The optional 72 minute companion video covers much of the same material, but was designed more as an introduction for those who were specifically inquiring into Theosophy and gives some additional background on the history of the Theosophical Society, which Blavatsky had founded in 1875.  

Each chapter is followed by questions for thought and discussion which the student may discuss in a group or comment upon individually.   

Table of Contents:

Introduction

The Premises of Theosophy

The Ancient Wisdom

The Tradition of the Mahatmas

The Theosophical Society: A Modern Expression of the

Theosophical Movement.

Theosophical History

Core Concepts of Theosophy

The Three Fundamental Propositions

The Doctrine of Karma

The Teaching of Reincarnation

The Constitution of the Human Being

The After Death States

The Ethics of Theosophy

Brotherhood as a fact in Nature

Self-Responsibility and Duty

Altruism

Studying Theosophy: A Learning Approach

Further Teachings

Misconception About the Theosophical Society

The Earth Chain of Globes and Rounds

Psychic Laws and Phenomena

Bibliography of Source Theosophical Literature

M101: The Language of Mythology and Fairy Tales

Text: The Language of Mythology and Fairy Tales

Alexandria West, 2000. Three Ring Binder. vi +115 pages including a general index and an index of the gods and goddesses which appear in the myths. Color illustrations throughout. $20.00

     Human societies which had no written language, depended upon an oral tradition of stories handed down from generation to generation in order to maintain a record of their cultural norms, origins and destiny. The stories endured because they sounded a chord deep within the human psyche.  Their language suggested layers of deeper truths and awakened them to consciousness.   

     About eight-thousand years ago, written communication began in the Middle East, first as a method of record keeping, and later as a way to record their oral heritage of sacred stories.  With the rise of medieval scholasticism, the learned of the secular world came to value the written word as a tool for enforcing authority and conformity to society. This movement from oral to written communication has elevated the written word itself to a status of sacredness, and created a class of priests whose job it is to interpret that text to the masses.  Personal access to the sacred stories was denied to the masses.      

     While the text remains supreme in Western society, the popularity of George Lukas’ Star Wars Trilogy and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings suggests that our Western culture is still able to experience and intuitively grasp the mythological language of old.  The Language of Mythology and Fairy Tales is a resource designed to bring a sense of familiarity to the world’s allegories, myths, fairy tales and sacred poems concerning the nature of reality, and how the universe and people came into being.  This first volume addresses the language of mythology in general, and covers two mythological themes: 1) The nature of reality, 2) and how the world and humanity came into being.