Madame Blavatsky A self-proclaimed adept and a the founder of the Theosophical Society, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was a charismatic woman whos theatrical ability, showmanship, beauty and immense knowledge of the occult made her the toast od London. She wrote several important books on occultism, which were also devoured by the sensation-starved ladies of the day. Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine spread her message, which was that she received her knowledge through telepathic messages from hidden master in Tibet. (Theosophy is the science that claims to gain knowledge of God, or Goddess, or indeed Spirit through mystical insight.) She had a rowdy personality and was a fiesty woman, who loved a party and loved a drink and a cigar even more, She suffered the indignity of many violent verbal attacks from hostile "logical" detractors, who claimed she was a fruad, but she weathered all these storms with the help of her intelligence, unique personality and Cossack courage. She continued to hold seances with remarkable success, and her ability to contact the other world was indisputable. She was in contact with unseen forces and with nature, and it is on Blavatsky that the modern image of the occult woman, ouija board and cyrstal ball, and exotic accent, is modelled. Her adventurous career took Russian woman to Mexico, Europe, India and Tibet. She introduced her brand of spiritualism to New York in 1873, two years before forming the Theosophical Society, of which there are branches all over the world, including several in Australia. Her aims of universal brotherhood, the study of Eastern literature and her research into the latent faculties of humanity deserve acknowledgment and praise. W.B. Yates - who appears to have been something of an occult groupie, said of her: "A great passionate nature, a sort of female Dr Johnson." She died in 1891 at the age of 60. http://roswell.fortunecity.com/necronomicon/310/WitchCraft/witch6.html |