ABSTRACT
Many scholars of religion regard 1875 as the birth of modern Western esotericism. That year witnessed the foundation of the Theosophical Society, without whose influence twentieth-century esotericism might scarcely have existed. There are several reasons why the Theosophical Society was the most important recurrent stimulus of esoteric discourses into the twentieth century. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's public career really began in 1872 with her attempt to found a magical club or a societe spirite in Cairo and her arrival in New York in 1873. Spiritualism was an important factor for religious seekers outside the institutional churches, which Robert C. Fuller calls 'the emergence of unchurched America'. After Blavatsky's death the Theosophical Society continued to be led by Olcott and other disputants. Annie Besant strengthened the orientation towards India during the whole period of her leadership of the Society, which led to further schisms.
