Blavatsky & recent positive mainstream articles

In these tough times, the theosophical movement has been struggling.  The various issues around the Covid pandemic, the January 6th Washington riot, the Russian invasion of Ukraine have seen diverse reactions and positions, which have caused some tensions. On the other hand, there have been many charitable, compassionate deeds and shows of solidarity and support. Blavatsky, as I have posted about on occasion, has seen an increase in negative allegations, often highly speculative, superficially researched, steeped in confirmation bias, when not outright fanciful conspiracy theories. 

 

Amazingly, in all of this, there have been a recent spate of mainstream articles about Blavatsky that are actually fair, accurate, and appreciative.  Are we approaching a 'ground-zero' level of understanding of Blavatsky in the mainstream, where she gets the same level of professional, researched consideration as any normal historical figure, rather than the tenuous, inaccurate, unfair, contrived, unproven, confused, conceptual, discursive, theoretical speculations steeped in colonialist-era assumptions? Let us hope. Thank you!

Decent article - It got picked up on some news wires, did well. When did Blavatsky use the term 'ascended teachers'? I'm not aware of such statements by her. Then she includes a link to a Pablo Sender article denying connection with 'ascended masters', so this bit is confusing. Should Blavatsky have been critiquing Russian imperialism? That's quite a complicated can of worms to be opening, I think she was capable of criticizing Russia on certain things, see Blavatsky's writings on Russia,  more research needed. Was her views on India and Eastern religions too romantic? Maybe according to academic theories on orientalism, but weren't western academic views on Asia steeped in imperialistic colonialism? It's nice that she's acknowledging her anti-colonialist position in her travel writings, but what if research were to reveal that it is much more extensive than that? My own opinion is that the 'Prisoners of Shangri-La' theories have fostered a considerable under-valuation of Blavatsky's relation to Eastern philosophy. One could read studies on Buddhism, the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras, and recent studies by Julian Strube to see Blavatsky's credible and coherent knowledge of Eastern philosophy and religion. Moreover, by perusing the magazines that she edited, one can notice many serious, important contributions by some of the most learned native Asian scholars of the time.

White Lotus Day celebrates the ‘founding mother of occult in America,’ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Marina Alexandrova  May 5, 2023

https://theconversation.com/white-lotus-day-celebrates-the-founding-mother-of-occult-in-america-helena-petrovna-blavatsky-197342#Echobox=1683331792

 

Accurate, respectful, objective, nice image research, 31 slides

Madame Blavatsky Russian mystic who founded an occult movement

Stars Insider • May 8

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/madame-blavatsky-the-russian-mystic-who-founded-an-occult-movement/ss-AA18afJE?ocid=LGDHP#image=1

 

An HPB 'Mindmap', a bullet-point chart thing, not bad, seems like an Indian perspective, where did they get '“Theosophical Dictionary”, “From the caves and debris of Hindustan”? 

Madame HP Blavatsky - Biography, Contributions, Literary Works

https://www.iasexpress.net/madame-hp-blavatsky/

 

science one a little fuzzy, but the rest seems OK

19 facts about Madame Blavatsky, the famed Russian mystic's life:

Carl Seaver 2023

https://historydefined.net/madame-blavatsky/

 

Helena Blavatsky: The idiosyncratic occultist who divided opinion

Guru or phoney, even in death Helena Blavatsky's spiritual teachings continued to attract admirers

Charlie Connelly 5 May 2022

https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/helena-blavatsky-great-european-lives/

 

This is one of those 'Yeah Blavatsky and her Theosophical Society, but then the Hodgson Report came out. Game over. Cased closed. The end.' type articles. This may have been well-intentioned. I think that they just wanted an occult article for Halloween. But it relies on the Marion Meade bio, which I think is too steeped in the standard 'guilty until proven innocent' approach to Blavatsky, still prevalent in the 1990s, but has become outdated since then, in my view, as thing have changed a lot in twenty years.

Did She Introduce Eastern Spirituality To America Or Merely Hoodwink People? The Tale Of Madame Blavatsky:  

Margaret Brecknell, October 24, 2022

https://mentalfloss.com/posts/madame-blavatsky-theosophical-society 

 

Good, accurate, comprehensive, concise academic online encyclopedia entry: 

The Theosophical Society 

James A. Santucci, 2018 World Religions and Spirituality Project (WRSP),

 https://wrldrels.org/2018/11/07/the-theosophical-society/

Blavatsky, Gandhi, and Jewish Theosophists

Since the publication of Margaret Chatterjee's Gandhi and His Jewish Friends, 1992, the relationships between Gandhi, Blavatsky, Theosophy, Jewish Theosophists, and the Jewish people have become a fruitful area of historical research thanks to the work of people such as Boaz Huss, Isaac Lubelsky, and Shimon Lev.

 

Theosophy and Gandhi: How Mahatma learned from occult group

Mehmet Hasan Bulut  Feb 23, 2022

the Sanat Kumara business is neo-theosophy, very different from Blavatsky, some other uncertain bits, but overall, not bad

'was taught this passive resistance method by his close Jewish friend Henry Solomon Leon Polak, who was also a member of the Theosophical Society'.

https://www.dailysabah.com/arts/theosophy-and-gandhi-how-mahatma-learned-from-occult-group/news

 

Gandhi’s View on Judaism and Zionism in Light of an Interreligious Theology

Ephraim Meir Religions 2021, 12(7), 489;

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nonviolence and Religion)

Gandhi’s Jewish friends Herman Kallenbach, Sonya Schlesin (1888–1956), Henry Salomon Leon Polak (1882–1959), Lewis Walter Ritch (1868–1952) and Gabriel Isaac (1874–1914) were all universalists and theosophists. They were unfamiliar with the post-Biblical tradition, expressed in multiple ways, including philosophy, mysticism, rituals, laws and customs. Yet, since they had their own remembrance of oppression, persecution and racism, they could easily identify with Gandhi and the Indians in racist South Africa. Not as the wider Jewish community, these individuals courageously decided that they could not longer be onlookers. They became engaged and stood up for the rights of the Indian minority, in the name of universal, ethical brotherhood. Although they lacked a Jewish education, they expressed their Judaism by engaging themselves in the struggle of Indians against discrimination.

https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/7/489/htm

 

Gabriel Isaac, Gandhi’s forgotten lieutenant

Shimon Lev January 28, 2020

Most of these Jews were theosophists and Gandhi understood that his best recruiting ground for European followers was the Johannesburg Lodge of the Theosophical Society

the mourners came from different communities, which reflected the life of Isaac. There were Jews, among them his brother, M. Isaac, and Gandhi’s Jewish supporters, Polak, Schlesin and others. There were many Indians from the different sections of the Indian communities – Hindus and Muslims, as well as people from the small Chinese communities. They were theosophists, businessmen, making for a very unusual funeral scene in South Africa at that time.

To the best of my knowledge, Isaac was the only European to sacrifice his life for the sake of Gandhi and the Indian Satyagraha struggle in South Africa. 

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/gabriel-isaac-gandhis-forgotten-lieutenant-615651

 

Imagining the East: The Early Theosophical Society 

(Oxford, 2020)

14 Mark Bevir Theosophy, Cultural Nationalism, and Home Rule

The third section briefly shows how this cultural nationalism transformed Congress in the years immediately surrounding Gandhi’s return from South Africa. It is argued that Theosophy was one strand feeding into cultural nationalism, as Theosophy introduced important and largely novel themes to cultural nationalism, including a principled commitment to non-violence and an alternative to liberal subjectivities.

https://academic.oup.com/book/39711/chapter-abstract/339733777?redirectedFrom=fulltext

 

15 Michael Bergunder Experiments with Theosophical Truth: Gandhi, Esotericism, and Global Religious History 

This chapter argues that there is strong textual evidence to suggest that M. K. Gandhi’s notion of Hinduism, his specific view of Christianity, and his general belief that all religions refer to the same truth were shaped by the ideas of the Theosophical Society. Furthermore, it is argued that the impact of esotericism on global religious history, from the nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries, needs to be investigated with more academic rigor.

https://academic.oup.com/book/39711/chapter-abstract/339733777?redirectedFrom=fulltext

The Polaks and Mahatma Gandhi: A Unique Relationship

Prabha Ravi Shankar 2019

What kind of a relationship did they have with Gandhi, especially after the latter became the chief leader of the Indian National Congress with a unique political ideology of his own? What kind of humanitarian work was undertaken by Polak after his return to England? What was their contribution to the Indian national movement and Gandhi's leadership in particulars. Answer to these and similar questions have been attempted by Dr. Prabha Ravi Shankar in what is perhaps the first detailed study of the Polaks and their association with Gandhi. 

https://www.ibpbooks.com/the-polaks-and-mahatma-gandhi-a-unique-relationship/p/43654

 

Henry Polak: The Cosmopolitan Life of a Jewish Theosophist, Friend of India and Anti-racist Campaigner

Jane Haggis, Clare Midgley, Margaret Allen & Fiona Paisley 

Cosmopolitan Lives on the Cusp of Empire pp 37–61 2017

Henry Polak (1882–1959), a British-born lawyer, journalist and editor of Indian Opinion, campaigned with Mohandas Gandhi against restrictions on South African Indians and against the indentured labour system. Founder of the Indian Overseas Association in 1920, he worked with Indians across the diaspora against racism and discriminations. Most in tune with Indian political liberals, he worked with them for Indian independence. His life of border-crossings and his affective cosmopolitanism were inspired by his spiritual cosmopolitanism. His reading across cosmopolitan thought zones saw his embrace of Theosophy and universal equality. He drew strong links between Theosophical beliefs and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-52748-2_3

 

Soulmates: The Story of Mahatma Gandhi and Hermann Kallenbach

Shimon Lev Indian & Lithuania - A Personal Bond, pp. 37-52, 2017 

But this story also involves Leo Tolstoy, the prophet of non-violence, who was among the main critics of Western civilization. It involves Hindus, Christians, Jews, Muslims, alongside with staunch Tolstoians and Theosophists as well as white racism. It also involves two ancient Asian nations on the process of a national revival, struggling for freedom in the age of the collapse of imperialism. But it also contains the most catastrophic event of the 20^th  century – World War II and the Holocaust. Gandhi on one hand, Hitler on the other – probably the two most famous figures of their time, but what a difference! And in-between there was Kallenbach, who was on the one hand a believer in non-violence, as a disciple of Gandhi, but on the other hand, shared the fears of the fate of his Jewish brothers in Europe, and particularly tried at the very last moment in 1939 to rescue his brother Simon Kallenbach’s family, as well as his other relatives, from the Nazi-occupied Klaipėda (Memel) in Western Lithuania.

https://www.academia.edu/44183897/Soulmates_The_Story_of_Mahatma_Gandhi_and_Hermann_Kallenbach

 

Pamphlets on Reincarnation: A Unique Set of Articles in the Scholem Collection 

Dr. Zvi Leshem 19.01.2022

Note the symbols that appear on the cover of the lower pamphlet seen in the image above. These in fact form the emblem of the Theosophical Society, which features a Star of David, an Egyptian Ankh, an Ouroborous (a serpent swallowing its tail), a Hindu Aum and even a swastika, which of course was an ancient Hindu religious symbol long before the Nazis expropriated it. Below the emblem is the society’s motto: “There is no religion higher than truth”. 

https://blog.nli.org.il/en/scholem-reincarnation/ 

 

In Search of Jewish Theosophists  

Boaz Huss FOTA Newsletter Issue VI July 2, 2016

Actually, the foundation of the group in Basra was stimulated by the foundation of a Jewish section of the Theosophical Society, named “The Association of Hebrew Theosophists”. The Association was founded at the end of 1925, during the jubilee conference of the Theosophical Society in Adyar. I later found out that the Association of Hebrew Theosophists founded branches in India, England, Holland, and the United States. The American branch published a Journal, The Jewish Theosophist. To my surprise and delight, I found some of the copies of this rare journal in Scholem’s library.  

http://hypatia.gr/fota/images/newsletter/Fota_Newsletter06.pdf

Blavatsky & Annie Besant 2

This is our final post covering 2017. In 2017, Annie Besant received a lot of attention, and so ironically Blavatsky received a lot of press in relation to both Nazism and Indian Independence. The year also saw a new publication concerning the Coulomb/Hodgson affair by Daniel Caldwell and many interesting academic publications. There was also the return of the Theosophical History journal, notably featuring a long letter by Blavatsky to Ralston Skinner. Another eventful year.

This is also most likely the final dense thematic post that I'll be doing. I've covered three years of news and it's clear that interest in Blavatsky remains strong and seems to be growing. I'm most impressed by the diversity of subjects that have been assembled, but I'd like to get away from the regular, systematic format. In the future, I'd like to focus more on original writing, with occasional posts on various topics.

Annie Besant And Her Dauntless Legacy Of Resistance

Ruchira Ghosh - April 6, 2018

Annie Besant was a noted philosopher, social reformer, women’s rights activist, besides being a prolific writer and orator. Her name remains inextricably linked with India’s struggle for freedom. She figures among world famous personalities who made India their home for good.

https://feminisminindia.com/2018/04/06/annie-besant-freedom-fighter/

Annie Besant: An inconvenient woman

Manu S. Pillai Oct 06 2017

One of the founders of Banares Hindu University, the scene of a woman’s agitation today, Annie Besant lived unconventionally, defiant of social norms, well before she came to India

https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/dgXf29xjFPwLz9gYAJotDN/Annie-Besant-An-inconvenient-woman.html

Gandhi Learned Hinduism From Blavatsky’s Occult Theosophy

Feb. 1st, 2018

Though the extent to which the occult Theosophical movement influenced Gandhi and Indian independence is not commonly known, it is well documented. It could also be said that the widespread influence of Eastern spirituality on Western culture that is so prominent today can be attributed largely to Blavatsky and Theosophy. Had she and her followers not taken the steps to influence Indian independence and the revivification of Hinduism, Indian history may have been different.

https://www.gaia.com/lp/content/blavatsky-theosophy-gandhi/

Blavatsky Biographical 2

The Sylvia Cranston bio is now available online:

https://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/cranston/HPB-Cranston_ebook.pdf

 

Blavatsky's Influence on Occult America with Mitch Horowitz

Open Minds with Regina Meredith

S10:Ep51 hr, 3 minsDecember 7, 2017Guest: Mitch Horowitz
https://www.gaia.com/video/blavatskys-influence-occult-america-mitch-horowitz

K. Paul Johnson bio in The Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers (pp. 249-254):

https://books.google.ca/books?id=DsKvAwAAQBAJ&source=gbs_book_other_versions

http://adepts.light.org/2018/01/29/the-most-valuable-five-pages-i-ever-wrote/

 

If you want a good, solid short HPB bio, here's one:

[The sketch below of Madame Blavatsky’s life has been adapted (with additions and deletions) from a biographical article on H.P.B. written by Boris de Zirkoff and published in Theosophia (Los Angeles, California), Summer 1968, pp. 3-8.]

http://blavatskyarchives.com/longseal.htm

 

an old radio show transcript

Esoteric Masters: Part Two - Madame Blavatsky's Theosophy

She was a big cigar smoking impoverished Russian, who claimed a noble family background and travelled the world giving clairvoyant demonstrations. Yet Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was destined to become the founder of an international esoteric movement, which drew to its bosom a galaxy of influential men and women.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/spiritofthings/esoteric-masters-part-two---madame-blavatskys/3478806

 

Madame Blavatsky: Esoteric Philosopher with Gary Lachman

Hosted by A Curious Invitation

Thursday, May 3 at 6:30 PM 2018 - 8:30 PM

https://www.facebook.com/events/1817420631883707/

 

Less than accurate, but well-meaning theatrical piece:

Review: Deviant Women: Madame Blavatsky

March 15, 2018 by Lisandra Linde

Deviant Women: Madam Blavatsky was a perfect blend of dark and comedic, of the spooky and the playful. It was a night any Victorian lady or gentleman would be proud of.

https://tulpamagazine.com/2018/03/15/deviant-women-madame-blavatsky/

 

Cool Russian Documentary - English dubbing

H P Blavatsky Biography Part 1.of 5 - Jan 13, 2010

This powerful and informative Drama Documentary made for Russian Television in 1991 presented Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (The founder of Modern Theosophy) to the Russian public after details of her life and work had been suppressed for decades under Communism. English subtitles and voiceover. This film is recommended as an introduction to H P Blavatsky by Cardiff Theosophical Society, Wales, UK.

https://theacademiciantheosophical.wordpress.com/2016/06/16/helena-blavatsky-biography-russian-documentary/

Blavatsky & Annie Besant

Annie Besant: Theosophist who inspired Indian nationalism
DECCAN CHRONICLE. | M R VENKATESH - Aug 15, 2017
And this year, as we celebrate the 70th anniversary of Indian Independence, it will be special for another reason too. It brings home memories of the confluence of another centenary of the first Woman President the Indian National Congress saw in Mrs Annie Besant in 1917.
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/150817/theosophist-who-inspired-indian-nationalism.html
　
70 Years of Independence: Remembering Annie Besant, a 'Diamond Soul'
2017-08-09
A Diamond Soul' who played a crucial role in shaping independent India, Annie Besant was a famous Theosophist, orator, author as well as the supporter of the Irish and Indian self-rule.
http://www.newsnation.in/india-news/70-years-of-independence-remembering-annie-besant-a-diamond-soul-article-179070.html
　
Take a walk to reconnect with reformers who changed Mumbai's social landscape
Apr 18, 2017 - Krutika Behrawala
Fondekar says, "We will cover roughly 15 spots, including Blavatsky Lodge that is associated with social activist Dr Annie Besant, along with certain roads named after social reformers." Post its debut this week, the walking experience will be held every Sunday at 8 am.
http://www.mid-day.com/articles/lifestyle-news-take-a-walk-to-reconnect-with-reformers-who-changed-mumbais-social-landscape/18173188
　
She’s number one, but only because it’s in alphabetical order:
10 Important Women in Goddess Spirituality
May 21, 2014 by Jason Mankey
Besant is best known as the President of the Theosophical Society, one of the most influential groups ever in the history of the occult and the New Age movements.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/panmankey/2014/05/10-important-figures-in-goddess-spirituality/
　
English version of Besant biography
Muriel Pécastaing-Boissière – Annie Besant Struggles and Quest
https://www.facebook.com/pecastaingboissiere/posts/1692719254128847
https://www.facebook.com/vilevictorians/posts/1901924720118558?pnref=story

Blavatsky Biographical

I forgot to include this in my Lachman post, nice article:

Who was Madame Blavatsky?

Gary Lachman - Friday 13th, March 2015

Colin Wilson once remarked about Rasputin, Blavatsky’s countryman, that he seemed “to possess the peculiar quality of inducing shameless inaccuracy in everyone who writes about him.” The same could be said for Madame Blavatsky.

http://www.watkinsmagazine.com/who-was-madame-blavatsky

 

New World Encyclopedia entry (they publish cleaned-up wikipedia articles), not bad, fairly balanced:

Helena Blavatsky

Helena Petrovna Hahn (also Hélène) (July 31, 1831 (O.S.) (August 12, 1831 (N.S.)) - May 8, 1891 London), better known as Helena Blavatsky (Russian: Елена Блаватская) or Madame Blavatsky, born Helena von Hahn, was a founder of the Theosophical Society. Although her role as a medium would prove controversial and the Theosophical Society would split following her death, her writing represents a significant contribution to the development of reformist and universal tendencies within Indian thought. Mahatma Gandhi wrote that her Key to Theosophy was one of the texts that stimulated him to ‘read books on Hinduism’ and ‘disabused [him] of the notion fostered by the missionaries that Hinduism was rife with superstition.’ ^[1] Perhaps the fact that Blavatsky was not in any way affiliated with the imperial project in India freed her of the obligation to value everything European at the cost of everything Indian.

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Helena_Blavatsky

Nice bio post:

H. P. Blavatsky: Her Extraordinary Life and Influence

May 5, 2017 - Theosophy Watch |

“The portrayal of Blavatsky is neutral, though more sympathetic than works of this kind. The index contains 16 references to her. What Horowitz manages to do, and successfully so, is to show the contribution to the inner life of America by these often disparate figures who were united in their vision of a world made better by better people.”

https://theosophywatch.com/2017/05/05/h-p-blavatsky-her-extraordinary-life-and-influence/

Well-intentioned, but less than accurate posts: Helena P. Blavatsky - 

Theosophical Society Sue and Michael Treanor

http://supernaturalmagazine.com/articles/helena-p.-blavatsky-theosophical-society

The Mysterious Madame Blavatsky – Psychic or Charlatan?

Paul Andrews  July 23, 2017

https://paulwandrews.wordpress.com/2017/07/23/the-mysterious-madame-blavatsky-psychic-or-charlatan/

The Astral Visions of Madame Blavatsky

April 22, 2017 - Sara Marie Hogg

https://calebandlindapirtle.com/82007-2/

Someone made an audio version of the Secret Doctrine – wow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcU1JdbZjJg