3 Review(s)

Adherents of theosophy, the esoteric philosophy popular at the turn of the 20th century, believed that science and religion could be reconciled, and that the plan of the universe could and should be understood, and that it was humanity's duty to adapt to that plan. Here, in a series of lectures delivered in Sydney, Australia, in 1915, the renowned spiritualist Charles W. Leadbeater, a leader of theosophical thought, celebrates the new "sub-race" of humanity come to joyful life in the immigrant nations of America, Australia, and New Zealand, where, freed from the social shackles of Old World Europe, races and classes were intermingling to create a new kind of culture, which would in turn reshape the world. Far-reaching and perceptive, this is an extraordinary little volume of social insight and criticism. British author CHARLES WEBSTER LEADBEATER (1854-1934) was ordained as an Anglican priest, but later joined the prominent Theosophical Society and traveled to India to study alternative spiritual and occult practices, eventually settling into his life as a clairvoyant and author. His other works include Man Visible and Invisible and The Science of the Sacrament.