The Ascent of the Soul

There is also a right and a wrong way to use thought, emotion, will. The mind which has hospitality only for holy thoughts will become clearer, and its vision more distinct; but the mind which harbors impure thoughts, gradually, but surely, confuses evil with good, obscures its vision, and becomes a fountain of moral miasm. -from "The First Steps" Around the turn of the 20th century, interest in matters spiritual-from the traditionally religious to the outrageously paranormal-consumed the attention of the American public. This 1902 classic of devotional writing attempts to apply a diffuse, pan-religious theosophically minded doctrine to Christian thought, describing an awakening to Jesus as a mystery of "elemental processes and forces that] are all silent" moving along "pathways of growth." Believers surely continue to find inspiration in his beautifully written work, but readers in comparative mythology, particularly those interested in theosophy and the "New Thought" movement of the early 20th century will be intrigued by the cross-pollination of competing philosophies of the human spirit.