International Theosophical Conferences
The website is http://www.theosconf.org.
On Facebook, see itcinc.
History
This brief history was written by Garrett Riegg, ITC President, in 2013:
Beginning in 1995, Willie Dade with the help of her family and lodge hosted six annual weekend conferences with more than 60 people attending mostly from the West Coast, Europe and Arizona. Willie spent most of her life studying Theosophy with the United Lodge of Theosophists (ULT). She started lodges in places like Chico, California and Brookings, Oregon. After Willie passed away in the year 2000, many of her students got together over the phone and decided to continue the tradition by hosting conferences all around Southern California.
The conferences were open and they attracted members of several Theosophical organizations. Until 2010 most conferences were sponsored or hosted by a local ULT lodge.
The name "International Theosophy Conferences, Inc." was adopted in 2008 when we became a non-profit California corporation and later obtained tax exempt status from the IRS. At this point we slowly began developing bylaws, officers and directors.
At the 2008 conference, at a small college near Philadelphia, our diversity increased as we welcomed a large contingent from the Theosophical Society Point Loma (Holland) and speakers from the Theosophical Society (Adyar), Free Masonry and Vedanta (a local professor).
In 2010, the conference was hosted by our Point Loma friends at The Hague in Holland.
Our 2012 conference was in Wheaton, Illinois (headquarters of the Theosophical Society in America). For the first time our conference was available as a live broadcast via the internet.[1]
The fifteenth annual conference took place in New York reached a peak attendance of 250 people. Two or three speakers were scheduled concurrently, and all presentations were webcast and recorded by a dedicated group from the Point Loma - Blavatskyhouse group in The Hague. Most attendees were from the United States and The Netherlands, but Brazil, Scotland, France, Japan, Slovenia, and other countries were also represented.[2]
| Year | Number | Dates | Location | Theme | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 1 | ||||
| 2000 | 2 | ||||
| 2001 | 3 | ||||
| 2002 | 4 | ||||
| 2003 | 5 | ||||
| 2004 | 6 | San Diego, California | |||
| 2005 | 7 | ||||
| 2006 | 8 | Julian, California | |||
| 2007 | 9 | Petaluma, California | |||
| 2008 | 10 | August 7–10 | Haverford, Pennsylvania | The Theosophical Approach to Globa Dialogue on the Synthesis of Science, Religion & Philosophy | http://www.theosconf.org/08%20CONF/program.html |
| 2009 | 11 | Theosophy Hall, Los Angeles, CA | Theosophy: “What It Is: How It Works: Why Study It | http://www.theosconf.org/09%20CONF/program.html | |
| 2010 | 12 | August 12-15 | The Hague, The Netherlands | Making Theosophy a Living Power in the World | http://www.inttheosconf2010.org/ |
| 2011 | 13 | August 11-14 | Julian, California | A Concurrence of Science and Spirituality | http://www.theosconf.org |
| 2012 | 14 | August 9-12 | Olcott campus, Wheaton, Illinois | Karmic Cycles: Wheels of Spiritual Growth | http://www.theosconf.org |
| 2013 | 15 | August 8-11 | Bohemian National Hall, New York City | How to Awaken Compassion? H. P. Blavatsky and the Eternal Secret Doctrine | http://www.theosconf.org |
Notes
- ↑ Riegg, Garrett. "About International Theosophical Conferences, Inc." Welcome Letter to Conference Registrants. August 4, 2013. Records Series 51. International Theosophical Conferences. Theosophical Society in America Archives, Wheaton, Illinois.
- ↑ Kerschner, Janet. Personal observations as attendee. Records Series 51. International Theosophical Conferences. Theosophical Society in America Archives, Wheaton, Illinois.