Theosophical Society,
Esoteric Timeline
Theosophy in the Context of Esoteric History
13th century BCE? Zarathushtra founds
Zoroastrianism, the religion of the
Magi;
Moses founds Judaism;
mythical date of
Hermes Trismegistus.
10th century BCESolomon, son of David,
King of Israel flourished
4? BCE-33 CE Jesus founds Christianity
1st century CE Apollonius of Tyana flourished
1st to 3rd CE (?) Testament of
Solomon composed
100-300 CEcomposition of Corpus Hermetica
204-270 CEPlotinus, Neoplatonic
philosopher and mystic (born in
233-305 CEPorphyry, Neoplatonic
philosopher and mystic (born in
250-325 CEIamblicus, Neoplatonic
philosopher (was born in
Coele-Syria)
411-485 Proclus, Neoplatonic
philosopher (born at
500 CE (circa) Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite
flourished, probably a
native of
6th CE Sefer Yetzirah
edited
10th CE Sword of Moses composed
1004-1007 (?) al-Majriti, author of Picatrix, dies
1054
1175?-1235 Michael Scot (Scottish)
1220?-1292 Roger Bacon (English)
1227 Pope Honorius III dies
1232 Ramon Llull born (
1240 Abraham Abulafia, Sicilian Kabbalist, founder of ecstatic Kabbala,
born in Saragosa
1248 Joseph Gikatilla, Spanish Sephardic Kabbalist, born
1250? Liber Juratus
(Sworn Book of Honorius) compiled by Honorius of
1259 Peter de Abano [Pietro
d'Abano], Italian physician and philosopher
born. Professor of medicine in
1266 John Duns Scotus, Scottish
scholastic philosopher and thrologian, born
1274 Ramon Llull's vision on
1280? Sefer Ha-Zohar
written by Moses de León but attributed to Simon ben Yohai
1292? Abraham Abulafia dies
1308 John Duns Scotus dies
1314 Jacques de Molay, last Grand Master
of the Knights Templar, burned at
the stake in
1316? Ramon Llull dies
1316 Peter de Abano dies
1323 Joseph Gikatilla dies
1433 Marsilio
Ficino, Italian philosopher born. Under the
patronage of the
de'Medicis, he
translated many Greek classics including the Corpus
Hermetica
1453 Fall of Constantinople to the Turks caused dispersal and
spread of
Greek manuscripts and scholarship
1455 Johannes Reuchlin,
German humanist and lawyer, born. Reuchlin
wrote on
Kabbalah and propagated Hebrew studies
1462 Johannes Trithemius
born at Trittenheim on the
a famous
scholar and Benedictine abbot.
1463 Giovanni Pico della
Mirandola, Italian philosopher and scholar, born
1466 Francesco Giorgi
[Zorzi], Venetian philosopher, born. Author of De
Harmonia Mundi (Venits, 1525)
1471 Ficino's translation of Corpus Hermeticum published
1474 Ferdinand and Isabella ascend to the throne
1483 Martin Luther born Eisleben,
1486 Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa born in
Malleus Maleficarum published, major instrument of witch hunters;
Giovanni Pico della
Mirandola takes his theses to
1489 Ficino's Libri
de Vita published
1492 Ferdinand and Isabella expel Jews from
studies, caused
dispersal and spread of Jewish and Cabalistic manuscripts
and scholarship;
discovery of the
1493 Paracelsus (Aureolus Philippus Theophrastus Bombastus
von Hohenheim)
born Einsiedeln
tutored (by his
account) by Trithemius.
1494 Reuchlin's De verbo
mirifico published;
Giovanni Pico della
Mirandola dies
1499 Marsilio Ficino
dies
1510 Agrippa's De Occulta philosophia finished
Guillaume Postel, French mathematician, Kabbalist, and mystic born
1515 Johan Weyer born
1516 Johannes Trithemius dies
1517 Reuchlin's De arte cabalistica published;Martin
Luther posts theses
1522 Johannes Reuchlin dies
1525 Giorgi's De harmonia
mundi published
1527 John Dee born in LondonMaximillian
II born
1533 Agrippa's De Occulta philosopha published;
Isaak Luria, Jewish Kabbalist, born in
Queen Elizabeth I born at
1535 Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa dies;
Giambattista della Porta
born in
(Natural Magic) (1585, 1589)
1538? Reginald Scot born. Author of Discouerie of Witchcraft (1584)
1540 Francesco Giorgi dies;
Faust dies
1541 Paracelsus dies
1542 Inquisition established in
1546 Martin Luther dies
1548 Giordano Bruno, Italian
philosopher born in Nola Italy.
1552 Simon Forman born
Emperor Rudolph II born
Guillaume Postel publishes Latin
translation of Sefer Yetzirah
1554 Society of Jesus (Jesuits) founded
1555 Edward Kelley born
1558
Giambattista della Porta's
Magia Naturalis published;
Zohar printed
1560? Heinrich Khunrath born in
1564
1566? Michael Maier, physician, alchemist, and philosopher, born in
Rensburg,
1572 Isaak Luria
dies
1574 Robert Fludd, English physician,
philosopher, and mystic, born
1575 Jakob Boehme,
German religious mystic, born;Arbatel
Of Magic first appears
1576 Maximillian II dies
1581 Dee and Kelley start their "mystical experiments"Guillaume
Postel dies
1584 Bruno's Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast published
1588 Johan Weyer dies
1595 Edward Kelley dies (Nov)
1599 Reginald Scot dies
1600 Giordano Bruno burned at the stake in
1602 Athanasius Kircher
born in Geisa a. d.
William Lilly, astrologer and translator of Trithemius,
born in Diseworth,
1603 Queen
accession of James I
1605 Heinrich Khunrath dies
1606 Trithemius' Steganographia
first published
1608 John Dee dies
1611 Simon Forman dies
1612 Emperor Rudolph II dies
1614-15 Rosicrucian manifestos published in
1615 Giambattista della Porta dies
1617 Elias Ashmole born in
1617-19 Fludd's Utriusque
cosmi historia published
1618 Maier's Atlanta Fugiens published
1618 Johann Baptista Grossschedel
publishes Calendarium magicum
(The
Magical Calendar)
1620 Robert Turner 'of Holshot',
translator of magical texts, born
1622 Thomas Vaughan, English Rosicrucian, born
Michael Maier dies
1624 Jakob Boehme
dies
1636 Christian Knorr von Rosenroth, German mystic and Kabbalist,
born
1637 Robert Fludd dies
1652 Kircher's Oedipus Aegyptiacus publishedThomas
1666 Thomas Vaughan dies
1677 Christian Knorr von Rosenroth published first volume of Kabbala
Denudata
1680 Athanasius Kircher
dies
1681 William Lilly, astrologer and translator of Trithemius, dies
1684 Christian Knorr von Rosenroth published second volume of Kabbala
Denudata
1688 Emanuel Swedenborg, scientist
and mystic, born in
1689 Christian Knorr von Rosenroth dies
1692Elias Ashmole dies
1707 Moses Hayyim Luzzatto,
Hebrew poet and Kabbalistic mystic, born
1734 Franz Anton Mesmer born in Iznang,
1747 Moses Hayyim Luzzatto
dies
1749-56 Swedenborg's Arcana
Coelestia published
1751 Ebenezer Sibly born
1772 Emanuel Swedenborg dies
1800 Ebenezer Sibly dies
1810 Eliphas Levi, (Constant, Alphonse
Louis), French occultist, born in
magic in the 19th
century.
1815 Franz Anton Mesmer dies
1831
Theosophical Society, born of German parents in Yekaterinoslav (now
1832 Henry Steel Olcott, cofounder of the Theosophical Society,
born
1865 Papus (i.e. G.A.V. Encausse), French occultist and author born
1846 Anna Kingsford (Annie Bonus) born
1847 Annie Besant (née Wood), author and noted Theosophist born
1848 William W. Wescott born
1854 Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers born in
1856 Levi's masterpiece Le Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie published
1857 Arthur Edward Waite born in
1861 Rudolf Steiner born
1865 William Butler Yeats born in
1875 Eliphas Levi, (Constant, Alphonse
Louis) dies (May 31)
1875 Aleister
1875 Theosophical Society founded in
1889 Mathers' edition of Kabbalah
Unveiled published
1888 Anna Kingsford (Annie Bonus) diesPapus'
Traité Elémentaire de
Science Occulte published;Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn established in
1889 Mathers' edition of Key of Solomon
published
1890 Dion Fortune (i.e. Violet Mary
Firth) born;W.B. Yeats joins
the Golden Dawn
1891
Theosophical Society, dies
1897Levi's Le Clef des Grandes Mystères published
1898 Julius Evola born
Aleister Crowley
joins the Golden Dawn;
Mathers publishes
The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin the Mage
[Abramelin]
1899 C.G. Leland publishes Aradia, the
Gospel of the Witches
1900
1901 Manly Palmer Hall born
1907 Henry Steel Olcott, cofounder of the Theosophical Society,
dies
Israel Regardie born
1909 Franz Bardon born
1916 Papus (i.e. G.A.V. Encausse), French occultist and author dies
1918 Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers dies
1925 William W. Wescott dies
Rudolf Steiner dies
1933 Annie Besant (née Wood), author and noted Theosophist dies
1937 Israel Regardie publishes the Golden
Dawn, which includes the bulk of
the Golden
Dawns' rituals and teachings.
1939 William Butler Yeats dies
1942 Arthur Edward Waite dies
1946 Dion Fortune (i.e. Violet Mary
Firth) dies
1947 Aleister
1958 Franz Bardon dies
1974 Julius Evola dies
1985 Israel Regardie dies
1990 Manly Palmer Hall dies
Theosophical Society,