Blavatsky’s masterwork on theosophy, covering cosmic, planetary, and human evolution, as well as science, religion, and mythology. Based on the Stanzas of Dzyan, with corroborating testimony from hundreds of sources.
Originally published 1888. Theosophical University Press HTML version ISBN 1-55700-124-3. For ease in searching, no diacritical marks appear in this electronic version of the text.
This HTML edition was corrected against the facsimile edition of 1888. Obvious errors, such as missing letters, have been corrected; otherwise it follows the facsimile edition — material not appearing there appears in double brackets [[ ]]. Hebrew characters are inserted as illustrations, but Greek text has been transliterated into italic Latin characters in double brackets. For further explanation of the conventions used in this version, go to the Notes file.
PDF eBook (), Scanned, and Print versions of The Secret Doctrine are also available. As aids to study and research, see also Introductory Notes and Secret Doctrine References.
Quick Links to Condensed Table of Contents of
Volume 1: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Volume 2: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Index (prepared by John P. Van Mater)
Seven Stanzas from the Book of Dzyan . . . 27
Stanza I. — The Night of the Universe . . . 35
Stanza II. — The Idea of Differentiation . . . 53
Stanza III. — The Awakening of Kosmos . . . 62
Stanza IV. — The Septenary Hierarchies . . . 86
Stanza V. — Fohat: The Child of the Septenary Hierarchies . . . 106
Stanza VI. — Our World, Its Growth and Development . . . 136
Theosophical Misconceptions . . . 152
Explanations Concerning the Globes and the Monads . . . 170
Stanza VI. — Continued . . . 191
Stanza VII. — The Parents of Man on Earth . . . 213
(continued) Formation of Man: The Thinker . . . 238
I. Symbolism and Ideographs . . . 303
II. The Mystery Language and Its Keys . . . 310
III. Primordial Substance and Divine Thought . . . 325
IV. Chaos — Theos — Kosmos . . . 342
V. The Hidden Deity, Its Symbols and Glyphs . . . 349
VII. The Days and Nights of Brahma . . . 368
VIII. The Lotus as a Universal Symbol . . . 379
X. Tree and Serpent and Crocodile Worship . . . 403
XI. Demon Est Deus Inversus . . . 411
XII. The Theogony of the Creative Gods . . . 424
XIII. The Seven Creations . . . 445
XIV. The Four Elements . . . 460
XV. On Kwan-Shi-Yin and Kwan-Yin . . . 470
I. Reasons for These Addenda . . . 477
II. Modern Physicists Are Playing at Blind Man’s Buff . . . 482
III. An Lumen Sit Corpus Nec Non? . . . 483
IV. Is Gravitation a Law? . . . 490
V. The Theories of Rotation in Science . . . 500
VI. The Masks of Science . . . 506
VII. An Attack on the Scientific Theory of Force by a Man of Science . . . 523
VIII. Life, Force, or Gravity? . . . 529
IX. The Solar Theory . . . 540
XI. On the Elements and Atoms . . . 566
XII. Ancient Thought in Modern Dress . . . 579
XIII. The Modern Nebular Theory . . . 588
XIV. Forces — Modes of Motion or Intelligences? . . . 601
XV. Gods, Monads, and Atoms . . . 610
XVI. Cyclic Evolution and Karma . . . 634
XVII. The Zodiac and Its Antiquity . . . 647
XVIII. Summary of the Mutual Position . . . 668
Stanzas from the Book of Dzyan . . . 15
Stanza I. Beginnings of Sentient Life . . . 22
Two Antediluvian Astronomers . . . 47
Stanza II. — Nature Unaided Fails . . . 52
The Chronology of the Brahmins . . . 66
Stanza III. — Attempts to Create Man . . . 75
Stanza IV. — Creation of the First Races . . . 86
Stanza V. — The Evolution of the Second Race . . . 109
Stanza VI. — The Evolution of the Sweat-Born . . . 131
Stanza VII. — From the Semi-Divine Down to the First Human Races . . . 161
Stanza VIII. — Evolution of the Animal Mammalians — The First Fall . . . 180
What May Be the Objections to the Foregoing . . . 185
Stanza IX. — The Final Evolution of Man . . . 191
Edens, Serpents and Dragons . . . 202
The Sons of God and the Sacred Island . . . 220
Stanza X. — The History oF the Fourth Race . . . 227
Archaic Teachings in the Puranas and Genesis . . . 251
A Panoramic View of the Early Races . . . 263
Stanza X. — Continued . . . 271
Are Giants a Fiction? . . . 277
THe Races with the “Third Eye” . . . 289
The Primeval Manus of Humanity . . . 307
Stanza XI. — THE CIVILIZATION AND DESTRUCTION OF THE FOURTH AND FIFTH RACES . . . 316
CYclopean Ruins and Colossal Stones as Witnesses to Giants . . . 341
Stanza XII. — The Fifth Race and Its Divine Instructors . . . 351
(continued) The Origin of the Satanic Myth . . . 378
(continued) Western Speculations founded on the Greek and Puranic Traditions . . . 402
Additional Fragments from a Commentary on the Verses of Stanza XII. . . . 423
Esoteric Tenets Corroborated in Every Scripture . . . 449
XVII. The “Holy of Holies”: Its Degradation . . . 459
XVIII. On the Myth of the “Fallen Angel,” in its Various Aspects . . . 475
(continued) The Many Meanings of the “War in Heaven” . . . 492
XIX. Is Pleroma Satan’s Lair? . . . 506
XX. Prometheus the Titan . . . 519
XXI. Enoichion-Henoch . . . 529
XXII. The Symbolism of the Mystery Names Iao, and Jehovah . . . 536
XXIII. The Upanishads in Gnostic Literature . . . 563
XXIV. The Cross and the Pythagorean Decade . . . 573
XXV. The Mysteries of the Hebdomad . . . 590
(continued) The Septenary Element in the Vedas . . . 605
(continued) The Seven Souls of the Egyptologists . . . 630
I. Archaic, or Modern Anthropology? . . . 645
II. The Ancestors Mankind is Offered by Science . . . 656
III. The Fossil Relics of Man and the Anthropoid Ape . . . 675
IV. Duration of the Geological Periods, Race Cycles, and the Antiquity of Man . . . 690
(continued) (c) Esoteric Geological Chronology . . . 709
V. Organic Evolution and Creative Centres . . . 731
VI. Giants, Civilizations, and Submerged Continents Traced in History . . . 742
(continued) (a) Statements about the Sacred Islands . . . 760
VII. Scientific and Geological Proofs of the Existence of Several Submerged Continents . . . 778
Index [[As prepared by John P. Van Mater - not the facsimile Index]]
HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY
1831-1891
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