Higgins, Godfrey (1772-1833)

Godfrey Higgins, a British writer in the Western esoteric tradition, was born in rural Yorkshire, England. His father, a country gentleman, owned Skellow Grange, an estate near Doncaster. He attended Trinity Hall, at Cambridge University and the Temple in London, but due to a shortage of funds was unable to complete his course of study at either institution. His father died in 1799 and he became the squire of Skellow Grange. He married a short time later. As Napoleon's power grew and threatened an invasion of England, Higgins joined the Yorkshire militia and rose to the rank of major before illness forced his retirement. He remained active in local affairs, and joined the campaign for more humane treatment of mental patients. As he regained his health, he traveled widely, including several trips to Italy.

Higgins is remembered today primarily for two books he authored. One, Apolcalypsis is a 1,500 page volume that became a major source used by Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, cofounder of the Theosophical Society, in the preparation of her early work, Isis Unveiled. The subtitle to Higgins' book read, An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil of the Saitic Isis. An earlier volume, The Celtic Druids, became a building block of the contemporary revival of Druidism.

In his magnum opus, Higgins demonstrated his assimilation of a vast amount of eclectic material assembled through his reading and travels. Apocalypsis presents a history of the human race from a Gnostic esoteric perspective. God, The unknowable One, produced the universe through a process of emanation. The One emanates Wisdom, the divine plan of creation. Further emanations lead to the appearance of a deific Trinity of Creator, Preserver and Regenerator. Still further emanations lead to the appearance of lesser deities and humans, all possessed of a spark of divinity. The earliest race of humans were a people of one language, one color (black), and one religion. That religion was Buddhism, which Higgins understood to date to far ancient times. There was a true Golden Age in these ancient times. Inherent in the truths known as this time were immortality of the soul, metempsychosis (reincarnation ), the final reabsorption of all things in the One, and the periodic renewal of the worlds.

The Golden Age, during which time the earth's axis was 90 degrees from its orbit was ultimately destroyed by the collision of the earth with three comets, each of which caused a significant but partial deluge. The earth's axis tilted, producing the present day seasons and 365 day year. Two astrological cycles have subsequently become important, the astrological age of 2160 years and the Neros cycle marked by the conjunction of the Sun and moon at the spring equinox that occurs approximately every 600 years. Changes of cycles are marked by social disruptions and messianic expectations. A Neros cycle was coming to an end as Higgins wrote and he noted the existence of various millennial teachers claiming special insight in his day such as Joanna Southcott and Richard Brothers. He also set the beginning of the Piscean Age in 350 B.C.E., thus dating the emergence of the Aquarian Age in 1801.

Higgins believed that all religions had their bases in solar worship as the sun was the most universal symbol of The One. Jesus is seen as a solar Christ and his crucifixion symbolizing the sun crossing the celestial equator at the vernal equinox, between two astrological ages. He described himself as a Christian, but had little attachment to the church and denounced the teaching of Paul the Apostle.

Higgins completed volume one of Apocalypsis in 1830 and it was printed in parts over the next three years. While working on volume two, he died on August 9, 1833; it was published in 1836. The publication was pursued by his son.

Sources:

Godwin, Joscelyn. The Theosophical Enlightenment. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995.

Higgins, Godfrey. Apocalypsis, an Attempt to Draw aside the Veil of the Saitic Isis; or an Inquiry into the Origin of Languages, Nations and Religions. 2 vols. London, 1933, 1836.

——. The Celtic Druids. London: Rowland Hunter, 1829.