ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the close relationship between Scottish Celtic Revivalism and Theosophy, and – likewise – Theosophists' attraction to Celticism. It demonstrates that Theosophical leaders were not only receptive to Scotland's cultural assertion, but also to its political assertion. Scottish Theosophists not only pursued an independent national section, the Theosophical Society in Scotland – distinct from the "British" section – in 1910, but Theosophy also interacted with distinctive Scottish contexts and movements. Annie Besant, for instance, was at the core of the Indian Home Rule movement: indeed, she was the President of the Indian National Congress in 1917, the first woman to take on the role. Besant, like many Theosophists who were captivated by Hinduism and Buddhism, was preoccupied with elevating the status of Eastern religions and acknowledging the equality of religions. Scotland's Home Rule movement and its Celtic Revival offer just two of the many Scottish connections to Theosophy between 1884 and 1930.
