{{Short description|Welsh mystic}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Portal|Biography|Religion}} '''John Thomas''' (1826–1908)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thomas, John, 1826-1908 - National Library of Wales Archives and Manuscripts |url=https://archives.library.wales/index.php/thomas-john-1826-1908 |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=archives.library.wales}}</ref> was a Welsh mystic and astrologist of the late 19th century. He used the professional name '''Charubel''' to practice, claiming to be an clairvoyant, occultist and herbalist. He was the co-author of the 1898 handbook ''Degrees of the Zodiac Symbolised''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Crowther |first=Patricia |title=Covensense |date=2009 |publisher=Robert Hale |isbn=978-0-7090-8720-5 |pages=190–191}}</ref>
==Early years== John Thomas was born in 1826 in Wales.<ref name=":0" /> As a young man, he studied for the Christian ministry, but ultimately followed occult and psychic interests.<ref name=":0" /> He was a curative mesmerist and claimed he had second sight and the ability to see ''Submundanes'' or ''Elementals'', which he described as terrifying figures.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Volume VIII – Theosophical History |url=https://theohistory.org/issue-archive/volume-viii/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Writings== Thomas founded a shortlived organisation called ''The Celestial Brotherhood'' which was also known as the ''British and Foreign Society of Occultists'', first mentioned in 1884. Members included John Yarker and Major Francis George Irwin, keen observers of the occult.<ref name=":2" />
Adopting the pseudonym "Charubel", he published numerous books and was editor of several esoteric periodicals. He published a monthly magazine initially called ''The Seer and Celestial Reformer'' but soon renamed ''The Occultist''.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Leo |first=Bessie |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeworkofalanle00leob/page/36/mode/2up?q=Charubel |title=The life and work of Alan Leo, theosophist, astrologer, mason |date=1919 |publisher=Modern Astrology Office |location=London |pages=37 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref name=":2" />
Thomas first met the astrologer Alan Leo in person in 1889.<ref name=":1" /> ''The Symbols of the Degrees of the Zodiac'' was first published as a series of articles in Leo's ''Astrologer's Magazine'' over a three-year period starting in December 1890.<ref name=":1" />
Thomas's book, ''Degrees of the Zodiac Symbolised'' was first published in 1898. A subsequent edition of 1907 included separate material written by the much younger mystic and astrologer Sepharial (Dr. Walter Gorn Old).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Philip |title=Charubel & Sepharial The Degrees of the Zodiac Symbolised 1907 |url=https://www.astrolearn.com/downloads/charubel-sepharial-the-degrees-of-the-zodiac-symbolised-1907/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=Astrolearn |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1913 |title=Annual Report for 1912 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43483077 |journal=The Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland |publisher=Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka (RASSL) |volume=23 |issue=66 |pages=15–20 |jstor=43483077}}</ref>
In 1906, Thomas published ''The Psychology of Botany, Minerals and Precious Stones''.<ref name=":0" />
== Personal life and death == Thomas became very ill in 1891.<ref name=":0" /> Penniless, he relied on the care of others and was visited by occultists who travelled from all over the world to study with him.<ref name=":0" /> He died in 1908 in Manchester.<ref name=":0" />
== Legacy == The National Library of Wales holds a collection of papers relating to Thomas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Thomas ('Charubel'), - National Library of Wales Archives and Manuscripts |url=https://archives.library.wales/index.php/john-thomas-charubel |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=archives.library.wales}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Charubel}} Category:Welsh occultists Category:1826 births Category:1908 deaths Category:Clairvoyants