Theosophical Encyclopedia

In the last decade of the nineteenth century, a group of people imbued with the Masonic ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity greatly influenced the political and economic organization of Latin American nations. Especially in Argentina they set an example of moral conduct in public office that inspired later generations.

The first Argentine Theosophical Lodge, named Luz (“Light”), was founded in Buenos Aires on January 7, 1893. Its first president was Antonia Martinez Royo. Meetings took place on Sunday afternoons and most of the members were well-known public persons: deputies, senators, writers, scientists, and teachers, among whom were Federico W. Fernandez, Alejandro Sorondo, Leopoldo Lugones, Alfredo B. Palacios, Joaquin V. Gonzalez, Jose Ingenieros, and Rodolfo Moreno, all famous in Argentine history. Subsequently, lodges were formed in neighboring countries: Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay and Brazil. As there were three lodges working in Buenos Aires when Henry S. Olcott visited that city in 1901, he suggested the foundation of a South American Section, with Luis Scheiner as his correspondent, although that Section did not come into being until 1930.

History of the Theosophical Society in New Zealand: Originally part of the Australasia Section (founded in 1894), the New Zealand Lodges then comprised Auckland, chartered in 1892; Christchurch, chartered in 1894; Wellington, chartered in 1888; and Dunedin, chartered in 1893.

Early members and Lodges of the Australasian Section: Augustine Les Edgar King became the first New Zealand member, having joined while visiting London. His diploma was dated April 3, 1879. On his return to New Zealand, he became the first member of the Society in the southern hemisphere.

E. T. Sturdy, whom Colonel OLCOTT referred to as the “Father of Theosophy in New Zealand,” joined the Society in 1885 while living at Woodville in Hawkes Bay. After traveling overseas and meeting Col. Olcott, H. P. BLAVATSKY, and W. Q. JUDGE, he returned to New Zealand and settled in Wellington. Gathering a group of students around himself, he started the Wellington Lodge, which was chartered in 1888. Among its members were Sir Harry Albert ATKINSON, Prime Minister of New Zealand; his wife Anne E. Atkinson; their son, E. Tudor Atkinson; M. van Staveren, a Jewish rabbi; H. M. Stowell (Hare Hongi), a Maori tohunga (priest); and Edward Tregear, a poet and Maori scholar, who wrote a book about the similarities of the Hindu and Maori languages. The Wellington Lodge ceased to exist when Sturdy returned to England, where he became a student in HPB’s “inner group”; however they regrouped in 1894 and continue to the present.

Today this word is used by a conjuror in performing a trick, supposedly a charm that causes magic to work; or, more generally, it denotes meaningless talk and thus is used as a term of ridicule, but the word has a long history of use in ancient magical procedures. It was used as an amulet and often arranged in triangular form:

ABRACADABRA
ABRACADABR
ABRACADAB
ABRACADA
ABRACAD
ABRACA
ABRAC
ABRA
ABR
AB
A

The first contact with Theosophy in Italy may be traced to the frequent presence of H. P. BLAVATSKY there, where she undoubtedly met many persons who later became members of the Theosophical Society. She visited Trieste, Venice, Rome, Bologna, Bari, and Naples. She is reported to have been with the Italian patriots Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-82) and Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-72); the latter she apparently met in London in the year 1851. She claimed to have participated with volunteers at Garibaldi’s battle of Mentana (in an attempt to capture Rome) in the year 1867 (Cranston and Williams, p. 79).

Italian Theosophists, great organizers …

Theosophy (in the early broad sense of teachings about this and the divine worlds) was known in Italy before the formation of the Theosophical Society. The Italian philosopher Antonio Rosmini Serbati (1797-1855), a Catholic priest, wrote a large work in eight volumes with the title Teosofia, published in 1859 after his death, and condemned by the Catholic Church. The first Theosophical Center was established in Milan (1890) by J. Murphy, helped by Alfredo Pioda, who also established the first Theosophical Center in Locarno (Switzerland) and commenced the magazine La Nuova Parola. The first Lodge and lending library was organized in Rome (1897) through the efforts of C. A. Lloyd and Decio Calvari, who was the secretary of the Italian Parliament. This Lodge translated and published several Theosophical books, among which were The Occult World and Esoteric Buddhism by Alfred P. SINNETT. At about the same time, Lodges were established at Genoa and Palermo through the efforts of the British Consul, Macbean Reginald Gambier. Later Isabel COOPER-OAKLEY helped to form Lodges in Florence, Milan, Naples, Rome, and Torino. The Italian Section of the Society was established on February 1, 1902, in the presence of Charles W. LEADBEATER, with Oliviero Boggiani as its first General Secretary. At Trieste, the first Lodge was established in 1908, after a visit by Annie BESANT, but a Theosophical center may have existed earlier and been visited by the famous explorer and British Consul at Trieste Francis Richard Burton (1821-90) who translated The Thousand Nights and a Night (1885-88), popularly known as The Arabian Nights, into English.