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Lead(e), Jane, * 1623 (Norfolk), † 19 Aug 1704 (London) Lead was born as Jane Ward in – according to her own account – a reasonably wealthy upper-class family. She and her family lived a good life, and she received a fine education. When she was fifteen, on a Christmas eve, she was dancing and celebrating with her family and friends, but heard a voice that told her ‘Cease from this, I have another Dance to lead thee in, for this is Vanity’. For three years she lived in melancholy isolation, occasionally r…

Baader, Benedict Franz Xaver von, * 27 Mar 1765 (Munich), † 23 May 1841 (Munich) Undoubtedly → Christian theosophy's greatest 19th-century German exponent, Baader is a grand unifying figure, joining in his writings the domains of science, religion, and literature, as well as the three main traditions of Christianity (Protestantism [particularly theosophy], Roman Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy). A peerless aphorist, Baader is intellectually among the most stimulating, profound, and difficult of the theosoph…

Gichtel, Johann Georg, * 4 Mar 1638 (Ratisbon (Germany)), † 21 Jan 1710 (Amsterdam) Gichtel's life can be divided into three primary sections: from 1638 to 1664, when he had problems with the clerical authorities in Ratisbon; from 1665 through 1667, when he moved about, staying for a time with Friedrich Breckling (1629-1711); and from 1668 to his death in 1710, the time during which he lived, wrote, and taught in Amsterdam. Much of our information comes from this last period, during which he established his community of the “Brethren of the Angelic Life”, the Engelsbrüder, or “Angelic Bre…

Ziegler, Leopold, * 30 Apr 1881 (Karlsruhe (Germany)), † 25 Jan 1958 (Überlingen (Germany)) Ziegler is an important 20th-century figure in the theosophic current [→ Christian Theosophy], not least because he sought to understand Asian religious traditions, particularly Buddhism, while developing a theosophically influenced Christian mystical perspective in a world context. Ziegler was born to a reasonably well-off family; his father was a merchant. Relatively early in life he became friends with a number of artists, including the painter Karl Ho…

Pordage, John, * 1607 / 1608 (London), † 10 Jan 1681 (London) The son of a London merchant, Pordage was born in 1607 or 1608 and entered Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1623. It is possible that he obtained a diploma of doctor of medicine at Oxford in 1640, but some scholars doubt this (Hutin 1960, 82). In any case, he was not destined to practice medicine, but to be an exemplar of homo religiosus. Pordage entered the order of the Anglican Church and was made vicar of the church of St Lawrence's at Reading in 1644. Soon, under the auspices of → Elias Ashmole, he was mad…

Law, William, * 1686 (King's Cliffe), † 9 Apr 1761 (King's Cliffe) Law was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow in 1711. His personal history is somewhat parallel to that of → John Pordage. Like Pordage, Law refused to take the oath of allegiance to, in Law's case, King George I in 1714, making him a Nonjuror, forcing him to resign his college position, and disallowing him other public positions as well. Law then lived in Putney, near London, at the home of Edward Gibbon from…

Novalis, (ps. of Georg Philipp Friedrich von Hardenberg), * 2 May 1772 (Oberwiederstedt), † 25 Mar 1801 (Weissenfels) A jurist, philosopher, mining engineer and famous Romantic poet, von Hardenberg was raised in a large family. His father, having gone through a religious crisis following the death of his first wife in 1769, raised his children in the spirit of Herrnhut → Pietism. From 1790 to 1794 von Hardenberg studied law, philosophy, history and mathematics at the Universities of Jena, where he got into contac…

Poiret, Pierre, * 1646 (Metz), † 21 May 1719 (Rheynsburg) Known as a “Quietist” mystic, Poiret drew upon the theosophy of → Boehme more explicitly than either of the other major figures of this movement, Guyon and → Bourignon, whose works he was instrumental in publishing. Poiret was a Calvinist pastor who preached in Heidelberg until he was converted to the → mysticism of Tauler by Bourignon, and was persecuted by local church officials. By 1676, he was forced to live in Amsterdam, where he met → Johann Gichtel, the “hermit of Amsterdam” and founder of the Engelsbrüder, or angelic brethren…

Bourignon, Antoinette, * 13 Jan 1616 (Lisle (Flanders)), † 1680 (Franeker (Netherlands)) Bourignon was born to wealthy Catholic parents. Even as a child she spent much time in prayer and reclusion, and at four asked her parents in what country Christians lived, so that she might travel there, since she thought Christians lived in poverty and were not interested in worldly things. Although her father wanted her to marry a rich merchant, she left home in 1636, and spent some time in a convent. As she grew old…