Hermetic Society

The Hermetic Society ( Hermetic Society ) was an organization closely related to Theosophy , but independent of the Theosophical Society . It existed in London from 1884 to about 1890 and in Dublin with interruptions from 1885 to 1939. The London group can be seen as the forerunner of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn , whereas the Dublin group influenced the Irish Renaissance .

The Hermetic Society in London

Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland had joined the London Lodge and thus the Theosophical Society in September 1882 . On January 7, 1883, Kingsford was elected President and Maitland Vice-President of the London Lodge. Kingsford sought to convey a theosophical view that was shaped by the Western mystery tradition, the focus being on Platonism , Neoplatonism , Gnosticism and Hermetics . When Alfred Percy Sinnett joined the London Lodge in April / May 1883 , he soon polarized what was going on in the lodge with his views centered on the masters of wisdom . In the fall of 1883 the London Lodge split into two competing camps, on the one hand the followers of Sinnett, completely devoted to the new theosophical cult around the Tibetan "masters". On the other hand, a smaller proportion continued to sympathize with Kingsford's beliefs, which were deeply rooted in European history. After lengthy disputes Kingsford was voted out of office on April 6, 1884, as was Maitland as vice president.

Kingsford and Maitland remained members of the Theosophical Society, but from April 9, 1884 held several meetings with the aim of founding another lodge of the Theosophical Society in addition to the London Lodge. After this had encountered difficulties because of possible double memberships of theosophists in both lodges, Kingsford and Maitland jointly founded the Hermetic Society in London on May 9, 1884 with Kingsford as president. This was close to Theosophy , but was independent of the Theosophical Society. Here Kingsford wanted to focus on the western mysteries. As a token of his sympathy with the newly founded organization, Henry Steel Olcott , President of the Theosophical Society, was present at the founding event on May 9th.

Beginning with a lot of enthusiasm, Kingsford himself gave a number of lectures at the Hermetic Society and engaged William Wynn Westcott and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers to give lectures to around 30 to 50 people. However, due to increasing workload in other areas and health problems, Kingsford could not keep up this pace. As early as 1885, lectures and discussions took place more irregularly and the spirit of optimism was visibly lost. The situation has only worsened since Kingsford was handicapped by pneumonia in November 1886 . With Kingsford's early death in February 1888, the Hermetic Society disintegrated.

The London Hermetic Society is sometimes seen as the forerunner of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn , as it influenced its founders William Wynn Westcott and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers .

The Hermetic Society in Dublin

On June 16, 1885, William Butler Yeats , George William Russell and Charles Johnston had founded a subsidiary of the London Hermetic Society in Dublin . This was the first theosophical organization in Ireland , although not an official lodge of the Theosophical Society , since the London Hermetic Society was also independent. A year later, in June 1886, Yeats and Russell co-founded an official theosophical lodge in Dublin. In the following, the sources are confused, either the Hermetic Society was absorbed into the Theosophical Dublin Lodge or the members joined it, so that it ceased to exist as an independent organization. Or the Hermetic Society continued to exist for a while, but lost so much importance to the Dublin Lodge in the following years that it finally went out. Sometimes the Dublin Lodge is also referred to in a simplistic way as the Hermetic Society, i.e. equated with it, as there were numerous overlaps and personal entanglements. In any case, in 1898, Yeats, Russell and Johnston re-established or revived the Hermetic Society as a separate organization independent of the Theosophical Society.

In 1895 the Theosophical Society split in two directions as a result of the Judge Case , on the one hand the Theosophical Society Adyar (Adyar-TG) under the leadership of Henry Steel Olcott and on the other hand the Theosophical Society in America (TGinA) under William Quan Judge . The Dublin Lodge followed the TGinA direction under Judge. After Judge's early death in 1896 and the subsequent change of course of the TGinA under Katherine Tingley , a number of members left the TGinA Dublin Lodge, including Yeats, Russell and Johnston. As already mentioned, these three re-established the Hermetic Society in March 1898 as an organization independent of the Theosophical Society. Russell became president and remained in that capacity until 1933, when Patrick Gillman Bowen took over the presidency. Bowen dissolved the Hermetic Society with the start of World War II in 1939.

In contrast to the Theosophical Society, the resurrected Hermetic Society had no goals, it was more of a free and informal club. Theosophy themes , primarily works by Helena Blavatsky and William Quan Judge, were on the program as well as Indian philosophy and the western mystery tradition. Irish culture and literature formed a focus, however , in this context the Hermetic Society was also part of the Irish Renaissance .

Presidents of the Hermetic Society

Presidents of the Hermetic Society were:

• London 1884–1888: Anna Kingsford
• Dublin 1885–1886: William Butler Yeats
  • 1886–1898: In the meantime as part of the Theosophical Society in the form of the Dublin Lodge. From 1886–1895 the Dublin Lodge was part of the Theosophical Society , from 1895 part of the Theosophical Society in America .
  • 1898–1933: George William Russell
  • 1933-1939: Patrick Gillman Bowen

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Biography of Anna Kingsford ( Memento of the original from August 20, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ^ ^{A b c d} Mysticism, Theosophy & the Occult - Anna Kingsford
3. ^ ^{A b} Blavatsky Study Center: Anna Kingsford, Madame Blavatsky and the Theosophists
4. ↑ Hermetic Library at Hermetic.com: Anna Mary Bonus Kingsford - Esotericist, Visionary, Hermetic Mystic
5. ^ The System of WB Yeats's A Vision: Anna Kingsford, the Hermetic Society and Esoteric Christianity
6. ↑ ^{a b c} The Canadian Theosophist, Vol. XVI., No. 6. (Hamilton, August 15th, 1935)
7. ↑ ^{a b} The Irish Literary Renaissance ( Memento of the original from October 16, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ^ College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Florida / RF Dietrich: The Irish Dramatic Movement
9. ↑ ^{a b} Van Yeats dead Thornton Wilder en verder ( Memento of the original from January 10, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ↑ ^{a b} theospohy.com: P. Bowen: "Ancient Religion in Africa" ( Memento of the original of September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
11. ↑ ^{a b} George W Russell (AE) resources on the Web ( Memento of the original of April 13, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

Web links

• United Lodge of Theosophists, Phoenix Arizona: The Theosophical Movement 1875-1950