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

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. 

https://www.wired.com/2016/05/geeks-guide-mark-adams/

 

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

http://atlan.org/the-discovery-of-atlantis/      

  

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.

http://www.crystalinks.com/blatvatskyatlantis.html

 

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

http://www.grunge.com/77738/strange-history-atlantis/

 

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.

http://micetimes.asia/little-known-facts-about-the-mysterious-atlantis-photo/

New Book: Upstate Cauldron, Joscelyn Godwin (Chapter 18 on Blavatsky):

Joscelyn Godwin has concocted a frothy, bubbling brew of mystery and magic in 19^th century American alternative religion in his New York state cauldron for you to jump in. By the pricking of my thumbs, somewhere upstate, a cauldron comes..

 

Publishers’s Page

From 1776 to 1914, an amazing collection of prophets, mediums, sects, cults, utopian communities, and spiritual leaders arose in Upstate New York. Along with the best known of these, such as the Shakers, Mormons, and Spiritualists, this book explores more than forty other spiritual leaders or groups, some of them virtually unknown, but all of them fascinating. The author uncovers common threads that characterize these homegrown spiritualities, including roots in Western esoteric traditions, liberation from the psychological pressures of dogmatic Christianity, a preoccupation with sex, and involvement in the radical reform movements of the day. In addition to maps and photographs of surviving buildings and monuments, the book also features a gazetteer of sites listing 150 locations connected to these groups, which may be used as a helpful travel guide to the region.

http://www.sunypress.edu/p-6033-upstate-cauldron.aspx

 

Review by Nicole Gray

There are chapters on Madame Blavatsky and Theosophy, Cyrus Teed's hollow earth and Koreshanity, and even literary connections like L. Frank Baum, whose The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) hints of Baum's interest in Theosophy. Godwin concludes with a brief foray into the twentieth century with Elbert Hubbard and Gustav Stickley, "emphasizing the spiritual side" of these two figures and its contribution to the development of the Arts and Crafts movement, though neither Hubbard nor Stickley was expressly affiliated with any religion (p. 276). His final chapters cover New York architect and Theosophist Claude Bragdon and a series of modern-day movements and still-extant upstate communities with New Age, Eastern, and occult practices and beliefs.

https://networks.h-net.org/node/15697/reviews/91318/gray-godwin-upstate-cauldron-eccentric-spiritual-movements-early-new  

Elizabeth Lowry review
http://nr.ucpress.edu/content/20/2/131  

Magonia Review of Books
Joscelyn Godwin’s fascinating study shows that these were just the headliners; there was a multiplicity of support acts, large and small. Some were offshoots of Christianity; others were more diverse; some celebrated sex in one way or another; others preached strict abstention; some were in the forefront of racial rights and women’s rights – which, he says, “worked hand in hand”, at least until the Civil War. And then there were the sleeping preachers… http://pelicanist.blogspot.ca/2016/06/  

Quest Magazine
Theosophists appear several times in this history, not just HPB and Henry Steel Olcott, but others less known, notably Matilda Joslyn Gage, who coauthored the History of Woman Suffrage with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Mrs. Gage was to become the mother-in-law of L. Frank Baum, passing along her interest in Theosophy to him. Baum would go on to author the Oz series of children’s books, which Godwin notes have both Theosophical and Gnostic elements. Godwin also reminds us that it was Josephine Cables, a Theosophist in Rochester, New York, who helped rouse the Theosophical Society in America out of the dormancy it had fallen into after the departure of HPB and Olcott for India in 1878. In 1882 she applied to the Adyar headquarters for a charter for a Rochester branch. It was the first American branch to be chartered since the TS’s founding in 1875.
https://www.theosophical.org/membership/renew/310-publications/quest-magazine/book-reviews  

K. Paul Johnson
Hiram Edson’s vision of Christ in the cornfield in 1844 (see chapter 8), which became the theological foundation of Adventism, happened between Clifton Springs and Port Gibson. That is about five miles from the Sacred Grove outside Palmyra, where in 1820 Joseph Smith met God the Father and Jesus Christ, and about four miles from Hydesville, where in 1848 the Fox sisters started talking to the dead. So three lasting religious movements—Adventism, Mormonism, and spiritualism, were all sparked off in that little triangle.
https://adepts.light.org/2015/06/

Blavatsky and Painting: George William Russell (AE)

all images by George Russell

Hidden Aeons: Searching for a literary relic –

Brian J Showers - Mon, Apr 10, 2017

Yet despite all this, the name A.E. is still imbued with a certain magic, a presence that gathers around it the like-minded, drawing with a natural magnetism, ears straining to hear old traces of the new songs of Ireland. And just as they did during his lifetime, readers, historians, writers, mystics, activists, poets, students, organisers, politicians, artists, and the open-minded are still discovering kinship in A.E. and his works.

http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/hidden-aeons-searching-for-a-literary-relic-1.3043433

 

Hairy fairy revisited – An Irishman’s Diary on George Russell

Brian Maye - Mon, Apr 3, 2017

He was a poet, painter, playwright and nationalist who wrote on economics and politics, and the list of names of those who attended his famous “soirées” at his home in Rathgar reads like a “who’s who” of the Dublin of his time.

There he met WB Yeats, who introduced him to theosophy. He joined the Theosophical Society in 1890, his membership certificate being signed by Madame Blavatsky, the Russian founder of the society.

http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/hairy-fairy-revisited-an-irishman-s-diary-on-george-russell-1.3032543

Delving into the arcane: the legacy of Æ’s hidden murals

Aidan Dunne - Sat, Jul 5, 2014

Established in New York in 1875 by a small group of people centred on Helena Blavatsky, Henry Steel Olcott and Dublin-born William Quan Judge, the society held that a body of ancient, hidden knowledge lay behind all the world’s religions and, similarly, that hidden laws lay beyond the bounds of conventional scientific thought.

In Ireland, George Russell (Æ), James M Pryse and others set up a branch in Dublin, based at number 3 Ely Place. “It was a kind of commune and in many ways idealistic, even utopian,” says Moore. “The theosophists were, and are, completely non-sectarian. They believe in universal freedom and equality.”

Though it sounds as if it might be a religious cult, he points out: “It’s not. It ambitiously aimed to synthesise elements of science, philosophy and religion.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/delving-into-the-arcane-the-legacy-of-%C3%A6-s-hidden-murals-1.1853925

 

Recent Wall Street Journal article on Piet Mondrian mentions Blavatsky:

Mondrian was attracted to both Catholic mysticism and Theosophical religious ideas around 1908. Theosophy—founded on the beliefs of Helena Blavatsky—stressed that a divine structure was hidden beneath everyday appearances. In 1915, the artist was briefly drawn to Christosophy—a merging of Theosophy with Christian theology created by a former Catholic priest. Mondrian had begun his diamond paintings before he broke away from Christosophy four years later.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-starry-christmas-1482522700

 

From Alexei Jawlensky, Abstract Faces at Full Intensity

Will Heinrich- March 9, 2017

The son of a colonel in the imperial Russian Army, Alexei Jawlensky was 18 and a cadet when a visit to the All-Russian Exhibition of Industry and Art in Moscow in 1882 changed his life by introducing him to painting. Eventually he moved to Munich with Marianne von Werefkin, another artistic expat from the nobility, vacationed with Kandinsky, bought a van Gogh and studied Buddhism, yoga and theosophy.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/arts/design/from-alexei-jawlensky-abstract-faces-at-full-intensity.html?_r=1

Blavatsky and the Theosophical Movement 2




A group of prominent neo-theosophists in Sydney 1922

One hundred and twenty-five years after Blavatsky's passing, the various theosophical movements are still doing their thing, sending out groovy spiritual vibrations into the atmosphere:

Neo-Theosophist praises Blavatsky: The Heroic Nature of H. P. Blavatsky- C. Jinarajadasa http://www.helenablavatsky.org/2016/12/the-heroic-nature-of-h-p-blavatsky.html
 
The Academican Theosophical tackles the Krishnamurti affair
https://theacademiciantheosophical.wordpress.com/2017/01/05/the-reluctant-messiah-truth-about-jiddu-krishnamurti-and-theosophy/

A nice pdf document on the Blavatsky-Leadbeater relationship:
http://www.cwlworld.info/Blavatsky_and_Leadbeater.pdf

Upcoming French biography on Annie Besant:
https://www.facebook.com/leslie.price.3194/posts/572004822982312#!/richardjohnbr/posts/10154471894178000?pnref=story
 
John Fergus replies to ULT critique of G. de Purucker’s use of Blavatsky’s writings
https://blavatskytheosophy.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/the-question-of-g-de-purucker-a-reply-to-a-reply.pdf
https://blavatskytheosophy.com/the-question-of-g-de-purucker/

Journalist Carlos Cardoso Aveline blogs in the Times of Israel, citing Blavatsky on occasion:

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/occult-roots-of-religious-violence/

Theosophy News Worldwide offers much interesting news items that have good follow-up and complement many of the news items on this site (no official connection, telepathy perhaps, or synchronicity):
http://www.soehne-des-feuers.de/nachrichten/theosophy-news-worldwide-1st-quarter-2017-327.html
 

Portuguese blog study on the history of Blavatsky Secret Doctrine Volume 3:

http://lua-em-escorpiao.blogspot.ca/2016/09/a-controversia-sobre-o-quinto-e-sexto.html

 

Prominent British Judge was a theosophist:
"There Monier-Williams was very much involved in the Oxford Union and became a follower of Madame Blavatsky, the occultist medium and founder of the esoteric movement known as Theosophy. " http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11821006/His-Honour-Evelyn-Monier-Williams-obituary.html

 

New Age Blog: The All: Unconditional Love vs Love of Family
https://iamofthestars.com/2016/09/11/the-all-unconditional-love-vs-love-of-family-by-h-p-blavatsky/        

Blavatsky and the Theosophical Movement I

Rene Guenon

The various theosophical organizations continue to do good altruistic work on an international scale, regularly presenting projects that showcase various aspects of Blavatsky's oeuvre...

Response to a Criticism of Theosophy by Rene Guenon - Paul Bertrand - 1922: 

Rene Guenon's book had the effect of basically kicking Blavatsky out of esoteric history in France until Antoine Faivre came along. Read the special issue of FOTA and find out why:
http://hypatia.gr/fota/images/newsletter/Fota_Newsletter_Special_Ed_Autumn2016.pdf

Theosophical History - upcoming issue
TH has announced the contents of their upcoming issue. Of note is a long, important unpublished letter from HPB to Mason/ Kabbalist Ralston Skinner.
http://www.theohistory.org/Upcoming-issue/Contents_18-1.pdf

 

Interview with Theosophical History founder Leslie Price:

http://www.theosophyforward.com/articles/the-society/1509-mini-interviews-leslie-price

 

Archival Mysteries: Madame Blavatsky and the Seven Archival Mysteries – part one -Details Thursday, 04 December 2014 Leslie Price
  https://www.theosophyforward.com/theosophy/1332-madame-blavatsky-and-the-seven-archival-mysteries-part-one
https://www.theosophyforward.com/theosophy/1408-madame-blavatsky-and-the-seven-archival-mysteries-part-2

 

Fota #6
The latest Newsletter of the Friends of the Theosophical Archives is jam-packed with informative theosophical history coverage - of note are
Museum Center of H.P. Blavatsky and Her Family: The Stage of Creation. p.88
Habitations of HPB, p. 100
Some Objects Exhibited at the TS in London, p.110
http://hypatia.gr/fota/images/newsletter/Fota_Newsletter06.pdf

International Theosophy Conference on Blavatsky & Social Responsibility:

August 11 – August 14 Santa Barbara, California
Theosophy and Social Responsibility
Applying the Head and Heart Teachings of H.P. Blavatsky
The aim of the 2016 Conference is to explore the active connection between Theosophical teachings and social responsibility. Guided by the principles and metaphysical perspectives given in The Secret Doctrine and other writings of H.P.B. and those of her close co-workers, conference participants will discuss how fundamental ethical questions reflected in contemporary social conditions might be answered. How might students of Theosophy understand and practice social responsibility? What thoughts and deeds might help us reduce suffering and improve the quality of life for all that lives? Do the teachings of Theosophy, in particular the messages of H.P. Blavatsky, indicate a duty to help others? The location and program of the Conference, at La Casa de Maria, will provide an inspiring and regenerative opportunity for both formal and informal discussion in a community of Theosophical learning. http://itcconferencesantabarbara.org/program/
watch the lectures:
http://livestream.com/blavatskyhouse

 

International Conference on Theosophical History

17th & 18th September 10 am to 6 pm
Speakers will be attending from Israel, the United States, Denmark, Canada & elsewhere. Presentations include a study of ‘Thought Forms’ by Muriel Pecastaing-Boissiere (Paris), author of a recently published biographical study of Annie Besant; new discoveries about Madame Blavatsky’s early life by Erica Georgiades (Greece – in absentia); the William Q Judge case by Brett Foray (USA), and Dion Fortune’s early death by Geraldine Beskin of the Atlantis Bookshop (London). There will be a display of archival material.
http://theosophicalsociety.org.uk/theosophical-history-conference

 

International Conference - Modernity and Esoteric Networks：Theosophy, Arts, Literature and Politics - March 7 and 8, 2017 -  National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
Theosophy had been underestimated unfairly, or to put it correctly, neglected by academics for a long time. It had been regarded as a bogus Buddhism, and not an appropriate theme for serious study. However, this academic tendency began to change towards the last decade of the 20th century owing to the development of several research fields: investigations on New Religious Movements, cultural studies of modern literature and art, and religious and political studies of the South Asian region; the shift was also due to the establishment of the academic discipline of Western Esotericism. In the 21st century, this trend has become evident in the growing number of scholarly publications and in the holding of international conferences in Europe, the United States an Israel, with Japan added to the list this year.
https://jnaseblog.wordpress.com/2016/11/28/international-conference-modernity-and-esoteric-networks%EF%BC%9Atheosophy-arts-literature-and-politics/

Blavatsky and Russia

Article on oriental influence on Russian writers:

What Russian Writers Learnt From India

Aravindan Neelakandan - Jan 10, 2016

Viktor Vladimirovich Khlebnikov (1885-1922) was a major poet-philosopher of Russian Futurist movement. A minor planet has been named after him too. Influenced by Helena Blavatsky, the founder of theosophical movement, Khlebnikov considered her ‘the only one who traveled to India in search of what it means to be a Russian’ (4). In his lyrical prose work titled‘Yasir’ which means ‘captive’, he explores Indian themes elaborately. It is about Istoma, the alter-ego of Khlebnikov, who wanders in search of a principle that shall provide ‘liberty to all oppressed people’ and finds it in the all-embracing universal soul – Brahman and non-dualism (Advaita).
http://swarajyamag.com/culture/what-russian-writers-learnt-from-india

 

Peter Kropotkin - Blavatsky connection? She was an admirer of Tolstoi, so there is one. Covers Russian intellectual mood of the era.

Morality: The Lust For Pleasure -The Case of Peter Kropotkin

Milan Djurasovic — October 23, 2016

Russian literature of the mentioned period is replete with Nietzschean influences and extremely subjective and individualist themes (the abstract ideas of Helena P. Blavatsky and Nicholas Roerich, the obsession with the notion of fin de siècle of many artists and Symbolist writers such as Alexander A. Blok and Andrei Bely, the preoccupation with eternal life, the overbearing fear of the looming Asiatic invasion, etc.). Additionally, a number of predominantly English influential thinkers and scientists had isolated and focused only on the Malthusian aspects of Darwin’s theory of natural selection (intraspecific competition and overpopulation), and had manipulated these ideas to justify the brutal conquests of foreign lands as well as the extreme economic inequality in their own country.[2]

https://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/23/morality-the-lust-for-pleasure-the-case-of-peter-kropotkin/
see Blavatsky article on Tolstoi: Tolstoi's Unecclesiastical Christianity

 

Why the Soviets Sponsored a Doomed Expedition to a Hollow Earth Kingdom

Dimitra Nikolaidou September 15, 2016

Unfortunately for the Roerichs, the area they aimed to investigate was all but inaccessible in the early 20th century. Tibet was closed to foreigners; moreover, the Soviets, the French, the English, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Mongolians and the Germans vied for control of the place. Spies, rebels and rogue warlords clashed daily in the mountain passes making the expedition extremely hazardous. The rivalry between the USSR and the British Empire in particular, was so intense it was nicknamed “the Great Game”.

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-the-soviets-sponsored-a-doomed-expedition-to-a-hollow-earth-kingdom

In an article entitled “Turkish Barbarities”, she wrote during the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878:

 “I regard this war not as one of Christian against Muslim, but as one of humanity and civilization against barbarism.” 

http://www.katinkahesselink.net/blavatsky/articles/v1/y1877_009.htm

 

Blavatsky's translation of Leo Tolstoy's The Imp and the Crust (1889)

https://theosophyproject.blogspot.ca/2017/01/blavatskys-translation-of-leo-tolstois.html

 

Interesting Blavatsky article The Jews in Russia

New York World, Sept. 25th, 1877

http://blavatsky.net/index.php/jews-in-russia