Blavatsky Letter to J. Ralston Skinner 5

Here we have a fresh mystery: an unidentified and undated single page from the Harvard collection.The content is quite original and intriguing and could indicate that her correspondence with Skinner continued beyond the short period of the dated letters.

Or it might be a stray page from a missing 14-page letter dated December 25, 1886, Ostend, to appear in an upcoming Theosophy History number. See James Santucci lecture,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzCuhGrZzjU

The Skinner collection also has several letters from scholars referenced in Skinner's writings such as John William Draper, Hargrave Jennings, Augustus Le Plongeon, John A. Parker, Gustavus Seyffarth, and Charles Piazzi Smyth.There are also letters from Bertram Keightley and Countess Wachtmeister sent on Blavatsky's behalf during her period of correspondence with Mr. Skinner when she was ill.

Here therefore we have : -(1) a date assignment, viz. 3447 B.C. – (2) the statement that the alphabet was devised to indicate the state of the heavens of that time and thirdly (3) the most ancient alphabet as it has been transmitted down to us.

(In addition)  to this let your attention be also directed to this strange fact :- The vowels are distinct in their very nature from consonants. Vowels are the true signs of sounds, and consonants only the frame on which the sounds can be given by help of the vowels. From this consonants have been compared to the human frame without the vital spark which the vowel signature represents. For this reason of distinctiveness it would be most natural to classify the two parts separate as vowels by themselves and consonants by themselves. Why therefore are they found scattered here and there through or among the consonants of the alphabet – irregularly. It is notorious that-with the ancients the 7 planets were indicated by the 7 vowels and when sung on a musical scale with our range of notes, as do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si but only so but the order of planets representation was fixed from the lowest or most obscure to the higher or clearer sound, as from Saturn to Luna. Thus, in music : c d e f g a

Blavatsky Letter to J. Ralston Skinner 4 - May 27, 1889

The final two Blavatsky letters mainly discuss a Tibetan artifact (shrine, Holy of Holies, with a prayer-wheel) and a gold ring that she sent to Mr. Skinner. This small episode adds yet another mysterious element to the correspondence, because there exists considerable lore regarding the legacy of Blavatsky's rings, See:  https://blavatskyarchives.com/reitemeyer_hpbs_occult_ring.htm

Maycot Crownhill Upper Norwood London ES May 27

I have forwarded today per steamer ‘’Alaska’’ little bronze shrine Tibetan & aerolique (1), gold ring- for you & insured the package through agent. Let me know when you receive them. Do not allow anyone to wear or even touch that ring , except yourself. ‘’HPB’s’’ pkg is sent through Dr. Buck.  The right arm pains so terribly that I can hardly write. It is terrible to be doomed to comparative inaction. I wish I could write a long letter. I have so much to say. But the pain in my arm cannot prevent you from writing surely. What are you evolving just now? I am reading the MSS with more attention than ever. It is a wonderful thing and your letter, the last still more so. If could only meet you I would say more than I can write. But I will never live long enough to see America again anyhow your ever sincerely HPB

(1) word uncertain - possibly aerolique, meaning air-operated, in reference to the prayer-wheel mechanism of the Tibetain shrine artifact.

Blavatsky Letter to J. Ralston Skinner 3 - April 5, 1889

Constance Wachtmeister

The entire Blavatsky correspondence with J. Ralston Skinner is now available online at the Harvard archives:

https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/12/archival_objects/205876

The Blavatsky-W.Q. Judge correspondence is also on-line: https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/12/resources/762

The letter transcribed below is date April 5, 1889 from Ostende (Belgium). The events described have been documented, see Reminiscences of H. P. Blavatsky and "The Secret Doctrine"by the Countess Constance Wachtmeister and others (London : Theosophical Publishing Society ; New York : The Path, 1893),  Chapter 10, pp. 72-78 

https://blavatskyarchives.com/wachtmeister/wachtmeisterremcont.htm

The doctor referred to is William Ashton Ellis (b London, Aug 20, 1852; d London, Jan 2, 1919). English writer and translator. His father was a surgeon and following medical studies at St George's Hospital, London, Ellis held the post of Resident Medical Officer at the Western Dispensary from 1878. In the mid-1870s, however, he became (in his own words) ‘a devotee of Wagner's works’ and resigned his post in 1887, devoting himself over the following 28 years to the single-minded pursuit of Wagner studies. 

https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000046445

My dear Mr. Skinner – I had never to (pay) prepay one cent – why should you send me this dollar then? – In a week or so, fate will have decided whether I will answer your very, very valuable letter + our correspondence increase + multiply or – whether the present are the last lines you will have from me, in this life. (Five days ago/ today is the 17^th – I am in bed) two physicians proclaimed it impossible I should live over 48 hours-I was found to make my will, i.e. leave my old body to my friend Countess Wachtmeister in case of my death otherwise the city authorities would not have permitted them to take it way to London for cremation – Once more I cheated death it seems, but it can come back every hour. It was entire cessation of the function in the kidneys for several days – coma approaching – sleep of dying but Css Wachtmeister in her despair telegraphed to London Lodge to ask for help + a good English physician (one of our Theosophists who had never seen or met me) came here that same night + saved my life in a week’s time- There’s devotion!! He was director of Westminster dispensary & now lost the situation – why they should so cling to poor, old, useless me – is very strange to me but they all do! Show this to dear Dr. Buck – say immediate danger is over but kidneys function still very bad. I am so weak – whatever happens you will receive my photograph – the shrine + ring. May the powers that protected you hitherto, bless & protect you still – if I die, do not think or believe evil of me when people abuse me. For me – death is deliverance, but I wish I could finish Secret Doctrine. My love to brother Buck + thanks to both of you. Yours ever H. P. Blavatsky

Blavatsky Letter to J. Ralston Skinner 2 - 35 pages

In Theosophical History Volume XVII, Issues 1-2 January-April 2016 (Double Issue)(https://theohistory.org/issue-archive/volume-xviii/) is published a transcription of a 35-page letter of Blavatsky to Ralston Skinner. It is an exceptionally lengthy letter, previously unpublished, and so it deservedly gets a royal treatment. Not only is the letter transcribed in full, but 12 pages of color photographic reproductions are also included.

Much commentary and background research has been provided to give a solid understanding of the letter: Contextualizing the Blavatsky-Skinner Letter: 17 February 1887 by Jeffrey Lavoie; J. Ralston Skinner (1830–1893) by Jerry Hejka-Ekins;  Editor’s Comments and Helena Petrovna Blavatsky: Activities from 1878–1887 by James A. Santucci (see https://theosophy.wiki/en/James_Ralston_Skinner )

Mr. Lavoie did the transcription, and Mr. Hejkra-Ekins, besides providing the helpful biography of Skinner, provides well-researched notes that elucidate the contents of the letter throughout.

At first I was a little disappointed because the letter seemed to be merely summaries of topics from Isis Unveiled and the Secret Doctrine without going into the very remarkable discussions on passages from Skinner’s Magnus Opus, The Source of Measures found in the Secret Doctrine. However, on a closer reading one can find many intriguing candid passages, often of a personal mystical nature, that give a unique glimpse of what her correspondence has to offer and why it is an important aspect of her collected writings.

Possibly the most revelatory aspect of the letter can be found on pp. 14-15, where she gives some additional variations of the cosmic/human evolution symbols found in the Proem of the Secret Doctrine (and in other sections). Ultimately, this letter can be said to contain all of the elements of eloquence, erudition, candour, exoticism, mystery and humour that makes Blavatsky such a fascinating historical figure. Therefore, one can consider this publication to be of great interest to Blavatsky students and scholars. Below is a brief attempts at a summary of the letter’s contents, with some extracts (the letter is in response to the question of which language is oldest, Sanskrit or Hebrew):

Pages 1-6 deal with the esoteric aspects of procreation and gestation and a summary of the five racial groups from the Secret Doctrine.

And of those  seven keys of Esoteric philosophy & the universal mystery language you have discovered one- say two-but you seem to scorn entirely its first key-the one which opens the earliest, metaphysical & abstract portion of the philosophy, the paradigms of all things, the divine & spiritual models of its physiological & astronomical aspects. (pp. 1-2)

For I have studied Occultism & Esotericism practically & for practical use, not theoretically; e.g. when I see a certain symbol of the mineral kingdom- say-I know at a glance its relation to the vegetal, animal & human (or psychic) realm.

And I know also to what objects in the physical world & Forces in the noumenal world the 49 weeks of gestation of the primitive men (or child) in ‘’the lunar egg’’- corresponds to. (p. 3)

Pages 7-13 deal with a scholarly discussion of the age of the Hebrew language and the Old Testament, of which Blavatsky has written extensively.

And as you have shown, it is also in the New T. and this proves that the Initiates who wrote the Synoptics & St. John-were of the same school of Initiates as the Essenes, the Egyptians, & the Greeks; especially, as St Paul was.(12)

Pages 14-15 discuss the symbols of evolution from the Proem of the Secret Doctrine, with some variations.

The Jews have never & at no time been monotheists-not as the word is understood in the West, though they may have been as some Hindu sects are now who choose a favourite god among the Devas & make the rest subservient to that creature. The early Jews were Pantheists as we are & the later-humbugs. (14)

Pages 16-20 Discuss the Theban trinity of Amon, Mout, Khonsou, the Egyptian sarcophagus and its relation to sacred cow in India (Holy of the Holies), and a discussion of the words Abraham and Brahma.

This is why, perhaps, Adam (the phallus, too) is said in Maimonides (More Novachim) to have been regarded as the ‘’prophet of the moon’’ by some Semitic nations. By the way the world has never known much, I believe, of Maimonides. (16)

Pages 21- 23 discuss comparisons of the bible with the Vedas, with elements of numerology and symbolism and the zodiac

And now I can tell you, that if you could only get at the Hindu Zodiac, its twelve signs, did you but know Sanskrit-they would reveal to you the whole evolution of Kosmos,-for they do represent this mystery, surely. Only one has to be initiated in the secret reading of the Mantras & their rhythmical melody, and of the Tantra Shastras (works on incantations & magic). (23)

Pages 24-28 discuss the esoteric explanation of Mantras and seven levels of symbolism, cycles and the number 432.

Then, there are 7 synonyms for every word in the ancient books, with other meanings besides the one used exoterically.

Then you have to find out the numerical value of all the letters of a certain word & the same value of each syllable in that word-which value is different.

Then you must permute these different syllables & examine the new combinations. And if, the values of the syllables & the letters correspond-then you have the right meaning. (25)

Pages 29-35 Various esoteric and Masonic discussion, included is a sketch of a Sanskrit talisman to be sent to Skinner

And I guess that if even poor I gave you the strong grip of the Lion’s paw of the tribe of Juda, you would see & find that even I may know something more than your Pikes & Princes of Wales-bless their dear innocent Souls. (32)

This is just why  we worship no more brahmâ (single male) than his seven, nine, ten & 21 Prajapâtis, Rishis,  Dhyan Chohans-call them what you like-his plural aspects in short. But they exist nevertheless. We honour these aspects, but would no more think of praying to them, or ministering or propitiating them, than the ‘’faces of Moses’’ on the moon. We recognize them, that’s all, occasionally-we feel them. They can help us; but only when Karma permits them to; since they are as much under the inalterable & immutable Law of Karma, as we are ourselves. They-all of them-have been, are, or will be men.(32-33)

Ah dear dear sir; no woman in her right senses, not a man either, would go willingly into such hell as I have, & persisted in having Spiritualists, Christians, Materialists, Scientists, & the whole world with  two thirds of our own Theosophists to boot against me, if I had not been forced by my oath & vows to do so. I have lost friends, country, money & health to serve only as manure for the field of future Theosophy. (35)

Blavatsky Letter to J. Ralston Skinner

J. D. Buck

update 27/06/17: an esteemed correspondent, fc (aka friendly chap) has kindly sent in an alternate manuscript reading that seems considerably clearer, therefore we decided to replace the previous version with this one.
This post is a letter from HPB to the erudite Masonic kabbalist J. Ralston Skinner whom Blavatsky helped promote by quoting his remarkable Kabbalistic study Key to the Hebrew-Egyptian mystery in the source of measures in the Secret Doctrine. As this letter to Jirah Dewey Buck indicates, she was introduced to him via Buck, a prominent early American Theosophist from Cincinnati.

http://theosophy.wiki/w-en/index.php?title=James_Ralston_Skinner

http://theosophy.wiki/w-en/index.php?title=Jirah_Dewey_Buck

 

Accounts of Buck’s relation with Skinner can be found in his Modern World Movements (39-42) and more recently in Letters to the Sage (Bowen/Johnson) (107-113). The Blavatsky-Skinner correspondence is preserved at Harvard and includes a soon-to-be published 40-page (!) letter via Theosophical History.

 

The letter below was written during the stressful post-Coulomb/Hodgson affair period, accounts of which are vividly delineated in the Letters of H.P. Blavatsky to A. P. Sinnett.

 

HPB to JDB

My dear & kind brother, I lost Mr. Skinner‘s address so please pass him on this enclosed volume & please ask him to forgive me my flapdoodle English & unsteady writing. But I am in such hurry for want of time that every moment is precious to me.

I hope he won‘t mind my telling him the plain truth what I think, namely that he found or discovered only one of the 7 keys to esoteric interpretation & universal language. He ought not to dwarf the grandiose thoughts of old by squaring them all & limiting their many meanings on the Procrustean bed of terrestrial phallicism. He is too enthusiastic about the Jews altogether & sacrifices history of facts to his preconceptions in favor of the Hebrew which is not an ancient language unless one accepts Bible Chronology. 

But it is the only fault I find in him & I hope I am mistaken in his fanatical views. He is the grandest man & mind (in the direction of the occult) I know of at present; a natural born genius & helped beyond any doubt. I don‘t say ‘helped` mind you, in discovering in his independent research what he has, but helped from the lethal effects & influences of his discoveries. He would have become, uninitiated as he is, insane long ago, or dead or strangled at night under the pretext of an apoplexy - had it not been for the helping & watching hand above him; not of one of our masters but of a Dhyan Chohan, a Planetary - the rarest thing possible, & whom I verily fear he mistakes for God instead of a god-partie & conditioned on his plane. This I know from masters who spoke of him when I was yet at Adyar, referring to him as the "Ohio-Kabbalist & mathematician" - & that I had never heard his name even. Funny I should have never heard of him or his book when in America. His intuitional powers are as marvelous as his mathematical knowledge, indeed. Many thanks for his previous M.S.S.- etc. etc.

H. P. Blavatsky

Ostende

Received March 3rd, 1887

(from RJGA v.2, n.6, June 2013-w/emendations for readability)