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Tuesday, 14 January 2025

Blavatsky & the Theosophical Library Center and Press, Altadena, CA Eaton Fire

It is rare that Blavatsky News feels prompted to report on current mainstream fast-breaking news. Sadly, it appears that the Theosophical Library Center and Press in Altadena was lost in the Eaton Fire raging in the Los Angeles National Forest, Altadena and Pasadena on the night of January 7. 
 
It looks like the total loss of the building and its contents. Apparently many things were digitized but others not. Most of the important artwork was in the headquarters building, a little west the library. The Path, Reginald Machell’s Theosophical symbolist masterpiece, was stored at the Altadena headquarters, just two blocks west of the library, which has survived the fire. 

There has been a noticeable reaction to this news on various social media networks, with a considerable outpouring of sympathy, which as a Theosophist, I found very touching and encouraging. My condoleances to all the Theosophical members affected by this terrible devastation.

Nice article by the Altadena Historical Society 
Theosophical Society in Altadena

News coverage 
 
Nice interview in LA Times with Richard Schave, of LA Esotouric Tours about Theosophical Library Center - picked up by the Tribune News Service, so it should get around...
 
Eaton fire obliterates ‘esoteric knowledge’
Some of Altadena’s notable properties, Zorthian Ranch and the Bunny Museum among them, tell the story of the community’s long-standing role as a haven for free spirits, mystics and counterculture figures.
Their destruction, Schave said, amounts to an erasure of regional history tied to “raising social consciousness to effect positive change.” He and his wife, Kim Cooper, the other founder of Esotouric tours, were particularly upset over the loss of the Theosophical Library Center.
 
The Lake Avenue facility housed the largest collection of materials related to Theosophy, a modern religious movement that counted writers such as William Butler Yeats as devotees and was influential among later New Age belief systems. “That was a repository of esoteric knowledge,” Cooper said.
The library contained 40,000-plus titles and the archives of the Theosophical Society. The collection, Cooper said, accounted for “the cultural ideas that formed this visionary Southern California spirituality.” The Theosophical Society did not respond to interview requests.
The Palisades and Eaton infernos have destroyed more than 30 structures that preservationists consider historically significant.
The tally could grow as an accounting continues.
The fate of many notable properties remains unknown.
In ‘a mass erasure of heritage,’ numerous historic landmarks lost in L.A. Daniel Miller Jan. 12, 2025 Los Angeles

23 Before-And-After Shots That Capture The True Horror Of The LA Fires
Before-and-after photos are beginning to reveal the impact of the LA fires.
buzzfeed.com/alanavalko/before-and-after-photos-la-fires 
 
 
More architectural landmarks lost in Southern California fires with relief and mutual aid efforts underway
 
 
California fires have destroyed at least a dozen houses of worship 
Bob Smietana 
Jan 11, 2025 Religion News Service (RNS)
“They’re helping their own communities, but they’re also stepping up and stepping beyond and helping each other,” said Syeed, who splits her time between Los Angeles and Minnesota. “That’s part of the story — faith communities, even when they are damaged, still show up for the broader community.”
 
LA Fires claim Theosophical Society building and archives
|
Theosophical Society Historical Landmark in Altadena Destroyed by Eaton Fire: World’s Largest Archive of Theosophy Burns Down
https://www.thetravel.com/theosophical-society-historical-landmark-in-altadena-destroyed-by-eaton-fire-worlds-largest-archive-of-theosophy-burns-down/
 
Jan 12 Update: As Wildfires Continue to Ravage So Cal, 
ISKCON New Dvaraka Remains on Alert
ISKCON News   |  Jan 12, 2025
https://iskconnews.org/jan-12-update-as-wildfires-continue-to-ravage-so-cal-iskcon-new-dvaraka-remains-on-alert/
 
California Fire Destroys Theosophical Archives and Building in Altadena
Dominique Johnson Jan 11
 
California Fires Destroy Priceless Theosophical Archive
Jason Colavito 1/9/2025
https://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/california-fires-destroy-priceless-theosophical-archive
 
Eaton Fire spreads to businesses along Altadena's Lake Avenue
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/california-wildfires/eaton-fire-altadena-business/3598035/
 
Click through for a partial list of confirmed losses of historic places, and for those directly impacted by the fires, please visit our website to find additional resources.
 
From Wouter J. Hanegraaff:
This was the world's largest archive of Theosophical materials, including a library with 40.000 titles, the entire archive of the history of the TS, including ca. 10.000 unpublished letters, pertaining to HPB, the Mahatmas, W.Q. Judge, G.R.S. Mead, Katherine Tingley, and G. de Purucker, membership records since 1875, art objects, and countless other irreplaceable materials. The archives also contained works of Boehme, Gichtel, donations from the king of Siam including rare Buddhist scriptures, and so on. [with thanks to Reinout Spaink for the information]
 
Website messages:
PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO ITS DESTRUCTION BY THE RECENT ALTADENA-EATON FIRE, THE LIBRARY CENTER IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED
.
PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO DAMAGE INFLICTED BY THE RECENT ALTADENA/EATON FIRE, OUR PRESS CANNOT ACCEPT ORDERS AND SHIP PRINTED BOOKS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. FREE FULL TEXT DIGITAL VERSIONS OF ALMOST ALL TUP PUBLICATIONS ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AT
 
Message from Theosophical member:
 
Report of fire damage at Altadena. Rare books and manuscripts were thankfully digitized. Paraphrased from Andrew Crooke Australasian TS (Pasadena).
“Hi Aroon: many thanks for your concern. Yes, it is a great loss to the theosophical world and the effort for world peace in general.
We can be thankful though that much of the library's rare journal and book collections have been digitized and available on the TS Pasadena website at:
 
A remarkable photo (right) from screenwriter and Forgotten Los Angeles historian Scott Collette: 'A page from the archives of Altadena’s Theosophical Society, which burned down this week. Found in my yard 11 miles away.' (page from William Q. Judge, Echoes of the Orient, vol, 1)
 
PS - We are touched that fundamentalist right-wing conservative Christian conspiracy theorist writer Dianne Marshall has charitably acknowledged the event with a kind, gentle, compassionate article:
What Did They DEW? Is Madame Blavatsky Channeling From The Fires…

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