G. R. S. Mead
Encyclopedia
George Robert Stowe Mead (Nuneaton
, 22 March 1863–28 September 1933) was an author, editor, translator, and an influential member of the Theosophical Society
as well as the founder of the Quest Society.
, Warwickshire, England on the 22nd of March 1863. He was born to Colonel Robert Mead, an Officer in the British Army and to Mary Mead, who had received a traditional education at Rochester Cathedral School.
. Eventually shifting his education towards the study of Classics he gained much knowledge of both Greek and Latin. In 1884 he completed a bachelor of arts degree, in the same year he also began to practice the position of public school master.
. This comprehensive theosophical account of the eastern religion prompted Mead to contact two theosophists in London named Bertam Keightly and Mohini Chatterji, which eventually led him to join the Theosophical Society.
Mead became a member of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's Theosophical Society in 1884. He abandoned his teaching profession in 1889 to be Blavatsky's private secretary and also became a joint-secretary of the Esoteric Section (E.S.) of the Theosophical Society. The E.S. was for those whom the Theosophical Society deemed more advanced.
G.R.S Mead received Blavatsky's six Esoteric Instructions and other teachings at twenty-two meetings headed by Blavatsky which were only attended by the Inner Group of the Theosophical Society. It was because of the intimacy Mead felt with the Inner Group that he married Laura Cooper in 1899.
Contributing intellectually to the Theosophical Society, at first most interested in eastern religions, he quickly became more and more attracted to western esotericism of religion and philosophy, particularly Neoplatonism
, Gnosticism
and Hermeticism
, though his scholarship and publications continued to engage with eastern religion. Making many contributions to the Theosophical Society's Lucifer as joint editor, he eventually became the sole editor of The Theosophical Review in 1907 (as Lucifer was renamed in 1897).
As of February 1909, Mead and some seven-hundred members of the Theosophical Society's British Section resigned in protest of Annie Besant's reinstating of Charles Webster Leadbeater
to membership in the society. Leadbeater had been a prominent member of the Theosophical Society until he was accused in 1906 of teaching masturbation to the sons of some American Theosophists under the guise of occult training. While this prompted Mead's resignation, his frustration at the dogmatism of the Theosophical Society may also have been a major contributor to his break with the society. He had been a member for twenty-five years.
, W.B. Yeats, Hermann Hesse
, Kenneth Rexroth
, and Robert Duncan
. In her celebrated biography of Jung, Deirdre Bair states that Carl Gustav Jung was also influenced by George Mead, himself owning at least eighteen of Mead's books (Bair, 2003, p. 297), but Sonu Shamdasani, 2005, states otherwise, at p. 100, fn 316.
Nuneaton
Nuneaton is the largest town in the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth and in the English county of Warwickshire.Nuneaton is most famous for its associations with the 19th century author George Eliot, who was born on a farm on the Arbury Estate just outside Nuneaton in 1819 and lived in the town for...
, 22 March 1863–28 September 1933) was an author, editor, translator, and an influential member of the Theosophical Society
Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society is an organization formed in 1875 to advance the spiritual principles and search for Truth known as Theosophy. The original organization, after splits and realignments has several successors...
as well as the founder of the Quest Society.
Birth and family
George Robert Stowe Mead was born at NuneatonNuneaton
Nuneaton is the largest town in the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth and in the English county of Warwickshire.Nuneaton is most famous for its associations with the 19th century author George Eliot, who was born on a farm on the Arbury Estate just outside Nuneaton in 1819 and lived in the town for...
, Warwickshire, England on the 22nd of March 1863. He was born to Colonel Robert Mead, an Officer in the British Army and to Mary Mead, who had received a traditional education at Rochester Cathedral School.
Education at Cambridge University
Having shown academic potential George Mead began studying mathematics at St John's College, CambridgeSt John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
. Eventually shifting his education towards the study of Classics he gained much knowledge of both Greek and Latin. In 1884 he completed a bachelor of arts degree, in the same year he also began to practice the position of public school master.
Activity with the Theosophical Society
While still at Cambridge University Mead read Esoteric Buddhism by Alfred Percy SinnettAlfred Percy Sinnett
Alfred Percy Sinnett was an English author and Theosophist.- Biography :Sinnett's father died while he was young, by 1851 Sinnett is listed as a "Scholar - London University", living with his widowed mother Jane whose occupation is listed as "Periodical Literature", and his older sister Sophia age...
. This comprehensive theosophical account of the eastern religion prompted Mead to contact two theosophists in London named Bertam Keightly and Mohini Chatterji, which eventually led him to join the Theosophical Society.
Mead became a member of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's Theosophical Society in 1884. He abandoned his teaching profession in 1889 to be Blavatsky's private secretary and also became a joint-secretary of the Esoteric Section (E.S.) of the Theosophical Society. The E.S. was for those whom the Theosophical Society deemed more advanced.
G.R.S Mead received Blavatsky's six Esoteric Instructions and other teachings at twenty-two meetings headed by Blavatsky which were only attended by the Inner Group of the Theosophical Society. It was because of the intimacy Mead felt with the Inner Group that he married Laura Cooper in 1899.
Contributing intellectually to the Theosophical Society, at first most interested in eastern religions, he quickly became more and more attracted to western esotericism of religion and philosophy, particularly Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism , is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists, with its earliest contributor believed to be Plotinus, and his teacher Ammonius Saccas...
, Gnosticism
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
and Hermeticism
Hermeticism
Hermeticism or the Western Hermetic Tradition is a set of philosophical and religious beliefs based primarily upon the pseudepigraphical writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus...
, though his scholarship and publications continued to engage with eastern religion. Making many contributions to the Theosophical Society's Lucifer as joint editor, he eventually became the sole editor of The Theosophical Review in 1907 (as Lucifer was renamed in 1897).
As of February 1909, Mead and some seven-hundred members of the Theosophical Society's British Section resigned in protest of Annie Besant's reinstating of Charles Webster Leadbeater
Charles Webster Leadbeater
Charles Webster Leadbeater was an influential member of the Theosophical Society, author on occult subjects and co-initiator with J. I. Wedgwood of the Liberal Catholic Church...
to membership in the society. Leadbeater had been a prominent member of the Theosophical Society until he was accused in 1906 of teaching masturbation to the sons of some American Theosophists under the guise of occult training. While this prompted Mead's resignation, his frustration at the dogmatism of the Theosophical Society may also have been a major contributor to his break with the society. He had been a member for twenty-five years.
The Quest Society
In March 1909 Mead founded the Quest Society, composed of 150 defectors of the Theosophical Society and 100 other new members. Very intentionally this new society was planned to be an undogmatic approach to the comparative study and investigation of religion, philosophy, and science. The Quest Society had lectures at Kensington Town Hall in central London but its most focused effort was in its publishing of The Quest: A Quarterly Review which ran from 1909-1931 with many contributors.Influence
Among notable names influenced by G.R.S. Mead there can be found: Ezra PoundEzra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet and critic and a major figure in the early modernist movement in poetry...
, W.B. Yeats, Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature...
, Kenneth Rexroth
Kenneth Rexroth
Kenneth Rexroth was an American poet, translator and critical essayist. He is regarded as a central figure in the San Francisco Renaissance, and paved the groundwork for the movement...
, and Robert Duncan
Robert Duncan
-Arts:*Robert Duncan , American music critic*Robert Duncan , British TV actor*Robert Duncan , U.S. composer*Robert Duncan , U.S. poet-Politics:...
. In her celebrated biography of Jung, Deirdre Bair states that Carl Gustav Jung was also influenced by George Mead, himself owning at least eighteen of Mead's books (Bair, 2003, p. 297), but Sonu Shamdasani, 2005, states otherwise, at p. 100, fn 316.
Works
- Simon Magus (1892)
- Orpheus (1895/6)
- Pistis Sophia (1896, 1921 ed).
- Pistis Sophia at sacred-texts
- Fragments of a Faith Forgotten (1900 1st edition);
- Fragments of a Faith Forgotten at sacred-texts.
- Apollonius of Tyana 1905, at sacred-texts.
- Thrice Greatest Hermes, vol. 1
- Thrice Greatest Hermes, vol. 2
- Thrice Greatest Hermes, vol. 3 (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1906) at sacred-texts.
- The Hymns of Hermes
- The Gnosis of the Mind
- Commentary on "Pœmandres"
- Introduction to Pistis Sophia
- 3rd edition 1931 pp.241- 249 Introduction to Marcion
- Gnostic John the Baptizer: Selections from the Mandæan John-Book (1924)
- Did Jesus Live 100 BC?
- Address read at H.P. Blavatsky's cremation
- Concerning H.P.B.
- Doctrine of the Subtle Body in Western Tradition
External links
- Extensive on-line collection of the writings of GRS Mead (at the Gnosis Archive)
- Brief bio with poor picture
- Same picture, but much larger and clearer
- Later Picture with no text
- Long biography
See also
- PoemandresPoemandresPoimandres is a chapter in the Corpus Hermeticum. Originally written in Greek, the title was formerly understood to mean "Man-Shepherd" from the words ποιμήν and ἀνήρ, but recent studies on its etymology have shown that it is actually derived from the Egyptian phrase Peime-nte-rê meaning...
- Gospel of MarcionGospel of MarcionThe Gospel of Marcion, called by its adherents the Gospel of the Lord, was a text used by the mid-2nd century Christian teacher Marcion to the exclusion of the other gospels...
- Pistis SophiaPistis SophiaPistis Sophia is an important Gnostic text, possibly written as early as the 2nd century. The five remaining copies, which scholars place in the 5th or 6th centuries, relate the Gnostic teachings of the transfigured Jesus to the assembled disciples , when the risen Christ had accomplished eleven...
- Thomas Taylor
- HermeticaHermeticaThe Hermetica are Greek wisdom texts from the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE, mostly presented as dialogues in which a teacher, generally identified with Hermes Trismegistus or "thrice-greatest Hermes", enlightens a disciple...
- Acts of JohnActs of JohnThe Acts of John is a collection of narratives and traditions concerning John the Apostle, well described as a "library of materials" , inspired by the Gospel of John, long known in fragmentary form...
- Mandaeanism
- MarcionismMarcionismMarcionism was an Early Christian dualist belief system that originated in the teachings of Marcion of Sinope at Rome around the year 144; see also Christianity in the 2nd century....
- GnosticismGnosticismGnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...