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Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke and "The Coming of the Masters"

Last week I learned of the existence of the 2010 collection, Constructing Tradition: Means and Myths of Transmission in Western Esotericism, published in the Netherlands by Brill and edited by Andreas B. Kilcher. It includes a long article by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke on the Theosophical Masters from their origins in Western esotericism to their ultimate amalgamation with Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist guru traditions. The article begins on page 113 and the first 17 pages are publicly accessible via Google Books through the above link. It represents the most thorough and best-informed explanation to date of Blavatsky’s construction of the Mahatmas, coming from a leading figure in academic study of esotericism.

I will devote a future blog post to the article, but soon after discovering the abovementioned publication I learned of the unexpected and sudden death last week of Dr. Goodrick-Clarke, whose compilation of Blavatsky writings has always been part of this site’s recommended reading list.  An appreciation of his life work by a former student and current colleague can be found here.  A researcher and writer on Theosophy and Spiritualism who studied under Goodrick-Clarke wrote another appreciation here. I met the Goodrick-Clarkes, Nicholas and his wife Clare, at a Theosophical History conference in London in 1986. The extent of his accomplishments in the field of Theosophical history in subsequent decades is very impressive, especially in light of his published work on many other lines of investigation.  His loss will be felt especially in the UK but around the world scholars of esoteric traditions will mourn his passing.