Editing Alice Bailey (section)

== Biography ==

=== Childhood and early life ===
Bailey was born into a wealthy middle-class British family and, as a member of the [[Church of England|Anglican Church]], received a thorough Christian education.<ref>Bailey 1951. pp. 9, 12.</ref>

Her autobiography states that at the age of 15, on 30 June 1895, Bailey was visited by a stranger, "...a tall man, dressed in European clothes and wearing a [[turban]]" who told her she needed to develop self-control to prepare for certain work he planned for her to do.<ref name=Keller763>}Keller 2006. p.65.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bailey|first=Alice|title=The Unfinished Biography|publisher=Lucis Publishing Company|year=1951|isbn=0853301247|pages=34|language=English}}</ref> This turned out to be the creation and publication of 19 books, together with educational and meditation work that reached "practically all the countries of the world".<ref>{{Cite book
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lokPtsd7Vr4C
| title = The Emerging Network: A Sociology of the New Age and Neo-pagan Movements
| last = York
| first = Michael
| date = 1995-01-01
| publisher = Rowman & Littlefield
| isbn = 978-0-8476-8001-6
| language = en
}}</ref>

At the age of 22, Bailey did [[evangelism|evangelical]] work in connection with the [[YMCA]] and the [[British Army]].<ref>{{cite book
 |title=Krotona of Old Hollywood, Vol. II
 |last=Ross
 |first=Joseph E.
 |author-link=Joseph E. Ross
 |year=2004
 |publisher=Joseph Ross
 |isbn=0-925943-12-6
 |page=340
}}</ref> This took her to India, where, in 1907, she met her future husband, Walter Evans. Together, they moved to America, where Evans became an [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopal]] priest.<ref name="Keller, Rosemary 2006 p 762">Keller, Rosemary Skinner. ''Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America''. Indiana University Press. 2006. p 762</ref> The marriage did not last, and Bailey pushed for and received a divorce. She left with their three children after their formal separation in 1915. Then followed a difficult period in which she worked in a sardine cannery to support herself and the children.<ref name="Keller763" /><ref name="sutcliffe46">{{cite book |last=Sutcliffe |first=Steven J |title=Children of the New Age: A History of Spiritual Practices |publisher=Routledge |year=2003 |page=46 |isbn=0-415-24299-1}}</ref>

=== With the Theosophical Society ===
[[File:Theosophicalseal.svg|150px|thumbnail|The Society's seal incorporated the Swastika, Star of David, Ankh, Aum and Ouroboros symbols]]
Bailey discovered the [[Theosophical Society]] and the work of [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]]. The Theosophical Society states that Bailey became involved in 1917.<ref>Mills, Joy, ''100 Years of Theosophy, A History of the Theosophical Society in America,'' 1987, p. 62</ref> Theosophist Joy Mills states that in 1918 she became a member of the Esoteric Section of the society.<ref>Meade, Marion, ''Madame Blavatsky, the Woman Behind the Myth,'' [[Music Corporation of America|Putnam]], 1980, p. 468</ref> Theosophist Bruce F. Campbell notes, "She quickly rose to a position of influence in the American Section of the [[Theosophical Society Adyar|Adyar]] society, moving to its headquarters at [[Krotona]] in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]]. She became editor of its magazine, ''The Messenger,'' and member of the committee responsible for Krotona."<ref>Campbell, Bruce, F., ''Ancient Wisdom Revived, a History of the Theosophical Movement'', University of California Press, Berkeley, 1980, p. 151</ref> In 1919, Foster Bailey (1888–1977), who was to be her second husband, became National Secretary of the Theosophical Society. They married in 1921.<ref name="penn2">{{cite book |last=Penn |first=Lee |title=False Dawn: The United Religions Initiative, Globalism, and the Quest for a One World Religion |publisher=Sophia Perennis |year=2004 |page=20 |isbn=1-59731-000-X}}</ref>

The Theosophist published the first few chapters of her first work, ''Initiation, Human and Solar,''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jw_aQnzCDpwC&q=the+first+chapter+of+%22initiation+human+and+solar%22+appeared+in+the+messenger+theosophical&pg=PA46|title=Children of the New Age: A History of Spiritual Practices|first=Steven|last=Sutcliffe|date=31 December 2003|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=9780415242998|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=we2KvdT3zOsC
| title = Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America
| last1 = Keller
| first1 = Rosemary Skinner
| last2 = Ruether
| first2 = Rosemary Radford
| last3 = Cantlon
| first3 = Marie
| date = 2006-01-01
| publisher = Indiana University Press
| isbn = 0-253-34685-1
| language = en
}}</ref> (p.&nbsp;762) but then stopped for reasons Bailey called "theosophical jealousy and reactionary attitude".<ref name="Campbell, Bruce 1980 p. 151">Campbell, Bruce, F., ''Ancient Wisdom Revived, a History of the Theosophical Movement'', [[University of California Press]], Berkeley, 1980, p. 151</ref> Bailey "objected to the 'neo-Theosophy' of [[Annie Besant]]" and worked with Foster Bailey to gain more power in the American Section.<ref name="Campbell, Bruce 1980 p. 151" /> According to Theosophist [[Josephine Maria Davies Ransom]], she became part of a progressive "Back to Blavatsky movement, led mainly by Mr. and Mrs. Foster Bailey".<ref>Ransom, Josephine, ''A Short History of the Theosophical Society'', Adyar, 1938, p. 452</ref> She outlined her vision for the Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society; however, her efforts to influence the society failed, and she and her husband were dismissed from their positions.<ref>Ross, Joseph E., ''Krotona of Old Hollywood, Vol. II'' Joseph Ross, 2004, p. 346</ref>

According to historian of religion [[Olav Hammer]], Bailey's early writings on communications with the Tibetan were well received within the society, but society president Annie Besant questioned Bailey's claims of communications with "the Tibetan" and allowed the Baileys to be expelled from the organization.<ref name=hammer65>{{cite book |last=Hammer |first=Olav |title=Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age |publisher=BRILL |year=2004 |page=65 |isbn=90-04-13638-X}}</ref> According to Bailey, she had come to see the society as [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] and involved with "lower psychic phenomena".<ref name=Keller763 />

=== Lucis Trust ===
{{Main|Lucis Trust}}
Alice and Foster Bailey founded the Lucis Trust in 1922. Its activities include the Arcane School, World Goodwill, Triangles, a quarterly magazine called The Beacon, and a publishing company primarily intended to publish Bailey's many books. The Arcane School gives instruction and guidance in meditation via correspondence based on the ideas in Bailey's books. World Goodwill is intended to promote better human relations through goodwill, which they define as "love in action". That "action" included the support of the [[United Nations]]. The "Triangles" are groups of three people who agree to link up in thought each day and to meditate on right human relations, visualizing light and love pouring into human minds and hearts, followed by the use of the [[Great Invocation]]. It is not necessary for each person to link in thought at the same time each day and it only takes a few moments of time.
Alice and Foster Bailey founded "Lucifer Publishing Company" ("'[[Lucifer]]' and 'Lucis' come from the same word root, ''lucis'' being the Latin genitive case meaning ''of light'').<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lucistrust.org/arcane_school/talks_and_articles/the_esoteric_meaning_lucifer|title=The Esoteric Meaning of Lucifer (Lucis Trust)|website=www.lucistrust.org}}</ref> After the first two or three years, the name was changed to "Lucis Publishing Co."<ref>Initiation, Human and Solar. Copyright 1922 by Alice A. Bailey. First Edition. Lucifer Publishing Co., 135 Broadway, New York City</ref> (The Theosophical Society also used the name "Lucifer" for its early magazine.) In 1923, with the help of Foster Bailey, Alice Bailey founded the Arcane School, which is part of Lucis Trust. This school provides educational correspondence, meditation instruction, and guided study based on her writings.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lucistrust.org/arcane_school|title=Arcane School (Lucis Trust)|website=www.lucistrust.org}}</ref>

Bailey continued to work up until the time of her death in 1949.<ref>Judah, Stillson J. "History and Philosophy of Metaphysical Movements in America" (1967), Westminster Press, pp.119–131, and Campbell, Bruce, ''Ancient Wisdom Revived: A History of the Theosophical Movement'' (1980), pp. 150–55, [[University of California Press]], Berkeley, {{ISBN|0-520-03968-8}}, as cited in Beekman, Scott, ''William Dudley Pelley: A Life in Right-Wing Extremism And the Occult'' (2005), p.196, Syracuse University Press, {{ISBN|0-8156-0819-5}}</ref>