Blavatsky's teenage years & Theosophy in New England, Boston trilogy, Shawn F. Higgins

After forty years of progress, the academic quality of theosophical history can reach a very high level of research. I would like to draw attention to a series of papers from a certain Shawn F. Higgins of the Harvard Divinity School, who has recently posted a series of writings on theosophical history of an exceptional level of quality and research, which feature, in certain cases, I think, some ground-breaking work on people and subjects that have had little coverage so far.

 

The 'Boston Trilogy'

 

Part 1 Ground-breaking piece on Walt Whitman & American theosophists

Sylvester Baxter Zuni Indians Frank Cushing, George David Ayers, Cyrus Field Willard, John Bridge, Arthur Griggs, William Q Judge 

The Nationalist Club Jan 7, 2024 Shawn F. Higgins

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/marginalia/2024/01/the-nationalist-club/

 

Part 2 of epic balzacian trilogy about Theosophy in Boston

Alcott & transcendentalists, many known & lesser-known Theosophists... Oscar Wilde Walt Whitman Mohini Chatterji  

“Even the Theosophists claim me. How much of me is going to be left for myself after all the claims of the radicals are satisfied?” Walt Whitman Traubel, Horace. With Walt Whitman in Camden: Vol. II. (July 16, 1888-October 31, 1888)

Holyrood Jan 13, 2024 Shawn F Higgins

https://patheos.com/blogs/marginalia/2024/01/the-midnight-visit-to-holyrood/

 

Part 3 - more great research   

William James Emerson Charcot Charles Rockwell Lanman Sarah Farmer Bull Sara Chapman Vivekananda Franz Hartmann Karl Kellner Dharmapala 

The Ivory Tower of Theosophy Shawn F. Higgins Feb 23, 2024

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/marginalia/2024/02/the-ivory-tower-of-theosophy/

 

By 1885, when Matilda Joslyn Gage joined the Rochester Branch, it was already filled with influential people. Maud Gage Baum and Lyman F. Baum joined the Society in Chicago, in 1892, under the tutelage of W.P. Phelon.

The Chicago Branch was chartered on November 27, 1884, by Stanley B. Sexton (President) William P. Phelon (Corresponding Secretary,) Mira Morse Phelon (wife of William Phelon and niece of Samuel Morse, inventor of the telegraph,) and newly-arrived immigrant, Jakob Bonggren.Maud L. Brainard was named Secretary.Other notable members of the Branch were: Rev. William H. Hoisington, and his wife, Lauretta Hoisington. Known as the “Blind Man Eloquent,” Hoisington, a famed lecturer on Egyptian history, joined the Society in 1876.

Oz: A Story Of Ancient Initiation November 24, 2024 by Shawn F. Higgins

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/marginalia/2024/11/oz-a-story-of-ancient-initiation/

 

Twain response to Bram Stoker: “I don’t care whether Annie Besant & William Jennings Bryan occupy lofts in his upper story,”

Mark Twain’s Side Quest For The Holy Grail Nov 29, 2024 Shawn F. Higgins

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/marginalia/2024/11/mark-twains-side-quest-for-the-holy-grail/

 

Blavatsky's Teenage Years

Detailed account of Blavatsky (1831-1891) 1847-1949, ages 16-18, many references, including random autobiographical digressions scattered in her own writings

The Ahkoond of Swat December 12, 2024. Shawn F. Higgins

https://www.patheos.com/.../2024/11/the-ahkoond-of-swat/