Articles
about the life of H P Blavatsky
Cardiff Theosophical Society in Wales
206 Newport Road, Cardiff, Wales, UK. CF24 -1DL
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831 – 1891)
The Founder of Modern Theosophy
THIS LECTURE commemorates the coming to the western world of one who was the
representative of a great Brotherhood; a Brotherhood which is known by many
names. One of its epithets, especially in connection with its origin, is a
symbolic one: the Sons of Ad or Sons of the Fire-Mist. Little has been written
about these Sons. However, the meaning associated with the term is clear enough;
for it links up with the name given to those Divine Beings who came to the
assistance of humanity during one of its most critical periods. These are the
Agnishvatta
Pitris, the awakeners of the fire — which signifies the
mind-principle.
In the first or earlier portion of the existence of this Third Race, while it
was yet in its state of purity, the ‘Sons of Wisdom,’ who .... incarnated in
this Third Race, produced by Kriyashakti a progeny called the ‘Sons of Ad’ or
‘of the Fire-Mist,’ the ‘Sons of Will and Yoga,’ etc. They were a conscious
production, as a portion of the race was already animated with the divine spark
of spiritual, superior intelligence. It was not a Race, this progeny. It was at
first a wondrous Being, called the ‘Initiator,’ and after him a group of
semi-divine and semi-human beings ‘Set apart’ in Archaic genesis for certain
purposes, they are those in whom are said to have incarnated the highest
Dhyanis, ‘Munis and Rishis from previous Manvantaras’ — to form the nursery for
future human adepts, on this earth and during the present cycle. These ‘Sons of
Will and Yoga’ born so to speak, in an immaculate way, remained, as it is
explained, entirely apart from the rest of mankind. [Volume I, Page 297, First
Edition; Volume
I, Pages 255-6, Adyar Edition;Volume I, Page 228, third edition]
The secret abiding place of the Sons of the Fire-Mist was an island situated in
a vast inland
sea, which extended over Middle
‘
surrounded by
the dreadful wildernesses of the great Desert, the
sands ‘no foot hath crossed in the memory of man.’[ II, 220, FirstEdition;Volume
III, 224, Adyar
Edition; Volume 2, Pages 230-1, third edition]
While the above account may be traditional, we have the authoritative statement
of Mahatma K.H. about the existence of the Brotherhood in the nineteenth
century, in a
letter addressed to the
dated
in existence, widely separated geographically, and as widely exoterically —
the true esoteric doctrine being identical in substance though differing in
terms; all
aiming at the same grand object [The Mahatma Letters to A. P.
of the
establishment of these centres. It reads:
Among the commandments of Tsong-Kha-pa there is one that enjoins the Arhats to
make an attempt to enlighten the world, including the ‘white barbarians,’
every century, at a certain specified period of the cycle. [The Secret
Doctrine,
Volume 5, Page 396 Adyar Edition;Volume 3, Page 412, third edition]
for making an effort in compliance with the injunction of this great reformer of
Buddhism in
two other important cyclical periods, namely with one of the minor cyclical
periods of the Kali-yuga and with the ushering in of another Messianic cycle.
The Messianic Cycle referred to is that of the 2160 year period connected with
the precession of the equinoxes. It marked the conclusion of the Piscean Age.
With regard to
the Kali-yuga cycle, The Secret Doctrine says:
began with the great cycle of the Kali-Yuga, will end. And then the last
prophecy contained in that book (the first volume of the prophetic record for
the Black Age) will be accomplished. We have not long to wait, and many of us
will witness the Dawn of the New Cycle, at the end of which not a few accounts
will be settled and squared between the races. [Volume I, Page xliv, first
edition; Volume
1, page 65 Adyar Edition; Volume 1, Page 27 third edition]
The ending of
the nine-year referred to took place on
Dawn of the New
Cycle signifies the coming of the Aquarian Age.
In accordance with the injunction laid on the Brotherhood that an effort should
be made every century to enlighten the western world, it would seem likely that
some of the members of the Fraternity were given the task of finding a suitable
individual who would act as a representative or vehicle for that purpose.
Statements are on record to show that these ideas are not far-fetched. First,
with regard to the notion that individuals are born with constitutions enabling
them to act in
unusual ways:
shuts other people in from communication with the world of the astral light
can be easily unbarred and opened, and their souls can look into, or even pass
into, that world and return again. Those who do this consciously, and at will,
are termed magicians, hierophants, seers, adepts; those who are made to do it,
either through the fluid of the mesmeriser or of ‘spirits’, are ‘mediums’. The
astral soul when the barriers are once opened, is so powerfully attracted by
the universal, astral magnet that it sometimes lifts its encasement with it
and keeps it suspended in mid-air, until the gravity of matter reasserts its
supremacy, and
the body re-descends again to earth. [
The second statement deals with the search that was instituted for ‘nearly a
century’, in
the words of Mahatma K.H:
secret; and that you are hardly yet prepared to understand the great Mystery,
even if told of
it, owing to the great injustice and wrong done, I am
empowered to allow you a glimpse behind the veil. This state of hers [H.P.B’s]
is intimately
connected with her occult training in
being sent out alone into the world to gradually prepare the way for others.
After nearly a century of fruitless search, our chiefs had to avail themselves
of the only opportunity to send out a European body upon European soil to
serve as a connecting link between that country and our own. You do not
understand? Of course not. Please then, remember, what she tried to explain,
and what you gathered tolerably well from her, namely the fact of the seven
principles in the complete human being. Now, no man or woman, unless he be an
initiate of the ‘fifth circle,’ can leave the precincts of Bod-Las and return
back into the world in his integral whole — if I may use the expression, One,
at least, of his seven satellites has to remain behind for two reasons: the
first to form the necessary connecting link, the wire of transmission — the
second as the safest warranter that certain things will never be divulged. She
is no exception to the rule, and you have seen another exemplar — a highly
intellectual man — who had to leave one of his skins behind; hence, is
considered highly eccentric. The bearing and status of the remaining six
depend upon the inherent qualities, the psycho-physiological peculiarities of
the person, especially upon the idiosyncrasies transmitted by what modern
science calls ‘atavism’. [The Mahatma Letters, pages 203-4, first edition; pp
201-2, third
edition]
which follows, there should be no doubt about the fact that H.P. BLAVATSKY was
definitely sent
to
transmitter of
the occult doctrine. Writing to A. P. Sinnett, Mahatma M. states:
I will tell you something you should know, and may derive profit from. On the
17th of November next the Septenary term of trial given the Society at its
foundation in which to discreetly ‘preach us’ will expire. One or two of us
hoped that the world had so far advanced intellectually, if not intuitionally,
that the Occult
doctrine might gain an intellectual acceptance, and the
impulse given for a new cycle of occult research. Others — wiser as it would
now seem — held differently, but consent was given for the trial. It was
stipulated, however, that the experiment should be made independently of our
personal management; that there should be no abnormal interference by
ourselves. So
casting about we found in
man of great moral courage, unselfish and having other good qualities. He was
far from being the best, but (as Mr. Hume speaks in H.P.B’s case) — he was the
best one available. With him we associated a woman of most exceptional and
wonderful endowments.
Combined with them she had strong personal defects, but
just as she was, there was no second to her living fit for this work. We sent
her to
she and he were given to clearly understand that the issue lay entirely with
themselves. [Op. cit.,Letter xliv, p 263, firstEdition; page 259, third
edition]
IN SUPPORT of the statement that H.P. BLAVATSKY was selected to become an
emissary, there is evidence that during her childhood she was watched over and
protected from serious injury; and that in later life this guardianship was even
more protective, at times saving her when death was imminent. Even her birth was
a precarious
event, for she was born prematurely soon after
(Russian style; or August 11-12 according to the present mode of reckoning), her
mother being
the wife of Captain von Hahn. Cholera was raging throughout
Some members of her family had succumbed to it and her grandparents were fearful
that the child might not survive, so a hasty baptism was arranged in order that
she might have the protection of the holy church. The church dignitaries donned
their ceremonial robes and vestments; the members of the family gathered and
were given lighted candles, as was customary in the Greek Church. One of the
ceremonialists was a child, who stood in the first row behind the officiating
priest, and also held a lighted candle. At the height of the ceremony the robes
of the officiating priest caught fire, and the service had to come to an abrupt
end. It was whispered that a most unusual career was in store for the one who
was undergoing
such a baptism!
The next unusual event would undoubtedly have had dire results but for timely
assistance. It occurred in the home of her grandparents. In one of the rooms of
their mansion large portraits were hanging on the walls. One of them was covered
by a curtain,
and little
she made up her mind to find out. As she could not reach the curtain, she
dragged a small table against the wall and climbed on to it. Still she could not
reach. So she put a chair on the table, climbed up again and pulled the curtain
aside. The chair must have been precariously placed, for it suddenly gave way
and the child would have been thrown to the floor but for the fact that strong
arms grasped
her and laid her gently on the floor.
When she opened her eyes, the table had been put back in its usual position,
also the chair; and the curtain was drawn over the portrait. But there was one
telltale mark left as evidence of the occurrence. High up on the wall beside the
curtain was an
imprint of a tiny hand.
Another
incident demonstrates the continued watchfulness of her guardian.
was now in her early teens, old enough to ride alone, even bareback, as the
Cossacks did — and how she loved it. During one gallop, however, her horse got
frightened and jerked the reins out of her hands, and her foot got entangled in
one of the stirrups. Again she was rescued from her predicament. Supporting arms
held her up so
that she did not fall, and the horse was brought under control.
It was recorded
by
with both of their aunts and their uncle, Yuliy F. Witte, to Pyatigorsk and
Kislovodsk for winter cures. While on the journey between Koyshaur and Kobi,
About a year
later
the marriage was in name only, for within three months — one month of which was
spent with her grandparents
– Mme. Blavatsky had left
travels. Then in 1851 the most momentous event of her life occurred. She met
face to face the person she had come to regard as her guardian — the one who had
in fact thus
far protected her. This was in
Exhibition
featuring the
meeting in her
Sketchbook, at the time:
Ramsgate, 12 of August, 1851 — when I met the Master of my dreams. The 12 of
August — that is July 31, Russian style — the day of my birth — 20 years.
[Reminiscences of H.P. BLAVATSKY and The Secret Doctrine by Countess Constance
Wachtmeister,
pp 56-8]
guardian had
actually occurred in
place in
Ramsgate, ‘so that anyone casually taking up her book would not know
where she had met
her Master, and her first interview with him had been in
The important
point about this meeting — although this was not included in the
vivid
impression she put into writing at the time — was that it was the
turning-point
of her life. When she related the episode to Countess Wachtmeister
she said that
the Master asked her whether she would be willing to co-operate in
a work which he
was about to undertake, and that this would necessitate certain preparatory
features. From the sparse references she made to it, there is no
doubt that she underwent rigorous training for the work and furthermore that she
was excellently
fitted for the task.
After this physical meeting with her Master, Mme. Blavatsky continued to have
what we may regard as miraculous escapes from near death, although in relating
the circumstances about these incidents she did not attribute any of them to
rescues made by her guardian. The first one is mentioned in a letter written to
life was saved by an Irishman names Johnny O’Brien — but gave no further
particulars.
Whether this was before or after meeting her Master in
difficult to say, because there are many conflicting accounts in regard to her
travels between 1850 and 1851. From what she herself wrote, it would seem that
some time after
her memorable meeting she was in
She also
journeyed to
Java and
Gwalior, which was wrecked near the Cape, but she was saved along with twenty
others.
The next critical incident which befell her was the dramatic one she described
in
purpose is to demonstrate the efforts of Mme Blavatsky made to acquire the
status she later gained — that of being an accepted chela of her Master — her
ability to overcome the difficulties she encountered during her quest is well
exemplified in her recital of this episode. She began by referring to a
carnelian stone
she possessed.
Every Shaman has such a talisman, which he wears attached to a string, and
carries under
his left arm.
‘Of what use is it to you, and what are its virtues? was the question we often
offered to our guide. To this he never answered directly, but evaded all
explanation, promising that as soon as an opportunity was offered, and we were
alone, he would ask the stone to ‘answer for himself’. With this very indefinite
hope, we were
left to the resources of our own imagination.
But the day on which the stone ‘spoke’ came very soon. It was during the most
critical hours of our life; at a time when the vagabond nature of a traveller
had carried the writer to far-off lands, where neither civilization is known,
nor security can be guaranteed for one hour. One afternoon ... the Shaman, who
had become our only protector in those dreary deserts, was reminded of his
promise. He sighed and hesitated; but, after a short silence, left his place on
the sheepskin, and, going outside placed a dried-up goat’s head with its
prominent horns over a wooden peg, and then dropping down the felt curtain of
the tent, remarked that no living person would venture in, for the goat’s head
was a sign that
he was at work.
After that, placing his hand in his bosom, he drew out the little stone, about
the size of a walnut, and, carefully unwrapping it, proceeded, as it appeared,
to swallow it. In a few moments his limbs stiffened, his body became rigid, and
he fell, cold and motionless as a corpse. But for the slight twitching of his
lips at every question asked, the scene would have been embarrassing, nay
....dreadful. The sun was setting, and were it not that dying embers flickered
at the centre of the tent, complete darkness would have been added to the
oppressive silence which reigned. We have lived in the prairies of the West, and
in the
boundless steppes of
the silence at
sunset on the sandy
solitudes of
the deserts of
and the latter utterly void of life. Yet, there was the writer alone with what
looked no better than a corpse lying on the ground. Fortunately, this state did
not last long.
‘Mahandu! uttered a voice, which seemed to come from the bowels of the earth, on
which the Shaman was prostrated. ‘Peace be with you, what would you have me do
for you?’...
For over two hours, the most substantial, unequivocal proofs that the Shaman’s
astral soul was
travelling at the bidding of our unspoken wish, were given us.
We had directed the Shaman’s inner ego to... the Kutchi of Lha.Ssa, who travels
constantly to
critical situation in the desert; for a few hours later came help, and we were
rescued by a party of twenty-five horseman who had been directed by their chief
to find us at the place where we were, which no living man endowed with common
powers could have known. The chief of this escort was a Shaberon, an ‘adept’
whom we had never seen before, nor did we after that, for he never left his
soumay (lamasery), and we could have no access to it. But he was a personal
friend of the
Kutchi. [
A passing
reference to what may have resulted in serious consequences for Mme.
Blavatsky
during her travels in Burma is also referred to in Isis Unveiled:
Irrawaddy River, was cured in a few hours by the juice of a plant called, if
we mistake not, Kukushan, though there may be thousands of natives ignorant of
its virtues,
who are left to die of fever. [Op. cit., II, 621]
is announced as having been given; nor does Mme. Blavatsky relate how she came
to be relieved from the situation in which she found herself, nor how the wound
from which she suffered was inflicted. For that matter, the more one probes into
the incidents of her life the more mysterious does each of them become. As usual
one cannot give a precise date. The event is related to have taken place in the
spring of 1859 after she had spent some time with her father and her half-sister
Lisa, in St. Petersburg. From there she went on a visit to her widowed sister,
Vera de Yahontov, at Rugodevo. There Mme. Blavatsky was prostrated by a serious
illness: a wound appeared near her heart. She was in what appeared to be a
deathlike trance for three or four days; then suddenly and unaccountably she was
cured.
A somewhat similar prostration took place during 1864-65, when she was living in
the military settlement of Ozurgety, in Mingrelia. The local physician was
unable to diagnose her condition or give any help; he therefore ordered that
Mme. Blavatsky, apparently near death, should be placed in a boat and taken down
the river Rion to Kutais; from there she was to be transported in a carriage to
Tiflis. But again there was another sudden cure. Referring to this episode
later, she commented: ‘between the Blavatsky of 1845-65 and the Blavatsky of the
years 1865-82 there is an unbridgeable gulf.’[H.P. BLAVATSKY Speaks, II 58] She
was referring to this fact: during the period 1845-65 whatever occult or psychic
manifestations had taken place could be regarded as occurring without her
conscious control, therefore unconsciously; whereas from 1865-82 whatever occult
phenomena were produced
were under her control, and she was consciously able to
direct them.
After recovering from this strange illness, Mme. Blavatsky went to the Caucasus,
where she spent some years. While there she was thrown from her horse and
fractured her spine. No further firsthand knowledge is available regarding this
injury nor as to her recovery from it. Likewise no information is given about a
more calamitous occurrence, or the reason why Mme Blavatsky became involved in
the affair. She was present at the battle of Mentana, Italy, between Garibaldi
red shirts and French troops on November 2, 1867, and was wounded five times.
Her left arm was broken in two places by a sabre stroke, and she received
bullets in her shoulder and leg. Col. Olcott testifies that he actually felt the
bullets when Mme. Blavatsky pointed out the spots to him. But not a word was
forthcoming in
regard to her convalescence.
As though this were not enough, she had one still more frightening experience.
About three years later she left Greece for Egypt, sailing from Piraeus in the
SS Eunomia. In those days it was necessary for ships plying between Piraeus and
Nauplia to carry cannon and a supply of gunpowder, as protection against
pirates. On July 4, 1871, between the islands of Docos and Hydra, while the
Anaemia was in sight of the island of Spezia in the gulf of Nipple, there was a
terrific explosion: the ship sank and there were only a few survivors. Mme.
Blavatsky was one of them; but all her possessions were lost. The Greek
government provided transport for the survivors, so that Mme. Blavatsky was able
to reach
Alexandria; but she arrived there without funds.
The next mishap to befall her was in New York, when she fell and injured her
knee — most likely on the icy pavement, as it happened during the last days of
January, 1875. Then on February 13 she had another accident. As she was trying
to move her bed, it fell on her leg and seriously injured it. By May it was much
worse and on May 26 it became paralysed and soon it was feared that it would
have to be amputated. On June 3 the Spiritual Scientist journal announced that
Mme. Blavatsky was seriously ill. This was followed by a second notice stating
that the crisis was reached at midnight, June 3. Her attendants had supposed her
to be dead, because she lay cold, pulseless and rigid, while her injured leg had
swollen to double its normal size; it had also turned black. In fact, her
physician had given her up. Nevertheless, after a few hours the swelling
subsided and
she revived.
During the rest of the month, according to correspondence Col. Olcott received
during the interval, Mme. Blavatsky was undergoing certain trials which were in
the nature of
initiations.
Two other times may also be noted when H.P. BLAVATSKY was so gravely ill that
death would have ensued had she not been revivified by occult means. The first
was on the 5 February, 1885; at Adyar. Referring to this she wrote to A.P.
Sinnett:
the impossibility of recovery), I suddenly got better thanks to Master’s
protecting hand, I carry two mortal diseases in me which are not cured — heart
and kidneys. At any moment the former can have a rupture, and the latter carry
me away in a few days. [The Mahatma Letters, pp 469-70, First Edition; page
462, third
edition]
On being revivified Mme. Blavatsky left India for Europe on March 31, never to
return.
On the second occasion she was at Ostend, engaged in writing The Secret
Doctrine. In March, 1887, she was in great agony with a kidney infection. Dr
Ashton Ellis was cabled to come to her from London; he came and gave his report.
The American consul in Ostend was called to prepare notarial service prior to
death. Both men thought death to be imminent. But there was a sudden turn. One
night in the last week of March, her Master came and gave her the choice of
finishing The Secret Doctrine or dying. He also showed her a vision of what was
in store for her in connection with the future of The Theosophical Society. In
heroic manner, true to the precepts of the Lodge she was serving, H.P.B chose to
continue the task she had undertaken — that of writing The Secret Doctrine so
that the message of the Ancient Wisdom could be made available to the western
world. Thus was she truly carrying on the tradition of the Occult Brotherhood of
being a
torchbearer.
H.P.B gave a hint as to the method which was used for revivifying her. It is to
be found in a
brief passage in The Secret Doctrine:
ozone ... It may even resurrect a man or an animal whose astral ‘vital body’
has not been irreparably separated from the physical body by the severance of
the magnetic or odic chord. As one save thrice from death by that power, the
writer ought to be credited with knowing personally something about it. [Op.
cit., I 555, First Edition; Volume 2, Page 279, Adyar Edition; I, 606, Third
edition]
THEOSOPHISTS are much interested in learning about the time that H.P.B was in
Tibet, for if she was a messenger of the occult Brotherhood, she must have
undergone certain experiences in Tibet and received training under her Teachers
there.
One thing is certain: she was very reticent about giving information as to how
or when she entered Tibet. The reason is obvious. She had given her pledge to
maintain secrecy regarding her doings in that ‘Forbidden Land,’ as Tibet was
referred to in her days. Nevertheless, by searching through available data, an
interesting account may be given of her presence in Bod-las — as the land of
Tibet is referred to by her Teachers. Probably the most direct statement that
Mme. Blavatsky gave concerning the period she was there was made in answer to a
journalist who
was critical regarding her stay in Tibet and her qualifications:
these combined periods form more than seven years. Yet, I have never stated
either verbally or over my signature that I had passed seven consecutive years
in a convent. What I have said, and repeat now, is, that I have stopped in
Lamaistic convents; that I have visited Tzi-gadze, the Tashi-Lhunpo territory
and its neighbourhood, and that I have been further in, and in such places of
Tibet as have never been visited by any other European, and that he can ever
hope to visit. [Light, Volume IV, No. 188, pages 323-4; republished in H.P.
BLAVATSKY
Collected Writings, VI, 269-80]
Blavatsky narrated how on one occasion she entered Tibet. But this was in 1882
after the
Theosophical Society headquarters had moved to Adyar:
direct, I left the train half way, was met by friends with a conveyance, and
passed with them into the territory of Sikkim, where I found my Master and
Mahatma Koot Hoomi. Thence five miles across the old borderland of Tibet.
[Ibid.]
the Masters in Tibet may be traced to the year 1870. In a letter dated January
6, 1886 she
stated that the episode occurred ‘sixteen years ago’.
I went to bed and I had the most extraordinary vision ... in my sleep I saw them
both [the Masters], I was again (a scene of years back) in Mah. K.H.’s house. I
was sitting in a corner on a mat and he was walking about the room in his riding
dress, and Master was talking to someone behind the door. ‘I remind can’t’ — I
pronounced in answer to a question of His about a dead aunt. He smiled and said
‘Funny English you use.’ Then I felt ashamed, hurt in my vanity, and began
thinking (mind you in my dream or vision which was the exact reproduction of
what had taken place word for word 16 years ago) ‘now I am here and speaking
nothing but English in verbal phonetic language I can perhaps learn to speak
better with Him.’ (To make it clear with Master I also used English, which
whether bad or good was the same for Him as he does not speak it but understands
every word I say out of my head; and I am made to understand Him — how I could
never tell or explain if I were killed but I do. With D.K. I also spoke English,
he speaking it better than the Mah. K.H.) Then, in my dream still, three months
after as I was made to feel in that vision — I was standing before Mah. K.H.
near the old building taken down he was looking at, and as Master was not at
home, I took to him a few sentences I was studying in Senzar in his sister’s
room and asked him to tell me if I translated them correctly — and gave him a
slip of paper with these sentences written in English. He took and read them and
correcting the interpretation read them over and said ‘Now your English is
becoming better — try to pick out of my head even the little I know of it.’ And
he put his hand on my forehead in the region of memory and squeezed his fingers
on it (and I felt even the same trifling pain in it, as then, and the cold
shiver I had experienced) and since that day He did so with my head daily, for
about two months. Again, the scene changes and I am going away with Master who
is sending me off, back to Europe. I am bidding goodbye to his sister and her
child and all the chelas. I listen to what the Masters tell me. And then come
the parting words of Mah. K.H. [The Mahatma Letters, Letter EXI, pp. 478-9,
firstEdition; p
471, third edition]
In another letter, this time written to Dr. Hartmann, Mme. Blavatsky gives a
detailed picture of one of the Tibetan temples near Shigatse and also describes
the characteristics of most other temples. [From The Path, Jan., 1896; quoted in
Personal
Memoirs of H.P. Blavatsky, p 162]
Further evidence that Mme Blavatsky was in Tibet and received instruction from
those who later sent her to the western world appears in a letter written by one
of her instructors. This letter was written in French five years before the
founding of The Theosophical Society and sent to one of the members of her
family, who had not heard from her for many years. It was addressed to Nadyejda
A. Fadeyev — in
translation:
Their daughter and niece has not left this world at all. She is living and
desires to make it known to those whom she loves that she is well and feels
very happy in the distant and unknown retreat she has selected for herself.
She has been very ill, but is so no longer; for owing to the protection of the
Lord Sang-gyas she has found devoted friends who take care of her physically
and spiritually. Let the ladies of her house, therefore, remain calm. Before
18 new moons shall have risen — she will have returned to her family.
[Published in
Collected Writings, Volume VI, page 275]
envelope in
Russian and signed by the recipient (in translation):
Received at Odessa November 7, about Lelinka probably from Tibet — November
11, 1870.
Nadyejda F. [Op.cit., p 277]
Furthermore, a
memorandum concerning the receipt of the letter was sent to Col.
Olcott by
Nadyejda Fadeyev dated June 26, 1884 from Paris:
and I remember telling him what happened to me about a letter which I received
phenomenally, when my niece was on the other side of the world, and because of
that nobody knew where she was — which made us deeply anxious. All our
researches had ended in nothing. We were ready to believe her dead, when — I
received a letter from Him Whom I believe you call ‘Kouth Humi,’ which was
brought to me in the most comprehensive and mysterious manner, in my house by
a messenger of Asiatic appearance, who then disappeared before my very eyes.
This letter, which begged me not to fear anything, and which announced that
she was in safety — I have still, but at Odessa. Immediately upon my return I
shall send it to you, and I shall be very pleased if it can be of any use to
you. 8 [Op. cit., VI, 274 Col. Olcott received both letters and placed them in
the archives of
The Theosophical Society, Adyar. India]
EVIDENCE that emissaries from the occult Brotherhood had been sent to the
western world prior to H.P. BLAVATSKY’s coming is contained in a letter from
Mahatma K.H. to A.P. Sinnett, who placed a note on it saying that it was
received at Umballa on the way to Simla on August 5, 1881. In the opening
sentence of the passage quoted the Mahatma comments on a book by Eliphas Levi
entitled High Magic, because Sinnett had mentioned this work in his letter to
the Mahatma:
reader. Eliphas studied from the Rosicrucian MSS. (now reduced to three copies
in Europe). These expound our eastern doctrines from the teachings of
Rosencrauz, who, upon his return from Asia dressed them up in a semi-Christian
garb intended as a shield for his pupils, against clerical revenge. One must
have the key to it and that key is a science per se. Rosencrauz taught orally.
Saint Germain recorded the good doctrines in figures and his only cyphered MS.
remained with his staunch friend and patron the benevolent German Prince from
whose house and patron and in whose presence he made his last exit — Home.
[The Mahatma Letters, Letter No. xIix, page 280, First Edition; p 276, third,
Eliphas Levi’s book was first written in serial instalments in French and
published in
Paris in 1856 under the title Dogme et Rituel de la haute magic]
messenger of the great Brotherhood, some passages on the requirements which
candidates must
fulfil are apposite.
When we take candidates for chelas, they take the vow of secrecy and silence
respecting every order they may receive. One has to prove himself fit for
chelaship, before he can find out whether he is fit for adeptship. [Op. cit.,
Letter Iiii,
page 295, first edition; page 291, Third edition.]
Once we are upon the topic, I wish you would impress upon your London friends
some wholesome truths that they are but too apt to forget, even, when they have
been told of them over and over again. The Occult Science is not one in which
secrets can be
communicated of a sudden, by a written or even verbal
communication. If so, all the ‘Brothers’ should have to do, would be to publish
a Handbook of the art which might be taught in schools as grammar is. It is the
common mistake of people that we willingly wrap ourselves and our powers in
mystery — that we wish to keep our knowledge to ourselves, and of our own will
refuse — ‘wantonly and deliberately’ to communicate it. The truth is that till
the neophyte attains to the condition necessary for that degree of Illumination
to which, and for which, he is entitled and fitted, most if not all of the
Secrets are incommunicable. The receptivity must be equal to the desire to
instruct. The illumination must come from within. Till then no hocus pocus of
incantations, or mummery of appliances, no metaphysical lectures or discussions,
no self-imposed penance can give it. All these are but means to an end, and all
we can do is direct the use of such means as have been empirically found by the
experience ages to conduce to the required object. And this was and has been no
secret for thousands of years. Fasting, meditation, chastity of thoughts, word,
and deed; silence for certain periods of time to enable nature herself to speak
to him who comes to her for information; government of the animal passions and
impulses; utter unselfishness of intention, the use of certain incense and
fumigations for physiological purposes, have been published as the means since
the days of Plato and Iamblichus in the West, and since the far earlier times of
our Indian Rishis. How these must be compelled with to suit each individual
temperament is of course a matter for his own experiment and the watchful care
of his tutor or
Guru. [Op. cit., Letter xIIx, pp 282-3; pp 278-9, third edition]
Every human being contains within himself vast potentialities, and it is the
duty of the adepts to surround the would-be-chela with circumstances which shall
enable him to take the ‘right-hand path,’ — if he has the ability in him. We are
no more at liberty to withhold the chance from a postulant than we are to guide
and direct him into the proper course. At best, we can only show him after his
probation period was successfully terminated — that if he does this he will go
right; if the other, wrong. But until he has passed that period, we leave him to
fight out his battles as best he may; and have to do so occasionally with higher
and initiated chelas such as H.P.B once they are allowed to work in the
world....It was not a meaningless phrase of the Tathagata that ‘he who masters
Self is greater than he who conquers thousands in battle’; there is no such
other difficult struggle. [Op.cit., Letter liv, p 316, first edition; p 311,
third edition]
To show you how exact a science is occultism, let me tell you that the means we
avail ourselves of, are all laid down for us in a code as old as humanity to the
minutest detail, but every one of us has to begin from the beginning, not from
the end. Our laws are as immutable as those of Nature, and they were known to
man and eternity before this strutting cock, modern science, was hatched...we
build our philosophy upon experiment and deduction. [Op. cit., Letter xxii, p
144, First
Edition; pp 140-1, third edition]
UNQUESTIONABLY, the best way of evaluating the statement that H.P. BLAVATSKY
acted as a light-bringer to the western world, is to study the message she gave
by means of her writings, Theosophists are so accustomed to regard her two major
works — Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine — as source books for the
teachings of the Ancient Wisdom — and rightfully so — that they are apt to
by-pass her other writings. This should not be done. Her literary production
amounts to ten other volumes bearing the title The Collected Writings of H.P.
BLAVATSKY. These works are filled with a wealth of information on all sorts of
subjects as well as occult lore. In fact there are close to one thousand
articles in the series. Every page was hand-written in pen and ink, without
secretarial assistance—and this was so also with Isis Unveiled and The Secret
Doctrine — and this amazing achievement was performed in less than seventeen
years!
In order to give an exposition of the remarkable manner in which H.P.B employed
her talents, we propose to place her writings in seven categories, in order to
call attention to the different processes she employed. Moreover, because this
achievement could not have been performed by ordinary means in writing, one must
conclude that she employed Siddhis. Therefore, the question arises: How did she
obtain the knowledge and power to utilize these Siddhis? The answer is obvious.
It is the reply she herself gave: she was born with the ability to see certain
powers unconsciously; then she was taught how to use the Siddhis consciously by
her Teachers.
Listing the Siddhis which would be utilized in connection with writing: (1) the
ability to see clairvoyantly; (2) the ability to hear clairaudiently; (3) the
ability to
place oneself en rapport with persons having similar capabilities;
(4) the power of receptivity; (5) the power of perceptivity; (6) the power of
projectivity; (7) the power of using psychometry; (8) the power of using
intuition; (9) the power of demonstrating precipitation. All of these were
demonstrated by Mme. Blavatsky. Her writings are proof of this. We repeat, her
literary works
simply could not have been produced by ordinary means.
For example,
consider the phenomenal amount of works quoted in Isis Unveiled:
1,339 different works! Have we any idea of the labour that would be required for
an ordinary writer to search through over a thousand books to find a particular
passage? Think what it would mean to buy all these books! If the volumes were
not purchased, one would have to go to a university library to find them — and
some works
would not even be there.
In The Secret Doctrine, 1,147 works are quoted [The count of the works listed is
computed from the excellent compilation added to the index forming the sixth
volume of the latest 5th edition set of The Secret Doctrine, published by The
Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, India. 1962] and these two computations do
not take into
consideration how many times any one volume is quoted.
Let us now consider the seven kinds of process involved in her writings. Each
one will be considered separately, beginning with the one in which Mme.
Blavatsky displayed her talents as a writer:1) Descriptive Writing; 2) Writing
by means of Instruction; 3) Writing by Dictation; 4) Writing by Directive
Clairvoyance;
5) Writing by Psychometry; 6) Writing by means of Precipitation;
7) Writing by
means of a process analogous to Tulku.
HERE IT IS possible to give no more than a selected passage from one of Mme
Blavatsky’s stories. This extract is from the least known story, entitled Legend
of the Night Flower, [Op. cit.,I, pp 7-9] published posthumously as recently as
1966 in the
revised Volume 1 of the Collected Writings of H.P. BLAVATSKY.
At the very beginning
of the creation of the World, and long before the sin
which became the downfall of Eve, a fresh green shrub spread its broad leaves on
the banks of a rivulet. The sun, still young at that time and tired of its
initial efforts, was setting slowly, and drawing his veils of mists around him,
enveloped the earth in deep and dark shadows. Then a modest flower blossomed
forth upon a branch of the shrub. She had neither the fresh beauty of the rose,
nor the superb and majestic pride of the beautiful lily. Humble and modest, she
opened her petals and cast an anxious glance on the world of the great Buddha.
All was cold and dark about her! Her companions slept all around bent on their
flexible stems; her comrades, daughter of the same shrub, turned away from her
look; the moths, winged lovers of the flowers, rested but for a moment on her
breast, but soon flew away to more beautiful ones. A large beetle almost cut her
in two as it climbed without ceremony over her, in search for nocturnal
quarters. And the poor flower, frightened by its isolation and its loneliness in
the midst of this indifferent crowd, hung its head mournfully and shed a bitter
dewdrop for a tear. But lo, a little star was kindled in the sombre sky. Its
brilliant rays, quick and tender, pierced the waves of gloom. Suddenly the
orphaned flower felt vivified and refreshed as by some beneficent dew. Fully
restored, she lifted her face and saw the friendly star. She received its rays
into her breast, quivering with love and gratitude. They had brought about her
rebirth into a
new life.
Dawn with its rosy smile gradually dispelled the darkness, and the star was
submerged in an ocean of light which streamed forth from the star of day.
Thousands of flowers hailed it their paramour, bathing greedily in his golden
rays. These he shed also on the little flower; the great star deigned to cover
her too with its flaming kisses. But full of the memory of the evening star, and
of its silvery twinkling, the flower responded but coldly to the demonstrations
of the haughty
sun. She still saw before her mind’s eye the soft and
affectionate glow of the star; she still felt in her heart the beneficent
dewdrop, and turning
away from the blinding rays of the sun, she closed her
petals and went to sleep nestled in the thick foliage of the parent-shrub. From
that time on, day became night for the lowly flower, and night became day. As
soon as the sun rises and engulfs heaven and earth in its golden rays, the
flower becomes invisible; but hardly does the sun set, and the star, piercing a
corner of the dark horizon, makes its appearance, than the flower hails it with
joy, plays with
its silvery rays, and absorbs with long breaths its mellow glow.
Such is the heart of many a woman. The first gracious word, the first
affectionate caress, falling on her aching heart, takes root there deeply.
Profoundly moved by a friendly word, she remains indifferent to the passionate
demonstrations of the whole universe. The first may not differ from many others;
it may be lost among thousands of other stars similar to that one, yet the heart
of woman knows where to find him, near by or far away; she will follow with love
and interest his humble course, and will send her blessings on his journey. She
may greet the haughty sun, and admire its glory, but, loyal and grateful, her
love will
always belong to one lone star.
Now a passage from The Secret Doctrine illustrating descriptive writing on an
entirely different theme. It is a description of atoms, viewed from the
standpoint of Occultism. It portrays what is visioned by one who has developed
the Siddhi of spiritual clairvoyance, one who is a ‘spiritual seer, whose inner
Eye is opened, and who can see through the veil of matter’. [Op. cit.,633-4,
First Edition;
II, 35 8-9, Adyar Edition; I, 694-5, third edition]
Atoms are called ‘Vibrations’ in Occultism; also ‘Sound’ — collectively...The
waves and undulations of Science are all produced by atoms propelling their
molecules into activity from within. Atoms fill the immensity of Space, and by
their continuous vibration are that MOTION which keeps the wheels of Life
perpetually going. It is that inner work that produces the natural phenomena
called the correlation of Forces. Only, at the origin of every such ‘force,’
there stands the conscious guiding noumenon thereof — Angel or God, Spirit or
Demon — ruling
powers, yet the same.
As described by Seers — those who can see the motion of the interstellar shoals,
and follow them in their evolution clairvoyantly — they are dazzling, like
specks of virgin snow in radiant sunlight. Their velocity is swifter than
thought, quicker than any mortal physical eye could follow, and, as well as can
be judged from
the tremendous rapidity of their course., the motion is
circular...Standing
on an open plain, on a mountain summit especially, and
gazing into the vast vault above and the spacial infinitudes around, the whole
atmosphere seems ablaze with them, the air soaked through with these dazzling
coruscations. At times, the intensity of their motion produces flashes like the
Northern lights during the Aurora Borealis. The sight is so marvellous, that, as
the Seer gazes into this inner world, and feels the scintillating points shoot
past him, he is
filled with awe at the thought of other, still greater
mysteries, that
lie beyond, and within, this radiant ocean...
TO SHOW that H.P. BLAVATSKY acted in the capacity of a messenger in bringing the
teachings of the Ancient Wisdom to the western world and that she was instructed
to do so by
means of her writings, there is nothing better than her own words:
know. Perhaps it is for a newspaper article, perhaps for a book, perhaps for
nothing: anyhow, I did as I was ordered. [Quoted in Old Diary Leaves, I, pp
202-3 by H.S
Olcott]
The significance of this quotation is that it describes how the writing of Isis
Unveiled began. This was a short time before the founding of The Theosophical
Society. ‘One day in the Summer of 1875, H.P.B showed me some sheets of
manuscript which she had written’, [Ibid.] wrote Col. Olcott, when she made the
statement given
above.
Regarding the writing of The Secret Doctrine, a sentence from one of her letters
to A.P.
Sinnett, after he had visited her at Ostend, simply dated Sunday, reads:
to the old MSS.
so that much of it is new and much more that I do not
understand
myself. [The Letters of H.P. BLAVATSKY to A.P. Sinnett, page 226]
There was supervision of the manuscript of The Secret Doctrine as the writing
progressed. A striking illustration was narrated by Countess Wachtmeister, who
was Mme.
Blavatsky’s companion during the preparation of that work:
of discarded
manuscript. I asked the meaning of this scene of confusion, and
she replied:
‘Yes, I have tried twelve times to write this one page correctly,
and each time
Master says it is wrong. I think I shall go mad, writing it so
often; but leave
me alone; I will not pause until I have conquered it, even if
I brought a cup of coffee to refresh and sustain her, and then left her to
prosecute her weary task. An hour later I heard her voice calling me, and on
entering found that, at last, the passage was completed to satisfaction.
[Reminiscences,
etc., pp 32-3 by Countess Wachtmeister]
precipitated
messages:
Another incident of frequent occurrence came under my notice from time to
time, and marks another mode in which guidance and aid were given to H.P.B in
her work. Often, in the early morning, I would see on her writing-table a
piece of paper with unfamiliar characters traced upon it in red ink. On asking
her what was the meaning of these mysterious notes, she replied that they
indicated her
work for the day. [Reminiscences, etc., page 38]
IT MAY appear strange to have one of the classifications of Mme. Blavatsky’s
writings listed as Writing by Dictation. Nevertheless, it is used because of
what she herself wrote in one of the last, if not the very last, article she
penned. It is dated April 27, 1891, eleven days before she died — and is
entitled My Books. The work she refers to in the opening sentence is her
earliest one,
Isis Unveiled:
from the
teachings of our Eastern Masters; and that many a passage in these
works has been written
by me under their dictation. In saying this no
supernatural
claim is urged, for no miracle is performed by such a
dictation...Space
and distance do not exist for thought; and if two persons
are in perfect
mutual psycho-magnetic rapport, and of these two, one is a
great Adept in
Occult Sciences, then thought-transference and dictation of
whole pages
become as easy and as comprehensible at the distance of ten
thousand miles
as the transference of two words across a room. [Lucifer,
Blavatsky, was described in a letter to A.P. Sinnett, in response to one he had
written hoping
that he could have direct communications with the Mahatma:
means would be:
(1) For each of us to meet in our own physical bodies. I being
where I am, and
you in your own quarters, there is a material impediment for
me. (2) For
both to meet in our astral form — which would necessitate your
‘getting out’
of yours, as well as my leaving my body. The spiritual
impediment to
this is on your part. (3) To make you hear my voice either
within you or
near you as ‘the old lady’ does. This would be feasible in
either of two
ways: (a) My chiefs have but to give me permission to set up the
conditions —
and this for the present they refuse; or (b) for you to hear my
voice, i.e., my
natural voice without any psycho-physiological tamasha being
employed by me
(again as we often do among ourselves). But then, to do this,
not only have
one’s spiritual senses to be abnormally opened, but one must
himself have
mastered the great secret — yet undiscovered by science—of, so to
say, abolishing
all the impediments of space; of neutralising for the time
being the
natural obstacle of intermediary particles of air and forcing the
waves to strike
your ear in reflected sounds or echo. [The Mahatma Letters,
It was very long and was published in The Theosophist, the journal which she
founded soon after inaugurating the work of The Theosophical Society in India.
Col. Olcott was aware of the significance of this article, because he refers to
it in this
manner:
the Nilgiri Hills. While there part of her work was the taking from dictation
from her invisible teacher of the ‘Replies to an English F.T.S.’...That she
was taking down from dictation was fully apparent to one who was familiar with
her ways. [Old
Diary Leaves, II, 466]
be coincident and on parallel lines with Rounds and Root-races. Our fifth race
has so far developed but its five senses. Now, if the Karma or Will-principle
of the ‘Fourth-rounders’ has already reached that stage of its evolution when
the automatic acts, the unmotivated instincts and impulses of its childhood
and youth, instead of following external stimuli, will have become acts of
will framed constantly in conjunction with the mind (Manas), thus making of
every man on earth of that race a free agent, a fully responsible being — the
Karma or our hardly adult fifth race is only slowly approaching it. As to the
sixth sense of this, our race, it has hardly sprouted above the soil of its
materiality. It is highly unreasonable, therefore, to expect for the men of
the fifth to sense the nature and essence of that which will be fully sensed
and perceived but by the sixth — let alone the seventh race — i.e., to enjoy
the legitimate outgrowth of the evolution and endowments of the future races
with only the help of our present limited senses. The exceptions to this quasi
universal rule have been hitherto found only in some rare cases of
constitutional, abnormally precocious individual evolutions; or, in such,
where by early training and special methods, reaching the stage of the fifth
rounders, some men in addition to the natural gift of the latter have fully
developed (by certain occult methods) their sixth, and in still rarer cases
their seventh, sense. As an instance of the former class may be cited the
Seeress of Prevorst; a creature born out of time, a rare precocious growth,
ill adapted to the uncongenial atmosphere that surrounded her, hence a martyr
ever ailing and sickly. As an example of the other, the Count St. Germain may
be mentioned. Apace with the anthropological and physiological development of
man runs his spiritual evolution. To the latter, purely intellectual growth is
often more an impediment than a help. [The Theosophist, Volume IV, p 295,
September 1883.
Quoted in Collected Writings, V. 144-5]
THE TERM Directive Clairvoyance is used to indicate a specific method Mme.
Blavatsky employed, signifying a particular kind of clairvoyance. She explained
that she had been taught how to use this faculty by her Teachers during the
period she was undergoing training in Tibet. Before giving her explanation of
how she used this Siddhi, let us note the special capacity needed for it: The
ability to select a book on a specific theme. Then, although never having seen
the volume before, from any page in the work, choose a selected, appropriate
passage on a predetermined subject. Having selected a citation, the ability to
copy it verbatim, and give its correct page. Continuing the process: in order to
support this citation by quoting another author, an extract from a further book
would be required — and it would be forthcoming in the same manner. In either
case there would be no need to see the book itself, or to handle it, nor to
search through its pages. It would be a matter solely of visualizing the page
from which the
desired extract was to be copied.
Proficiency in
this process would dispense with any need of extraneous
assistance, such as a special chair or particular paper. There would be no
necessity for a list of books on the subject; no book, no reference to hunt up,
no authority to consult; not even an encyclopaedia or an index. It hardly seems
necessary to state that H.P. BLAVATSKY had no books on her desk; likewise she
had no access
to a library. Here are her words on her method of procedure:
vacuum in the air before me, and fix my sight and my will upon it, and soon
scene after scene passes before me like the successive pictures of a diorama,
or, if I need a
reference or information from some book, I fix my mind
intently, and the astral counterpart of the book appears and from it I take
what I need. The more perfectly my mind is freed from distractions and
mortifications, the more energy and intentness it possesses, the more easily I
can do this.
[Reminiscences etc ., by Countess Wachtmeister, page 33]
Countess Wachtmeister, who was Mme. Blavatsky’s companion while The Secret
Doctrine was
being written, describes watching the author at work:
before her, where, however, I saw nothing. I did not pay much attention to the
manner of her work from the standpoint of a hunter of phenomena, and did not
control it for
that purpose; but I know that I saw a good deal of the
well-known blue
K.H. handwriting as corrections and annotations on her
manuscripts as well as in books that lay occasionally on her desk. And I
noticed this principally in the morning before she had commenced to work.
[Op.cit., pages
112-3]
There was another method which H.P. BLAVATSKY was able to use, to which the term
Directive Clairvoyance would be applicable, although her visioning this time
would not be from books, it would be in the form of pictures, somewhat similar
to that of a television
screen. She also employed this process in writing her
major works.
She described it in a letter from New York to her sister Vera:
to me. You cannot imagine in what a charmed world of pictures and visions I
have. I am writing Isis; not writing, rather copying out and drawing that
which She personally shows to me. Upon my word, sometimes it seems to me that
the ancient Goddess of Beauty in person leads me through all the countries of
past centuries which I have to describe. I sit with my eyes open and to all
appearances see and hear everything real and actual around me, and yet at the
same time I see and hear that which I write. I feel short of breath; I am
afraid to make the slightest movement for fear the spell might be broken.
Slowly century after century, image after image, float out of the distance and
pass before me as if in a magic panorama; and meanwhile I put them together in
my mind, fitting in epochs and dates, and know for sure that there can be no
mistake. Races
and nations, countries and cities, which have for long
disappeared in the darkness of the prehistoric past, emerge and then vanish,
giving place to
others; and then I am told the consecutive dates. Hoary
antiquity makes way for historical periods; myths; myths are explained to me
with events and people who have really existed, and every event which is at
all remarkable, every newly-turned page of this many coloured book of life,
impresses itself on my brain and photographic exactitude. My own reckonings
and calculations appear to me later on as separate coloured pieces of
different shapes in the game which is called casse-tuttte (puzzles), I gather
them together and try to match them one after the other and at the end there
always comes out a geometrical whole. [The Path, Volume ix No 10, pages 301-1,
January, 1895]
pages of The Secret Doctrine: [Volume I, Pages 1-2, First Edition; Volume I,
69-70, Adyar
Edition; Volume I, Pages 31-32, third edition]
An Archaic Manuscript — a collection of palm leaves made impermeable to water,
fire and air, by some specific unknown process — is before the writer’s eye. On
the first page is an immaculate white disk within a dull black ground. On the
following page, the same disk, but with a central point. The first, the student
knows to represent Kosmos in Eternity, before the reawakening of still
slumbering Energy, the emanation of the Word in later systems. The point in the
hitherto immaculate Disk. Space and Eternity in Pralaya, denotes the dawn of
differentiation. It is the Point in the Mundane Egg, the germ within the latter
which will become the Universe, the ALL, the boundless, periodical Kosmos, this
germ being latent and active, periodically and by turns. The one circle is
divine Unity, from which all proceeds, whither all returns. Its circumference —
a forcibly limited symbol, in view of the limitation of the human mind —
indicates the abstract, ever incognizable Presence, and its plane, the Universal
Soul, although the two are one. Only the face of the Disk being white and the
ground all around black, shows clearly that its plane is the only knowledge, dim
and hazy though it still is, that is attainable by man. It is on this plane that
the Manvantaric manifestations begin; for it is in this SOUL that slumbers,
during the Pralaya, the Divine Thought, wherein lies concealed the plan of every
future
Cosmogony and Theogony.
It is the ONE LIFE, eternal, invisible, yet Omnipresent, without beginning or
end, yet periodical in its regular manifestations, between which periods reigns
the dark mystery of non-Being; unconscious, yet absolute Consciousness;
unrealisable, yet the one self-existing reality; truly, ‘a chaos to the sense, a
KOSMOS to the reason.’ Its one absolute attribute, which is ITSELF, eternal,
ceaseless Motion, is called in esoteric parlance the ‘Great Breath,’ which is
the perpetual motion of the universe, in the sense of limitless, ever-present
SPACE. That which is motionless cannot be Divine. But then there is nothing in
fact and
reality absolutely motionless within the universal soul.
H.P. BLAVATSKY herself described the subject of writing by means of psychometry
in her first
major work:
which enables a certain class of sensitive persons to receive from any object
held in the hand or against the forehead impressions of the character or
appearance of the individual, or any other object with which it has previously
been in contact. Thus a manuscript, painting, article of clothing, or
jewellery — no matter how ancient — conveys to the sensitive a vivid picture
of the writer, painter, or wearer; even though he lived in the days of Ptolemy
or Enoch. Nay, more; a fragment of an ancient building will recall its history
and even the scenes which transpired within or about it. A bit of ore will
carry the
soul-vision back to the time when it was in process of formation.
his inner-self into relations with the inner soul of the object he handles. It
is now admitted that the universal aether pervades all things in nature, even
the most solid.
It is beginning to be admitted, also, that this preserves the images of all
things which transpire. When the psychometer examines his specimen, he is
brought in contact with the current of the astral light, connected with that
specimen, and which retains pictures of the events associated with its history.
These, according to Denton, pass before his vision with the swiftness of light;
scene after scene crowding upon each other so rapidly, that it is only by the
supreme exercise of the will that he is able to hold any one in the field of
vision long
enough to describe it.
The psychometer is clairvoyant; that is, he sees with the inner eye. Unless his
willpower is very strong, unless he has thoroughly trained himself to that
particular phenomenon, and his knowledge of the capabilities of his sight are
profound, his perceptions of places, persons, and events, must necessarily be
very confused.
[Isis Unveiled, Volume I, 183-184]
In an article on Psychometry, Mme, Blavatsky explains the difference between the
use of that
faculty and Clairvoyance:
average humanity than Clairvoyance. While the latter faculty is most rare, and
more rarely still to be found, unless accompanied by a tendency in the
clairvoyant to self-deception and the misleading of others, by reason of
imperfect control over the Imagination, the psychometer sees the secrets of
the Akasa by the ‘Eye of Siva,’ while corporeally awake and in full possession
of his bodily senses. A perfectly independent clairvoyant one may meet with
once or twice in a lifetime, but psychometers abound in every circle of
society, nay, may be found in almost every house. [Collected Writings, VI,
181-2; from The
Theosophist, V, 147-488]
The significance of the Eye of Siva, is apt to be overlooked: it is a mystical
way of describing the functioning of the pineal gland. It is also referred to as
the Eye of
Dangma.
Mme. Blavatsky also explained why the psychometer is able to describe a person
who has had contact with an object; first clarifying the difference between
life-atoms and
sleeping atoms:
Kinetic energy as ‘life-atoms,’ while those that are for the time being
passive, containing but invisible potential energy, we call ‘sleeping atoms,’
regarding at the same time these two forms of energy as produced by the one
and same force,
or life. [Op. cit., V. 113; The Theosophist, IV, 286-288]
are told, and it may be thrown out by any material composed of sleeping atoms or
inorganic matter as it is called: whereas the magnetic fluid projected by a
living human body is life itself. ‘Indeed it is life atoms’ that a man in a
blind passion throws off, unconsciously, and though he does it quite as
effectively as a mesmeriser who transfers them from himself to any object
consciously and under the guidance of his will. Let any man give away to any
intense feeling, such as anger, grief, etc., under or near a tree, or in direct
contact with a stone; and many thousands of years after that any tolerable
Psychometer will see the man and sense his feelings from one single fragment of
that tree or stone that he had touched. Hold any object in your hand, and it
will become impregnated with your life-atoms, indrawn and outdrawn, changed and
transferred in us at every instant of our lives. Animal heat is but so many life
atoms in molecular motion. It requires no adept knowledge, but simply the
natural gift of a good clairvoyant subject to see them passing to and fro, from
man to objects and
vise versa like a bluish lambent flame. [Op. cit., V,
115-116, from
The Theosophist, IV, 288]
PRECIPITATION in connection with writing generally signifies the materialization
of a message on paper (or other substance). By extension of meaning it also has
come to have the added significance of the delivery of the message, although the
latter is
actually a distinct process from the former.
As an introduction to this type of writing, a comment made by Mme. Blavatsky in
one of her letters to A.P. Sinnett, dated Adyar, March 17, 1885, is worthy of
note:
and received
letters to, and from Masters, except for myself. If you had any
idea of the
difficulties, or the modus operandi you would never have consented
to be in my
place. And yet I never refused [The Mahatma Letters p 470, First
specific reference to the Mahatma letters received by Sinnett and Hume.
Nevertheless, this also clarifies the process Mme. Blavatsky would have been
called upon to
employ for precipitations she herself performed.
Those having even a superficial knowledge of the science of mesmerism know how
the thoughts of the mesmeriser, though silently formulated in his mind are
instantly transferred to that of the subject. It is not necessary for the
operator, if he is sufficiently powerful, to be present near the subject to
produce the above result. Some celebrated practitioners in this Science are
known to have been able to put their subjects to sleep even from a distance of
several days’ journey. This known fact will serve us as a guide in comprehending
the comparatively unknown subject now under discussion. The work of writing the
letters in question is carried on by a sort of psychological telegraphy; the
Mahatmas very rarely write their letters in the ordinary way. An electromagnetic
connection, so to say, exists on the psychological plane between a Mahatma and
his chelas, one of whom acts as his amanuensis. When the Master wants a letter
to be written in this way, he draws the attention of the chela, whom he selects
for the task by causing an astral bell (heard by so many of our Fellows and
others) to be rung near him just as the despatching telegraph office signals to
the receiving office before wiring the message. The thoughts arising in the mind
of the Mahatma are then clothed in word, pronounced mentally, and forced along
the astral currents he sends towards the pupil to impinge on the brain of the
latter. Thence they are borne by the nerve-currents to the palms of his hands
and the tips of his finger, which rest on a piece of magnetically prepared
paper. As the thought-waves are thus impressed on the tissue, materials are
drawn to it from the ocean of Akasa (permeating every atom of the sensuous
universe), by an occult process, out of place here to describe, and permanent
marks are left.
From this it is abundantly clear that the success of such writing as above
described depends chiefly upon these things: (1) The force and the clearness
with which the thoughts are propelled, and (2) the freedom of the receiving
brain from disturbance of every description. [Collected Writings, VI, PAGES
119-20, from
The Theosophist, Volume V, page 64]
Further information is provided in an interview Charles Johnston once had with
Mme. Blavatsky, although the report of the occurrence was not published until
after her death. Of special interest is the explanation given of how a Mahatma
is able to produce the precipitation in English even though knowing nothing of
that language. H.P.Blavatsky opened her explanation with a question she herself
proceeded to
answer:
have noticed that the person who receives the mental picture very often
colours it, or even changes it slightly, with his own thought, and this where
perfectly genuine transference of thought takes place. Well, it is something
like that with the precipitated letters. One of our Masters, who perhaps does
not know English, and of course has no English handwriting, wishes to
precipitate a letter in answer to a question sent mentally to him. Let us say
he is in Tibet, while I am in Madras or London. He has the answering thought
in his mind, but not in English words. He has first to impress that thought on
my brain, or on the brain of someone else who knows English, and then to take
the word-forms that rise up in the other brain to answer the thought. Then he
must form a clear mind-picture of the words in waiting, also drawing on my
brain, or the brain of whoever it is, for the shapes. Then either through me
or some Chela with whom he is magnetically connected, he has to precipitate
these word-shapes on paper, first sending the shapes into the Chela’s mind,
and then driving them into the paper, using the magnetic force of the Chela to
do the printing, and collecting the material, black or blue or red, as the
case may be, from the astral light. As all things dissolve into the astral
light, the will of the magician can draw them forth again. So he can draw
forth colours of pigments to mark the figure in the letter, using the magnetic
force of the Chela to stamp them in, and guiding the whole by his own much
greater magnetic force, a current of powerful will. [Collected Writings, VIII,
397-8; from The
Theosophical Forum, New York]
With regard to the synchronization of the two minds — the Mahatma’s and the
chela’s — a
sloka from the Yogasutras may be quoted:
The nature of the mind of another person becomes known to the ascetic when he
concentrates his own mind upon that other person. [Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali
(W.Q. Judge’s recension Book III, sloka 19)] Mme. Blavatsky gave an explanation
of a different type of precipitation, which illustrates the use of another
method:
I have often seen M sit with a book of the most elaborate Chinese characters
that he wanted to copy, and a blank book before him and he would put a pinch of
black lead dust before him and then rub it in slightly on the page; and then
over it precipitate ink; and then, if the image of the characters was all right
and correct in his mind the characters copied would be all right. [The Letters
of H.P.
BLAVATSKY to A.P. Sinnett, page 32]
THE LAST of the seven methods of writing chosen for consideration could be
termed Writing by means of a process analogous to Tulku. [For a full explanation
of the meaning of the Tibetan word Tulku and its significance in connection with
H.P.B the reader is referred to the author’s book entitled H.P.Blavatsky, Tibet
and Tulku] This description endeavours to express the significance of the idea
suggested by the word Tulku, for there is no single English word equivalent to
the Tibetan one. To some extent it explains the state or condition in which Mme.
Blavatsky functioned from time to time. She referred to this state in a rather
vague manner, leaving it to one’s intuition to determine what was meant. For
instance here
is a passage from one of her letters to A. P. Sinnett:
I too was made a reflection several times and during months; but I never abused
of it, to try and palm off my personal schemes on those who mistook H.P.B of
Russian, for the high Initiate of xxx whose telephone she was at times. And this
is why the MASTERS have never withdrawn Their confidence from me, if all others
(saving a very
few) have. [Op.cit., p 174 (Letter No. Ixxii)]
In similar vein she wrote this significant statement in her own copy of her book
The Voice of
the Silence: ‘H.P.B to H.P. BLAVATSKY with no regards.’
walking around like a ghost of Pontoise, without being able to understand why
no one appeared to see me and to answer me. I was entirely unaware that I was
liberated from my old carcass which, at that time, however, was a little
younger. That
was at the beginning of my studies. [The Complete Works of H.P.
consequently no
technical terms are used:
Several times a
day I feel that besides me there is someone else, quite
separable from
me, present in my body. I never lose the consciousness of my
own
personality; what I feel is as if I were keeping silent and the other one
·
the lodger who
is in me — were speaking with my tongue...
Do not be afraid that I am off my head. All that I can say is that someone
positively inspires me...more than this: someone enters me. It is not I who
talk and write: it is something within me, my higher and luminous Self, that
thinks and writes for me. [Letters from H.P. Blavatsky to Mme. Vera de
Zhelihovsky.’
published in The Path, December 1894, Volume IX, pages 269-70]
was engaged in
the writing of
...the H.P.B manuscripts varied at times, and there were several variants of
the one prevailing script; also that each change in the writing was
accompanied by a marked alteration in the manner, motions, expression, and
literary
capacity of H.P.B [Old Diary Leaves, I, 243]
ALTHOUGH the list of books published during the lifetime of Mme. Blavatsky may
not be large, their content is unparalleled in the literary field, for her
volumes give access to the secret lore of the Orient—where the Ancient Wisdom
has been preserved by its Custodians. However, the articles written by her in
pen and ink for periodicals amount to about a thousand. When these are gathered
together and printed in book form — as has been done posthumously — they
comprise more
than eleven volumes.
The first work
to be published, in 1877, was
volumes, subtitled‘a master-key to the mysteries of ancient and modern science
and theology’. Although this was her first published work, it was preceded by
many articles
written for journals in the
gathered and published posthumously in the first volume of the Collected
Writings.
The second, in order of publication, in 1883: Iz pescher i debrey Indostana,
(From the Caves and of Jungles of Hindostan), subtitled Pisma na rodinu (Letters
to the
Fatherland) written for Russian periodicals.
The next book,
published in 1885, was entitled Five Years of Theosophy:
Mystical, Philosophical, Theosophical, Historical and Scientific Essays,
selected from
The Theosophist.
In 1888 The Secret Doctrine was published, subtitled ‘The Synthesis of Science,
Religion, and Philosophy.’ Volume I — Cosmogenesis; Volume II — Anthropogenesis.
A third volume was added posthumously containing essays by H.P. BLAVATSKY not
incorporated in
the original two-volume printing.
In 1889 The Key to Theosophy appeared, ‘being a clear exposition, in the form of
question and answer, of the ethics, science, and philosophy, for the study of
which The Theosophical Society has been founded.’ A second edition soon
followed, which
was amplified by the addition of a glossary.
Also in 1889 The Voice of the Silence, ‘being chosen Fragments from the Book of
the Golden
Precepts, for the daily use of Lanoos (Disciples)’.
This was followed in 1890 by Gems from the East, a birthday book of precepts and
axioms.
Transactions of the Blavatsky Lodge, in two parts: the first in 1890, the second
in 1891; consisting of replies given by H.P.B to questions asked upon the
Stanzas of Dzyan during the sessions of the Lodge. Of special significance for
students of The
Secret Doctrine.
THE FIRST posthumous work to appear was a collection of seven occult stories
published in 1892 under the title of Nightmare Tales, although the stories had
already
appeared in various periodicals during her lifetime.
In the same year The Theosophical Glossary was published although Mme. Blavatsky
did not have
the opportunity of checking and correcting it.
Also in 1892, From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan, translated from the
Russian by Mrs Charles Johnston (although it was not a complete version of the
original volume). This was followed by two books consisting of articles
originally printed in Russian journals, entitled Zagadochniya plemena na Golubih
Gorah (The Enigmatical Tribes on the Azure-Blue Hills) published in 1893; and
Durbar u
A Modern Panarion, published in 1895, was the name given to a collection of
articles
written for periodicals before the publication of
work contains many
of the articles appearing in Volume I of the Collected
Writings
series.
In 1925 The Letters of H.P. BLAVATSKY to A. P. Sinnett and other miscellaneous
Letters were published under the supervision of A.T. Barker, intended as a
companion
volume to The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett.
Another volume
of Letters was brought forth between 1925 and 1935 by E. R.
Corson under the title Some Unpublished Letters of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.
These letters were written to Dr. Corson’s father and mother between February 9,
1875 and
By far the most
important posthumous publications are the H.P.Blavatsky
Collected Writings series, for her literary labours were so prolific that it has
taken many years to gather them and prepare the articles for publication. This
work is principally due to the efforts of her grandnephew, Boris de Zirkoff. The
series begins with a collection of articles written during the years 1874-78.
This formed the first of a uniform set of Volumes published under the title of
The Complete Works of H.P. BLAVATSKY. This first volume appeared in 1933 and was
followed by three more: Volume II for articles from The Theosophist during
1879-80; Volume III comprising articles in 1881-82; Volume IV containing
articles from 1882-83 (published during 1933-36). Long out of print, these four
volumes have now been reissued as part of the H.P. BLAVATSKY Collected Writings
— in conformity with Volumes V—X. Volume V contains articles written during 1883
(published 1950); Volume VI, articles of 1883-85 (published 1954); Volume VII,
articles of 1886-87 (published 1958); Volume VIII, articles principally from
Lucifer written during 1887 (published 1960); Volume IX, articles of 1888
(published 1962); Volume X, articles of 1888-89 (published 1964). Articles yet
to appear in the series are those written in 1890 and 1891 for Lucifer — some of
which were published posthumously. Forthcoming volumes will also reproduce
translations of
her writings in Russian.
THE LITERARY achievements of H.P. BLAVATSKY undoubtedly provide the testimonial
that she acted as the light-bringer of the Ancient Wisdom to the western world.
This achievement naturally obscured her other talents which are deserving of
more recognition. It is fitting that her artistic abilities should be described.
Thus the word artist, which has a dual significance, may well be applied to her.
Although she did not work with a brush and palette and do oil paintings,
nevertheless her pen and ink sketches were truly artistic creations and her
cartoons clever and humourous. In addition, she worked in a distinctive field,
because she could produce a picture without pen or pencil or brush by
precipitation, by Kriyasakti (literally by willpower alone). The best way of
describing her ability in this field is to quote Colonel Olcott’s account of how
she made a unique portrait. No pencil or crayon work would be able to duplicate
it; nor could
an artist with a brush.
At the close of dinner we [W. Q. Judge, L. M. Marquette, M.D. and H.S. Olcott]
had drifted into talk about precipitations, and Judge asked H.P.B if she would
not make somebody’s portrait for us. As we were moving towards the writing-room,
she asked him whose portrait he wished made, and he chose that of this
particular yogi, whom we knew by name as one held in great respect by the
Masters. She crossed to my table, took a sheet of my crested club-paper, tore it
in halves, kept the half which had no imprint, and laid it down on her own
blotting-paper. She then scraped perhaps a grain of the plumbago of a Faber
lead-pencil on it, and then rubbed the surface for a minute or so with a
circular motion of the palm of her right hand; after which she handed us the
result. On the paper had come the desired portrait and, setting wholly aside the
question of its phenomenal character, it is an artistic production of power and
genius...The yogi is depicted in Samadhi, the head drawn partly aside, the eyes
profoundly introspective and dead to external things, the body seemingly that of
an absent tenant. There is a beard and hair of moderate length, the latter drawn
with such skill that one sees through the upstanding locks as it were — an
effect obtained in good photographs, but hard to imitate with pencil or crayon.
The portrait is in a medium not easy to distinguish: it might be black crayon,
without stumping, or black lead; but there is neither dust nor gloss on the
surface to indicate which, nor any marks of the stump or the point used: hold
the paper horizontally towards the light and you might fancy the pigment was
below the surface, combined with the fibres. [Old Diary Leaves, Volume I, pages
367-8]
A well-known American artist of that epoch provided this testimonial regarding
the portrait: it is ‘unique, distinctly an “individual” in the technical sense;
one that no living artist within his knowledge could have produced.’[Le Clear,
quoted in
O.D.L..,
to Sinnett in
regard to this phenomenal portraiture by Mme. Blavatsky:
several long years of regular training, and her phenomena are sometimes
better, more wonderful and far more perfect than those of some high, initiated
chelas, whom she surpasses in artistic taste and purely Western appreciation
of art—as for instance in the instantaneous production of pictures: witness
her portrait of the ‘fakir.’[The Mahatma Letters, p 312, First Edition; pages
307-8, Third
Edition]
Another striking example of her artistry is H.P.B’s portrayal by means of a pen
and ink sketch of two opera singers, drawn on page 24 of her Sketchbook. It
depicts not only their roles in the opera in which they performed — that of
Gounod’s Faust
— but also graphically tells who they are, namely
Signora Mitrovich and her husband Agardi Mitrovich, and where they were
performing, in
Marguerite, absorbed in prayer before a crucifix, while there is no doubt as to
the personification of the individual who is glancing with evil eyes over
Marguerite’s
shoulder—Mephistopheles.
Mention was made of the use of the word artist in a dual sense: the first usage
has been applied to one who is proficient in portraiture. The second use of the
term is often applied to a polished musician. In this sense it is also
applicable to H.P.B, for she was a gifted pianist. Dr Corson in his book about
Mme. Blavatsky
writes:
with great skill, showing remarkable efficiency for one who played but at odd
times as the spirit might move her. Her biographers have not dwelt at any
length on her musical talent. Her cousin, Count Witte, in his Memoirs, refers
to this musical
talent at some length. [Some Unpublished Letters of H.P.
superb. Her hands were models — ideal and actual — for a sculptor and never seen
to such advantage as when flying over the keyboard to find its magical melodies.
She was a pupil
of Moscheles, and when in
her father, played at a charity concert with Madame Clara Schumann and Madame
Arabella Goddard in a piece of Schmann’s for three pianos. Some weeks after the
above was published I learned from a member of her family that shortly before
coming to
the pseudonym
of ‘Madame Laura.’
During the time of our relationship she played scarcely at all. Once a cottage
piano was bought and she played on it for a few weeks, but then it remained
closed ever after until sold, and served as a double bookshelf. There were times
when...she would sit in the dusk sometimes, with nobody else in the room beside
myself and strike from the sweet-toned instrument improvisations that might well
make one fancy he was listening to the Gandharvas, or heavenly choristers. It
was the harmony of heaven. [Old Diary Leaves, Volume I, PAGES 458-9] William
Kingsland
provided this reminiscence:
1889, she sat down at the piano and played Schubert’s Erl-Konig, to my great
surprise and delight, as I had never even heard that she had even been a
pianist. [The Real H.P. BLAVATSKY, by William Kingsland, page 38]Her sister
Vera, speaks of ‘her musical talents and of the fact that she was a member of
the Philharmonic Society in London.’ [Incidents in the Life of Madame
Blavatsky, by
A. P. Sinnett, page 51]
NOT a word is said about Mme. Blavatsky receiving remuneration for her musical
performances. From her literary work she did not receive such income as one
might expect. Even with her two major works Isis Unveiled and The Secret
Doctrine, a great deal of the cost of publishing was borne by H.P.B herself
because of her fondness for making changes on proof-sheets. Dr. Keightley, who
assisted her in
preparing and publishing The Secret Doctrine wrote:
well as in revise. She was her own most severe corrector, and was liable to
treat revise as MSS, with alarming results in the correction item in the bill.
[Reminiscences
of H.P. BLAVATSKY etc., page 100]
Col. Olcott had the same to say about the changes made on the proofs of Isis
Unveiled. However, even before the publication of her first book, Mme.
Blavatsky’s finances had sustained a heavy loss, because of the help she had
given to the editor of the Spiritual Scientist, a Boston journal. H.P.B had this
comment to
make:
‘Between Col. Olcott and myself, H.P.B, we have spent over a 1000 dollars
given him to pay his debts and support his paper. [Collected Writings, Volume
I, page 95]
The meagreness of H.P.B’s financial status is attested in a document written by
Countess Wachtmeister. While living with Mme. Blavatsky at Ostend, Belgium, the
Countess had called a lawyer, and when he was prepared to draw up the will,
H.P.B stated that she wished to leave everything to Constance Wachtmeister. The
Countess
continues the narration:
leave her property to them? And then he looked askance at me, as if he thought
that I might have been unduly influencing H.P.B to leave her money to me to
the detriment of her relatives. H.P.B flew out at him, and asked him what
business it was of his; she should leave her money, she declared, to whom she
chose. Madame Gebhard, fearful of a scene, interposed and said gently to the
lawyer: ‘Perhaps, when you know the amount which Madame Blavatsky has to will
away, you will have no further objections to making the will as she desires;
for had Madame Blavatsky died there would not have been sufficient money to
pay for her
funeral expenses.’
The lawyer could
not restrain an expression of surprise, but set to work
without further comment. In a few minutes the will was made and signed by
those present.
[Reminiscences etc., page 77]
Russian journal which would have enabled her to recoup her dwindling finances.
However, Mme. Blavatsky declined to take advantage of it, as narrated by the
Countess:
would write for
the Russian papers. She might write, she was told, on
occultism or any other subject which pleased her, if she would only contribute
to their columns. Here was a promise of comfort and ease for the remainder of
her life. Two hours’ labour every day would be ample to satisfy all demands
made on her time; but then no Secret Doctrine would be written. I spoke of a
compromise, and asked her if it would not be possible for her to accept this
engagement, and, at the same time, continue her Theosophical work. ‘No — a
thousand times no!’ she answered. ‘To write such a work as The Secret Doctrine
I must have all my thoughts turned in the direction of that current. It is
difficult enough even now, hampered as I am with this sick and worn-out body,
to get all I want, how much more difficult, then, if I am to be continually
changing the currents into other directions. I have no longer the vitality or
the energy left
in me. Too much of it was exhausted at the time when I
produced my
phenomena. [Op. cit., page 48]
explained it to the Countess when the latter inquired concerning the task which
Mme. Blavatsky had undertaken, namely to bring the knowledge of the Ancient
Wisdom to the
western world:
acquired or conferred for the benefit of one’s own personal self, for to do so
would be to set foot on the steep and treacherous slope that ends in the abyss
of Black Magic. I have taken the vow, and I am not one to break a pledge the
sanctity of which cannot be brought within the comprehension of the profane. I
would rather suffer any tortures than be untrue to my pledge. As for securing
more favourable conditions for the execution of my task: it is not with us
that the end is held to justify the means, nor is it we who are permitted to
do evil that good may come. And it is not only bodily pain and weakness and
the ravages of disease that I am to suffer with what patience I may, subduing
them by my will for the sake of the work, but mental pain, ignominy,
opprobrium and
ridicule. [Op. cit.,page 46]
From time immemorial there have been human beings who have demonstrated superior
faculties and abilities. Some have declared that they have come to assist
humanity in one way or another. This was especially portrayed in the Mysteries
of ancient Greece. For instance, in the Eleusinian Mysteries certain families
were selected as being representatives of carrying on the tradition of passing
on the teachings and customs in a particular manner. Thus the Hierophants were
chosen from one family living in Athens named the Eumolpidae; the Torchbearers
were drawn from
the family of Lycomidae, also living in Athens.
In similar manner to the torchbearers, who lit the way for the processions to
and from the temple where the ancient wisdom was conveyed to the initiants by
the Hierophants, so does H.P. BLAVATSKY illumine the path for those who are
eager to pursue the quest for knowledge. And in what an incomparable manner has
the age-old wisdom been presented by her! Read the words she penned in regard to
her search for
the custodians of the ancient lore of the Orient:
When, years ago, we first travelled over the East, exploring the penetralia of
its deserted sanctuaries, two saddening and ever-recurring questions oppressed
our thoughts: Where, who, what is God? Who ever saw the immortal Spirit of man,
so as to be
able to assure himself of man’s immortality?
It was while most anxious to solve these perplexing problems that we came into
contact with certain men, endowed with such mysterious powers and such profound
knowledge that we may truly designate them as the sages of the Orient. To their
instructions we lend a ready ear. They showed us that by combining science with
religion, the
existence of God and immortality of man’s spirit may be
demonstrated like a problem of Euclid. For the first time we received the
assurance that the Oriental philosophy has room for no other faith than an
absolute and immovable faith in the omnipotence of man’s own immortal self. We
were taught that this omnipotence comes from the kinship of man’s spirit with
the Universal Soul — God! The latter, they said, can never be demonstrated but
by the former. Man-spirit proves God-spirit, as the one drop of water proves a
source from which it must have come. Tell one who had never seen water, that
there is an ocean of water, and he must accept it on faith, or reject it
altogether. But let one drop fall upon his hand, and he then has the fact from
which all the rest may be inferred. After that he could by degrees understand
that a boundless and fathomless ocean of water existed. Blind faith would no
longer be necessary; he would have supplanted it with KNOWLEDGE. [Isis Unveiled,
I, P 6
(Preface)]
We are not asked to accept on faith alone the message which H.P.Blavatsky
brought to the western world. But we are requested to consider the fundamental
propositions upon which her writings are based. Nevertheless, in due time we are
expected to test the validity of each one of the doctrines which she presented.
For, as stated
by one of her teachers:
experience. [The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett xxx, p 131; First Edition; p
128, Third
Edition]
One of the required experiences in this testing is that of passing through the
portals of death while retaining full consciousness, and that of going through
the after-death
states fully conscious.
Not only did H.P. BLAVATSKY provide illumination upon what happens to man when
he dies — thus enabling one to banish the fear of death — but she presented
esoteric knowledge concerning the process of birth. Then, too, the reason for
living nobly is stressed; so is the purpose of existence: why we are on earth
and where we are going. Above all she expounded the inner meaning of the life on
earth and reaffirmed the knowledge of man’s spiritual powers and faculties —
which although at present dormant are available to him who would make the
requisite
effort to awaken them.
When presenting The Secret Doctrine to the western world, H.P. BLAVATSKY quoted
these words: ‘My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.’[John, vii, 16]
Thus there is every assurance that she came as a messenger from the Fraternity
representing the Sons of the Fire-Mist. In fact, she truly acted as a
Light-bringer
to the western world, ushering in a new age.
SUCH has been the destiny of those who sought to benefit the human race. For
H.P.B was not the first one to bring the knowledge that there was a Divine
Wisdom, which may be described as the basis upon which all religions are
founded. This Theo-sophia — Divine Wisdom, or the Wisdom-Religion, as it is
sometimes called — is not a system of belief formulated by an individual;
instead it is the cumulative result of many ages of systematic search. It is not
a religion in the ordinary meaning of the word, denoting formalized worship and
devotional
practices, rather it is the accumulated wisdom of innumerable eras.
In reviving the search for this Ancient Wisdom, as represented by Theosophy, its
object was ‘to reconcile all religions, sects and nations under a common system
of ethics based
on eternal verities.’ [The Key to Theosophy, page 3]
Furthermore,
The ‘Wisdom-Religion’ was one in antiquity; and the sameness of primitive
religious philosophy is proven to us by the identical doctrines taught to the
Initiates during the Mysteries, an institution once universally diffused. [Ibid,
page 4]
What is also needed is to impress men with the idea that, if the root of mankind
is one, then there must also be one truth which finds expression in all the
various
religions. [The Key to Theosophy page 45]
As to the message H.P.Blavatsky brought: it is based on fundamental concepts
formulated into three propositions. These propositions from the basis for the
presentation of the doctrines of the Ancient Wisdom, also known as the Esoteric
Philosophy. Generations of sages and seers have had the opportunity of checking
these doctrines by practical experience as well as by study. They have found
that the teachings thus enunciated are in harmony with the philosophical system
formulated by
them. These three fundamental propositions are:
1. An Omnipresent, Eternal,. Boundless, and Immutable Principle on which
all speculation
is impossible, since it transcends the power of human
conception and could only be dwarfed by any human expression or
similitude...It
is the rootless root of ‘all that was, is, or ever shall be’.
2. The Eternity of the Universe in toto as a boundless plane;
periodically ‘the playground of a numberless Universes incessantly manifesting
and disappearing,’ called ‘the manifesting stars,’ and the ‘sparks of
Eternity’. ‘The Eternity of the Pilgrim is like a wink of the Eye of
Self-Existence.
3. The fundamental identity of all Souls with the Universal Oversoul,
the latter being itself an aspect of the Unknown Room; and the obligatory
pilgrimage for every Soul — a spark of the former — through the Cycle of
Incarnation (or ‘Necessity’) in accordance with Cyclic and Karmic law, during
the whole term.
[The Secret Doctrine,Volume I, pages 14-17, First Edition;
Volume I, Page
82 Adyar Edition; Volume 1, Page 45, third edition]
Sk = Sanskrit
Key = The Key
to Theosophy
M.L = The
Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett
S.D. = The
Secret Doctrine
Th. Glos =
Theosophical Glossary
Ad, Sons of - Term used by Occultism for a group of beings who presided by
hundreds of
centuries what is called the Age of Iron.
human beings
who compose the occult Brotherhood
Agnishavatta Pitris - (Sk: compounded of agni, fire or inner essence, applied
figuratively to the mind, hence the fire of mind; svatta from svad, meaning to
taste or sweeten; pitris, fathers). The term may be explained in two ways: (1)
Beings who have tasted of the fire of mind and who have become stimulated to
achieve and conclude the evolutionary cycle (the Cycle of Necessity); (2) Beings
who have been sweetened by the fire of suffering and experience in the Cycle of
Necessity and have graduated therefrom. It was the Agnishvatta Pitris (also
termed Manasaputras or Sons of Mind) who awakened the dormant mind-principle of
humanity during
the fifth sub-race of the Third Root-Race.
Akasa - (Sk) The Supersensuous spiritual essence which pervades all space;
sometimes referred to as the Primordial Light manifesting through Divine
Ideation. Best described as manifesting in seven degrees or aspects. In its
highest aspect it is equivalent to the Root of All, for it is defined in
Southern Buddhism as that from which everything in the universe comes into
being. In this aspect Akasa is equivalent to the Tibetan term Tho-og, Space, or
Aditi in Hindu scriptures. Other equivalent terms: Adma-Buddhi in Northern
Buddhism, or Alaya; Svabhavat in the Stanzas of Dzyan; Mulaprakriti in the
Vedantin system; Pradhana
in the Brahmanical; Anima Mundi or the ‘Soul of the World’; Primordial Aether
(in Western terminology). In its lowest aspect Akasa is often referred to as the
Astral Light.
Aquarian Age - Best explained by considering the precession of the equinoxes —
the westward movement of the equinoxes on the ecliptic. The equinoxes (vernal
and autumnal) do not occur at the same points of the ecliptic every solar year,
for the plane of the ecliptic and the plane of the equator revolve in opposite
directions. Therefore, the two planes make a complete revolution with respect to
each other once every 25,868 years. As the twelve signs of the zodiac are
regarded as being stationed along the ecliptic, and divided into 30 degrees
each, the ‘entry of the equinox’ into another sign of the zodiac would occur
every 2155 years. As the ‘entry of the equinox’ in the zodiacal sign of Pisces
is described as having occurred in 255 BC, the entry of the equinox into the
zodiacal sign
of Aquarius represents the present epoch as the Aquarian Age.
Arhat - (Sk: derived from verbal root arh — to be worthy, to be entitled to —
hence one who is entitled to the distinction of having achieved the goal).
Herein used as
an individual who is a member of the occult Brotherhood.
Astral Light - Used with much latitude for lack of suitable English equivalents.
In connection with the Earth, the Astral Light acts as a receptacle for the
vital energies or life-principle (cosmic Jmava) proceeding from the sun, thus
acting as the conveyor of it to the Earth. In this aspect it is equivalent to
the Linga-sarmara (pattern vehicle) in the sevenfold constitution of man, which
likewise is the conveyor of Prana (life-principle) to the physical body. In this
capacity each planet, and for that matter each sun, has its specific Astral
Light. Furthermore, the Astral Light also represents what may be regarded as the
‘picture gallery’ of Eternity, preserving the record of every event occurring on
earth — whether on physical or astral plane. Also used as an equivalent for
Karma-loka, the
region associated with the first after-death state.
Astral Soul - As used in H.P.Blavatsky’s narrative signifies the Mayavi-rupa,
which by the use of Siddhis enables one to project one’s consciousness to any
desired
distance. She also referred to it as the ‘inner ego’.
Astral Vital Body - As here used signifies the Linga-sarmara (the model body or
ethereal double)
vitalized by the life-principle (Prana), See Seven Principles.
Atom - In Occult Science thus: ‘Atoms fill the immensity of Space, and by their
continuous vibration are that Motion which keeps the wheels of Life perpetually
going.’ (Secret Doctrine I, 633 First Edition; II, 358; Adyar Edition; I, 694
Third ed.)
Black Magic - Term of the ancient Mystery-Schools, signifying the use of Siddhis
(occult powers) for selfish or unholy purposes. ‘For this is black magic,
abomination and spiritual sorcery’, to quote H.P. BLAVATSKY (Key p 68). She also
refers to
mediumship as ‘unconscious black magic.’
Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna - (1831-91) Daughter of Capt. Peter Alexeyevich von
Hahn and Helena Andreyevna de Fadeyev; granddaughter of Privy Councillor Andrey
Mihailovich de Fadeyev and Princess Helena Dolgorukov. Born at Ekaterinoslav,
Ukraine, Russia, August 11-12. Her first ten years were spent in a sequence of
moves, accompanying her father who was in the horse artillery. When Helena’s
mother died she lived with her grandparents, principally at Saratov and Tiflis,
until her marriage (July 7, 1849) to N. V. Blavatsky, a State Official. The
marriage was in name only, for within three months Mme. Blavatsky had left her
homeland and began a series of travels, continuing for several years. The
momentous event of her life occurred when she met her Master in London on her
twentieth birthday. She never gave a sequential account of her journeys except
for one notebook during the year of 1867. That she was in Tibet more than once
is certain because she wrote: ‘I have lived at different periods in Little Tibet
as in Great Tibet, and ... these combined periods form more than seven years.’
(Collected
Writings, VI, 272)
It was during her stay in Tibet that she studies under her Teachers and was
taught how to use the Siddhis which enabled her to produce her writings in a
remarkable and unparalleled manner. On July 7, 1873, she arrived in New York; a
year later she met Col. Olcott, and W. Q. Judge; these three with fourteen
others founded The Theosophical Society in September, 1875, H.P.Blavatsky’s
first work, Isis Unveiled, was published in 1877. In December 1878 Mme.
Blavatsky left America for India, remaining there until 1885. In 1879 The
Theosophist was established for which she wrote many articles. She began writing
The Secret Doctrine in Wurzburg in 1885, and then continued it in Ostend and
London until its publication in 1888. The magazine Lucifer was established by
her in 1887; it
was published monthly until her death in 1891.
Bod-Las - Tibetan for the land of Tibet. Bod is derived from Bhota (Sk) — the
land of Tibet.
Brotherhood - An occult fraternity whose origin may be traced to the Sons of Ad,
the custodians of the Ancient Wisdom. H.P. BLAVATSKY affirmed that she was sent
to the western world by this fraternity to present certain teachings of the
esoteric
doctrine. Members of this Brotherhood are known by various names:
Mahatmas, Chohans, Chang-Chubs, Byanz-Tzyoobs, Bodhisattvas, Khubil-Khans,
Adepts,
Initiates. Arhats.
Buddhism - Usually defined as the religion founded by Gautama Buddha. However,
there are two main divisions: Mahayana Buddhism, referred to as the Doctrine of
the Heart, or Northern Buddhism; Hinayana Buddhism, the Doctrine of the Eye, or
Southern Buddhism. The principal factor in Buddhism is its ethical teachings
presented as the Noble Eightfold Path: (1) Right Understanding; (2) Right
Attitude of Mind; (3) Right Speech; (4) Right Action; (5) Right Livelihood; (6)
Right Effort; (7) Right Recollection; (8) Samma Samadhi — ecstatic beatitude, or
the highest
state of yoga.
Chela - A term used in India for a disciple. Specifically, a personal disciple
of a guru, or spiritual
teacher. When used in connection with H.P. BLAVATSKY it
signified an initiated disciple, even though her Teachers often referred to her
as Upasika,
signifying a female disciple.
Chiefs - As used herein signifies those who are in the superior stages of
evolution in
connection with the occult Brotherhood (q.v.).
Clairaudience - Faculty of hearing with the ‘inner ear’; or spiritual hearing of
occult sounds
at any distance.
Clairvoyance - Faculty of seeing with the ‘inner eye’; or spiritual sight. As
defined by H.P.Blavatsky: ‘Real clairvoyance means the faculty of seeing through
the densest matter (the latter disappearing at the will and before the spiritual
eye of the Seer), and irrespective of time (past, present and future) or
distance.’ (Th.
Glos. p 85).
Cycle of Necessity - Also termed the Cycle of Incarnation, or the Circle of
Necessity. It refers to the ancient doctrine which postulates the necessity for
the immortal component
of man — the Pilgrim or the Monad — to return again and
again for incarnation on earth, in order to accomplish seven major evolutionary
developments, each one of which represents a change of form and greater
manifestation
of potencies.
Dangma - The Eye of Dangma is also called the deva-eye, the eye of wisdom, the
eye of Siva. This refers to the pineal gland, at present dormant. When awakened
by occult process, the ‘Opened Eye of Dangma’ functions as ‘the faculty of
spiritual intuition, through which direct and certain knowledge is obtainable.’
(Secret
Doctrine, I, 46, First Edition; I, 118 Adyar Edition, I, 77 Third ed.)
Denton - W. Geologist and author of The Soul and Things: Psychometric Researches
and Discoveries, Boston, 1873. He asserts that the images of the events are
imbedded in that all-permeating universal and ever-retaining medium, which he
terms the ‘Soul of Things’ — which philosophers called Anima Mundi — the Soul of
the World.
Dhyanis - (Sk) Used in Secret Doctrine in place of Dhyanins — an abbreviated
form of Dhyani-Chohans, literally ‘the Meditative Lords.’ Generalizing term for
Divine Being, superior in status to the Human Kingdom: representing the Divine
Intelligences
who supervise a cosmos.
Enoch - In the Bible (Genesis iv and v) three Enochs are mentioned: the son of
Cain, the son of Seth, the son of Jared. An interpretation of one of the
meanings of Enoch is given by H.P.B: ‘Esoterically, Enoch is the “Sons of man,”
the first; and symbolically, the first Sub-Race of the Fifth Root-Race. And if
his name yields for purposes of numerical and astronomical glyphs the meaning of
the solar year, or 365, in conformity to the age assigned to him in Genesis, it
is because, being the seventh, he is, for Occult purposes, the personified
period of the two preceding Races with their fourteen Sub-Races. Therefore, he
is shown in the Book as the great grandfather of Noah who, in his turn, is the
personification of the mankind of the Fifth, struggling with that of the Fourth
Root-Race — the great period of the revealed and profaned Mysteries.’ (Secret
Doctrine Volume
5, Page 106, Adyar Edition; Volume 3, Page 90, Third edition.)
Eye of Shiiva - Conscious use of the pineal gland for clairvoyance is called by
Hindu mystics the operation of the Eye of Shiiva. Also referred to as the third
eye. (See under
Dangma.)
Fifth Circle - A specific grade or status of superior degree attained in the
Occult
Fraternity, achieved by initiation.
Fifth Race or Fifth Root Race - As described by Occult Science, represents the
fifth major developmental evolution of the human kingdom. The term is
specifically applicable to the Indo-European branch of humanity, which had its
origin in northern Asia, in the vicinity of Lake Manasasarovara — a sacred lake
in Tibet in the
Himalayas. As a race sui generis it has already been in
existence about
one million years.
Fire-Mist, Sons of, or Children of - Equivalent to the Sons of Ad. These Beings
are termed the Sons of Fire, or Fire-Mist, because they were the first humans in
which ‘the Fire of Mind’ functioned. They were produced by Kri asakti (by
thought-power
and yoga) in the first portion of the Third Race (q.v.).
Fifth-Rounders - Forerunners of the human race, such as the Mahatmas, having the
ability to function in a superior degree of evolutionary development. They
represent what the advanced members of the human race will be during the Fifth
Round of the cyclical state of evolutionary development, whereas the mass of
humanity on
earth function as Fourth-Rounders.
Fourth Rounders - As explained by the Occult Sciences, the human race represents
the stage of evolutionary development comparable to its Fourth Round, or fourth
circuit of the required seven cyclical stages of evolutionary development. Each
Round, or each circuit of the seven, represents a specific stage in the
evolutionary development of the human race, in that one of the seven principles
of man is developed to its fullest capacity. During the Fourth Round the fourth
principle,
Karma, is in its phase of development.
Gebhard, Mary - (née L’Estrangge 1832-92). Best known in theosophical circles
for the assistance given to Mme. Blavatsky during 1884 in Germany and 1886 in
Belgium. Mme. Blavatsky lived with the Gebhards from August to October 1884, and
again in May
and June, 1886.
Of interest also is the fact that after Mary L’Estrange’s marriage to Consul
Gustav Gebhard in 1852, she made the acquaintance of Eliphas Lévi and studied
the Kabbala
under his tuition until his death in 1875.
Great Breath - Symbol used to portray the coming into being of a universe, or a
cosmos, for a period of manifestation and activity (termed a Manvantara)—the
Outbreathing of the Great Breath. Similarly the dissolution (or Pralaya) of a
cosmos is represented as the Inbreathing of the Great Breath. In the words of
the Occult Catechism: ‘What is it that is ever coming and going?’ ‘The Great
Breath.’
Guru - (SK) A spiritual teacher: one able to expound philosophical and
metaphysical
doctrines.
Hermes - Herein the reference is not to the Greek messenger of the gods but to a
generic name of many ancient Greek writers on philosophy and alchemy. Then, too,
there is Hermes Trismegistus, the ‘thrice great Hermes’ in Egypt. The Hermetic
philosophy which arose in that land is due to him. ‘The forty-two Sacred Books
of the Egyptians, mentioned by Clement of Alexandria as having existed in his
time, were but a portion of the Books of Hermes (Stromata, II, 324) Iamblichus,
on the authority of the Egyptian priest Abammon, attributes 1200 of such Books
to Hermes, and Manetho, 36.000.’ (Secret Doctrine, Volume 5, Page 58, Adyar
Edition;Volume
3, Page 37, Third edition)
Hierophant - Derived from Greek hieros, sacred; hence one who expounds sacred
things; also an initiating priest, particularly in temples where the Mysteries
were
celebrated.
Hume, Allan Octavian, C.B. - (1829-1912) Secretary to the Government of India
from 1870 to June 1879; was acquainted with metaphysical thought. Met Mme.
Blavatsky in December 1879 and became interested in Theosophy. Wished to contact
the source from which she obtained her knowledge, consequently wrote direct to
Mahatma K.H. and corresponded with him. For a time he was interested in the
philosophical teachings which were presented to him; many of the letters he
received were published in The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett. After a few
years he lost touch with Theosophy. Later he became the prime mover in
organizing the Indian National Congress and was called the ‘Father of the
Congress.’
Initiation - When a candidate desired to be admitted into the ancient Mysteries
he underwent a process termed initiation. This practice was observed in all the
ancient religions. Plutarch, writing from knowledge, mentioned the joy that was
experienced when one was initiated into the sacred Mysteries: it was the most
sacred of all solemnities as well as the most beneficent and greatly promoted
virtue. The clue to the esoteric significance of initiation was expressed in
this passage: ‘ The degree of an Adept’s initiation mark the seven stages at
which he discovers the secret of the sevenfold principles in nature and man and
awakens his dormant powers.’ (Mahatma Letters, Page 99, First Edition; Page 97
Third edition )
Inner Ego - Used in H.P. BLAVATSKY’s narrative to designate the Mayavi-rupa,
which was
projected by the Shaman. (See Astral Soul).
Judge, William Quan - (1831-96) Theosophist and author: born in Ireland; came to
Brooklyn, America, with his parents while in his teens became a US citizen in
1872. Met H.P.Blavatsky in 1874 and was a constant visitor at her residence
during her stay in New York. On the occasion of the founding of The Theosophical
Society in September, 1875, Judge proposed that Col. Olcott should be elected
chairman of the Society. Later, when the officers of the Society were elected in
October, Judge became Counsel. In the spring of 1884 he went to Paris and worked
with H.P. BLAVATSKY on a projected revision of Isis Unveiled, which was later
abandoned and superseded by the writing and publishing of The Secret Doctrine in
1888. In June 1886 Judge was elected General Secretary of the T.S. in America,
having already founded earlier in the year a theosophical magazine entitled The
Path. He wrote many articles for it and continued its publication until his
death in 1896. Judge is best known for his writings in his magazine as well as
through his books, principally The Ocean of Theosophy, his recension of the
Bhagavad-Gmata
and Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali.
Kali-Yuga - (SK: kali, the die with one dot; yuga, a cycle, an age). The length
of the Kali-yuga is stated to be 432,000 years. As figured in India it is the
current cycle, for it began in 3102. B.C., coincident with the death of Krishna.
It is referred to as the Black Age, because it is an era when strife and vice
are predominant.
Karma - (SK: from the verbal root kam, to desire). Applied in the sevenfold
classification of principles in the human constitution to the desire principle
as well as the energetic principle. In the Occult Sciences Karma is regarded as
the Will-principle
(The Theosophist, IV 295)
Kapila, The Rishi - A great sage; a great adept of antiquity; author of the
Sankhya
philosophy.
Kapila - Also the generic name of the Kumaras, the celestial ascetics and
virgins; therefore the very fact of Bhagavata-Purana calling that Kapila — which
it showed just before as a portion of Vishnu — the author of Sankhya philosophy,
ought to have warned the reader of a ‘blind’ containing an esoteric meaning.
Whether the Son of Vitatha, as Harivansa shows him to be, or of anyone else, the
author of Sankhya cannot be the same as the Sage of the Satya-Yuga’ (Secret
Doctrine,
Volume 2, Page 572, First Edition; Volume 4, Page 142 Adyar Edition;
Volume 2, Page
604 Third edition.)
‘The Sankhya philosophy may have been brought down and taught by the first, and
written out by the last Kapila.’ (Ibid.) ‘ The Kapila of the Satya-Yuga, and the
Kapila of the Kali-yuga, may be one and the same individuality, without being
the same
personality.’ (Ibid)
Keightley, Archibald - (1859-1930) physician and Theosophist: practised in New
York. Joined The Theosophical Society in 1884 and met Mme. Blavatsky. In 1887 he
assisted H.P.B in moving from Ostend to London and settling, first at Norwood,
then at 17 Lansdowne Road. It was while living at the latter house that he with
his uncle Bertram helped H.P.B in preparation and typing The Secret Doctrine, as
well as seeing
it through the press.
Kingsland, William - (1855-1936) engineer, scientist, Theosophist and author;
employed with early installation of telephone and electricity in England and
Scotland. In 1888 Kingsland contacted Theosophy, became a member of the Society
and met Mme. Blavatsky. In January, 1889, he was elected President of Blavatsky
Lodge, London, holding that office for almost two years. Was also a member of
H.P.B’s Inner
Group.
Kriy asakti - (SK) The power of creative thought, especially when energized by
willpower. One of the seven great powers which yogins are able to make manifest,
i.e.., one of
the Siddhis.
Life-Atom - The essential element of life associated with an atom, or the
indwelling spark vitalizing an atom. Life-atoms may be classified in two
categories: (1)
atoms that are moved by kinetic energy — hence always in motion;
(2) atoms that are temporarily passive, although they contain invisible,
potential energy. These are termed ‘sleeping atoms.’ ‘Each atom is of course a
soul, a monad, a little universe endowed with consciousness hence with memory.’
(Secret Doctrine, Volume 2, Page 672, First Edition; Volume 4, Page 241, Adyar
Edition; Volume
2, Page 710 Third edition)
Lucifer - (Latin). Literally the light-bearer, therefore used by H.P. BLAVATSKY
as the title for her magazine which she founded in September 1887 and continued
monthly until May 1891. Published posthumously until 1897. A passage in Rev.
xvi, 22 reads: ‘I am ... the bright morning star,’ signifying Lucifer, or
Phosphor in Greek, the planet Venus. The first issue, which appeared on
September 15, 1887, bore this message on the title-page. ‘A Theosophical
Magazine,
designed to bring to light the hidden things of darkness.’
Lycomidae - The word is derived from the Greek luke, light: hence signifying the
light-bearers —
those who carried torches in the processions of the Mysteries.
Maha Guru - (SK) Literally the ‘Great Teacher.’ Herein signifies the Wondrous
Being, the
Great Watcher.
Mahatma - (SK: Mahatman, compound of maha, great atman, the divine self).
Usually rendered a ‘great soul.’ Herein the term signifies a member of the
occult Brotherhood. Specifically applicable to the two individuals who were
instrumental in sending H.P. Blavatsky as a messenger from the Brotherhood to
the western world, namely Mahatma M. (Morya — H.P.B’s spiritual guru), and
Mahatma K.H. (Koot-Hoomi). The correspondence between Sinnett and these two
Mahatmas is
published in The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett.
Manas - (SK) Derived from the verbal root man, to think. Applied to the mind
principle, in
the sevenfold classification of principles in the human
constitution. The ability to use the mind principle marks the difference between
the human and
the animal kingdoms.
Manvantaras - (SK: Manu, a divine being and antara, between: hence literally a
period between two Manus). Herein used as a cyclic period of activity comprising
7 Rounds of evolutionary development. Equivalent to a Day of Brahma, or 1,000
revolutions of
the Maha-yugas, or 4,320,000,000 years.
Master - The individual referred to by H.P.B as ‘my Master’ is known as the
Mahatma Morya (or M:) her Guru. She relates that she first met him in the
physical body in London in 1851, although she had known him in his astral form
during her childhood and had regarded him as her guardian. She underwent tuition
and training under his tutelage in Tibet and under his direction went to
America, where
she met Col. Olcott and founded the Theosophical Society in 1875.
Masters - H.P.Blavatsky referred to her Teachers as Elder Brothers, because of
their association with the occult Brotherhood (q.v.); or again as Masters or
Mahatmas. Two members of the Fraternity who were particularly instrumental in
the founding of the T.S. were known as K.H. (Koot Hoomi) and M : (or Morya), her
specific guru
or spiritual teacher.
Messianic Cycle
- As used herein the Messianic Cycle represents the period
associated with
the advent of a Messiah. It is a cycle of 2155 or 2160 solar
years. The
significance of the number 2160 is this: it is just one half of 4320
4-3-2 being the key-figures of esoteric reckoning. The Messiah of the present
Messianic Cycle was represented as coming through H.P. BLAVATSKY, who acted as
the channel. Hence it is asserted that she acted in the capacity of a
·
Light-Bringer.
Mundane Egg - The symbol of an egg is used in connection with the coming into
birth of a new world. Just as the egg-cell is the point within the egg which
eventually brings to birth a new being, so the Point within the World-Egg
represents the
Logos, which enables a new cosmos to come into manifestation.
Munis - (SK) Usually rendered Seers or Sages. Herein used for Divine Beings from
previous
Manvantaras (q.v) who associated with the Sons of Will and Yoga (q.v).
Mysteries - Derived from Greek muo, to be shut, or closed referring to the lips
and eyes. Those initiated into the Mysteries were instructed to keep their lips
sealed regarding what happened in the temples. The Mysteries consisted of
dramatic portrayals of episodes connected with the deities represented in the
mythologies of ancient nations. The hidden meanings of the myths and allegories
were then explained to the initiated candidates. The three principal Mysteries
were the
Orphic, the Eleusinian and the Dionysiac.
Nadyejda - Given name of Nadyezhda Andreyevna Fadeyev (1829-1919) sister of
H.P.B’s mother and youngest daughter of Andrey Mihailovich de Fadeyev and
Princess Helena Pavlovna Dolgorukova. She was H.P.B ‘s favourite aunt and
corresponded with her through the years. She was the recipient of the first
known Mahatma letter, receiving it at the time that H.P. BLAVATSKY was
undergoing tuition in Tibet. The letter was delivered to her in person by
Mahatma M.
Occult Doctrine - The Secret Doctrine, which forms the basis of Theosophy as
transmitted by
H.P. BLAVATSKY to the western world.
Occult Science - One of the names by which the custodians of the Ancient Wisdom
refer to it. A
rendering of the Sanskrit Gupta-Vidya.
Olcott, Henry Steel - (1832-1907) For distinguished service as Special
Commissioner for the War Department as well as in the Navy Department during the
Civil War in America, Olcott was awarded the rank of Colonel. In 1874, while
acting as a special reporter for the New York Daily Graphic, covering the
spiritualistic phenomena appearing at the Eddy farmhouse at Chittenden, Vermont,
he met H.P. BLAVATSKY, who had been sent there by her Teacher. As a result of
this meeting and the interest Col. Olcott showed in Spiritualism, as well as the
explanations of the phenomena which Mme. Blavatsky herself demonstrated, a close
association followed which in due time led to the founding of The Theosophical
Society in New York in 1875. Olcott devoted the rest of his life to the cause of
Theosophy,
being President of the Society until his death in 1907.
One Life - The Causeless Cause of Spirit and Matter — which are the cause of
Kosmos — is called the One Life, or the Intra-Cosmic Breath, in esoteric
philosophy. ‘From the ONE LIFE formless and uncreate, proceeds the Universe of
lives.’ (Secret Doctrine, Volume 1, Page 250, First Edition; Volume 1,Page 294,
Adyar
Edition;Volume 1, Page 269, Third edition)
Orpheus - As used herein refers not to the Greek mythological singer and player
of the lyre (son of Apollo and Calliope), but to the great founder of a
religio-philosophical system or school as well as the Orphic Mysteries.
Herodotus stated that the Mysteries were brought from India by Orpheus.
Pausanias relates that there was a sacerdotal family who committed to memory all
the Orphic Hymns and that they were thus transmitted from one generation to
another; hence they were not written down. This is why references to the Orphic
Hymns are so
scarce.
Over-Soul, The Universal - A rendering of the Sanskrit Paramatman, signifying
the originating source of atman, inasmuch as ‘Soul’ is one of the translations
of atman, as used in the phrase ‘the fundamental identity of all Souls with the
Universal
Over-Soul.’
Pilgrim - As here used the Pilgrim signifies the immortal component in the
sevenfold constitution of a human being. As defined in the Occult Science, ‘the
Pilgrim is the appellation given to our Monad (the two in one) during its cycle
of incarnations.’ (Secret Doctrine, Volume 1, Page 16, First Edition; Volume 1,
Page 82, Adyar Edition; Volume 1, Page 45 Third Edition) The ‘two in one’
signifies the union of Atman, the divine spirit, with Buddhi, the discriminating
principle. The reference to the eternity of the Pilgrim calls attention to the
immortality of the Monad, which takes on a new vesture for each one of its
incarnations on
earth.
Plato - This most famous of the ancient Greek philosophers, was stated to be a
‘Fifth Rounder.’ (q.v — Secret Doctrine, Volume 1, Page 161-162; First
Edition;Volume 1, Page 216 Adyar Edition; Volume 1, Page 185, Third edition.
Also Mahatma Letters-
Page 84, First Edition; Page 83 Third Edition).
Point Within a Circle - One of the most important symbols used in Occult
Sciences to explain the process of manifestation: the appearance of the Point
(i.e. the First
Logos) on the infinite and shoreless expanse of the Boundless —
Space. The latter is represented by the Circle, i.e. the Circle of Infinitude,
‘whose centre is everywhere and circumference nowhere.’ The Point thus
represents the
germ of primeval differentiation.
Pralaya - (SK) Literally a ‘dissolving away’, hence a period of dissolution —
following upon a period of manifestation. But the dissolution applies to the
forms which are
no longer manifested. It does not apply to the immortal
principles,
which in no wise are dissolved away.
Precipitation - The ability to make writing appear on paper (or other substance)
by spiritual powers, without pen, pencil, crayon or brush. Also included is the
ability to deliver the message — whether written or precipitated—to any desired
location.
Principle, An Omnipresent - Whereas the concept of an Omnipresent Principle —
which is also Eternal, Boundless and Immutable — may be baffling to the Western
mind, the reason for presenting such a concept in connection with the Secret
Doctrine of antiquity is easily explained. As soon as the mind has a fixed idea
concerning a principle, it has immediately limited the comprehension of that
principle. Therefore by postulating that this Boundless may not be limited by
the mind, one can ever strive to obtain a clearer knowledge of immutability and
boundless
reaches of Infinitude.
Projectivity - Using one of the Siddhis (q.v). This signifies employing Tulku or
the ability to project one’s consciousness — technically termed the Mayavi-rupa.
In other words, the conscious withdrawal of the ‘inner self’ from the ‘outer
self’.
Psychometry - Ability to receive from any object — held in the hand or against
the forehead — impressions of the characteristics or appearance of a person or
objects with
which it has previously been in contrast.
Ptolemy - When used generalizingly (as in the quoted passage), applies to any
one of the
Macedonian rulers of Egypt.
Pyatigorsk - Town south of Kislovodsk, Russia, north of the Caucasus Mountains,
not far from
the Black Sea.
Receptivity - Here signifies the ability to place oneself en rapport with
individuals by means
of spiritual powers. Such individuals have the power to
transmit
messages to any desired distance by occult means.
Rishis - Term used with a great deal of latitude; commonly regarded as singers
of sacred hymns; inspired poets or sages. Also applied to seven great sages who
composed the Vedic hymns. Herein referred to as Divine Beings from previous
Manvantaras who
associated with the Sons of Will and Yoga.
Rootless Root - Also the Unknown Root. Term associated with the Omnipresent
Principle (q.v), of which this concept is but an aspect. The explanation given
for the Omnipresent Principle also applies here; for how can the human mind
which is finite, grasp Infinity? How can one conceive of all that ever was, all
that is, or all
that ever shall be? Hence the expression ‘the Rootless Root.’
Samadhi - (SK) In the Hindu classification of the four states of consciousness,
the fourth and highest state: a beatific state of contemplative yoga. Also
defined as the eighth and final state of yoga, signifying intense and supreme
concentration of the mental and spiritual faculties: a state in which one loses
consciousness of every individuality, including one’s own, and becoming
conscious of
the ALL.
Sang-Gyas -
(Tibetan sans-rgyas: pronounced sang-gyas, literally perfect, holy).
Tibetan name of
Gautama the Buddha.
Seers - As used herein refers particularly to those who can see into the records
preserved in
the Akasa (q.v.)
Senzar - Name of the ancient ‘Mystery-speech’ of initiated Adepts. A secret,
sacerdotal language; hence also called a Mystery Language; preceding the
Sanskrit
language.
Seven Principles - Also referred to as the sevenfold constitution of man, or the
septenary classification
of man’s principles. In Theosophy the constitution of a
human being is composed of seven principles, or is classified as consisting of
seven
components. These are enumerated in Sanskrit, with English equivalents:
1 Stula-Sharmara — Physical Body, regarded as the carrier of the six
components.
2 Linga-šarmara — Model Body, also termed etheric body, ethereal double,
astral body: the conveyor or:
3 Prana — Life Principle, representing the vital fluid.
4 Karma — Desire Principle, representing the energetic principle.
5 Manas — Mind Principle, representing the functions of the lower mind,
especially in conjunction with
desire.
6 Buddhi — Discriminating Principle, representing the functioning of the
higher mind by noble thoughts
and deeds.
7 atman — Divine Principle, or spirit, conveying immortality to the sixth
and fifth principles.
Seven Satellites - A symbolic manner of referring to the Seven Principles (q.v)
of the human
constitution.
Seventh Sense -
As the Occult Science postulates further development of
faculties and powers now dormant in man, of greater potency than the five senses
which function at the present time, the culmination of the evolutionary
development of the human race on this globe will bring into use both the sixth
and the seventh senses. H.P. BLAVATSKY describes what will occur when the sixth
sense works in consonance with the seventh: ‘The light which radiates from this
seventh sense illumines the fields of infinitude. For a brief space of time man
becomes omniscient; the Past and the Future, Space and Time, disappear and
become for him the Present.’ (Secret Doctrine, Volume 5, Page 482, Adyar
Edition; Volume
3, Page 505, Third edition)
Shaberon -
Tibetan equivalent of Chutuktu, which H.P. BLAVATSKY explained as:
‘an incarnation of Buddha or of some Bodhisattva, as believed in Tibet, where
there are generally five manifesting and two secret Chutuktus among the high
Lamas. (Th.
Glos page 85)
Shaman - Medicine-man or priest-doctor among the tribes of Siberia; regarded as
a conjurer and
an exorcist.
Siddhis - (SK)
Literally attainments: phenomenal powers, associated with psychic
faculties.
‘There are two kinds of Siddhis. One group which embraces the lower,
coarse, psychic
and mental energies; the other is one which exacts the highest
training of
Spiritual powers.’ (The Voice of the Silence, Fragment I, footnote
Sinnett, Alfred Percy - (1840-1921) Editor of the Anglo-Indian paper The Pioneer
when H.P. BLAVATSKY arrived in India in 1879. In December of that year, in
response to Sinnett’s invitation, Mme. Blavatsky visited him at Allahabad. He
became interested in the message she brought, and wished to contact those from
whom she derived her knowledge. He wrote to a Mahatma and received a reply,
which led to a remarkable correspondence, published after the editor’s death as
The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett. As a result of the correspondence, Sinnett
wrote and published The Occult World, Esoteric Buddhism and other theosophical
books. The letters he received from Mme. Blavatsky — a whole volume of them —
were published posthumously as The Letters of H.P. BLAVATSKY to A. P. Sinnett.
From these letters Sinnett wrote a biography entitled Incidents in the Life of
Mme. Blavatsky.
Sixth Sense - The sense to be brought to function in the Sixth Root-Race:
spiritual clairvoyance. It will be brought about when Manas (the mind-principle)
is consciously
merged with the sixth sense, resulting in the use of Jnana-šaktma
·
one of the
Siddhis described as the power of real wisdom.
Skins - A graphic expression, referring to one of the seven principles of the
human
constitution. (See Seven Principles).
Sleeping Atoms - Life atoms endowed with potential invisible energy but
temporarily
passive. (See Life-Atoms)
Šloka - (SK) Usually rendered ‘verse’. In Sanskrit works a sloka generally
consists of two
metrical lines.
Sons of Will and Yoga - The Divine Beings produced by Kriya-šakti (q.v) (See
Fire-Mist, Sons
of or Children of.)
Soumay - A
lamasery, a Buddhist monastery or convent of Tibet, also of Mongolia.
Usually under the
direction of a chief lama (equivalent is an abbot or abbess).
Space - Used in the Secret Doctrine for the boundless, frontierless ALL — the
One Eternal Element, dimensionless in every sense. The equivalent Sanskrit term
is Parabrahman, or the Vedic
TAT — That.
Stanzas of Dzyan - These Stanzas from the Book of Dzyan form the basis of the
Secret Doctrine The original was written in Senzar, but extracts are also made
from Chinese, Tibetan and Sanskrit translations. The Book of Dzyan — from the
Sanskrit word
Dhyana (mystic meditation) — is the first volume of the
Commentaries upon the seven secret folios of Kiu-te and a Glossary of the public
works of the
same name.’ (Secret Doctrine Volume 5, Page 389, Adyar Edition;
Volume 3, Page 405, Third edition.) The Stanzas ‘are the records of a people
unknown to ethnology; it is claimed that they are written in a tongue absent
from the nomenclature of languages and dialects with which philology is
acquainted; they are said to emanate from a source (Occultism) repudiated by
science.’ (Secret Doctrine I, xxxvii First Edition; I 59 Adyar Edition; I 24
Third ed.)
Svastika - (SK literally well-being). Has been used in both Old and New Worlds
from prehistoric times. ‘In Esoteric Philosophy, the most mystic and ancient
diagram. It is the originator of the fire by friction and of the Forty-nine
Fires.’ (Th.
Glos p 315).
Tamasha - East Indian word of Arabian or Persian origin signifying spectacle,
entertainment.
By extension, applied to a psychic phenomenon.
Terrestrial Chain - Best explained by one of the postulates in the Secret
Doctrine; ‘every sidereal body, every planet, whether visible or invisible, is
credited with six companion globes.’ (I 158 -9 First Edition; I 213 Adyar
Edition; I 182 Third Edition) The seven globes comprising the Earth-system are
therefore
termed the Terrestrial Chain or the Earth Chain.
Third Race or Third Root-Race - Used in the Secret Doctrine for a specific
evolutionary development of the human race on this globe. This ‘Race’ was
preceded by two major evolutionary developmental stages (the First and Second
Root-Races), each of which underwent seven minor developmental stages termed
Sub-races. During the early portion of this Third Race the Sons of the Fire-Mist
were produced by Kriyasšakti. The Third Race is divided into three distinct
divisions: (1)
the Sweat-Born — the primary developmental aspect of this Race;
(2) the twofold—referring to the androgynous state of humanity; (3) the two
sexes of humans (as at present) which occurred during the fifth sub-race of this
Third Race, 18
million years ago.
Thought
Transference - The power of transferring one’s thoughts without words.
As explained by
H.P. BLAVATSKY: ‘When two minds are sympathetically related, and
the instruments
through which they function are tuned to respond magnetically
and
electrically to one another, there is nothing which will prevent the
transmission of
thoughts from one to the other at will.’ (Key p 2910
Tiruvalluvar - A yogi or fakir who attains the goal of yoga, represented by
Samadhi (q.v). In addition H.P. BLAVATSKY’s precipitated portrait the yogi is
portrayed in
that state of consciousness.
Tsong-Kha-Pa - (1358-1419) Great reformer of Buddhism, both exoteric and
esoteric, in Tibet in 14th century. Instituted a purified form of Buddhism,
freeing it from the Bon worship, which had crept into it from the Order of the
Red Caps. To distinguish the Reformed Buddhists from the other Orders,
Tsong-Kha-pa instituted the Yellow Caps (Gelugpas). He also founded the
monasteries of Sera and Ganden and was the presiding hierarch of the latter.
Tsong-Kha-pa ‘is the founder of the secret school near Tji-gad-ji, attached to
the private retreat of the Teshu-Lama. It is with Him that began the regular
system of Lamaic incarnations of Buddhas (Sang-gyas)’ (Secret Doctrine V 391
Adyar Edition;
III 407 Third Edition).
Tulku - (Tibetan sprul-sku, pronounced tulku). Literally ‘to appear in a body.’
Has the popular connotation of an ‘incarnation of the Buddha,’ whereas the
esoteric significance implies the use of one of the Siddhis, namely the ability
to project
one’s consciousness by means of an illusory vehicle.
Vera - Name of H.P.B’s younger sister, born 1835 at Odessa, died 1896. Married
first Nikolay de Yahontov (1827-58) and secondly Vladimir de Zhelihovsky. Became
widely known in Russia as writer of children’s stories; also contributed to
Russian periodicals. Of special interest are her essays concerning her sister,
Helena; the first one entitled ‘ The Truth about H.P. BLAVATSKY’ published
serially in Rebus in 1883, and later in book form. H.P.B herself translated the
series. In 1884
Vera wrote a series entitled ‘The Inexplicable or the
Unexplained: From Personal and Family Reminiscences,’ also published by Rebus.
Yet another series was written for the Russian Review on ‘H.P. BLAVATSKY: A
Biographical Sketch,’ and published in 1891. Another biographical sketch in
Russian was added to the Russian edition of H.P.B’s book ‘Mysterious Tribes of
the Blue Hills (published 1893). Vera also wrote two books concerning her
sister’s and her own childhood: When I Was Small and My Adolescence published in
1893 and 1894.
Wachtmeister, Constance (née de Bourbel —1838—1910) Born at Florence, Italy, but
reared in England. In 1863 married Count Karl Wachtmeister, then Swedish and
Norwegian Minister at the Court of St. James’s, later at Copenhagen and
Stockholm. The Countess lived with H.P. BLAVATSKY, first at Würzburg, Germany,
then at Ostend, Belgium. She related her experiences in Reminiscences of H.P.
BLAVATSKY and ‘The Secret Doctrine,’ published in 1893. Many of her letters
written at the time she was with H.P.B are published in a section of the book
Letters of H.P.
BLAVATSKY to A.P. Sinnett.
Witte, Count Serguey Yulyevich - (1849-1915) Statesman who became Prime Minister
of Russia. In 1892 was appointed Minister of Communications. In 1903 became
President of the Committee of Ministers. The Count’s outstanding accomplishment
was the negotiation of the terms of peace closing the Russo-Japanese War in
1905. He was related to Mme. Blavatsky through his mother, Katherine, who was a
younger sister of H.P.B’s mother: Katherine was married to Yuliy Feodorovich de
Witte. As Count Witte was born just one month before his cousin Helena was
married to N.V. Blavatsky, his account published in his Memoirs is based on
gossip rather than factual knowledge. In spite of slanderous statements in those
Memoirs, Count Witte at least testified to Mme. Blavatsky’s great writing
ability: ‘She could write pages of smoothly flowing verse without the slightest
effort, and she could compose essays in prose on every conceivable subject.’
(Quoted in Corson’s — q.v — prose on every conceivable subject.’ (Quoted in
Corson’s book,
pages 19-20).
Wondrous Being - Name for the Supreme Hierarch of the Earth, represented as the
‘Root Base’ of this globe, to which a name is applied in translation: ‘the
ever-living-human-Banyan.’ This Great Being descended from a high region in the
early part of the Third Age. Other names are: the Initiator, the Nameless one,
the Great
Sacrifice, the Maha-Guru, the Silent Watcher.
Yogasutras - (SK) Sutra signifies a thread, but when applied to a written work
means a rule, a principle. In the West the sutras on yoga by Patanjali are known
under the name of Yoga Aphorisms. Little is known about Patanjali; what has come
down to our day is legendary. His aphorisms indicate that he possessed wisdom
and imparted it in his work. He expects the practitioners of his system of yoga
to acquire right knowledge of what is and what is not real and to practice all
virtues. The opening sloka gives the keynote of Patanjali’s sutras: ‘Assuredly,
the exposition
of Yoga or Concentration, is now to be made.’
Yogi - (SK: yogin — the nominative case is yogi). A practitioner of yoga. One
who aims to attain union of the human spirit with the Universal Spirit. One of
the methods pursued by the practitioner is that of the withdrawal of the senses
from all
external objects.
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Preface
Theosophy and the Masters General Principles
The Earth Chain Body and Astral Body Kama – Desire
Manas Of Reincarnation Reincarnation Continued
Karma Kama Loka
Devachan
Cycles
Arguments Supporting Reincarnation
Differentiation Of Species Missing Links
Psychic Laws, Forces, and Phenomena
Psychic Phenomena and Spiritualism
Quick Explanations
with Links to More Detailed Info
What is Theosophy ? Theosophy Defined (More Detail)
Three Fundamental Propositions Key Concepts of Theosophy
Cosmogenesis Anthropogenesis Root Races
Ascended Masters After Death States
The Seven Principles of Man Karma
Reincarnation Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
Colonel Henry Steel Olcott William Quan Judge
The Start of the Theosophical
Society
History of the Theosophical
Society
Theosophical Society Presidents
History of the Theosophical
Society in Wales
The Three Objectives of the
Theosophical Society
Explanation of the Theosophical
Society Emblem
The Theosophical Order of
Service (TOS)
Glossaries of Theosophical Terms
Index of
Searchable
Full Text
Versions of
Definitive
Theosophical
Works
H P Blavatsky’s Secret Doctrine
Isis Unveiled by H P Blavatsky
H P Blavatsky’s Esoteric Glossary
Mahatma Letters to A P Sinnett 1 - 25
A Modern Revival of Ancient Wisdom
(Selection of Articles by H P Blavatsky)
The Secret Doctrine – Volume 3
A compilation of H P Blavatsky’s
writings published after her death
Esoteric Christianity or the Lesser Mysteries
The Early Teachings of The Masters
A Collection of Fugitive Fragments
Fundamentals of the Esoteric Philosophy
Mystical,
Philosophical, Theosophical, Historical
and Scientific
Essays Selected from "The Theosophist"
Edited by George Robert Stow Mead
From Talks on the Path of Occultism - Vol. II
In the Twilight”
Series of Articles
The In the
Twilight” series appeared during
1898 in The
Theosophical Review and
from 1909-1913
in The Theosophist.
compiled from
information supplied by
her relatives
and friends and edited by A P Sinnett
Letters and
Talks on Theosophy and the Theosophical Life
Obras
Teosoficas En Espanol
Theosophische
Schriften Auf Deutsch
An Outstanding
Introduction to Theosophy
By a student of
Katherine Tingley
Elementary Theosophy Who is the Man? Body and Soul
Body, Soul and Spirit Reincarnation Karma
Guide to the
Theosophy
Wales King Arthur Pages
Arthur draws
the Sword from the Stone
The Knights of The Round Table
The Roman Amphitheatre at Caerleon,
Eamont Bridge, Nr Penrith, Cumbria, England.
(History of the Kings of Britain)
The reliabilty of this work has long been a subject of
debate but it is the first definitive account of Arthur’s
Reign
and one which puts Arthur in a historcal context.
and his version’s political agenda
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth
The first written mention of Arthur as a heroic figure
The British leader who fought twelve battles
King Arthur’s ninth victory at
The Battle of the City of the Legion
King Arthur ambushes an advancing Saxon
army then defeats them at Liddington Castle,
Badbury, Near Swindon, Wiltshire, England.
King Arthur’s twelfth and last victory against the Saxons
Traditionally Arthur’s last battle in which he was
mortally wounded although his side went on to win
No contemporary writings or accounts of his life
but he is placed 50 to 100 years after the accepted
King Arthur period. He refers to Arthur in his inspiring
poems but the earliest written record of these dates
from over three hundred years after Taliesin’s death.
Mallerstang Valley, Nr Kirkby Stephen,
A 12th Century Norman ruin on the site of what is
reputed to have been a stronghold of Uther Pendragon
From wise child with no
earthly father to
Megastar of Arthurian
Legend
History of the Kings of Britain
Drawn from the Stone or received from the Lady of the Lake.
Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur has both versions
with both swords called Excalibur. Other versions
5th & 6th Century Timeline of Britain
From the departure of the Romans from
Britain to the establishment of sizeable
Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms
Glossary of
Arthur’s uncle:- The puppet ruler of the Britons
controlled and eventually killed by Vortigern
Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. Circa 450CE
An alleged massacre of Celtic Nobility by the Saxons
History of the Kings of Britain
Athrwys / Arthrwys
King of Ergyng
Circa 618 - 655 CE
Latin: Artorius; English: Arthur
A warrior King born in Gwent and associated with
Caerleon, a possible Camelot. Although over 100 years
later that the accepted Arthur period, the exploits of
Athrwys may have contributed to the King Arthur Legend.
He became King of Ergyng, a kingdom between
Gwent and Brycheiniog (Brecon)
Angles under Ida seized the Celtic Kingdom of
Bernaccia in North East England in 547 CE forcing
Although much later than the accepted King Arthur
period, the events of Morgan Bulc’s 50 year campaign
to regain his kingdom may have contributed to
Old Welsh: Guorthigirn;
Anglo-Saxon: Wyrtgeorn;
Breton: Gurthiern; Modern Welsh; Gwrtheyrn;
*********************************
An earlier ruler than King Arthur and not a heroic figure.
He is credited with policies that weakened Celtic Britain
to a point from which it never recovered.
Although there are no contemporary accounts of
his rule, there is more written evidence for his
existence than of King Arthur.
How Sir Lancelot slew two giants,
From Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur
How Sir Lancelot rode disguised
in Sir Kay's harness, and how he
From Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur
How Sir Lancelot jousted against
four knights of the Round Table,
From Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur
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