I can be tactless in my appraisal of things that have meaning to other people, so I apologise for causing offence. When I think something's silly or misguided, I'll say so, often without giving thought to how people might feel about it. I do so expecting the same in return because if the criticism is valid, I can use it, and if it isn't, it doesn't affect me.
There was a point, around the age you were when you started exploring beyond the bounds of agnostic and atheistic thinking, where I ascribed myself to a belief system and deeply trusted a man who turned out to be a fraud. After that, I explored multiple occultist and spiritual disciplines to varying degrees. They all had a few things in common.
One was that they always had something valuable to impart, if you were willing to listen.
Another was that, sadly, most of the people who chose to identify with a school of thought tended to take it as a package. Meaning they took the good with the bad. And, in so doing, often missed the point of the good as well.
In other words, I'm unconvinced of the value of ascribing to someone else's teachings. Why not hear what they have to say, think about it, try things, see if they work and adjust your own model accordingly? The irony is that the more valuable ideas of the teachers in question tended to advocate exactly that. Like Rudolf Steiner. But unfortunately, while he advocated questioning his doctrines and experimenting with his methods yourself, the reality was people just took everything he said on faith. And that's how you end up with followers. And - especially after the founder dies - stagnation.
And then... politics.
Of course, that's anthroposophy and I can't make an educated statement about theosophy - which, by the way, I am curious to explore. I have my reservations due to past experience and associative expectations, but I'm sure there are valuable things in the teachings.
EDIT: Also don't mean to claim you or anyone else in this thread IS one of those said dogmatic followers. You clearly found occultist mysticism useful. My experiences were generally less rewarding. Though not universally so.
