Temple of the People
The Temple of the People formed out of the American
Theosophical Society in Syracuse, New York, in 1898. The
American Theosophists had broken with the international
theosophical movement under William Q. Judge, who died
just a few years later. Judge was succeeded by Katherine Tingley,
who enjoyed strong but less than universal support. Members
of the Syracuse lodge were among those who broke with
Tingley and established the independent temple.
The Temple of the People was led by Dr. William H. Dower
(18661937), known by members as Red Star, and Francis A.
LaDue (18491922), known as Blue Star. The pair channeled
the masters of the Great White Brotherhood, that group of advanced
souls believed by Theosophists to guide the destiny of
humankind. They had a special relationship to Hilarion, the
master of the fifth, or red, ray. The channeled sessions were
published in the massive book Theogenesis, which came to be regarded
as the third volume of Madame Blavatskys magnum
opus, The Secret Doctrine, Volume 1 Anthropogenesis, and Volume
2 Cosmogenesis.
Dower outlived LaDue as the leader of the temple and was
succeeded by Pearl F. Dower and Harold Forgostein. When
Forgostein died in 1990, he was succeeded by Eleanor Shumway,
the present guardian-in-chief. The temple may be contacted
at Box 7100, Halcyon, CA 93421. It has some 200 members
worldwide.
Sources
Kagan, Paul. New World Utopias. Baltimore, Md. Penguin
Books, 1975.
Teachings of the Temple. 3 vols. Halcyon, Calif. Temple of the
People, 194785.
Theogenesis. Halcyon, Calif. Temple of the People, 1981.
