Quest Society
The Quest Society (The Searching Society) was a theosophical organization that emerged from the Theosophical Society Adyar (Adyar-TG). It existed from 1909 to 1930.
history
At the beginning of 1906 the so-called Leadbeater scandal (Leadbeater case) broke out in the Adyar-TG . It was Charles Webster Leadbeater accused of homosexual relations with his students to have had. On May 16, 1906, he was expelled from the Theosophical Society . Shortly afterwards, however, on February 17, 1907, Henry Steel Olcott , the president of the Adyar-TG, died. His successor Annie Besant , who had become the new president of the Adyar-TG in June 1907, changed course and, against the opposition of numerous theosophists, pushed through the resumption of Leadbeater in January 1909. Even George Robert Stow Mead (GRS Mead) was opposed strongly against this decision and remained as this fails, he entered, in addition to 700 other Theosophists, on 20 February 1909 from the Adyar-TG.
Mead then founded on March 11, 1909 in London his own organization, the Quest Society , independent of the Adyar-TG , of which he became president. About 150 former theosophists and 100 other interested parties joined the new organization. In order to be able to convey the goals and views of the new organization to the members, but also to outsiders, Mead started his own magazine, The Quest (see below ), for which he also acted as editor.
Mead formulated the objectives of the Quest Society:
- Research and comparative study of religion, philosophy and science based on practical experience.
- To express the found thoughts in an encouraging and appealing way.
The focus was on the preoccupation with Gnosticism , Neoplatonism , Hermetics and religion as well as ancient Greek and Egyptian literature.
Members were such prominent personalities as William Butler Yeats , Harriet Shaw Weaver , Rebecca West , Dorothy Shakespear , Jessie Laidlay Weston , Wyndham Lewis and Arthur Edward Waite . Martin Buber and Gershom Scholem had at least a close relationship .
The Great Depression of 1929 also put Mead and a number of members of the Quest Society in financial difficulties, so that the organization had to be dissolved in 1930. A number of members founded successor organizations, such as B. the Search Society or Society for Promoting the Study of Religions .
The Quest
The Quest was published in London from 1909 to 1930 .
Before leaving the Adyar-TG, Mead had published the theosophical journal The Theosophical Review , which had to be discontinued after his departure. Since The Quest started shortly after the Theosophical Review was discontinued and Mead was the editor, The Quest is sometimes seen as the successor. This although Mead and the Quest Society clearly distanced themselves from the Theosophical Society.
The paper was published quarterly, the first issue in October 1909. In the tradition of the Western Mysteries , the focus was on Gnosticism , Neoplatonism , Hermetics and religion . The range of published articles ranged from Henri Bergson to Arthur Edward Waite to Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki .
When the organization had to be dissolved in 1930, that also meant the end of The Quest magazine . The last edition appeared in July 1930.
literature
- The Quest, a Quarterly Review . Kessinger, Whitefish 2004, ISBN 1417950366 .