1 – Introduction
2 – Mystery of Spiritual Energy
3 – Authority and Dominion of Christ
4 – Problems in Christianity
5 – Origin of the Western Version of Eastern Mysticism
6 – Theosophy’s Early Days
7 – The Name of Christ, or What’s in a Name?
8 – Dark Undercurrents
9 – Return of the Christ
10 – Conclusion
Appendix – What Theosophy Hopes You Won’t Notice
APPENDIX: WHAT THEOSOPHY HOPES YOU WON’T NOTICE
Root Races
H.P. Blavatsky had much to say about so-called “root races” – the concept of races as paramount in the development of human history. These concepts fed into the esoteric/occult trends that were popular in Germany in the early 20th century (noted already here in Post 8) and had a marked influence on Hitler’s philosophy of Aryan racial superiority and desire to eliminate inferior/competing races:
The intellectual difference between the Aryan and other civilized nations and such savages as the South Sea Islanders, is inexplicable on any other grounds. No amount of culture, nor generations of training amid civilization, could raise such human specimens… [They are] inferior races on the globe, now happily – owing to the wise adjustment of nature which ever works in that direction – fast dying out…” (H.P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, Vol II, p 421)
By the way, Theosophy texts often have this confident, swaggering tone about them, which sounds impressive but obscures reality (such as the unsavory ideas about racism that Blavatsky was promoting). In addition, Theosophy texts tend to sound convoluted and complex – difficult to understand, confusing. Shallow thinking often does this to give the impression of depth of wisdom. But as the saying goes, muddy waters seldom run deep. Sri Aurobindo summed it up nicely in the quotes from Appendix 2 of Post 10.
Theosophy Emblem
The motto: “There is no religion higher than truth”
Sounds decent enough. Still, one can’t help but feel a better version of this would say, “There is no religion higher than love.” As the Gospels make clear, God is Love and is personally concerned about each of us human beings, His creations. But Theosophy doctrine treats God as a force or divine principle, whose power may be accessed through the adept use of various techniques of meditation and spiritual disciplines. We have already discussed that these techniques are a valid, beneficial branch of knowledge and skill, used by spiritual energy healers. But, as outlined here in Post 8, it is not wise to confine God to that impersonal level only.
Serpent biting its tail:
Why this sinister symbol of a serpent, and not something more uplifting, on the emblem of a society that calls itself a beacon of light to the world, is difficult to understand. Of course, there is meaning to the symbol of the snake eating itself and re-generating: cycles of history, cycles of birth and re-birth. This is all rooted in the conception that nothing exists beyond the physical and spiritual realm that we are in. It lacks the understanding that God’s Spirit and energy are not confined to the universe only; He exists outside of it also as its Creator. And although human history might look like it’s been going around forever, in circles, it did have a Beginning. And God has plans to bring the present Age to an end, to reach the final goal: establishment of God’s Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.
Six-pointed star:
Contrary to popular belief, this is not the star of David. Its origin is lost in the mists of time, although it is thought to have originated with king Solomon. Whatever the case regarding its origin, the hexagram has been used for generations in the rituals of witchcraft.
Swastika:
Placed in the emblem at the head of the serpent, the Swastika is one of the numerous forms in which the symbol of the cross appears. In this case, it is the fiery cross, with arms of whirling flame revolving clockwise. It is supposed to represent the tremendous energies of nature, creating and dissolving the forms through which the evolutionary process takes place. Like the serpent-biting-its-tail symbol, it’s a form of worship of the Creation rather than the Creator. By ignoring the Creator who made the natural world, physical and spiritual reality ends up being confined to the universe. (Romans 1:25, NLT) Adolph Hitler, whose philosophy merged well with the idea of “evolutionary process” and “tremendous (warlike) energies of nature”, adopted this symbol as the insignia for Nazism.
The Ankh:
Ancient Egyptian symbol of resurrection and life after death. From a 
positive viewpoint, it could be said that the symbol looks forward to or pre-figures the death and resurrection of Christ. From very ancient times, humankind has wrestled with the tragedy of Death, and this is something Theosophy tries to address through its teachings about reincarnation. But the real solution to the tragedy of Death was brought by the Son of God, who experienced Death and returned to life on Earth and then ascended into the Heavenly Realm. Christ conquered Death on behalf of the human race. We still experience sadness over the departure of our loved ones, but now we have a sure hope and can rest in the assurance that Death has lost its dominion. We can look forward to the time when our relationships, broken by the power of Death, will be restored. Death will no more bear rule over the human race.
Although the Ankh symbol accurately reflects humanity’s concern about the Afterlife, it does have a Dark side. In ancient times and among certain groups, it symbolizes belief in the practice of fertility rites and worship of the sun god Ra (ancient Egyptian name for Lucifer).
AUM or OM
This seems to be the only feature in Theosophy’s emblem that doesn’t 
have some kind of sinister meaning to it. Written in Sanskrit, this is the sacred word of Hinduism, a word esteemed to be of profound significance. It may be said to stand for the creative Word or Logos, the inexpressible Reality which is the source of all existence. In ancient Greek, besides its philosophical meaning, Logos had as its literal meaning “word” and has everything to do with speech. In Genesis 1 we learn that God spoke the creation into existence. And once Christ had been revealed, we read in the New Testament, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) It would be accurate to say that Aum is an expression for the Logos, and for Jesus Christ – “The Word” who “was made flesh” (John 1:14)
Lucifer Publishing Company
Before her return to faith in Christ, Alice Bailey founded Lucifer Publishing Company as the publishing arm of Theosophy (name changed later to Lucis Trust). “Lucifer” does mean “light”, or “light-bearer”, or “Heaven’s beacon”. Since Theosophists claim to be teachers of light, this seemed an appropriate name. And of course, it also signified their opposition to Christianity. For in the Bible Lucifer is known as the great enemy of God and Christ.
This name that was chosen (unwittingly perhaps) exposes who is the real author behind the many books and pamphlets produced by this publishing house. In the Celestial Domain, Lucifer the archangel was gifted with the responsibility of being God’s Light-Bearer. But this was insufficient for him. In pride he rebelled, wanting to take the place of God, and took with him a great company of angels. Earth became Lucifer’s domain and has suffered ever since under that Dark spiritual influence, which has inspired every manner of evil: war, corruption, pollution, destitution, and the list could go on and on. The account of Lucifer’s fall is outlined in the Old Testament chapters of Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 (also in Revelation 12:3-4,7-9).
Then later in the Gospels we learn that Lucifer (aka Satan) tempted Christ, as the Son of God, to misuse the supernatural power available to Him, and finally, to dangle the promise of untold wealth and power as a bribe to get Christ to worship him (Lucifer). (Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13) Then 3½ years later, Lucifer had Christ killed in a torturous way. But Christ rose from the dead.
So in this day and age, since he wasn’t able to get rid of Christ (the future Ruler of Earth), Lucifer does everything he can to deceive the world not to follow Christ. Spirits in the realm of Darkness want to keep their subjects captive, so they fight hard to prevent earthlings from coming to the Light, which is Christ, and thereby come to God the Father. And of course, one of their major avenues to accomplish this used to be the Lucifer Publishing Company.
Although they may see themselves as independent free-thinkers, Theosophists fail to see how their ideas have trapped them (in the words of Sri Aurobindo) into “a hopeless amalgam and jumble of science, religion and philosophy all expressed in the terms of the imagination.” [from “Essays Divine and Human: The Psychology of Yoga” in Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo, Vol. 12 , circa 1911]
Theosophist doctrine, which claims to bear forth the “light”, does the very opposite, and unfortunately, has dragged many a would-be seeker into a downward spiral of deception and spiritual Darkness. This series of posts has already brought to light many errors in Theosophist teaching, for which these words of Christ seem appropriate: “And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!” (Matthew 6:23, NLT)
