“The first time I went to Olcott was for the Olcott Experience. I was fortunate to be able to spend a full week at Olcott. Each room had its own spirit - I could feel the presence of the past in the building and walking around the grounds. The entire place has an amazing ambience.“

“Olcott gave me my life really! It is where I lived and worked for most of my adult life, found my life partner, and where I discovered a world of fellowship with like-minded seekers of ‘soul-wisdom.’”

“The L. W. Roger’s Building means the world to me, having the Prairie School of DuPage, a nature school, using the building & grounds has brought joy to countless children & their families & introduced the Ancient Wisdom to a new generation. What could be sweeter?”

"In Pune, India I lived within two blocks of the Theosophy Lodge. In Wheaton, Illinois I live within two blocks of the Theosophical Society Olcott Headquarters and it is like a second home. The karmic connection is astounding."

“To me, Olcott was home. The staff lived, worked, meditated, and ate meals together, and we had fun. Working in the Olcott Library was a joy, and I was grateful to spend my days there. One night in a dream, I saw the many women who had worked in the Library over the years seated on the Library balcony, smiling.”

“Being aware of the TS in the early 1970’s, I had an urge to know more and to connect with its headquarters. Our move to Michigan brought me close enough to attend the TSA Summer School at Olcott in 1972. The moment I walked in that door of the Rogers Building, I knew I was home. May we always cherish and maintain this treasure for generations of seekers to come.”

“I first encountered Olcott on New Year’s Day in 1971, after noticing on the back of a book which I checked out from the Chicago Public Library, that the Theosophical Publishing House was located in Wheaton. My dad was driving as we approached through the front lawn and turned into the circle where I exited the car. Upon walking in through the front door I’ll never forget viewing the extraordinary mural in the entry lobby depicting evolution. A while later, after visiting Olcott almost every week and entering through the back door, did I realize just how atypical it was for the front door to have been unlocked.”

“Olcott is built on ideas. It is, of course, brick and mortar physically, but the resources and purpose that raised, infuse, and maintain the campus are expressions of the search. Olcott is a monument to the search, and sustains it. Like the man himself.”

“It was the early 80s. Several of us from Detroit lodge had come for a meditation program given by Dora. I entered the building and looked up. To the right, the bay windows of the National Secretary's office protruded from the wall. How cool is that? I thought. Little did I know a few short years later that would be my office.”

“Since I first visited Olcott well over 50 years ago, it has been my favorite administrative and spiritual centre in the Theosophical world. I feel nothing but gratitude toward its workers over the decades and admiration and respect for all that has been offered to so many, near and far.”

“To me, Olcott has always felt like coming home. As soon as one enters the property, there's a sense that you have passed an invisible periphery onto hallowed ground. It is filled with the memories of all who have come before us. My sense is that Olcott - and especially the beautiful old Rogers building - cares for us as much as we care for it. So may we always honor Olcott as a spiritual center and home of our TSA.”

“When I enter the Olcott, I feel a living connection to the founders and pioneers of the Theosophical movement. Each room has its own character, but the library, with its unique collection and its beautiful wooden stairs and banisters, holds a special place for me. It opens both my heart and my mind, awakening a deep desire to explore, to study, and to learn as fully as I can.”

“I can recall the first time I visited the Olcott campus, which I believe was in the 1980’s. I was graciously given a tour of the building, which overall I found awe-inspiring. I recall specifically seeing “The Kern Room” cloistered away on the second floor of the library,  and being told that’s where the Board of Directors met. I was intrigued by the mystery and reverence of the process, perhaps influenced by the Masters.”

“The first time I entered the main building at Olcott was a number of years ago, when I was invited by a friend to hear a Thursday night lecture. I knew virtually nothing about Theosophy or the Theosophical Society, but when I walked up the stairs and saw “There is no religion higher than truth” on the wall next to the auditorium, something resonated deep in me and I felt drawn to know more. The lecture ignited another spark, and I’m grateful for the journey of learning and growth which started that evening and continues to this day! I’ve also had deeply meaningful experiences guiding people in numerous forest bathing programs on the grounds of Olcott, and have witnessed and heard how much people (myself included) notice and appreciate the unique and very special energy of the property, no doubt due in large part to the TSA’s presence there for the past century. I lead programs at other locations as well, and there’s something very different at Olcott.”

“In March 1977, my journey to Olcott was a pilgrimage to search for truth. My eyes and heart opened as Karole Kettering generously spent time referring me to study Hidden Wisdom and the Path. Ever since, Olcott and so many theosophists shone Light and Love in this shared journey of unfoldment and commitment to serve humanity.”

“The Olcott Campus, which served Betty so well during her Presidency, deserves our respect and commitment to maintain and enhance both its facilities and the indescribable aura that makes it a place of witness and national leadership—where the ‘Three Objects’ become reality."

“Much of what was familiar to me about theosophy was from the 12 Steps (of Al-Anon), which are universal spiritual principles. I always had a hard time with the "higher power" thing, though. The teachings I encountered at Olcott were so helpful— not just those about the higher Self, but also the origins of the cosmos and humanity. I also really appreciate the amount of evidence for many of the teachings. Olcott is doing a lot to bring science and spirituality closer together—where they belong.”

“Over the years I have come to consider the Olcott building a home away from home. From all of the events and discussion groups to the staff that I have come to call friends, what's not to love about the place that brings it all together.”

“Olcott represents, in physical terms, a meeting point of the ideals of the Theosophical Society, with which people can connect in person and for themselves. There's a comfort in knowing it's there, a beacon that feels like a home you can always come back to.”

“I was born into this lifetime feeling something deeper, beyond any limits, eternal; in starry skies, intense spiritual bursts; even crying for me from within my own heart. Through long years of loneliness I searched for re-connection. In my highest and best moments it would grab me, but then it would always pull back again. I finally found that vast forever essence when I moved to Olcott in the 1970s. Throughout all of the decades that followed then, wherever I traveled, I wove the threads of what I had found there through my every thought, feeling, and moment. Now, I write stories and books for those who are just now discovering that eternal curiosity within themselves. I thank Olcott for that.”

“When I entered the building with my parents at the age of 14, I felt that I had finally found my spiritual home. The wonderful murals in the front part of the building illustrate the beginning of the world up to the present time with beauty and wonderful symbolism. Wonderful memories, incredible experiences.”

“The Olcott Building has always felt like a sanctuary where a century of history meets the present, but its most profound gift to me was a moment of divine timing in the lobby. During my second week at Quest Books, Mark introduced me to a new employee named John Cianciosi, and I knew the moment I saw him that he would be my husband. It was a transcendent, soul-deep recognition that signaled the start of a new spiritual journey and twenty years of continuing to grow together. This journey also led to the heart of the building, the Olcott library, where David Bland married us three years later. I will always look at Olcott as the sacred ground where my life changed forever.”

“My first trip to Olcott came through an invitation to an Olcott Experience. I had been a theosophist for thirty years in another country, and until then had felt disconnected with TSA. But the moment I stepped into the Rogers Building, a quiet certainty washed over me—I was home! We, who love Theosophy, share a hidden bond and in the warmth and fellowship at Olcott, the recognition of that was immediate. It was an unforgettable experience.”

“On my first visit, born of a strange chain of events involving Catholic mystics, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Olcott Library, I didn’t feel the same awe as my companions, who were captivated by the beauty of the Murals and the Library. Instead, I felt something quieter: the sense of coming home, of meeting a friend I hadn’t seen in a long time. I knew then—and still do, eight years later, living on campus—that it wasn’t coincidence. And even now, whenever I return after being away, that same feeling comes back: Welcome home, friend—come, there’s something waiting for us.”.

“Olcott was where my work for the Theosophical Society began — and where I learned, at some cost, what that life actually requires. I arrived naive and open-hearted and left having walked a road I would not have chosen, but one that forged everything that followed: my vocation, my voice, and Pablo. There are teachings about karma that I understand now in a way I could not then. For all of it — the grace and the grit — I am grateful.”