Lucifer (magazine)

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Lucifer , sometimes also Lucifer , was a theosophical journal published by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky . The first edition appeared in London on September 15, 1887 . After the March – August 1897 edition, it was renamed The Theosophical Review .

History of the magazine

In 1884/85 Blavatsky came under pressure when the Coulomb affair and later the Hodgson Report became known, and then had to leave India . Until her departure from India in 1885, Blavatsky had been the editor of The Theosophist . She had used this publication medium for the publication of a number of her own essays and as a means of influencing the fate of the Theosophical Society . Her departure was also linked to the task of editing the Theosophist , this position was taken over by Henry Steel Olcott , President of the Theosophical Society. In the following years there were several differences between Olcott and Blavatsky because Blavatsky submitted articles for publication in the Theosophist , but these were rejected by Olcott. After Blavatsky had again received support and support by founding the Blavatsky Lodge in London in 1887 , she therefore founded her own theosophical journal and took on the role of editor - the Lucifer . In this way she could decide on her own again what and how something was published and thus influence the development of theosophical teaching.

Blavatsky was the editor until her death on May 8, 1891. She was initially supported by Mabel Collins as deputy editor until February 15, 1889. From this point on, Annie Besant acted as deputy, after Blavatsky's death in 1891 Besant was editor. Since 1889, George Robert Stow Mead (GRS Mead) helped Blavatsky as an assistant with the publication, he became Besant's deputy in 1891 and in September 1897 he took over the responsibility as editor of Lucifer. His first action was to change the controversial title of the paper to The Theosophical Review , so Lucifer ceased to exist.

The magazine was published monthly, with six issues being bound into one book edition twice a year, i.e. the September to February issues were combined into one large issue, as were the March to August issues. A total of 20 volumes of this type, each about 500-600 pages long, were published. After the last issue in March – August 1897, GRS Mead renamed it The Theosophical Review .

direction

In addition to theosophical topics, numerous articles of a religious nature were published, from Buddhism to Hinduism and Christianity to North Germanic religions . Likewise about astrology , karma , reincarnation , the Kabbalah , occultism etc. In addition, scientific topics were dealt with, written about the philosophy of the ancient world and literature, such as. B. Friedrich Nietzsche's Zarathustra , reviewed. In some cases sharp attacks were also directed against the established Christian churches and organizations. In about ten years of existence, more than 2800 essays and articles have been published.

Naming

The name Lucifer came from the Latin and means 'light bringer'. With this name, Blavatsky wanted to clarify the direction of the magazine: to bring the hidden things of darkness to light. The understanding of this name comes from the article Lucifer . The Light Bringer (= Lucifer), God's favorite angel, should bring light to earth, to people. Ultimately, Lucifer did not come voluntarily, but was thrown to earth by Michael , which, however, made no difference since the light (= as a source of enlightenment) could penetrate the earth and people (= matter) in this way too. In this sense, the title of the magazine was meant to be extremely positive.

The same name, written with a "z" instead of "c", namely Lucifer , was and is, however, equated with Satan or the devil in the Christian tradition . This meaning was and is the generally recognized one based on Christian tradition. Accordingly, the reaction, especially from Christian circles, to the publication of the magazine was consistently negative. The hostilities ranged from the work of the devil and demon cult to the Antichrist and mostly the entire Theosophical Society was included in this criticism.

Since the meaning of the name intended by Blavatsky did not prevail in the public, in the end it had exactly the opposite effect and theosophy thus offered a large target area for its numerous opponents, the name of the journal was changed to The Theosophical Review in September 1897 .

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