Theosophical Society,
THE
LIFE OF
H P Blavatsky
The Report of the S.P.R. 1885
(Society for Psychical Research)
Madame
Blavatsky resigned from Theosophical Society when Coulomb charges were made public but resignation was refused by Colonel Olcott.
HPBwrote London
Times and Pall Mall Gazette denouncing the charges as a conspiracy.
HPBand Colonel Olcott returned to India at end of 1884
with HPB insisting that the charges most be countered by court proceedings
against the Coulombs but Olcott and the majority of Society members were opposed
to legal action. The Adyar Convention declines to defend HPB while affirming
their belief in her bona fides and it became apparent the Colonel Olcott and A
P Sinnett are now suspicious and mistrustful of HPBShe resigned from the Society and left
Mr.
Hodgson was in
Hodgson's
findings were adopted by Committee in June, 1885 and the report of the S.P.R.
published following December. – The report reached the conclusion that HPB's phenomena were fraudulent and were
a long-continued conspiracy to deceive public. Hodgson stated that the Coulomb
letters and Mahatma letters written by "One of the most accomplished,
ingenious, and interesting impostors in history".
The
Report of the S.P.R. examined critically shows it to be wholly ex parte - no safeguards were employed to ascertain and render
justice. The investigation was that of a rival society controlled by
Spiritualists. The S.P.R. was not at all interested in philosophy or ethics and
was avid for phenomena and was generally ignorant of Occultism.
The
report contained contradictions and inconsistencies and relied wholly on Mr.
Massey's suspicions, the Coulomb charges, and the opinions of the
At
first the handwriting experts declared that the Mahatma letters could not have
been written by HPB and then, at Hodgson's solicitation, reversed their opinion
There
were cases of clearly reversed and contradictory opinions with the testimony of
obviously hostile witnesses being accepted with positive reliable witnesses
(over 100 of theses) being written off as victims of hallucination.
There
was also an accusation that HPB was a Russian spy opposed to British rule in
Theosophical Society,