George Wyld (1821–1906) was a Scottish homeopathic

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and Christian Theosophist.

Career

Wyld became interested in

homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dis ...

in 1851 after discovering the work of Samuel Hahnemann whilst a medical student at Edinburgh. After he obtained his

M. D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...

with the thesis '''The liver: the hydrogenator in animals he moved to London where he taught homeopathy and in 1876 became president of the British Homeopathic Society.Oppenheim, Janet. (1988). ''The Other World: Spiritualism and Psychical Research in England, 1850-1914''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 231-232. Wyld was interested in

mesmerism Animal magnetism, also known as mesmerism, was a protoscientific theory developed by German doctor Franz Mesmer in the 18th century in relation to what he claimed to be an invisible natural force (''Lebensmagnetismus'') possessed by all livi ...

spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...

and

Theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

. He has been described as one of the "oldest mesmerists in England". Wyld was also a proponent of

phrenology Phrenology () is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.Wihe, J. V. (2002). "Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking." In ''Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience'', pp. 195–203. C ...

. He 1844 he joined the London Phrenological Society. He was a convinced spiritualist, in 1854 he met the medium

Daniel Dunglas Home Daniel Dunglas Home (pronounced ''Hume''; 20 March 183321 June 1886) was a Scottish physical medium with the reported ability to levitate to a variety of heights, speak with the dead, and to produce rapping and knocks in houses at will. His bi ...

. In October 1876 he defended the fraudulent slate-writing medium Henry Slade at his trial. He help to organize a spiritualists defense fund to cover Slade's legal costs. Because of this he received great criticism from the medical community. Wyld was a vice-president for the British National Association of Spiritualists and an early member of the Society for Psychical Research.

Theosophy

In the 1879 Wyld joined the British Theosophical Society and was its president during 1880–1882. He resigned in 1882 faced with

Madame Blavatsky Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, uk, Олена Петрівна Блаватська, Olena Petrivna Blavatska (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875 ...

's opposition to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

.Guttierez, Cathy. (2015). ''Handbook of Spiritualism and Channeling''. Brill. p. 132. Wyld initially was impressed by Blavatsky, believing her to possess

mediumistic Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spiri ...

powers, but later fell out with her, describing her as a rude and vulgar woman.Oppenheim, Janet. (1988). ''The Other World: Spiritualism and Psychical Research in England, 1850-1914''. Cambridge University Press. p. 180. He resigned after she had written an article in ''

The Theosophist ''The Theosophist'' is the monthly journal of the international Theosophical Society based in Adyar, India. It was founded in India in 1879 by Helena Blavatsky, who was also its editor. The journal is still being published till date. For the ye ...

'' claiming "there is no personal or impersonal God." He did not then abandon Theosophy altogether, forming his own hybrid known as Christo-Theosophy.

Publications

''Homoeopathy''
(1853)
''Diseases of the Heart and Lungs: Their Physical Diagnosis, and Homeopathic and Hygienic Treatment''
(1860)
''Theosophy and the Higher Life; Or, Spiritual Dynamics and the Divine and Miraculous Man''
(1880)
''Theosophy: Or Spiritual Dynamics and the Divine and Miraculous Man''
(1895)
''Notes of My Life''
(1903)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyld, George 1821 births 1906 deaths British homeopaths Scottish spiritualists Scottish Theosophists