About this Item
4to. (28 cm.) 20p. Illustrated with a large black and white photo of Robert Chaney on the title page. Stapled mimeographed booklet in black and white pictorial wrappers with what appears to be a starburst on the front panel. Just touches of wear to the extremities, rear panel slightly creased just a bit of rust on the staples, wrappers very lightly soiled, photo of Chaney in fine condition, else very good to near fine with no internal markings. "We are determined that every Astarian who desires to do so, has a clear and concise understanding of this basic Universal Law of God ¿ Re-birth ¿ for it has been the basis of greater misunderstanding than any other one Teaching ever to come through to the earth plane of life." [From the second paragraph] Astara was formed in 1951 by Robert Chaney and Earlyne Chaney (d. 2006), both former Spiritualists. Robert Chaney had been active at Camp Chesterfield and instrumental in the founding of the Spiritualist Episcopal Church. While still a Spiritualist, he became interested in Theosophy and began to profess a belief in reincarnation, which in the 1940s was still a minority idea within Spiritualist circles and which met with strong disapproval at the camp. Earlyne, as a child clairvoyant, had held conversations with a being she called simply ¿Father.¿ When she asked his name, he replied ¿Kut-Hu-Mi.¿ When she later discovered Koot Hoomi in Theosophical literature, he revealed that he had chosen her for special hierarchical work¿to write the teachings of the ancient wisdom for the new age. After resigning from their church in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, the Chaneys moved to Los Angeles, California, and began their independent endeavor. Astara is one of the most eclectic of bodies. The eclecticism is a reflection of the varied strong influences on the Chaneys at points in their lives: Spiritualism, Theosophy, yoga, Christianity, as well as the expressed desire to allow Astara to be a center of all religions and philosophies. These various tendencies have found unity, however, in the teaching of Hermes Mercurious Trismegistus, the ancient Egyptian Ptoh said to have organized the mystery schools from which all others have derived. Astara conceives of itself as a mystery school in the Hermetic tradition. The name is from the Greek goddess of divine justice, Astraea, and was chosen as a sign of the renewal of the Golden Age. This is a rare pamphlet by Robert Chaney published by Astara in Upland, California. Seller Inventory # 008622
Contact seller
Report this item
