Helena Blavatsky published Isis Unveiled, founding the Theosophical Society and promoting a syncretic spiritual philosophy combining Eastern mysticism, Western esotericism, and occult traditions. The work claimed to reveal ancient wisdom suppressed by organized religion and science.

Theosophy influenced major literary figures including W.B. Yeats, T.S. Eliot, and Ezra Pound, who drew upon its mystical concepts and interest in Eastern spirituality. The movement's emphasis on hidden knowledge and alternative spiritualities provided poets with new symbolic frameworks and influenced Modernist experimentation with non-Western philosophical traditions.