by Stephen J. King
Part 2 of 4 in “The Mystic Shore: Alternative Spirituality and Modernity in Early Twentieth-Century North Sydney”
Esoteric Landscapes: The Griffins and the Spiritual Geography of Castlecrag
If Theosophy provided the most visible organisational expression of alternative spirituality on Sydney’s North Shore, the work of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin demonstrated how esoteric ideas could also find expression through landscape, architecture and community planning. During the 1920s the Griffins became increasingly involved with the spiritual currents circulating through Sydney’s intellectual and reformist circles, particularly those associated with the Theosophical Society.
Their contact with Australian Theosophy intensified after 1926 through figures such as the Dutch philosopher and Sydney resident Dr J. J. van der Leeuw, who became both an advocate of their work and a source of new commissions. Walter Griffin addressed the annual convention of Sydney Theosophists in 1928 and contributed articles to Theosophical publications. Yet despite these associations, the Griffins remained uncomfortable with the increasingly messianic direction of international Theosophy under Annie Besant and Charles Webster Leadbeater. The expectation that Jiddu Krishnamurti would emerge as a new “World Teacher” appeared to them to locate spiritual authority in an external figure rather than within the individual.
Instead, the Griffins found greater affinity with the teachings of Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy. Emerging from the German branch of the Theosophical movement, Anthroposophy emphasised the cultivation of inner spiritual knowledge and the development of human consciousness. Steiner described it as a path leading the Spiritual in the human being to the Spiritual in the universe. For the Griffins, this emphasis upon self-development and inner authority aligned closely with ideals they had long held concerning creativity, individuality and social renewal.
These influences found expression in the development of Castlecrag. More than a suburban estate, Castlecrag represented an attempt to create a community integrated with the natural landscape and informed by spiritual principles. The retention of native bushland, the preservation of sandstone outcrops and the subordination of buildings to the surrounding environment reflected the Griffins’ conviction that human settlement should exist in harmony with natural forms rather than dominate them. Contemporary critics frequently regarded these ideas as eccentric or impractical, yet they embodied a broader spiritual critique of industrial modernity.
Recent scholarship has suggested that the Griffins’ esoteric interests extended beyond Theosophy and Anthroposophy. In The Secret Plan of Canberra, Peter Proudfoot argues that Walter Burley Griffin was influenced by Chinese geomancy and feng shui, and identifies symbolic uses of crystal imagery within his planning and architectural thought. While such interpretations remain debated, they reinforce the extent to which Griffin drew upon a diverse range of spiritual and symbolic traditions when conceiving the relationship between landscape, architecture and human community.
Anthroposophical influences would continue to shape the North Shore long after the Griffins’ arrival. In 1957, the establishment of Glenaeon School at Middle Cove created Australia’s first Steiner school, providing a lasting institutional presence for Steiner’s educational philosophy in the district. Although founded after the period examined in this essay, Glenaeon illustrates the enduring significance of spiritual currents first introduced to Sydney through the networks in which the Griffins participated.
The Griffins therefore occupy an important position within the wider story of North Shore esotericism. Their engagement with Theosophy, Anthroposophy and related traditions demonstrates that alternative spiritual ideas could influence not only religious organisations but also architecture, urban planning and environmental thought. Yet the spiritual culture represented by Castlecrag remained, in many respects, idealistic and reformist. Theosophy and Anthroposophy sought the moral and spiritual improvement of society through education, self-cultivation and harmonious community. Within North Sydney itself, however, esoteric culture would assume more diverse and sometimes more overtly occult forms. Alongside these spiritually progressive movements emerged figures whose interests lay in ceremonial magic, Rosicrucianism, psychical experimentation and other expressions of the occult revival. It is to these less familiar personalities, operating within the heart of North Sydney, that this essay now turns.
Next: Part 3 — The Viceroy to Baphomet: Frank Bennett and the Collegium ad Spiritum Sanctum of Crows Nest