James Morgan Pryse

James Morgan Pryse (November 14, 1859 - April 22, 1942) was an American Theosophist born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He and his brother John Morgan Pryse purchased and operated newspapers and printing plants in Nebraska, Montana, and Wisconsin, finally moving to Los Angeles in 1886. They both joined the Theosophical Society in its first decade.

They were soon invited by W. Q. Judge to New York to assist him with the printing work. They formed the Aryan Press which printed the Esoteric Instructions of H. P. Blavatsky and other Theosophical works.

At the request of Mme. Blavatsky James Pryse went to London in 1889 and became one of HPB’s staff in Avenue Road. While there, he set up the HPB Press.

In 1895, Mr. Pryse followed W. Q. Judge when he seceded from the Theosophical Society and continued his theosophical work in the Point Loma Theosophical Society. He died on April 22, 1942, in New York.

An encounter with the Master

In August 1889, while still in Los Angeles, California, Mr. Pryse had the following experience:

One evening [in 1889] while I was thus meditating the face of H.P.B. flashed before me. I recognized it from her portrait in Isis, though it appeared much older. Thinking that the astral picture, as I took it to be, was due to some vagary of fancy, I tried to exclude it; but at that the face showed a look of impatience, and instantly I was drawn out of my body and immediately was standing "in the astral" beside H.P.B. in London. It was along toward morning there, but she was still seated at her writing desk. While she was speaking to me, very kindly, I could not help thinking how odd it was that an apparently fleshy old lady should be an Adept. I tried to put that impolite thought out of my mind, but she read it, and as if in answer to it her physical body became translucent, revealing a marvellous inner body that looked as if it were formed of molten gold. Then suddenly the Master M. appeared before us in his mayavi-rupa. To him I made profound obeisance, for he seemed to me more like a God than a man. Somehow I knew who he was, though this was the first time I had seen him. He spoke to me graciously and said, “I shall have work for you in six months.” He walked to the further side of the room, waved his hand in farewell and departed. Then H. P. B. dismissed me with the parting words, “God bless you,” and directly I saw the waves of the Atlantic beneath me; I floated down and dipped my feet in their crests. Then with a rush I crossed the continent till I saw the lights of Los Angles and returned to my body, seated in the chair where I had left it.

Writings

• Brotherhood
• The Evangel according to Ioannes
• Memorabilia of H.P.B. This reminiscence of Pryse's amazing experiences is a reprint from The Canadian Theosophist March 15, 1935, pp. 1-5. He describes H.P.B.'s final illness and death.

Online resources

Articles

• James Morgan Pryse at Theosopedia