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Charles Webster Leadbeater (/ ˈ l ɛ d ˌ b ɛ t ər /; 16 February 1854 – 1 March 1934) was a member of the Theosophical Society, Co-Freemasonry, an author on occult subjects, and the co-initiator, with J. I. Wedgwood, of the Liberal Catholic Church.
- Early Life
- Introduction to Theosophy, Blavatsky, and The Masters
- Early Theosophical Work
- Occult Training
- Accusations, Resignation and Return to The Society
- International Lecture Tours
- Krishnamurti
- Liberal Catholic Church
- Years at The Manor
- Writings
Charles Webster Leadbeater was born in Stockport, Cheshire, England to Charles Leadbeater, a railway contractor's clerk, and his wife Emma. The date of his birth was February 16, 1854, and his christening took place on March 19, 1854. The England Censuses of 1861 and 1881 confirm that year. However, in the early 1880s, Leadbeater gave his birth dat...
In 1883, Mr Leadbeater read a copy of A. P. Sinnett’s book The Occult World and became very interested in Theosophy. He met the author, who was at the time receiving letters from two of the Masters of Wisdom, and joined the London Lodge of the Theosophical Society, in November 1883. He was immediately attracted to the ideal of the Masters and felt ...
In 1886 Leadbeater was a member of the small headquarters staff at Adyar, along with President-Founder Colonel Olcott, A. J. Cooper-Oakley, and a few Indian workers. Very little money was coming into Adyar in those days apart from small incomes made selling books and coconuts. "When the [carriage] horses died one after another, for several months M...
In his book How Theosophy Came to Me, Leadbeater described the training that allowed him to develop clairvoyance:
In early 1900, some adolescents were put under Leadbeater's education to be trained in occultism. Some of them, who felt the pressure of sexual thoughts, were advised to masturbate to ease the urge. This advice was controversial at a time when even doctors held the opinion that masturbation could lead to insanity. Leadbeater argued that this view w...
Soon after joining the Theosophical Society Leadbeater traveled to India and arrived in time for the annual Convention of the Society for 1884. Shortly after the end of the Convention, Leadbeater accompanied Olcott to Burma and they introduced Theosophy to the Burmese. When Olcott was called back to Adyar, Leadbeater took over the lectures, discuss...
In May, 1909, C. W. Leadbeater ran into 13-year old J. Krishnamurti who was playing in the beach, exhibiting "the most wonderful aura he has ever seen, without a particle of selfishness." Although Theosophist and scholar Ernest Wood, who had tried to help the boy with his homework, considered him to be dim-witted, Leadbeater predicted that Krishnam...
In 1914 Leadbeater moved to Sydney, Australia, and attracted many people of a younger generation by his lectures, his more informal talks and the guidance he was able to give. It was in Sydney that he entered on a new phase of his life story. Already in Europe he had been fascinated to observe the inner effects of church services and other ceremoni...
In 1922 a large house called “The Manor” was acquired, overlooking Sydney Harbour, and there Bishop Leadbeater lived with a resident community of those who came from many countries to learn from him, including a high proportion of young people of both sexes. At the same time he succeeded Wedgwood as Presiding Bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church. ...
Mr. Leadbeater wrote an extensive body of work, which is listed in Leadbeater writings. Often he collaborated with Annie Besant in writing about esoteric subjects. Young people such as Basil Hodgson-Smith and Fritz Kunz assisted with his massive correspondence, and Ernest Woodhelped to compile some of the books. When touring, Leadbeater and his ass...
A Biography of Charles Webster Leadbeater by Gregory Tillett 1982. Hardcover, 337 pp. "Is he the world's greatest occultist and psychic? Or the worst sort of charlatan and con-man? These widely ranging views of Charles Leadbeater were current in his lifetime and even now, years after his death in 1934, he remains a controversial figure.
A leading figure of the Theosophical Society (TS) “second generation” (c. 1900-1934), Charles W. Leadbeater was a prominent theosophical writer, speaker, and teacher.
Thought-Forms: A Record of Clairvoyant Investigation is a theosophical book compiled by the members of the Theosophical Society A. Besant and C. W. Leadbeater. It was originally published in 1905 in London. [1][note 1] From the standpoint of Theosophy, it tells opinions regarding the visualization of thoughts, experiences, emotions and music.
Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. Leadbeater, C (harles) W (ebster) (1854-1934) British clergyman, occultist, and author who played a prominent part in the Theosophical Society. Leadbeater was born February 16, 1854. While a curate in the Church of England in Hampshire, he became interested in Theosophy and eventually left the Church.
Abstract. Leadbeater was a man who made the most startling claims for himself, and made them in a very matter-of-fact way. [4] He declared that he had penetrated the depths of the atom by his psychic powers, discovered the ultimate unit of matter whilst sitting in a park on the Finchley Road ...
