Avesta word for "praise-song" (Bartholomae: "Lobgesang"); that word is not actually attested in any text. The surviving texts of the Avesta, as they exist today, derive from a single master copy produced by Sasanian Empire-era (224–651 CE) collation and recension. That master copy, now lost, is known as the 'Sassanian archetype'. The oldest surviving manuscript ("K1") of an Avestan language text is dated 1323 CE. Summaries of the various Avesta texts found in the 9th/10th century texts of Zoroastrian tradition suggest that a significant portion of the literature in the Avestan language has been lost. Only about one-quarter of the Avestan
Is Theosophy a Religion? Is Theosophy a Religion? "Is Theosophy a Religion?" is an editorial published in November 1888 in the theosophical magazine "Lucifer"; it was compiled by Helena Blavatsky. It was included in the 10th volume of the author's "Collected Writings." According to Arnold Kalnitsky, in the article it is about the problems of religion from the Theosophical point of view. Kalnitsky wrote in his thesis that by studying this Blavatsky's work, we can find out the relation of the Theosophists to religion. It begins with the statement (the author has reproduced it repeatedly elsewhere) that there is "a general sense of confusion"