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Theosophy has a long and complex history. It is a confusing subject, in that the word Theosophy implies more than one thing. In some instances, it refers to an area of study (in the same sense as the word philosophy), in some cases it refers to a group or cult movement(i.e. The Theosophical Society), and it can also refer to its literal definition; Divine Wisdom. It comes from the words Theos, meaning God(or Divine) and Sophia, meaning Wisdom. It has come to refer, not to the actual knowledge of the existence of the Gods themselves, but to a Divine Wisdom which is possessed by the Gods (Blavatsky, Key to Theosophy).
Theosophy is categorized as an Ancient Wisdom tradition. Ancient Wisdom has a timeless history, which cannot be traced. In general, the Ancient Wisdom is the prime source of all religions, knowledge and moral principles. It is the foundation of all that evolved from this world. Theosophy states that all religions of the world today, although different on the surface, are basically the same (Ellwood, Pp 48-40) . They all deal with human morals, and on the importance of being good, loving and compassionate. They all place emphasis on something higher and grander than the material world, such as God, heaven, nirvana. This is all based on Ancient Wisdom.
There have been many groups devoted to the study of Ancient Wisdom. Because Ancient Wisdom is so old, and predates history, people often assume that it is primi tive and inferior to current religions. The practices of believers can be classified as occultist, esoteric, and spiritual. Occult refers to the study or practice of religion which is outside the mainstream religions. Esoteric and spiritual refer to a way of learning and communicating with higher powers through non-traditional methods. These words often have a negative connotation, but one must not pre-judge. It is commonly accepted that the older religions and rituals were based more upon spirituality than on scripture and dogma (after all, the rituals existed before writing.) As religion has moved through time, its emphasis has shifted from a participatory event to almost a spectator event (This applies more to Western religion than Eastern (Ellwood, Pp 51). With the shift, people have assumed that there must have been something wrong with