any of various religious or philosophical systems claiming to be based on or to express an intuitive insight into the divine nature
the system of beliefs of the Theosophical Society founded in 1875, claiming to be derived from the sacred writings of Brahmanism and Buddhism, but denying the existence of any personal God
1640s (implied in theosophical), "knowledge about God and nature obtained through mystical study," from Medieval Latin theosophia (c.880), from Late Greek theosophia (c.500, Pseudo-Dionysus) "wisdom concerning God or things divine," from Greek theosophos "one wise about God," from theos "god" (see Thea) + sophos "wise, learned" (see sophist). Taken as the name of a modern philosophical system (sometimes called Esoteric Buddhism), founded in New York 1875 as "Theosophical Society" by Madame Blavatsky and others, which combines teachings of Hinduism and Buddhism.
