The American Minervan

California Fire Destroys Theosophical Archives and Building in Altadena

IN LOS ANGELOS — A LARGE COLLECTION OF MATERIALS ON NINETEENTH-CENTURY ESOTERICISM were claimed by the raging fires in California. Prof. Wouter Hanegraaff (professor of the History of Hermetic Philosophy and related currents at the University of Amsterdam Netherlands) on Facebook this Thursday stated that “the entire property of the Theosophical Society in Altadena near Pasadena has been completely destroyed by the fires in Los Angeles.”

“This was the world’s largest archive of Theosophical materials, including a library with 40.000 titles, the entire archive of the history of the TS, including ca. 10.000 unpublished letters, pertaining to HPB, the Mahatmas, W.Q. Judge, G.R.S. Mead, Katherine Tingley, and G. de Purucker, membership records since 1875, art objects, and countless other irreplaceable materials. The archives also contained works of Boehme, Gichtel, donations from the king of Siam including rare Buddhist scriptures, and so on.”

The Wild Hunt: Pagan News & Perspectives reported that the entire property of the Theosophical Society in Altadena near Pasadena has been completely destroyed, and are still gathering information (see LA Fires claim Theosophical Society building and archives).

News articles included photographs of the destruction, and the status in search is now Closed with a picture of the burned area. Author Jason Colavito explained on his website, that “Ironically, the first Theosophical Society headquarters in Altadena also burned to the ground in 1894 (Jason Colavito, https://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/california-fires-destroy-priceless-theosophical-archive). 

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Although I am currently not a due-paying member of any branch of the Theosophical Society currently, I am a Theosophist. Regardless of opinions about Theosophy, the Theosophical Society or the Point Loma Branch, I was deeply devastated and immediately felt heavy and ill upon hearing this news.

Andrew Crooke of the Australasian TS (Pasadena) replied to Aroon Parshotam of the Theosophical Society in New Zealand.

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Dominique Johnson
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3 responses to “California Fire Destroys Theosophical Archives and Building in Altadena”

  1. M K Ramadoss Avatar
    M K Ramadoss

    Irreplaceable materials lost. This incident shows the importance of scanning all material for historical preservation. Thanks for the update

    M K Ramadoss

    Reply
    1. Dominique Johnson Avatar
      Dominique Johnson

      Definitely. I thought about this. They must not have had sufficient workers for this task. I read “Unpublished.” UNPUBLISHED? Unpublished things of great value, gone. Even from Boehme. So sad.

      Reply
      1. M K Ramadoss Avatar
        M K Ramadoss

        It is time that all archives look at scanning rare materials. There is enough money to go around and if a cooperative approach is taken, it is doable. Time to forget about rivalries and differences and concentrate on the best interests to spread theosophy – which was why Theosophical Society was launched. Let us see what happens.

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