" So far, correct. But the
explanations that follow are far from giving a clear idea of Theosophy.
Webster defines it most originally as "a supposed intercourse with
God and superior spirits, and consequent attainment of superhuman
knowledge by physical processes, as by the theurgic operations of some
ancient Platonists, or by the chemical processes of the German
fire-philosophers."
This, to say the least, is a poor and flippant explanation. To
attribute such ideas to men like Ammonius Saccas, Plotinus, Jamblichus,
Porphyry, Proclus, shows either intentional misrepresentation, or
ignorance of the philosophy and motives of the greatest geniuses of the
later Alexandrian School. To impute to those, whom their contemporaries
as well as posterity styled "theodidaktoi," god-taught, a purpose to
develop their psychological, spiritual perceptions by "physical
processes," is to describe them as materialists. As to the concluding
fling at the fire-philosophers, it rebounds from them upon some of the
most eminent leaders of modern science; those in whose mouths the Rev.
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