The Science of the Sacraments

Charles Webster Leadbeater (16 February 1854 – 1 March 1934) was an influential member of the Theosophical Society, author on occult subjects and co-initiator with J. I. Wedgwood of the Liberal Catholic Church. Originally a clergyman of the Church of England, his interest in spiritualism caused him to end his affiliation with the Church of England in favour of the Theosophical Society, where he became an associate of Annie Besant. Leadbeater's talents as a prolific author on occultism kept him an important presence in Theosophy until his death in 1934. This book, written in 1920. Reveals the true occult meaning behind church ceremonies. Contents: A New Idea of Church Worship The Holy Eucharist Holy Baptism and Confirmation Holy Orders The Lesser Sacraments The Altar and its Appurtenances The Vestments Most Holy Sacrament The Soul and its Vestures. Charles Leadbeater has investigated the energies of the Christian sacraments and written about them in this book The Science of Sacraments: An Occult and Clairvoyant Study of the Christian Eucharist – one of the most significant works of Christian esotericism. In his prologue to an edition of this book, John Kersey refers to the Eucharist proposed by Leadbeater as "a radical reinterpretation of the context of the Eucharist seen within a theological standpoint of esoteric magic and universal salvation; it is Catholicism expressing the love of God to the full without the burdens of needless guilt and fear, and the false totem of the temporal powers of the church."