THE
LIFE OF H P BLAVATSKY
gets
off the Ground
H P Blavatsky had spent
decades in moving from around the world relentlessly searching for data having
to do with a widespread tradition as to the existence of a hidden knowledge and
secret cultivation of man's higher psychic and spiritual capabilities.
Supposedly the wielder of unusual abilities in this line, she was driven by the
very character of her endowment to seek for the deeper science which pertained
to the evolution of such gifts, and at the same time a philosophy of life in
general which would explain their hidden significance. To establish, first, the
reality of such phenomena, and then to construct a system that would furnish
the possibility of understanding this mystifying segment of experience, was
unquestionably the main drive of her mental interests in early middle
life.
H P Blavatsky was guided
by the character of the situation in which she found herself, and also, it seems,
by the advice of her Master, she chose to ride into her new venture upon the
crest of the Spiritualist waves.
Spiritualists, and the
public generally, assumed that of course their activity indicated that they
subscribed to the usual tenets of the mainstream spiritualism and that they
accepted the phenomena for what they purported to be, i.e.,
actual communications in all cases from the spirits of former
human beings. However true this estimate may have been as appertaining to Col.
Olcott--and even to him it had a fast diminishing applicability after his
meeting with H.P.B.--it was certainly not true of her. Madame Blavatsky shortly
became the mark of Spiritualistic attack for the apparent reversal ofher original attitude toward the movement and her
presumed betrayal of the cause.
The break with
Spiritualism and the launching of the Theosophical Society organization does
not on the surface appear to have been a deliberate act of Madame Blavatsky.
While it would never have been organized without her presence and her
influence, still she was not the prime mover in the steps which brought it into
being. She seems merely to have gone along while others led. However her
Society grew out of the stimulus that had gone forth from her.
It was Col. Henry Steele
Olcott who assumed the rôle of outward leader in the
young movement. He gave over (eventually) a lucrative profession as a corporation
lawyer, an agricultural expert, and an official of the government, to expend
all his energies in this enterprise. He had acquired the title of colonel
during the Civil War in the Union army's manoeuvres
in
It was the belief of
founders of the Theosophical Movement that he was expressly chosen by the
Mahatmas to share with Madame Blavatsky the honor and the labor of spreading
her message in the world. A passage from the Mahatma Letters puts this in clear
light.
The Master K.H. there
says:
"So, casting about,
we found in
In spite of
difficulties, caused by the clash of temperaments and policies, this odd,
"divinely-constituted" partnership held firmly together until the
end. Their relationship was one of a loyal camaraderie, both being actuated by
an uncommon devotion to the same cause.
As early as May, 1875,
the Colonel had suggested the formation of a "Miracle Club," to
continue spiritistic investigation. His proposal was
made in the interest of psychic research. It was not taken up. But Madame
Blavatsky's sprightly evening chatter and her reported magical feats continued
to draw groups of intelligent people to her rooms. Among those thus attracted
was Mr. George H. Felt, who had made some careful studies in phases of
Egyptology. He was asked to lecture on these subjects and on
Col. Olcott arose and
"after briefly sketching
the present condition of the Spiritualistic movement; the attitude of its
antagonists, the Materialists; the irrepressible conflict between science and
the religious sectaries; the philosophical character of the ancient theosophies
and their sufficiency to reconcile all existing antagonisms; . . . he proposed
to form a nucleus around which might gather all the enlightened and brave souls
who are willing to work together for the collection and diffusion of knowledge.
His plan was to organize
a Society of Occultists and begin at once to collect a library; and to diffuse
information concerning those secret laws of Nature which were so familiar to
the Chaldeans and Egyptians, but are totally unknown
to our modern world of science."*
______________
* Old Diary Leaves, Vol. I, p. 119. From notes taken at the
meeting by Mrs. Emma Hardinge Britten,
and published a day or two later in a
It was a plain proposal
to organize for occult research, for the extension of human knowledge of the
esoteric sciences, and for a study of the psychic possibilities in man's
nature. No religious or ethical or even philosophical interest can be detected
in the first aims. The Brotherhood plank was a later development, and the
philosophy was an outgrowth of the necessity of rationalizing the scientific
data brought to light. The very nature of the movement committed it, of course,
to an anti-materialistic view. Col. Olcott was still predominantly concerned to
get demonstrative psychic displays. He was made Chairman, and Mr. Judge,
Secretary.
It is interesting to
note the personnel of this first gathering of Theosophists.
"The company
included several persons of great learning and some of wide personal influence.
The Managing Editors of two religious papers; the co-editors of two literary
magazines; an Oxford LL.D.; a venerable Jewish scholar and traveler of repute;
an editorial writer of one of the New York morning dailies; the President of
the New York Society of Spiritualists; Mr. C. C. Massey an English barrister at
law; Mrs. Emma Hardinge Britten
and Dr. Britten; two New York lawyers besides Col.
Olcott; a partner in a Philadelphia publishing house; a well-known physician;
and . . . Madame Blavatsky herself."
At a late hour the
meeting adjourned until the following evening, when organization could be more
fully effected. Those who were present at the Sept. 8th meeting, and who thus
became the actual formers (Col. Olcott insists on the word instead of Founders,
reserving that title to Madame Blavatsky and himself) of the Theosophical
Society, were: Col. Olcott, H. P. Blavatsky, Chas.Sotheran,
Dr. Chas. E. Simmons, H. D. Monachesi, C. C. Massey,
of London, W. L. Alden, G. H. Felt, D. E. deLara, Dr.
W. Britten, Mrs. E. H. Britten,
Henry J. Newton, John Storer Cobb, J. Hyslop. W. Q. Judge, H. M. Stevens. A By-Law Committee was
named, other routine business attended to, a general discussion held and
adjournment taken to Sept. 13th. Mr.Felt gave another
lecture on Sept. 18th, after which several additional members were nominated,
the name, "The Theosophical Society," proposed, and a committee on
rooms chosen. Several October meetings were held in furtherance of the Society;
and on
W. Q. Judge. Mr. John W.
Lovell, the New York publisher, has the distinction of having paid the first
five dollars (initiation fee) into the treasury, and is at the present writing
the only surviving member of the founding group. At the November 17th meeting
the President delivered his inaugural address. It was an amplification of his
remarks made at the meeting of Sept. 7th, with some prognostications of what
the work of the Society was destined to mean in the changing conceptions of
modern thought.
The infant Society did
not at once proceed to grow and expand. The chief
reason for this was that Mr. Felt, whose theories had been the
immediate object of strongest interest, and who was expected to be the leader
and teacher in their quest of the secrets of ancient magic, for some
unaccountable reason failed them utterly. His promised lectures were never
scheduled, his demonstrations of spirit-evocation never shown. This
disappointment weighed heavily upon some of the members. Mrs. Britten, Mr. Newton, and the other Spiritualists in the
group, finding that Madame Blavatsky was not disposed to investigate mediums in
the conventional fashion, or in any way to make the Society an adjunct of the
Spiritualistic movement, suffered another disappointment and became inactive or
openly withdrew. Mr. Judge and Col. Olcott were busy with their professional labors, and Madame Blavatsky had plunged into the writing of
Also he had experimented
to determine the possibility of moving physical objects by exertion of the
will. He was doubtless in close sympathy with the purposes of the Society, but
the main
currents of his mechanical interests drew him away from active coöperation with it. As for Major-General Doubleday,
Theosophy gave articulate voice to theories as to life, death, and human
destiny which he had long cherished without a formal label. He stated that it
was the Theosophic idea of Karma which had maintained
his courage throughout the ordeals of the Civil War and he testified that his
understanding of this doctrine nerved him to pass with entire fearlessness
through those crises in which he was exposed to fire. When Theosophy was
brought to his notice he cast in his lot with the movement and was a devoted
student and worker while he lived. When the two Founders left
From more
info on the early years of the Theosophical Society
History
of the Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society: Its Origin, Plan and
Aims
By H S Olcott with H P Blavatsky
1876 – 1878 Influence Grows
Despite Inactivity
The
Original Programme of the Theosophical Society
A 1907
article assessing the early progress of the Theosophical Society
The Vicissitudes of Theosophy By A P Sinnett
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H P Blavatsky is usually the only
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