Temple of the People

The Temple of the People formed out of the American Theosophical Society in Syracuse, New York, in 1898. The American Theosophists had broken with the international theosophical movement under William Q. Judge, who died just a few years later. Judge was succeeded by Katherine Tingley, who enjoyed strong but less than universal support. Members of the Syracuse lodge were among those who broke with Tingley and established the independent temple.

The Temple of the People was led by Dr. William H. Dower (1866-1937), known by members as "Red Star," and Francis A. LaDue (1849-1922), known as "Blue Star." The pair channeled the masters of the Great White Brotherhood, that group of advanced souls believed by Theosophists to guide the destiny of humankind. They had a special relationship to "Hilarion," the master of the fifth, or red, ray. The channeled sessions were published in the massive book Theogenesis, which came to be regarded as the third volume of Madame Blavatsky's magnum opus, The Secret Doctrine, Volume 1: Anthropogenesis, and Volume 2: Cosmogenesis.

Dower outlived LaDue as the leader of the temple and was succeeded by Pearl F. Dower and Harold Forgostein. When Forgostein died in 1990, he was succeeded by Eleanor Shumway, the present guardian-in-chief. The temple may be contacted at Box 7100, Halcyon, CA 93421. It has some 200 members worldwide.

Sources:

Kagan, Paul. New World Utopias. Baltimore, Md.: Penguin Books, 1975.

Teachings of the Temple. 3 vols. Halcyon, Calif.: Temple of the People, 1947-85.

Theogenesis. Halcyon, Calif.: Temple of the People, 1981.