In the religion of

Theosophy Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neop ...

and the spiritual movement of

Anthroposophy Anthroposophy is a spiritual new religious movementSources for 'new religious movement': which was founded in the early 20th century by the esotericist Rudolf Steiner that postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensibl ...

, the Akashic records are believed to be a

compendium A compendium ( compendia or compendiums) is a comprehensive collection of information and analysis pertaining to a body of knowledge. A compendium may concisely summarize a larger work. In most cases, the body of knowledge will concern a specific ...

of all universal events, thoughts, words, emotions, and intent ever to have occurred in the past, present, or future, regarding not just humans, but all entities and life forms. They are believed by theosophists to be encoded in a non-physical plane of existence known as the mental plane. ''

Akasha Akasha (Sanskrit ' ) means Aether (classical element), aether in traditional Hindu cosmology. The term has also been adopted in Western occultism and spiritualism in the late 19th century CE. In many modern Indo-Aryan languages and Dravidian la ...

'' (' ) is the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

word for " aether", "sky", or "atmosphere".

History

Theosophical Society

The

term ''

akasha Akasha (Sanskrit ' ) means Aether (classical element), aether in traditional Hindu cosmology. The term has also been adopted in Western occultism and spiritualism in the late 19th century CE. In many modern Indo-Aryan languages and Dravidian la ...

'' was introduced to the language of theosophy through

Helena Blavatsky Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian-born Mysticism, mystic and writer who emigrated to the United States where she co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. She gained an internat ...

(1831–1891), who characterized it as a sort of life force; she also referred to "indestructible tablets of the astral light" recording both the past and future of human thought and action, but she did not use the term "akashic". The notion of an akashic ''record'' was further disseminated by

Alfred Percy Sinnett Alfred Percy Sinnett (18 January 1840 – 26 June 1921) was an English author and theosophist. Biography Sinnett was born in London. His father died while he was young, as in 1851 Sinnett was listed as a "Scholar – London University", li ...

in his book ''Esoteric Buddhism'' (1883) when he cites Henry Steel Olcott's ''A Buddhist Catechism'' (1881). Olcott wrote that "Buddha taught two things are eternal, viz, 'Akasa' and 'Nirvana': everything has come out of Akasa in obedience to a law of motion inherent in it, and, passes away. No thing ever comes out of nothing." By C. W. Leadbeater's ''Clairvoyance'' (1899) the association of the term with the idea was complete, and he identified the akashic records by name as something a

clairvoyant Clairvoyance (; ) is the claimed ability to acquire information that would be considered impossible to get through scientifically proven sensations, thus classified as extrasensory perception, or "sixth sense". Any person who is claimed to ...

could read. In his 1913 '' Man: Whence, How and Whither'', Leadbeater claims to record the history of

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

and other civilizations as well as the future society of

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

in the 28th century. Alice A. Bailey wrote in her book ''The Light of the Soul'' on '' The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali – Book 3 – Union Achieved and Its Results'' (1927):

Rudolf Steiner

The Austrian theosophist, and later founder of

Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (; 27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century ...

used the Akashic records concept mainly in a series of articles in his journal '' Lucifer-Gnosis'' from 1904 to 1908, where he wrote about

and

Lemuria Lemuria (), or Limuria, was a continent proposed in 1864 by zoologist Philip Sclater, theorized to have sunk beneath the Indian Ocean, later appropriated by occultists in supposed accounts of human origins. The theory was discredited with the dis ...

, topics related to their purported history and civilization. Besides this, he used the term in the title of lectures on a ''Fifth

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

'' held in 1913 and 1914, shortly after the foundation of the Anthroposophical Society and Steiner's exclusion from the Theosophical Society Adyar.

Other

Edgar Cayce Edgar Cayce (; March 18, 1877 – January 3, 1945) was an American clairvoyant who claimed to diagnose diseases and recommend treatments for ailments while asleep. During thousands of transcribed sessions, Cayce would answer questions on ...

claimed to be able to access the Akashic records. Musician

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

used references to akashic records as a storytelling device throughout his album '' The Rainbow Children'', particularly in reference to the history of slavery in the United States. The character Obadiah Archer from the

Valiant Comics Valiant Comics is an American comic books, comic book publisher, the first incarnation of which was founded in 1989 by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter along with lawyer and businessman Steven Massarsky. In 1994, the company was ...

universe series ''

Archer & Armstrong Archer & Armstrong is a superhero duo in the Valiant Comics universe. The two were originally created by writer and artist Barry Windsor-Smith and introduced in their own self-titled comic book series in 1992. After Acclaim Entertainment bought Va ...

'' is able to access the Akashic plane to mimic all known human and superhuman abilities since the 2012 reboot.''Archer & Armstrong'' (2012 Valiant series)

References

{{Authority control Anthroposophy Esoteric cosmology Theosophy Theosophical philosophical concepts

History

Theosophical Society

Rudolf Steiner

Other

See also

References