Description

Charles Webster Leadbeater (1854-1934), English clergyman and theosophical author, contributed to world thought mostly through his work as an alleged clairvoyant. His uncle, was the prominent Anglican clergyman, William Wolfe Capes. By his uncle's influence, Leadbeater was ordained an Anglican priest in 1879 at Farnham, by the Bishop of Winchester. His interest in occultism was stimulated by A.P. Sinnett's Occult World, and he joined the Theosophical Society in 1883. The next year he met Helena Petrovna Blavatsky when she came to London. At this time he was the recipient of a few Mahatma letters which influenced him to go to India, where he arrived at Adyar in 1884. This was the start of a long career in the Theosophical Society. Among Leadbeater's famous works are: The Astral Plane (1895), Reincarnation (1898), and A Textbook of Theosophy (1912). He had a close friendship with Annie Besant (1847-1933), starting in 1895. Annie later is said to have allowed her occult powers to diminish, while Leadbeater's grew stronger. Together they wrote: Thought Forms (1901) and Occult Chemistry: Clairvoyant Observations on the Chemical Elements (1919).