An Appreciation of Charles Webster Leadbeater, Clairvoyant Author

As I prepare ezine articles I am surprised by the output of information from people I appreciate. I knew Charles Webster Leadbeater (1854-1934) as a result of a visit to a used bookstore in Kansas City in 1987 where I picked up three of his books about the occult. During research for this article I found that a wealth of material flowed from his pen. He produced 40 book volumes plus a plethora of pamphlets and journals. The
modern interest in the occult truth is largely due to his ideas; Theosophical terms and principles are used by today's writers. A few of his volumes include:

o Reincarnation (1898)
o Thought Forms (1901)
o Man Visible and Invisible (1902)
o The Inner Life (1911) in my library
o Man, Whence, How and Whither (1913)
o Vegetarianism and Occultism (1913)
o The Hidden Side of Things (1913) in my library
o Occult Chemistry Book (1916)
o The Chakras (1927) in my library

Leadbeater's discovery of the young Jiddu Krishnamurti in 1909 was a high point in his life. Krishnamurti was believed to be the vessel for a "World Teacher" who would embody the pattern of Moses, Zoroaster, Christ, and Muhammad bringing a new religious teaching to the World. Both Krishnamurti and Leadbeater believed they could read past lives and published 30 such past lives in The Theosophist. Although Krihsnamurti contributed much to mankind in his life he did not attain the status of those before him.

In 1910 Leadbeater conducted deeper research into the akashic records at the Theosophical Society Headquarters in Adyar, India, and the results were recorded in this book Man: How, Whence, and Whither. He predicted the future society of Earth in the 27th century powered by atomic energy.

He collaborated with Annie Besant beginning in 1895. They investigated:

o The cosmos
o Beginnings of mankind
o Chemistry and the elements
o Visiting the masters in their astral bodies

In many religions the word occult is considered to be on the dark side as a bad thing. My experience was positive. The world of the unseen is mysterious and inviting. The depth of the unseen is often unclear in our everyday life but each person needs something to believe in to lighten the burden of supporting the material world. I find solace there. Life is an adventure and lifting the veil through the eyes of a clairvoyant is rewarding. My trip to that used book store opened new vistas to explore and broadened the search to find myself.

• My biggest FEAR in life is becoming dependent.
• The idea of depending on my boss, a medical doctor, expensive insurance or the government for my health care does not feel right.