mary and robert seem to have been introduced to esotericism through a bible study circle they joined in edinburgh; other scriptures were discussed, including the "tao te ching" and the "bhagavad gita", and some members of the group were theosophists. robert and mary joined the theosophical society in edinburgh in 1886, but found it lacking in terms of ritual, and eventually joined john william brodie-innes' amen-ra temple of the hermetic order of the golden dawn on 1894-03-12.