Meditation Group

Monday Nights 7.00pm

Healing Circle 

First Monday of the month at 6.00pm

Speaker

Wednesday Night  7.00pm

Committee Meeting

3rd Thursday of the month

(Members welcome)

Yoga

Friday Night   5.00pm

Library

Friday 1pm -5pm

History of the Dunedin Theosophical Society

A very interesting source book covering Dunedin theosophical activities for the period 1892-1900 was written by A.Y. Atkinson in 1978. She presented it in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of B.A. Hons. in History at the University of Otago. The Dunedin Lodge has a nicely bound copy of this thesis - like paper. 

Apart from the natural historical emphasis, a very unbiased overall view of many aspects of basic theosophy is presented in this paper, and makes interesting reading. It is well - referenced with all sources acknowledged.

SUMMARY

The Theosophical Society was first formed in the United States in 1875. By the late 1880s Augustus Maurais of Dunedin was registered as a member of the Society in Adjar, India. The first meeting of Theosophists was held on 20 Dec 1892 in a draper's shop. This meeting did not actually go well as some of the group were more aligned to Spiritualist beliefs and they had an unresolved hotly contested debate.

The Theosophist later met on their own. In March 1893, the Dunedin Theosophical Society was set up. In those day mainstream churches, and in particular, the Presbyterian Church was very influential in Dunedin and soon they were preaching against Theosophy. There was considerable discussion in the newspapers as the issues were debated. Differences with Spiritualists also created conflict.

Augustus Maurais was a leading figure in the local church.  In Sawyers Bay where he lived he was known as "the heathen over the hill", but he nevertheless spent 14 years on the Ravensbourne Borough Council. and had a term as the mayor of the township. 

Theosophical members tended to be well read middle class, because many of the concepts of Theosophy are quite complicated.

Annnie Besant visited Dunedin in 1894 and Colonel Alcott in 1897.

Check out our history as written by Alistair McMurran