The Myth of the Theons: Constructing and Deconstructing the Image of Two European Occultists.

Heehs, Peter

The reputations of Eliezer Mordechai Bimstein and Mary Ware (aka Theon and Madame Theon) as master occultists took shape during their lifetimes in the absence of accurate biographical information. Best known as leaders of the Cosmic Movement, which attracted a number of adherents during the first decade of the twentieth century, they each had an interesting backstory, Bimstein as a worker in the tobacco trade, then co-founder of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, Ware as Mother Superior of a convent, then poet, actress, and lecturer on occult themes. Their teachings, published in the Revue Cosmique and Tradition Cosmique , influenced such people as Louis Thémanlys and Mirra Alfassa, later the Mother of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Biographical material on Bimstein and Ware, brought to light by recent scholars, has led to a deconstruction of the myth of the Theons but this does not necessarily detract from the interest of their writings.

OCCULTISTS; GREEK letter societies; MOTHERS; REVUES; MYTH

Aries, 2025, Vol 25, Issue 1, p100

1567-9896

Academic Journal

10.1163/15700593-tat00016