HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY TIMELINE

1831 (August 11/12):  Helena Petrovna von Hahn was born in Ekaterinoslav, Ukraine, Russia (July 31 according to the Julian calendar).

1849 (July 7):  Helena Petrovna von Hahn married General Nikifor V. Blavatsky (b. 1809).

1849–1873:  Helena Petrovna Blavatsky embarked on extensive travels around the world, including Russia, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Canada, United States, South America, Japan, India, Ceylon, perhaps Tibet, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Germany, Serbia, Syria, Lebanon and the Balkans.

1873 (July 7):  Helena Petrovna Blavatsky arrived in New York and began her public writing career.

1875 (November 17):  Helena Petrovna Blavatsky co-founded the Theosophical Society in New York.

1877 (September 29):  Helena Petrovna Blavatsky published her first major work, Isis Unveiled.

1879 (February 16):  Helena Petrovna Blavatsky arrived in India, founded a new journal The Theosophist, and with Henry Steel Olcott relocated the headquarters of the Theosophical Society from New York City first to Bombay (now Mumbai), and in 1882 to Adyar, Madras (now Chennai), India.

1880–1884:  Letters from Blavatsky’s two primary Masters, Koot Hoomi (K.H.) and Morya, were received in India by A. P. Sinnett and A. O. Hume. Sinnett’s letters were subsequently published as The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett (1923).

1884–1886:  Blavatsky traveled around Europe and visited Nice, Paris, Elberfeld, London and Naples before settling in Ostend for nearly a year to work on The Secret Doctrine.

1884:  Alexis and Emma Coulomb, a married couple working at the Theosophical Society’s headquarters in Adyar, published allegations that Blavatsky wrote the “Mahatma Letters” instead of their being “precipitated” communications from her teachers, the Masters of the Wisdom. Richard Hodgson of the Society for Psychical Research traveled to India to investigate.

1885:  The Hodgson Report, the “Account of Personal Investigations in India, and Discussion of the Authorship of the ‘Koot Hoomi’ Letters,” was published. Hodgson concluded that Blavatsky had passed off her own writings as miraculously delivered letters from her Masters.

1887 (May–September):  Helena P. Blavatsky relocated to London, founded the journal Lucifer and the Blavatsky Lodge, which in 1890 became the European headquarters of the Theosophical Society.

1888 (October–December):  Helena P. Blavatsky published her second major work, The Secret Doctrine, and publicly announced the founding of the Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society.

1889 (March 10):  Annie Besant went to meet Helena P. Blavatsky after she read and reviewed The Secret Doctrine and joined the Theosophical Society. Besant’s home in London became the Blavatsky Lodge of the Theosophical Society, where Blavatsky lived until her death.

1891 (May 8):  Helena P. Blavatsky died from the flu in relation to her chronic kidney disease at age fifty-nine.

1986:  Vernon Harrison, member of the Society for Psychical Research, published “J’Accuse: An Examination of the Hodgson Report of 1885,” in which he criticized the Hodgson Report.

1997:  Vernon Harrison published “J’Accuse d’autant plus: A Further Study of the Hodgson Report,” in which he concluded that the Hodgson Report was biased and based on unscientific methodology.

BIOGRAPHY

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky [Image at right] (née von Hahn) is generally regarded as one of the most influential people contributing to the emergence of modern alternative religious and esoteric traditions. She has been compared to Martin Luther and Emperor Constantine in terms of her influence on the modern religious landscape (Hammer and Rothstein 2013:1). Blavatsky’s impact includes the promotion of the idea of spirituality as opposed to the institutionalization of religion; and the notion of spiritual evolution in connection with her popularization of Asian concepts of reincarnation and karma as alternative explanations for the meaning and function of the cosmos (Hanegraaff 1998:470–82; Chajes 2019).

Blavatsky’s life was remarkable and unconventional, to say the least. Historical information about her life prior to her shift of residence to New York City on July 7, 1873 is, however, in some respects difficult to reconstruct owing to lack of sufficient source material; some of the events after 1873 are also at times unclear.

Helena von Hahn was of Russian noble descent, the daughter of Peter Alexeyevich von Hahn (1798–1873), who was captain of the horse artillery in the Russian army, and the famous novelist Helena Andreyevna (1814–1842). Her maternal grandmother was Princess Helena Pavlovna Dolgorukov (1789–1860), daughter of Prince Pavel Dolgorukov (1755–1837), a descendant of one of Russia’s oldest families. Her paternal grandfather was Lieutenant Alexis Gustavovich von Hahn whose German family branch can be traced back to the famous crusader Count Rottenstern in the Middle Ages and Countess Elizabeth Maksimovna von Pröbsen, of equally prominent descent.

Since her mother died in 1842 when Helena was only ten years old, and her father was often away on military campaigns, her early life was either spent traveling from place to place with her father or staying for long periods of time with her maternal grandparents. According to Vera Petrovna de Zhelihovsky (1835–1896), Helena’s younger sister, Helena was an unusual child who experienced all of nature as permeated with life and spirits (Sinnett 1976:35; Cranston 1993:29). Many accounts attest that as a child she already displayed talents of a spiritualist and occult nature (Sinnett 1976:20, 32, 42–43, 49–50).

In October 1849 at age eighteen, a few months after her marriage to Nikifor V. Blavatsky, [Image at right] from whom she received her surname Blavatsky, she embarked on her first series of extensive travels around the globe. This was quite unusual for a woman at the time. It appears that she may have arrived in Cairo, Egypt from Constantinople in 1850–1851 where she and her friend, the American writer and artist Albert Leighton Rawson (1828–1902), met the Copt magician Paulos Metamon with whom Blavatsky wanted to form a society for the study of occult research in Cairo. During the early 1850s Blavatsky also appears to have been in Western Europe, particularly London and Paris where she frequented Spiritualist and mesmerist circles. After further travels in Canada, the United States, Mexico, South America, the West Indies, Ceylon, India, Japan, Burma, and possibly Tibet, Blavatsky was supposedly back in Paris in 1858. From there she returned to Russia in December 1858 where she seemed to have stayed until 1865 (Sinnett 1976:75–85; Cranston 1993:63–64).

Sometime in 1865 Blavatsky [Image at right] left Russia and traveled through the Balkans, Egypt, Syria, Italy, India, possibly Tibet, and Greece, until she finally arrived in Cairo for the second time in late 1871. In Cairo, Blavatsky again mingled with Spiritualists on a visit to the pyramids (Algeo 2003:15–17), and she formed a society named “Société Spirite” for the investigation of mediums and phenomena according to the theories and philosophy of Allan Kardec (1804–1869) (Algeo 2003:17–23; Godwin 1994:279–80; Caldwell 2000:32–36). This society, however, proved a disappointment to Blavatsky because of the many frauds involved in the séances, and she therefore left Cairo for Paris in the spring of 1873 where she planned to stay with one of her von Hahn cousins (Godwin 1994:280). Her stay, however, lasted only two months as, according to Blavatsky’s own narrative, she was ordered by her Masters, who communicated with her by occult means, to go to the United States “to prove the phenomena and their reality and—show the fallacy of the Spiritualistic theories of ‘Spirits’” (Godwin 1994:281–82, italics in original).

One of the exceptional modern esoteric elements associated with Blavatsky is her idea of a secret global brotherhood of Masters assisting humanity with its spiritual development. Blavatsky claimed to be in contact with this brotherhood and, among others, especially associated with Masters known as Koot Hoomi and Morya. She said she first met Morya in person in 1851 in London. Blavatsky perceived her mission to help these Masters with various tasks related to spiritual matters, including forming organizations and writing books and articles with their assistance. The Masters are often talked about as exalted human beings with seemingly physical bodies residing in physical locations, such as Tibet or Luxor, Egypt and as “spiritual teachers” and great souls or “mahatmas” (Blavatsky 1972:348; Blavatsky 1891:201). Blavatsky also emphasized, however, that the true nature of the mahatmas is beyond the physical, as she defined them as spiritual entities, higher mental entities in the realm of abstract thought only visible to the true intellectual sight (not the physical) after much training and spiritual development (Blavatsky 1950–1991, vol. 6:239). These Masters became particularly characteristic of the development of Theosophy in India where Alfred Percy Sinnett (1840–1921) and Allan Octavian Hume (1829–1912), who wished to meet them and learn about their ideas, received the first so-called Mahatma Letters.

Upon instructions from her Masters, Blavatsky arrived in New York City on July 7, 1873. A year later she encountered the New York journalist and lawyer Henry Steel Olcott (1832–1907) on October 14, 1874 at a series of séances held by the brothers William Eddy and Horatio Eddy as mediums at their farmhouse in Chittenden, Vermont (Olcott 2002:1–26). Blavatsky and Olcott became lifelong platonic partners and, beginning in 1876, lived together in a New York City apartment dubbed “the Lamasery,” by a reporter. The Lamasery received many visitors from near and far.

On September 8, 1875, a number of like-minded individuals, including Blavatsky and Olcott, founded the Theosophical Society for the investigation of the mysteries of the universe and the reality of spiritual phenomena. Henry Steel Olcott was elected president, Helena P. Blavatsky corresponding secretary, and William Q. Judge (1851–1896) vice-president.

The Theosophical Society later came to be guided by the universalist motto that “There is no Religion Higher than Truth.” The group adopted three basic goals:

To form a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of humanity without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or color.

To encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy, and science.

To investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in humanity.

A few years after the founding of the Theosophical Society, Blavatsky and Olcott’s attention [Image at right] was directed towards India and its religious traditions. They left New York City on December 17, 1878, just a few months after Blavatsky had become an American citizen on July 8, 1878. In India, the Theosophical Society expanded with great success and established the journal The Theosophist edited by Blavatsky. In 1884, Blavatsky left for Paris, London, and Elberfeld in Germany only to return to India in 1885; she subsequently left India for good, sailing to Naples and onward to Würzburg, Germany and Ostend, Belgium, in July 1886 to work on her second major opus The Secret Doctrine.

Her final years from 1887 onward were spent in London. In 1887 Blavatsky initiated a journal titled Lucifer, which she edited and for which she wrote. The next year she founded the Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society in order to teach the most devoted followers to unite with the One Universal Self and to develop spiritual powers. The two volumes of The Secret Doctrine were published in 1888.

In 1889, the notorious Englishwoman orator, Fabian socialist, freethinker, and feminist, Annie Besant (1847–1933), sought out Blavatsky after she had read and reviewed The Secret Doctrine. [Image at right] Blavatsky went to live in Besant’s home, which also became the location of the Blavatsky Lodge. Since Blavatsky’s health was failing, she and Besant co-edited Lucifer. Many of her most devoted disciples and colleagues stayed with Blavatsky until her death in 1891.

TEACHINGS/DOCTRINES

Blavatsky’s active writing period spans from late 1874 until her death. At this time she actively engaged with esoteric, religious, and intellectual currents such as evolutionism, the history of religions, and translations of Eastern philosophy and mythology. She was primarily engaged with the following seven themes.

First, Theosophy, which she understood to be Truth with a capital T. Theosophy is, on the one hand, [Image at right] a metaphysical, eternal, and divine wisdom that we can learn to perceive with higher spiritual faculties and, on the other hand, the historical root of all the major world religions. This Wisdom-Religion, as she called it, at the root of all religions, is also the reason why religious myths share so many apparent similarities. The notion of an ancient universal wisdom that can be traced in all the world religions is something Blavatsky wrote much about and tried to prove via the comparative method. For example, she wrote in Isis Unveiled (1877):

As cycle succeeded cycle, and one nation after another came upon the world’s stage to play its brief part in the majestic drama of human life, each new people evolved from ancestral traditions its own religion, giving it a local color, and stamping it with its individual characteristics. While each of these religions had its distinguishing traits, by which, were there no other archaic vestiges, the physical and psychological status of its creators could be estimated, all preserved a common likeness to one prototype. This parent cult was none other than the primitive “wisdom-religion” (Blavatsky 1877, vol. 2:216).

Our work, then, is a plea for the recognition of the Hermetic philosophy, the anciently universal Wisdom-Religion, as the only possible key to the Absolute in science and theology (Blavatsky 1877, vol. 1:vii).

 Second, Blavatsky also wrote much about Spiritualism, mesmerism, and occult forces, trying to distinguish Theosophy and occultism from the general current of Spiritualism popular at the time. One difference she emphasized was the distinction between being passively possessed by a spirit, as in Spiritualism, which she discouraged, against the active cultivation of the will to attain higher occult powers, which she regarded as central to occultism (Rudbøg 2012:312–64). Blavatsky was one of the first to use the noun “occultism” in English, and generally used the term to designate ancient or true spiritualism; in other words, an ancient science about the spiritual forces in nature. According to Blavatsky, each individual human being “embraces the whole range of psychological, physiological, cosmical, physical, and spiritual phenomena” (Blavatsky 1891:238).

Third, Blavatsky concentrated on what she perceived to be the problems with organized religions, especially the Roman Catholic Church and its theological dogmas. She viewed most of these dogmas as distortions of truths derived from older, more original, pagan traditions. This is also, according to Blavatsky, why most religions are so irrational and cannot defend their spiritual nature in the face of modern scientific critique. In contrast, Theosophy was supposed to be the rational religion of nature restoring the true esoteric core present in all religions, including Christianity, to its original glory (Rudbøg 2012:206–51).

Fourth, Blavatsky also focused critically on what she perceived to be the dangerous materialism of modern science and its false authority.

The Satan of Materialism now laughs at all alike, and denies the visible as well as the invisible. Seeing in light, heat, electricity, and even in the phenomenon of life, only properties inherent in matter, it laughs whenever life is called VITAL PRINCIPLE, and derides the idea of its being independent of and distinct from the organism (Blavatsky 1888, vol. 1:602–03).

Against this,  Blavatsky worked towards keeping the link between spirit and matter in the study of humans and nature that had previously existed in the unity of religion, philosophy, and science by emphasizing the notion of a spiritual principle and living beings behind physical forces (Rudbøg 2012:252–311).

Fifth, Blavatsky’s most heartfelt concern was establishing a universal brotherhood of humankind, and this is one of the themes that she emphasized the most in her many articles and in her practical Theosophical work in India. Blavatsky clearly emphasized the unity of truth, spirit, the cosmos, and all living beings, including humanity. She argued that as long as unnatural or human-made hierarchies exist between people in the form of sectarian religions, cultural values, and structures, humanity will not be free (Rudbøg 2012:409–43).

Sixth, she also wrote extensively to develop a grand cosmological system, which included both the spiritual and the physical dimensions; she claimed that this system was the secret “trans-Himalayan” doctrine known to her Masters residing in Tibet.

Seventh and finally, she wrote on the spiritual development of humanity and how to attain enlightenment and insight into the hidden universe (Rudbøg 2012:397–408).

These themes were all developed in her writings. She wrote primarily in English, but also published in French and Russian. The largest part of her oeuvre consists of articles written for various newspapers and Spiritualist and occult journals, especially on topics related to mesmerism, Spiritualism, Western Esoteric traditions, ancient religions, Asian religions, science and Theosophy. The journals The Theosophist, founded in 1879, and Lucifer, founded in 1887, also address these topics, and Blavatsky contributed extensively to them until her death. She also wrote occult and travel-related fiction, such as her Nightmare Tales (1892) and From the Caves and Jungles of Hindustan (1892), first published as installments in journals and later posthumously published in book form. All of her articles and stories have been gathered and republished in her Collected Writings, edited by Boris de Zirkoff, consisting of fourteen main volumes plus additional volumes (1950–1991).

Her major works (Isis Unveiled (1877) and The Secret Doctrine (1888)) were composed with the help of a number of her theosophically-oriented colleagues. [Image at right] Their contents are generally claimed to have been communicated to Blavatsky by the Masters of the Wisdom, “the Mahatmas,” by occult means. Both works each extend over 1,300 pages and were published in two volumes. Both were intended to prove the existence of an ancient universal secret doctrine or wisdom. Isis Unveiled was especially meant as a critique of Christian theology and modern science, while The Secret Doctrine exemplifies her most elaborate attempt to develop a grand cosmological system of spiritual and physical evolution on a massive scale. This system is composed of elements from various traditions and from various ages, including the so-called Book of Dzyan, an ancient Asian manuscript apparently known only to Blavatsky. Together these works constituted the primary exposition of Theosophical ideas and doctrines to first-generation Theosophists.

Blavatsky also wrote several other works, such as The Key to Theosophy (1889), intended to be a popular exposition in question and answer form of the main views of the Theosophists, concerning karma, reincarnation, after-death states, and the spiritual structure of each human. The same year, Blavatsky published a small volume entitled The Voice of the Silence (1889), which she said she translated from an esoteric work given to disciples undergoing spiritual initiation in Tibet. It includes elements from Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, such as the cultivation of the bodhisattva ideal of sacrificing the attainment of nirvana in order to guide others from suffering to enlightenment. Her Theosophical Glossary was published posthumously in 1892.

The following three propositions from The Secret Doctrine (1888, vol. 1:14–18) outline Blavatsky’s cosmological system. She quotes extensively from a variety of sources, including from the mysterious Book of Dzyan. 

(a) An Omnipresent, Eternal, Boundless, and Immutable PRINCIPLE on which all speculation is impossible, since it transcends the power of human conception and could only be dwarfed by any human expression or similitude. It is beyond the range and reach of thought. . . .

(b) The Eternity of the Universe in toto as a boundless plane; periodically “the playground of numberless Universes incessantly manifesting and disappearing,” called “the manifesting stars,” and the “sparks of Eternity.” “The Eternity of the Pilgrim” is like a wink of the Eye of Self-Existence (Book of Dzyan). “The appearance and disappearance of Worlds is like a regular tidal ebb of flux and reflux.”

(c) The fundamental identity of all Souls with the Universal Over-Soul, the latter being itself an aspect of the Unknown Root; and the obligatory pilgrimage for every Soul—a spark of the former—through the Cycle of Incarnation (or “Necessity”) in accordance with Cyclic and Karmic law, during the whole term…. The pivotal doctrine of the Esoteric philosophy admits no privileges or special gifts in man, save those won by his own Ego through personal effort and merit throughout a long series of metempsychoses and reincarnations.

Basically, The Secret Doctrine teaches that there is an original unity of all. Periodically the entire universe is born or comes into manifestation, lives and, after a certain period of time, dies and returns to its source. This process is seemingly never-ending. As a part of the birth of a universe with its seven distinct planes or lokas (both micro- and macrocosmically), spirit metaphorically gradually descends into matter (involution) from its high point, and after a long process of evolution in the lower planes attains higher and higher forms of experience in matter and finally returns to its source.

The evolutionary process thus takes place on several levels, including the level of solar systems, planets, and the natural kingdoms that inhabit a single planet.

Before returning to the source and becoming fully realized, the human monad must pass through long evolutions as mineral, plant, animal, human (in principle including seven distinct evolutionary “root races” and evolution on seven distinct continents on Earth, including past “continents” such as the legendary Atlantis), and thereafter in superhuman form. All off this is directed by the universal and impersonal law of karma (Chajes 2019:65-86).

RITUALS/PRACTICES 

Blavatsky was a devoted anti-ritualist and disliked most organized forms of religion, so no formal rituals or ceremonies were practiced in the early Theosophical Society. That said, both Blavatsky and the early Theosophists around her were interested in a number of occult practices, such as astral travel and physical materializations. Later in life, Blavatsky emphasized a number of ethical rules including brotherhood, selflessness, and vegetarianism as a way of life. These rules, which also included meditation practices and the use of colors, were however primarily for the members of the Esoteric Section.

LEADERSHIP

Perhaps by design, Blavatsky was never the official president of the Theosophical Society, a position Henry Steel Olcott held until his death in 1907, but rather its corresponding secretary. In practice, however, she may be considered its primary leader for at least three reasons. First, Blavatsky was the principal link between the Theosophical Society and the secret Mahatmas, the great spiritual masters who were the supposed real source of the Theosophical Society and its teachings. The Masters were the true authorities and, by extension, so was Blavatsky. Second, she also appears to have been a highly charismatic and strong-willed woman whom people naturally respected. Third, Blavatsky was the key original thinker and formulator of the teachings of the early Theosophical Society. The combination of these three factors have thus given her a lasting place as an authority in modern spirituality and esotericism.

In practical organizational terms Blavatsky did, however, become the leader of the Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society (1888–1891), [Image at right] which was an independent organization for the most devoted Theosophists; she was likewise the leader of the elite “Inner Group” that emerged around the same time. According to Blavatsky’s analogy to the structure of each human being, the “Inner Group” was the manas or higher intellect of the Theosophical Society, the Esoteric Section the lower manas, and the Theosophical Society the quaternary or the personal instinctive nature (Spierenburg 1995:27). This division gives an indication of the structure of the Theosophical Society at the time and perhaps reflects the differences between Blavatsky’s strong emphasis on occultism and Olcott’s downplaying of occultism, especially after the Coulomb Affair in 1884, in favor of the cultivation of Buddhism and the exoteric organization with headquarters in India (Wessinger 1991).

ISSUES/CHALLENGES

During her lifetime, Blavatsky had many admirers and followers, but she also faced many challenges and much criticism. The biggest challenge she encountered, as repeated in most accounts of her life, was the highly negative report issued by the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) in 1885.

The SPR was founded in London in 1882 by Sir William Fletcher Barrett (1844–1925), an English physicist, and Edmund Dawson Rogers (1823–1910), a journalist with a background in modern Spiritualism. Given the popularity of Spiritualism, Barrett and Rogers wanted to create a forum for the impartial scientific study of such phenomena. Thus, not long after the founding of the SPR, its founders became interested in Blavatsky as they wanted to examine the rumored psychical phenomena surrounding her. In 1884, they formed a committee to collect information and evidence. The information gathered was generally inconclusive with regard to occult phenomena and, because of the good reputation of many of the Theosophists interviewed, the SPR committee decided to issue a “preliminary and provisional Report” in December of the same year (Society for Psychical Research Committee 1884). This provisional report, circulated privately, was fairly open-minded and indefinite in its conclusions.

However, around the same time in Adyar, India at the Theosophical Society’s headquarters, the so-called Coulomb case, or Coulomb Affair, was about to unfold. While Blavatsky and Olcott were away in Europe for several months between March and October 1884, Emma and Alexis Coulomb, a married couple, had turned against Blavatsky. With the help of the Rev. George Patterson, editor of the Madras Christian College Magazine, they had published several letters, purportedly written by Blavatsky. Entitled “The Collapse of Koot Hoomi,” the letters appeared in the September and October 1884 issues of the magazine. According to Mme. Coulomb, she had helped Blavatsky in the production of fraudulent occult phenomena on a large scale (Vania 1951:238–41; Gomes 2005:7–8). The SPR found this new situation very interesting and wanted to examine it before judging the veracity of the recently published letters. The SPR appointed a young Cambridge scholar and student of psychical phenomena, Richard Hodgson (1855–1905), to travel to India and investigate the circumstances firsthand.

Hodgson’s findings were put into the two hundred pages that constitute what is now known as the Hodgson Report, the “Account of Personal Investigations in India, and Discussion of the Authorship of the ‘Koot Hoomi’ Letters” (Hodgson 1885:207–380). A very large part of the report is focused on Blavatsky’s alleged forgery of Mahatma letters. In brief, the Hodgson Report concluded:

For our own part, we regard her [Helena P. Blavatsky] neither as the mouthpiece of hidden seers, nor as a mere vulgar adventuress; we think that she has achieved a title to permanent remembrance as one of the most accomplished, ingenious, and interesting impostors in history. — Statement and Conclusions of the Committee (Hodgson 1885:207).

An assessment of the Hodgson Report was undertaken by Vernon Harrison (1912–2001) in the twentieth century. Harrison was president of the Royal Photographic Society (1974–1976), co-founder of The Liszt Society, a long-standing active member of the SPR, and a professional handwriting and documents expert. For many years, Harrison had privately been occupied with the Hodgson Report and the “Blavatsky case” not only because he thought it was interesting, but also because he found it to be highly problematic. In 1986, his first critical conclusions on the Hodgson Report were published in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research under the title: “J’Accuse: An Examination of the Hodgson Report of 1885.” Harrison attempted to determine if Blavatsky had produced the early Mahatma letters received by Alfred Percy Sinnett and Allan Octavian Hume in India in a disguised handwriting.

In 1997, Harrison continued his research with the publication of “J’Accuse d’autant plus: A Further Study of the Hodgson Report.” In Harrison’s extended study he analyzed each of the 1,323 slides comprising the complete set of the letters found in the British Library. He concluded that the Hodgson Report is unscientific. Harrison wrote:

I shall show that, on the contrary, the Hodgson Report is a highly partisan document forfeiting all claim to scientific impartiality. [. . .] I make no attempt in this paper to prove that Madame Blavatsky was guiltless of charges preferred against her. [. . .] My present objective is a more limited one: to demonstrate that the case against Madame Blavatsky in the Hodgson Report is NOT PROVEN—in the Scots sense (Harrision 1997:Part 1).

BE IT KNOWN THEREFORE that it is my professional OPINION derived from a study of this case extending over a period of more than fifteen years, that future historians and biographers of the said Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the compilers of reference books, encyclopaedias and dictionaries, as well as the general public, should come to realise that The Report of the Committee Appointed to Investigate Phenomena Connected with The Theosophical Society, published in 1885 by the Society for Psychical Research, should be read with great caution, if not disregarded. Far from being a model of impartial investigation so often claimed for it over more than a century, it is badly flawed and untrustworthy (Harrision 1997:Affidavit).

The investigations undertaken by the SPR were a blow to Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society, and the critical judgments have been responsible for much of the negative publicity published ever since. Even though a more nuanced picture has been cast on the matter within recent years, particularly with the work of Harrison, this is only now beginning to disseminate into more mainstream knowledge.

Another associated controversy related to Blavatsky and her writings is the allegations of plagiarism that already began during her lifetime. “The Sources of Madam Blavatsky writings” (1895) by William Emmette Coleman (1843–1909) has been especially instrumental in this regard (Coleman 1895). According to Coleman’s short sixteen-page analytical tract, nearly all of Blavatsky’s works are one big plagiarizing assemblage. Coleman argued that her writings are filled with thousands of passages copied directly from other books without acknowledgment and that every idea she used and developed was taken from others and much of what she took she distorted (Coleman 1895:353–66; Rudbøg 2012:29–32). Coleman brought critical attention to Blavatsky’s sources, which remains an important issue, but more recently, cultural historian Julie Chajes has contextualized Coleman’s critique. Chajes writes, “In sum, Coleman was a plagiarism hunter” or someone at the time who made a sport of finding borrowings and allusions in the works of others (Chajes 2019:27) and that towards the end of the nineteenth century there was a trend in Britain, which found it acceptable to borrow and imitate the works of others (Chajes 2019:27). Chajes thus states that, “By the time he [Coleman] wrote his articles on Blavatsky, not everyone shared his notions of acceptable literary practice. As if to prove this, and in a rather ironic fashion, Coleman was himself accused of plagiarism in his lifetime” (Chajes 2019:28).

According to Coleman, the so-called Stanzas of Dzyan, on which The Secret Doctrine is based, was also a product of Blavatsky’s own brain rather than an ancient text existing in some obscure corner of the world (Coleman 1895:359). While the text has not been located, David and Nancy Reigle of the Eastern Tradition Research Archive continue to search for manuscripts and related Sanskrit and Tibetan texts (Reigle [2019]).

The question of Eastern sources has also led to the critique of Blavatsky as a bricoleur who has appropriated or misappropriated elements of many different religious traditions in a distorting way (Clarke 2002:89-90). While the critique in some cases is true, the picture of Blavatsky’s appropriation of Eastern ideas is more complex when read in relation to the nineteenth-century context (Rudbøg and Sand 2019).

Another controversial issue that arose in the twentieth century concerns Blavatsky’s concept of seven root races particularly the fifth race in that system of thought, which Blavatsky designated the “Aryan-race” (the term being derived from Sanskrit, Max Müller’s studies and those of others at the time), and the connection this racial doctrine might have with racism and Nazism. Popular literature has associated the two (Blavatsky and Nazism). While the doctrine of seven root races is a statement of racialism, or the belief that humankind consists of different races, religious studies scholar James A. Santucci has argued that Blavatsky’s views were primarily related to explaining the evolution of consciousness in the cosmos and the types of spiritual experiences the spiritual monad would evolve through (Santucci 2008:38). In this connection, the idea of race was secondary or used as a term of convenience to explain this evolution rather than to mobilize a racist argument. This observation ties in with the notion of a single humanity, which was important to Blavatsky (Santucci 2008:38), and the Theosophical work to mobilize this unity of humanity through “universal brotherhood,” which is a core element of Theosophy (Rudbøg 2012:409–43; Ellwood and Wessinger 1993). Lubelsky has likewise historically argued that racist discourse could be found almost everywhere in pre-1930s Europe and that “the racial doctrine of the Theosophists derived largely from the attempt to create an alternative history for their followers . . . by reflecting common scientific and cultural motifs of the time” (Lubelsky 2013:353). There is evidence that some of the concepts cultivated by Blavatsky, in combination with other intellectual discussions about races and the concept of an Aryan race at the time, filtered into the works of Guido von List (1848–1919) and Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels (1874–1954). With them some of these ideas were transfigured from their original theosophical meanings (Goodrick-Clarke 1985:33–55, 90–122), but no link directly connects these ideas in any historically convincing way with Hitler or Nazism (Goodrick-Clarke 1985:192–225; Lubelsky 2013:354).

SIGNIFICANCE TO THE STUDY OF WOMEN IN RELIGION

Despite these controversies, Helena P. Blavatsky remains one of the most influential religious figures of the nineteenth century; she is therefore often referred to as the mother or even great-grandmother of the New Age, modern occultism, and modern spirituality (Chajes 2019:1; Cranston 1993:521–34; Lachman 2012). She helped to introduce Asian religious and philosophical ideas to the West and continues to influence the way these ideas have been understood and spread. Blavatsky and, by extension, the Theosophical movement, supported and popularized Buddhism and Hinduism in many Western nations, as well as in India and Sri Lanka. They made a number of doctrines (such as karma and reincarnation) accessible to a wide audience. Blavatsky also facilitated the modern interest in the paranormal, occultism, subjectivity, spiritual bodies, astral travel, and the idea of “human potential.” We find the origins of beliefs in the existence of universal truths in all traditions, eclecticism, universal brotherhood, spiritual evolution, relying on one’s own experience and one’s own path to truth, and even the origins of the New Age movement in her teachings (Wessinger, deChant, and Ashcraft 2006:761; Chajes 2019:189; Hanegraaff 1998:442–82; Goodrick-Clarke 2004:18). Finally, she inspired the trend to emphasize spirituality over institutional religion, which has become a widespread phenomenon in the twenty-first century.

IMAGES:
Image #1: Helena P. Blavatsky in London, 1889.
Image #2: Helena P. Blavatsky, ca. 1860.
Image #3: Helena P. Blavatsky, ca. 1868.
Image #4: Helena P. Blavatsky in India with Subba Row and Bawaji, ca. 1884.
Image #5: Helena P. Blavatsky with James Morgan Pryse and G. R. S. Mead in London, 1890.
Image #6: Helena P. Blavatsky, 1877.
Image #7: Helena P. Blavatsky in London 1888, with her sister Vera Petrovna de Zhelihovsky on the right (seated), and shown standing left to right, Vera Vladimirovna de Zhelihovsky, Charles Johnston, and Henry Steel Olcott.
Image #8: Helena P. Blavatsky with Henry Steel Olcott in London, 1888.

REFERENCES 

Algeo, John, assisted by Adele S. Algeo and the editorial committee for the letters of H. P. Blavatsky: Daniel H. Caldwell, Dara Eklund, Robert Ellwood, Joy Mills, and Nicholas Weeks, eds. 2003. The Letters of H. P. Blavatsky 1861–1879. Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House.

Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna. 1972 [1889]. The Key to Theosophy. Pasadena, CA: Theosophical University Press.

Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna. 1950–1991. Collected Writings, ed. Boris de Zirkoff. 15 vols. Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House.

Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna. 1920. [1889]. The Voice of the Silence. Los Angeles: United Lodge of Theosophists.

Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna. 1892. The Theosophical Glossary. London: Theosophical Publishing Society.

Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna. 1888. The Secret Doctrine: The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy. 2 Volumes. London: Theosophical Publishing Company.

Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna. 1877. Isis Unveiled: A Master-Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Science and Theology. 2 Volumes. New York: J. W. Bouton.

Caldwell, Daniel H., comp. 2000 [1991]. The Esoteric World of Madame Blavatsky: Insights into the Life of a Modern Sphinx. Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House.

Chajes, Julie. 2019. Recycled Lives: A History of Reincarnation in Blavatsky’s Theosophy. New York: Oxford University Press.

Clarke, J. J. 2003. Oriental Enlightenment the Encounter between Asian and Western Thought. London: Routledge.

Coleman, William Emmette. 1895. “The Sources of Madame Blavatsky’s Writings.” Pp. 353–66 in A Modern Priestess of Isis, Vsevolod Sergyeevich Solovyoff. Translated and edited by Walter Leaf. London: Longmans, Green and Co.

Cranston, Sylvia. 1993. HPB: The Extraordinary Life and Influence of Helena Blavatsky, Founder of the Theosophical Movement. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons.

Ellwood, Robert, and Catherine Wessinger. 1993. “The Feminism of ‘Universal Brotherhood’: Women in the Theosophical Movement.” Pp. 68–87 in Women’s Leadership in Marginal Religions: Explorations Outside the Mainstream, edited by Catherine Wessinger. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Godwin, Joscelyn. 1994. The Theosophical Enlightenment. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. 1985. The Occult Roots of Nazism: The Ariosophists of Austria and Germany 1890–1935. Wellingborough: The Aquarian-Press.

Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. 2004. “Introduction: H. P. Blavatsky and Theosophy.” Pp. 1–20 in Helena Blavatsky, edited by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.

Gomes, Michael. 2005. The Coulomb Case. Occasional Papers 10. Fullerton, CA: Theosophical History.

Hammer, Olav, and Mikael Rothstein. 2013. “Introduction.” Pp. 1–12 in Handbook of the Theosophical Current, edited by Olav Hammer and Mikael Rothstein. Leiden: Brill.

Hanegraaff, Wouter J. 1998. New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Harrison, Vernon. 1997. “H. P. Blavatsky and the SPR: An Examination of the Hodgson Report of 1885, Part 1.” Pasadena, CA: Theosophical University Press. Accessed from https://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/hpb-spr/hpb-spr1.htm on 3 July 2019.

Harrison, Vernon. 1997. “H. P. Blavatsky and the SPR: An Examination of the Hodgson Report of 1885, Affidavit.” Pasadena, CA: Theosophical University Press. Accessed from https://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/hpb-spr/hpbspr-a.htm on 3 July 2019.

Hodgson, Richard. 1885. “Account of Personal Investigations in India, and Discussion of the Authorship of the ‘Koot Hoomi’ Letters,” Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 3 (May): 203–05, 207–317, appendices at 318–81.

Lachman, Gary. 2012. Madam Blavatsky: The Mother of Modern Spirituality. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin.

Lubelsky, Isaac. 2013. “Mythological and Real Race Issues in Theosophy.” Pp. 335–55 in Handbook of the Theosophical Current, edited by Mikael Rothstein and Olav Hammer. Leiden: Brill.

Olcott, Henry Steel. 2002 [1895]. Old Diary Leaves: The History of the Theosophical Society. 6 Volumes. Adyar, India: Theosophical Publishing House.

Reigle, David. [2019]. Eastern Tradition Research Archive. Accessed from  http://www.easterntradition.org on 22 June 2019.

Rudbøg, Tim, and Erik R. Sand. 2019. Imagining the East: The Early Theosophical Society. New York: Oxford University Press (forthcoming).

Rudbøg, Tim. 2012. “H. P. Blavatsky’s Theosophy in Context: The Construction of Meaning in Modern Western Esotericism.” PhD dissertation, University of Exeter.

Santucci, James A. 2008. “The Notion of Race in Theosophy.” Nova Religio 11:37–63.

Santucci, James A. 2005. “Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna.” Pp. 177-85 in Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism, edited by Wouter Hanegraaff. Leiden: Brill.

Sinnett, Alfred Percy. 1976 [1886]. Incidents in the Life of Madame Blavatsky. New York: Arno Press.

Society for Psychical Research Committee. 1884. First Report of the Committee of the Society for Psychical Research, Appointed to Investigate the Evidence for Marvellous Phenomena Offered by Certain Members of the Theosophical Society. London: n.p.

Spierenburg, Henk J., comp. 1995. The Inner Group Teachings of H. P. Blavatsky to Her Personal Pupils (1890–91). Second revised and enlarged edition. San Diego: Point Loma Publications.

Vania, K. F. 1951. Madame H. P. Blavatsky: Her Occult Phenomena and The Society for Psychical Research. Bombay: SAT Publishing.

Wessinger, Catherine. 1991. “Democracy vs. Hierarchy: The Evolution of Authority in the Theosophical Society.” Pp. 93–106 in When Prophets Die: The Post-Charismatic Fate of New Religious Movements, edited by Timothy Miller. Albany: State University of New York.

Wessinger, Catherine, Dell deChant, and William Michael Ashcraft. 2006. “Theosophy, New Thought, and New Age Movements.” Pp. 753-68 (Volume 2) in Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America, edited by Rosemary Skinner Keller and Rosemary Radford Ruether. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Publication Date:
5 July 2019

CONSECRATED VIRGINS TIMELINE

Mid-100s:  Saint Polycarp’s “Letter to the Philippians” discussed the duties of deacons, widows, youths, and virgins.

300s:  Guidelines for the consecration of virgins became more defined. Various writings from the time discussed minimum age for virgins, aspects of the consecration ceremony, and the role and duties of the bishop in the consecration process.

400 to 1400s:  During this time, the consecration of virgins as its own vocation waned in popularity as other forms of consecrated life took hold.

1600s to 1800s:  Consecration of virgins was nearly nonexistent, except for sporadic efforts by some bishops to reintroduce the vocation.

1925:  Anne Leflaive, a French woman known for campaigning to renew the Rite of Consecration, was consecrated a virgin.

1970:  The Rite of Consecration of Virgins was revised and approved by Pope Paul VI.

2010:  Media coverage of rites for initiation of consecrated virgins began to appear frequently in the media.

FOUNDER/GROUP HISTORY

Consecrated virgins are women who are betrothed to Christ and dedicate themselves to service to Catholic Church. These women differ from nuns in that they continue in their public state of life and provide for themselves financially. Although the precise origins of the vocation of consecrated virginity are unclear, the Catholic Church describes this vocation as one of the oldest forms of consecrated life, beginning in apostolic times in a “spontaneous way” (Braz de Aviz and Carballo 2018). Some of the first consecrated virgins died as martyrs in order to remain faithful to their commitment to the Lord. For example, it is reported that Agnes of Rome [Image at right] refused to marry the city’s governor because of her dedication to chastity and, as a result, was killed. Cecilia of Rome, Agatha of Catania, Lucy of Syracuse, Thecla of Iconium, Apollonia of Alexandria, Restituta of Carthage, and Justa and Rufina of Seville are other women believed to have been martyred due to their commitment to chastity in the first three centuries of Christianity (Braz de Aviz and Carballo 2018).

According to documents released by the Vatican, entry into the Ordo Virginium (or Order of Virgins) was accompanied by a rite overseen by the diocesan bishop. This practice, which began in the fourth century, included placing a marriage veil on the consecrated virgin to symbolize the commitment of the bride to Christ. Consecrated virgins of this early period lived with their families and remained a part of the community in which they lived. This form of celibate living began to decrease around the sixth century as monastic life grew in popularity (Braz de Aviz and Carballo 2018; United States Association of Consecrated Virginity 2011:161-65). By the 1100s consecrated virgins had largely disappeared as formally organized religious communities for women gained sway (Baynes 2018; Pecknold 2017; Rutter 2017).

It was not until the Second Vatican Council that consecrated virginity experienced a considerable revival. According to “Instruction ‘Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago’ on the ‘Ordo virginium’” recently released by the Vatican, consecrated virginity, “seemed capable of responding not only to the desires of many women to dedicate themselves totally to the Lord and to their neighbours, but also to the concurrent rediscovery by the particular Church of its own identity in communion with the one Body of Christ” (Braz de Aviz and Carballo 2018). The rite for consecration of virgins was revised by the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship and put into effect on January 6, 1971. Since this time, consecrated virginity has appeared as a notable form of consecrated life with 4,000-5,000 women in seventy-eight countries taking part. According to a 2015 survey conducted by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CICLSAL) and the United States Association of Consecrated Virgins (USACV), France and Italy have the highest numbers of consecrated virgins. The United States, Romania, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Germany, and Argentina are other countries with substantial numbers of consecrated virgins (United States Association of Consecrated Virgins 2018b). In the United States, over half of diocese have at least one consecrated virgin (Kilbane 2018; Zaniewski 2017).

Although the vocation of consecrated virginity is not as widely known as other forms of consecrated life, one notable consecrated virgin, Sister Wendy Beckett (1930-2018), [Image at right] brought attention to the vocation after becoming a TV personality and author. Wendy Beckett, born in 1930, joined a teaching order at the age of sixteen. She continued her work as a teacher until her health declined due to a form of epilepsy. Because of her situation, Sister Wendy Beckett received permission to leave teaching in order to pursue a life of solitude, and she began to reside in a trailer outside of a monastery in England. Throughout her life, Sister Wendy Beckett continued to fulfill her commitment to chastity and service to the Church. She became an unlikely TV personality and household name after studying art and filming a BBC program, Sister Wendy’s Odyssey. This program was well-received and led to numerous other documentary programs and more than twenty books. Although Sister Wendy Beckett was not a typical consecrated virgin, since she began her consecrated life as a nun, her dedication to the Church and her vow of chastity, along with the fact that she provided financially for herself, fits the criteria for a life of consecrated virginity (Katz 2018; McFadden 2018). Beginning around 2010, media coverage of consecrated virgin rites increased, creating greater visibility for and interest in the vocation. Indeed, in 2018 a consecrated virgin was named to the BBC list of “100 Women of 2018” (Kilbane 2018).

DOCTRINES/BELIEFS

The guidelines for the vocation of consecrated virginity are outlined in the Code of Canon Law, catechism of the Catholic Church, and the Ordo consecrationis virginum. Consecrated virgins live in accordance with the teachings of the Church and are set aside by the Church as sacred people who belong to Christ. A woman does not merely choose to become a consecrated virgin, but rather is called to this vocation. As a bride of Christ, the woman not only develops an intimate relationship with Christ, but also shares the fruits of this relationship with the Church. Consecrated virgins stand as a symbol for the Church’s love for Christ and “point towards a bigger reality: Christ is the ultimate fulfillment” (Maslak 2017). As one consecrated virgin put the matter, “I did not give up romantic relationships for an idea. I fell in love with a person, Jesus Christ” (Basile 2016).

Judith Stegman, a consecrated virgin herself and president of the U.S. Association of Consecrated Virgins, emphasized the importance of virginity: “Virginity itself is important because virginity is important in the eyes of God,” Stegman said. “This is representing the church as a virgin, this is representing the Virgin Mary.” In becoming a consecrated virgin, women understand themselves to be giving a gift of love to the church and to God. As one new consecrated virgin commented, Sex and virginity are gifts of yourself you give — not something you lose (Basile 2016). This gift brings them into as close a union with God as is possible at the human level (Kilbane 2018; Cognon 2015; Pecknold 2017). As one consecrated virgin expressed her expectations, “I am seeking to live, as far as possible in this life, the reality that all of us hope to enjoy in heaven: the union of the soul with God alone” (Kilbane 2018).

An archbishop leading a consecration rite gave elevated spiritual status to consecrated virgins (Connelly 2012):

Both virginity and married life are God-given vocations, and those who are faithful to their vocation achieve holiness. Virginity, however, is a state of life that perhaps could be called more advanced in the sense that it more clearly approximates the definitive state toward which we are all journeying: life as it is lived in the kingdom of heaven.

RITUALS/PRACTICES

As a group, consecrated virgins are quite diverse in age, background, careers, and aspirations. They followed different paths that led them to the same destination. One woman was attracted by the long tradition of religious sacrifice (Basile 2016):

I was attracted to becoming a consecrated virgin because of its beautiful, ancient roots — in the early church women made private vows to belong fully to Christ and not marry. These were the early virgin martyrs like Agatha and Lucy, who were executed for not wanting to marry Roman citizens because they were already vowed to God. They lived in their families and dedicated themselves to works of mercy in their community. They loved the Lord so much they wanted to give all of themselves to Him.

Another woman had been drawn to celibacy through her early adult life had been writing letters to Jesus since she was thirteen (Haidrani 2017).

This [lead] to an intimate personal relationship with God. I sensed him inviting me into a spousal relationship with him, to give myself totally to him as he had given myself totally to me on the cross.

A third woman had a revelatory moment that led her to make her commitment (Basile 2016).

I felt the Lord speak to me in prayer about my relationship with Him — and no, it’s not a dramatic audible voice or anything like that! He simply said to me: You’ve given time to other boyfriends, but have you ever thought about me? How about you give me a chance? I had to listen. I had to give him the chance.

Finally, a woman who had been deeply religious since childhood and had visited religious orders but never found one with the right “fit,” was immediately attracted when she learned about the existence of consecrated virgins (Zaniewski 2017).

Then one day, just before she turned 35, Ervin was talking to a professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary who mentioned consecrated virgins. Ervin had never heard about the vocation.  “I had so much joy flooding my heart the more and more she talked,” she said.

In order to become a consecrated virgin, a woman must go through a preparatory period that serves to discern whether she is truly dedicated to the vocation and to foster a desire for commitment and union with Christ. This preparatory period is not to begin before the woman is eighteen years old, with consecration occurring usually after the age of twenty-five. At the end of this preparatory period, if the bishop believes the woman has proven she is prepared to continue with the process and the woman requests this move to the next step, she will be admitted by the bishop to the formation program prior to consecration (Braz de Aviz and Carballo 2018).

According to the guidelines set forth by the Vatican, this process should be given two to three years in order to ensure that a woman’s decision to become a consecrated virgin can “mature with sufficient awareness and freedom” (Braz de Aviz and Carballo 2018). The formation program allows the woman to evaluate herself and gain understanding about her abilities and limitations. During this formation program, the woman is expected to study the history of consecrated life and its meaning to the Church, as well as the human sciences, in order to understand “human sexuality and affectivity, relationality and freedom, self-giving, sacrifice and suffering” (Braz de Aviz and Carballo 2018). Women are encouraged to take part in college courses and share experiences with other candidates for consecration.

At the end of the formation program, as decided by the woman and the Bishop, a woman submits her request for consecration. The bishop then consults with others who have taken part in the formation program of the woman in order to determine if the woman should receive consecration. “Admission to consecration requires moral certainty about the authenticity of the candidate’s vocation, the real existence of a virginal charism and the presence of the conditions and prerequisites for the candidate to accept and respond to the grace of consecration, and be able to bear eloquent witness of her own vocation, preserving in it and growing in generous self-giving to the Lord and to her neighbour” (Braz de Aviz and Carballo 2018). If the woman is accepted for consecration, [Image at right] the bishop and the woman will determine the details of the celebration, which will include the participation of the church community.

While the particulars of the consecration ceremony differ among dioceses based on regional differences, the rite always includes the consecrated woman expressing her resolve to live a chaste life and serve the Church. This resolution by the consecrated woman “is accepted and confirmed by the Church through the solemn prayer of the Bishop, who invokes and obtains for them the spiritual anointing that establishes the spousal bond with Christ and consecrates them to God under a new title” (Braz de Aviz and Carballo 2018). Women wear typical bridal attire such as a white gown and veil during the consecration ceremony, and they wear a wedding ring as a symbol of their commitment to Christ. [Image at right]

After the ceremony, the consecrated virgin does not stand out in appearance, as consecrated virgins do not don habits or veils like nuns. However, consecrated virgins do continue to wear their wedding rings to signify their spousal relationship with Christ. Consecrated virgins live on their own in their community and continue to participate in their normal daily activities. These women are responsible for their own financial support and continue to pursue their careers. Free time is often spent aiding their parish or diocese.

Along with remaining chaste, the vocation of consecrated virginity requires a special commitment to the virgin’s diocese. Consecrated virgins are responsible for faithful prayer through the Liturgy of the Hours, Mass, and personal prayer, with specific focus on the needs and intentions of their Bishop and diocese. Consecrated virgins also serve the Church in whatever ways call to them, bringing their consecration to every aspect of their life (United States Association of Consecrated Virgins n.d.).

ORGANIZATION/LEADERSHIP

Consecrated virgins, unlike nuns, do not belong to a convent. These women live out their dedication to the Church in the secular world. Consecrated virgins remain in their own diocese under the direction of the local bishop. The local bishop is responsible for fostering “conditions so that the insertion of consecrated women in the Church entrusted to him will contribute to the path of holiness and the mission of the people of God” (Braz de Aviz and Carballo 2018). The diocesan Bishop is responsible for developing the program for candidates for consecration, overseeing the preparatory program for candidates, and determining a candidate’s suitability for consecration. After a virgin is consecrated, the Bishop continues to provide her guidance and assistance, as well as promotes contact with other consecrated women from different dioceses (United States Association of Consecrated Virgins 2011). Typically, consecrated virgins attend mass daily, spend additional time in private prayer, pursue employment to support themselves and volunteer time in their local parish (Connelly 2012).

Although consecrated virgins live independently from one another, they may choose to voluntarily join in an association. [Image at right] The United States Association of Consecrated Virgins (USACV) states it “is formed in accord with Canon 604.2. ‘Virgins can be associated together to fulfill their pledge more faithfully and to assist each other to serve the Church in a way that befits their state’” (United States Association of Consecrated Virgins 2019).

Beyond formal association membership, consecrated virgins connect informally through social media and relationships with nearby consecrated virgins. As one woman put it, Consecrated life does by no means make me a recluse” (Haidrani 2017).

ISSUES/CHALLENGES

Although the translation of Latin texts into modern languages has aided the dissemination of information about the consecration of virgins, many diocesan bishops may still not be aware of this option for women. However, as more dioceses administer the rite of consecration of virgins and the vocation gains attention in the media, it is likely that the number of dioceses taking part in this form of consecrated life will increase. It is also worth noting that the spread of the rite itself has been slowed by the requirement that each diocese create its own preparatory and formation program for women interested in consecrated virginity (Weinberger 2018). Even with the relatively slow spread of consecrated virginity, it is estimated that the number of women in this vocation could reach 5,000 by the year 2020 (McFadden 2018).

One of the more recent challenges faced by consecrated virgins regards a set of guidelines issued in July of 2018 by the Vatican. The standing expectation has been that women who wished to become brides of Christ were virgins. This differentiated consecrated virgins from nuns, who take a vow of celibacy upon entering a religious order. The controversial section of the Vatican document states “to have kept her body in perfect continence or to have practiced the virtue of chastity in an exemplary way, while of great importance to regard to the discernment, are not essential prerequisites in the absence of which admittance to consecration is not possible” (Braz de Aviz and Carballo 2018). The document also goes on to state that during the preparatory period for consecration, “it is necessary to confirm that the aspirant has received the sacraments of Christian initiation and has never married, and to ascertain that she has never lived in public or open violation of chastity, that is, in a stable situation of cohabitation or in similar situations that would have been publicly known” (Braz de Aviz and Carballo 2018).

In reaction, the United States Association of Consecrated Virgins issued a statement calling the Vatican’s document “deeply disappointing,” and emphasizing the importance of virginity as a criteria that “is meant to uphold the integrity of the vocation” of consecrated virginity (United States Association of Consecrated Virgins 2018a). Additionally, the statement issued by the United States Association of Consecrated Virgins states that the prerequisites that a woman must meet for consecration will not change because of the Vatican’s statement, citing the criteria established in the Introduction to the Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity as support for their stance (United States Association of Consecrated Virgins 2018a). Consecrated virgins have reacted to the Vatican’s statement in a variety of ways. Some women hold that giving the gift of physical virginity is integral to the vocation of consecrated virgins and separates the vocation from other forms of consecrated life. Other women’s beliefs align more with the Vatican’s perceived loosening of criteria for the vocation, citing situations in which a woman would no longer be a virgin, but would not have willingly made this decision. Thus, the less strict criteria is perceived as offering understanding in different situations and responding to growing interest in the vocation (Jones 2018; Perasso 2018).

IMAGES
Image #1: Agnes of Rome.
Image #2: Sister Wendy Beckett.
Image #3: A consecrated virgin ritual.
Image #4: A prayer book, veil, and ring used in a consecrated virgin ritual.

REFERENCES

Baynes, Chris. 2018. “More women looking to become ‘consecrated virgins’, Vatican says.” The Independent, July 6. Accessed from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/consecrated-virgins-women-vatican-catholic-church-celibacy-god-jesus-a8435186.html on 1 July 2019.

Basile, Lisa. 2016. “I Am Happily Married to God — As a Consecrated Virgin.” Good Housekeeping, September. Accessed from https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/inspirational-stories/a40032/consecrated-virgin/ on 1 July 2019.

Braz de Aviz, Joao and Jose Rodriguez Carballo. 2018. “Instruction ‘Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago’ on the ‘Ordo virginium.” April 7. Accessed from https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2018/07/04/180704d.html  on 10 June 2019.

Connelly, Eileen. 2012. “Dayton woman becomes first consecrated virgin in archdiocese.” The Catholic Telegraph, June 25. Accessed from https://www.thecatholictelegraph.com/dayton-woman-becomes-first-consecrated-virgin-in-archdiocese/8908 on 1 July 2019.

Cugnon, Marc. 2015. “Woman marries Jesus Christ, becomes consecrated virgin.” USA Today, August 19.  Accessed from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/08/19/indiana-woman-marries-jesus-consecrated-virgin/31982911/ on 1 July 2019.

Haidrani, Salma. 2017. “The Consecrated Virgins Marrying Jesus and Swearing Off Sex Forever.” Vice. Accessed from https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mbqe4x/consecrated-virgins-marry-jesus-swear-off-sex-forever on 1 July 2019.

Jones, Kevin. 2018. “Read Vatican guide to consecrated virginity with discernment, canonist says.” Catholic News Agency, July 16. Accessed from https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/read-vatican-guide-to-consecrated-virginity-with-discernment-canonist-says-34049 on 8 June 2019.

Kilbane, Kevin 2018. “Consecrated virgin named to BBC 100 Women of 2018 list.” Today’s Catholic, December 12. Accessed from https://todayscatholic.org/consecrated-virgin-named-to-bbc-100-women-of-2018-list/ on 1 July 2019.

Katz, Brigit. 2018. “Remembering Sister Wendy Beckett, Beloved Nun Who Made Art Accessible.” Smithsonian.com, December 28. Accessed from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/remembering-sister-wendy-beckett-beloved-nun who-made-art-accessible 180971125 on 10 June 2019.

Maslak, Maggie. 2017. “The little-known vocation of consecrated virginity.” Catholic News Agency, November 10. Accessed from https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/the-little-known-vocation-of-consecrated-virginity-32849  on 8 June 2019.

McFadden, Robert D. 2018. “Sister Wendy Beckett, Nun Who Became a BBC Star, Dies at 88.” The New York Times, December 26. Accessed from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/26/obituaries/sister-wendy-beckett-dead.html on 10 June 2019.

Pecknold, Chad. 2017. “Three women consecrated as virgins in rare ceremony in Detroit.” Catholic Herald, June 28. Accessed from https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/06/28/pictures-three-women-consecrated-as-virgins-in-rare-ceremony-in-detroit/ on 1 July 2018.

Perasso, Valeria. 2018. “Consecrated virgins: ‘I got married to Christ.’” BBC, December 7. Accessed from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45968315 on 8 June 2019.

Rutter, Katie. 2017. “As consecrated virgins, three women promise lifelong fidelity to Christ.” America Magazine, June 28. Accessed from https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/06/28/consecrated-virgins-three-women-promise-lifelong-fidelity-christ on 1 July 2019.

United States Association of Consecrated Virgins. 2019. “What is the United States Association of Consecrated Virgins?” Accessed from https://consecratedvirgins.org/about on 8 June 2019.

United States Association of Consecrated Virgins. 2018a. “RE: Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago.” Accessed from https://consecratedvirgins.org/sites/default/files/STATEMENT%20FROM%20USACV%20OFFICERS.pdf on 10 June 2019.

United States Association of Consecrated Virgins. 2018b. “Who are consecrated virgins?” Accessed from https://consecratedvirgins.org/whoarewe  on 8 June 2019.

United States Association of Consecrated Virgins. 2011. Information Packet-regarding the vocation of Consecrated Virginity Lived in the World. Accessed from https://consecratedvirgins.org/usacv/sites/default/files/documents/VocRes1-1InfoPkt_new.pdf  on 8 June 2019.

United States Association of Consecrated Virgins. n.d. “What is the Consecration of Virgins?” Accessed from https://consecratedvirgins.org/whatis on 8 June 2019.

Weinberger, Jessica. 2018. “Three local women become consecrated virgins this year. What does that mean?” The Catholic Spirit, November 5. Accessed from http://thecatholicspirit.com/news/local-news/three-local-women-become-consecrated-virgins-this-year-what-does-that-mean/ on 8 June 2019.

Zaniewski, Ann. 2017. “Married to Jesus: Metro Detroit women make lifelong virginity pledge.” Detroit Free Press, June 28. Accessed from https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2017/06/29/brides-christ-jesus-virginity-consecration/432771001/ on 1 July 2019.

Publication Date:
2 July 2019

IJUN TIMELINE

1934 (January 3):  Takayasu Rokurō was born in Naha City, Island of Okinawa, as the sixth son.

1943:  Takayasu had a vision of the future bombing of Naha City that took place in October 1944.

1944:  Takayasu evacuated to Taiwan in September in anticipation of warfare; he returned in 1946.

1952:  Takayasu’s father, who had been a member of Okinawan prefectural parliament and a theatre manager, died.

1966:  Takayasu joined Seichō no Ie, and was head of the Okinawan chapter from 1970–1972.

1970:  Takayasu received a mystical revelation of the existence of Kinmanmon, the primary deity of Ryukyu (the former name of Okinawa)

1972: Takayasu underwent a pilgrimage to India and Southeast Asia.

1972-1973:  Ijun was formally founded and the headquarters in Naha City opened. It was first called Ryukyu Shinto Ijun, then Ijun Mitto, and finally Ijun. Later, in 1983, the headquarters was moved to Ginowan City. In Hawaii Ijun was first called Okinawa Original.

1974:  The monthly journal Ijun began publication.

1980:  Legal establishment and formal registration of Ijun under Japan’s Religious Corporations Law took place.

1984:  The Fire Festival was first performed by Takayasu in Hawaii, Big Island

1986: A statue of Kannon, The Goddess of Mercy, thirty-six meters in height, was purchased and placed on top of headquarters in Ginowan City. There was public criticism of the construction, which disturbed existing traditional tombs.

1987: A high–ranking associate of Takayasu absconded with about 300 million yen, causing serious financial difficulty. Takayasu borrowed heavily to continue Ijun. The statue of Kannon was sold and removed.

1988:  Power play as part of ritual observances began.

1989:  The Big Island (i.e. Hawaii Island) branch of Ijun began after a decade of informal practice. Takayasu began a speaking tour.

1989:  Ijun women ritual leaders of the Fire Festival were replaced by men.

1991:  Takayasu undertook a lecture tour of Yokohama, Japan, Honolulu and Hilo in Hawaii, and Los Angeles.

1991:  The Yokohama branch of Ijun opened.

1991:  Publication of Kuon no Kanata (Beyond Eternity: The Spiritual World of Ryukyu) began.

1992:  Ijun activity in Hilo, Hawaii peaked, with eleven power symbol holders leading rituals.

1993: Takayasu Rokurō changed his name to Takayasu Ryūsen (using the standard reading of the characters used to write Ijun龍泉).

1995:  Three deities were added to the Ijun pantheon. In addition to Kinmanmon (first called Kimimanmomu and then Kinmanmomu), Fuu, Karii and Niruya were added.

1995:  Takayasu changed his title from Sōshu to Kushatii. In Hawaii he continued to be called Bishop Takayasu.

2010:  Ijun lost property and formal organization.

2018:  Takayasu celebrated the forty-fifth anniversary of the founding of Ijun, now called Karucha Ijun (Culture Ijun) and an incorporated company.

2018 (September 30):  Takayasu passed away from heart failure at age eighty-four. He was survived by wife (Tsuneko), oldest son (Akira), second son (Tsuneaki), and daughter (Tsuneko).

FOUNDER/GROUP HISTORY

Takayasu Rokurō [Image at right] was the sixth son born in 1934 to mother Kiyo and father Takatoshi in Naha City, which is the main town on the island Okinawa, the largest of the Ryukyu islands that collectively came under Japanese control in the nineteenth century. In childhood he was taken to a yuta (Ryukyuan traditional healer) who saw significant spiritual acumen in him and predicted he would lead a distinguished life with supernatural abilities. At age fourteen he heard a doctor tell his father that he probably would not live beyond age eighteen due to pulmonary infiltrate. Because of this, and as a result of horrifying incidents in Taiwan to which he had been evacuated during wartime, he developed an intense fear of death, and then neurosis. He had experienced physical pain in Taiwan when Okinawa was subject to naval bombardment in 1945. The fear of death and neurosis was later conquered by his joining and learning the philosophy of Seichō no Ie, which holds that all illness is an illusion (Reichl 2011; Taniguchi 1985). It is said he had a vision of Okinawa being bombed one year before it occurred. He was ultimately viewed as a spiritual healer and living kami (kaminchu). When performing spirit healing within Seichō no Ie, he used Ryukyuan spirits, which lead to criticism. When he was forced to quit Seichō no Ie in 1972, he took many adherents with him to start Ijun. Having experienced spirit calling (kamidaari) in the form of disturbed sleep and vomiting, his revelation of Kinmanmon (who became Ijun’s main deity; see below under Doctrines/Beliefs) cured him. He then formulated Ijun theology and began to publish the monthly journal Ijun in 1974 (Shimamura 1993).

From childhood he acted on the stage, facilitated by his father’s role as manager of a theatre, Taishō Gekijō. His father was also a prefectural-level politician. Takayasu continued to act in theatre productions throughout his life, often in historical re-enactments of events in the Ryukyuan kingdom. In the second half of the 1960s he was a voice actor for a radio drama that portrays Ryukyuan history. His obituary identified him primarily as an actor, and uses his original given name, Rokurō, not the name he took on during his leadership of Ijun, Ryūsen (see Shimamura 1982).

In about 1976 Takayasu was ill with a kidney stone. In a spiritual revelation, a voice told him that somewhere there existed a natural stone with spiritual vibrations that would cure him. As a result, he carried out a long pilgrimage and search but at first rejected every stone he found as being without spiritual power. Then in Chang Hua, Taiwan, at a shrine called Chintō-gū, he approached the deified stone Sekitō-kō, broke into a sweat during prayer and experienced a revelation. Simultaneously, his kidney stone melted away. Ijun adherents know Chinto-gu as a sister shrine to Ijun and visit it in pilgrimages (Reichl 1993).

Ijun grew rapidly in Okinawa prefecture, including on the island of Miyako. However, it probably never had more than about 1,000 adherents. In its heyday, branches were started in Taiwan, Honolulu and Hilo in Hawaii, and in Yokohama, Japan. These branches, called ashagi, sent funds back to the main Ijun temple in Ginowan City in Okinawa (Reichl 2003:42-54).

In 1988, Ijun purchased a statue of Kannon, The Goddess of Mercy, that towered over Ginowan City at a height of thirty-six meters. [Image at right] There was public criticism because the construction disturbed existing traditional Ryukyuan tombs at its base. About this time, c. 1987, a close associate of Takayasu took a large amount of money by fraud, said to be close to 300 million yen (around  2,000,000 dollars at the average exchange rate of 1987), and disappeared, plunging Ijun into a financial crisis and Takayasu into a spiritual one. Heavy borrowing by Takayasu brought Ijun back into activity after a hiatus of two months.

Ijun activity in Hawaii was strong throughout the 1980s and part of the 1990s, and a branch was founded on Hawaii Island in 1989. From the central church in Ginowan City, Kinjo (Kaneshiro in Japanese) Mineko was dispatched to conduct ritual and training of local leaders (she was formerly known as Nerome Mineko). However, a dedicated church was never acquired, so parking was always a problem at the Pepe’ekeo home of Hawaii resident and branch head Yoshiko Miyashiro where ritual was held. Leaders, called “power symbol holders” and appointed by Takayasu, included a Hawaiian couple named Sylvester and Mokihana Kainoa. A conflict between two important members caused the Hilo branch to split into two branches. As time went on, Ijun declined in membership and activity (Reichl 2005).

In Okinawa, there were said to be conflicts between women in leadership roles, which led to adherents stopping attending rituals (Reichl 1993: 324). This and the financial struggles resulting from the fraud by Takayasu’s close associate led to a reorganization in 1989 in which women leaders of ritual were replaced by men. By 1992, “women played clearly distinct and subordinate roles,” differentiated by the color of their robes (yellow instead of white), their position on the altar floor (farthest from the altar) and their subordinate (silent) role (Reichl 1993:312).

By the end of the decade of 2000–2010, the decline in membership both in Okinawa and overseas led to existential threat. Many of the adherents were elderly and not easily replaced by younger people. The group is thought to have dissolved c. 2010 but the exact time and circumstances are not reported. It is likely, however, that women in the organization have continued it informally, in part taking on the traditional female Ryukyuan role as spirit healers (see also Watanabe and Igeta 1991). In 2015, Takayasu founded the company Karucha Ijun (Culture Ijun) to replace the religious group, but little has been researched and written of the activity of this company. The dissolution of Ijun has not yet been studied by scholars in the field.

RITUALS/PRACTICES

Ijun began ritual with a call for silent prayer, called meimoku gasshō. These words are spoken by the ritual leader while participants take a posture of prayer. Bows and claps are used to punctuate major portions of ritual. Two bows are followed by two claps (raihai, ni hakushu) and then by a final half-bow. Ritual is concluded in the same manner.

A feature of the Ijun service is the power card. Each adherent brings one to services and to lectures by Takayasu. Power cards (laminated pieces of cardboard small enough to fit in the palm of the hand and inscribed with the characters for Ijun), sold to members each year and also called power antennas, attract universal power. Reception of the power heals and revitalizes. During a power play, members hold the cards in silence with eyes closed for several minutes, keeping in mind the object of their prayer. What is gained is not the help of a deity but the infusion of universal power. In Ryukyuan theology, mana or impersonal universal power is a basic concept (Sasaki 1984; Saso 1990; Lebra 1966:21). Because the words power play are transliterated English words (pawaa puree), the latter can be interpreted as either “play” or “pray,” and thus carries the semantic sense of both.

The Fire Festival was a central part of ritual at the main church in Ginowan City, and in Hawaii where it was first performed by Takayasu in 1984. In this ritual, participants write their wishes on pieces of wood and paper which are then burned. The smoke carries the contents of these wishes to the gods in the heavens. For this purpose, the main church in Ginowan City has a large brazier and overhead exhaust on the altar. In Hawaii, the Fire Festival was conducted outdoors.

Just as Seichō no Ie is said to be derived from Omoto, it can be said that Ijun is derived from Seichō no Ie. If we consider the characterization of Seichō no Ie’s founder Taniguchi Masaharu  as highly adaptable (McFarland 1967:151) and Seichō no Ie as flexible and “ready to assume almost any configuration that will enable it to flourish” (McFarland 1967:158), then it is likely that the same attitude was present in the leadership and organization of Ijun (see also Norbeck 1970).  At one point, Takayasu changed his given name, cultivated a public relationship with an Okinawan rock star (Ijun 1995:12-13), and added three deities to the Ijun pantheon, at a level where there had been only his supreme creator deity, Kinmanmon. One of the three deities promoted economic success.

Writing about Ryukyuan religion, Lebra has suggested that the “absence of complexity characterizing the belief system has constituted a survival factor” because it has enabled “assimilation of foreign traits (as in the cases of Taoist hearth rites and Buddhist ancestral rites)” (1966:204). It can be argued that Ryukyuans were forced to be flexible and ready to adapt to changing contexts because they were caught between two greater powers, China and Japan, with different religious traditions. Elements of pan-Asian folk religion such as ancestor veneration were incorporated (Havens 1994; Kōmoto 1991; Hori et al. 1972).

However, it should be remembered that “sheer opportunism is rarely the key to the durability of a religious movement” (McFarland 1967:158). Takayasu provided the only new religion that was founded by an Okinawan primarily for Okinawans (i.e., replete with the symbols of Ryukyuan ethnicity such as Amamikyu and Shinerikyu, the traditional Ryukyuan creator deities), but he also added universalist features to make Ijun a world religion, including karma (see Kisala 1994; Hori 1968). Thus, he had both a firm ethnic foundation and a plan for future growth beyond it. The latter was modeled on the features of the successful universalist Seichō no Ie (Reichl 1998/1999:120-38).

LEADERSHIP/ORGANIZATION

Ijun branches, including the branch of Ijun near Hilo, Hawaii, were called ashagi, a place where the Ijun altar is located. The central church in Ginowan City was also called an ashagi. The word is a variant of ashi age, defined as a small out-building in the front garden of a main house, with varied use as guesthouse and storehouse. The meaning may come from the words leg (ashi) and raise (ageru), and mean raised up on legs. Lebra’s (1966:219) glossary lists kami ashagi, “a thatched roof supported by poles or stone pillars and without walls, used as the major site for public rites conducted by the community priestesses.”

In 1989, the monthly journal Ijun listed fourteen ashagi in Okinawa, in addition to one in Yokohama, centers in Ginowan City, and in Hirara City on the island of Miyako. By 1992, the list had come to include twenty-six, with additional ashagi in Taipei, Taiwan, two in Honolulu (Keoni and Kalani’iki Street locations), and two in or near Hilo (Waianuenue Street and Pepe’ekeo), also in Hawaii. Almost all of the ashagi were set up in the homes of members, including those in Hawaii.

Many Japanese religions have demonstrated their vitality and validity by success in creating overseas branches, and Ijun is no exception (see Inoue 1991; Nakamaki and Miyao 1985; Yanagawa 1983). Ijun often included photographs of non-Japanese in Hawaii participating in Ijun prayer in the monthly journal Ijun. Takayasu intended to expand into Brazil, host nation to the largest overseas community in Japan’s diaspora (See Maeyama 1978, 1983; Maeyama and Smith 1983; Nakamaki 1985). Those plans failed to materialize.

Throughout the existence of Ijun, leadership was provided exclusively by Takayasu, called Bishop Takayasu in Hawaii. For a time until he passed away, Miyagi Shigenori was a highly-respected director and spirit healer (kaminchu) who worked closely with Takayasu, called Reverend Miyagi in Hawaii. The oldest son of Takayasu, Akira was groomed to be a next-generation leader, but the group broke up before that could occur.

The leadership and adherents of Ijun were aware of the Ryukyuan tradition of female-centered religion. Until 1989, the most important ritual of the group, the Fire Festival, was led by women. That year Ijun made a decision to replace these leaders of ritual with men, and by 1992 women played clearly distinct and subordinate roles. Takayasu explained that there were two reasons for this. The first is that Japan is a male-dominant society, and unless an organization plays along it will not prosper. This view is bolstered by the second reason, the idea that, since most of the adherents are female, the group will appear to be a women’s club if the ritual leaders are also female. He adds that the demands of childbearing and family would sometimes incapacitate the female leader of ritual. Adherents in Okinawa seemed to agree to another explanation: the quarreling of women during the time that they held leadership roles in ritual. In fact, a quarrel between two senior women in the Hilo ashagi led to a split of that group into two factions in the 1990s. Both factions continued to meet separately at the homes of these two women in Hilo for several years (Reichl 2005). Nonetheless, women are an important part of new religions and social movements in Japan, and they were always an important part of Ijun (Young 1994).

ISSUES/CHALLENGES

One challenge that Ijun has always faced is that of promoting a Ryukyuan ethnic revitalization in the face of a monolithic Japanese national culture that discourages expression of heterogeneous ethnicity. The Ryukyuan languages have largely become extinct and are thought of in Japan as mere dialects. Okinawa Prefecture has many religions from mainland Japan, including numerous sects of Shinto, Buddhism and many new religions. Cultural, social and economic hegemonies of Japan are powerful.

A related challenge is the promotion of a universal religion that also has significant ethnic coloring. The books of Takayasu refer freely to lessons from the Christian Bible, from Buddhist philosophers and religious leaders in antiquity, and from Shinto (Reichl 1993b). The Ijun logo, five dark circles around a lighter central circle, is said to represent the major world religious traditions coming together in Ijun. [Image at right] This recalls the logo of Seichō no Ie. Both Ijun and Seichō no Ie encourage followers to attend other churches as well. At the same time, many Ijun concepts are from Ryukyuan culture, including the sibling creator deities, Amamikyu and Shinerikyu (See Doctrines/Beliefs), and the primary deity Kinmanmon. Although Ijun no longer exists in a formal legal sense, some adherents continue to practice informally. It is unclear to what extent the company Culture Ijun continues religious activity.

Finally, Ijun struggles with issues of gender. The religious Ryukyuan tradition is woman-centered, but Ijun’s founder Takayasu and leadership are male. The grooming of his oldest son Akira to take over leadership of Ijun was contrary to the Ryukyuan centrality of women in religion, and neglected women of ability in the organization who were probably better qualified.

IMAGES
Image #1: Image of Takayasu Rokurō.
Image #2: Ijun’s statue of The Goddess of Mercy over Ginowan City.
Image #3: Ijun logograph on architecture of roof-peak in Ginowan City, central church building.

REFERENCES

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Ginoza, Shigō. 1988. Zen’yaku: Ryukyu Shintō-ki. (Complete translation: The way of the gods in Ryukyu). Tokyo: Toyo Tosho Shuppan.

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Havens, Norman. 1994. “The changing face of Japanese folk beliefs.” Pp. 198-215 in Folk Beliefs in Modern Japan: Contemporary Papers on Japanese Religion 3, edited by Inoue Nobutaka. (translated by Norman Havens). Tokyo: Kokugakuin University.

Hori, Ichirō. 1968. Folk Religion in Japan: Continuity and Change. Chicago: University of Chicago Press Midway Reprint.`

Hori, Ichirō,  Fujio Ikado, Tsuneya Wakimoto, and Keiichi Yanagawa, eds. 1972. Japanese Religion: A Survey by the Agency for Cultural Affairs. Tokyo: Kodansha International.

Inoue, Nobutaka. 1991. “Recent trends in the study of Japanese new religions.” Pp. 4-24 in New Religions: Contemporary Papers in Japanese Religion 2, edited by Inoue Nobutaka. (translated by Norman Havens). Tokyo: Kokugakuin University.

Kisala, Robert. 1994. “Contemporary karma: Interpretations of karma in Tenrikyo and Rissho Koseikai.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 21:73-91.

Kōmoto, Mitsugi.1991. “The place of ancestors in the new religions: The case of Reiyukai-derived groups.” Pp. 93-124 in New Religions: Contemporary Papers in Japanese Religion 2, edited by Inoue Nobutaka. (translated by Norman Havens). Tokyo: Kokugakuin University.

Lebra, William. 1966. Okinawan Religion: Belief, Ritual and Social Structure. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

Maeyama, Takashi. 1978. “Tekiō sutoratejii toshite no gisei shinzoku: Burajiru Nihon imin ni okeru Tenrikyō shūdan no jirei” (Fictive kinship as adaptive strategy: Tenri-kyo among Japanese in Brazil). Nagano, Japan: Shinshū Daigaku Jinbun Gakubu, Jinbunkagaku Ronshū 12. Betsuzuri.

Maeyama, Takashi. 1983 “Japanese religions in southern Brazil: Change and syncretism.” Latin American Studies 6:181-238.

Maeyama, Takashi, and Robert J. Smith. 1983. “Omoto: A Japanese “new religion” in Brazil.” Latin American Studies 5:83-102.

Maretzki, Thomas W. and Hatsumi Maretzki. 1966. Taira: An Okinawan Village. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

McFarland, H. Neill. 1967. The Rush Hour of the Gods: A Study of New Religious Movements in Japan. New York: Macmillan.

Nakamaki, Hirochika. 1985. “Burajiru ni okeru nikkei takokuseki shūkyō no genchika to takokusekika: Paafekuto Ribatii kyōdan no baai” (Internationalism and local adaptation of Japanese religions in Brazil: Perfect Liberty group). Kenkyū Repooto IX: 57-98. Sao Paulo: Centro de Estudos Nipo-Brasileiros.

Nakamaki, Hirochika and Susumu Miyao.1985. “Burajiru no nikkei shūkyō” (Japanese Religions in Brazil). Kenkyū Repooto IX:1-7. Sao Paulo: Centro de Estudos Nipo-Brasileiros.

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Reichl, Christopher. 2003 “Ijun in Hawaii: The Political Economic Dimension of an Okinawan New Religion Overseas.” Nova Religio 7:42-54.

Reichl, Christopher. 1998/1999. “Ethnic Okinawan Interpretation of Seichō no Ie: The Lineal Descendant Ijun at Home and Overseas.” Japanese Society 3:120-38

Reichl, Christopher. 1995 “Stages in the historical process of ethnicity: The Japanese in Brazil, 1908-1988.” Ethnohistory 42:31-62.

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Yanagawa, Keiichi, editor. 1983. Japanese Religions in California: A Report on Research Within and Without the Japanese-American Community. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.

Young, Richard. 1994. “Book review. Emily Groszos Ooms, Women and millenarian protest in Meiji Japan: Deguchi Nao and Ōmotokyō.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 21:110-13.

Publication Date:
25 June 2019

AIM TRUE YOGA TIMELINE

1982:  Kathryn Budig was born Lawrence Kansas.

2004:  Budig finished her 200-hour TeacherTraining at YogaWorks in Santa Monica, California.

2008:  Budig became involved in the ToeSox® “Body as Temple” ad campaign.

2010:  The #Nudegate controversy in yoga is associated with Budig and the ToeSox® campaign.

2011:  Budig released her first solo DVD, Kathryn Budig Aim True Yoga, which became the basis of her brand.

2012:  Budig signed a contract with Under Armour Women as a sponsored athlete for the “I Will What I Want” campaign.

2012:  The Women’s Health Big Book of Yoga by Budig was published.

2012:  Budig stopped teaching regularly at YogaWorks.

2014 (October):  Budig was featured in Yoga Journal’s controversial “Body Issue.”

2015:  Budig became embroiled in controversy regarding her cooptation of the body positivity movement in yoga.

2016:  Budig’s book Aim True was published, elaborating on her philosophy of life.

FOUNDER/GROUP HISTORY

Aim True Yoga was developed by celebrity teacher Kathryn Budig and is part of her broader personal branding strategy pursued during her rise to fame in the yoga world. Budig has described “Aim True” as her personal mantra and since 2011 has developed a branded spiritual community predicated on the phrase.

Kathryn Budig was born in 1982 and grew up in Lawrence, Kansas. Her father, Gene Budig, was active in the Air National Guard and served as the Chancellor of the University of Kansas from 1980 to 1994. From 1994 to 1999, he was the president of the American League, one of two major baseball leagues that make up the Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. In 1994, when her father started his new position, their family moved to Princeton, New Jersey, where Kathryn attended Princeton High School. She was deeply involved in the theater program in her school and later pursued a double major in English and Drama at the University of Virginia. After graduating from college, Budig moved to Los Angeles, hoping to make it in Hollywood. According to Rosman (2018), “she ended up finding fame on a different sort of stage—the world of Western yoga, which has become inhabited by avid, even rabid, students who look upon favored instructors as gurus and travel hundreds of miles to attend workshops as if they are rock concerts.”

In 2004, Budig began her yoga teacher training at YogaWorks with prominent ashtanga teachers Maty Ezraty and Chuck Miller. She originally pursued teaching as a “side-hustle,” hoping to find a job that she could use to support herself as she pursued an acting career. However, disillusioned from her experiences in Hollywood, she found herself hooked by the practice. Within eighteen months after she began teaching at both of the YogaWorks Santa Monica studios, her classes were in-demand and she decided to focus entirely on her teaching career in yoga, believing it to be “a kinder, though still competitive, profession that also relied on stage presence and showmanship” (Rosman 2018).

Budig rose to yoga celebrity status after her involvement in the ToeSox® “The Body As Temple” ad campaign began in 2008, which features Budig completely nude other than the ToeSox® on her feet in a variety of advanced postural poses. [Image at right] Tastefully photographed by Jasper Johal, the images rocketed her to instant stardom. In 2010, the ad campaign experienced heavy criticism from prominent teachers, feminists, and other activists in yoga who argued that images like those featured in “The Body As Temple” campaign contributed to the sexualization and exploitation of women in the yoga industry (Miller 2016). Ironically, the controversy surrounding the ToeSox® advertisements helped Budig reach wider audiences, a process facilitated by new social media forms like Facebook (which was available for public use starting in 2006) and Instagram (founded in 2010). Budig quickly gathered large numbers of followers on these platforms, becoming one of the best-known yoga teachers in the country.

She released her first solo DVD, Kathryn Budig Aim True Yoga, the following year in 2011, and has since used the phrase “Aim True” as the foundation for her personal brand. According to Budig’s social media page, “Artemis, Goddess of the Moon, inspired me to create Aim True: an all-encompassing term for how I live my life.” She always loved anything mythical, magical, or supernatural. Once when she was going through a “string of unsavory events” in her personal life, she would read a book on Greek and Roman myths (Budig 2010). She was drawn to the stories of Artemis, described by Budig as the Huntress or the Goddess of the Moon. Budig considered Artemis to be the epitome of female courage, a protector of women, and a provider of strength. Sick of failed relationships, a serendipitous shopping experience after unfortunate news about her ex-partner led her to a necklace featuring a simple gold arrow dangling next to a crescent moon. Wearing the necklace brought her an immediate sense of calm and purpose, and from that point on, Budig found herself holding the necklace in times of need and asking for Artemis for support (Budig 2010).

Budig stopped teaching regular classes in Santa Monica at YogaWorks in 2012 and transitioned to teaching workshops and retreats around the globe, as well as filming regular classes with popular online Yogaglo streaming site (Yogaglo website 2019). That same year she became a sponsored athlete by Under Armour Women for their “I Will What I Want” campaign, modeling their women’s studio line in advertisements. Budig also worked with Women’s Health during 2012 to produce her first book, the Women’s Health Big Book of Yoga: The Essential Guide to Complete Mind/Body Fitness (2012). She has since been a contributing writer for The Huffington Post, Yoga Journal, Gaiam, The Daily Love, Elephant Journal, and MindBodyGreen and has been featured on covers of numerous magazines, including Yoga Journal, Yoga International, Om Yoga and Common Ground. She is also the founder of Poses for Paws, a nonprofit organization she co-founded in 2007 that partners with organizations in the yoga industry, including ToeSox®, to raise money for animal shelters.

Since 2014, Kathryn Budig has pursued a more body positive approach to yoga teaching, an orientation that has become part of the overarching lifestyle associated with Aim True Yoga (Miller 2016). In October 2014, Budig was the cover model of Yoga Journal’s controversial “Body Issue,” which featured her article, “Cover Model Kathryn Budig on Self-Acceptance.” The issue was presented as a more body positive approach to the magazine, which had recently been under heavy fire for their lack of diverse representation in the publication. Budig and Yoga Journal engaged in a social media campaign utilizing the hashtag #loveyourbody as part of marketing efforts to promote the issue. Despite controversy regarding her increasing visibility as sole spokesperson for body positive yoga (Miller 2016), Budig continued to produce media content during 2015 about the importance of self-love and body-acceptance as a way of “aiming true.”

In 2016, she published her second book, titled Aim True: Love Your Body, Eat Without Fear, Nourish Your Spirit, Discover True Balance, which elaborates further on her philosophy. [Image at right] Budig (2017) has described it as “a lifestyle book that fuses yoga, meditation, cooking, partnership and philosophy all under the umbrella of what it means to aim true.” During promotion for the book, Budig presented Aim True Yoga as “a way to help people who struggle with their own body image” (Rice 2019). According to Budig, “by spreading the universal message of being true to yourself, she can create a community that can relate to each other and support one another” (Rice 2019).

Recently, Budig has been transitioning away from yoga teaching to focus on her work as a social media influencer on health and wellness topics and to pursue a professional shift toward food (Rosman 2018). She currently runs a podcast, Free Cookies, with her co-host and fiancé, Kate Fagan. Originally produced by espnW, Budig and Fagan now run the podcast themselves out of their hometown, Charleston, South Carolina. Budig has cut back on travel, including her postural yoga workshops and classes. What these life changes will mean for the Aim True Yoga brand and community remain to be seen. She currently has 224,000 followers on Instagram and around 230,000 on Facebook.

DOCTRINES/BELIEFS

“Aim true” is the personal mantra of the founder of Aim True Yoga, Kathryn Budig. According to Budig, the beauty and power of the phrase is that it’s universal. That is, a group of people could easily come up with a collective definition, yet each person also has their own unique understanding of the phrase, making it a personal experience as well. Aim True Yoga utilizes various yoga, meditation, and food practices to help followers realize their “own definition of what it means to aim true—a verbal tattoo that lives in your heart, showing how you want to live your life” (Budig 2016:1).

As recounted above, Budig’s use of the phrase was driven by her childhood interest in ancient Greek mythology and one goddess, Artemis, “known as the goddess of the moon and the hunt, and the protector of women” (Budig 2016:1). After Budig’s arrow necklace encounter reminded her of the myths she used to read in her youth, she dug further research on the myths surrounding Artemis and began to use the following prayer, which later served as the basis for her personal brand of yoga:

Artemis, huntress of the moon, make my aim true. Give me goals to seek and the constant determination to achieve them. Grant me communion with nature, allow me to live surrounded by plants and animals that I can grow, protect and nurture. Allow me the strength and wisdom to be my own mistress, not defined by the expectations of others. And sustain my sexuality to be as yours—wild and free as nature itself (Budig 2016:3, emphasis added).

Aim True Yoga is similar to other yoga styles and spiritual traditions that are oriented toward self-realization. However, in this branded community, this focus is removed from specific yoga lineages or spiritual beliefs and instead emphasizes and more general self-help approach to help followers discover how they want to live their “true” lives. Aiming true is thus “an opportunity to embrace your talents and find a peaceful state of self-acceptance” (Budig 2016:7). In her book, Budig describes taking aim as a “pursuit of finding what makes you come alive… [and] learning what your amazing qualities and talents are so you can share them with the people around you” (Budig 2016:13). By doing so, she believes her followers are able to go out into the world, light their fires, and inspire others to do the same (2016:14).

During workshops, Budig has described how aiming true “means every day setting an intention of being the best that you can be, making decisions that are in alignment with that intention, and not steering from the course” (Maros 2019). The philosophy of Aim True Yoga includes self-love, something particularly important to Budig considering that during the time when she began to develop her brand, she was “finishing up year seven in L.A., the city of perfect, pretty, skinny people…. Being in the health industry, it felt even more intense and cutthroat and I suffered from body image issues.” It was at this point that she decided to practice a more body positive approach in her life, which became integrated into her brand. According to Budig, by aiming true “with our physical bodies, we’re defined by how we feel, which allows energy to radiate” (Budig 2016:27). One of Budig’s students has described four main ways to think about “aiming true” as taught by Budig during one of her retreats, including setting intentions for your life, cultivating a confident and loving relationship with yourself, finding activities that are in alignment with your intentions and goals, and being of service by sharing ones talents and gifts with the world (Maros 2019). According to Budig, “a huge part of aiming true is staying true to yourself and not being ruled by the expectations and judgments of others… This realization helps people see past the stories they tell themselves of where they lack or could be better” (Rice 2019).

Although Budig trained with two teachers who practice a style of yoga based on the ashtanga system established by K. Pattabhi Jois, Aim True Yoga incorporates very little from this tradition or lineage other than an emphasis during postural practices on aerobatic postures (e.g., arm balances or hand stands) and what is commonly referred to today as vinyasa flow styles. During postural yoga practices, Budig aims to help students free themselves from any constraints or self-limiting beliefs they might hold, by facilitating a practice that is less serious and regimented than many other teachers (Rice 2019). Aim True Yoga is thus more closely connected to the styles taught through YogaWorks teacher trainings than ashtanga lineages per se. Aim True Yoga is also largely devoid of any specific teachings from yogic philosophical or spiritual traditions, instead promoting a more universalized, self-help themed philosophy of life.

RITUALS/PRACTICES

One of the first ritual practices used by Budig in the development of her brand was the prayer to Artemis described above that inspired her emphasis on the phrase “aim true.” Today, Aim True Yoga incorporates a variety of yoga, meditation, and food rituals and practices that Budig utilizes in her own personal life and then promotes to her followers, including various self-help tools like journaling that are utilized in ritualistic ways by followers (e.g., Budig 2016). These various practices are designed to uncover ones’ unique talents and use them to pursue one’s passions, thereby living one’s best life, per the philosophy promoted by Kathryn Budig. These practices also help form what Arvidsson (2005) refers to as a brand community. Budig’s teaching activities, particularly her workshops, retreats, and classes (online and in person), help to create shared emotional experiences and values among her followers and students. Budig’s teachings are overwhelmingly focused on the body and various types of body work that followers can pursue as a means of aiming true in their lives.

Budig’s teachings regularly incorporate intense postural yoga classes, including complex and aerobic sequences and poses like hand stands and arm balances. [Image at right] The specific sequence of poses varies from class to class, but similar to many vinyasa flow styles, Budig’s asana classes generally start with some sort of intention setting or theme, which sets the tone for the class and helps to generate shared emotional and physically intense experiences among participants. This is followed by some variation on sun salutations, a series of postures leading to a “peak pose,” a cool down, and finally a brief time spent in savasana, or corpse pose.

Budig’s workshops and retreats often incorporate other social activities, including eating and drinking with other attendees, storytelling, spa activities, as well as other physical exercise activities like surfing, martial arts, skydiving, hiking, horseback riding, or archery. Food is very important to Budig, especially given her recent professional shift toward culinary experiences. When food is incorporated into Aim True yoga, such as the recipes and activities included in her 2016 book, these rituals generally prioritize healthy eating of organic, whole foods as a key component to health, wellness, and self-actualization.

ORGANIZATION/LEADERSHIP

Aim True Yoga is the personal brand of founder Kathryn Budig. Budig does not train teachers in her specific style of the practice, meaning she is the only instructor of Aim True Yoga. As such, Budig retains complete ownership and control of the direction and content produced.

The organization is oriented toward selling Budig’s teaching and products to her followers, but also encompasses Budig’s role as a social media influencer in yoga and wellness spaces. Aim True Yoga thus incorporates the personal reflections and experiences of Budig in her daily life (e.g., the origin of the brand is tied to her own personal interpretation and use of the phrase “aim true” in her life and experience buying a golden arrow necklace representing Artemis). The type of leadership and organizational structure of Aim True Yoga aligns with the experiences of many other social media influencers (SMI) who utilize new digital technologies to obtain micro-celebrity status. Hearn and Schoenhoff (2016:194) describe how “the SMI works to generate a form of “celebrity” capital by cultivating as much attention as possible and crafting an authentic “personal brand” via social networks, which can subsequently be used by companies and advertisers for consumer outreach.” In this sense, “micro-celebrity is a mind-set and a set of practices that courts attention through insights into its practitioners’ private lives, and a sense of realness that renders their narratives, their branding, both accessible and intimate” to followers (Khamis, Ang, and Welling 2017:202; see also Marwick 2013). Budig’s interactions with her followers are generally personal and facilitated through regular social media posts as well as her in-person teaching events and associated products.

Although the Aim True Yoga organization is spearheaded primarily by Budig, she does partner with a variety of other organizations and individuals in the yoga industry and beyond to promote her brand and build her following. These include other celebrity yoga teachers like Seane Corn from the organization Off the Matt Into the World®, who is one of Budig’s mentors and long-time friends. She also has industry sponsorships with ToeSox®, Under Armour Women, Women’s Health, as well as partnerships with Kira Grace (a yoga clothing company), Vapour Organic Beauty products, and Asha Patel Jewelry. Budig has regularly taught Aim True Yoga at Yoga Journal events and Wanderlust yoga festivals, as well as a variety of studios and centers in the United States and internationally.

ISSUES/CHALLENGES

Budig and her brand Aim True Yoga have been embroiled in a variety of debates regarding the commodification and sexualization of yoga. In 2010, her near-nude involvement with ToeSox® became associated with the #Nudegate scandal when one of the founding members of Yoga Journal, Judith Lasater, wrote a letter to the magazine expressing her concern about the direction the publication was taking, particularly regarding the magazine’s advertising policy and the oversexualization of the practice. Although Lasater wasn’t specifically referring to the ToeSox® ad campaign featuring Budig, prominent yoga bloggers Roseanne Harvey of It’s All Yoga Baby as well as critical yoga news site Yoga Dork also covered the piece. Both of their posts featured images from the ToeSox® campaign to illustrate Lasater’s point about the trend of sexualization in yoga advertising. These posts were picked up by other prominent wellness sites like Elephant Journal, who similarly featured images from the ToeSox® campaign in their coverage of Lasater’s concerns (Yoga Dork 2010; Harvey 2010a; Harvey 2010b). As a result of #Nudegate, Budig faced numerous online attacks and a great deal of criticism for her role in commodification and sexualization of yoga, which she has spoken about on numerous occasions, including in a response featured in the Huffington Post in September of 2010 titled “Why Are We So Freakin’ Angry?” Several years later, her incorporation of body positivity into her Aim True Yoga brand caused another controversy among feminist practitioners, who felt Budig’s increasing role as sole spokesperson for body positive yoga was problematic and co-opted from work done by the Yoga and Body Image Coalition (See, Miller 2016).

Given the entwining of her personal life and her yoga brand, as well as the careful curation of authentic content that social media influencers generally pursue online, Budig’s own personal journey of coming out as sexually fluid was also contentious. Kathryn Budig originally married Bob Crossman in 2014 after they had met when he was her sky-diving instructor in 2011. Their relationship and wedding were often discussed by Budig on her social media pages. However, their partnership didn’t last. Budig met ESPN’s Kate Fagan at several work events, and in 2015 Budig and her husband decided to separate after Budig realized she had fallen in love with Fagan (Rosman 2018). According to Budig, “on social media, I did see a big drop in numbers after I told people that I left my husband and was with a woman. And I’m sure some people were pissed that I got a divorce…. If I do post a picture about us [Budig and Fagan]… it gets a ton of love and comments and likes on the actual post, but behind the scenes, people drop out” (Gonsalves 2019).

In many ways, Aim True Yoga reflects the increasingly blurred lines between spiritual followings and branded communities. It is still unclear how the ongoing shifts in founder Kathryn Budig’s career path toward more general health, wellness, and food pursuits will impact the nature of her student following or the spiritual beliefs espoused by Aim True Yoga.

IMAGES

Image #1: ToeSox “Body as Temple” advertisement featuring Budig.
Image #2: The cover of Budig’s second book, Aim True.
Image #3: Kathryn Budig teaching a postural yoga class using archery themed modifications.

REFERENCES

Arvidsson, Adam. 2005. “Brands: A Critical Perspective.” Journal of Consumer Culture 5:235-58.
Budig, Kathryn. 2016. Aim True: Love Your Body, Eat Without Fear, Nourish Your Spirit, Discover True Balance. New York: William Morrow.

Budig, Kathryn. 2012.  Women’s Health Big Book of Yoga: The Essential Guide to Complete Mind/Body Fitness. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Books.

Budig, Kathryn. 2010. “Make My Aim True: A Greek Goddess Shows Me the Way.” Elephant Journal, February 11. Accessed from https://bit.ly/2WAeI2a on 20 June 2019.

 Gonsalves, Kelly. 2019. “Kathryn Budig on What Wellness Spaces Can Do To Be More LGBTQ-Friendly.” MindBodyGreen. Accessed from https://bit.ly/2Mum8nQ on 20 June 2019.

Harvey, Roseanne. 2010a. “Judith Hanson Lasater Slams Yoga Journal for ‘Sexy Ads.’” Elephant Journal, August 6. Accessed from https://bit.ly/2Rfby2I on 20 June 2019.

Harvey, Roseanne. 2010b. “Toesoxnudegate: The Feminists and Kathryn Budig Speak Up.” It’s All Yoga Baby, September 9. Accessed from https://bit.ly/2Qxa1Hu on 20 June 2019.

Khamis, Susie, Lawrence Ang, and Raymond Welling. 2017. “Self-branding, ‘micro-celebrity’ and the rise of Social Media Influencers.” Celebrity Studies 8:191-208.

Maros, Michelle. 2019. “Make Your Aim True.” Peaceful Mind, Peaceful Life. Accessed from https://bit.ly/2X7g60q on 20 June 2019.

Marwick, Alice E. 2013. Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity, and Branding in the Social Media Age. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Miller, Amara. 2016. “Eating the Other Yogi: Kathryn Budig, the Yoga Industrial Complex, and the Appropriation of Body Positivity.” Race and Yoga 1:1-22.

Rice, Andrea. 2019. “Kathryn Budig: What it Means to Aim True.” Wanderlust. Accessed from https://bit.ly/31sDfK1 on 20 June 2019.

Rosman, Katherine. 2018. “Kathryn Budig on How to Really Live Authentically.” Yoga Journal, July. Accessed from https://bit.ly/2KMkICz on 20 June 2019.

Yoga Dork. 2018. “Are Yoga Ads Too Sexy? Have Your Say on Judith Lasater vs. Yoga Journal, ToeSox Nudegate.” Yoga Dork. Accessed from https://bit.ly/2RoIFAq on 20 June 2019.

Yogaglo website. 2019. Accessed from https://www.glo.com/ on 15 June 2019.

Publication Date:
23 June 2019

CAMP CHESTERFIELD TIMELINE

1883:  Dr. J.W. and Mrs. Mary Westerfield first entertained the idea of founding a Spiritualist association in Indiana after visiting the Frazer’s Grove Spiritualist Camp near Vicksburg, Michigan on July 17, 1883, and meeting several other Hoosiers who had traveled to Michigan to attend services.

1883-1886:  Dr. Westerfield worked diligently to contact Hoosier Spiritualists all over the state to garner widespread interest to form an association and build a camp dedicated to Hoosier Spiritualists.

1886:  Dr. Westerfield called a mass meeting in Anderson, Indiana with around 200 Hoosier Spiritualists in attendance. The group met regularly at a space above Dr. Westerfield’s pharmacy in downtown Anderson, Indiana.

1887 (November 5):  The officers and members adopted a Constitution and Bylaws, forming a legally sanctioned association as an incorporated body, allowing the organization to perform transactions on behalf of the association.

1888 (October 22):  The group was officially incorporated as the Indiana Association of Spiritualists (IAOS), under the direction of the newly elected president, Dr. J.W. Westerfield.

1889 (September 26):  At the annual convention for the association, Dr. L.M. Blackledge was elected as the association’s third president.

1890:  The annual convention, held as a church picnic, elected Dr. J.W. Westerfield as the fourth president of the IAOS. The event took place on the riverside property in Chesterfield, Indiana of Carroll and Emily Bronnenberg.

1891:  Without formal purchase of the property being completed, a “gentleman’s agreement” had been made with workers hired to clear part of the land to make space for the annual camp meeting in 1891. A large tent-auditorium was erected to seat 500 attendees.

1892:  On August 12, the thirty-four acres of land were purchased in the amount of $3,225 from Carroll and Emily Bronnenberg. Both the Westerfields and Bronnenbergs made sizable donations to the IAOS to enable the land’s purchase.

1895-1900:  The fifth president of the association, George W. Parkinson, served the association from 1895-1898. Many mediums began the custom of “advertising” their gifts around this time.

1903:  The large tent-auditorium was replaced by a wood-framed auditorium, equipped with a free-standing stage at one end which allowed for sermons and mediums to give “platform” messages to the congregation.

1909:  Rev. Mable Riffle became Secretary of the IAOS and continued in this capacity for the rest of her life.

1914:  The “Sunflower Hotel” was built at a construction cost of $6,887, with seventy rooms available to guests.

1916:  A flower garden and fountain was built on the site of the Old Boarding House after it was moved and attached to the Sunflower Hotel as an addition to the newly built hotel.

1918:  A new dining hall was built that featured stand-alone brick ovens to bake bread and pastries.

1922:  The Lily Hotel was built as a twin hotel of the Sunflower Hotel, each facing one another as guests entered the front gate to the camp.

1922-1924:  The Sunflower Hotel was expanded with the addition of forty rooms; the old Lodging House was moved and attached to the back in 1916, in the west section of the existing hotel.

1930:  The Garden of Prayer was built into the side of a small hill in the center of the grounds from river rock found in the White River that borders the property.

1936:  The “Lyceum Building” was constructed for the educational arm of the IAOS. The name was later changed to the “Chapel in the Woods,” and this structure hosts platform message services, galas, church services, weddings, and funerals.

1940:  The Trail of Religions statue grouping was constructed to honor religious figures from the world’s great religions; in addition, a memorial to Native American Indians and their religious beliefs was built on the grounds.

1945:  The construction of the Western Hotel, in “American roadside architecture” was authorized and later built as a modern hotel.

1950:  A Native American Totem Pole was donated to the IAOS by Bruno Cieslak, and it was erected next to the Native American Memorial.

1953-1954:  The second auditorium, built in 1903, was razed to build the “Cathedral of the Woods,” which was dedicated on June 26, 1954.

1958:  The Hett Art Gallery and Museum was constructed to house the many archived documents, Spiritualist artifacts, and spiritual works of art related to the IAOS and history of Camp Chesterfield.

1974:  The Julia Urbanic Memorial statue of Jesus Christ was dedicated beside the Administration Building.

1996:  Arsonists set fire to th Lily Hotel, and it was completely lost.

1998:  The Tree of Life Bookstore and Gift Shop was renovated and rebuilt in the space vacated by the Lily Hotel after the 1996 fire.

1998:  The United States Department of the Interior, in conjunction with the “National Park Services,” designated Camp Chesterfield as an “historic district,” listing it officially on the National Register of Historic Places.

2013:  The Friends of Camp Chesterfield Foundation (FCCF) was formed as a non-profit organization to promote and encourage the preservation of Camp Chesterfield’s historic buildings and landscape displays and architecture.

FOUNDER/GROUP HISTORY

Since multitudes of people began to flock to Spiritualist mediums in the nineteenth century, it was only within a few years of the Fox sisters’ discovery in 1848 that regular church meetings gradually organized around “camps” where visitors could attend services and have personal readings by the mediums. One such Spiritualist Camp is located in the small town of Chesterfield, Indiana. Since 1886, the Spiritualist church camp of the Indiana Association of Spiritualists (IAOS) (affectionately called “Camp Chesterfield” by the locals) has been offering visitors spiritual reprieve and comfort.

Hoosier Spiritualists initially were forced to travel out of state in order to visit a Spiritualist Camp during the high season. Many Hoosiers went west, some went east, but a goodly number from the Anderson, Indiana area travelled north to Michigan. After visiting a Spiritualist camp in Michigan, John and Mary Ellen Bussel-Westerfield of Muncie, Indiana, decided that Indiana needed its own association and set out to find a suitable location for a homegrown Spiritualist camp.

A popular Spiritualist gathering that took place every summer at Frazer’s Grove Camp, near Vicksburg, Michigan, was the closest and easiest Spiritualist camp in proximity to Indiana. Indeed, well before the Spiritualist movement had taken root in Indiana so firmly, the Westerfields were interested in esoteric subjects and were firmly established in the intelligentsia movement in the Anderson area, hosting gatherings above Dr. Westerfield’s pharmacy in downtown Anderson. It was in the year 1883, however, when the Westerfields were on one of their trips to Vicksburg, Michigan, that the idea to found a Spiritualist association in Indiana was first proposed:

There were six people in attendance from Indiana and these, including Mrs. Annie M. Stewart, the internationally known Pence Hall Materialization medium of Terre Haute [Indiana], were Samuel Connors, County Commissioner of Vigo County; Ben Hayden and wife of Clinton County, and the Westerfields of Madison County. All had gravitated together between services for a little Indiana-style socializing and were happily listening as Dr. Westerfield, resplendent in shaped grey mustache and beard, declared: “If the Spiritualists of Michigan can successfully operate three or four camp meetings, why can’t Indiana sustain at least one camp of her own, if properly located near the central part of the state, where all her people could attend?” (Harrison et al 1986:10)

This was the beginning of the formation of what is now the Indiana Association of Spiritualists. It took Dr. Westerfield three years to get organized and to contact interested Spiritualists, but by the autumn of 1886, he was ready to call a mass meeting of Hoosier Spiritualists to begin the process of securing a camp for the about to be formed association. Over two hundred interested people attended that first meeting, electing a president (Dr. George Hilligoss); a secretary (Caroline Hilligoss, wife of George); and a treasurer (Carroll Bronnenberg). (Harrison et al 1986:11).

The Bronnenberg Family (Carroll, Henry, and Fred) were a part of the association from its formation in 1886. The landowning Bronnenbergs were an early pioneer family to the area and became an integral and important component in the formation of the association and in donating the funds necessary to purchase the land that would become Camp Chesterfield.

After meeting for more than three years in Westerfield’s hall above his pharmacy, it was on November 5, 1887 that a constitution and by-laws were prepared to incorporate their informal gatherings into an officially sanctioned society, “legally qualified to transact all business pertaining to the organization and religion of Spiritualism” (Harrison et al 1986:14). The annual convention of 1890 was held as a church picnic on property owned by Carroll and Emily Bronnenberg near the banks of the White River, which became the future spiritual home of the IAOS, nicknamed “Camp Chesterfield.” “Dr. and Mary Westerfield were instrumental in the ongoing negotiations for the grounds, and on August 12, 1892, the thirty-four acres of land was purchased from Carroll and Emily Bronnenburg for $3,225. The Westerfields and Carroll Bronnenberg each gave large donations to the Association enabling this purchase” (Harrison et al 1986:16).

Initially, Camp Chesterfield was only a tent-based church similar to the old-style revival tents that itinerant ministers used to preach to the masses across the Midwest. By 1900, the camp had begun to take shape with a number of buildings being erected around the main grounds: medium cottages, séance rooms, a dining hall, an auditorium, a lodging house, a small store called “The Bazaar”, along with more makeshift structures in the form of tents and shanties. By the Tenth Annual Camp Meeting, Camp Chesterfield was no longer merely a campground but a thriving Spiritualist community. Hoosiers from all over the state were flocking to this quaint little retreat, causing many growing pains for the leaders of the IAOS as horses needed to be stabled, visitors needed places to stay and eat, and mediums needed housing. The camp grew exponentially in the years after it was founded, and by 1909 it was about to welcome a new person who would take charge and develop its structures and religious programs even more. She strengthened the association and Camp Chesterfield to become a leader in Spiritualism for not only Indiana, but for the entire United States and beyond.

Singularly, the most important person to walk through the gates of Camp Chesterfield in the early 1900s was an unassuming school teacher from nearby Anderson, Indiana. The impact this woman would have on Camp Chesterfield and the Indiana Association of Spiritualists, as well as the religion of Spiritualism as a whole, is nothing short of prodigious. From around 1909 until her death in 1961, Reverend Mable Riffle [Image at right] steered Camp Chesterfield with a strong hand as Secretary of the association. Rev. Riffle’s resounding mantra during her long years of service to the IAOS and Spiritualism was a simple question: Is it good for Camp? (Richey 2009). This was her response to any proposal, idea or change that the Board of Trustees, mediums, residents, or members would endeavor to implement. If the answer were “no,” then it would go no further. Her lifelong dedication to the “good” of Camp Chesterfield is evident in the huge growth that occurred under her watchful guidance.

Thanks to the work and dedication of this longtime secretary of the association, Camp Chesterfield expanded its physical components tremendously during her tenure, replacing dilapidated wooden buildings with modern structures that would endure into the current era. Under her tutelage, Camp Chesterfield constructed a stone cathedral, a quaint chapel in the woods, a modern cafeteria, hotels, and a museum with an extensive collection of Spiritualist artifacts including the cornerstone of the original Fox Cottage and locks of hair from the Fox Sisters. Upon Mable Riffle’s death in 1961, the association and Camp Chesterfield continued to thrive largely due to her hard work and dedication over the prior half century of service to the IAOS, Camp Chesterfield and Spiritualism. Interestingly, Mable Riffle never became president, preferring to work as secretary, an office that allowed her to not only run the day-to-day functions of the camp, but also to be privy to all that was occurring within its gates.

Two other women who were quite renowned and who are now a part of the history of Camp Chesterfield were the “Bangs Sisters,” [Image at right] Elizabeth S. and May E. Bangs, of Chicago, Illinois who were frequently featured as guest mediums at Camp Chesterfield in the early 1900s. They often summered at Camp Chesterfield during the high season, living in the cottage located at 421 Grandview Drive.

The spiritual gift for which the Bangs Sisters became most famous was what is referred to as “precipitated” portraits, spirit portraits that appear seemingly without the aid of human intervention other than being physically present for the spirit to access and draw energy from the medium(s). The paintings were reportedly done on large canvas-mountings that were held on either side by the sisters. At some point during the sitting, without any paints or brushes being used, a faint image would begin to appear, gradually becoming more prominent and darker.

Dr. Daugherty attended the Science Church of Spiritualism in Richmond, Indiana in the early 1920’s. He sat for the portrait of his wife, Lizzie, and she appeared. He asked why the twins, Mary and Christina, could not come, and they then appeared. [Image at right] Dr. Daughtery was not in spirit, but was sitting for the portrait.

The paintings, of which twenty-five are on public display in the Hett Art Gallery and Museum at Camp Chesterfield, Indiana, are remarkable in their detail and quality. The actual source of the images remains disputed, of course. True believers point to the firsthand accounts of eye-witnesses as proof that the paintings were not produced by human hands, but by some unseen spiritual force that painted the images of deceased loved ones for those sitters on the earth plane as a “spiritual gift” to assist them in their grief and loss. Skeptics offer evidence of trickery by the sisters. That debate notwithstanding, the precipitated portraits that are on display represent a significant and tangible glimpse into the history of Spiritualism and precipitated spirit art, [Image at right] of which Camp Chesterfield and the Indiana Association of Spiritualists have the singular duty as the primary custodians to preserve and protect these works as it is an unparalleled collection and is the world’s largest repository of precipitated spirit art.

Historically, after major wars, Spiritualism tended to rise in stature and scope, prompting bereaved relatives to search for some sort of sign or message from those whom they lost so tragically. These anguished times were actually heady days for the IAOS and Camp Chesterfield, with crowds of people clamoring to make contact with loved ones in Spirit. Camp Chesterfield continues to flourish as a Spiritualist camp, church, and seminary. Generations of Hoosiers have walked through its gates, basking in its meditative peace and spiritual harmony it offers. Although there are no mediums today like the Bangs Sisters who are able to do the extraordinary mediumistic gifts of precipitated spirit art, mediums at Camp Chesterfield still do offer those who visit personal confirmation of the continuity of life, and they abundantly dispense hope to those who are seeking solace and comfort that their loved ones are indeed well and in a better place.

Since 1886, the IAOS and Camp Chesterfield has served as a beacon for those seeking spiritual guidance, and it is likely that this Indiana religious landmark will continue on. With each generation of Hoosiers who come through its gates, continuing to seek their own personal spiritual truth and wishing to make contact with those who have departed from this earth plane, Camp Chesterfield will serve those in need of spiritual guidance and healing.

The seminary arm of the association has become well-known and quite renowned, attracting students from all over the United States, and beyond, for the study of Spiritualism, New Age Spirituality, and Metaphysics. Being one of a few Spiritualist organizations that offer formal certification in mediumship, healing, and the ministry sets Camp Chesterfield apart from other similar associations which primarily rely upon affiliated churches to train and develop mediums and offer classes toward ordination. Camp Chesterfield has gained a reputation for educating, training and developing Spiritualist mediums that are sought after for their intuitive abilities by both Spiritualists and non-Spiritualists alike. Camp Chesterfield‘s mediums are endearingly referred to as “name callers” because when a spirit comes through, it is most often by name, which offers confirmation to the person receiving the message.

In 2013, a non-profit foundation was founded to assist the IAOS in renovating and preserving Camp Chesterfield’s historic buildings and its unique landscape architecture and displays. The Friends of Camp Chesterfield Foundation (FCCF) was formed to assist the Camp board with raising funds and in applying for grants as a non-profit that are normally not available to a religious-based organization or church. The mission of the FCCF is solely to preserve and restore the aging structures and displays, and to educate the public about the importance of Camp Chesterfield as an historical and cultural asset unique to the State of Indiana and even in a broader sense to that of the United States.

Today, Camp Chesterfield is a flourishing Spiritualist community equipped with a full-service cafeteria, a spacious cathedral, two hotels, a modern bookstore and library, an art gallery and museum of Spiritualist artifacts, and a quaint little chapel in the woods. In addition, it allegedly boasts the first fire-proof building in the state of Indiana, (Hattaway M. 2008) a nostalgic hotel called the “Western” that allows visitors to step back in time upon entering its front doors. During the summer, visitors sit in the old-style gliders on the front porch chatting and exchanging messages they received from loved ones. Camp Chesterfield is historically significant for Indiana, being listed on the National Park Service’s “National Register of Historic Places” as a historic district. [Image at right] Camp Chesterfield has served as a spiritual center of light for generations of Hoosiers, contributing greatly to the religious fabric that makes up Indiana’s unique religious history.

DOCTRINES/BELIEFS

The overriding, primary focus of Spiritualism is to prove the continuity of life after death through spirit communication. Spiritualism has historically shunned the idea of “dogma,” as represented in mainstream Christian religions, and quite proudly from its beginning, considered itself to be the “unchurch” of belief systems. Today, in comparison to New Age philosophy, however, it does seem quite churchified, which is actually the opposite of what it initially intended to be in the early years of the movement. Many older Spiritualists do not like to be classified into the “New Age” category because they feel they are quite “Old Age” in their beliefs and practices.

Traditionally, Spiritualists (due to the negative attitude many people and society had towards the movement in its early years, and still do to a certain extent today) often had a “Sunday” church they attended regularly, but would supplement their spiritual needs with visits to a medium to receive a reading or to attend a séance; attend church and message services; or visit a Spiritualist camp during the high season. This hesitation to be dedicated Spiritualists was a form of self-preservation from ridicule that they might endure from family, friends, and neighbors. Hence, many attended services at their mainstream church on Sunday morning, but would then attend a Spiritualist service in the afternoon. To this day, Camp Chesterfield’s main Sunday service begins in the afternoon in order to accommodate those who may have other services they want or need to attend in the morning. This is indeed a throwback to the time when such an arrangement was needed and necessary in order to accommodate its worshipers.

Spiritualists, as a rule, do accept the truths and teachings from all religious traditions as long as these beliefs come from a place filled with light and love, and offer the adherent hope and compassion. Camp Chesterfield throughout its long history [Image at right] has had a very pronounced “Christian” influence as Christian iconography can be found sprinkled about its grounds in landscape displays, as well as in the buildings in the forms of crosses, hymnals, and even statues of Jesus that are prominently displayed and placed throughout its grounds. Christian Spiritualists, like Mable Riffle, were instrumental in building Camp Chesterfield, and as the majority of these early mediums converted to Spiritualism from a more mainstream Christian tradition, they brought with them vestiges and customs that were a part of their religious upbringings and belief systems. [Image at right]

In addition to its Christian influence, however, Camp Chesterfield also celebrates the world’s major religions with a unique display called the “Trail of Religions” that contains the busts of ancient religious leaders in a semi-circle, all looking toward the center where a bust of Jesus can be found, with his eyes looking upward toward the heavens. This coalescing of religious traditions is what makes Spiritualism unique, and is what makes Camp Chesterfield so sacred and special to believers: Throughout their long history as a movement and a camp, both Spiritualism and Camp Chesterfield have welcomed people of all faiths and traditions to come together to commune with those who have passed to the other side of the veil through spirit communication.

Camp Chesterfield’s members and residents come from many varied religious traditions: A Methodist minister, an Episcopalian priest, a Jewish mystic, a Buddhist, a Catholic nun, a Native American, a Pagan, to name a few. It is impossible to compartmentalize the members of Camp Chesterfield into a specific category of worshiper or into one belief system.

Even though it is often said that Spiritualism has no set doctrine or dogma that regulates its belief system or adherents, there is a set of principles that have been put forth for believers to follow as Spiritualists. The following are the IAOS “Declaration of Principles” that guide its members in their Spiritualist beliefs (Camp Chesterfield website n.d.):

We believe in Infinite Intelligence.

We believe that the phenomena of nature, both physical and spiritual, are the expression of Infinite Intelligence.

We affirm that a correct understanding of such expression and living in accordance therewith constitute true religion.

We affirm that the existence and personal identity of the individual continue after the change called death.

We affirm that communication with the so-called dead is a fact, scientifically proven by the phenomena of Spiritualism.

We believe that the highest morality is contained in the Golden Rule: “Whatsoever ye would that others should do unto you, do ye also unto them.”

We affirm the moral responsibility of the individual, and that we make our own happiness or unhappiness as we obey or disobey nature’s physical and spiritual laws.

We affirm that the doorway to reformation is never closed against any human soul here or hereafter.

We affirm that the precepts of prophecy and healing contained in the Bible and all sacred writings of the world are Divine attributes proven through mediumship.

These principles are used as a general guide for living that Spiritualists follow in their daily and spiritual lives, allowing them to follow their own form of spirituality. These principles may be drawn from an organized set of tenets and dogma from another religion, or from a personal set of beliefs that conform to the basic ideals of Spiritualism.

The IAOS also offers the following definitions to clarify the meaning of Spiritualism as an association (Camp Chesterfield website n.d.)

Spiritualism is the science, philosophy, and religion of continuous life based upon the demonstrated fact of communication by means of mediumship with those who live in the spirit world.

Spiritualist is one who believes, as part of his or her religion, in communication between this and the spirit world by means of mediumship, and who endeavors to mold his or her character and conduct in accordance with the highest teachings derived from such communion.

Medium is one whose organism is sensitive to vibrations from the spirit world, and through whose instrumentality, intelligences in that world are able to convey messages and produce the phenomena of Spiritualism.

Spiritual Healer is one who is able to impart vital, curative force to pathologic conditions through inherent power or through mediumship.

Camp Chesterfield’s education arm currently has two distinct paths: 1) The study of Spiritualism and mediumship to develop one’s gift of mediumship to become a certified medium, and for those who feel a calling, to study towards ordination as a Spiritualist minister; 2) to study Metaphysics formally to receive certificates for various levels of study.

RITUALS/PRACTICES

Camp Chesterfield is a year-round facility, allowing members and visitors to attend church services, “gala” message services, psychic fairs, and/or individual readings and group séances by appointment with resident mediums throughout the year. From June through September, the camp functions in what is called “high season,” which is the historical and traditional time of the year when more activities are planned and offered for visitors. The annual convention of the IAOS is held in early August where members gather to hear the President’s report, various committee reports, as well as voting on any constitutional amendments that have been brought to the convention and the election of board members whose position is up for election.

The annual “Summer Workshop Series” offers weekly presentations on a variety of spiritual and metaphysical topics by guest presenters and resident mediums and members. These workshops begin in June and are scheduled through October. The premier event for the season every year is the annual “SpiritFest” that is scheduled on the third weekend of September.  Readers, vendors, and other spiritually-related organizations descend upon the grounds for two full days of activities, including the popular “Kidsville” for children, hourly lectures, message services, tours of the grounds, and a variety of food options.

Several “weeklong” seminaries are scheduled throughout the year, with a number of “mini-seminaries” offered on long weekends. These are geared toward students who are wanting to become certified healers, mediums, and ordained ministers. In addition, a number of mediums have been designated as “development” teachers and they have weekly or bi-weekly meetings with students in their homes to assist students in their mediumship development. Student services that are regularly scheduled during weeklong seminaries allow students to give sermons and platform messages as a practicum.

Weekly healing, church, and message services are scheduled year-round. The church and message services feature “platform” work by the mediums where those in attendance can receive messages from loved ones in spirit. These are open to the public and church services have a collection plate that is passed around; and the message services ask for a specified “love” donation at the door upon entering the sanctuary. Nearly all of the mediums who offer their gifts on the platform are certified Camp Chesterfield mediums, a large portion being residents of the grounds, with occasional “guest” mediums offering messages and/or sermons.  These guests are required to be certified mediums or ordained Spiritualist ministers from an area church or another Spiritualist association or camp.

A Camp Chesterfield church service resembles closely a church service one would experience at any number of protestant Christian churches, with the exception being that after a short sermon, two or three mediums will offer messages to those in attendance from loved ones in spirit. Some of the mediums rely on pure clairvoyance, clairaudience, or clairsentience to receive messages, while others will offer precipitated “flame messages” (where the medium uses a candle and card to allow Spirit to precipitate an image onto the card. The medium then interprets it to the person receiving it while offering a message from spirit; usually this is a loved one, but this can also be from a Spirit guide of the person. Other mediums will use tools to assist them in their message work, like Tarot card reading, Spirit Art, Flower Messages, or Psychometry. These all are combined with clairvoyance or clairaudience to offer a message to the person.

At any given time throughout the year, a number of other activities, events, and workshops are scheduled ranging from intensive mediumship development seminars, women’s and men’s retreats, holiday celebrations, full moon ceremonies, guest speakers, and séance and healing circles. Each year the types and scope of events vary with some of them being offered yearly and regularly, while others are offered exclusively for that event. Many mediums and ministers at Camp Chesterfield often say “we’ll leave the light on for you” after a scheduled service or event. Visitors to the grounds do find that no two visits to Camp Chesterfield are ever the same; so much is offered that anyone can find something new and interesting to participate in when visiting the grounds.

ORGANIZATION/LEADERSHIP

The Indiana Association of Spiritualists (IAOS), the custodian of historic Camp Chesterfield has been active since 1886. The board of trustees is currently made of up of twelve members with ten being leaseholders and two as non-leaseholders from the general membership.  There is a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and then regular board members. No board position is paid, with all duties being done voluntarily. There are a number of paid employees on the grounds to assist in the administration office, bookstore, cafeteria, and hotel.

To become a member of the IAOS, a prospective member must apply to the board by filling out a membership application and then must be formally accepted to join. There is a yearly membership fee, and once a person is certified there are yearly fees that must be paid in accordance to the level of certification that he/she has attained. In addition, residents must pay a yearly lot fee, but each leaseholder is responsible for the property around his/her cottage or abode.

In order to qualify to be a leaseholder, a person must be a member in good standing of the IAOS, and it is preferred that the person be able to offer something in the form of “service” to the IAOS and to Camp Chesterfield. This usually is in the form of being able to do platform mediumship, teach classes, or to assist in some aspect of the running of the association and camp. The leaseholder then may purchase a home by working out the details of the sale privately with the current owner. The lease is for ninety-nine years; meaning that the leaseholder only owns the structure, with the land being owned solely by the association.  Should a resident transition into Spirit, the person’s heirs do not automatically have the right to reside in the home.  If the person is a member of the IAOS, then he/she can apply for a lease.  If not, then the family member is required to sell the home to a member who is approved to have a lease on the grounds.

In order to become a working medium on the grounds, the medium must go before the board to be tested for the gift(s) he/she would like to demonstrate publicly at services or to be offered from their homes on the grounds. Resident mediums who wish to offer development classes to aspiring mediums must get board approval. Each phase of mediumship must then be approved by the board (for example, a medium may be allowed to offer regular development classes, but if he/she would wish to offer “trance-mediumship” classes, then separate approval would be necessary to do so).  The testing by the board is to ensure that the medium’s gift is sufficiently developed in terms of accuracy to be worthy of being a certified “Chesterfield Medium.”

ISSUES/CHALLENGES

As with many denominations that experienced a crisis in membership, the 1990s and 2000s witnessed a drop in overall church attendance at Camp Chesterfield. There was also a decrease in monetary donations and fewer students opting to matriculate into the educational programs that offered certification as healers, mediums and associate ministers, as well as eventual ordination into the Spiritualist ministry. This trend has changed in recent years with higher attendance and an increase in students wishing to develop their mediumship.

People often initially seek out a Spiritualist medium due to a tragedy with which they need to find solace and closure. Once this occurs, many adherents move on to other spiritual endeavors or return to their mainstream church from which they initially came. Such temporary interest, of course, does not supply the camp with dedicated members who will continue to support the church and its activities.

Spiritualism historically is not a missionary or evangelical-based religion, instead believing that “those who are meant to come will find it on their own.” Spiritualism also has been very slow and hesitant to accept modern technology in spreading its message, preferring to take a spiritual attitude toward such endeavors. Spiritualism‘s peer religions, Mormonism and Christian Science, have been much more successful in maintaining their religions by proselytizing and conforming more rapidly to technological changes in modern society.

Camp Chesterfield continues to exist due in large part to the original vision of its founding members and the commitment of its longtime secretary, Mable Riffle. Historically, Spiritualism has regularly endured times of great prosperity and times of near extinction. Camp Chesterfield, as it modernizes its appeal to a new generation of spiritual seekers, will continue to offer confirmation of life after death to those who come through its gates. Although the number of visitors and members may not be as large as it was during its heyday, as interest in the paranormal and communication with the “dead” heightens, so may interest in this “Old Age” religion.

IMAGES

Image #1: Rev. Mable Riffle, long-time Secretary of the Indiana Association of Spiritualists. Photo courtesy of Camp Chesterfield’s Hett Art Gallery and Museum Archives.
Image #2: The Bangs Sisters, Lizzie and May, circa 1900.  Photo courtesy of Camp Chesterfield’s Hett Art Gallery and Museum Archives. .
Image #3: Spirit painting  of Dr. Daugherty sitting for a portrait. His wire and twin children appeared in the painting. Photo courtesy of Camp Chesterfield’s Hett Art Gallery and Museum Archives.
Image #4: A life-sized precipitation spirit portrait of Mrs. Emily Carson for her husband during a sitting with the Bangs Sisters in 1894. Photo courtesy of Camp Chesterfield’s Hett Art Gallery and Museum Archives.
Image #5: National Register of Historic Places plaque dedication, June 2015. Photo courtesy of the author.
Image #6: An early photograph of the mediums’ shanties with visitors’ tents. Photo courtesy of Camp Chesterfield’s Hett Art Gallery and Museum Archives.
Image #7: An early camp meeting at Camp Chesterfield circa 1890s. Photo courtesy of Camp Chesterfield’s Hett Art Gallery  and Museum Archives.

REFERENCES **

** Unless otherwise noted, the material in this profile is drawn from Todd J. Leonard Historic Camp Chesterfield and the Indiana Association of Spiritualists (IAOS)—A Spiritual Center of Light. Sunflower Series. Chesterfield, IN:  Camp Chesterfield Publishing.

Camp Chesterfield website. n.d. Accessed from www.campchesterfield.net on 3 December 2018.

Harrison, P., et al. 1986. Chesterfield Lives!  Spiritualist Camp—1886-1986:  Our First Hundred Years. Chesterfield, Indiana:  Camp Chesterfield Press.

Hattaway, M. 2008. Personal Conversation. Camp Chesterfield, Indiana.

Leonard, Todd J. 2018. Historic Camp Chesterfield and the Indiana Association of Spiritualists (IAOS)—A Spiritual Center of Light. Sunflower Series. Chesterfield, IN:  Camp Chesterfield Publishing.

Richey, L. 2009. Personal Interview. Indiana Association of Spiritualists (IAOS) Headquarters. Historic Camp Chesterfield, Chesterfield, Indiana.

SUPPLEMENTARY RESOURCES

Austin, B.F. 1924. The Religion of Abraham Lincoln. Los Angeles: The Austin Publishing Company.

Buckley, William R. 2011. Precipitated Spirit Paintings, the Bangs Sisters, and Camp Chesterfield. Moorseville, IN: Mooresville Public Library Indiana Room. Retrieved on February 12, 2014 at http://mplindianaroom.blogspot.jp/2011/01/bangs-sisters-and-precipitated-spirit.html.

Buescher, John B. 2004. The Other Side of Salvation: Spiritualism and the Nineteenth-Century Experience. Boston: Skinner House Books.

Bundy, John C. 1888. “The Angel of Death Enters the Bangs Household.” Religio-Philosophical Journal, April 14. Accessed from http://spirithistory.iapsop.com/spirit_materialization. html on 15 June 2019.

Cadwallader, Mary E. 1917.  Hydesville in History. Lily Dale, NY: National Spiritualist Association of Churches (NSAC).

Camp Chesterfield, Hett Art Gallery and Museum Archives, Indiana Association of Spiritualists (IAOS). n.d. Accessed from https://campchesterfield.net/?s=archive on 15 June 2019.

Colburn-Maynard, N. 2016 [1891]. Was Abraham Lincoln a Spiritualist? Curious Revelation from the Life of a Trance Medium. Leopold Classic Library: South Yarra, Victoria, Australia.

Hett Art Gallery & Museum. n.d. (circa 1950) Informational Brochure. Camp Chesterfield, Hett Art Gallery Museum, Chesterfield, IN.

Leonard, Todd J. and J.P Hall. 2018. “Protecting, Promoting, and Enhancing America’s Unique Spiritualist History through Official Designation, Documentation, and Brick and Mortar Preservation:  A Case Study of Historic Camp Chesterfield…A Purpose Built Spiritualist Camp in the United States Listed in the National Register of Historic Places.” University of Teacher Education Fukuoka Bulletin 67:43-54.

Leonard, Todd J. 2017. “Give Me Some of that Old Time Religion—How the Tradition of Camp Meetings Influenced Modern Spiritualism—A Study of Historic Camp Chesterfield.” University of Teacher Education Fukuoka Bulletin 66:27-48.

Leonard, Todd J. 2016. A Paper Commissioned by the John Fetzer Trust about Spiritualism, Spiritualist Camps, Camp Chesterfield, and Physical Phenomena. Unpublished research paper. John Fetzer Trust, Vicksburg, Michigan.

Leonard, Todd J. 2016 “Spiritualism Revisited:  A Research Study on the Status of Spiritualist Camps throughout the United States.” Pp. 8-35 in Association for the Scientific Study of Religion Southwest Annual Proceedings. Houston, TX.

Leonard, Todd J. 2010. “A Spiritualist Center of Light Since 1886—The Spiritualist Community that Talks to the Dead—Historic Camp Chesterfield.” Pp. 1-13 in Association for the Scientific Study of Religion Southwest Annual Proceedings. Dallas, TX.

Leonard, Todd J. 2008. “Women of Substance: The Fox Sisters—Influential Voices of the Spiritualist Movement in 19^th Century America.” Pp. 81-100 in Association for the Scientific Study of Religion Southwest Annual Proceedings. Houston, TX.

Leonard, Todd J. 2005. Talking to the Other Side:  A History of Modern Spiritualism and Mediumship—A Study of the Religion, Science, Philosophy and Mediums that Encompass this American-Made Religion. Lincoln, NB:  iUniverse, Inc.

Nagy, Ron. 2006. Precipitated Spirit Paintings. Lakeville, MN:  Galde Press.

Richey, L. 2009. Personal interview. Indiana Association of Spiritualists (IAOS) Headquarters, Historic Camp Chesterfield, Chesterfield, Indiana.

Stuart, Nancy Rubin. 2005. The Reluctant Spiritualist: The Life of Maggie Fox. New York: Harcourt.

United States Park Service. 2002. “National Register of Historic Places.” Accessed from www.nps.gov/history/nr/listings/20020726.htm on 15 June 2019.

Weisberg, Barbara. 2004. Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the Rise of Spiritualism. San Francisco: Harper.

Publication Date:
22 June 2019

SUNNI ISLAM TIMELINE

632:  The Prophet Muhammad died.

657:  The Battle of Siffin took place.

661:  The Umayyad Caliphate took place.

730s:  The teaching of Abu Hanifa al-Nuʿman ibn Thabit began.

750:  The Umayyad dynasty was replaced by the Abbasid dynasty.

840s:  Yaʻqub ibn ʼIshaq al-Kindi became prominent for his philosophy.

Late 900s:  Fragmentation of the Abbasid Caliphate began.

1095:  Abu Hamid al-Ghazali abandoned exoteric knowledge for the esoteric.

1258:  Baghdad was sacked by the Mongols.

1320s:  The Ottoman empire began to take shape.

1501:  The Shi’i Safavids established control of Persia.

1536:  The Franco-Ottoman alliance was established.

1545:  The Chief of Islam (shaykh al-Islam) was appointed by the Ottomans.

1630:  The first known Muslim immigrant arrived in America.

1744:  Muhammad ibn Abd a-Wahhab’s mission began.

Late 1700s:  The Ottomans revived title of Caliph.

1875:  Syed Ahmad Khan opened the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College.

1893:  The first mosque in America was opened by Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb.

1899:  Muhammad Abduh was appointed Grand Mufti of Egypt.

1922:  The Ottoman empire fell.

1928:  The Society of the Muslim Brothers was founded by Hassan al-Banna.

1930:  The All-India Muslim League started to press for a state for Muslims.

1932:  The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded.

1947:  Pakistan was separated from India.

1970s:  The modern Salafi movement began.

1973:  Pakistan became an Islamic republic.

1975:  The Lebanese Civil War began.

1979:  The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan took place.

2001:  The 9/11 attacks on the U.S. by al-Qaeda took place.

2013:  The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham was established.

FOUNDER/GROUP HISTORY 

Islam was established by the Prophet Muhammad (Muhammad ibn Abdullah, 570-632), and Sunni Islam then emerged as a distinct denomination in a two-stage process beginning soon after the death of the Prophet. First, a political disagreement about who should succeed the Prophet as leader of the Muslims and ruler of the territories that they had conquered divided the Muslims into two distinct groups. Second, understandings of Islam then developed separately and differently within these two groups over several centuries, and a distinct “Sunni” Islam came into being, as did a distinct “Shi’i” Islam.

The political split between Sunnis and Shi’a can be dated to the battle of Siffin in 657, twenty-five years after the death of the Prophet. At this battle, the fourth Caliph (successor to the Prophet), Ali ibn Abi Talib (601-61), the husband of the Prophet’s daughter Fatima (d. 632), fought with the governor of Syria, Muʿawiya ibn Abi Sufyan (602-680), a distant relative of the Prophet and the son of a powerful tribal leader. The battle ended in a truce, but after Ali’s murder in 661, Muʿawiya established himself as Caliph, and also established a family dynasty that controlled the Caliphate for almost a century, the Umayyad dynasty. The Umayyads, who built the Dome of the Rock [image at right], were opposed by the supporters of Ali’s family, who became known known as the Shi’a. Umayyad forces put down a rebellion led by Ali’s son Husayn (625-680), killing Husayn in the process. The Umayyads were a distinctly anti-Shi’i dynasty, then, and Muʿawiya can thus be seen as the political founder of Sunni Islam.

Muʿawiya was a soldier, not a theologian, and the theological founders of Sunni Islam were the scholars or ulama whose work became a standard reference under the Sunni dynasty that succeeded the Umayyads in 750, the Abbasids. The four most important of these early ulama were Abu Hanifa al-Nuʿman ibn Thabit (699-767), who started teaching in the 730s, and then Malik ibn Anas (died 795), Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafiʿi (767-820), and Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal (780-855). All of these four ulama taught the proper behavior of a Muslim, deriving rules for living (fiqh) from two sources, the Quran, which is understood to be the actual words of God, and the sunna, the practice of the Prophet, as recorded in the hadith (accounts of the Prophet’s sayings and actions). This emphasis on the sunna led to them and those like them being known as ahl al-sunna, the people of the sunna, the origin of the term “Sunni.” There are several Sunni hadith collections, of which the most important are by Muhammad al-Bukhari (810-870) and Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (815-875), which have often been published with extensive commentaries [image at right]. While the Quran is the same for all Muslims, these hadith collections are distinctively Sunni.

Four slightly different understandings of the fiqh came to be associated with Abu Hanifa, Malik, al-Shafiʿi, and ibn Hanbal, giving rise to four slightly different versions of Sunni fiqh, known as madhhabs or “schools of law:” the Hanifi, the Maliki, the Shafiʿi, and the Hanbali (Melchert 1997). Despite differences in details, all of these accepted a common methodology, based most importantly on reference to the Quran and sunna. The four Sunni madhhabs, then, are equally Sunni. Following the Sharia (broad religious law) according to one of them became the essential theological distinction between a Sunni Muslim and a non-Sunni Muslim. Exactly which madhhab a Sunni Muslim followed was largely a question of geography: the Hanifi madhhab became the norm in the north east (Turkey to Central Asia and India), the Maliki in the west and south west (southern Egypt to Senegal), and the Shafiʿi in the south east (Indonesia) and parts of the Middle East (northern Egypt). The Hanbali madhhab did not establish any geographical dominance until more recently, but was still generally accepted. The theory developed that while the madhhabs differed from each other in details, all were in the end equally acceptable as formulations of Sunni Islam. They are not, then, separate denominations.

Sunni Islam, as formulated in the four Sunni madhhabs, became the religion of the majority of Muslims under the Abbasid Caliphate and then under the other Muslim-ruled states that succeeded the Abbasid Caliphate as it fragmented between the late tenth century and its extinction at the hands of the invading Mongols in 1258. Historically, the only important Muslim states to be ruled by Shi’i Muslims were the short-lived Fatimid empire based on Cairo from 969 to 1171, and the longer-lived Persian empire based in Iran from 1501, of which today’s Iran is the successor. Today, Sunni Muslims are the majority in all Muslim-majority states save Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, and Bahrain.

Three phases can be distinguished in the history of Sunni Islam. The first is the formative phase, coinciding with the lives of the founders of the four madhhabs discussed above, and lasting until about 900. The second is the mature phase, from about 900 until about 1800. During this phase, although there were occasional theological disputes and organizational developments in various parts of the Sunni Muslim world, the basic tenets of Sunni Islam changed little, partly because the Sunni world was so vast, 8,500 miles from Dakar in Senegal to Jakarta in Indonesia. It was hard for any one event or process to impact the whole of this area.

The third phase, from about 1800 onwards, is the modern phase, during which a variety of new factors and pressures did impact the whole of the Sunni world, and both theology and organization began to change rapidly. Most of the Muslim world shared the difficult experience of forcible incorporation into European empires. Senegal came under French control, Indonesia came under Dutch control, and many countries in between, notably in South Asia and (after the First World War) the Middle East, came under British control. Then, after the Second World War, all these countries shared the experience of decolonization, the Cold War, and postcolonialism. Today, all inhabit an increasingly globalized world. There are thus global trends and global movements, of which the most important, discussed below, are the emergence of new trends within Sunni Islam (liberal, Islamist, Jihadist, and “Salafi”).

There have always been Sunni Muslim minorities in non-Muslim countries, and (especially since the 1960s) this has included America. Although the first known Muslim immigrant to America arrived in about 1630 (GhaneaBassiri 2010:9) and many African-born slaves who arrived later must have been Muslims, Islam was not really established in America until the twentieth century. The first known mosque in America, built in New York in 1893 by Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb (1846-1914), [image at right] soon closed (Abd-Allah 2006:17-18). It was after the Second World War that new patterns of global migration first brought significant numbers of Sunni Muslims to North America and Western Europe.

DOCTRINES/BELIEFS

Like all Muslims, Sunni Muslims believe that there is one single true god, called Allah, who created the world and humanity, sent a series of prophets to tell people how to live their lives, and will judge all humans individually on the Day of Judgment, sending some to heaven and others to hell. They believe in a series of prophets culminating in Muhammad, and also believe that the Quran is the word of God.

Beyond this, Sunni Muslims believe in the importance of following the sunna as well as the Quran, and Sunni rituals and practices should, at least in principle, all have a basis in the Quran or sunna, normally the sunna, as the Quran deals more with general principles than with details. An alternative justification for a ritual or practice is ijma, the consensus of the Muslims, in practice the consensus of the Sunni ulama. This, as we will see below, has sometimes been challenged.

Despite the Sunni emphasis on following the Sharia, no-one will be saved at the Day of Judgment by their own faith and works alone: only the mercy of God, who is often referred to as “the Most Merciful” (al-rahman), will save people from “the fire,” as hell is generally termed.

Various beliefs concerning the relationship between God and creation are found within Sunni Islam. Some Sunni Muslims, especially Salafis and followers of the Hanbali madhhab, discourage speculation in these matters, but Sunni Muslim philosophers from Yaʻqub ibn ʼIshaq al-Kindi (801-866) onwards developed the work of Aristotle and (especially) Plato to understand the relationship between the Necessary Being, the soul, and existence. The greatest of these philosophers, Ibn Sina (980-1037) and Ibn Rushd (1126-98), became known in the Latin world as Avicenna and Averroes, and their work was foundational to Western scholastic philosophy (Akasoy and Giglioni 2013). This work was partly challenged by Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali (1058-1111), who, though himself trained as a scholar and philosopher, abandoned exoteric knowledge for the esoteric in 1095, and thereafter insisted on the primacy of revelation and the importance of personal piety and ascetic exercises. He wrote at length on knowledge, faith, conduct and ethics. The central concerns of most Sunni ulama, however, were more practical: the fiqh. Difficult questions relating to resolving possible impediments to particular acts of worship and variations in the division of inheritances occupied much thought and ink.

The political doctrines of Sunni Islam, in contrast, remained relatively underdeveloped until quite recently. In theory, the Caliph was understood to be the representative of God on earth (Black 2001), but in practice there was never a single Sunni Caliphate after 750, when the Abbasids defeated the Umayyads and took most, but not all, of their territories. The Umayyads continued to rule in Andalus (now in Spain and Portugal) and yet another dynasty, the Idrisids, soon established their independent rule over Morocco. Especially since the beginning of the fragmentation of the Abbasid Caliphate in the late tenth century, Sunni Muslims have generally lived under different local rulers. These have generally claimed religious legitimacy as supporters of Sunni Islam, but have not claimed or exercised authority over religious doctrine or practice, which has instead been exercised by the ulama. The ulama, in return, have generally taught that individual Muslims have a duty of loyalty to any ruler who does not actually take steps against Islam, a view embodied in the famous saying that “Sixty years of tyranny are better than one day of anarchy.” The Sunni ulama have generally supported Sunni rulers, and Sunni rulers have generally supported Sunni Islam.

Sunni political thought began to develop rapidly during the nineteenth century, however. Initially, the discovery of the thought of the Enlightenment and modern (nineteenth-century) natural science spurred the development of liberal and modernist theology that sought to harmonize Islam with the discoveries of natural science and the perspectives of the liberal political and social thought of the time (Hourani 1962). Liberal modernism was generally well-disposed towards the West, as a model or even as a ruling power. The leading Arab modernist, the Egyptian Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905), liked to take his summer vacations in Europe (Sedgwick 2010), while the leading South Asian modernist, the Indian Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898) [image at right], stressed his loyalty to the British Empire, joined the (British) Viceroy’s Council, and was rewarded with a knighthood.

Soon, however, Islam was combined with another nineteenth-century movement, nationalism, producing “nationalist” Islamism. The theory of nationalism is that each nation should have its own state, and nationalist Islamists see Muslims as constituting distinct nations. The All-India Muslim League thus started in 1930 to press for a separate state for India’s Muslims, an aim that was achieved in 1947 with the separation of Pakistan from India. Some 375,000,000 Sunni Muslims now live in Pakistan and Bangladesh, Muslim-majority states brought into existence by this combination of Islam and nationalism (Khan 2017; Riaz 2916).

A second form of “ideological” Islamism is the idea that states inhabited by Muslims should be “Islamic” states, that is, run according to the principles of Islam, not according to secular systems such as capitalism or socialism. Especially during the Cold War, socialism was popular in the Muslim world, partly because it presented an alternative to the capitalist systems left by the European colonial powers. There was only ever one officially Marxist-Leninist Muslim state, the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen), but Bangladesh became a People’s Republic, Algeria became a People’s Democratic Republic, and many Arab states adopted authoritarian state-socialist systems that were close to Soviet models, and allied themselves with the U.S.S.R. Alternative Islam-based ideologies were developed by intellectuals such as Abul A’la Maududi (1903-1979) in India and then Pakistan, and by Hassan al-Banna (1906-1949) [image at right] in Egypt (Kraemer 2010). These Islamist ideologies generally criticized both capitalism and socialism and promoted Islam as a “third way” that was not only superior to non-Islamic alternatives but also more culturally authentic.

As doctrines, both nationalist and ideological Islamism stress their objectives (a state for Muslims or an Islamic state, as the case may be) rather than the means for achieving those objectives, which are more a question of tactics than of doctrine. Most Islamists use standard political means, from student groups and daily newspapers to political parties and election campaigns, which vary according to their circumstances. One other means for achieving Islamist objectives, however, has recently become so widespread that it is almost a form of Islamism in its own right. This is “jihadism,” the idea that every individual Muslim is religiously obliged to take up arms in defense of Islam to achieve an Islamic, Muslim state. Jihadism is a contemporary development of a medieval doctrine that encouraged military service among Muslims fighting non-Muslims by declaring it a religious duty and promising salvation for “martyrs” who fell in battle. This doctrine had lost significance as Muslim states joined the international alliance system (the Sunni Ottoman empire established an alliance with France in 1536), established regular armies, and drafted men into them as enlisted soldiers. It was successfully revived, however, by non-state irregular forces, which modified it to suit their needs (Peters 1979).

RITUALS/PRACTICES

The key rituals and practices of Sunni Islam are the standard rituals and practices of Islam (prayer, charity, fasting, and hajj) discussed in the WRSP entry on Islam. The Sunni version of these rituals and practices differs in minor details between the madhhabs, which differ collectively in other details from the Shi’i version, but no more. While the Shi’s have rituals and practices that the Sunnis do not have, the Sunnis do not have rituals and practices of any importance that the Shi’a do not have. Sunni Sufis follow standard Sunni rituals and practices, as well as Sufi rituals and practices, discussed in the WRSP entry on Sufism.

There are, however, certain minor rituals and practices that are distinctively Sunni. One of these is the careful avoidance of images,  especially images of humans and animals, which are thought to be forbidden by the sunna. For many centuries, Sunni visual art was primarily non-representational; art forms such as tile-work with geometric patterns thus became highly developed [image at right]. Photographs, film and video are now almost universally accepted, but residences are still often decorated with finely-calligraphed Quranic texts or painted images of uninhabited landscapes, and representational images are never found in mosques (Sedgwick 2006: 30-131, 134). Representation of the Prophet is understood as entirely forbidden. Many Shi’i Muslims, in contrast, do not consider images, including images of the Prophet, to be forbidden.

ORGANIZATION/LEADERSHIP

Sunni Islam is in theory led collectively by the ulama, but there are no collective structures to give practical expression to this collective leadership. In the absence of any central organization, the leadership of Sunni Islam has always been fragmented and decentralized. In recent years, international conferences bringing together members of the Sunni ulama from across the world are sometimes held, but these have had no real impact.

Although the Sunni ulama have no collective structures, however, they do have both institutions and specializations. The creation and transmission of religious knowledge was, until very recently, organized around the institution of the madrasa or school, supported by the waqf or foundation. There have been many types of madrasa, starting with village schools where children learn the Quran, and culminating in the major madrasas found in the major cities. Some of these major madrasas are famous across the Sunni world, as some major universities are famous across the West. Among them are the Qarawiyyin in Morocco [image at right] and the Azhar in Cairo, both of which are based in equally famous mosques. These madrasas and their students and staffs of researchers and teachers were independent, self-governing institutions financed by waqf, normally land and property that had been given by the rich and powerful in earlier ages for charitable purposes. As well as madrasas, waqf also supported public services from non-teaching mosques to hospitals, baths and soup kitchens. The administrators of waqf were normally themselves ulama, giving the ulama economic power in addition to religious and intellectual prestige, and buttressing their independence.

Another important institution was the law court. Many of those who had studied in the madrasas worked as judges or clerks, though not as lawyers, as the employment of an attorney was understood as a form of corruption: the duty of a judge was to ascertain the truth as well as to apply the law. Judges tried all varieties of cases, inheritance, contract, and sometimes also criminal cases. The judge, unlike the teacher, was not independent, as he depended on the civil power for the enforcement of his judgments. A judge did not himself command armed men.

As the judge and the clerk were the key specializations of the law court and the student and teacher were the key specializations of the madrasa, so the preacher and the imam were the key specializations of the mosque, which was sometimes an institution as well as a building. The preacher preached, and the imam [image at right] led the prayer, and in the great mosques of the great cities these were important and well-paid jobs. In smaller and rural mosques that were buildings more than institutions, in contrast, both preacher and imam were normally part-time amateurs who knew enough of the Quran to get by.

One further specialization of the Sunni ulama was the mufti. In principle, the job of the mufti was to provide learned and authoritative answers to difficult questions. These questions might in principle be asked by anyone, but in practice were often asked by a judge or a ruler. These answers or fatwas were purely advisory, unlike the judgements of a judge, but carried great weight and authority, as only the most learned and respected of the ulama were accepted as muftis. The fatwas of great muftis were often collected and studied by future generations of ulama. 

In addition to these institutions and specializations of the Sunni ulama, there were also Sufi institutions and specializations, of which the most important were the tariqa or order and the murshid or spiritual guide. These have their own WRSP entry.

All these Sunni ulama were in principle independent of the civil power, save that the judge was dependent on the civil power for the enforcement of his judgments, as has been noted. In practice, however, rulers often used their powers of patronage to influence the senior ulama, for example by giving the property to establish a waqf and then retaining control of the operation of that waqf. The Ottoman Empire (1320s to 1922) went beyond this, integrating the senior ulama into the machinery of state (İnalcık 1973). The emperor or Sultan appointed a chief judge who then appointed judges in various provinces, who then appointed their own deputies. The Ottoman judiciary was thus centralized under the control of the Ottoman state. From 1545, the Ottoman Sultan also appointed the mufti of Istanbul as “Chief of Islam” (Shaykh al-Islam), responsible in theory for the whole of the Ottoman ulama. From the late eighteenth century onwards, the Ottoman Sultans revived the use of the title Caliph, claiming universal authority over the whole of the Sunni world (Deringil 1991). In practice, the Ottoman Caliphs never exercised any real authority beyond their own empire, but the Ottoman model of state-controlled ulama was very influential, and state-controlled ulama later became almost the Sunni norm.

The organization of the ulama changed everywhere during the nineteenth century, as reforming states took even stronger measures to control the ulama. Among the most effective of these was the nationalization of waqf, which transformed the ulama from an independent power into employees of the state. The relative importance of the ulama also declined during this period as states introduced systems of national education that rivaled and replaced the madrasa, and systems of statute legislation and secular courts on Western models that rivaled and replaced the Sharia. Newspapers and journalists rivaled and replaced the ulama’s influence over public opinion. As the main job of the ulama came more and more to consist of preaching and collecting a modest government salary, the ambitious and talented abandoned the madrasa to study engineering, medicine, or secular law. Increasingly, influential new understandings of Islam came not from the ulama but from journalists and lay public intellectuals.

Of the great classic institutions of Sunni Islam, then, the mosque remains, often under state control. Waqf has generally vanished into the machinery of state, however, madrasas have generally been incorporated into state-run universities, and Sharia courts survive only in extremely unusual countries, most importantly Saudi Arabia, which was built during the 1930s and 1940s around understandings of Islam that rejected all institutions that had no basis in the sunna (Commins 2006]. Elsewhere, although following the Sharia remains a religious obligation for Sunni Muslims, criminal and commercial law, and sometimes also family law, follow much the same norms as in the West.

As the old ulama institutions lost their importance, new forms of organization took their place. Some early ones were liberal in orientation, while later ones were often inspired by nationalist or ideological Islamism. The Indian liberal Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, for example, founded a Muslim learned society on the Western model, the Scientific Society of Aligarh, in 1864, and then in 1875 established a modern-style educational institution for Muslims, the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College, which opened on the birthday of Queen Victoria. In 1889, another Indian liberal modernist who stressed his loyalty to the British, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908), founded the Ahmadiyya Movement. As time passed, this became more and more controversial among Sunni Muslims, as the followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad came to see him as the messiah, a new prophet, the metaphorical second coming of Jesus. The Ahmadiyya thus crossed one of Sunni Islam’s major red lines, and although it still describes itself as Muslim, is no longer part of Sunni Islam.

Among Islamist organizations, the All-India Muslim League, inspired by nationalist Islamism, has already been mentioned. It was dissolved in 1947 after achieving its purpose with the separation of Pakistan from India. Nationalist organizations are still found in other countries where majority-Muslim areas remain part of larger non-Muslim states. In Jammu and Kashmir, Muslim-majority parts of India that might logically have become part of Pakistan but did not, there is the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (founded 1976). In Patani, a Muslim-majority part of Buddhist-majority Thailand, there are a number of organizations, including the National Revolutionary Front (founded 1963). A similar pattern is followed in many other areas, including Muslim states such as Afghanistan when occupied by non-Muslim forces, as Afghanistan was after the Soviet invasion in 1979. Nationalist Islamist organizations are often engaged in violent conflict, including terrorism.

The most important ideological Islamist organization was the Society of the Muslim Brothers (MB), established in Egypt in 1928 by al-Banna, the Islamist intellectual who has already been mentioned. The MB, which has its own WRSP entry, was dedicated to religious, moral, and political reform, and was a mass organization of a type that had never been seen before in the Muslim world. At its height in the 1940s, it had perhaps 2,000,000 members in Egypt. Al-Banna established a unique organizational form, borrowing from military, paramilitary and party models, finally incorporating something very similar to the cell structure of the Communist Party, an organization with which the MB was in fierce competition.

Egyptian politics before, during and immediately after the Second World War were unstable and fast changing, and at times the MB was a new religious movement, at times a political party, and at times a militia. All three forms of activity have since been repeated by Sunni ideological Islamist groups. Some, like the Tablighi Jam’aat (established 1926) and the Fethulah Gülen Movement (established 1976) (both with their WRSP entries), focus on their own members and on preaching Islam, though they can also have political importance and be controversial. Others, like the Armed Islamic Group, which fought the Algerian state during the Algerian Civil War (1991-2002), or, later, Boko Haram (established 2009) and Islamic State (established 2013) (both with their own WRSP entries) focus on jihad, including the attempted overthrow of governments and the conquest of territory. Yet more organizations focus on winning elections: this category includes the MB in twenty-first century Egypt, which organized a political party and won one election before becoming controversial and being overthrown by a military coup. It also includes AK, a Turkish party that has now won several elections and is thought by some to have moved from its Islamist roots to being the vehicle of its leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 1954) [image at right], and (less famously) PAS, the Malaysian Islamic Party, which has won and lost numerous state elections, though it has never done well in federal elections.

Very occasionally, ideological Islamism becomes the official ideology of a state, as when in 1973 Pakistan declared itself an “Islamic republic,” followed in 1983 by Sudan, which proclaimed the introduction of Sharia law, and in 1996 by Afghanistan, which declared itself an “Islamic emirate” or state. The meaning of this in practice varies considerably. Pakistan remains an imperfect electoral democracy on generally good terms with the United States, with some laws reflecting Islamic norms, for example banning the purchase of alcohol by Muslims (a law that is enforced patchily). Sudan became a military dictatorship hostile to the United States where rather more Islamic norms have been incorporated into statue law. As an Islamic emirate, the Afghan state remained weak, but harbored al-Qaeda and combined a model similar to the Saudi one with local autonomy which often followed ancient tribal custom more than Islam.

ISSUES/CHALLENGES

As we have seen, the ijma (consensus) of the ulama historically came second only to the Quran and sunna among the bases of Sunni Islam. This ijma is in theory the result of the interpretation of the Quran and sunna, but in practice it has often been thought that it is enough to show the existence of ijma, for example in the teachings of one of the madhhabs, without further reference to the texts in the Quran and sunna that in principle support the ijma. Some Sunni ulama have, however, challenged this, emphasizing the importance of the original sources. One of the most important of these was Taqi al-Din Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah (1263-1328) a Hanbali who attacked many of the generally accepted views and practices of his time as bida (unacceptable innovation, the opposite of sunna) (Rapoport and Ahmed 2010). Even more important was Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792), who led a puritan reformist movement in the Arabian Peninsula that condemned much ijma as bida (Crawford 2014). Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab is one of the major inspirations for the Salafi movement, an important contemporary Sunni movement that stresses the importance of returning to the pure practice of the salaf, the first generations of Muslims. Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s richest and most influential Muslim states, generally supports this view. Many Muslims, however, reject Salafism, and the competition between Salafi and non-Salafi interpretations of Islam is now the major doctrinal issue facing Sunni Islam. Salafi interpretations, especially in their Saudi form, are generally more restrictive, notably in regard to ritual and practice, to gender issues, and to social relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. Sometimes ideological Islamism has incorporated Salafi perspectives.

In addition to these doctrinal issues, some of the biggest issues confronting Sunni Islam today, especially in the Middle East, are political. Many Muslim states in the Middle East and North Africa have experienced painful sectarian conflicts comparable to the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) or Islamist-state conflicts comparable to the Algerian Civil War (1991-2002), including the Syrian Civil War (since 2011), which combines both varieties of conflict. These conflicts have directly engaged many Sunni Muslims, normally on one side during sectarian conflicts and on both sides in non-sectarian political conflicts. Sunni Muslims elsewhere have been indirectly engaged, as sympathizers or as horrified bystanders. There have also been smaller conflicts, violent and non-violent, involving ideological Islamists in Muslim states in the Middle East and North Africa that have avoided civil war, and also in Muslim states elsewhere in the world. In Egypt, for example, the political activities of the Muslim Brothers between 2011 and 2013 and the military repression that followed the 2013 coup sharply divided public opinion, while many self-declared “secular” Turks have been horrified by the ascendency of AK. In Indonesia a generally well-functioning democratic system has seen Jemaah Islamiyah carry out several terrorist operations.

These political issues within Sunni Islam are of greatest concern to most Sunni Muslims in the Middle East, but tensions between Islam and the West have also been of concern, especially for Muslims who travel or live in the West. Reactions to terrorist attacks which kill hundreds or even, on 9/11, thousands of people, make life uncomfortable for Western Muslims, as does an increasingly hostile political environment, represented in the United States by President Trump’s attempted “Muslim Ban” and in Europe by anti-Islamic rhetoric from populist nationalist parties [image at right]. So far, European legislation such as the ban in many countries on the niqab (the face-veil) has directly impacted relatively few Muslims, as it is only a minority (mostly Salafis) that believes the niqab to be required. Many Muslims who are not directly affected by such legislation, however, fear further measures that may adversely affect them.

IMAGES

Image #1: Dome of the Rock. Photo by Stacey Franco on Unsplash.
Image #2 Fath al-Bari, Commentary on the Sahih of al-Bukhari, by Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani.
Image #3 Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb.
Image #4: Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, KCSI.
Image #5: Hassan al-Banna.
Image #6: Tiles and stucco work in Morocco. Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash.
Image #7: Qarawiyyin mosque and madrasa in Fez, Morocco. Photo by Fabos.
Image #8: Turkish imam in 1707, by Jean-Baptiste Vanmour.
Image #9: Election campaign banner for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Gaziantep, Turkey. Photo by Adam Jones. CC BY-SA 2.0.
Image #10: Swiss poster promoting constitutional ban on minarets. Photo by Rytc. Creative Commons.

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Publication Date:
17 June 2019