The Expulsion of TS in Canada
Fohat Magazine (Summer 2008) - by Ernest Pelletier
Universal brotherhood, the first Object of the Theosophical Society, is the one H.P. Blavatsky specifies as the prime objective and the only concept each member of the Society must accept. In spite of high aspirations, universal brotherhood has not always been well exemplified within the ranks of the Movement. Unfortunately, human nature tends to revert to isolationist predispositions rather than an affinity to all-encompassing brotherliness. This in turn generally leads to political interest versus principle.
The General Council of the Theosophical Society met in Adyar on January 1st, 1992 and expelled The Theosophical Society in Canada from its ranks. TS in Canada was informed in February that it was “dissociated . . . from the Parent Society” because of updates to TS in Canada’s By-Laws. The news was greeted with various reactions among the membership. What led Adyar to take this action? A brief history of TS in Canada may help set the scene.
Albert E.S. Smythe met fellow Irishman W.Q. Judge in November 1884 on board ship while sailing from Liverpool to New York. Smythe stayed in the USA for a few years and then in Edinburgh from 1887-1889 where he began his theosophical studies. In 1889 he moved to Toronto, Ontario and immediately set to work to establish a lodge there. One was formed in 1891—one of the last charters Blavatsky issued under the old autonomous constitution prior to her death in May that year. Smythe was elected President. At this time Canadian lodges fell under the jurisdiction of the American Section of the Theosophical Society whose headquarters were in New York, part of the Theosophical Society (Adyar).
