Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
abracad, · Categories: externally authored, theosophyby Malgorzata Duszak
Upon the plunge into the vast realm of prophets, seers and visionaries one cannot help but wonder about the nature, validity and significance of the revelatory experiences of Madame Blavatsky, a, or should we say “theâ€, nineteenth century greatest occultist. Her eccentric persona and extraordinary phenomena that accompanied her beg for the closer analysis by anyone seriously fascinated with the communication from the beyond. Not easily perhaps defined by everyone as a prophetess, M. Blavatsky certainly belongs to the last century’s most phenomenal seers. Or does she? Beside the incredible number of followers she gathered, she also attracted a quite considerable amount of critics labeling her as nothing but scheme and fraud. Not being in any way able to solve the ongoing debate concerning the validity of her claims, the essay will focus primarily on presenting the nature, the expression and the role of M. Blavatsky’s experiences as the visionary messages for the human kind. It will do so from the vintage point of admiration and reverence for the insight, hope, and light that this, it must be admitted, controversial figure brought into the world.
H. P. Blavatsky was born in Russia in 1831. Brought up in the atmosphere of fantasy she displayed a great interest in anything weird, mysterious and unknown since the early childhood. The visions of a “male protectorâ€, sleep walking incidents and trance speaking all began to take place when she was only a little girl. In her teen years she went to Egypt where she gathered her first occult knowledge. In those years her clairvoyant abilities as well as psychic phenomena all started to emerge even without her understanding of their precise nature. She grew extremely interested in the religious traditions of various cultures especially those of India, which made her travel intensely worldwide. Her ultimate dream was to meet the Great Masters in Tibet. Gradually she started to turn from being a medium to an occultist with power to control the supernatural phenomena around her. By the age of 42 her relationship with the Masters was already established and her mission of presenting their truths to the world unfolded fully. She began writing numerous articles as well as books and in 1875, with her closest friend Olcott, she founded a Theosophical Society. [1]
To understand better her mission, it is necessary to look at the exact form of communication with the Tibetan Masters she engaged in. Despite the countless paranormal powers she displayed such as materialization and dematerialization of objects, discovery and duplication of lost items, producing raps, casting hypnotic suggestions, or clairvoyance, [2] her main claim was the communication with the Adepts, Masters, or Mahatmas. These were the superhuman entities who, as M. Blavatsky believed, spoke to her telepathically and visited her in their physical and astral forms. [3] The Masters, she explained, were the highly evolved beings who once lived on earth and after having mastered the physical evolution have moved to another plane of existence to watch over the human growth. [4] Together they comprise the Great White Brotherhood and it is them who now decided to speak to the human race through the medium of M. Blavatsky.
The way the Masters communicated with the eccentric lady was mainly through precipitation-the automatic writing. [5] During this form of communication her thoughts were “impressed†[6] with those of the Adepts and quickly transferred into writing. “Somebody who knows all dictates to me,†[7] proclaimed M. Blavatsky. Sometimes she could even see the printed invisible information in the space in front of her from which she copied. [8] Different Masters spoke through her this way causing her handwriting to change. [9] Impressed in this manner with the extrasensory data about the nature of reality she composed a great number of immensely complex literature.
Despite the tremendous enthusiasm she met with, some people accused her of fraud and schemed to “expose†her. Conspiracies against her flourished. She was accused of plagiarism and trickstery. [10] True as some of the charges against her might be, (she hired others to impersonate the Masters on at least one occasion), [11] it does not seem plausible for all the communication to be fraudulent. The complexity of the information given as well as numerous supernatural phenomena witnessed by those in her presence point to somewhat less critical conclusions. Furthermore, she did not gain much while she was still alive but abuse and ridicule, [12] a rather high cost for the sheer fun of tricking and deceiving others, of which she was accused.
As for the expression of M. Blavatsky’s revelation, it was saturated with the enormous love for the ancient Indian concepts, [13] which, she believed, lied at the foundation of every religion. However, some truths, especially during the first years of her visionary mission, were still concealed from being exposed to the whole world. This conflicted greatly with the attitude and expression of other religions that believed in their easy accessibility by all. In the case of the occult knowledge, the Masters did not wish to express themselves fully before the humanity seems responsible enough to bear the consequences that such revelation entails. [14]
Nonetheless, M. Blavatsky succeeded to express and pass down a huge amount of esoteric knowledge. She accomplished this by mean of books, articles, letters, and clairvoyance séances. She has managed to gain fame all around the world whether it was for her visionary capabilities or the saint-less character usually associated with any prophetic and visionary figure. People found her annoying, irritable, mischievous, immature, irresponsible, lacking diplomacy and patience, illogical, and plain childish. [15] She ate a lot and she swore a lot. [16] Yet, the amazing occult knowledge and power she possessed, her talents and clear insights into reality, universe, human construction, ancient mysteries, etc made her “fans†all over the world embrace her messages with reverence and burning devotion to the truths she revealed. Most of all, she expressed them with the divine power and the authority of the Great Masters behind her to whom she felt utterly and infinitely devoted.
The interpretation of the role of her visionary (or, rather, telepathic) experiences depends on the approach one takes to the whole phenomenon of extrahuman communication. Some might believe that it was some form of “cosmic reservoir of memoriesâ€, [17] or, as Bonewits put it, a metaphysical “switchboard†[18] that she tapped into to receive the information she chose to consider as coming down to her from the Great Adepts. For others she will remain as the “heaven-treading seerâ€, “shameless impostorâ€, “charlatan and thief of soulsâ€, [19] “misunderstood messenger of the Great Onesâ€, [20] “an unrivalled psychicâ€, “great suffererâ€, or “the messenger of a marvelous religious and philosophical revelation.†[21] According to Overholt’s definition of the prophet as someone who, being in direct contact with the divine beings or a being, brings down the message or insight not accessible to others, [22] she definitely fits the criteria of one.
Regardless of the impossibility of establishing who M. Blavatsky was without stirring up debates, few things can be agreed upon as to the role that she played in the history of the human race. First of all, she facilitated the belief in the existence of the superhuman beings guarding and protecting human evolution. Secondly, in her sense of mission to save the world from the clasps of spiritual ignorance she left the big amount of esoteric knowledge aiming to lead us to the higher perception of reality. The Theosophical Society she founded aspires to awaken humanity to the universal religion, a “secret doctrine†(divine wisdom) [23] at the foundation of all religious traditions. Its objectives include the study of laws of nature and man, religions and science. [24] M. Blavatsky visualized this one universal religion to “burst asunder the iron fetters of creeds and dogmas,…,break down racial and national antipathies…and open the way to the practical realization of the Brotherhood of all men.†[25] In this sense, again, she fit into Overholt’s category of a prophetess as one with a vision to change social order. [26]
If M. Blavatsky was nothing but fraud she was guilty of awakening the noblest spiritual ideals defying the national and religious differences. She opened the western world to the depth of the eastern concepts and familiarized the East with the West. She brought the two civilizations together as a true pioneer of oneness. As Besant rightly observed, the “man of genius shows you what the human race shall be. He IS the prophecy of the future.†[27] M. Blavatsky’s visions of the development of the human kind based on one secret doctrine as well as the range of higher perception she possessed represent in themselves the prophecy of the future.
M. Blavatsky remains as one of the most influential spiritual revealers for anyone even slightly interested in pursuing higher awareness. Throughout her life she was directly influenced by the commands and knowledge of the Great Masters who, as she explains, persistently watch over the human progress. Telepathically impressed with the information they wished to deliver through her, she composed a great number of books and articles that, in her belief, unfolded to the humankind the true nature of reality. Childishly and irresponsibly as she at times behaved, her expression in relation to the Great Masters’ messages was always full of power, authority, and otherworldliness. Dismissed by many skeptics as a fraudulent “old witchâ€, [28] her sympathizers all over the world nonetheless remember her as the extraordinary ground breaker for the era of unity and a new spiritual awareness. For them, she undoubtedly represents a great revealer, a seer, a visionary,……a prophet?
BIO:
Born and raised in Poland, Duszak graduated from the English college in Elblag after which she left to the United States to work as an au-pair. She stayed in the USA for another year travelling across the continent. She discovered a lot about the spiritual and esoteric matters in that time, and deepening the knowledge of the subject remained her most cherished passion ever since.
Malgorzata also graduated from the Religious Studies program at the University of Queensland in Australia. Despite lots of personal turmoils, she continued to explore life following her never-ending desire to venture into the unknown regions of the world and of her mind.
She has been a spiritual adventurer and the true “experience collector,†as she calls herself, for years. She participated in the variety of religious and spiritual events and ceremonies on three continents, open to always increase her connection with the truths hidden beyond the ordinary perception. Her questioning mind and metaphysical curiosity has taken her into the most unusual situations and human encounters. She studied with Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons as well as with more alternative philosophers. She explored the Occult, New Age, the UFO phenomena, participated in ancient as well as modern ceremonies, visited native lands, deserts, jungles as well the busiest cities.
Her ongoing odyssey to find the ultimate truths might provoke the questions and answers within us all so that our own odyssey may continue forever onward.
She is currently living in Central America, soon to prepare her move back to Europe.
www.facebook.com/odysseyofanairhead
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Besant, A., Australian Lectures, George Robertson & Coy. Prop. Ltd., Sydney, 1908
Blavatsky, H. P., The Key to Theosophy, Theosophical Publishing Company, New York, 1896
Bonewits, I., Real Magic, WeiserBooks, York Beach, 1989
Butt, G. B., Madame Blavatsky, Rider & Co., London, 1927
Campbell, B. F., Ancient Wisdom Revived; A History of the Theosophical Movement, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1980
Meade, M., Madame Blavatsky; The Woman Behind the Myth, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1980
Overholt, T. W., Channels of Prophecy; The Social Dynamics of Prophetic Activity, Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1989
Shearman, H., Modern Theosophy, The Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, 1954
Washington, P., Madame Blavatsky’s Baboon, Schocken Books, New York, 1995
Also consulted:
Blavatsky, H. P., Vol. I, Secret Doctrine, The Theosophical Publishing House, London, 1893
Lillie, A., Madame Blavatsky and her “Theosophyâ€; A Study, Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1895
Olcott, H. S., Vol. 3, Old Diary Leaves; The History of the Theosophical Society, The Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, 1972
[1] G. B. Butt, Madame Blavatsky, Rider & Co., London, 1927, pp. 2-37
[2] ibid, pp. 131-198
[3] M. Meade, Madame Blavatsky; The Woman Behind the Myth, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1980, p. 463
[4] B. F. Cambell, Ancient Wisdom Revived; A History of the Theosophical Movement, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1980, pp. 53-4
[5] P. Washington, Madame Blavatsky’s Baboon, Schocken Books, New York, 1995, p. 47
[6] Butt, p. 68
[7] Campbell, p. 33
[8] ibid
[9] Meade, p. 160
[10] Butt, p. 58 and Campbell, p. 33
[11] Butt, p. 144
[12] Butt, p. 50
[13] Butt, p. 44
[14] ibid, p. 49
[15] Butt, pp. 222-265
[16] Meade, p. 8
[17] ibid, p. 463
[18] I. Bonewits, Real Magic, WeiserBooks, York Beach, 1989, p. 131
[19] Butt, p. 1
[20] Butt quoting Olcott, p. 37
[21] Butt, p. 266
[22] T. W. Overholt, Channels of Prophecy; The Social Dynamics of Prophetic Activity, Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1989, pp. 1, 4, and 70
[23] Campbell, p. 36
[24] H. Shearman, Modern Theosophy, The Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, 1954, p. 249
[25] H. P. Blavatsky, The Key to Theosophy, Theosophical Publishing Company, New York, 1896, p. 255
[26] Overholt, p. 167
[27] A. Besant, Australian Lectures, George Roberston & Coy. Prop. Ltd., Sydney, 1908, p. 157
[28] source not known
See also:
Filed in: externally authored, theosophy
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