Theosophical Society in Costa Rica
The Theosophical Society in Costa Rica was the local branch of the world Theosophical Society based in Adyar, India. It was founded on March 27, 1904 in the city of San José, and like Freemasonry in Costa Rica, it was the first in Central America, 1 it was introduced by the Spanish painter based in Costa Rica Tomás Povedano who began in Spanish theosophy.[1] Its first lodge or branch was the Virya Branch, which published a magazine of the same name, currently it has four branches or lodges; Virya, Shakti Lodge, Dharma Lodge and HPB.[2]
Theosophy in Costa Rica had an important cultural and intellectual roots in the country, rapidly becoming popular among important sectors of the country's intellectual elite and significantly influencing different political, cultural and artistic movements. Some of the prominent Costa Ricans who have been Theosophists include the aforementioned Povedano, the poet
History
The Theosophical Society was founded in March 1904 by Tomás Povedano and the Bertod family of Cuban origin, although previously Jorge Madriz, son of the former president and Freemason
In 1916, the International Bank of Costa Rica, which then worked as a coin minter and was chaired by the theosophist Walter J. Field (Povedano's son-in-law), printed a ten-colón banknote with Field's image showing the theosophical symbol on the flap of his jacket, which caused a scandal by the Church. President
It is debated how much these disagreements between Catholics and Theosophists had to do with the enmity that arose between González and Tinoco. On January 27, 1917, Tinoco would carry out a
Overthrown Tinoco after the
On October 6, 1933, Jiddu Krishnamurti visited Costa Rica as part of a tour of Latin America that included Brazil, Uruguay and Mexico. Krishnamurti was enthusiastically received by most of the local theosophical community, although by that time there were differences between Theosophists who denied the messianic character of Krishnamurti and those who supported the thesis of Annie Besant, nevertheless most of the Costa Rican Theosophists were of the second group.[5] The visit did not go unnoticed by the Catholic Church, which reacted furiously.[5]
After these turbulent periods, the presence of the Theosophical Society stabilized, integrating without major controversy into Costa Rican society. Currently, the Costa Rican Theosophical Society is part of the Inter-American Theosophical Federation like most American theosophical societies, and holds public lectures and free courses every week.[2]
References
- ^ ISSN 1659-4223.
- ^ a b c Villalobos Salgado, Jorge Andrés. "Teoosfía". Prolades.
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(help) - ISBN 9-78-0-415-26707-6.
- ^ Introvigne, Massimo (23 November 1997). "Démissionnaires, partants ordinaires et apostats: une étude quantitative auprès d'anciens membres de Nouvelle Acropole en France" (in French). CESNUR. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
- ^ a b c d "El hechizo de Krishnamurti en Costa Rica". La Nación. 2 July 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
- ^ Porras, Carlos (2 July 2017). "Julio Acosta García, el presidente que viajaba en bus". mislibrosconnotas.blogspot.com. Retrieved 16 December 2018.