Anna Bonus Kingsford
Anna Mary Kingsford (née Bonus, September 16, 1846 – February 22, 1888) was a prominent figure among mystics and theosophists in the 1880's.
According to Readers Guide to The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett:
Kingsford, Anna Bonus, 1846-88. English author and spiritualist whom with her co-worker, Edward Maitland, promoted a Hermetic approach to Christianity and metaphysics. She is best known for her book The Perfect Way, published in 1882. She was a strict vegetarian and anti-vivisectionist, and KH states that on this account her phenomena were more accurate and reliable than most. He was instrumental in having her elected President of London Lodge. In October 1883, she wrote to HPB sending her photograph and asking that it be forwarded to KH. HPB's reply to her was torn up by M and she complained bitterly about it to APS (LBS, pp. 30, 69, 73). HPB also complained about Mrs. Kingsford's being kept in the Presidency of London Lodge, telling APS that it was due to a request of the Maha Chohan (LBS, pp. 82, 90). HPB sometimes called her the "Divine Anna," and asked Mrs. Sinnett to get a picture of her and sent it to her at Adyar. In 1883, Mrs. Kingsford issued a circular letter to the London Lodge members which was critical of APS's book, Esoteric Buddhism TSR issued a reply in pamphlet form in January 1884. See biography HPB X: 438-40; ML index.[1]
Personal life
Theosophical Society involvement
Perspectives on Christianity and Hermeticism
In 1884, Dr. Kingsford gave seven lectures that were much later published as The Credo of Christendom. A book review in 1917 regarded her work as a means to transmute Christianity in "finer gold" during the turbulence of World War I:
Christianity is just now in dry dock for repairs; it, with so many other things, is in course of reconstruction through the agency of the War, and unless it receives a fresh influx of life, understanding and application, it will be swept away with other out-of-date organisations. This book will be a most valuable addition to the literature of those who are working through the old Catholic Church for the regeneration of the Christian religion, for it is an illuminating and original compendium of interpretations of Christian and Hermetic beliefs, written in classic style and lit up by the beauty of thought and poetic expression which give such distinction to all Mrs. Kingsford's work...
As the prophetess of the Day of the Woman as human being, Intuition and soul, she holds a unique place in Western religious literature; and in these lectures and articles the truths concerned with the Divine Feminine are clearly enunciated, especially in connection with the doctrines of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of the Virgin Mary...
There is some striking and new idea to be found in every page of the work of this most gifted seeress.[2]
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Writings
- The Credo of Christendom. London: John M. Watkins, 1917. This is a compilation of seven lectures delivered in 1884, published posthumously.
- Clothed with the Sun.
- The Perfect Way. Coauthor Edward Maitland.
- Dreams and Dream Stories. London: E. F. Lovell & Co., 18xx.
Online resources
Articles
- Anna Mary Bonus Kingsford by Paradoxos Alpha
Books
- Anna Kingsford, Madame Blavatsky and the Theosophists by Edward Maitland
Additional resources
- Anna Kingsford Site
- Anna Kingsford's Natal Chart at Astrodienst