A Teacher
Anna Kingsford
The physician-mystic whose visionary esoteric Christianity bridged Theosophy and the coming magical revival.
The transmission
Anna Kingsford (née Annie Bonus) was an English physician, anti-vivisectionist, vegetarian, and women’s rights campaigner, among the first Englishwomen to earn a medical degree.
With Edward Maitland she delivered the lectures published in 1882 as The Perfect Way, or the Finding of Christ, a work of esoteric Christianity that drew Blavatsky’s praise. In 1883 she became president of the London Lodge of the Theosophical Society, and in 1884 she founded the Hermetic Society.
Her synthesis of Christian mysticism and Hermetic thought helped shape the milieu from which the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn emerged.
What they gave
Esoteric Christianity: Co-authored ‘The Perfect Way, or the Finding of Christ,’ a visionary synthesis of Christian mysticism and Hermetic thought that drew Blavatsky’s praise.
- Theosophical leadership: Became president of the London Lodge of the Theosophical Society in 1883.
- Founding the Hermetic Society: Diverged from Blavatsky’s direction to found her own Hermetic Society in 1884.
- Bridge to the magical revival: Her fusion of mystical Christianity and Hermeticism helped shape the milieu from which the Golden Dawn emerged.
The line they stand in
Taught by / Influenced by: her collaborator Edward Maitland; Helena Blavatsky and the Theosophical current.
- Taught / Influenced: S.L. MacGregor Mathers and the later magical revival.
Revelations they taught
Essential Works
- The Perfect Way, or the Finding of Christ1882
- Clothed with the Sun1889