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Wednesday 13 July 2022

Blavatsky on Vaccination

Does Vaccination Prevent Smallpox? (The Theosophist, Vol. 2, March, 1881, pp. 119-120)
(An unsigned article, not included in her collected writings, but identified as Blavatsky in some circles. It seems to have a specifically Theosophical perspective.) Blavatsky is wont to comment on quite a wide variety of scientific writings, sometimes quite specialized, technical, not to say obscure documents, and in this case three documents are being analyzed. One article on epidemics, another on vaccinations, and a third short magazine notice on animal microbiology.
 
The first one is interesting as it corroborates certain cyclical aspects of her esoteric theories of epidemics in other writings. It is a review of an article ‘The Sanitary Millenium’ (Journal of Science (JamesSamuelson, William Crookes, eds.),  November, 1889, pp. 701-709) which is a review John Parkin’s  Epidemiology,or, the remote cause of epidemic diseases in the animal and in the vegetablecreation v. 1, (J. and A. Churchill, 1873). She (or Olcott) ends this part with a quote pointing to the usefulness of self-isolating as a preventive measure (In an interview, she once pointed out the value of social distancing: "Of course: there is a great mystery in Oriental exclusiveness in the unwillingness to touch. The Oriental sense is finer than ours, much more sensitive to emanations of every kind, spiritual and material, and it holds that the best way of purification is to keep from defilement." (English Morning News of Paris, April 21, 1884)

The second document is a Lahore university report by Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner advising the Indian government against vaccinations , ‘Proceedings of the Anjuman-i-Punjab, in connection with the proposed Vaccination Bill, and Dr. Cunningham’s Sanitary Primer’ (Simla, 1879). The first objection is on religious grounds. The second argument is based on statistical analysis. What is interesting is that a primitive notion of the possibility of herd immunity is considered. Another point of interest is that there seems to be a primitive awareness of the problem  of virus mutation; although not discovered at that time, some of the effects of that problem are discussed, to her credit.  She ends her discussion by calling upon a comparative approach between modern medicine and traditional Hindu knowledge.

The final article discussed , from ‘Spiritual Notes, September, 1880, p. 48 (London) is some intriguing research by Dr. Vincenzo Peset y Cervera concerning crystals of Hemoglobin (and mentions Lionel Smith Beale) that corroborates her esoteric theories on spiritual evolution, sourced from the ‘Journal of Science’ (August 1880, p. 539). One can see that her approach is to seek a synthesis between  modern scientific methods and traditional beliefs and is quite perceptive in noticing the problems with modern science on the questions, and is lead to support a cautious anti-vaccination position.

She (or Olcott) later reiterated her qualified, critical support of the anti-vaccination movement with a review of  The Vaccination Inquirer and Health Review, the Organ of the London Society for the Abolition of Compulsory Vaccination (Unsigned, not included in her Collected Writings) ‘’The subject of compulsory Vaccination deeply concerns the people of India, who number 25 kotis, and by law are compelled, under sever penalties for refusal or neglect, to be vaccinated. The letter from Mr. Tebb, the philanthropist, will be read with interest no doubt. We give it place therefore, although we should not be willing to open often our editorial doors to questions which are almost outside our limits. The THEOSOPHIST has to war upon another and even worse form of inoculation—the empoisoning of the Hindu mind with the views of modern scepticism.’’ (TheTheosophist, January, 1883, p. 92)
 
It might be worth noting that in 1992, William Q. Judge lectured on epidemics and microbe theory:‘’In a similar manner, bacteriologists have proved how the microbes of different kinds increase by the million with amazing speed. No theosophist should deny that science is right in saying that microbes produce disease and also prevent it. For it is an old theosophical, and once secret, doctrine that the microbes—then called lives—are divided into two classes, one called builders and the other, destroyers. These, it was held, warred with each other, and whichever side won, the result was disease and death, or health and life. This, too, the old theosophists held, was the cause of man’s term of life. For if the builders won all the time up to maturity they again divided themselves into two classes and, beginning to devour each other, at last brought about the death of the body at about 70 years of age.’’  (WilliamQ. Judge of Brooklyn Tells of the Microbe Theory, The Brooklyn Eagle, 1892)
 
Also note what Godolphin Mitford wrote in 'The Elixir of Life': If this is so in the case of the high adept, how much more necessary is it that the neophyte should be not only protected but that he himself should use all possible means to ensure for himself the necessary duration of life to complete the process of mastering the phenomena we call death! It may be said, why do not the higher adepts protect him? Perhaps they do to some extent, but the child must learn to walk alone; to make him independent of his own efforts in respect to safety, would be destroying one element necessary to his development - the sense of responsibility. What courage or conduct would be called for in a man sent to fight when armed with irresistible weapons and clothed in impenetrable armour? Hence the neophyte should endeavour, as far as possible, to fulfill every true canon of sanitary law as laid down by modern scientists. Pure air, pure water, pure food, gentle exercise, regular hours, pleasant occupations and surroundings, are all, if not indispensable, at least serviceable to his progress. ("The Theosophist" April 1882, p. 171)
 
One signed 1889 article does briefly note Blavatsky’s anti-vaccination support, ('
the erection of an Institute for the inoculation of a virus, with its poisonous effects on future generations')An open letter to the readers of “Lucifer”and all true theosophists’ ( Lucifer, Vol. V, No. 26, October, 1889, pp. 144-145; Blavatsky, Collected Writings, Vol. 11, p. 455); and rightly so, in my view, as vaccination science was rather primitive by today’s standards, so the anti-vaccination movement was useful and helpful in getting the thorough testing procedures and safety checks that we have today. She was more supportive of Homeopathy, see, The Bugbears of Science,  A kind of alternative science piece that discusses Hypnotism, Mesmerism, and Homeopathy and the differences between materialism and skepticism. (The Theosophist, Vol. IV, No. 5, February, 1883, pp. 105-108]; Blavatsky, Collected Writings, Vol. 4, p. 307)
 
Governments have often been big on heavy vaccination persuasion since vaccines were discovered in 19th century. But they probably should not have been, because testing and statistics were pretty sketchy. And there have been anti-vax protesters since the beginning; rightly so, considering the primitive state of vaccinating at the time. There was a lot of trial and error, and truly comprehensive vaccination methods did not really get going until the 1950s. But then in 1955, there was a major mishap in the US, known as the Cutter incident, where one of the six polio vaccines had bad problems and caused many deaths, with a massive public outcry, which caused campaign cancellations and some people who experienced that are vaccine hesitant to this day.

This spurred progressive improvements where by the 1980s, testing became much more systematic and thorough, and statistical analysis more sophisticated; then the big victories started to happen, with worldwide elimination of Smallpox in the 1990s and the elimination of Polio by 2000, and similar success with Tetanus, Rubella, and the Measles. Vaccine skepticism continued, and has even caused a 10% drop in vaccinated people in Great Britain (and the resurgence of some virus'), but they can't really compete with the highly developed modern vaccination systems in terms of giving researched proof-value to their arguments, although they can still play a useful watchdog role, since there is still room for improvements in the vaccination system. Hence, we've only really had safe, reliable vaccination programs since the 1980s, for only about 40 years, but with some victories that are some of the great achievements of modern medicine and worldwide socio-political cooperation.
 

Friday 8 July 2022

Blavatsky on Embryology, Pregnancy, Childbirth and Abortion

Due to Blavatsky's concern with the doctrine of reincarnation and her theory of spiritual evolution in general, she wrote some fairly elaborate explanations concerning embryology, the development of the foetus and the gestation process, which can be found in the references below:

The mysteries of Embryology

Isis Unveiled Vol. 1,  384-402

 https://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/isis/iu1-11.htm

 

Is Foeticide a Crime?

[The Theosophist, Vol. IV, No. 11(47), August, 1883, pp. 282-283.]

Blavatsky Collected Writings, Vol. 5 , 106 -108

http://www.katinkahesselink.net/blavatsky/articles/v5/y1883_110.htm

 

Discussion of the recapitulation theory of gestation of the human foetus  

The Secret Doctrine Vol. 2, 255-260

https://www.sacred-texts.com/the/sd/sd2-1-14.htm 

 

Esoteric Embryology

Esoteric Instructions No. 1, 9-14

Blavatsky Collected Writings, Vol. 5 , 521-524

http://www.katinkahesselink.net/blavatsky/articles/v12/y1890_053.htm

 

Abortion & the Reincarnation of the Soul 
James Colbert , 2013
discusses statistics, history, various religions, medical cases, women & men's rights, Blavatsky passage in recent Secret Doctrine study class transcrition  theosophyforward.com/index.php/medl
2018, Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism, 258-286

Tuesday 5 July 2022

Blavatsky in the 1950s (Serge Hutin) Secret Primordial Tradition

Serge Hutin
Blavatsky's reputation in the 1950s was not good, not good at all. Thankfully, things have changed. To give an idea what it was like, below is an extract from 'Secret Societies', Serge Hutin, Presses Universitaires de France, 1952 (pp. 11-12). Hutin (pictured, right) is a pretty solid esoteric scholar, at least judging from the writings on Rosicrucian subjects of his which I have read. Blavatsky manages to merit two short,  rather terse footnote mentions, so she was not quite totally dismissed from the club.
 
If the multiple forms of initiation  each offer a distinct interpretation  of the descent-re-ascent, death-resurrection scheme, there is a theme where they all agree: that of the the Lost wisdom: ''The reflections of Knowledge, writes G. Persigout, shine in the hearts of Men but like a kind of broken mirror, where the deformity increases because  each of the scattered pieces are each taken as a whole.'' Hence the idea many times expressed of  a Secret tradition, transmitted to the diverse eras and under different forms to a whole series of successive Revelators, in such a way that all religions would proceed, ultimately, form the same Source... Nowadays, it is mainly René Guénon (1) who has developed this antique conception, where esotericism is something anterior to established religion: ''the same, he writes, which it takes support from, in terms of a means of expression and realization, where it does nothing but to relate it to its principle, and it represents, in reality, in relation to itself, the Tradition, anterior to all particular exterior forms, religious or other''. 
 
(1) Cf. also the works of Madame Blavatsky.

The need to claim descent from an extremely ancient tradition - conceived even as anterior to the world where we live- is common to all esotericisms, hence the problem of the ''initiatory filiation'': each grouping has tried to prove its fabulous antiquity thanks to the idea of a regular and uninterrupted succession  of adepts, forming a kind of chain'' (Cf. the need of Christian churches to establish an ''apostolic succession'' of their vicars). To this ''horizontal'' transmission in time through the conservation of its original heritage throughout the successive stages of humanity, some even add a ''vertical'' transmission, atemporal, that is from the ''supra-human'' to the human: we find this idea of an ''invisible Church'' hidden from the profane, depositors of the tradition, with the Rosicrucians of the XVIIth century and with numerous contemporary authors, such as R. Guénon, who developped the ideas of ''spiritual centres'', themselves attached to ''a supreme centre that constitutes the unchanging deposit of the primordial tradition''. (2)
 
(2) This traditional doctrine was current in the masonic circles of the XVIIIth century; it was taken up again by Madame Blavatsky.