This morning I am entering territory I have not traversed before. I’m thinking about the emergence of what we might term western esotericism, or western occultism, or modern spirituality. When we think about the emergence of an idea, or a set of ideas, it’s worth thinking about how such ideas arose. An idea does not just appear – ex nihilo - out of nothing. The conditions, the architecture of ideas prevalent at a particular time, the softening of prior-held precepts, these are all essential prerequisites for an idea to arise.

In general, I find academic genealogy a fascinating subject. Samuel Coleridge wrote, “The dwarf sees farther than the giant, when he has the giant’s shoulder to mount on.” A variant of the well-known idiom, “We all stand on the shoulders of giants.” We all benefit from the insights of bygone thinkers, and our progress, our discoveries, depend upon those who came before. Scholarship often consists of tracing back the intellectual lineage of particular ideas. Even thinkers we consider remarkably original, like Newton, Freud, Darwin, or Marx, all have their intellectual forerunners who preempted their work and theories to some measure, setting the stage for their advent.

The Tree of Knowledge

It’s not always possible to work out who has influenced whom. It can be an exceedingly complex landscape. Imagine, though, if we had an omniscient, magical lens upon the world, which allowed us to see those lines of influence branching out from each individual. Some lines would be thick and dense, and some thin and transparent. If we were to view all of eternity at once, these lines would branch throughout all of human history, forming a tree—not dissimilar to the tree of evolution—but a tree of influence, or the tree of knowledge.

This tree would include not only real people but also mythological figures like Moses, Socrates, or Hercules, and fictional characters like Captain Ahab or Gandalf. As we move further from the cradle of civilization, the average number of lines per individual would gradually increase, spiking dramatically at junctures like the invention of writing, the printing press, and the internet.

Blavatsky and Emerson

As I said, I’m thinking about the emergence of western esotericism or modern spirituality. I would identify Madame Helena Blavatsky as a pivotal figure and trace her forerunner to Ralph Waldo Emerson. There is undeniably a thick line of influence between them.

Introducing Madame Blavatsky

Blavatsky was born in Tsarist Russia in 1831. At 17, she fled an unhappy marriage, claiming she sought “the unknown.” Over two decades, she purportedly traveled the world, meeting magicians, gurus, and religious specialists. She claimed to have visited Tibet, where she studied under mysterious sages named Koot Hoomi and Master Morya, learning clairvoyance, telepathy, and other esoteric skills.

In 1873, Blavatsky arrived in New York City and met Henry Steel Olcott, a writer who became her collaborator. Together, they established the Theosophical Society in 1875. The society aimed to integrate ancient Eastern spirituality with contemporary scientific thought and promote universal brotherhood.

Emerson’s Influence

The 19th-century religious culture of the Eastern United States changed significantly with Emerson. Prior to Emerson, Unitarians like William Ellery Channing emphasized scripture and viewed God as transcendent, distinct from humanity and nature. Emerson, however, deconstructed these ideas, seeing God as immanent, revealing truth through intuition and nature.

Emersonian thought paved the way for a more experimental and individualistic spirituality. His transcendentalism, influenced by texts like the Bhagavad Gita and the Vedas, made Eastern ideas palatable to the West, laying the groundwork for figures like Blavatsky.

Theosophy and its Legacy

Blavatsky’s Theosophical Society introduced Eastern religious concepts to the West. She claimed her teachings were guided by “hidden masters” who imparted ancient wisdom. Despite skepticism about her claims, her ideas attracted intellectual luminaries, including Thomas Edison, T. S. Eliot, W. B. Yeats, and even Gandhi.

Blavatsky’s teachings emphasized spiritual progress as a series of awakenings, culminating in the blending of individual consciousness with absolute consciousness—a liberation from illusion (Maya).

Closing Reflections

Blavatsky’s legacy resonates with Emerson’s vision of spirituality as intuitive and universal. To quote her:

“Whatever plane our consciousness may be acting in, both we and the things belonging to that plane are, for the time being, our only realities. As we rise in the scale of development we perceive that during the stages through which we have passed we mistook shadows for realities…only when we shall have reached the absolute Consciousness…shall we be free from the delusions produced by Maya (illusion).”

Amen.