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Wednesday 23 August 2017

Blavatsky Book Review: Letters to the Sage: Selected Correspondence of Thomas Moore Johnson: Volume One: Patrick Bowen and Paul Johnson


The theosophical historians continue to dig up some surprising treasures from the vaults. It turns out that the American Platonist Thomas Moore Johnson was a card-carrying Theosophist and left behind a sizeable chunk of correspondence with quite a few Theosophists of the day. So we have in this volume letters from J.D. Buck, Josephine Cables, Abner Doubleday, William Q. Judge, Anna Kingsford, Kenneth MacKenzie, Edward Maitland, Damodar Mavalankar, GRS Mead, HS Olcott, William Oxley, Seth Pancoast, James Pryse and John Yarker among others.
It`s a real treat to be able to get first hand accounts of the interests, challenges and struggles of the very early days (the letters date from 1881 to 1911). There is also much correspondence dealing with the administrative business concerning The Platonist, the magazine Johnson published. Most of the correspondence is fairly brief and mundane with little in the way of practical esoteric information (with the exception of James Pryse), although each section has a helpful introduction and copious explanatory footnotes. But the real meat of the book is the letters from  lesser-known Theosophists Elliott B. page (55 pp.) and S.H. Randall (79 pp.). Here we have sufficient material to form a serial narrative arc, each with their own personal, dramatic twists and turns with two very different fates: Page went on to become a distinguished long-standing Theosophist with the Hargrove Theosophical group and Randall had to bow out due to family pressures.
To spice things up, many letters discuss the well-known Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor affair. This is all water under the bridge, but back in the day, GRS Mead hashed it out in Lucifer (p.54).
Editor Patrick D. Bowen, in his extensive, well-researched introduction, more or less follows the tack set by Joscelyn Godwin and John Patrick Deveney in their works on the subject.
For historians, this book should be quite useful as it fills in a noticeable gap of information pertaining to the 1880-1885 period of American Theosophy, prior to William Q. Judge’s founding of the Path magazine in 1886, beginning a remarkable ten-year run that was one of the greatest expansion periods for any organisation in modern American alternative spirituality history. Keeping in mind that the Coulomb /Hodgson affair occurred just prior to the HBL business, certain letters would seem to indicate that the crisis of the 1885-86 affected the American section more seriously than previously believed. Moreover, it probably also gives more information on the history of the TS Esoteric Section inasmuch that more evidence is given in favor of the idea of the HBL affair having spurred the creation of the ES. Also, there is lots of general coverage of the esoteric movement of the late 19th century period.
On the critical side, whether Johnson’s participation in various esoteric groups is his “greatest legacy” (p. 82) seems a little overly optimistic in my opinion, I don’t think this new information will overshadow his reputation as a prominent, pioneering American Platonic scholar. Also, it would have been nice to have more biographical information about Johnson himself beyond the context related to the correspondence. Moreover, the last part of the introduction seems to branch off into digressions and speculations that seem unfocused, while ignoring, for example, the correspondence with GRS Mead, his letter of 1911 of which is the lastest of the collection.

Letters to the Sage: Selected Correspondence of Thomas Moore Johnson: Volume One: The Esotericists
http://www.academia.edu/23150366/Letters_to_the_Sage_Selected_Correspondence_of_Thomas_Moore_Johnson_Volume_One_The_Esotericists

http://ehbritten.blogspot.ca/2016/03/new-typhon-press-release-selected.html#!/2016/03/new-typhon-press-release-selected.html

Prometheus Trust has also released The Collected Works of Thomas Moore Johnson:
Thomas Moore Johnson (1851-1919) can rightly be said to be a great American Platonist: he was one of a number of men and women of that period who sought to promulgate the philosophy of the Platonic tradition as a spiritual and intellectual discipline. Had not the tide of rationalist and sceptical thinking run so strongly in the last one hundred years, Johnson – along with his fellow philosophers such as Hiram K Jones, William Torrey Harris and Bronson Alcott – would today be recognised as a great contributor to the cause of true philosophy in the modern west.
http://www.prometheustrust.co.uk/html/other_books.html#tmj


update: Editor K. Paul Johnson has responded to this post:
http://adepts.light.org/2017/11/06/g-r-s-mead-on-the-light-of-egypt/

Wednesday 16 August 2017

Blavatsky and The Voice of the Silence 2

New Facsimile Edition from the ULT:
This new edition, published on 8th May 2017, is an exact photographic facsimile of the original 1889 edition and a physical replica using very similar binding, paper and colour scheme.
http://www.theosophy-ult.org.uk/book-review/1889-the-voice-of-the-silence/

Beatrice Lane Suzuki: An American Theosophist in Japan - Adele S. Algeo:

Although a Buddhist Mrs. Suzuki never lost her interest in Theosophy and once was head of the T.S. in Japan. She told me that Prof. Suzuki's first gift to her was the "Voice of the Silence" which he wrote her was "pure Mahayana Buddhism." He was a student at Oxford at the time and she was at Columbia University. Mrs. Suzuki was devoted to Dr. Besant and Theosophical notables visiting Japan were always welcome guests....
The Voice of the Silence is one of Blavatsky’s most quoted works:
Silence Please By Graham Peebles Friday, 13 November 2015
Beyond our endless thoughts, our fears and desires, beyond all the surface chaos, sit’s silence. A point of peace and contentment veiled by activities of the mind, which Helena Blavatsky (founder of the Theosophical society in 1875) in The Voice of The Silence, said is “the great slayer of the real”. http://mwcnews.net/focus/analysis/55490-silence-please.html
The Voice of the Silence, XP Maya  January 5, 2017  

Being
Enough - David Zenon Starlyte

Helena Blavatsky writes, “Thou canst not travel on the Path before thou hast become that Path itself.” The road less travelled represents leaving the familiar and moving into the field of the spiritual warrior. Many lifetimes may have led you to this point – reading these words right here, right now. Something is awakening within, drawing you into this field of light, liberation and possibility.
http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/healingandtransformation/2016/10/being-enough.html






Special Thanks to N.W. for suggesting this post.
 

Friday 11 August 2017

New Book: Theosophical Appropriations: Esotericism, Kabbalah, and the Transformation of Traditions


Theosophical Appropriations: Esotericism, Kabbalah, and the Transformation of Traditions, edited by Julie Chajes and Boaz Huss
The Goldstein-Goren Library of Jewish Thought Publication no. 21 - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press / The Bialik Institute, Jerusalem, 2016
Appreciation of the historical importance of the Theosophical Society (henceforth, TS) and related movements is growing, and rightly so, yet the extent of theosophical influences can still be surprising, even to scholars in the field. The chapters of this volume contribute to our increasing recognition of the global impact of the TS and its ideas and illustrate lesser-known instances of theosophical appropriation aroundthe world.
https://www.academia.edu/28144662/Theosophical_Appropriations_Esotericism_Kabbalah_and_the_Transformation_of_Traditions_edited_by_Julie_Chajes_and_Boaz_Huss
 
Julie Chajes -  Construction Through Appropriation: Kabbalah in Blavatsky’s Early Works p. 33
In the opening paper, Julie Chajes discusses two of Blavatsky’s early works that refer to Kabbalah: “A Few Questions to Hiraf” (1875) and Isis Unveiled (1877). The chapter elucidates Blavatsky’s doctrines of Kabbalah in those texts, each of which have distinct emphases. (Intro 11)
https://www.academia.edu/26543875/Construction_Through_Appropriation_Kabbalah_in_Blavatskys_Early_Works
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQnvizvv5S0
 
Isaac Lubelsky -  Friedrich Max Müller vs. Madame Blavatsky: A Chronicle of a (Very) Strange Relationship p. 73
In the following chapter, Isaac Lubelsky charts the relationship between Madame Blavatsky and the renowned German-born Oxford Orientalist, Friedrich Max Müller (1823-1900). Blavatsky’s references to Müller are often mentioned in passing in accounts of her sources, but this is the first detailed exploration of this topic, looking at the relationship from both sides. (Intro 13)
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/5d1f91_77de77481c854b4f9f10a12c464ef72d.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJRlXz6lBr0
 
John Patrick Deveney - The Two Theosophical Societies:Prolonged Life, Conditional Immortality,and the Individualized Immortal Monad93
These demonstrate, Deveney argues, that the Society as established in 1875 was devoted to practical occult work, and specifically to the development of the ability to project the astral double. This ability was considered an indication of the fusion of the student’s “individuality” with their “divine spirit” to create an “individualized”entity capable of surviving death.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BKVCI882gQ
 
Boaz Huss  - “Qabbalah, the Theos-Sophia of the Jews:” Jewish Theosophists and their
Perceptions of Kabbalah
Huss surveys the numerous books and articles of Jewish theosophists, demonstrating that overall, Jewish theosophists had greater access to primary texts of Kabbalah than did non-Jewish theosophists, and some even had enough knowledge of Hebrew and Aramaic to prepare their own translations. Nevertheless, their knowledge of primary sources was limited and even those who did have some language skills largely based themselves on secondary literature, including Western esoteric, theosophical, and academic texts.
https://www.academia.edu/28239752/Qabbalah_The_Theos-Sophia_of_the_Jews
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--dl6zYMuEA
 
Shimon Lev - Gandhi and his Jewish Theosophist Supporters in South Africa
Lev discusses the political activism of these Jewish theosophists, their involvement in the satyågraha struggle and their friendships with Gandhi, which were often very close. Lev highlights the tension between South-African Jewish identification with the ruling white elite and Jewish critique of that establishment, speculating about a self-perception shared between Jews and Indians as “Oriental” immigrants in South Africa. He notes the appeal of a Theosophical Society that enabled the exploration of unorthodox ideas but which, at the same time, did not require the abandonment of Jewish identity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7cYTbb61OE

Wednesday 2 August 2017

Blavatsky and Atlantis 2


Although often misrepresented, with  subsequent later developments retroactively attributed to Blavatsky, her theory of Atlantis continues to fascinate and is firmly ensconced in the alternative spirituality world view. The last two articles to track the offensive type of articles on this by pseudo-archaeology skeptical critics that exist in academic circles.

Brief overview of Blavatsky`s presentation of Atlantis:

Decent Article on history of Atlantis theories with Blavatskyan Atlantis theories:
Atlantis Rising - Paula Reed Nancarrow -
https://paulareednancarrow.com/2016/04/10/atlantis-rising/
 
Mark Adams Interview – Searching for Atlantis really isn’t the best Career Move
Adams persevered, traveling the world to speak with Atlantis experts who showed him some of the leading candidates for where Atlantis might have been, a journey he recounts in his book Meet Me in Atlantis
 
Alternative Archeology theory:
Atlantis – The Lost Continent Finally Found {The Definitive Localization of Plato’s Lost Civilization} Prof. Arysio Nunes dos Santos, Ph.D.),
The Discovery of Atlantis - August 11, 2015
  
Article on Atlantis with Manly P Hall  Atlantis theories:
One of the most interesting parts of this story, to me, is the fact that this place is often remembered as a place of glory, light, and abundance, which it was. But they were not immune to the dangers of avarice, either, as H.P. Blavatsky makes clear: “...In consequence of this, war was declared, the story of which would be too long to narrate; its substance may be found in the disfigured allegories of the race of Cain, the giants, and that of Noah and his righteous family. The conflict came to an end by the submersion of the Atlantis, which finds its imitation in the stories of the Babylonian and Mosaic flood.”
https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/atlantida_mu/esp_atlantida_51.htm

 
Madame Blavatsky On Atlantis - The Blavatsky quote at the end is not accurate, unreliable; has some added new age flourishes.
 
New Age presentation of Blavatskyan evolutionary theories: Ancient Civilizations: The Theories of Atlantis and Lemuria
Was Atlantis simply a figment of Plato’s imagination, spurred by nationalistic pride when writing about his beloved Athens, or are there fragments of truth in these ancient myths, passed down and swirled about in the sands of time… Are we heading for the same fate? Or will we merely continue on, ever-evolving and seeking out new answers yet always returning once more to search the bottom of the murky ocean floors.
https://fractalenlightenment.com/35042/culture/ancient-civilizations-the-theories-of-atlantis-and-lemuria
 
Alamongordo post on Atlantis – This is more of a neo-Theosophy post and therefore only about half the information here is really from Blavatsky:
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky - January 26, 2017
http://www.alamongordo.com/helena-petrovna-blavatsky/ 

 
Minsinformed and innacurate, but a serviceable 'hipster' pop culture history of Atlantis: This one has the most offensive comments about Blavatsky in the lot.
The Strange History of Atlantis – Benito Cerino
 
Little known facts about the mysterious Atlantis.
Of course, Atlantis is mentioned, and sometimes becomes the Central figure of the mass of occult documents. Most strongly promote the myth was influenced by Blavatsky, who described in his “Secret doctrine” the evolution of the Fourth root race that was taking place in Atlantis. It’s amazing how this controversial literature has influenced the image of the lost continent in culture.