Den teosofiske losjen ‘Klippen’: Alternativ religiøsitet på Leirvik i Stord på 1920-talet

Abstract

In May 1922, a new theosophical lodge was founded in Leirvik, a small town on the west coast of Norway, by local members of the Norwegian Theosophical Society. The lodge was headed by the at the time famous Ole Olvik, natural healer and founder of the equally famous sanatorium Furuly Helseheim. The lodge was to last only a few years. After first suffering the death of Olvik in 1924, and the number of members having dwindled down to four in 1926, the lodge was dealt a final blow when Olvik’s successor as head of the lodge, the watchmaker, and communist, Andreas Christian Johansen moved away from Leirvik in 1930. Based on a diversity of sources, this article outlines the history of this lodge and examines how and by whom theosophy was introduced into Leirvik, the lodge’s activities, and suggests some reasons why the lodge came to an end so soon after its establishment.