“Does a personal god exist for Theosophy? If impersonal, is it similar to Panentheism?”
--> No. Yes. But the questions require answers at several levels.
God
In Theosophy, God exists, but there is something higher than God. Theosophy teaches of something called the Absolute. The Absolute is the One Reality, and everything else is only a manifestation of the Absolute. The Absolute is very difficult to describe and understand, and we do not spend a lot of time trying to describe or understand it. It has been said that trying to describe the Absolute is like trying to list characteristics for something that has no characteristics.
Regarding God, God is seen as a temporary emanation from the Absolute. God is the universe, and the universe is God. But let me back up a couple of steps. From the Absolute. two things emerge at the beginning of the appearance of a universe – Spirit and Matter. (They are also called Father and Mother in their Christian-sounding names, and Purusha and Mulaprakriti in their Sanskrit names.) From Spirit and Matter emanates the universe – the Son. Take a look at this picture of the Catholic concept called the Blessed Virgin Mary.
It is a picture of Mary holding the infant Jesus.
Now, take a look at this Buddhist diety named Kwan Yin:
It is a picture of Kwan Yin holding a vase, and pouring water from the vase.
According to Theosophy,
both Mary and Kwan Yin symbolize the same thing. Both Jesus and the water symbolize our universe. Again, according to Theosophy, Jesus has had many brothers and sisters – there have been countless numbers of universes.
God is Jesus, which is the manifested universe (which is also referred to in Theosophy by its Sanskrit name, Mahat). But Mahat – God – is only a manifestation of the Absolute. There are some fascinating references in Genesis that indicate that the original Christian and Jewish teaching taught the same ideas. If anyone is interested, I will point out such teachings in Genesis.
(Theosophy also answers the age-old question of whether Jesus is God or the Son of God.)
Panentheism
According to Theosophy, there is a great deal of “delegating of authority” going on in the universe. The whole universe is one consciousness, but each galaxy is controlled by its own central consciousness (“central deity”). Likewise, each solar system is controlled by its own central consciousness (“central deity”). It goes further down the ladder, with a semi-deity in charge of the human race, and even lower level semi-deities in charge of sections of the human race. This has one effect, of negating the idea of having a personal relationship with God, as such a relationship is understood in Christianity. It also supports the idea of a pantheism/panentheism, in that each deity and semi-deity has a group of lower dieties or semi-deities working for him. All of this ties together into one large Hierarchy.
Acccoring to Theosophy, even Genensis says that such a pantheism/panentheism “created” the human race. In Genesis 1:26, it clearly says that the human race was created by a plural group of gods. Christians have tried for a long time to explain away why Genesis says that the human race was created by a group of gods, but that is exactly what Genesis says, and that is exactly what Theosophy says.
“How would you describe that which is really beyond our comprehension but have an instinctive awareness of?”
--> We are all aware of the emotional and intellectual forms of consciousness that all humans engage in. But Theosophy says that there are many levels of consciousness above these two. And, when we have finally raised ourselves to a level of consciousness higher than emotional and intellectual levels, we will stop using emotional and intellectual ways to communicate. People who are hearing such an idea f0or the first cannot fathom such an idea, but it is a basic Theosophical teaching.
“Was Creation itself necessary?”
--> It is a minor point, but we say the universe emanated rather than it was created.
“Assume for a moment that "I Am" at its depth is a description of God ("I") and its expression into Creation as (Am.)”
--> This is similar to basic Theosophical teachings.
“Could the source exist as "I" or was "(Am") a necessity?”
--> No. Yes. Theosophy uses different terminology to refer to this event. The I Am concept is the manifesting of the physical universe. But the physical universe (“God”) is only an emanation from the Absolute. Theosophy sees a universe as being the result of pure spirit interacting with pure matter (with the emanating of the universe as a result). I suppose you could say that Spirit is the I and the resulting universe is the Am.
“Does Theosophy assert a reason for Creation?”
--> A great deal of time has been spent speculating on why our universe, galaxy, solar system, planet, and human race have appeared. Sadly, Theosophy does not have a really good answer as to this question. All we can say is that some form of knowledge can be gained from manifestation that can be gained in no other way. But other than that, to try to get to the “motivation” of why the Absolute causes universes to appear is pure human conjecture. It has been said that the finite (human) mind cannot comprehend the infinite, and that it is hopeless to try. But it is still fun to try.