George Robert Stow Mead (22 March 1863 in London – 28 September 1933 in London) was an English historian, writer, editor, translator, and an influential member of the

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society is the organizational body of Theosophy, an esoteric new religious movement. It was founded in New York City, U.S.A. in 1875. Among its founders were Helena Blavatsky, a Russian mystic and the principal thinker of the ...

, as well as the founder of the Quest Society. His works dealt with various religious and philosophical texts and traditions, including

Neoplatonism Neoplatonism is a version of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a series of thinkers. Among the common id ...

Hermeticism Hermeticism, or Hermetism, is a philosophical and religious tradition rooted in the teachings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, a syncretism, syncretic figure combining elements of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. This system e ...

and

Gnosticism Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: , Romanization of Ancient Greek, romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: Help:IPA/Greek, �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced ...

Birth and family

Mead was born in

Peckham Peckham ( ) is a district in south-east London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vi ...

, Surrey, England, to

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

Colonel Robert Mead and his wife Mary (née Stow), who had received a traditional education at Rochester Cathedral School.

Education at the University of Cambridge

Mead began studying mathematics at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

. Eventually shifting his education towards the study of Classics, he gained much knowledge of Greek and Latin. In 1884 he completed a BA degree; in the same year he became a public school master. He received an MA degree in 1926.

Activity with the Theosophical Society

While still at Cambridge University Mead read ''Esoteric Buddhism'' (1883) 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 ...

, which presumably prompted his initial interest in Theosophy and led him to join

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

in 1884. After becoming Blavatsky's private secretary in 1889, Mead was elected as the general secretary (jointly with Bertram Keightley) of the Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society as well as one of twelve members of its Inner Group. Mead met Laura Mary Cooper (later to become his wife) in the latter group, and attended all but one of the total of twenty meetings held for its members. Together with

Annie Besant Annie Besant (; Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was an English socialist, Theosophy (Blavatskian), theosophist, freemason, women's rights and Home Rule activist, educationist and campaigner for Indian nationalism. She was an arden ...

, Mead was the last editor of the Theosophical magazine ''Lucifer'' (renamed ''The Theosophical Review'' in 1897) and served as the magazine's sole editor between 1907 and 1909, when it became defunct due to Mead leaving the Theosophical Society. As of February 1909, Mead and some 700 members of the British Section of the Theosophical Society's British Section resigned in protest of

's reinstatement of

Charles Webster Leadbeater Charles Webster Leadbeater (; 16 February 1854 – 1 March 1934) was a member of the Theosophical Society, Co-Freemasonry, an author on occult subjects, and the co-initiator, with J. I. Wedgwood, of the Liberal Catholic Church. Orig ...

to membership in the society. Leadbeater had been a prominent member of the Theosophical Society until he was accused in 1906 of teaching

masturbation Masturbation is a form of autoeroticism in which a person Sexual stimulation, sexually stimulates their own Sex organ, genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. Stimulation may involve the use of han ...

to, and sexually touching, the sons of some American Theosophists under the guise of occult training. While this prompted Mead's resignation, his frustration at the dogmatism of the Theosophical Society may also have been a major contributor to his break after 25 years.

The Quest Society

In March 1909 Mead founded the Quest Society, composed of 150 defectors of the Theosophical Society and 100 other new members. This new society was planned as an undogmatic approach to the comparative study and investigation of religion, philosophy, and science. The Quest Society presented lectures at the old Kensington Town Hall in central London but its most focused effort was in its publishing of ''The Quest: A Quarterly Review'' which ran from 1909 to 1931 with many historically important contributors.

Influence

Notable persons influenced by Mead include

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss poet and novelist, and the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His interest in Eastern philosophy, Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophic ...

Kenneth Rexroth Kenneth Charles Marion Rexroth (December 22, 1905 – June 6, 1982) was an American poet, translator, and critical essayist. He is regarded as a central figure in the San Francisco Renaissance, and paved the groundwork for the movement. Althoug ...

, and Robert Duncan. The influence of G.R.S. Mead on

Carl Gustav Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of over 20 books, illustrator, and correspondent, Jung was a ...

has been suggested by Gnosticism scholar and a friend of Jung's,

Gilles Quispel Gilles Quispel (30 May 1916 – 2 March 2006) was a Dutch theologian and historian of Christianity and Gnosticism. He was professor of early Christian history at Utrecht University. Early life and education Born in Rotterdam, he was the son of ...

, and the issue has been further discussed by a number of scholars. Being the first individual to provide an English translation of the Gnostic text ''

Pistis Sophia ''Pistis Sophia'' () is a Gnostic text discovered in 1773, possibly written between the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. The existing manuscript, which some scholars place in the late 4th century, relates one Gnostic group's teachings of the transfigu ...

'', Mead played an important role in the popularization of the notion of "Gnosis" as an important facet of ancient Gnosticism, as well as general concept in religions across time and space.

Works

''Address read at H.P. Blavatsky's cremation''
(1891)

(London: Theosophical Publ. Soc'y, 1892)
''The Word-Mystery: Four Essays''
(London: Theosophical Publ. Soc'y, 1895), revised a
''The Word-Mystery: Four Comparative Studies in General Theosophy''
(London: Theosophical Publ. Soc'y, 1907) *''Select Works of Plotinus'' (London: George Bell, 1896)
''Orpheus''
(London: Theosophical Publ. Soc'y, 1896)

(London: J.M. Watkins, 1896; revised 2nd ed. 1921)
''Fragments of a Faith Forgotten''
(London: Theosophical Publ. Soc'y 1900)

(London: Theosophical Publ. Soc'y, 1901)
''Did Jesus Live 100 BC?''
(London: Theosophical Publ. Soc'y, 1903)

''The Theosophical Review'' (April 15, 1904), pp. 131–44 *''The Corpus Hermeticum'' (1905) *''Thrice Greatest Hermes: Studies in Hellenistic Theosophy and Gnosis'' (London: Theosophical Publ. Soc'y, 1906)

*Echoes from the Gnosis (11-part series published at London by The Theosophical Publ. Soc'y): **Volume I

(1906) **Volume II

(1906) **Volume III

(1907) **Volume IV

(1907) **Volume V

(1907) **Volume VI
''A Mithraic Ritual''
(1907) **Volume VII
''The Gnostic Crucifixion''
(1907) **Volume VIII

(1907) **Volume IX

(1907) **Volume X

(1907) **Volume XI
''The Wedding Song of Wisdom''
(1907)
''Some Mystical Adventures''
(London: John M. Watkins, 1910)
''Quests Old and New''
(London: Watkins, 1913)
''Doctrine of the Subtle Body in Western Tradition''
(London: J.M. Watkins, 1919)

(London: Watkins, 1924) COLLECTION *''G.R.S. Mead: Essays and Commentaries'' ed. S.N. Parsons (Adeptis Press, 2016)

Footnotes

External links

*
Free, downloadable online text edition of OrpheusFree online text edition of the Gnostic Crucifixion
* ttp://www.cwru.edu/artsci/engl/VSALM/mod/ballentine/resources/grs.html Brief bio with poor picturebr>Same picture, but much larger and clearerLater Picture with no text
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mead, G. R. S. 1863 births 1933 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge English historians English Theosophists Esoteric Christianity Historians of Gnosticism People educated at King's School, Rochester Scholars of Mandaeism