James Morgan Pryse
James Morgan Pryse (November 14, 1859 - April 22, 1942) was an American Theosophist born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He assisted William Quan Judge and Helena Petrovna Blavatsky in setting up publishing operations.
Theosophical Society involvement
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 Theosophical 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.
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.[1]
Later years
In 1895, Mr. Pryse followed W. Q. Judge when most of the American Section seceded from the Theosophical Society based in Adyar. Pryse continued his theosophical work in the Point Loma community, but eventually lost faith in the leadership of Katherine Tingley.[2] He died on April 22, 1942, in New York.
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
Notes
- ↑ A Casebook of Encounters with the Theosophical Mahatmas Case 61, compiled and edited by Daniel H. Caldwell
- ↑ Emmett A. Greenwalt, California Utopia: Point Loma: 1897-1942 2nd revised edition (San Diego, CA: Point Loma Publications, 1978), 207