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Theosophist

Alex Audziayuk — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 18:23:42 GMT

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	[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]		[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
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Trikaya

Alex Audziayuk — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 23:22:31 GMT

Linked to the Russian Wiki page

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	[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]		[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
			[[ru:Трикая]]

Transcendental Painting Group (TPG)

SysopJ — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 20:11:34 GMT

Influence of Theosophy

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	==Influence of Theosophy==		==Influence of Theosophy==

	[[Nicholas Roerich]] had a very strong influence on Raymond Jonson and Emil Bisttram. In 1921, Jonson met Nicholas Roerich at the Art Institute of Chicago during a Roerich exhibition.<ref>https://artmuseum.unm.edu/raymond-jonson-web-portal/tpg/</ref> Bisttram’s interest in Dynamic Symmetry led him to the teachings of Roerich, [[P. D. Ouspensky]], and [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky\|H. P. Blavatsky]]. Bisttram taught at Roerich’s Master Institute of United Arts in New York before moving to Taos and starting his own school in 1932.<ref>“The Artists Who Wanted to Rise Above It All”, Jonathan Griffin, November 20, 2021, https://apollo-magazine.com/transcendental-painting-group-new-mexico/ , p. 19</ref> Both participated in Cor Ardens (flaming heart), a group founded by Roerich dedicated to “universal expression.”<ref>“Hidden Meanings in Abstract Art” by Maurice Tuchman, The Spiritual in Art: Abstract Painting 1890-1985, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, p. 43, 1986</ref> Other members of the group, such as Agnes Pelton, were profoundly impacted by Roerich’s Agni Yoga.		'''[[Nicholas Roerich]]''' had a very strong influence on Raymond Jonson and Emil Bisttram. In 1921, Jonson met Nicholas Roerich at the Art Institute of Chicago during a Roerich exhibition.<ref>https://artmuseum.unm.edu/raymond-jonson-web-portal/tpg/</ref> Bisttram’s interest in Dynamic Symmetry led him to the teachings of Roerich, [[P. D. Ouspensky]], and [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky\|H. P. Blavatsky]]. Bisttram taught at Roerich’s Master Institute of United Arts in New York before moving to Taos and starting his own school in 1932.<ref>“The Artists Who Wanted to Rise Above It All”, Jonathan Griffin, November 20, 2021, https://apollo-magazine.com/transcendental-painting-group-new-mexico/ , p. 19</ref> Both participated in Cor Ardens (flaming heart), a group founded by Roerich dedicated to “universal expression.”<ref>“Hidden Meanings in Abstract Art” by Maurice Tuchman, The Spiritual in Art: Abstract Painting 1890-1985, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, p. 43, 1986</ref> Other members of the group, such as Agnes Pelton, were profoundly impacted by Roerich’s Agni Yoga.

	Although each member had a slightly different perspective, they all wanted to reach beyond the material world to develop art that was engaging, meditative, and soulful.<ref> See Michael Duncan: The Transcendental Painting Group, Crocker Art Museum YouTube channel, November 14, 2022, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fQdFEnU29eo </ref>. This lined up with the teachings of Theosophy and the ancient wisdom. In addition, theosophical writings such as [[Thought Forms (book)\|''Thought Forms]]'' and [[Wassily Kandinsky]]’s book ''Concerning the Spiritual in Art'' (1912), which makes numerous references to Theosophy, had a strong influence on members.		Although each member had a slightly different perspective, they all wanted to reach beyond the material world to develop art that was engaging, meditative, and soulful.<ref> See Michael Duncan: The Transcendental Painting Group, Crocker Art Museum YouTube channel, November 14, 2022, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fQdFEnU29eo </ref>. This lined up with the teachings of Theosophy and the ancient wisdom. In addition, theosophical writings such as [[Thought Forms (book)\|''Thought Forms]]'' and [[Wassily Kandinsky]]’s book ''Concerning the Spiritual in Art'' (1912), which makes numerous references to Theosophy, had a strong influence on members.

Irving Kane Pond

SysopJ — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 15:34:47 GMT

Circus and acrobatics

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	</blockquote>		</blockquote>

	On his 80th birthday, he grabbed his bare knees with both hands and performed a that was caught in a published in ''Life'' magazine in June 1937.<ref>Anonymous, "Life on the American Newsfront: Octogenarian Architect Turns Birthday Back Flip" ''Life'' (June 14, 1937): 28. See [https://books.google.com/books?id=yUQEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Life+1937+Pond&pg=PA28 Life]].</ref>		On his 80th birthday, he grabbed his bare knees with both hands and performed a that was caught by a photographer and published in ''Life'' magazine in June 1937.<ref>Anonymous, "Life on the American Newsfront: Octogenarian Architect Turns Birthday Back Flip" ''Life'' (June 14, 1937): 28. See [https://books.google.com/books?id=yUQEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Life+1937+Pond&pg=PA28 Life]].</ref>

	[[File:Northwestern_University_Settlement_House_.jpg\|right\|250px\|thumb\|Northwestern University Settlement House]]		[[File:Northwestern_University_Settlement_House_.jpg\|right\|250px\|thumb\|Northwestern University Settlement House]]

	=== Settlement House movement ===		=== Settlement House movement ===

Henry Steel Olcott

SysopJ — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 13:10:25 GMT

Military service

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	While working as Associate Agricultural Editor of the ''New York Tribune'', he was American correspondent of the Mark Lane Express, London. In 1859, while reporting the hanging of John Brown, the abolitionist, for the Tribune, Olcott was arrested as a spy and condemned to death. However, he was released upon his appeal to his captors under the seal of confidence as a Freemason.		While working as Associate Agricultural Editor of the ''New York Tribune'', he was American correspondent of the Mark Lane Express, London. In 1859, while reporting the hanging of John Brown, the abolitionist, for the Tribune, Olcott was arrested as a spy and condemned to death. However, he was released upon his appeal to his captors under the seal of confidence as a Freemason.

	In 1862, he enlisted in the Northern Army and fought through the North Carolina campaign under General Burnside. Continuing in the Northern army after that campaign, he became ill and was sent to New York for recuperation. ~~Colonel Olcott possessed extraordinary courage, both physical and moral, and it was during this period of his life that this characteristic began to show itself strongly.~~		In 1862, he enlisted in the Northern Army and fought through the North Carolina campaign under General Burnside as a signals officer. Continuing in the Northern army after that campaign, he became ill and was sent to New York for recuperation.

	[[File:HSO Civil War Medal .jpg\|250px\|right\|thumb\|Medal awarded to Col. Olcott]]		[[File:HSO Civil War Medal .jpg\|250px\|right\|thumb\|Medal awarded to Col. Olcott]]

	When he was well enough, instead of returning to active service in the army, the government asked him to conduct an inquiry into suspected frauds at the New York Mustering and Discharging Office. For four years, in the face of the most active opposition, Olcott continued this investigation despite threats, false accusations, and offers of bribes. At the end of that time, he had secured enough evidence to result in the conviction of the leading criminal, who was sentenced to ten years imprisonment and also the dismissal of others implicated. For this service, he received a letter of recognition from Secretary Stanton stating that his service was "as important to the Government as the winning of a great battle".		When he was well enough, instead of returning to active service in the army, the government asked him to conduct an inquiry into suspected frauds at the New York Mustering and Discharging Office. For four years, in the face of the most active opposition, Olcott continued this investigation despite threats, false accusations, and offers of bribes. At the end of that time, he had secured enough evidence to result in the conviction of the leading criminal, who was sentenced to ten years imprisonment and also the dismissal of others implicated. For this service, he received a letter of recognition from Secretary Stanton stating that his service was "as important to the Government as the winning of a great battle".

Irving Kane Pond

SysopJ — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 11:40:33 GMT

Social clubs and memberships

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	~~ľ'''UNDER CONSTRUCTION'''<br>~~
	'''UNDER CONSTRUCTION'''<br>		'''UNDER CONSTRUCTION'''<br>
			'''UNDER CONSTRUCTION'''<br>
			[[File:Irving Kane Pond, 1912.jpg\|right\|200px\|thumb\|Irving Pond, 1912]]
			[[File:Autobiography of I K Pond.jpg\|170px\|right\|thumb\|''Autobiography'']]
	'''Irving Kane Pond''' (1857-1939) and his brother '''Allen Bartlitt Pond''' (1858–1929) were Chicago architects, and leading partners in the prominent firm Pond & Pond, Martin & Lloyd. Irving Kane Pond designed the '''[[L. W. Rogers Building]]''', headquarters of the [[American Theosophical Society]] in Wheaton, Illinois.		'''Irving Kane Pond''' (1857-1939) and his brother '''Allen Bartlitt Pond''' (1858–1929) were Chicago architects, and leading partners in the prominent firm Pond & Pond, Martin & Lloyd. Irving Kane Pond designed the '''[[L. W. Rogers Building]]''', headquarters of the [[American Theosophical Society]] in Wheaton, Illinois.
	That is the supreme function of art - to irradiate life with joy. -- I. K. Pond in ''A Day Under the Big Top'' and in ''Big Top Rhythms''.		That is the supreme function of art - to irradiate life with joy. -- I. K. Pond in ''A Day Under the Big Top'' and in ''Big Top Rhythms''.
	~~[[File:Autobiography of I K Pond.jpg\|170px\|right\|thumb\|''Autobiography'']]~~
	== Personal life ==		== Personal life ==

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	<br>		<br>
	<br>		<br>
	~~[[File:Irving Kane Pond, 1912.jpg\|right\|200px\|thumb\|Irving Pond, 1912]]~~
	=== Philosophy and style ===		=== Philosophy and style ===
	<blockquote>		<blockquote>
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	Pond often made use of his athletic skills		Pond often made use of his athletic skills
	<blockquote>		<blockquote>
	Before the age of five, I had begun those exercises in the air which eliminated all sense of fear of altitudes. . . and gave me a self-reliance which has contributed to a practical as well as an aesthetic advantage. In me was instilled the confidence to walk, as I have many a time in supervising construction, the four or five inch flange of an I-beam two hundred feet in the air - with a chance to fall the entire distance; or to stand, gesticulating with legs and feet, on my head upon a perch about eighteen inches in diameter at the top of a skeleton spire with a clear fall of one hundred and fifty feet beneath me, as I did some time in my thirteenth year.<ref>Irving Kane Pond ''Big Top Rhythms'' (Chicago: Willett, Clark and Company,, 1937), 45-46.</ref>		Before the age of five, I had begun those exercises in the air which eliminated all sense of fear of altitudes. . . and gave me a self-reliance which has contributed to a practical as well as an aesthetic advantage. In me was instilled the confidence to walk, as I have many a time in supervising construction, the four or five inch flange of an I-beam two hundred feet in the air - with a chance to fall the entire distance; or to stand, gesticulating with legs and feet, on my head upon a perch about eighteen inches in diameter at the top of a skeleton spire with a clear fall of one hundred and fifty feet beneath me, as I did some time in my thirteenth year.<ref>Irving Kane Pond ''Big Top Rhythms'' (Chicago: Willett, Clark and Company, 1937), 45-46.</ref>
	</blockquote>		</blockquote>

	On his 80th birthday, he grabbed his bare knees with both hands and performed a that was caught in a published in ''Life'' magazine in June 1937.<ref>Anonymous, "Life on the American Newsfront: Octogenarian Architect Turns Birthday Back Flip" ''Life'' (June 14, 1937): 28. See [https://books.google.com/books?id=yUQEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Life+1937+Pond&pg=PA28 Life]].</ref>		On his 80th birthday, he grabbed his bare knees with both hands and performed a that was caught in a published in ''Life'' magazine in June 1937.<ref>Anonymous, "Life on the American Newsfront: Octogenarian Architect Turns Birthday Back Flip" ''Life'' (June 14, 1937): 28. See [https://books.google.com/books?id=yUQEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Life+1937+Pond&pg=PA28 Life]].</ref>

	[[File:Northwestern_University_Settlement_House_.jpg\|right\|~~220px~~\|thumb\|Northwestern University Settlement House]]		[[File:Northwestern_University_Settlement_House_.jpg\|right\|250px\|thumb\|Northwestern University Settlement House]]

	=== Settlement House movement ===		=== Settlement House movement ===

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	=== Social clubs and memberships ===		=== Social clubs and memberships ===
	Chicago Literary Club
			Pond was active in the '''Chicago Literary Club''' for over 50 years. He regularly presented papers some of which were collected in 1938 in ''A Strange Fellow and Other Club Papers.''
			<blockquote>
			I joined the Club in the fall of 1888 and at the time of this writing [in 1938] stand second in the resident list in length of membership. I was the fiftieth president of the Club, serving during the season of 1922-23. To date I have contributed to the Club's entertainment on thirty-one occasions. . . The themes which I have handled were varied ranging from the two stories which appear in this volume through architecture, acrobatics and art in general to ethics and literary criticism.<ref>Irving Kane Pond, "To Begin With" [preface] ''A Strange Fellow and Other Club Papers'' [New York, Chicago: Willett, Clark & Company, 1938], 3-4.</ref>
			</blockquote>

			Pond also made mention of presenting a paper to the '''Saracen Club'''.<ref>Ibid, 4.</ref>

	== Theosophical Society connections ==		== Theosophical Society connections ==
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	* Superb skill in writing on diverse subjects.		* Superb skill in writing on diverse subjects.
	* Love of Shakespeare's plays, with Pond participating in amateur theatricals while Bragdon designed sets and costumes for Broadway productions.		* Love of Shakespeare's plays, with Pond participating in amateur theatricals while Bragdon designed sets and costumes for Broadway productions.
	* ~~Recognizing~~ the spiritual component of popular entertainments - the circus for Pond and community singing and light shows for Bragdon.		* Mystical view of the universe.
			* Recognition of the spiritual component of popular entertainments - the circus for Pond and community singing and light shows for Bragdon.

	In 1926, when the [[American Theosophical Society]] was planning its new national center in Wheaton, Illinois, Bragdon was asked to design it. He was then reorienting his career from architecture to stage design, so he declined. He recommended engaging Pond & Pond, Martin & Lloyd, the Chicago architectural firm headed by his friend Irving Kane Pond, and the Society followed his advice. The architects submitted two designs for consideration, and the Society's Board of Directors was evenly divided over which should be the finalist. President L. W. Rogers sent both drawings to Bragdon, who returned a telegram saying that his preference would be the "asymmetrical" design, and that is the one that was built. It is now called the '''[[L. W. Rogers Building]]'''. Pond wrote:		In 1926, when the [[American Theosophical Society]] was planning its new national center in Wheaton, Illinois, Bragdon was asked to design it. He was then reorienting his career from architecture to stage design, so he declined. He recommended engaging Pond & Pond, Martin & Lloyd, the Chicago architectural firm headed by his friend Irving Kane Pond, and the Society followed his advice. The architects submitted two designs for consideration, and the Society's Board of Directors was evenly divided over which should be the finalist. President L. W. Rogers sent both drawings to Bragdon, who returned a telegram saying that his preference would be the "asymmetrical" design, and that is the one that was built. It is now called the '''[[L. W. Rogers Building]]'''. Pond wrote:
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	Another Theosophist with whom Pond had some connection was the Chicago etcher '''[[Bertha Jaques]]'''. When her book ''A Country Quest'' was published in 1936, she gave a copy to Irving Kane Pond, bearing the inscription "To Irving K. Pond with best wishes. Bertha E. Jaques. Christmas 1936." It is possible that they met at the cornerstone ceremony in Wheaton, Illinois on August 29 ten years earlier, but otherwise they may have become acquainted through artistic or social groups. Both were heavily engaged in the arts and social activism, and they shared a love of Michigan, the subject of her book. The copy that she gave to Pond was donated with his library to his alma mater, the University of Michigan, and is available at [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/740477891.html Hathitrust].		Another Theosophist with whom Pond had some connection was the Chicago etcher '''[[Bertha Jaques]]'''. When her book ''A Country Quest'' was published in 1936, she gave a copy to Irving Kane Pond, bearing the inscription "To Irving K. Pond with best wishes. Bertha E. Jaques. Christmas 1936." It is possible that they met at the cornerstone ceremony in Wheaton, Illinois on August 29 ten years earlier, but otherwise they may have become acquainted through artistic or social groups. Both were heavily engaged in the arts and social activism, and they shared a love of Michigan, the subject of her book. The copy that she gave to Pond was donated with his library to his alma mater, the University of Michigan, and is available at [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/740477891.html Hathitrust].

			== Personal beliefs and philosophy ==

			Pond was keenly attuned to the natural order and rhythms of the universe, viewing architecture and acrobatics through a mystical lens:
			<blockquote>
			Let us in imagination penetrate to that remote past ere human consciousness or any animal consciousness had evolved, and let our souls sway in the rhythm of the universe. Let us enjoy from within the ecstasy of the creation; feel the systems detach themselves from the central incandescent mass and swing off into space; watch planets detach themselves from suns and find their orbits; watch chaos become order; watch systems co-ordinate and correlate and feel the swing, and the rhythm of the movement; watch the emergence of life upon the cooling planets and feel the rhythm of its cycles and changes; watch the emergence of mind from swinging, swaying, rhythmic masses of moving matter; feel what we call spirit issue from this striving and conflict, from this struggle toward co-ordination and correlation; this spirit which recognizes the difference between conflict and co-operation, between what is expedient and what is suicidal, between what at any particular moment is right and what is wrong; the spirit which reacts in joy to the perfect co-operation of mind and matter; a spirit inherent in the force which stirred, which was, the central incandescent mass— that mass which must have appeared to one on the outside as mere chaos but through which we within saw spirit striving to express itself in terms of sentient life.<ref>Irving Kane Pond, ''A Day Under the Big Top'' (Chicago: Chicago Literary Club, 1924), 8-9.</ref>
			</blockquote>

	== Writings ==		== Writings ==
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	* '''''The College Union'''''. [New York], 1931. 16 pages. Limited availability at [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015004162973 Hathitrust] and [https://books.google.com/books?id=a_fVAAAAMAAJ Google Books].		* '''''The College Union'''''. [New York], 1931. 16 pages. Limited availability at [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015004162973 Hathitrust] and [https://books.google.com/books?id=a_fVAAAAMAAJ Google Books].
	* '''"Pullman - America's First Planned Industrial Town"'''. Illinois Society of Architects. ''Monthly Bulletin'' vol. 18-19, nos. 12-1 (June-July, 1934): 6-8.		* '''"Pullman - America's First Planned Industrial Town"'''. Illinois Society of Architects. ''Monthly Bulletin'' vol. 18-19, nos. 12-1 (June-July, 1934): 6-8.
	* '''''Big Top Rhythms: A Study in Art and Life''''', written and illustrated by Pond. Chicago, New York, Willett, Clark and Company, 1937. 229 pages, illustrations.		* '''''Big Top Rhythms: A Study in Art and Life''''', written and illustrated by Pond. Chicago, New York, Willett, Clark and Company, 1937. 229 pages, illustrations. An expansion of ''A Day Under the Big Top''.
	* '''''A Strange Fellow, and Other Club Papers''''', written and illustrated by Pond New York, Chicago, Priv. Print. by Willett, Clark and Company, 1938. 224 pages, illustrations. Available at [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/2976903.html Hathitrust], [https://libsysdigi.library.illinois.edu/OCA/Books2012-05/strangefellowoth00ilpond/ Open Content Alliance], and [https://archive.org/details/strangefellowoth00ilpond Internet Archive].		* '''''A Strange Fellow, and Other Club Papers''''', written and illustrated by Pond New York, Chicago, Priv. Print. by Willett, Clark and Company, 1938. 224 pages, illustrations. Available at [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/2976903.html Hathitrust], [https://libsysdigi.library.illinois.edu/OCA/Books2012-05/strangefellowoth00ilpond/ Open Content Alliance], and [https://archive.org/details/strangefellowoth00ilpond Internet Archive]. A collection of papers presented at the Chicago Literary Club.
	* '''''The Autobiography of Irving K. Pond''''', written in the 1930s and published posthumously. Edited by Terry Tatum and David Swan. Oak Park, IL: Hyoogen Press, 2009.		* '''''The Autobiography of Irving K. Pond''''', written in the 1930s and published posthumously. Edited by Terry Tatum and David Swan. Oak Park, IL: Hyoogen Press, 2009.

			== Honors and awards ==
			By 1938, Pond had been presented with an honorary Master of Arts degree and an honorary doctorate in architecture. Since he was licensed to practice both civil engineering [C.E.] and architecture [ARCHT], these designations followed his name: C. E. ARCHT. A. M. hon. ARCH. D. hon.<ref>Irving Kane Pond ''A Strange Fellow and Other Club Papers'' title page.</ref>

	== Additional resources ==		== Additional resources ==

Wizards Bookshelf

SysopJ — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 22:42:45 GMT

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			[[File:Richard_Robb.jpg\|right\|160px\|thumb\|Richard Robb]]
	[[File:WIZARDS - Mythical Monsters and other works.jpg\|right\|240px\|thumb\|Books by Wizards Bookshelf]]		[[File:WIZARDS - Mythical Monsters and other works.jpg\|right\|240px\|thumb\|Books by Wizards Bookshelf]]
	'''Wizards Bookshelf''' was a publishing house operated by [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky\|Blavatsky]] scholar Richard Robb. Its purpose was to preserve and disseminate sources quoted by [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]] in her masterwork '''[[The Secret Doctrine (book)\|''The Secret Doctrine'']]''' through the '''Secret Doctrine Reference Series'''.		'''Wizards Bookshelf''' was a publishing house operated by [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky\|Blavatsky]] scholar Richard Robb. Its purpose was to preserve and disseminate sources quoted by [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]] in her masterwork '''[[The Secret Doctrine (book)\|''The Secret Doctrine'']]''' through the '''Secret Doctrine Reference Series'''.
			Richard Irving Robb (January 5, 1935 - July 23, 2026), owner and operator of Wizards Bookshelf, was a brilliant scholar of Theosophy and ''The Secret Doctrine'', as well as an engineer, sailor, mechanic, and artist. He was deeply respected in all branches of the Theosophical Movement.

	== History ==		== History ==

File:Richard Robb.jpg

SysopJ — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 22:32:29 GMT

SysopJ uploaded File:Richard Robb.jpg Portrait of Richard Irving Robb from his obituary, Ridgeway Funeral Home, July 23, 2026. Sent by his son.

New page

== Summary ==
Portrait of Richard Irving Robb from his obituary, Ridgeway Funeral Home, July 23, 2026. Sent by his son.