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K. Paul Johnson Male Danville, VA United States: Share; Share on Twitter; Share on Facebook

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Was Blavatsky right that astrology is true?

Replied Jan 28

Greatest interest in Blavatsky is outside the English-speaking world

Replied Jan 6

Occult America by Mitch Horowitz

Replied Sep. 27, 2009

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bournemouthsoc commented on K. Paul Johnson's blog post 'The Heretic in Darwin's Court: the Life of Alfred Russel Wallace (by Ross Slotten)'

Wallace lived in Boradstone Poole very near where I live.

February 23

K. Paul Johnson commented on Katinka Hesselink's blog post ''Theosophy for a new generation of inquirers / enquirers' ;)'

DNA has become an obsession for me in a rather narrow-focused way, but its implications for my broader worldview keep nudging me towards rethinking other subjects. Specifically, as soon as I heard about reincarnation as a child I intuitively accepte…

February 19

K. Paul Johnson commented on Mark R. Jaqua's blog post 'Sinnett's novel "United"'

Again, you have made a real contribution by finding primary source material that has been long-forgotten, and making it available to all. Thank you!

February 18

K. Paul Johnson added a blog post

The Heretic in Darwin's Court: the Life of Alfred Russel Wallace (by Ross Slotten)

January 28

K. Paul Johnson replied to David Melik's discussion 'Was Blavatsky right that astrology is true?'

"Astrology is true" is almost a meaningless statement IMO. Propositions can be true or false, but disciplines (whether scientific, humanistic, or pseudo-scientific) cannot be so categorized. One can be a total skeptic about all theoretical claims ma…

January 28

K. Paul Johnson commented on Katinka Hesselink's blog post ''Theosophy for a new generation of inquirers / enquirers' ;)'

"What if?" provides useful mental exercise, but I always remember my Philosophy 101 teacher saying "contrafactual conditionals are not truth-functional." Meaning that something like "If HPB and Dayananda had really created a Vedic-themed Masonic ord…

January 19

K. Paul Johnson commented on Rose B's photo 'HPB with Koot Hoomi, Morya, Saint Germain Jpeg'

I have just finished an excellent bio of Alfred Russel Wallace, The Heretic in Darwin's Court by Ross Slotten. Will put up a blog post here about it before the end of the month. He was a good friend of Elliott Coues so presumably his TS interest ros…

January 16

K. Paul Johnson commented on Rose B's photo 'HPB with Koot Hoomi, Morya, Saint Germain Jpeg'

Mark, here are a couple of distinctions. Accepting someone as a spiritual authority does not necessitate accepting her as inerrant historically. (I don't accept anyone in either capacity, but one does not necessarily imply the other.) Historians don…

January 14

K. Paul Johnson commented on Rose B's photo 'HPB with Koot Hoomi, Morya, Saint Germain Jpeg'

Mark wrote: "There's no masters "El Morya" or "St. Germain" in Blavatsky theosophy. ("El" ?!)." My comment: Knapp did not ID Morya with the "El" in front. St. Germain is very definitely an adept in Blavatsky theosophy, but not someone she claimed…

January 13

Mark R. Jaqua replied to K. Paul Johnson's discussion 'Greatest interest in Blavatsky is outside the English-speaking world'

http://books.google.com/books?id=AScOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP6&dq=inpublisher:Aryan+inpublisher:Theosophical+inpublisher:Press&lr=lang_es&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=100&as_brr=1&cd=1

January 11

Mark R. Jaqua replied to K. Paul Johnson's discussion 'Greatest interest in Blavatsky is outside the English-speaking world'

Here's a link to spanish translation of Theosophical Manual #7, "Masters and Disciples with downloadable pdf file:

January 11

K. Paul Johnson commented on Rose B's photo 'HPB with Koot Hoomi, Morya, Saint Germain Jpeg'

Let me set the record straight since I used this portrait as an illustration but learned more about the original afterwards. It is a painting by John Augustus Knapp, long associated with the work of Manly P. Hall: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rosic…

January 10

Mark R. Jaqua replied to K. Paul Johnson's discussion 'Greatest interest in Blavatsky is outside the English-speaking world'

I have my doubts about these results. I'm no geek but you may have been limited to or searching on an European network only. Sometimes the search results I get differ drastically. The more translations the better tho (at least _good_ translations, a…

January 10

EstrellaFugaz replied to K. Paul Johnson's discussion 'Greatest interest in Blavatsky is outside the English-speaking world'

Hola Paul! Well i recomend you if you read spanish, i'm reading right now one of the best biographies of H.P.B, it is from Mario Roso de Luna, a Theosophist from Spain from the early 20's of last century ago. Probably I am not exagerating but I susp…

January 10

EstrellaFugaz replied to K. Paul Johnson's discussion 'Greatest interest in Blavatsky is outside the English-speaking world'

Probably i could be a good help in translation of some Theosophical books to spanish if anybody interested. One of my wishes is to go more often to S.D Area, probably there...

January 10

Mark R. Jaqua replied to K. Paul Johnson's discussion 'Greatest interest in Blavatsky is outside the English-speaking world'

Along this line, the greatest interest in Theosophy has always been outside the the Theosophical societies (and also the greatest number of bonafide Theosophists?) I remember reading in "The Path" that Judge said most of the subscribers were outside…

January 7

Introducing myself

My last book, Pell Mellers, was published the same week I retired in the spring of 2008 from the directorship of the Halifax County - South Boston Regional Library. Among the dozen presentations and interviews I did promoting the book were several at the annual gathering of the Melungeon Heritage Association, and last fall I was invited to become a consultant to its board. The publisher of Pell Mellers, Backintyme, has given me a blog where I discuss topics relevant to the book. In May I attended the National Genealogical Society convention in Raleigh, helping out at the MHA booth, signing books, and attending sessions. My last blog post for Backintyme describes the event.

For the last three years I was Outings Chair of the Dan River Basin Association, planning hikes and paddling trips in a 16 county region along the North Carolina/Virginia line. I continue as a member and occasional trip leader.

I had not devoted any time and energy to esoteric history topics since Edgar Cayce in Context was published in 1998, until being invited to participate in Donna Zuckerbrot's biographical documentary Madame Blavatsky: Spiritual Traveller. In June 2009 I introduced a showing of the film at the biennial convention of the Church of Light, which I joined at the end of 2005. The 13th Union of the Melungeon Heritage Association was held the following weekend in West Virginia; my blog post describing it is at the MHA website, www.melungeon.org

K. Paul Johnson's Videos

Madame Blavatsky: Spiritual Traveller

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K. Paul Johnson's Blog

The Heretic in Darwin's Court: the Life of Alfred Russel Wallace (by Ross Slotten)

This book, published in 2006 by Columbia University Press, is one of several bios of Wallace that have appeared in recent years. Not having read any of the others, I can't properly write a review of this one, but will share my appreciation for the book. Wallace is someone about whom I knew fairly little-- co-discoverer of natural selection, enthusiast for Spiritualism, admirer of Blavatsky's Isis Unveiled. Slotten establishes Wallace as a thoroughly admirable man, generous in sharing credit with… Continue

Posted on January 28, 2010 at 10:52am — 1 Comment

Finding one's astrological twins

Last week I celebrated one of my most memorable birthdays, as 11/18/2009 was also the centenary of Johnny Mercer's birth and the occasion of the unveiling of a statue of him that I attended in Ellis Square in Savannah. Johnny's 100th was my 56th, which inspired me to look up my birth date and see who else turned 56 with me. Just two showed up on Wikipedia, Al… Continue

Posted on November 25, 2009 at 9:00am —

Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped our Nation by Mitch Horowitz (book review)

Mitch Horowitz rescues many colorful characters from obscurity in this entertaining tour through the byways of American religious history. My favorite sections of the book were those describing individuals whose teachings flourished in the early twentieth century but are almost forgotten today. Psychiana was a successful mail-order religion that did not long survive the death of its founder Frank Robinson. Baird Spaulding concocted tall tales about encounters with Oriental spiritual Masters in b… Continue

Posted on November 5, 2009 at 6:30am — 3 Comments

The Masonic Myth by Jay Kinney (book review)

The Masonic Myth: Unlocking the Truth about the Symbols, The Secret Rites, and the History of Freemasonry
by Jay Kinney
New York: HarperOne
$15.99

The Masonic Myth succeeds equally on several different levels, addressing readers new to Freemasonry as well as those who have studied it for years. Kinney combines an insider's mastery of the subject with an outsider's skeptical irreverence, making him a very trustworthy guide through this hall of mirrors. He addresses the concerns of… Continue

Posted on October 25, 2009 at 4:00pm — 1 Comment

Two Theosophical Societies, two Brotherhoods of Luxor

This post is inspired by Leslie's expression of interest in the shared roots of the TS and the Church of Light (which is a continuation of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor). These have been misconstrued on both sides of the fence. In The Unseen Worlds of Emma Hardinge Britten, Robert Matthiesen draws a distinction between what he calls the Earlier and Later Theosophical Societies:

"Only in 1879 did a reorganized Theosophical Society once again begin to meet in India and elsewhere, but o… Continue

Posted on October 16, 2009 at 8:30am — 4 Comments

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At 5:51am on February 9, 2010, lucy said…: lucydavid1@hotmail.fr
Hello dear
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so that i will from there send you my picture so that you will see how i look like ok try to get me back because there is many love in sheering have a wonderful sweet dream and lovely day kisssss

At 2:15pm on December 10, 2009, Jackie Rodzinski (Mother Sanity) said…: I didnt really mean it as a 'motto', only a statement explaining my presense here. People often live lives based on fabrication and exageration. Life really becomes interesting when you eliminate those 'filters' and get as close to reality as possible.

At 6:33am on October 16, 2009, leslie marlar said…: I could not resist doing his astrobiography since he was named "man of the millenium". Let me know if it makes sense.

At 4:57pm on October 15, 2009, leslie marlar said…: Thanks for the invitation. I'm fascinated by the fact that the Church of Light, the Theosophical Society, and the Golden Dawn were all the same organization way back. I'm in the C of L and also exploring.

At 10:33am on October 14, 2009, Rene Wadlow said…: Dear Colleague, I tried to send this as a personal message, but the system seems to be made for writing have a good weekend, because anything longer ends up with the wheel turning endlessly. We had been shortly in contact on the other theosophical network when I thought I would be going to Kashmir and you suggested reading Christy Cambell's The Maharaja's Box (which I have now ordered.) I am writing now as I have seen some of the above correspondence where you mentioned briefly your work on the Baha'i (and the difficulty to please everyone all the time) Thus I wondered if you had done any research on the Ahmadiyya of Punjab, born as a reform movement about in the same conditions as the Baha'i with opposite ideological outcomes. The Ahmadiyya saying they are Muslims and other Muslims saying they are heretics. The Baha'i saying they are a separate religion, while the Iranian and Egyptian authorities saying they are Muslim heretics. I have 'defended' both groups at the UN human rights bodies on a freedom of religion basis without being a member of either, but the comparison of the two movements would be interesting. Best wishes, Rene

At 5:55pm on October 7, 2009, Rick Nurrie said…: Hi Paul It’s been a long time since we last conversed! Thanks for the welcome. I am new to internet social networking so it is taking me some time to digest and find my way around “The Theosophical Network.”

At 9:56am on July 31, 2009, Marie Johnson said…: Thank you for your kindness Paul ;-)

At 9:53am on July 31, 2009, Marie Johnson said…: Theos has been boring me for some time, especially all the political talk. And all the talk about the past, and the controversies do not attract me either. Additionally, my grandson has been critically ill this summer, and that has taken a lot of my attention. Thank you for your friendly invitation and for this forum..

At 4:49am on May 22, 2009, David Melik said…: Peace be with you. After talking to Joe it seems I might be interested in your Theosophical history writing. I guess I would like to add you as a friend so I get around to re-checking what writing to read. It seems there is a lot. Good!

At 1:30pm on May 17, 2009, Martin Euser said…: Hi Paul,
Thanks for your considerate comment. I have not given up on this network, but am busy with my work on Jacob Boehme at my own website. And I am awaiting developments on this network as to the survey Joe Fulton intends to put on this site. It is quite some time already that I sent him my remarks/suggestions.
What I am most looking for (for 15 years already) is some people of the research type on the crossing point between esoteric philosophy and biology/psychology. Very hard to find, however.

Regards,
Martin Euser