The Civic Church

November 12, 2023 By Shawn F. Higgins

THE CIVIC CHURCH ~ Choral Service, Sunday Evening, April 14, 1907. Carnegie Hall.[1] On April 14, 1907, the civic leader of New York were preparing for the great National Arbitration and Peace Congress, an event largely sponsored by Industrialist-Philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie. During the day there were gatherings devoted to peace throughout the city, and many clergymen made the theme the topic their morning sermons. Alexander Irvine was among those who devoted a podium to the topic. There were... Read more

Where Vishnu Slumbers In His Sea-Girt Shrine

November 11, 2023 By Shawn F. Higgins

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WHERE VISHNU SLUMBERS IN HIS SEA-GIRT SHRINE ACT III. VI. ⸻ “That so great a mind could not have taken in that splendid teaching of the Sages…” Olcott sighed.[1] He was recounting the story of his meeting with Max Müller to Charley and Ragunath Row, Baroness Kroumess, and Verochka. Joining them was Noguchi Zenshirō, a representative for a committee of Japanese Buddhists, who arrived in Adyar on December 3, 1888, with an invitation for Olcott to lecture in Japan.[2] “There... Read more

A Yankee In King David’s Court

November 10, 2023 By Shawn F. Higgins

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THE NEW PILGRIM’S PROGRESS Mark Twain c. 1867 (Source: Wiki) In 1867 Mark Twain was among the passengers of the Quaker City. The ship was on a five-month voyage, or “pleasure excursion,” in Europe, and the “Holy Land.” His clever observations would be result in bis first major success, The Innocents Abroad (1869.) His humor made the work stand out as an unconventional travelogue. A critique of the performative religiosity of his fellow passengers, for example, was... Read more

Fadism

November 5, 2023 By Shawn F. Higgins

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Words are meaningless. We give words meaning. We give words meaning to convey an idea. If a word does not convey an idea, then why bother using it? Have you ever met someone who said, “I’m spiritual but not religious?” I’m willing to bet you have. I’m also confident that you know what that means. Have you ever met someone who said, “I’m religious but not spiritual?” I’m less confident that you have. I’m sure you have met someone who... Read more

Mount Hope

November 4, 2023 By Shawn F. Higgins

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Herman Melville watched the Petra party leave on a French steamer for Alexandria on the afternoon of January 22, 1857. “I am the only traveler sojourning in Jaffa,” Melville thought as he passed the dark, stone, houses with their arched vaults. At thirty-seven years old, Melville was struggling, having found little success with his book, Moby Dick, when it was published five years earlier. His reputation declined inversely and proportional to his increase of depression, debt, and ill health. The... Read more

The Porkington Manuscript

November 1, 2023 By Shawn F. Higgins

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An excessive heatwave blanketed New York in July 1911.[1] Acton Griscom, a month shy of his twentieth birthday, was grateful for the evening sea breeze on the porch of The Oriental Hotel. He was excited for the future.[2] The letter he just sent was, admittedly, a rather bold procedure, but there was no other course to take. He did what needed to be done. His request to borrow a priceless object from Lord Harlech was unconventional, but his letter... Read more

Before The Atma Awakes

October 22, 2023 By Shawn F. Higgins

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BEFORE THE ATMA AWAKES ACT III. V. ⸻ Immediately after the Notice of the formation of the Esoteric Section in Lucifer, Blavatsky sent out a formal communication to all applicants, marked “strictly private and confidential.” It contained an introductory statement, and a summary titled “Rules of the Esoteric Section (Probationary) of the Theosophical Society,” the “Pledge of Probationers in the Esoteric Section,” and some preliminary questions and requirements to be responded to by the applicant. Hundreds of the most active... Read more

The One Who Thinks He Knows

October 21, 2023 By Shawn F. Higgins

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THE ONE WHO THINKS HE KNOWS ACT III. IV. ⸻ The tall pale man with lupine eyes sat on the edge of his bed in London Hospital. He concluded his story with the same emotionless rhythm as when he began. It was unsettling. W.T. Stead was beginning to share in the belief of the police that this man the veritable Jack the Ripper. Stead, of course, kept this to himself.[1] “I entered,” said the man. “Lord Lytton was standing... Read more

Old Shep

October 16, 2023 By Shawn F. Higgins

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Lamasery. David A Curtis, “one of the cleverest reporters on the New York press,” paid a visit to “The Lamasery,” the Theosophical headquarters, on March 20, 1878. It was a large house dedicated to French flats on Eighth Avenue & 47th Street, in the “new” neighborhood of Longacre near the massive carriage factory of Brewster & Co.[1] When Brewster moved their operations there in 1872 the neighborhood became the center of the carriage business in New York.... Read more

Felo De Se, Or The Airdsmen And The Skeleton

October 16, 2023 By Shawn F. Higgins

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The Airdsmen huddled over the skeleton in the trench. “Who do ya ‘spose it was?” It was a balmy day in late July 1886. The “Airdsman,” that is, the workmen in the employ of John Aird & Sons, had been laying a main for the Commercial Gas Company when they made their remarkable discovery. Six feet below the surface, at the intersection of Cannon Street Road and Cable Street, in St. George’s-in-the-East, they found a skeleton with a stake driven... Read more