Theosophical Society

The Theosophical Society was an esoteric organisation founded in 1875 by H. P. Blavatsky, Henry Steel Olcott, and William Judge Quan, members of the Miracle Club, at New York for the purpose of studying spiritual phenomena and making preparations for the coming World Teacher. The society schismed into rival Theosophical Societies following the death of Blavatsky, one branch following Olcott and Annie Besant based in Adyar, India, and another branch following Judge based in Pasadena, California; and this was followed by further divisions, as members of the German section of the Adyar-based society, under Rudolf Steiner's leadership, split off to become the Anthroposophical Society, while the Pasenda-based society split into factions led by Katherine Tingley and Ernest Temple Hargrove following the death of Judge, and these also further divided in the years that followed.