Helena Blavatsky
Helena Blavatsky | |
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Yekaterinoslav, Yekaterinoslav Governorate, Russian Empire | |
Died | 8 May 1891 London, England | (aged 59)
Notable work | Isis Unveiled (1877) The Secret Doctrine (1888) |
Era | |
Region | Theosophy |
Institutions | Theosophical Society |
Main interests | |
Notable ideas |
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Part of a series on |
Theosophy |
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Part of a series on |
Esotericism |
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Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
Born into an aristocratic family in
Both contemporary critics and later biographers have argued that some or all of these foreign visits were fictitious, and that she spent this period in Europe. By the early 1870s, Blavatsky was involved in the Spiritualist movement; although defending the genuine existence of Spiritualist phenomena, she argued against the mainstream Spiritualist idea that the entities contacted were the spirits of the dead. Relocating to the United States in 1873, she befriended Henry Steel Olcott and rose to public attention as a spirit medium, attention that included public accusations of fraudulence.
In 1875, New York City, Blavatsky co-founded the Theosophical Society with Olcott and
Although opposed by the British colonial administration, Theosophy spread rapidly in India but experienced internal problems after Blavatsky was accused of producing fraudulent paranormal phenomena. Amid ailing health, in 1885 she returned to Europe, establishing the Blavatsky Lodge in London. There she published The Secret Doctrine, a commentary on what she claimed were ancient Tibetan manuscripts, as well as two further books, The Key to Theosophy and The Voice of the Silence. She died of influenza in 1891.
Blavatsky was a controversial figure during her lifetime, championed by supporters as an enlightened Sage and derided as a charlatan by critics. Her Theosophical doctrines influenced the spread of Hindu and Buddhist ideas in the West as well as the development of Western esoteric currents like Ariosophy, Anthroposophy, and the New Age Movement.
Early life
Developing a reliable account of Blavatsky's life has proved difficult for biographers because in later life she deliberately provided contradictory accounts and falsifications about her own past.[2] Furthermore, very few of her own writings written before 1873 survive, meaning that biographers must rely heavily on these unreliable later accounts.[3] The accounts of her early life provided by her family members have also been considered dubious by biographers.[4]
Childhood: 1831–1849
Birth and family background
Blavatsky was born as Helena Petrovna Hahn von Rottenstern in the town of
Blavatsky's family was aristocratic.
As a result of Pyotr's career, the family frequently moved to different parts of the Empire, accompanied by their servants,
St. Petersburg, Poltava, and Saratov
After a return to rural Ukraine, Pyotr was posted to
In 1838, Blavatsky's mother moved with her daughters to be with her husband at Poltava, where she taught Blavatsky how to play the piano and organized for her to take dance lessons.[23] As a result of her poor health, Blavatsky's mother returned to Odessa, where Blavatsky learned English from a British governess.[24] They next moved to Saratov, where a brother, Leonid, was born in June 1840.[25] The family proceeded to Poland and then back to Odessa, where Blavatsky's mother died of tuberculosis in June 1842, aged 28.[26]
The three surviving children were sent to live with their maternal grandparents in Saratov, where their grandfather Andrei had been appointed Governor of
She later claimed that in Saratov she discovered the personal library of her maternal great-grandfather, Prince Pavel Vasilevich Dolgorukov (d. 1838); it contained a variety of books on esoteric subjects, encouraging her burgeoning interest in it.[32] Dolgorukov had been initiated into Freemasonry in the late 1770s and had belonged to the Rite of Strict Observance; there were rumors that he had met both Alessandro Cagliostro and the Count of St. Germain.[33] She also later stated that at this time of life she began to experience visions in which she encountered a "Mysterious Indian" man, and that in later life she would meet this man in the flesh.[34] Many biographers have considered this to be the first appearance of the "Masters" in her life story.[35]
According to some of her later accounts, in 1844–45 Blavatsky was taken by her father to England, where she visited London and
World travels: 1849–1869
At age 17, she agreed to marry Nikifor Vladimirovich Blavatsky, a man in his forties who worked as Vice Governor of
She did not keep a diary at the time, and was not accompanied by relatives who could verify her activities.[49] Thus, historian of esotericism Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke noted that public knowledge of these travels rests upon "her own largely uncorroborated accounts", which are marred by being "occasionally conflicting in their chronology".[50] For religious studies scholar Bruce F. Campbell, there was "no reliable account" for the next 25 years of her life.[51] According to biographer Peter Washington, at this point "myth and reality begin to merge seamlessly in Blavatsky's biography".[52]
She later claimed that in Constantinople she developed a friendship with a Hungarian opera singer named Agardi Metrovitch, whom she first encountered when saving him from being murdered.[53] It was also in Constantinople that she met the Countess Sofia Kiselyova, who she would accompany on a tour of Egypt, Greece, and Eastern Europe.[54] In Cairo, she met the American art student Albert Rawson, who later wrote extensively about the Middle East,[55] and together they allegedly visited a Coptic magician, Paulos Metamon.[56] In 1851, she proceeded to Paris, where she encountered the mesmerist, Victor Michal, who impressed her.[57] From there, she visited England, and would claim that it was here that she met the "mysterious Indian" who had appeared in her childhood visions, a Hindu whom she referred to as the Master Morya. While she provided various conflicting accounts of how they met, locating it in both London and Ramsgate according to separate stories, she maintained that he claimed that he had a special mission for her, and that she must travel to Tibet.[58]
She made her way to Asia via the Americas, heading to Canada in autumn 1851. Inspired by the novels of
She later claimed that she then headed back to Europe by ship, surviving a shipwreck near to the
After spending time in France and Germany, in 1858 she returned to her family, then based in Pskov.[70] She later claimed that there she began to exhibit further paranormal abilities, with rapping and creaking accompanying her around the house and furniture moving of its own volition.[71] In 1860, she and her sister visited their maternal grandmother in Tiflis. It was there that she met up with Metrovitch, and where she reconciled with Nikifor in 1862.[72] Together they adopted a child named Yuri, who would die aged five in 1867, when he was buried under Metrovitch's surname.[73] In 1864, while riding in
Tibet
She claimed to have then received a message from Morya to travel to Constantinople, where he met her, and together they traveled overland to Tibet, going through Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan, and then into India, entering Tibet via Kashmir.
She claimed that in Tibet, she was taught an ancient, unknown language known as Senzar, and translated a number of ancient texts written in this language that were preserved by the monks of a monastery; she stated that she was, however, not permitted entry into the monastery itself.[80] She also claimed that while in Tibet, Morya and Koot Hoomi helped her develop and control her psychic powers. Among the abilities that she ascribed to these "Masters" were clairvoyance, clairaudience, telepathy, and the ability to control another's consciousness, to dematerialize and rematerialize physical objects, and to project their astral bodies, thus giving the appearance of being in two places at once.[81] She claimed to have remained on this spiritual retreat from late 1868 until late 1870.[82] Blavatsky never claimed in print to have visited Lhasa, although this is a claim that would be made for her in various later sources, including the account provided by her sister.[83]
Many critics and biographers have expressed doubt about the veracity of Blavatsky's claims regarding her visits to Tibet, which rely entirely on her own claims, lacking any credible independent testimony.
Later life
Embracing Spiritualism and establishing Theosophy: 1870–1878
Arriving in New York City
Blavatsky alleged that she departed Tibet with the mission of proving to the world that the phenomena identified by
Leaving Egypt, she proceeded to Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon, there encountering members of the
Meeting Henry Steel Olcott and the foundation of the Theosophical Society
Blavatsky was intrigued by a news story about
Drumming up interest for their ideas, Blavatsky and Olcott published a circular letter in Eldridge Gerry Brown's Boston-based Spiritualist publication, The Spiritual Scientist.[117] There, they named themselves the "Brotherhood of Luxor", a name potentially inspired by the pre-existing Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor.[118] They began living together in a series of rented apartments in New York City, which they decorated with taxidermied animals and images of spiritual figures; their life was funded largely by Olcott's continued work as a lawyer.[119] Their last such apartment came to be known as the Lamasery.[120] Allegedly encouraged by the Masters, Blavatsky and Olcott established the Miracle Club, through which they facilitated lectures on esoteric themes in New York City.[121] It was through this group that they met an Irish Spiritualist, William Quan Judge, who shared many of their interests.[122]
At a Miracle Club meeting on 7 September 1875, Blavatsky, Olcott, and Judge agreed to establish an esoteric organization, with
Isis Unveiled
The underlying theme among these diverse topics [in Isis Unveiled] is the existence of an ancient wisdom-religion, an ageless occult guide to the cosmos, nature and human life. The many faiths of man are said to derive from a universal religion known to both Plato and the ancient Hindu sages. The wisdom-religion is also identified with Hermetic philosophy as "the only possible key to the Absolute in science and theology" (I, vii). Every religion is based on the same truth or "secret doctrine", which contains "the alpha and omega of universal science" (I, 511). This ancient wisdom-religion will become the religion of the future (I, 613).
—Historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, 2004.[130]
In 1875, Blavatsky began work on a book outlining her Theosophical worldview, much of which would be written during a stay in the Ithaca home of Hiram Corson, a Professor of English Literature at Cornell University. Although she had hoped to call it The Veil of Isis, it would be published as Isis Unveiled.[131] While writing it, Blavatsky claimed to be aware of a second consciousness within her body, referring to it as "the lodger who is in me", and stating that it was this second consciousness that inspired much of the writing.[132] In Isis Unveiled, Blavatsky quoted extensively from other esoteric and religious texts, although her contemporary and colleague Olcott always maintained that she had quoted from books that she did not have access to.[133] Writing more than a century after her death Lachman conjectured that if this had been the case, then she had had an eidetic memory,[134] such that, while relying on earlier sources, the book represented an original synthesis that connected disparate ideas not brought together before.[135]
Revolving around Blavatsky's idea that all the world's religions stemmed from a single "Ancient Wisdom", which she connected to the Western esotericism of ancient
India: 1879–1885
The Theosophical Society established links with an Indian
Associating largely with Indians rather than the governing British elite, Blavatsky took a fifteen-year-old Gujarati boy, Vallah "Babula" Bulla, as her personal servant.[151] Many educated Indians were impressed with the Theosophists championing of Indian religions, coming about during a period "of [India's] growing self-assertion against the values and beliefs" of the British Empire.[152] Her activity in the city was monitored by British intelligence services, who suspected that she was working for Russia.[153] In April, Blavatsky took Olcott, Babula, and their friend Moolji Thackersey to the
In July 1879, Blavatsky and Olcott began work on a monthly magazine,
Upon learning that old comrade Emma Coulomb (née Cutting) and her husband had fallen into poverty in Ceylon, Blavatsky invited them to move into her home in Bombay.
Theosophy was unpopular with both Christian missionaries and the British colonial administration,[172] with India's English-language press being almost uniformly negative toward the Society.[173] The group nevertheless proved popular, and branches were established across the country.[174] While Blavatsky had emphasized its growth among the native Indian population rather than among the British elite, she moved into a comfortable bungalow in the elite Bombay suburb of Breach Candy, which she said was more accessible to Western visitors.[175] Olcott had decided to establish the Buddhist Education Fund to combat the spread of the Christian faith in Ceylon and encourage pride and interest in Buddhism among the island's Sinhalese population. Although Blavatsky initially opposed the idea, stating that the Masters would not approve, Olcott's project proved a success, and she changed her opinion about it.[176]
Blavatsky had been diagnosed with
Sailing to
With Blavatsky in Europe, trouble broke out at the society's Adyar headquarters in what became known as the Coulomb Affair. The society's Board of Control had accused Emma Coulomb of misappropriating their funds for her own purposes, and asked her to leave their center. She and her husband refused, blackmailing the society with letters that they claimed were written by Blavatsky and which proved that her paranormal abilities were fraudulent. The society refused to pay them and expelled them from their premises, at which the couple turned to the Madras-based Christian College Magazine, who published an exposé of Blavatsky's alleged fraudulence using the Coulombs' claims as a basis. The story attracted international attention and was picked up by London-based newspaper, The Times.[187] In response, in November 1884 Blavatsky headed to Cairo, where she and Theosophist Charles Webster Leadbeater searched for negative information on Emma Coulomb, discovering stories of her alleged former history of extortion and criminality.[188][189] Internally, the Society was greatly damaged by the Coulomb Affair,[190] although it remained popular in India, as did Blavatsky herself.[191]
Final years in Europe: 1885–1891
Worsening health led Blavatsky to contemplate a return to the milder climate of Europe, and resigning her position as corresponding secretary of the society, she left India in March 1885.[192] By 1885, the Theosophical Society had experienced rapid growth, with 121 lodges having been chartered across the world, 106 of which were located in India, Burma, and Ceylon.[193] Initially, each lodge was chartered directly from the Adyar headquarters, with members making democratic decisions by vote.[193] However, over the coming years the lodges were organized into national units with their own ruling councils, resulting in tensions between the different levels of administration.[193]
Settling in Naples, Italy, in April 1885, she began living off of a small Society pension and continued working on her next book, The Secret Doctrine.[194] She then moved to Würzburg in the Kingdom of Bavaria, where she was visited by a Swedish Theosophist, the Countess Constance Wachtmeister, who became her constant companion throughout the rest of her life.[195] In December 1885, the SPR published their report on Blavatsky and her alleged phenomena, authored by Richard Hodgson. In his report, Hodgson accused Blavatsky of being a spy for the Russian government, further accusing her of faking paranormal phenomena, largely on the basis of the Coulomb's claims.[196] The report caused much tension within the Society, with a number of Blavatsky's followers – among them Babaji and Subba Row – denouncing her and resigning from the organization on the basis of it.[197]
For our own part, we regard [Blavatsky] neither as the mouthpiece of hidden seers, nor as a mere vulgar adventuress; we think that she has achieved a title to permanent remembrance as one of the most accomplished, ingenious, and interesting imposters in history.
—The statement of the Society for Psychical Research on the basis of the Hodgson Report.[198]
Blavatsky wanted to sue her accusers, although Olcott advised against it, believing that the surrounding publicity would damage the Society.[199] In private letters, Blavatsky expressed relief that the criticism was focused on her and that the identity of the Masters had not been publicly exposed.[200] For decades after, Theosophists criticized Hodgson's methodology, arguing that he set out to disprove and attack Blavatsky rather than conduct an unbiased analysis of her claims and abilities. In 1986 the SPR admitted this to be the case and retracted the findings of the report.[201][202] However, Johnson has commented "Theosophists have overinterpreted this as complete vindication, when in fact many questions raised by Hodgson remain unanswered."[203]
In 1886, by which time she was using a wheelchair, Blavatsky moved to Ostend in Belgium, where she was visited by Theosophists from across Europe.[204] Among them was the doctor William Ashton Ellis, who treated her during a near-fatal illness in March 1887; Blavatsky credited him with saving her life.[205] Supplementing her pension, she established a small ink-producing business.[206] She received messages from members of the Society's London Lodge who were dissatisfied with Sinnett's running of it; they believed that he was focusing on attaining upper-class support rather than encouraging the promotion of Theosophy throughout society, a criticism Blavatsky agreed with.[207] She arrived in London in May 1887, initially staying in the Upper Norwood home of Theosophist Mabel Collins.[208] In September, she moved into the Holland Park home of fellow Theosophists, Bertram Keightley and his nephew Archibald Keightley.[209]
In London, she established the
Publishing
In London, Blavatsky founded a magazine, controversially titling it Lucifer; in this Theosophical publication she sought to completely ignore claims regarding paranormal phenomena, and focus instead on a discussion of philosophical ideas.[214] Blavatsky also finished writing The Secret Doctrine, which was then edited by the Keightels.[215] As a commercial publisher willing to publish the approximately 1,500-page work could not be found, Blavatsky established the Theosophical Publishing Company, who brought out the work in two volumes, the first published in October 1888 and the second in January 1889.[216] Blavatsky claimed that the book constituted her commentary on the Book of Dzyan, a religious text written in Senzar which she had been taught while studying in Tibet.[217] Buddhologist David Reigle claimed that he identified Books of Kiu-te, including Blavatsky's Book of Dzyan as a first volume, as the Tantra section of the Tibetan Buddhist canon.[218] However, most scholars of Buddhism to have examined The Secret Doctrine have concluded that there was no such text as the Book of Dzyan, and that instead it was the fictional creation of Blavatsky's.[219] In the book, Blavatsky outlined her own cosmogonical ideas about how the universe, the planets, and the human species came to exist. She also discussed her views about the human being and their soul, thus dealing with issues surrounding an afterlife.[220]
Annie Besant
The two-volume book was reviewed for the
She appointed Besant to be the new head of the Blavatsky Lodge,[223] and in July 1890 inaugurated the new European headquarters of the Theosophical Society in Besant's house.[224] There, she authored a book containing questions and corresponding answers, The Key to Theosophy.[225] This was followed by The Voice of the Silence, a short devotional text which she claimed was based on a Senzar text known as The Book of the Golden Precepts. As with The Secret Doctrine, most scholars of Buddhism have doubted that this latter text was an authentic Tibetan Buddhist document.[226] She continued to face accusations of fraud; U.S. newspaper The Sun published a July 1890 article based on information provided by an ex-member of the Society, Elliott Coues. Blavatsky sued the newspaper for libel, and they publicly retracted their accusations in September 1892.[227]
Death
That winter, Britain had been afflicted by an influenza epidemic (the global
Personal life
Blavatsky talked incessantly in a guttural voice, sometimes wittily and sometimes crudely. She was indifferent to sex yet frank and open about it; fonder of animals than of people; welcoming, unpretentious, scandalous, capricious and rather noisy. She was also humorous, vulgar, impulsive and warm-hearted, and didn't give a hoot for anyone or anything.
—Biographer Peter Washington, 1993.[231]
The biographer Peter Washington described Blavatsky as "a short, stout, forceful woman, with strong arms, several chins, unruly hair, a determined mouth, and large, liquid, slightly bulging eyes".[232] She had distinctive azure-colored eyes,[233] and was overweight throughout her life.[234] According to the biographer Marion Meade, Blavatsky's "general appearance was outrageously untidy".[235] In later life, she was known for wearing loose robes, and wore many rings on her fingers.[231] She was a heavy cigarette smoker throughout her life,[236] and was known for smoking hashish at times.[237] She lived simply and her followers believed that she refused to accept monetary payment in return for disseminating her teachings.[238] Blavatsky preferred to be known by the initialism "HPB",[239] a sobriquet applied to her by many of her friends which was first developed by Olcott.[240] She avoided social functions and was scornful of social obligations.[241] She spoke Russian, Georgian, English, French, Italian, Arabic, and Sanskrit.[242]
Meade referred to her as "an eccentric who abided by no rules except her own",[243] someone who had "utter disregard for the Victorian code of morality".[244] Meade believed that Blavatsky perceived herself as a messianic figure whose purpose was to save the world by promoting Theosophy.[243] Lachman stated that Blavatsky exhibited what he referred to as "Russian traits – an intense devotion to spiritual truth, combined with a profound contradictory character."[245] Washington expressed the view that she was "a persuasive story-teller [with the] power to fascinate others" although noted that she was also "self-absorbed and egotistical".[246] For Meade, Blavatsky had a "vivid imagination" and a "propensity for lying".[247] Godwin noted that Blavatsky had "a fearsome temper".[242] The religious studies scholar Bruce F. Campbell noted that she had been a "strong-willed, independent child", and that the harsh environment of her childhood might have resulted in her "difficulty in controlling her temper and ... her tendency to swear".[248] In his opinion, she represented "an archetypal charismatic leader".[249] Anthropologist
Blavatsky's sexuality has been an issue of dispute; many biographers have believed that she remained celibate throughout her life,
Socio-political beliefs
Godwin suggested that Blavatsky's life work was "not only spiritual but socially idealistic and fiercely political".[256] He suggested that her "emotional fuel" was partly "a hatred of oppression", which Godwin claimed was either through the intellectual domination of Christianity or British colonial rule in India.[256] Conversely, Meade thought Blavatsky to be "basically a non-political person".[257]
Blavatsky's social and political beliefs, like much else in her life, are not always consistent, though reflect what she felt she could reveal of a larger vision. That was, more than anything else, the vision of the succession of root races. These races were a flexible category, cultural as well as physiological, with races often combining in the course of history. Moreover, inspired by recent acrimonious debates over evolution, they are also dynamic, emergent forces. Gary Lachman wrote, "Although few historians have noted it, in Isis Unveiled (1877), Blavatsky presented the first major intellectual – not religious – criticism of evolution." {Lachman 2012, 159–60} Blavatsky held that Darwinism explained human physical evolution, while spirituality followed another developmental pattern.[citation needed]
The scholar of religion Olav Hammer noted that "on rare occasions" Blavatsky's writings are "overtly racist",[258] adding that her antisemitism "derives from the unfortunate position of Judaism as the origin of Christianity" and refers to "the intense dislike she felt for Christianity".[258]
Theories and doctrines
According to Meade, Blavatsky assembled her theories and doctrines gradually, in a piecemeal fashion.[259] Blavatsky claimed that these Theosophical doctrines were not her own invention, but had been received from a brotherhood of secretive spiritual adepts whom she referred to as the "Masters" or "Mahatmas".[260]
Theosophy, the Masters, and the "Ancient Wisdom"
Blavatsky was the leading theoretician of the Theosophical Society,
Fundamentally, the underlying concept behind Blavatsky's Theosophy was that there was an "ancient wisdom religion" which had once been found across the world, and which was known to various ancient figures, such as the Greek philosopher Plato and the ancient Hindu sages.[265] Blavatsky connected this ancient wisdom religion to Hermetic philosophy, a worldview in which everything in the universe is identified as an emanation from a Godhead.[266] Blavatsky believed that all of the world's religions developed from this original global faith.[266] Blavatsky understood her Theosophy to be the heir to the Neoplatonist philosophers of
According to Goodrick-Clarke, the Theosophical Society "disseminated an elaborate philosophical edifice involving a cosmogony, the macrocosm of the universe, spiritual hierarchies, and intermediary beings, the latter having correspondences with a hierarchical conception of the microcosm of man."[269] Officially, the Society-based itself upon the following three objectives:
- To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or color.
- To encourage the study of Comparative Religion, Philosophy, and Science.
- To investigate the unexplained laws of Nature and the powers latent in man.[270]
Washington believed that the purpose of these three precepts was to lead to the "discovery of the powers latent in man through the occult study of science, philosophy and religion [which] shall be the preferred route to the social harmony and equality which will prefigure – and perhaps become – the divine harmony."[271]
While living in New York City, Blavatsky had referred to herself as a "Buddhist",
G. R. S. Mead proclaimed, "Two things in all the chaos of her [Blavatsky's] cosmos stood firm in every mood – that her Teachers existed and that she had not cheated."[276]
Theology, cosmogony, and the place of humanity
Blavatsky's writings garnered the materials of Neoplatonism, Renaissance magic, Kabbalah, and Freemasonry, together with ancient Egyptian and Greco-Roman mythology and religion, joined by Eastern doctrines taken from Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta to present the idea of an ancient wisdom handed down from prehistoric times.
—Historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, 2008.[277]
Blavatsky expounded what has been described as a "monotheistic, immanentist, and mystical cosmology".[278] Blavatsky was a pantheist,[279] and emphasized the idea of an impersonal divinity, referring to the Theosophical God as a "universal Divine Principle, the root of All, from which all proceeds, and within which all shall be absorbed at the end of the great cycle of being".[262] She was dismissive of the Christian idea of God in the Western world, describing it as "a bundle of contradictions and a logical impossibility."[262] She stated that the universe emanated from this Divine Principle, with each particle of matter being infused with a spark of the divine.[280] Lower Orders emanated from higher ones, before becoming increasingly dense and being absorbed back into the Divine Principle.[280] This cosmology exhibited commonalities with the scientific discoveries of geology and biological evolution, both of which had been revealed by scientific inquiry during the 19th century.[280]
In The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky articulated the belief that in the beginning of time there was absolute nothingness. This primordial essence then separated itself into seven Rays, which were also intelligent beings known as the Dhyan Chohans; these Seven Rays then created the universe using an energy called Fohat.[281][282] The Earth was created and underwent seven Rounds, in each of which different living beings were created.[281]
Blavatsky advocated the idea of "
The fifth Root Race to emerge was the Aryans and was found across the world at the time she was writing.[283][288] She believed that the fifth Race would come to be replaced by the sixth, which would be heralded by the arrival of Maitreya, a figure from Mahayana Buddhist mythology.[289] She further believed that humanity would eventually develop into the final, seventh Root Race.[283][290] Lachman suggested that by reading Blavatsky's cosmogonical claims as a literal account of history, "we may be doing it a disservice."[283] He instead suggested that it could be read as Blavatsky's attempt to formulate "a new myth for the modern age, or as a huge, fantastic science fiction story".[283]
Blavatsky taught that humans composed of three separate parts: a divine spark, an astral fluid body, and the physical body.
Goodrick-Clarke noted that Blavatsky's cosmology contained all four of the prime characteristics of Western esotericism that had been identified by the scholar Antoine Faivre: "(a) correspondences between all parts of the universe, the macrocosm and microcosm; (b) living nature as a complex, plural, hierarchical, and animate whole; (c) imagination and mediations in the form of intermediary spirits, symbols, and mandalas; and (d) the experience of transmutation of the soul through purification and ascent."[298]
Controversy
[Blavatsky was] one of the most significant, controversial, and prolific of modern esotericists ... It is more than evident that, whatever one thinks of the more flamboyant aspects of this remarkable and many-sided woman, she possessed a keen intellect and a wide-ranging vision of what occultism could be in the modern world.
—Robert Ellwood, 2005, Religious studies scholar and Vice-President of the Theosophical Society in America (2002-2005).[299]
Blavatsky was (and is) a controversial figure. Blavatsky's devotees often try to attribute the criticism that she has sustained to the fact that she attacked the vested interests of both the Christian establishment and the material scientific skeptics rather than as a reaction to her alleged frauds and impostures. Thus, all critics of her are deflected by her believers (who say that "the slanders on her reputation are the signs of grace: the stigmata that all great martyrs must bear").[300]
Various authors have questioned the authenticity of her writings by citing evidence that they are heavily plagiarized from older esoteric sources,[301][302][303][304] pronouncing her claim of the existence of masters of wisdom to be utterly false, and accusing her of being a charlatan, false medium, and falsifier of letters.[305][306] Eastern literature scholar Arthur Lillie published a list of extracts from mystic works next to extracts from Blavatsky's writings purporting to show her extensive plagiarism in his book Madame Blavatsky and her Theosophy. Lillie also analyzed the Mahatma letters and asserted, based on peculiarities of expression and spelling, that they had been written by Blavatsky.[307][170] The
Influence
According to religious studies scholar Mark Bevir, Blavatsky "adapted the occult tradition to meet the challenge of Victorian science and morality".[312] Historian Ronald Hutton described Blavatsky as "one of the century's truly international figures" whose ideas gained "considerable popularity".[313] Various biographers have noted that, by the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Blavatsky was little-known among the general public.[314] In 2006, scholar James A. Santucci nevertheless noted that she was "as visible today as any modern trend-setting guru, and she will most likely remain the most memorable and innovative esotericist of the 19th century."[315]
Some scholars have suggested that Blavatsky sometimes spoke and/or wrote while in
Blavatsky presented her book, The Voice of the Silence, to Leo Tolstoy. In his works, Tolstoy used the dicta from Theosophischer Wegweiser, a Theosophical journal.[321] In his February 12, 1903, diary entry, Tolstoy wrote: "I am reading a beautiful theosophical journal and find many commonalities with my understanding."[322]
Theosophical movement
According to Kalnitsky, the Theosophical movement of the nineteenth century was created and defined in the main through the astuteness and conceptual ideas provided by H.P. Blavatsky. He stated that "without her
Blavatsky's Theosophy redirected the interest in Spiritualism toward a more coherent doctrine that included cosmology with theory of evolution in an understanding of humanity's spiritual development.[326] Further, it took the traditional sources of Western esotericism and globalized them by restating many of their ideas in terminology adopted from Asian religions.[326] Blavatsky's Theosophy was able to appeal to women by de-emphasizing the importance of gender and allowing them to take on spiritual leadership equal to that of men, thus allowing them a greater role than that permitted in traditional Christianity.[327]
Since its inception, and through doctrinal assimilation or divergence, Theosophy has also given rise to or influenced the development of other mystical, philosophical, and religious movements.[328] During the 1920s the Theosophical Society Adyar had around 7,000 members in the U.S.[329] There also was a substantial following in Asia. According to a Theosophical source, the Indian section in 2008 was said to have around 13,000 members while in the US the 2008 membership was reported at around 3,900.[330]
Western esotericism
Blavatsky's Theosophy has been described as representing "a major factor in the modern revival" of Western esotericism.[331] Godwin deemed there to be "no more important figure in modern times" within the Western esoteric tradition than Blavatsky.[242] For Johnson, Blavatsky was "a central figure in the nineteenth-century occult revival".[332] Lachman claimed that "practically all modern occultism and esotericism" can trace its origins back to her influence.[333] Blavatsky's published Theosophical ideas, particularly those regarding Root Races, have been cited as an influence on Ariosophy, the esoteric movement established in late 19th- and early 20th-century Germany and Austria by Guido von List and Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels.[334][335] Hannah Newman stated that via Ariosophy, Blavatsky's Theosophical ideas "contributed to Nazi ideology".[336] Nevertheless, Lachman has asserted that Blavatsky should not be held accountable to any of the antisemitic and racist ideas that the Ariosophists promoted, commenting that were she alive to witness the development of Ariosophy she probably would have denounced its ideas regarding race.[337] Blavatsky's Theosophical ideas regarding Root Races have also been cited as an influence on Anthroposophy, the esoteric movement developed by Rudolf Steiner in early 20th-century Germany,[338] with Steiner's Anthroposophical Society being termed a "historical offshoot" of the Theosophical Society.[339]
Blavatsky's Theosophy has been cited as an influence on the
Linguistics
American scholar of religion Jason Josephson-Storm has argued that Blavatsky and her Theosophical Society influenced late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century academic
South Asian religion and politics
Hutton suggested that Blavatsky had a greater impact in Asia than in the Western world.[275] Blavatsky has been cited as having inspired Hindus to respect their own religious roots.[346] The Theosophical Society influenced the growth of Indian national consciousness, with prominent figures in the Indian independence movement, among them Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, being inspired by Theosophy to study their own national heritage.[347] The Theosophical Society had a major influence on
Meade stated that "more than any other single individual", Blavatsky was responsible for bringing a knowledge of Eastern religion and philosophy to the West. In doing so, Meade believed that Blavatsky paved the way for the emergence of later movements such as the
Blavatsky "both incorporated a number of the doctrines of eastern religions into her occultism, and interpreted eastern religions in the light of her occultism", in doing so extending a view of the "mystical East" that had already been popularized through Romanticist poetry.[353] Max Müller scathingly criticized Blavatsky's Esoteric Buddhism. Whilst he was willing to give her credit for good motives, at least at the beginning of her career, in his view she ceased to be truthful both to herself and to others with her later "hysterical writings and performances". There is a nothing esoteric or secretive in Buddhism, he wrote, in fact the very opposite. "Whatever was esoteric was ipso facto not Buddha's teaching; whatever was Buddha's teaching was ipso facto not esoteric".[354][d] Blavatsky, it seemed to Müller, "was either deceived by others or carried away by her own imaginations."[355] Blavatsky responded to those academic specialists in Indian religion who accused her of misrepresenting it by claiming that they understood only the exoteric nature of Hinduism and Buddhism and not the inner esoteric secrets of these faiths, which she traced back to the ancient Vedas.[356]
Books
- Isis Unveiled: A Master-Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Science and Theology(1877)
- Studies in Occultism: A collection of articles from Lucifer (1887–1891)
- From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan (1879–1886)
- The Secret Doctrine: The Synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy(1888)
- The Voice of the Silence (1889)
- The Key to Theosophy (1889)
- Nightmare Tales (1907)
- The Land of the Gods (2022)
See also
- Charles Webster Leadbeater
- Annie Besant
- Alice Bailey
- Benjamin Creme
- Helena Roerich
- Edward Bulwer-Lytton
- Schola Philosophicae Initiationis
- Alexander Scriabin
- Rudolf Steiner
- Martinus
- Theosophical mysticism
- Theosophy and Buddhism
- Theosophy and Christianity
- Theosophy and Hinduism
- Theosophy and literature
- Theosophy and visual arts
- Theosophy and Western philosophy
- Tulpa
- Violet Tweedale, close associate of Blavatsky
- "What Is Theosophy?" – article by Blavatsky
Explanatory notes
- ^ Russian: Елена Петровна Блаватская, romanized: Yelena Petrovna Blavatskaya, Ukrainian: Олена Петрівна Блаватська, romanized: Olena Petrivna Blavatska
- ISBN 978-1-56459-026-8
- ^ The "Chronology of the New Age Movement" in New Age Encyclopedia begins with the formation of the Theosophical Society in 1875.[342] See Lewis & Melton 1994, xi.
- ^ For Sinnett's response and Müller's rejoinder, see Sinnett 1893 and Müller 1893b.
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- ^ Kuhn 1992, p. 226.
- ^ Goodrick-Clarke 2008, p. 223.
- Chakrasreferences: pp. 465, 466, 483, 546).
- ^ Bevir 1994, p. 755.
- ^ a b Blavatsky 1962, sect. vi.
- ^ Goodrick-Clarke 2008, p. 221.
- ^ Hanegraaff 2013, p. 135.
- ^ Goodrick-Clarke 2008, p. 225.
- ^ Bevir 1994, p. 761.
- ^ Blavatsky 1877a, x–xi.
- ^ Goodrick-Clarke 2008, p. 224.
- ^ Ellwood 2005, p. 110.
- ^ Washington 1993, pp. 45–46.
- ^ a b Guénon 2004, pp. 82–89.
- ^ Campbell 1980.
- ^ Sedgwick 2004, p. 44.
- ^ William Emmette Coleman, "The Sources of Madame Blavatsky's Writings", in A Modern Priestess of Isis by Vsevolod Sergyeevich Solovyoff, London, Longmans, Green, and Co., 1895, Appendix C, pp. 353–366.
- ^ Sedgwick 2004, p. 44; Campbell 1980, pp. 32–34.
- ^ Hower 1995.
- ^ Barker 1925, pp. 134–139, etc..
- ^ Oldmeadow 2004, p. 131.
- ^ The Fraud of Modern "Theosophy" Exposed (1912), J. N. Maskelyne,
- ^ Carroll 2003, p. 376.
- ^ Randi 1997.
- ^ Bevir 1994, p. 764.
- ^ Hutton 1999, p. 18.
- ^ Washington 1993, p. 45; Lachman 2012, p. xi.
- ^ Santucci 2006, p. 184.
- ^ Fodor 2003.
- ^ Kalnitsky 2003, p. 180.
- ^ Сенкевич 2010, p. 427.
- ^ Theosophy: Origin of the New Age – C. C. Martindale in This Rock magazine, Feb 96
- ISSN 0016-0687.
- ^ Толстой 1955, p. 67.
- ^ Толстой 1935, p. 155.
- ^ Kalnitsky 2003, p. 331.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition 1911, Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna
- ^ Cranston 1993, p. xxii.
- ^ a b Goodrick-Clarke 2004, p. 18.
- ^ Bednarowski 1980, p. 222.
- ^ Melton 1990, pp. xxv–xxvi.
- ^ Tillett 1986, pp. 942–947.
- ^ TIS 2009.
- ^ Goodrick-Clarke 2004, p. 2.
- ^ Johnson 1994, p. 2.
- ^ Lachman 2012, p. xi.
- ^ Gardell 2003, pp. 21–22; Lachman 2012, p. 251.
- ISSN 0741-8450. Archived from the originalon 19 December 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2007.
- ^ Newman 2005, p. 73.
- ^ Lachman 2012, p. 251.
- ^ Staudenmaier 2008, pp. 6–7.
- ^ Bevir 1994, p. 765.
- ^ Bevir 1994, p. 765; Goodrick-Clarke 2004, p. 18; Santucci 2006, p. 184.
- ^ Melton 1990, pp. 458–461.
- ^ Melton 1990, ix, xxxviii.
- ^ Lewis & Melton 1994, pp. 1–2
- ^ Josephson-Storm 2017, pp. 119–20.
- ^ Josephson-Storm 2017, p. 119.
- ^ a b c Meade 1980, p. 8.
- ^ Goodrick-Clarke 2004, p. 17.
- ^ MacMahan 2008.
- ^ Gombrich 2003, pp. 185–188.
- ^ Fields 1992, pp. 83–118.
- ^ Bevir 1994, p. 748.
- ^ Hutton 1999, p. 20.
- ^ Bevir 1994, p. 674.
- ^ Müller 1893a.
- ^ Müller 1902.
- ^ Bevir 1994, pp. 758–759.
General bibliography
- Bednarowski, Mary Farrell (1980). "Outside the Mainstream: Women's Religion and Women Religious Leaders in Nineteenth-Century America". Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 48 (2): 207–230. S2CID 170516831.
- Bevir, Mark (1994). "The West Turns Eastward: Madame Blavatsky and the Transformation of the Occult Tradition". Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 62 (3): 747–767. JSTOR 1465212.
- Caldwell, Daniel H (2000). The esoteric world of Madame Blavatsky: insights into the life of a modern sphinx. Theosophical Pub. House. ISBN 978-0-8356-0794-0.
- Campbell, Bruce F. (1980). Ancient Wisdom Revived: A History of the Theosophical Movement. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-03968-1.
- Cranston, Sylvia (1993). HPB: The Extraordinary Life and Influence of Helena Blavatsky, Founder of the Modern Theosophical Movement. London: G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 978-0-87477-688-1.
- Ellwood, Robert (2005). "Review of Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke's Helena Blavatsky". Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. 9 (2): 110–111. JSTOR 10.1525/nr.2005.9.2.110.
- Gardell, Mattias (2003). Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-3059-2.
- Godwin, Joscelyn (1994). The Theosophical Enlightenment. Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-2151-2.
- Godwin, Joscelyn (1994b). "Foreword". In K. Paul Johnson (ed.). The Masters Revealed: Madame Blavatsky and the Myth of the Great White Lodge. Albany: State University of New York Press. pp. xv–xix. ISBN 978-0-7914-2064-5.
- Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (2004). Helena Blavatsky. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books. ISBN 978-1-55643-457-0.
- ——— (2008). The Western Esoteric Traditions: A Historical Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-532099-2.
- Hammer, Olav (2001). Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age. Leiden and Boston: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-13638-0.
- ISBN 978-1-4411-3646-6.
- Hutton, Ronald (1999). The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-285449-0.
- Johnson, K. Paul (1994). The Masters Revealed: Madame Blavatsky and the Myth of the Great White Lodge. Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-2064-5.
- Josephson-Storm, Jason (2017). The Myth of Disenchantment: Magic, Modernity, and the Birth of the Human Sciences. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-40336-6.
- Kalnitsky, Arnold (2003). The Theosophical Movement of the Nineteenth Century: The Legitimation of the Disputable and the Entrenchment of the Disreputable (D. Litt. et Phil.). Pretoria: University of South Africa (published 2009).
- ISBN 978-1-56459-175-3. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
- ISBN 978-1-58542-863-2.
- Lewis, James R.; Melton, J. Gordon (1994). Church Universal and Triumphant : in scholarly perspective. Stanford, Calif.: Center for Academic Publication. OCLC 31147646.
- ISBN 978-0-399-12376-4.
- Melton, J. Gordon, ed. (1990). New Age Encyclopedia. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale Research. ISBN 978-0-8103-7159-0.
- Santucci, James A. (2006). "Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna". In Wouter J. Hanegraaff (ed.). Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism. Brill. pp. 177–185. ISBN 978-9004152311.
- ——— (2006b). "Theosophical Society". In Wouter J. Hanegraaff (ed.). Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism. Brill. pp. 1114–1123. ISBN 978-9004152311.
- Staudenmaier, Peter (2008). "Race and Redemption: Racial and Ethnic Evolution in Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy". Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. 11 (3): 4–36. .
- Washington, Peter (1993). Madame Blavatsky's Baboon: Theosophy and the Emergence of the Western Guru. London: Secker & Warburg. ISBN 978-0-436-56418-5.
- OCLC 705783723.
Further reading
- Barker, A. Trevor, ed. (1923). The Mahatma letters to A. P. Sinnett from the Mahatmas M. & K. H. London: T. Fisher Unwin. OCLC 277224098.
- Blavatsky, Helena P. (1877a). Isis unveiled: a master-key to the mysteries of ancient and modern science and theology. Vol. 1. New York: J. W. Bouton. OCLC 7211493.
- —— (1877b). Isis unveiled: a master-key to the mysteries of ancient and modern science and theology. Vol. 2. New York: J. W. Bouton. OCLC 7211493.
- —— (October 1879). "What is Theosophy?". The Theosophist. 1 (1): 2–5.
- —— (1888a). The secret doctrine: the synthesis of science, religion, and philosophy. Vol. 1. London: The Theosophical Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-55700-001-9.
- —— (1888b). The secret doctrine: the synthesis of science, religion, and philosophy. Vol. 2. London: The Theosophical Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-55700-001-9.
- —— (December 1888). "Dialogue between the two editors on astral bodies, or doppelgangers". Lucifer. 3 (16): 328–333. ISBN 978-0-8356-7188-0.
- —— (1918) [1892]. OCLC 679877592.
- —— (1925). Barker, A. Trevor (ed.). The letters of H.P. Blavatsky to A.P. Sinnett, and other miscellaneous letters. London: T. Fisher Unwin.
- —— (1937). Neff, Mary K. (ed.). Personal memoirs of H. P. Blavatsky. New York: Dutton. OCLC 311492.
- —— (1962) [1889]. The key to theosophy being a clear exposition in the form of question and answer of the ethics, science, and philosophy for the study of which the Universal brotherhood and Theosophical society has been founded (Reprint of original 1st ed.). Los Angeles: Theosophical Company. ISBN 978-1-55700-046-0.
- —— (2004). Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (ed.). Helena Blavatsky. Western esoteric masters series. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books. ISBN 978-1-55643-457-0.
- Bleiler, Everett Franklin (1948). The checklist of fantastic literature; a bibliography of fantasy, weird and science fiction books published in the English language. Chicago: Shasta Publishers. OCLC 1113926.
- OCLC 2704608.
- Caldwell, Daniel H (2000). The esoteric world of Madame Blavatsky: insights into the life of a modern sphinx. Theosophical Pub. House. ISBN 978-0-8356-0794-0.
- Carroll, Robert T. (2003). "Theosophy". The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions. Hoboken: Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-27242-7.
- Carter, Steven R. (1998). James Jones: an American literary orientalist master. Urbana, Il and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-02371-2.
- Coleman, William E. (1895) [essay composed 2 August 1893]. "Appendix C. The sources of Madame Blavatsky's writings". In OCLC 468865051.
- "Court notes" (PDF). The New York Times. New York. 9 July 1878. p. 3. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
- Davenport-Hines, Richard (January 2011) [2004]. "Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna (1831–1891)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/40930. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Fields, Rick (1992) [1981]. How the swans came to the lake: a narrative history of Buddhism in America (3rd rev. and updated ed.). Boston; London: Shambhala Publications. ISBN 978-0-87773-583-0.
- ISBN 978-0-7661-3931-2. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
- French, Brendan J. (2000). The theosophical masters: an investigation into the conceptual domains of H.P. Blavatsky and C.W. Leadbeater (PhD thesis). Sydney: University of Sydney (published 2001). OCLC 223328198.
- LCCN 32031578. via "Acquaintance with religions". columbia.edu. Transcribed and proofread by Frances W. Pritchett. New York: Columbia University. 2007. Archived from the original on 27 June 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2014)
{{cite web}}
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- Guénon, René (2004) [2003]. Theosophy: history of a pseudo-religion. translated by Alvin Moore, Jr. Hillsdale, NY: Sophia Perennis. ISBN 978-0-900588-79-2. Translation of Guénon, René (1921). Le théosophisme: histoire d'une pseudo-religion (PDF) (in French). Paris: Nouvelle librairie nationale. Archivedfrom the original on 14 October 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- Hanson, Virginia (1988). H.P. Blavatsky and The secret doctrine. A Quest book. Theosophical Pub. House. OCLC 17477685.
- Harrison, Vernon (1997). H. P. Blavatsky and the SPR: an examination of the Hodgson Report of 1885. Pasadena: Theosophical University Press. ISSN 0037-9751.
- Hower, Edward (26 February 1995). "The medium with a message". The New York Times (book review). New York. p. BR13. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
- Johnson, K. Paul (1994). The masters revealed: Madame Blavatsky and the myth of the Great White Lodge. SUNY series in Western esoteric traditions. Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-2063-8.
- Karma-gliṅ-pa (2000) [1927]. Evans-Wentz, Walter Y. (ed.). The Tibetan book of the dead: or, The after-death experiences on the Bardo plane, according to Lāma Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English rendering. with a new foreword and afterword by Donald S. Lopez, Jr (3rd ed.). London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513311-0.
- Kingsford, Anna Bonus; Maitland, Edward (1919) [1882]. "Appendix xv: The secret of satan". The perfect way: or, the finding of Christ (7th ed.). New York: Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply. pp. 359–364. OCLC 381443.
- MacMahan, David L. (2008). The making of Buddhist modernism. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-518327-6.
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- —— (1902) [letter composed 10 June 1893]. "[letter] To Colonel Olcott". In Müller, Georgina A. (ed.). The life and letters of the Right Honourable Friedrich Max Müller. Vol. 2. London: Longmans, Green. pp. 297–299. OCLC 700634676.
- ISBN 978-0-8356-0461-1.
- Newman, Hannah (2005). "Blavatsky, Helena P. (1831–1891)". In Levy, Richard S. (ed.). Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. pp. 72–73. ISBN 978-1-85109-439-4.
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- "Obituary". The Times. No. 33320. London. 9 May 1891. p. 11. ISSN 0140-0460.
- Olcott, Henry S. (January 1891). "Constitution and Rules of the Theosophical Society". The Theosophist. 12 (4): 65–72. ISSN 0040-5892.
As Revised in Session of the General Council, all the Sections being represented, at Adyar, December 27, 1890.
- Oldmeadow, Harry (2004). Journeys East: 20th Century Western Encounters with Eastern Religious Traditions.
- OCLC 248009137.
- Petsche, Johanna (June 2011). "Gurdjieff and Blavatsky: Western esoteric teachers in parallel". Literature & Aesthetics. 21 (1): 98–115.
- Randi, James (1997) [1994]. "Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna". An encyclopedia of claims, frauds, and hoaxes of the occult and supernatural: decidedly skeptical definitions of alternative realities. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-15119-5. Reprinted in "Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna". randi.org. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
- OCLC 10745775.
- Reitemeyer, Frank (Summer 2006). "Open questions in HP Blavatsky's genealogy: review: 'Ein deutschbaltischer Hintergrund der Theosophie?' by Peter Lauer" (PDF). Fohat: The Mystical, the Magical. 10 (2): 35–36. ISSN 1205-9676. Archived from the original(PDF) on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- Richard-Nafarre, Noël (1991). Helena P. Blavatsky ou La réponse du sphinx (in French). Paris: Noël Richard-Nafarre, distributed by Éditions François de Villac. ISBN 978-2950626103.
- Ryan, Charles J; Knoche, Grace F (1937). H.P. Blavatsky and the theosophical movement: a brief historical sketch. Theosophical University Press. ISBN 978-1-55700-090-3.
- Sedgwick, Mark (2004). Against the modern world: traditionalism and the secret intellectual history of the twentieth century. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-515297-5.
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- Толстой, Лев Н. (1935). Чертков, Влади́мир Г. (ed.). Полное собрание сочинений (in Russian). Vol. 54. Moscow: Гос. изд-во худож. лит-ры. OCLC 6321531.
- —— (1955). Чертков, Влади́мир Г. (ed.). Полное собрание сочинений (in Russian). Vol. 80. Moscow: Гос. изд-во худож. лит-ры. OCLC 6321531.
External links
External media | |
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Images | |
Young H. P. von Hahn, a bust by Ukrainian sculptor Alexey Leonov | |
Video | |
The Life of H. P. Blavatsky | |
The Day of the White Lotus |
- John Cooper Theosophy Collection, including letters of Helena Blavatsky
- Articles by Helena P. Blavatsky
- The Blavatsky Study Center / Blavatsky Archives
- Works by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Helena Blavatsky at Internet Archive
- Works by Helena Blavatsky at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- A collection of letters to and from Helena Blavatsky are in the Harvard Divinity School Library at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- https://www.gutenberg.org/files/60852/60852-h/60852-h.htm[1]
- An extensive online bibliography, dating from 1908 to 2001, with section for "Internet Resources",[1] annexed to The theosophical movement of the nineteenth century doctoral dissertation of Arnold Kalnitsky.The theosophical movement of the nineteenth century: the legitimation of the disputable and the entrenchment of the disreputable
- Helena Petrovna Blavatsky at Curlie