages" and animals "resembling furry lizards and crocodiles", Besant sacrificed herself to save Morya, and for that act made

6683-469: The "essential foundations for much of twentieth-century esotericism". Although Theosophy draws upon Indian religious beliefs, the sociologist of religion Christopher Partridge observed that "Theosophy is fundamentally Western. That is to say, Theosophy is not Eastern thought in the West, but Western thought with an Eastern flavour." According to Maria Carlson, Theosophy is a "positivistic religion" "offering

Church Universal and Triumphant - Misplaced Pages Continue

6846-592: The 1970s and the Church selling survival equipment to its members. She also announced the launch of Operation Christ Command in 1973, to alert its members to the likelihood of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Fearing the collapse of American society, some high-ranking members spent $ 100,000 on large numbers of firearms; these were officially obtained through a joint-stock company, the Rocky Mountain Sportsmen Club, to provide Prophet and

7009-466: The 1980s , making apocalyptic predictions. In the late 1980s, the CUT entered a survivalist strategy. Prophet stated that the world had entered a "danger period of accelerated negative karma" and that this would precipitate a Soviet nuclear strike against the United States. She insisted that the liberalising glasnost project of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was a propaganda front and that his government

7172-492: The 1980s; in 1986, the Church brought a suit against Gregory Mull to recover a $ 37,000 loan. He counter-sued for fraud, involuntary servitude, and extortion, and won his case, being awarded $ 1.5 million in damages. From 1981, the CUT began acquiring large tracts of land in southwest Montana, near the Teton Mountains . These mountains had been important for I AM and subsequent groups based upon its teachings, which regarded

7335-560: The 20th century had tens of thousands of adherents. Theosophical ideas have also inspired over 100 esoteric movements and philosophies, among them Anthroposophy , the Church Universal and Triumphant , and the New Age . Theosophy's founder, the Russian Helena Blavatsky , insisted that it was not a religion, although she did refer to it as the modern transmission of the "once-universal religion" that she said had existed deep into

7498-487: The 21st century, interest in and a positive attitude towards America's Judeo-Christian tradition has become mainstream among evangelicals and (to some extent) the political conservative movement in the United States. In contrast, by the 1970s, mainline Protestant denominations and the National Council of Churches were more supportive of Palestinians than Israel. Natan Sharansky observed in 2019, that for

7661-511: The Ascended Master Magda. The Church teaches the existence of reincarnation , a system which is escaped via ascension. The Church was millenarian, having displayed millenarian tendencies from its formation in 1958. Like other millenarian groups, the CUT blended religious and political concerns. It was also characterised as being utopian. From the early 1960s, the group was claiming that the Ascended Masters' plan for humanity

7824-580: The Asian traditions. Theosophy promotes an emanationist cosmology, promoting the belief that the universe is an outward reflection from the Absolute. Theosophy presents the idea that the world as humans perceive it is illusory, or maya , an idea that it draws from Asian religions. Accordingly, Blavatsky taught that a life limited by the perception of this illusory world was ignorant and deluded. According to Blavatsky's teaching, every solar system in

7987-641: The Atlanteans had become wicked and so God destroyed them so as prevent this wickedness from spreading. She saw the spread of the AIDS virus during the 1980s as further evidence of an apocalyptic scenario, suspecting that it had been deliberately manufactured and was used to try and harm the genetics of "Lightbearers" so as to prevent the evolution of "a golden age race". The Church did not welcome this nuclear catastrophe and hoped that it could be averted. They did this through prayers and decrees, although also adopted

8150-770: The Body ( Rupa ), Vitality ( Prana-Jiva ), the Astral Body ( Linga Sarira ), the Animal Soul ( Kama-Rupa ), the Human Soul ( Manas ), the Spiritual Soul ( Buddhi ), and the Spirit ( Atma ). According to Theosophical teaching, it is the latter three of these components that are immortal, while the other aspects perish following bodily death. Theosophy teaches that the Spiritual Soul and the Spirit do not reside within

8313-595: The CUT's observance of zoning laws and negative reports provided by former Church members. Negative attitudes towards the Church were exacerbated by the growth of the anti-cult movement during the 1970s; sentiments that peaked following the Jonestown mass suicide of Peoples Temple members in November 1978. The CUT's detractors alleged that the CUT brainwashed members using mind-control techniques so as to separate them from their families and ensure their loyalty to

SECTION 50

#1732783593968

8476-455: The CUT. Ballard died in 1939. While I AM became embroiled in legal issues, new groups formed from people claiming to be Messengers from the Ascended Masters during the 1940s and 1950s. Mark Prophet, the founder of the organization that became the CUT, had been involved in one of the factions that splintered from I AM in the 1950s. This was Francis Ekey 's Lighthouse of Freedom, which had established formal classes in 1954. In its newsletter, I AM

8639-500: The Christian Bible , or values supposed to be shared by the two religions. The term Judæo Christian first appeared in the 19th century as a word for Jewish converts to Christianity. The term has received criticism, largely from Jewish thinkers, as relying on and perpetuating notions of supersessionism , as well as glossing over fundamental differences between Jewish and Christian thought, theology, culture and practice. In

8802-563: The Church also clashed with the belief in the United States as having a special place in the Ascended Masters' plans, generating further tension. The Board of Directors began blocking Cleirbaut's proposals and in 1999 he was removed from office. Regional Church leaders had been emboldened by Cleirbaut's reforms and were resistant to the new board of directors-driven leadership and its attempt to re-assert centralised control. Having moved to Canada in 2001, Cleirbaut began claiming that he had received messages from Mother Mary, Jesus, and St Germain, on

8965-587: The Church was the victim of religious discrimination orchestrated largely by the anti-cult movement . The Church won its legal arguments and had its tax-exempt status restored in 1994. In 1996, several Church members split to form their own group, the Temple of the Presence, based in Chelsea, Vermont . They claimed that they were the true Messengers of the Ascended Masters. In July 1996, Prophet announced that she

9128-485: The Church with plausible deniability. These weapons were initially stored on Church property before being moved elsewhere. In 1977, the CUT spent $ 5.6 million purchasing a 218-acre property near Malibu on Mulholland Highway , naming it "Camelot" after the legendary Arthurian city. The Church's growing presence in California generated problems with local communities and the media, with areas of contention arising over

9291-606: The Church’s building was interfering with wildlife migration. In early 1981, the US Representative Wayne Owens tried to introduce measures that would have allowed the government to compulsorily purchase the Royal Teton Ranch, but these proved unsuccessful. In 1986, the Church officially moved its headquarters to the Royal Teton Ranch in Montana, selling Camelot to Japanese investors representing

9454-479: The Earth as Krishna , a figure from Hinduism. They also said that he had entered Jesus of Nazareth at the time of the latter's baptism , and that henceforth Maitreya would be known as "the Christ". Besant and Leadbeater said that Maitreya would again come to Earth by manifesting through an Indian boy named Jiddu Krishnamurti , whom Leadbeater had encountered playing on a beach at Adyar in 1909. The introduction of

9617-645: The Fraternisation movement. During its first century, Theosophy established itself as an international movement. Campbell believed that from its foundation until 1980, Theosophy had gained tens of thousands of adherents. He noted that in that latter year, there were about 35,000 members of the Adyar-based Theosophical Society (9000 of whom were in India), c. 5,500 members of the Theosophical Society in America, c. 1,500 members of

9780-614: The Hermetic Society, and the Rosicrucian Society. The term was not new; originally it appeared in the works of early Church Fathers , as a synonym for theology . It derives from Ancient Greek : θεός , romanized :  theós , lit.   'god' and Ancient Greek : σοφῐ́ᾱ , romanized :  sophíā , lit.   'wisdom'; thus meaning "god-wisdom", "divine wisdom", or "wisdom of God". Its esoteric meaning emerged during

9943-493: The Holocaust. American Jews became more confident in their desire to be identified as different. Two notable books addressed the relationship between contemporary Judaism and Christianity, Abba Hillel Silver 's Where Judaism Differs and Leo Baeck 's Judaism and Christianity , both motivated by an impulse to clarify Judaism's distinctiveness "in a world where the term Judeo-Christian had obscured critical differences between

SECTION 60

#1732783593968

10106-656: The Krishnamurti belief into Theosophy has been identified as a millenarian element. According to Theosophy, the purpose of human life is the spiritual emancipation of the soul. The human individual is described as an "Ego" or "Monad" and believed to have emanated from the Solar Deity, to whom it will also eventually return. The human being is presented as composed of seven parts, while operating on three separate planes of being. As presented by Sinnett and often repeated in Theosophical literature, these seven parts are

10269-408: The Lighthouse of Freedom , the group anonymously published messengers allegedly channeled from the Ascended Masters; Prophet was the one responsible for providing these messages. Raised into a working-class Pentecostal family, Prophet was an Army Air Corps veteran from Chippewa Falls , Wisconsin . He alleged that the Ascended Master El Morya had first appeared before him when he was driving spikes on

10432-483: The Masters had revealed to him a plot that Olcott was orchestrating to kill her. In 1893, Besant came down on Olcott's side in the argument and backed the internal proceedings that Olcott raised against Judge. A two-stage enquiry took place, which concluded that because the Society took no official stance on whether the Masters existed or not, Judge could not be considered guilty of forgery and would be allowed to retain his position. The details of this trial were leaked to

10595-472: The Society was taken over by George Arundale , who led it until 1945; the group's activities were greatly curtailed by World War II . Judge left no clear successor as leader of the Theosophical Society in America, but the position was taken by Katherine Tingley , who said that she remained in mediumistic contact with Judge's spirit. Tingley launched an international campaign to promote her Theosophical group, sending delegations to Europe, Egypt, and India. In

10758-478: The Summit Lighthouse. For several years there was friction between the Summit Lighthouse and the Lighthouse of Freedom. Prophet printed the messages he claimed to have received from the Ascended Masters in a publication, Ashram Notes , that was then mailed to members, who at that time largely resided in suburban parts of Washington DC. Prophet embarked on a speaking tour of colleges in the north-eastern states. In April 1961 he spoke at Boston University , where he met

10921-414: The Tetons as the hollow dwelling place of Saint Germaine. The Church initially acquired a 12,000 acre ranch formerly owned by Malcolm Forbes before gaining neighboring land throughout the 1980s, to the extent that their Royal Teton Ranch amounted to over 24,000 acres. In Park County, Montana, there were growing concerns among locals that the CUT would use its growing presence for a political takeover; this

11084-525: The Theosophical Society International (Pasadena), and about 1200 members of the United Lodge of Theosophy. Membership of the Theosophical Society reached its highest peak in 1928, when it had 45,000 members. The HPB Lodge in Auckland, New Zealand, was one of the world's largest, with over 500 members in 1949. Theosophical groups consist largely of individuals as opposed to family groups. Campbell noted that these members were alienated in ways from conventional social roles and practices. As noted by Dixon, in

11247-399: The Theosophical Society raised internal charges against him, although Besant came to his defense. In a move probably designed to limit negative publicity for the Society, they accepted his resignation rather than expelling him. On Olcott's death in 1907, he had nominated Besant to be his successor, and she was then elected to the position with a large majority in June. In her first years as

11410-468: The Theosophical Society was involved in projects connected to a range of progressive political causes. In England, there were strong links between Theosophy and first-wave feminism . Based on a statistical analysis, Dixon noted that prominent English feminists of the period were several hundred times more likely to join the Theosophical Society than was the average member of the country's population. Theosophical contingents took part in feminist marches of

11573-417: The Theosophical movement. The Adyar Society membership later peaked at 40,000 in the late 1920s. The Order of the Star had 30,000 members at its height. Krishnamurti himself repudiated these beliefs, insisting that he was not the World Teacher, and then resigned from the Society; the effect on the society was dramatic, as it lost a third of its membership over the coming few years. Besant died in 1933, when

11736-453: The Theosophist Charles Webster Leadbeater said that it was only 200. Theosophy espouses the existence of karma as a system which regulates the cycle of reincarnation, ensuring that an individual's actions in one life affect the circumstances of their next one. This belief therefore seeks to explain why misery and suffering exist in the world, attributing any misfortune that someone suffers as punishment for misdeeds that they perpetrated in

11899-579: The United States was experiencing challenges in the second half of the nineteenth century, a result of rapid urbanization and industrialization, high rates of immigration, and the growing understanding of evolutionary theory which challenged traditional Christian accounts of history. Various new religious communities were established in different parts of the country, among them the Free Religious Association , New Thought , Christian Science , and Spiritualism . Theosophy would inherit

12062-494: The approximately 200 small teaching centers and study groups. Amid growing financial difficulty, in 1999, the CUT either sold or put into conservation easements approximately half of its 12,000 acres at Royal Teton Ranch; this raised $ 13 million for the group. The Church also had to cut back on its ranch workforce from around 600 people to 75. The radical changes brought resistance from many Church members, especially its hundreds of former employees. Cleirbaut's emphasis on globalizing

12225-443: The basis of which he launched LLL (Launching Loving Legacies). Various groups began splintering from the Church, some led by individuals who claimed that they were now Messengers from the Ascended Masters. In 2006, one CUT official stated that they were aware of 17 schismatic groups. The most successful of these was the Temple of the Presence. Prophet retired in 1999 for health reasons. She died in 2009. Theosophy Theosophy

12388-414: The beliefs regarding the existence of the Masters are among the weakest made by the movement. Such statements are open to examination and potential refutation, with challenges to the existence of the Masters therefore undermining Theosophical beliefs. The idea of a brotherhood of secret adepts had a long pedigree stretching back several centuries before the foundation of Theosophy; such ideas can be found in

12551-682: The boy's instruction for two years. With Besant, Leadbeater established a group known as the Order of the Star in the East to promote the idea of Krishnamurti as World Teacher. Leadbeater also wanted more ritual within Theosophy, and to achieve this he and J. I. Wedgwood became bishops in the Old Catholic Church . They then split from that to form their own Liberal Catholic Church , which

12714-399: The centre of the city, which became their home and the Summit Lighthouse's headquarters; they named it La Tourelle. The group's most committed members moved into this property with the Prophets and their children. Whitsel believed that the relocation to Colorado and away from the vicinity of Washington DC reflected the group's growing suspicion of the federal government; by this point, the group

12877-426: The centuries, and that members of this fraternity hold the key to understanding miracles, the afterlife, and psychic phenomena, and that moreover, these adepts themselves have paranormal powers. She stated that this ancient religion would be revived and spread throughout humanity in the future, replacing dominant world religions such as Christianity , Islam , Buddhism , and Hinduism . Theosophy tended to emphasize

13040-417: The church spent around $ 12 million on the project. The residents of Glastonbury also created around 45 smaller fallout shelters for their own use. The group began stockpiling food, survival equipment and other material, believing that after a nuclear war began they would be forced to hide underground for a period lasting between several months and seven years. In July 1989, senior Church member Vernon Hamilton

13203-564: The claim that she had been contacted by spiritual adepts known as the Masters and that she was relaying their messages through her publications. Barrett described the Theosophical Society as the "spiritual great-grandparent" of the CUT. I AM adopted the idea of Ascended Masters from Theosophy. In 1929, an American named Guy Ballard claimed to have encountered an Ascended Master named Saint Germaine while on Mount Shasta in California. He subsequently began delivering messages to his followers that he maintained were from these Ascended Masters. It

13366-581: The contemporary lexicon as the standard liberal term for the idea that Western values rest on a religious consensus that included Jews." In the aftermath of World War 2 and the Holocaust , "there was a revolution in Christian theology in America. […] The greatest shift in Christian attitudes towards the Jewish people since Constantine converted the Roman Empire ." The rise of Christian Zionism , religiously motivated Christian interest, and support for

13529-701: The country. 1973 also saw the CUT form the Lanello Reserves Inc, a private, property-making corporation that focused on trading in gold and silver coins; Prophet headed its board of directors. The CUT's members were encouraged to transfer their savings into gold and bullion, reflecting the Church's mistrust of the Federal Reserve and banking system. The Church also formed a survival food processing business in Colorado Springs, with Prophet's rhetoric becoming increasingly survivalist during

13692-567: The creation of gorillas and chimpanzees . The Atlanteans were decadent and abused their power and knowledge, so Atlantis sank into the sea, although various Atlanteans escaped, and created new societies in Egypt and the Americas. The fifth Root Race to emerge was the Aryans, and was found around the world at the time she was writing. She believed that the fifth Race would come to be replaced by

13855-513: The descendants of Abraham. Other factors in the new philo-Semitism include gratitude to the Jews for contributing to the theological foundations of Christianity and being the source of the prophets and Jesus ; remorse for the Church's history of antisemitism ; and fear that God will judge the nations at the end of time based on how they treated the Jewish people. Moreover, for many evangelicals Israel

14018-584: The early Theosophists is "not as obvious as one might think". As used by Olcott, the term "Theosophy" appeared to be applied to an approach that emphasized experimentation as a means of learning about the "Unseen Universe"; conversely, Blavatsky used the term in reference to gnosis regarding said information. Although the writings of prominent Theosophists lay out a set of teachings, the Theosophical Society itself states that it has no official beliefs with which all members must agree. It therefore has doctrine but does not present this as dogma. The Society stated that

14181-684: The early followers of Jesus who opposed" the wishes of Paul the Apostle and wanted "to restrict the message of Jesus to Jews and who insisted on maintaining Jewish law and ritual". Friedrich Nietzsche used the German term "Judenchristlich" ("Jewish-Christian") to describe and emphasize what he believed were neglected aspects of the continuity which exists between the Jewish and Christian worldviews. The expression appears in The Antichrist , published in 1895 but written several years earlier;

14344-555: The educational theories of Maria Montessori . Between 1969 and 1972, the Prophets began traveling abroad – to Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and India – to promote their teachings. Over the course of the 1970s, the group would see a substantial growth in its membership. In 1972, the Prophets issued Climb the Highest Mountain , a book explaining their teachings. On February 26, 1973, Mark Prophet died of

14507-404: The end of the 20th century and it would be called the Church Universal . However Bailey's phrase was "Church Universal", rather than "Church Universal and Triumphant", and on page 152 of Bailey's "A Treatise on White Magic", she indicated that her "Church Universal" was not a church or conventional organization at all but a subjectivity or mystical entity: "It is that inner group of lovers of God,

14670-744: The end of the world and the event had simply been a "drill". The collapse of the Soviet Union and end of the Cold War also left the Church without ongoing relevance for a major component of its ideology. After the Justice Department discovered that the CUT had been hoarding weapons for several years, it urged the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to strip the Church of its tax-exempt religious status. The IRS did so in 1992, and demanded $ 2.5 million in back taxes and penalty fees. The CUT's attorneys argued against this, claiming that

14833-421: The federal government, mainstream religions, and extraterrestrials. A millenarian group, it held that the global build-up of negative karma would result in an apocalyptic catastrophe – something it ultimately predicted would occur in 1990. Estimates for the number of CUT followers during its heyday range from 10,000 to 50,000. The Church attracted controversy, with critics in the anti-cult movement labelling it

14996-786: The feminine Mother as a counterpart to the male Father. She presented an image of herself as the "Divine Mother," manifesting the Virgin Mary , the "Maker of the Flame." Church members called Elizabeth "Mother, or "Guru Ma." In 1973, Elizabeth moved to Santa Barbara as her permanent home. That year she extended the training programme operating there from two to twelve weeks and renamed it as the Summit University. Under Elizabeth's leadership, new teaching centres were established in US cities like Minneapolis, Washington DC, and New York City, while she continued making extended lecture tours across

15159-542: The first Root Race were created from pure spirit, and lived on a continent known as the "Imperishable Sacred Land". The second Root Race, known as the Hyperboreans, were also formed from pure spirit, and lived on a land near to the North Pole , which then had a mild climate. The third lived on the continent of Lemuria , which Blavatsky alleged survives today as Australia and Rapa Nui. Blavatsky alleged that during

15322-569: The first Scottish lodge, in Edinburgh. In 1980, Campbell noted that Theosophical books were selling at record levels. In the United States, Judge had been devoting himself to the promotion of Theosophy with little success. During her lifetime, Blavatsky had suggested to many different people that they would be her successor. Three of the most prominent candidates – Olcott, Judge, and Besant – all met in London shortly after her death to discuss

15485-492: The first time, he was encountering the situation of nations with ample governmental support for Israel but disinterest and even overt hostility by the Jewish populace. The scriptural basis for this new positive attitude towards Jews among evangelicals is found in Genesis 12:3, in which God promises that he will bless those who bless Abraham , and curse those who curse them. In the evangelical interpretation this promise includes

15648-477: The form of Mesmerism, Swedenborgianism, Freemasonry, and Rosicrucianism, was present. Recent developments in science led by the 1870s to renewed interest in reconciling science and religion. There was present also a hope that Asian religious ideas could be integrated into a grand religious synthesis. — Bruce F. Campbell, 1980 The Theosophical Society was largely the creation of two individuals: Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott. Established Christianity in

15811-414: The founding of the Theosophical Society by Blavatsky and Americans Henry Olcott and William Quan Judge . In the early 1880s, Blavatsky and Olcott relocated to India, where they established the Society's headquarters at Adyar , Tamil Nadu . Blavatsky described her ideas in two books, Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine , which became key texts within Theosophy. Following her death in 1891, there

15974-484: The fourth Round of the Earth, higher beings descended to the planet, with the beginnings of human physical bodies developing, and the sexes separating. At this point, the fourth Root Race appeared, living on the continent of Atlantis ; they had physical bodies but also psychic powers and advanced technology. She said that some Atlanteans were giants, and built such ancient monuments as Stonehenge in southern England, and that they also mated with "she-animals", resulting in

16137-483: The global elite conspiracy's plot to control all facets of society. She instead emphasised a philosophy of individualism. Palmer and Abravanel characterised the Church's viewpoint as a "conservative Republican stance". Every altar of the church has an American flag, an oversized, framed copy of the U.S. Constitution is mounted in the main chapel of the church headquarters. The Church's communicants pledge not to consume alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. The organization recommended

16300-565: The group claimed, by a global growth in negative karma. The group linked this belief in end times to the close of the Piscean Age and its replacement with the subsequent Aquarian Age. Elizabeth Prophet regarded American society as existing in a state of decay, comparing it to the last days of the Roman Empire . Elizabeth Prophet used the myth of Atlantis to highlight the fate of a society that deviates from God's plan. She claimed that

16463-425: The group. In 1998 she appointed a friend to have limited guardianship over her. By this point, none of her four children were associated with the Church, quashing suggestions that they might succeed her as Messenger. The Church administration attempted to modernise the group, transforming its image into that of a New Age corporation, as part of which they loosened its authoritarian leadership and focused on developing

16626-518: The group. The media also accused Prophet of accumulating much wealth, which was used to finance a lifestyle of servants and luxury vacations, while her followers lived in an austere fashion. Shortly after Mark Prophet's death, Elizabeth married another senior Church member, Randall King, although they divorced in 1980. In 1983, King filed a legal action against the Church, claiming involuntary servitude, fraud, and emotional distress; he settled out of court. Further legal issues arose with other ex-members in

16789-637: The head of the Society, Besant oversaw a dramatic growth in its membership, raising it by 50%, to 23,000. She also oversaw an expansion of the Adyar property, from 27 to 253 acres. Besant was involved in various activist causes, promoting women's rights in India through the Women's Indian Association and helping to establish both the Central Hindu College and a Hindu girls' school. Besant also began

16952-562: The higher self is made; this is then followed by the Vale of Bliss. At this point the human soul can merge into the One. Throughout her writings, Blavatsky made a variety of statements about rebirth and the afterlife, and there is a discrepancy between her earlier and later teachings on the subject. Between the 1870s and c.  1882 , Blavatsky taught a doctrine called "metempsychosis". In Isis Unveiled , Blavatsky stated that on bodily death,

17115-592: The historian Joy Dixon called it an "esoteric religion". More specifically, it is considered a form of occultism. Along with other groups such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn , the Theosophical Society has been seen as part of an "occult revival" that took place in Western countries during the late 19th century. The historian of religion Wouter Hanegraaff noted that Theosophy helped to establish

17278-536: The human body alongside the other components, but that they are connected to it through the human soul. In The Voice of the Silence , Blavatsky said that within each individual human there is an eternal, divine facet, which she referred to as "the Master", the "uncreate", the "inner God", and the "higher self". She promoted the idea that uniting with this "higher self" results in wisdom. In that same book, she compared

17441-567: The human past. Theosophical organizations have maintained the belief that Theosophy should not be labeled a religion; instead, they regard it as a system that embraces what they see as the "essential truth" underlying religion, philosophy, and science. As a result, Theosophical groups allow their members to hold other religious allegiances, resulting in Theosophists who also identify as Christians, Buddhists, or Hindus. Scholars of religion who have studied Theosophy have characterized it as

17604-576: The human soul progresses through more spiritual planes. Two years later, she introduced the idea of reincarnation into Theosophical doctrine, using it to replace her metempsychosis doctrine. In The Secret Doctrine , she stated that the spirit was immortal and would repeatedly incarnate into a new, mortal soul and body on Earth. According to Theosophical teaching, human spirits will always be reborn into human bodies, and not into those of any other life forms. Blavatsky stated that spirits would not be reborn until some time after bodily death, and never during

17767-453: The idea – then popular in the United States – that emphasized the idea of free will and the inevitability of progress , including on a spiritual level. It was also influenced by a growing knowledge about Asian religions in the United States. Prior to her arrival in the United States, Blavatsky had experience with esoteric currents such as Spiritualism. It was through Spiritualism that Blavatsky and Olcott met. In 1884, Olcott established

17930-400: The importance of ancient texts over the popular ritual and custom found within various religious traditions. The Theosophical depiction of Buddhism and Hinduism, however, drew criticism both from practitioners of orthodox Buddhist and Hindu traditions, as well as from Western scholars of these traditions, such as Max Müller , who believed that Theosophists such as Blavatsky were misrepresenting

18093-730: The intellectual mystics, the knowers of reality who belong to no one religion or organization, but who regard themselves as members of the Church universal and as 'members one of another.'" The name "Church Universal and Triumphant" was announced by Elizabeth Clare Prophet on July 2, 1973, in a message from the ascended master Portia. The sociologist of religion David V. Barrett described the Church Universal and Triumphant as having "its own distinct theology". The CUT teaches that people are born with an innate spark of divinity and can realize oneness with God. It maintains that those who have reached their full potential have become Ascended Masters and can assist humanity. The Ascended Master Saint-Germain

18256-614: The journalist F. Edmund Garrett , who used them as the basis of his critical book, Isis Very Much Unveiled . Judge then announced that the Masters had informed him that he should take sole control of the Esoteric Section, deposing Besant; she rejected his beliefs. Amid calls from Olcott that Judge should stand down, in April 1895 the American section voted to secede from the main Society. Judge remained its leader, but died within

18419-444: The karmic evolutionary leap to becoming a human in her next incarnation. Theosophy does not express any formal ethical teaching, a situation that generated ambiguity. However, it has expressed and promoted certain values, such as brotherhood and social improvement. During its early years, the Theosophical Society promoted a puritanical attitude toward sexuality, for instance by encouraging chastity even within marriage. By 1911,

18582-680: The late 1920s, before going into decline after the Great Depression. TSA has since been reincorporated as a national section of the global Theosophical Society, which has a global membership of roughly 26,606 across 70 countries, including over 3,550 in the United States. Theosophy played a significant role in bringing knowledge of Eastern religions to the West and encouraging cultural pride in South Asia. Many prominent artists and writers have also been influenced by Theosophical teachings. Theosophy has an international following, and during

18745-732: The late 19th century their chief residence was in the Himalayan kingdom of Tibet . She also said that these Masters were the source of many of her published writings. The Masters are believed to preserve the world's ancient spiritual knowledge, and to represent a Great White Brotherhood or White Lodge which watches over humanity and guides its evolution. Among those whom the early Theosophists believed as Masters were Biblical figures such as Abraham , Moses , Solomon , and Jesus , Asian religious figures such as Gautama Buddha , Confucius , and Laozi , and modern individuals such as Jakob Bohme , Alessandro Cagliostro , and Franz Mesmer . However,

18908-423: The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Theosophical Society "appealed above all to an elite, educated, middle- and upper-middle-class constituency". It was, in her words, "a religion for the 'thinking classes'." Campbell stated that Theosophy attracted "unconventional, liberal-minded Westerners", and according to Dixon they were among those "who constituted themselves as the humanitarian conscience of

19071-510: The latter country they clashed with the Adyar-based Theosophical Society, and were unsuccessful in gaining converts. Her leadership would be challenged by Ernest T. Hargrove in 1898, and when he failed he split to form his own rival group . In 1897, Tingley had established a Theosophical community, Lomaland , at Point Loma in San Diego , California. Various Theosophical writers and artists congregated there, while horticultural development

19234-511: The level of antisemitism in the United States . In this effort, precursors of the National Conference of Christians and Jews created teams consisting of a priest, a rabbi, and a minister, to run programs across the country, and fashion a more pluralistic America, no longer defined as a Christian land, but "one nurtured by three ennobling traditions: Protestantism , Catholicism and Judaism ....The phrase 'Judeo-Christian' entered

19397-440: The lifetime of the deceased's relatives. Blavatsky taught that on the death of the body, the astral body survives for a time in a state called kama-loka , which she compared to limbo , before also dying. According to this belief, the human then moves into its mental body in a realm called devachan , which she compared to Heaven or paradise . Blavatsky taught that the soul remained in devachan for 1000 to 1500 years, although

19560-456: The margins of American religious life towards its very center." During World War II , Jewish chaplains worked with Catholic priests and Protestant ministers in order to promote goodwill, addressing servicemen who, "in many cases had never seen, much less heard a Rabbi speak before." At funerals for the unknown soldier, rabbis stood alongside the other chaplains and recited prayers in Hebrew. In

19723-470: The middle classes, a dissident minority who worked in a variety of parallel organizations to critique the dominant bourgeois values and culture." Judeo-Christian The term Judeo-Christian is used to group Christianity and Judaism together, either in reference to Christianity's derivation from Judaism , Christianity's recognition of Jewish scripture to constitute the Old Testament of

19886-405: The modern Theosophical movement through disseminating their teachings via Blavatsky. Theosophists believe that these Masters are attempting to revive knowledge of an ancient religion once found around the world that will again come to eclipse existing world religions . Theosophy holds a monist position that there exists a single divine Absolute and articulates an emanationist cosmology in which

20049-492: The most prominent Masters to appear in Theosophical literature are Koot Hoomi (sometimes spelled Kuthumi) and Morya , with whom Blavatsky said to be in contact. According to Theosophical belief, the Masters approach those deemed worthy to embark on an apprenticeship or chelaship . The apprentice would then undergo several years of probation, during which they must live a life of physical purity, remaining chaste, abstinent, and indifferent to physical luxury. Blavatsky encouraged

20212-401: The old institutional structure was broken up, new by-laws introduced, and a new board of elders introduced. The Summit Lighthouse became the publishing arm of the new CUT. Elizabeth stated that the name "Church Universal and Triumphant" had been suggested to her by Pope John XXIII , an Ascended Master. Elizabeth began calling herself the "Vicar of Christ." Elizabeth emphasised the importance of

20375-410: The older Christian theosophy movement. The term " Neo-Theosophy " would later be adopted within the modern Theosophical movement itself, where it was used—largely pejoratively—to describe the teachings promoted by Annie Besant and Charles Webster Leadbeater by those who opposed their innovations. According to the scholar of religion James A. Santucci, discerning what the term "Theosophy" meant to

20538-503: The only tenet to which all members should subscribe was a commitment "to form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or color". This means that there are members of the Theosophical Society who are skeptical about many, or even all, of the Theosophical doctrines, while remaining sympathetic to its basic aim of universal brotherhood. As noted by Santucci, Theosophy

20701-457: The organization as the Church Universal and Triumphant. Prophet's predictions became increasingly apocalyptic, claiming nuclear war was imminent. The Church established a community at Royal Teton Ranch in Montana , where they built a series of underground fallout shelters. In March 1990, Church members hid within these shelters in response to Prophet's announcement that a nuclear attack on the U.S.

20864-602: The organization. In retaliation, a "Back to Blavatsky" movement emerged within the Society. Its members pejoratively referred to Besant and her followers as practitioners of "Neo-Theosophy", objecting to the Liberal Catholic Church's allegiance to the Pope, and to the prominence that they were according to Besant and Leadbeater's publications. The main benefactor of the disquiet within the Back to Blavatsky movement

21027-482: The period; for instance, a Theosophical group operating under the banner of Universal Co-Freemasonry marched as part of the Women's Coronation Procession in 1911. The Theosophical Society did not prescribe any specific rituals for adherents to practice. However, ritualized practices have been established by various Theosophical groups; one such group is the Liberal Catholic Church . Another

21190-729: The power of light. Decreeing was a practice previously established by Emma Curtis Hopkins , a key figure in the New Thought movement, and was then adopted by Ballard's I AM group. Outlining a conservative morality, the Church expected members to take an active stance on various social issues. This for instance included a defense of the family unit and a condemnation of abortion. Observers often termed it right-wing ; it generally viewed left-wing politics as being associated with anti-Americanism, decadence, and moral failure. Elizabeth regularly included condemnations of communism in her sermons, and opposed socialism in all forms, seeing it as part of

21353-424: The production of images of the Masters. The most important portraits of the Masters to be produced were created in 1884 by Hermann Schmiechen . According to scholar of religion Massimo Introvigne , Schmiechen's images of Morya and Koot Humi gained "semi-canonical status" in the Theosophical community, being regarded as sacred objects rather than simply decorative images. Campbell noted that for non-Theosophists,

21516-453: The progress of the human soul to a transition through three halls; the first was that of ignorance, which is the state of the soul before it understands the need to unite with its higher self. The second is the Hall of Learning, in which the individual becomes aware of other facets of human life but is distracted by an interest in psychic powers. The third is the Hall of Wisdom, in which union with

21679-408: The railway line near Chippewa Falls, asking him to serve their cause. Whitsel described Prophet as one of "the most prominent competing Messengers" from the Ascended Masters amid the vacuum caused by Ballard's death. Prophet severed his links with the Lighthouse of Freedom in 1958. From Washington DC, where he had lived with his wife and children since the mid-1950s, he then established his own group,

21842-417: The same space. According to Blavatsky, evolution occurs on descending and ascending arcs, from the first spiritual globe on to the first mental globe, then from the first astral globe to the first physical globe, and then on from there. She said that there were different levels of evolution, from mineral on to vegetable, animal, human, and then to superhuman or spiritual. Different levels of evolution occur in

22005-540: The scholar of esotericism Wouter J. Hanegraaff distinguished the Blavatskian movement from its older namesake by terming it "modern Theosophy". Followers of Blavatsky's movement are known as Theosophists, while adherents of the older tradition are termed theosophers. Causing some confusion, a few Theosophists – such as C. C. Massey – were also theosophers. In the early years of Blavatsky's movement, some critics referred to it as "Neo-Theosophy" to differentiate it from

22168-401: The shelters to find that the nuclear attack had not occurred. Many immediately reassessed their beliefs. About a third of the Church's members, immediately broke from the group. By the second night underground, the mood among the followers was "tense, muted desperation". Gathering her closest followers, Elizabeth proclaimed it time to call down judgment upon America. Elizabeth herself, wielding

22331-483: The shelters, to begin what the church now calls the "shelter cycle". Many Church members, banking on their faith in Prophet, had quit their jobs, drained their bank accounts, sold their houses, furniture, cars, to buy survival supplies and flee to the compound. In her memoir, Prophet's daughter Erin writes that at first the mood of the followers underground was "jubilant", but on the morning of March 16, many members left

22494-415: The situation. Judge said that he too was in contact with the Masters, and that they had provided him with a message instructing him to co-delegate the Society's Esoteric Section with Besant. Olcott, however, suspected that the notes from the Masters which Judge was producing were forged, exacerbating tensions between them. Besant attempted to act as a bridge between the two men, while Judge informed her that

22657-400: The sixth, which would be heralded by the arrival of Maitreya , a figure from Mahayana Buddhist mythology. She further believed that humanity would eventually develop into the final, seventh Root Race. At this, she stated that humanity will have reached the end of its evolutionary cycle and life will withdraw from the Earth. Lachman suggested that by reading Blavatsky's cosmogonical beliefs as

22820-469: The state of Israel increased interest in Judaism among American evangelicals . This interest is especially focused on areas of commonality between the teachings of Judaism and their own beliefs. During the late 1940s, evangelical proponents of the new Judeo-Christian approach lobbied Washington for diplomatic support of the new state of Israel. From the 1990s, continuing through the first two decades of

22983-477: The term Theosophy had been coined by "the Alexandrian philosophers", especially Ammonius Saccas . Blavatsky's Theosophy is not the only movement to use the term "theosophy" and this has resulted in scholarly attempts to differentiate the different currents. Godwin drew a division by referring to Blavatskian Theosophy with a capital letter and older, Boehmian theosophy with a lower-case letter. Alternately,

23146-412: The terms "universal" and "triumphant" in her first Church Manual as referring to the church she founded. In the 1903 edition of this work, she capitalized these terms, referring to her church as the "Church Universal and Triumphant". In 1919 Alice A. Bailey , in what some students of esotericism view as a reference to the future organization, prophesied that the religion of the New Age would appear by

23309-472: The town in England with Arthurian associations. Life in Montana provided greater levels of autonomy and social isolation for the group; according to Whitsel, moving there "facilitated the further entrenchment of a countercultural outlook" among the Church. Following the move to Montana, the belief in a forthcoming major disaster became increasingly prominent within the group. In 1980, it published Prophecy for

23472-606: The two faiths." Reacting against the blurring of theological distinctions, Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits wrote that "Judaism is Judaism because it rejects Christianity, and Christianity is Christianity because it rejects Judaism." Theologian and author Arthur A. Cohen , in The Myth of the Judeo-Christian Tradition , questioned the theological validity of the Judeo-Christian concept and suggested that it

23635-400: The universe is perceived as outward reflections from this Absolute. The purpose of human life is spiritual emancipation and the human soul undergoes reincarnation upon bodily death according to a process of karma . Universal brotherhood and social improvement are guiding principles, although there is no particular ethical framework. Theosophy was established in New York City in 1875 with

23798-501: The universe is the expression of what is termed a "Logos" or "Solar Deity". Ranked below this Solar Deity are seven ministers or planetary spirits, with each of these celestial beings being in control of evolution on a particular planet. In The Secret Doctrine , Blavatsky stated that each planet had a sevenfold constitution, known as the "Planetary Chains"; these consist not only of a physical globe but also of two astral bodies, two mental bodies, and two spiritual bodies, all overlapping in

23961-535: The work of the Rosicrucians , and was popularized in the fictional literature of Edward Bulwer-Lytton . The idea of having messages conveyed to a medium through spiritually advanced entities had also been popularized at the time of Theosophy's foundation through the Spiritualist movement. According to Blavatsky's teachings, many of the world's religions have their origins in a universal ancient religion,

24124-446: Was Ballard, the scholar of religion J. Gordon Melton claimed, who was responsible for "developing much of the Church [of Universal and Triumphant]'s thought and practice". I AM taught that the Ascended Masters had designated the United States as the place where the new golden age of humanity would begin. Its political stance was right-wing, characterised by firm American patriotism and strident anti-communism, features that would influence

24287-635: Was a rival group called the United Lodge of Theosophists . One of the most prominent figures to switch allegiance was B. P. Wadia . The United Lodge of Theosophists had been established in Los Angeles in 1909, when it had split from Judge's Theosophical Society in America, seeking to minimize formal organization. It focused on publishing new editions of Blavatsky and Judge's writings, as well as other books, which were usually released anonymously so as to prevent any personality cults developing within

24450-465: Was a schism in the Society, with Judge leading the Theosophical Society in America (TSA) to split from the international organization. Under Judge's successor Katherine Tingley , a Theosophical community named Lomaland was established in San Diego , California. At its height in 1895, there were 102 American branches with nearly 6,000 members. The Adyar -based Society was later taken over by Annie Besant , under whom it grew to its largest extent during

24613-532: Was about to occur. As Prophet began suffering from Alzheimer's disease in the 1990s, there was reorganization in the Church, which saw a significant decline in membership and various groups splintering off. The goal of the human life, the CUT claimed, was for each individual to spiritually evolve to the point where they would ascend themselves. The CUT taught that the Ascended Masters' plans to perfect human society were being thwarted by "Dark Forces", among whom they included communists and other left-wing activists,

24776-423: Was also emphasized. In 1919, the community helped establish a Theosophical University. Longstanding financial problems coupled with an aging population resulted in the Society selling Lomaland in 1942. Meanwhile, Tingley's death in 1929 had resulted in the Theosophical Society in America being taken over by Gottfried de Purucker , who promoted rapprochement with other Theosophical groups in what came to be known as

24939-540: Was arrested after trying to buy weapons in Spokane, Washington. Although the purchase of these weapons was legal, he had tried to do so under a false name, which was against the law. Federal agents seized over $ 100,000 of weaponry and 120,000 rounds of ammunition from Hamilton. The CUT's acting vice president, Edward Francis – who was also Prophet's fourth husband – also admitted involvement in Hamilton's scheme and received

25102-528: Was being countered by those the Prophets called "Dark Forces" or "Fallen Ones." Mark Prophet believed that the agents of darkness were most apparent in world communism, left-wing groups, and elite power brokers. Believing that elite power brokers and communists worked in collaboration, Elizabeth referred to "an International Capitalist/Communist Conspiracy of the power elite." The political scientist Bradley C. Whitsel described this particular stance as having "a far-right political tone". This trouble would be cause,

25265-796: Was called "Mark's Ark" after the Church's founder. Emily Harnett describes the compound: Made of steel and concrete, the structure consisted of multiple underground passages arranged in the shape of an H and divided with submarine-style doors. The largest of its shelters was big enough to fit a semitruck. Each was equipped with decontamination chambers at its entrance—shower stalls, landlines within reach—to wash off radioactive fallout. The church built bunk beds with purple seat belts on them. There were infirmaries and laundry facilities. Radiation suits and Geiger counters and body bags. Huge armored trucks designed for transporting military combat crews. They had enough food to last them seven years—floor-to-ceiling grain supplies, nonperishables. According to Erin, they had

25428-458: Was completed in early March, 1990. Prophet began predicting that March 15, 1990 would be the day of the Soviet nuclear strike, claiming that the "karmic increase" would peak on that day. Throughout the first half of March, CUT members began flocking to the Church's Montana properties in large numbers, attracting attention. Growing media attention followed. On March 15, around 7000 CUT members entered

25591-483: Was espousing a belief in a conspiracy of the government, mainstream religion, and extraterrestrials to combat its attempts to build earthly perfection. In Colorado Springs, they replaced Ashram Notes with Pearls of Wisdom , a weekly newspaper distributed for free to anyone interested, allowing them to attract a larger pool of people around their work. In Colorado, the Summit Lighthouse launched its nationwide conferences, called Ascended Master Conclaves, initially held on

25754-612: Was essentially an invention of American politics , while Jacob Neusner , in Jews and Christians: The Myth of a Common Tradition , writes, "The two faiths stand for different people talking about different things to different people." Law professor Stephen M. Feldman looking at the period before 1950, chiefly in Europe, sees invocation of a "Judeo-Christian tradition" as supersessionism : Once one recognizes that Christianity has historically engendered antisemitism, then this so-called tradition appears as dangerous Christian dogma (at least from

25917-403: Was in full touch with his inner God consciousness and who ascended to God immediately after leaving his human body. The Church also claimed that Jesus studied in India and Tibet between the ages of 12 and 30, ideas it put forth in publications including The Lost Years of Jesus and the four-volume The Lost Teachings of Jesus . It also involved Mary Magdalene in its teachings, referring to her as

26080-401: Was independent from the Theosophical Society (Adyar) while retaining an affiliation with it. The Church drew most of its membership from the Society and heavily relied upon its resources. However, in 1919 the Church was marred by police investigations into allegations that six of its priests had engaged in acts of pedophilia and Wedgewood — who was implicated in the allegations — resigned from

26243-582: Was particularly a concern given that these were the tactics employed by Rajneesh ’s religious community in Ashland, Oregon . Some locals as well as environmentalists were also concerned about the CUT’s construction projects at the Royal Teton Ranch; they had hoped that the land would have been incorporated into the nearby Gallatin National Forest . Officials at Yellowstone were particularly frustrated that

26406-428: Was planning a nuclear attack. In a 1986 Thanksgiving message that she claimed came through her from Saint Germain, Prophet stated that the Church must start preparing underground shelters to survive a nuclear war. It subsequently began construction of a multi-acre underground nuclear shelter near Mol Herron Creek on the Royal Teton Ranch; costing over $ 3 million to build, it would provide shelter for around 750 people and

26569-570: Was transferring chief administrative role to the Belgian-born Gilbert Cleirbaut, who was not a Church minister but had experience in management. In November 1996, she then announced her divorce from her fourth husband, Edward Francis, although he remained executive vice president of the Church until 1998. In late 1997, the Church revealed that Prophet had been affected by a neurological disorder, later diagnosed as Alzheimer's disease. She subsequently limited her activities with

#967032