Giants (esotericism)
Encyclopedia
In esoteric and occult
teachings, Giants are real beings who live on spiritual, etheric and physical planes of existence. Giants were a popular theme in theosophical literature
, Atlantis
, lost continents
and later the earth mysteries
movement of Britain
in the 1970s.
author Madame Blavatsky
who wrote about the existence of giants in her book The Secret Doctrine connecting them to her theory of root races and claiming they correspond with Hindu cycle of the universe
. According to theosophists ape-like giants were the third root race
who lived on the continent of Lemuria
. Theosophists also linked giants to the Atlantean race.
Madame Blavatsky claimed that the Easter Island
stone structures were built by the fourth root race, a race of giants. She also claimed due to the size of Buddhas of Bamiyan
in Afghanistan
they had been built by giants measuring 60 feet tall. Blavatsky linked the Polynesian peoples as the very earliest survivors as a "sub-race" of the fourth root-race, due to the Polynesian people being "a higher stature than the rest of mankind".
The German
occultist Guido von List
was influenced by Blavatsky's writings on giants and mixed together paganism
, mythology
, with theosophy which accepted the existence of giants living in different realms based on the first four rounds of the root race theory.
R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz
the egyptologist and traditionalist believed that giants had roamed the earth
, and that after the fall of Adam
, humanity fell into a state of degeneration.
Lewis Spence
a writer on mythology
was critical of theosophy, however he still accepted the existence of giants. He read and researched english folklore
and mythology depicting such giants such as Magog
and the British giant Albion
. Another writer who was opposed to occultism was the British
journalist
and author William Comyns Beaumont
, like Spence he also accepted the existence of giants based on folklore, mythology, traditions and archeology. Beaumont believed that Britain was the location of Atlantis
and that it was occupied by a giant race of Aryans.
In the 1970s many of the authors of the earth mysteries
movement in Britain wrote about Giants. John Michell
wrote about the existence of giants in his book The view over Atlantis. Another writer Anthony Roberts wrote the book book Sowers of Thunder: Giants in myth and history in 1978. In the book Roberts claimed that giants were the original inhabitants to the British Isles
and linked Alfred Watkins
ley lines to the British giants.
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
teachings, Giants are real beings who live on spiritual, etheric and physical planes of existence. Giants were a popular theme in theosophical literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
, lost continents
Lost Continents
Lost Continents: The Atlantis Theme in History, Science, and Literature is a study by L. Sprague de Camp. It is considered one of his most popular works...
and later the earth mysteries
Earth mysteries
The term Earth mysteries describes an interest in a wide range of spiritual, quasi-religious and pseudo-scientific ideas focusing on cultural and religious beliefs about the Earth, generally with regard to particular geographical locations of historical significance.The study of ley lines...
movement of Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in the 1970s.
History
The concept of giants was discussed by the theosophist and occultOccult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
author Madame Blavatsky
Madame Blavatsky
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky , was a theosophist, writer and traveler. Between 1848 and 1875 Blavatsky had gone around the world three times. In 1875, Blavatsky together with Colonel H. S. Olcott established the Theosophical Society...
who wrote about the existence of giants in her book The Secret Doctrine connecting them to her theory of root races and claiming they correspond with Hindu cycle of the universe
Hindu Cycle Of The Universe
See also Hindu units of measurement.According to Hindu Philosophy, the universe never came to be at some particular point, but always has been, always will be, but is perpetually in flux. Space and time are of cyclical nature. This universe is simply the current one, which is in flux and...
. According to theosophists ape-like giants were the third root race
Root race
Root Races are stages in human evolution in the esoteric cosmology of theosophist Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, as described in her book The Secret Doctrine . These races were said to have existed on now-lost continents. Blavatsky's model was developed by later theosophists, most notably William...
who lived on the continent of Lemuria
Lemuria
Lemuria may refer to:*Lemuria , in Roman religion, a feast during which the unwholesome and malevolent spectres of the restless dead were propitiated...
. Theosophists also linked giants to the Atlantean race.
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
stone structures were built by the fourth root race, a race of giants. She also claimed due to the size of Buddhas of Bamiyan
Buddhas of Bamiyan
The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, situated northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2,500 meters...
in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
they had been built by giants measuring 60 feet tall. Blavatsky linked the Polynesian peoples as the very earliest survivors as a "sub-race" of the fourth root-race, due to the Polynesian people being "a higher stature than the rest of mankind".
The German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
occultist Guido von List
Guido von List
Guido Karl Anton List, better known as Guido von List was an Austrian/German poet, journalist, writer, businessman and dealer of leather goods, mountaineer, hiker, dramatist, playwright, and rower, but was most notable as an occultist and völkisch author who is seen as one of the most important...
was influenced by Blavatsky's writings on giants and mixed together paganism
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
, mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
, with theosophy which accepted the existence of giants living in different realms based on the first four rounds of the root race theory.
R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz
R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz
René Adolphe Schwaller de Lubicz , born in Alsace-Lorraine, was best known for his 15-year study of the art and architecture of the Temple of Luxor in Egypt and his subsequent book The Temple of Man...
the egyptologist and traditionalist believed that giants had roamed the earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, and that after the fall of Adam
Adam
Adam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...
, humanity fell into a state of degeneration.
Lewis Spence
Lewis Spence
James Lewis Thomas Chalmbers Spence was a Scottish journalist, whose efforts as a compiler of Scottish folklore have proved more durable than his efforts as a poet and occult scholar....
a writer on mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
was critical of theosophy, however he still accepted the existence of giants. He read and researched english folklore
English folklore
English folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in England over a number of centuries. Some stories can be traced back to their roots, while the origin of others is uncertain or disputed...
and mythology depicting such giants such as Magog
Magog
Magog may refer to:* Magog , a grandson of Noah in the Old Testament* Gog and Magog, a Biblical pair * Magog, Quebec, a town in southern Quebec, Canada...
and the British giant Albion
Albion
Albion is the oldest known name of the island of Great Britain. Today, it is still sometimes used poetically to refer to the island or England in particular. It is also the basis of the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland, Alba...
. Another writer who was opposed to occultism was the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and author William Comyns Beaumont
William Comyns Beaumont
William Comyns Beaumont, also known as Comyns Beaumont, was a British journalist, author, and lecturer. Beaumont was a staff writer for the Daily Mail and eventually became editor of the Bystander in 1903 and then The Graphic in 1932.Beaumont was an eccentric with several unusual beliefs, many of...
, like Spence he also accepted the existence of giants based on folklore, mythology, traditions and archeology. Beaumont believed that Britain was the location of Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
and that it was occupied by a giant race of Aryans.
In the 1970s many of the authors of the earth mysteries
Earth mysteries
The term Earth mysteries describes an interest in a wide range of spiritual, quasi-religious and pseudo-scientific ideas focusing on cultural and religious beliefs about the Earth, generally with regard to particular geographical locations of historical significance.The study of ley lines...
movement in Britain wrote about Giants. John Michell
John Michell (writer)
John Frederick Carden Michell was an English writer whose key sources of inspiration were Plato and Charles Fort...
wrote about the existence of giants in his book The view over Atlantis. Another writer Anthony Roberts wrote the book book Sowers of Thunder: Giants in myth and history in 1978. In the book Roberts claimed that giants were the original inhabitants to the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
and linked Alfred Watkins
Alfred Watkins
Alfred Watkins was a businessman, self-taught amateur archaeologist and antiquarian who, while standing on a hillside in Herefordshire, England, in 1921 experienced a revelation and noticed on the British landscape the apparent arrangement of straight lines positioned along ancient features, and...
ley lines to the British giants.