World Spiritual Traditions: Theosophical Perspectives

     It is well said, in every sense, that a man's religion is the chief fact with regard to him. . . . By religion I do not mean here the church-creed which he professes. . . . but the thing a man does practically believe; the thing a man does practically lay to heart, and know for certain, concerning his vital relations to this mysterious Universe, and his duty and destiny there, . . . that is his religion. – Thomas Carlyle

General Religion and Mythology  |  Ancient Mediterranean  |  Ancient Europe  |  Ancient Mideast and Zoroastrianism
Hinduism  |  Buddhism  |  Jainism  |  China  |  Native American  |  Africa  | Australasia
Judaism  |  Christianity  |  Gnostics  |  Islam  |  European Philosophers and Mystics  |  Atheism

General Religion and Mythology

• "The Esoteric Tradition" by G. de Purucker
• "Ancient Wisdom, Timeless Truths" by Sally Dougherty
• "Points of Agreement in All Religions" by William Q. Judge
• "Agreement among Religions" by Scott Osterhage
• Review of Getting to the Heart of Interfaith: The Eye-Opening, Hope-Filled Friendship of a Pastor, a Rabbi & a Sheikh by Don Mackenzie, Ted Falcon and Jamal Rahman
• "The Perennial Philosophy" by W. T. S. Thackara
• "What Do Religions Have in Common?" by Sally Dougherty
• "The Quest and Legacy of Mankind" by Eloise Hart
• "The Inquiring Human Mind" by Peter H. Samsom
• "Wisdom: The Understanding Heart" by Scott Osterhage
• "Many Roads to God" by Curtis Beach
• "Spiritual Bulwarks" by James A. Long
• "Quest for Human Identity" by I. M. Oderberg
• "Esoteric Wisdom East and West" by Robert Rensselaer
• "Thoughts on Religion in the Future" by Bas Rijken van Olst
• "Exploring the Theosophic Tradition" by Elisabeth Prent
• "Challenges to the Soul" by Robert K. Davidson
• "The Function of Spirituality: The Sacred in Our Lives" by Rudi Jansma
• "Unbroken Chain of Oral Tradition" by Harischandra Kaviratna
• "Religion in the Age of Aquarius" by I. M. Oderberg
• "The Power of Ideas: Changing Human Consciousness" by Rudi Jansma
• "The Way of the Mystic" by Peter H. Samson
• "Is Philosophy Practical?" by Sarah B. Van Mater
• "Prayer and Meditation" by Scott Osterhage
• "Max Mueller and H. P. Blavatsky -- Comparative Religion in the 19th Century" by Bas Rijken van Olst
• "It Takes Great Compassion to Leave Home" by Fred A. Pruyn
• "Sacrifice, Suffering -- and Compassion" by Sally Dougherty
• "The Rain that Follows the Sacrifice" by Ida Postma
• "The Scientist and the Fairy Tale" by E. H. Krauss
• "The DNA of Fairy Tales: Their Origin and Meaning" by Renee Hall
• "Aesop's Fables, Jataka Tales: Truths Older than Time" by Eloise Hart
• "The Boundless in Ancient Cosmogonies" by G. de Purucker
• "The Secret Doctrine in Symbol and Glyph" by Eloise Hart
• "The Secret Wisdom of Symbols" by Phyllis Immink
• "The Universal Mystery Language and Its Interpretation" by H. T. Edge (a booklet on the www.theosociety.org/pasadena site)
• "Humanity's Heroes" by Harry Young
• "Our Spiritual Home" by W. T. S. Thackara
• "World Trees" by Hazel Minot
• "Of Spinners and Weavers" by Madeline Clark
• "Mountain Sanctuary" by Allan J. Stover
• Book Review: Sacred Mountains by Adrian Cooper (rev. Toni Fergusson)
• "The Lotus" by Amanda F. Rooke
• "Cross and Fire" by H. P. Blavatsky
• "Flood Myths of the World: Riddles of the Past" by John Van Mater, Jr.
• "Sacred Rivers" by W. T. S. Thackara
• "The Science of Environment" by W. Y. Evans-Wentz
• "Descents into Hades -- Ascents into Heaven" by Eloise Hart
• "The Eternal Feminine draweth us ever onward" by Nancy Coker
• "The Theft of Light" by Fred A. Pruyn
• "Myths: Wells of Wisdom" by Elsa-Brita Titchenell
• "The Truth of Myths" by Lo Guest
• "Mythology Today" by Elsa-Brita Titchenell
• "Not My Will, but Thine" by Grace F. Knoche
• "Caldron of the Gods: Cosmic and Human Evolution" by Elsa-Brita Titchenell
• "Potency of the Inner Light" by Grace F. Knoche (including millennial prophecies from the Hermetica and Vishnu Purana)
• "The End of the World" by Sally Dougherty
• Book Review: Cosmos, Chaos and the World to Come by Norman Cohn (rev. Sarah Belle Dougherty)
• Book Review: A New Religious America by Diana L. Eck (rev. Jean B. Crabbendam)
• "Letter on Russian Temple of All Religions" by Lev Bernshteyn
• "The Hundred Names of God" by Nancy Coker
• "Essentials of Religion" by Alan E. Donant
• "Letter: Interfaith Gathering" by Lyn Lambert
• "The Story of Life" by Lennie Bennett

Ancient Mediterranean and the Mysteries

• "The Mysteries of Antiquity" by G. de Purucker
• "To Die, and to Become" by I. M. Oderberg
• "Mystery and Mystery Schools" by W. T. S. Thackara
• "The Descent into Hades" by Ted G. Davy
• "The Spiritual Heart of Mankind" by Sarah Belle Dougherty
• "The Ancient Mysteries" by Kirby Van Mater
• "The Ancient Mysteries: A Great Light, A Force for Good" by W. T. S. Thackara
• "Inducing Altered States" by Sarah Belle Dougherty
• "The Mystery Schools" by Grace F. Knoche (book on www.theosociety.org/pasadena site)

Egypt

• "Radiant Thread of Egyptian Myth" by I. M. Oderberg
• "The Riddle of Ancient Egypt" by I. M. Oderberg
• "The Twin Halls: Egyptian Myths" by I. M. Oderberg
• "The Two Faces of Egypt" by I. M. Oderberg
• "Light from Ancient Egypt: On Reincarnation" by I. M. Oderberg
• "A Small Universe" by I. M. Oderberg
• "The Papyrus of Ani -- Initiation and the After-Life" by Gerald J. Schueler
• "Gateway to the Horizon of Heaven: The Great Pyramid" by I. M. Oderberg
• "Pyramids and Temples of Egypt" by Coen Vonk
• "Coming Forth into the Day" by Eloise Hart
• "The Mirror of Tem" by Gerald J. Schueler
• "On 'Temple of the Cosmos' " (review) by I. M. Oderberg
• "Ascend with the Greatest Sagacity: The Divine Pymander of Hermes" by Nel van Weijdom Claterbos
• "The Emerald Tablet" by Eloise Hart

Greece and Rome

• "The Sacred Pilgrim in Greek Thought" by I. M. Oderberg
• "Creative Power in Orphic Myths" by I. M. Oderberg
• "A Key to Ancient Greece" by Sarah Belle Dougherty
• "Quest of the Soul: The Eleusinian Mysteries" by William A. Savage
• "Mysteries of Ancient Greece" by Coen Vonk (archeology)
• "The Delphic Oracle" by Eloise Hart
• "Why Don't We Remember?" by Grace F. Knoche
• "The Wanderings of Odysseus: An Allegory of the Soul" by Charles J. Ryan
• Book Review: In the Dark Places of Wisdom by Peter Kingsley (rev. S. B. Dougherty)
• "Light from the Mystic West" by Sarah Belle Dougherty (rev. of Reality by Peter Kingsley)
• "The Consciousness We Are" by Peter Kingsley
• "Prometheus" by Armin Zebrowski
• "The Arrow to the Heart: Eros" by Elsa-Brita Titchenell
• "Cupid and Psyche -- An Ancient Mystery Tale" by Eloise Hart
• "The Storyteller from Samos: Aesop" by Donna L. Preble
• "Pythagoras' Contribution" by I. M. Oderberg
• "One Is One For Evermore: Theon of Smyrna" by I. M. Oderberg
• "Plato and Platonism" by H. P. Blavatsky
• "On Plato's Theory of Ideas" by Grace F. Knoche
• "Socrates: Midwife to Our Souls" by W. T. S. Thackara
• "The Gnosis according to Plato" by W. T. S. Thackara
• "Plato's Myths and the Mystery Tradition" by W. T. S. Thackara
• "The Vision of Er" by Plato
• "Etruscan and Pelasgian Monuments of Italy" by Coen Vonk
• "Janus: Guardian of the Open Door" by Grace F. Knoche
• "Scipio's Dream" by Cicero (On the Republic)
• "Apollonius of Tyana -- An Adept to Remember" by Fred A. Pruyn
• "Apollonius, Sage of Tyana" by Elsa-Brita Titchenell
• "The Stoic Way" by Peter H. Samson
• "To Be Like-Minded with God: The Philosophy of Epictetus" by Sarah Belle Dougherty
• "To Serve the Common Good: Marcus Aurelius" by Grace F. Knoche
• "The Alexandrian Tradition of Neoplatonism" by I. M. Oderberg
• "A Sketch of the Doctrines and Principal Teachers of the Eclectic or Alexandrian School" by Alexander Wilder
• "Emperor Julian and Neoplatonism" by Madeline Clark
• "Treasures of the Alexandrian Library" by John P. Van Mater
• "Alexandria's Beacon Against the Dark" by I. M. Oderberg
• "Revival of the Alexandrian Library" by Paul Johnson
• Book Reivew: The Seven Day Circle: The History and Meaning of the Week by Eviatar Zerubavel (rev. Sarah Belle Dougherty)
• "Letter on Reading Oxyrhynchus Manuscripts" by Nicholas Vaughan

Ancient Europe

• "The Sun Temple at Glastonbury" by Lennart Lydeen
• "The Mysteries of Carnac and Altantis" by Paul Johnson
• "Standing Stones on the Isle of Lewis" by Nel van Weijdom Claterbos
• "Newgrange: Tomb or Initiation Chamber?" by Michael Cosser
• "Ancient Mysteries: Stonehenge" by Sally Dougherty
• "The Divine Races of Ancient Ireland" by Eloise Hart
• "The Forgotten Wisdom of Finland" by Elsa-Brita Titchenell
• "The Princess Libuse: A Czech Legend" by Grace Green Knoche
• "The Quest: From Simple 'Fool' to Grail Servant" by I. M. Oderberg
• "Wagner's Parsifal" by Rolf May

Norse

• "Origin of Ages: Norse Creation Myth" by Elsa-Brita Titchenell
• "Man's Destiny in Myth" by Elsa-Brita Titchenell
• "The Flame and the Fire: Norse Lighting of Mind" by Elsa-Brita Titchenell
• "We Are the Godmakers" by Elsa-Brita Titchenell
• "The Masks of Odin: Wisdom of the Ancient Norse" by Elsa-Brita Titchenell (book: commentary and trans of Edda)
• "Mystic Wisdom of Old" by Gosta Eklund
• "A New Look at Ancient Norse Myth" (reivew) by Ingrid Van Mater

Wales

• "Book of the Three Dragons by Kenneth Morris (rev. Douglas A. Anderson)
• "Giants and Floods" by E. A. Holmes
• "As Old as Time: Welsh Creation Myths" by E. A. Holmes
• "Celts and Druids, Who Were They?" By E. A. Holmes
• "Druids: Adepts or Savages?" by E. A. Holmes

Christianity

• "Theosophic Light on the Christian Bible" by Henry T. Edge
• "Fiat Lux: Archeology and the Old Testament" by Sarah Belle Dougherty (review of The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman)
• Review of: "Bondage of the Mind: How Old Testament Fundamentalism Shackles the Mind and Enslaves the Spirit" by R. D. Gold
• Review of Jesus, Interrupted by Bart D. Ehrman
• "The Story of Jesus" by G. de Purucker
• "Jesus: Message of the Heart" by Ina Belderis (rev. of Jesus for the Non-Religious by John Shelby Spong)
• "Who Is Jesus?" by Marilyn O'Day
• Review of: "God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question – Why We Suffer" by Bart D. Ehrman
• "Things Common to Christianity and Theosophy" by William Q. Judge
• Review of: The Gospel of Inclusion: Reaching Beyond Religious Fundamentalism to the True Love of God and Self by Bishop Carlton Pearson
• Review of Eternal Life: A New Vision. Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell by John Shelby Spong (2009)
• Review of The Sacred Universe: Earth, Spirituality, and Religion in the Twenty-first Century by Thomas Berry; ed. Mary Evelyn Tucker (2009)
• "Theosophy and Christianity" by Clifton Meek
• "Path of the Spiritual Warrior" by Eloise Hart
• "We Are Children of the Sun" by Donna L. Preble
• "More Than We Can Know" by Ida Postma
• "The Lord's Prayer" by James A. Long
• "The Lord's Prayer: An Esoteric Interpretation" by Scott Osterhage
• "Food for Thought" by Heathclyff St. James Deville
• Review by Paul Rooke of "The Sermon on the Mount according to Vedanta" by Swami Prabhavananda
• "Love Thy Neighbor" by Nhilde Davidson
• "The Call for Brotherhood: The Real Message of Jesus" by Ina Belderis
• "Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes: Book Review" by Ina Belderis
• Book Reviews by Sarah Belle Dougherty - Would You Believe? Finding God without Losing Your Mind by Tom Harpur; God at 2000 edited by Marcus Borg and Ross Mackenzie
• "Theosophy and Christian Science" by A. Trevor Barker
• "Christos Triumphant" by Kenneth Morris
• "The Mysteries of the Kingdom" by Clifton Meek
• "God, God's Will, Predestination, and Evil" by James A. Long
• "Some Light on Lucifer" by Ina Belderis
• "The Virgin Birth" by G. de Purucker
• "From Crypt to Pronaos: An Essay on the Rise and Fall of Dogma" (Theosophical Manual)
• "Of the Royal Line of Spirit" by Kenneth Morris
• "The Eucharist" by G. de Purucker
• "Images of Eden: Sacred Apples or Forbidden Fruit?" by Nancy Coker
• "The Bible and the Zodiac" by Donna L. Preble
• "Seek and Ye Shall Find" by Ingrid Van Mater
• "The Resolution of Conflict: The Beatitudes" by Bernard S. Parsons
• "Light in Shadow" by Curtis Beach
• "The Heart of the Believer" by Jim Belderis
• "The Albigenses: Bearers of a Bygone Wisdom-Tradition" by Arne Wettermark
• "Thanksgiving Thoughts" by Sally Dougherty

Gnostics and Early Christians

• "Early Christian History: Fact or Fabrication?" by Sarah Belle Dougherty (Review: The Jesus Mysteries and Jesus and the Lost Goddess by T. Freke and P. Gandy)
• "Secret Gospels and Lost Christianities" by W. T. S. Thackara
• "Gnosticism and Christianity" by Hugo Oosterwijk
• "Theosophy and the Nag Hammadi Library" by Marilyn O'Day
• "Reincarnation as Taught by Early Christians" by I. M. Oderberg
• "Reflections on the Mysteries" by William R. Laudahn
• "Quest, Belief: in Gnostic Christianity" by I. M. Oderberg"
• "Toward the Perfected Man" by I. M. Oderberg
• "Heresy through the Ages" by Ina Belderis
• "Augustine: Ecclesiastic Architect" by Jean B. Crabbendam

Christmas and Easter

• "Behind Our Christmas Celebrations" by Kirby Van Mater
• "The Perennial Story" by E. A. Holmes
• "How Christ Got into Christmas" by Peter H. Samson
• "The Star of Bethlehem" by Craig Chester
• "Gifts of the Magi" by Elsa-Brita Titchenell
• "The Christmas Tree" by Regina Z. Thackara
• "Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men" by Sarah Belle Dougherty
• "A Bus Conductor's Christmas Message" by Andrew Rooke
• "And the Darkness Comprehended It Not" by Willem Brandt
• "The First Nowell" by Virginia George
• "The Inner Nativity" by Jim Belderis
• "Yuletide Reflections" by James A. Long
• "Mankind Is Our Business" by Ingrid Van Mater
• "A Christmas Cross-Examination" by Nancy Coker
• "Winter Solstice: Gift of Illumination" by Dorothea Hamann
• "Christmas and the Winter Solstice" by Alan E. Donant
• "Eastertide -- Season of Renewal" by W. Albertson
• "Some Easter Symbols" by Sally Dougherty
• "Easter, Equinox, and Initiation" by Alan E. Donant
• "The Significance of Easter" by Joseph H. Fussell
• "Meanings of Easter" by Sally Dougherty
• "Jesus and His Judas" by Ida Postma
• "Easter -- The New Day" by Katherine Tingley

European Mystics, Philosophers, and Theosophers

• "Gold in the Crucible: The Alchemists" by I. M. Oderberg
• "An Outline of the Interior Doctrines of the Alchemists of the Middle Ages" by Alexander Wilder
• "On the Destiny of the Soul" by F. S. Darrow
• "The Albigenses: Bearers of a Bygone Wisdom-Tradition" by Arne Wettermark
• "Meister Eckhart: Friend of God" by I. M. Oderberg
• "Giordano Bruno and the Infinite Universe" by Warren Hollister
• "The Other Newton" by I. M. Oderberg
• "Within, Not Without: Jakob Boehme" by Grace F. Knoche
• "Thomas Traherne: His Search for Felicity" by Elsa-Brita Titchenell
• Book Review: Flesh in the Age of Reason by Roy Porter (rev. S. B. Dougherty)
• "Descartes and the Esoteric Philosophy" by Arne Wettermark
• "Spinoza's Love of God" by Jim Belderis
• "Spinoza and the Borderland of Science" by Bernhard Mollenhauer
• "On the Monads of Leibniz" by Charles J. Ryan
• "The Birth of a New Order in 18th-century Europe" by Ida Postma
• "Book Review" by J. B. Crabbendam (Enemies of the Enlightenment by Darrin M. McMahon)
• "Voltaire . . . Cynic, Humanitarian, Esotericist?" by Ida Postma
• "Theosophic Correspondence by Louis Claude de Saint-Martin (with Kirchberger, Baron de Liebistorf) [book]
• "Two Delightful Theosophers of the 18th Century" by Mary G. Langford
• "The Resources of William Blake" from Manas magazine
• "Fundamentals of Freemasonry" by Norman Williams Crabbe
• "Mysticism and/or Reality" from Sverige Radio-TV
• "The Two Worlds of Magic" by Betty Roszak

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Atheism and Free Thought

Book Reviews:
• Morality Without God? by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (2009)
• Losing My Religion by William Lobdell (2009)
• Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists by Dan Barker (2008)
• God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question – Why We Suffer by Bart D. Ehrman (2008)
• The Tenacity of Unreasonable Beliefs: Fundamentalism and the Fear of Truth by Solomon Schimmel (2008)
• When God Is Gone Everything Is Holy: The Making of a Religious Naturalist by Chet Raymo (2008)
• Who is this God? by Paul Murchison (2007)
• Flesh in the Age of Reason by Roy Porter (2004)

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