Charles Webster Leadbeater

C. W. Leadbeater

Henry Steel Olcott (1832-1907, left), Annie Besant (1847-1933, centre) and Charles Webster Leadbeater (1847-1934, right) in Adyar (Chennai) in December 1905.

Charles Webster Leadbeater

Charles Webster Leadbeater as Bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church, Sydney, Australia 1925

Charles Webster Leadbeater (* 17.2.1847/16.2.1854, + 29.2.1934 Adyar), was one of the best known and most controversial members of the Adyar-TG and initiator of the Liberal Catholic Church. According to current research, C. W. Leadbeater was born in Stockport on 16 February 1854. He, however, gave his birthday as 17 February 1847.

When Leadbeater joined the Theosophical Society in 1883, he was still a priest of the Anglican Church. The following year he met Helena Petrovna Blavatsky in London. Soon afterwards he also came into letter contact with his Master (via "Ernst" to K.H.). On 04.11.1884 he left England for Adyar/India as Chela the "Master of Wisdom". His journey took him to Paris, Marseille, Alexandria, Port Said and other places. On 21.12.1884 he arrived in Adyar, the headquarters of the Society, and took "refuge with the Buddha".

From 1895 he was intensively engaged in research on "Occult Chemistry" and "Esoteric Christianity". From 1886 to 1889 he lived mainly in Ceylon. Together with H. S. Olcott he travelled to many villages in order to fulfil his task of building up the Theosophical Society. Fundamental are his works on the colours of the aura and the chakras.

Around the turn of the century, his "supporters", e.g. Annie Besant, and his "enemies" (e.g. Katherine Tingley) began to form. The "Leadbeater scandal" became more and more widespread. He was accused of immoral sexual acts. He taught his students, among other things, personal hygiene (washing naked) as well as self-control and liberation from negative spiritual thoughts through masturbation. In lengthy court cases, all accusations were refuted, but the rumours persisted. After the court of honour proceedings of 1906 he resigned from the Theosophical Society, but already at the end of 1908 the gates of the Theosophical Society opened for him again.

Leadbeater arrived back in Adyar on 10.02.1909. Probably in May 1909 he discovered the 15-year-old Hindu boy Krishnamurti ("Alcyone" - The Brightest Star of the Pleiades). Due to school and private circumstances, Leadbeater took him into the care of the Theosophical Society. Early in 1910 he received an initiation by Leadbeater. He was to become the new "World Teacher" and was described as the Christ come again. Leadbeater prepared him for this great task. In 1913 Rudolf Steiner therefore finally separated from the Theosophical Society. In 1929 Krishnamurti dissolved his "Order of the Stars" and renounced the messiah role imposed on him.

On 20.02.1914 C. W. Leadbeater left India for New Zealand and Australia. In 1915 he was admitted to Freemasonry. In 1916 he joined the Old Catholic Church and was ordained Regional Bishop of Australia. On 06.09.1918, the name of this religious community was changed to the Liberal Catholic Church.

In the spring of 1933 Leadbeater went to Adyar to stay by the side of Annie Besant, who was seriously ill, until her death on 20.09.1933. He conducted her funeral services.

In January of the following year, already seriously ill, he returned to Australia. On 29.02.1934 he fell into a coma and died in the afternoon.

Works (selection)

• Dreams (What they are and how they are caused) (1893)
• Theosophical Manual Nº5: The Astral Plane (Its Scenery, Inhabitants and Phenomena) (1896)
• Theosophical Manual Nº6: The Devachanic Plane or The Heaven World Its Characteristics and Inhabitants (1896)
• Invisible Helpers (1896)
• Reincarnation (1898)
• Our Relation to Our Children (1898)
• Clairvoyance (1899)
• Thought Forms (with Annie Besant) (1901)
• An Outline of Theosophy (1902)
• Man Visible and Invisible (1902)
• Some Glimpses of Occultism, Ancient and Modern (1903)
• The Christian Creed (1904)
• Occult Chemistry (with Annie Besant) (1908)
• The Inner Life (1911)
• The Perfume of Egypt and Other Weird Stories (1911)
• The Power and Use of Thought (1911)
• The Life After Death and How Theosophy Unveils It (1912)
• A Textbook of Theosophy (1912)
• Man: Whence, How and Whither (with Annie Besant) (1913)
• Vegetarianism and Occultism (1913)
• The Hidden Side of Things (1913)
• Australia & New Zealand: Home of a new sub-race (1916)
• The Monad and Other Essays Upon the Higher Consciousness (1920)
• The Inner Side Of Christian Festivals (1920)
• The Science of the Sacraments (1920)
• The Lives of Alcyone (with Annie Besant) (1924)
• The Liturgy According to the Use of the Liberal Catholic Church (with J.I. Wedgwood) (Second Edition) (1924)
• The Masters and the Path (1925)
• Talks on the Path of Occultism (1926)
• Glimpses of Masonic History (1926) (later pub 1986 as Ancient Mystic Rites)
• The Hidden Life in Freemasonry (1926)
• The Chakras (1927) (published by the Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton, Illinois, USA)
• Spiritualism and Theosophy Scientifically Examined and Carefully Described (1928)
• The Noble Eightfold Path (1955)
• Messages from the Unseen (1931)

German

• Das höhere Selbst. Aquamarin-Verlag, Forstinning 1982; ISBN 3-922936-16-4
• Das Leben in der geistigen Welt. Aquamarin-Verlag, Grafing 2000; ISBN 3-922936-76-8
• Der sichtbare und der unsichtbare Mensch. Aquamarin-Verlag, Grafing 2004; ISBN 3-89427-287-2
• Die Chakras, eine Studie über die Kraftzentren im menschlichen Ätherkörper. Aquamarin-Verlag, Grafing 2004; ISBN 3-89427-288-0
• Die Meister und der Pfad. Aquamarin-Verlag, Grafing 2003; ISBN 3-89427-249-X
• Hellsehen. Aquamarin-Verlag, Grafing 2010; ISBN 978-3-89427-536-5