Neo-Theosophy

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Neo-Theosophy was originally a derogatory term referring to books written by Annie Besant and Charles Webster Leadbeater on Theosophy, following the death of Madame Blavatsky in 1891. This material differed in a number of respects from Blavatsky's writings, and it was felt by many that this represented a depreciation or distortion of the original teachings.

The term was coined by F.T. Brooks around 1912 in a book called Neo Theosophy Exposed, which was the second part of an earlier book called The Theosophical Society and its Esoteric Bogeydom. Around 1924, Margaret Thomas published a book called Theosophy Versus Neo-Theosophy. This book is now available online, and presents a detailed and critical comparison between Blavatskyian Theosophy and Neo-Theosophy.

More recently the word has come to be used outside Theosophical circles to mean simply the style of post-Blavatskyian Theosophy presented by Leadbeater and Besant, Alice Bailey, and other writers of this tradition.

Neo-Theosophy has exerted a very large influence on New Age metaphysics and modern esoteric thought.