Transcripts:
Depending on the circles you roll with, you've probably already heard that Albert Einstein and his work were heavily influenced by one Helena Petrovena Plavatski, the woman on your screen right now. If you haven't, let me explain. In 1905, Albert Einstein developed the theory of relativity.
Obviously, this was groundbreaking for the field of physics, but it was also quite suspicious. Richard Fineman himself, no sloucher, while speaking with Time magazine about Einstein's discovery of the theory of relativity, said, and I quote, "I cannot understand how he arrived at the intuition leading to E= MC² considering the level of scientific knowledge at the time." The last part of this quote is where things get really interesting as it opens up several questions.
Was Einstein's genius discovery really just a work of ingenuity? Or are the rumors true? Did Einstein really get help from a more esoteric source? Well, sometime in the mid60s, Einstein's niece walked into the Theosophical Publishing Company in Adiar, India. In her hands was a worn out dogged copy of The Secret Doctrine, a book on Theosophy written by none other than Helena Petrrona Blavatzki, the mother of Western esotericism herself. Einstein's niece claimed the book had been at her uncle's bedside when he died and that she had come to
return it. Judging from the tons of scribblings, markings, and scrawings littered on each page of this book, Einstein appeared to have studied it religiously until the day he died. But you're probably wondering what this has to do with the theory of relativity. Well, that's where things get interesting.
When we look through the content of the book, it would appear that it was Blavatsky, not Einstein, who first developed the theory of relativity. For context, in her writings, Madame Bllovatzky mentions that the forces of nature are actually just differentiated aspects of a universal motion, which sounds really close to the theory of relativity Einstein would later come to postulate nearly two decades after Blavzky published her work.
So naturally, this begs the question, who is this woman to whom we apparently owe the credit of one of mankind's most important discoveries. Who is Helena Petrrona Bllovatzky? There are no middle grounds when discussing the person and works of Helena Petrovena Blavatski or HPB as she preferred to be called.
She was either a great esotericist, the kind the world had never seen before, or a complete fraud of the worst kind the world had ever seen. So, which is it? Well, here's the story. You tell me what you think. HPB always attracted a wide range of reactions from fascination to outright hatred.
Right from when she was a kid, born into a highly superstitious family, perhaps it's not surprising that HPB ended up in a cultism. Besides her upbringing, the signs had always been there. For instance, according to her family, Helena grew up a special child. She could put pigeons into a messic sleep just by stroking them. She often walked and talked in her sleep, and many times she saw eyes glaring at her from inanimate objects, which obviously made living with her very difficult as a result of the random screams.
Nevertheless, HPB's journey to occultism didn't officially begin until 1842, the year her mother died. After her mom's death, Bllovatzky was shipped off to go live with her maternal grandparents. One of them, her grandfather, had a huge library with a wide range of books that touched on esoteric subjects. So, being the ever curious little girl she was, young Helena devoured these books, further increasing her knowledge of an interest in the occultic world. Fortunately for her, that curiosity was soon to be satisfied.
According to Bllovatzky herself, she had a mysterious encounter during her childhood where a mysterious Indian man appeared to her. Now, HPB didn't know it at the time, but this apparition would come to play a central role in the story of the rest of her life. All right, so fast forward to several years later.
After a failed and short-lived marriage, HPB took her first definitive step on her journey to becoming Madame Bllovzki. She embarked on a tour around the world in search of mysteries and ancient wisdom. One of those days while in England, she met the mysterious Indian man who had appeared to her in her childhood visions. With the benefit of hindsight, one might say that it was from this point that HPB's trajectory to worldwide fame really took off.
[Music] The apparition of the mysterious Indian man in England was HPB's first encounter with him since her childhood. The man introduced himself as Master Moria and told her to make her way to Tibet in preparation for a special mission he had for her. Having received her marching orders, HPB immediately set her sights for Tibet.
After a first unsuccessful attempt, she finally made her way into Tibet in the company of Master Moya in 1856. The two stayed in the home of Moya's friend and fellow Master Coot Humi. And it was there that HPB got her very first comprehensive education in ancient mysteries and hidden knowledge.
According to Blavatzky herself, her time with Moria and Cut Humi was spent learning an ancient language known as Senzar and learning how to translate it. Levatsky also claimed to have developed psychic powers during her time with the Hindu Mahatma, including clairvoyance, telepathy, psychological manipulation, the ability to dematerialize and rematerialize objects, and the projection of astral bodies.
And in case you were wondering, this wasn't just Blavzky making claims. Testimonies from people who came in contact with her postet highlight occult phenomena that were difficult to dispute. For instance, in his biography about Helena Bllovatzky, AP Sinnate, Bllovzky's first official biographer mentions that Bllovzky manifested occult phenomena that included the following of direct and perfectly clear written and verbal answers to mental questions or thought reading. Prescriptions for different diseases in Latin and in subsequent cures. Private secrets are known to all
but the interested party. dulged especially in the case of those persons who mentioned insulting doubts, letters from unknown correspondents and immediate answers written to queries made and found in the most out of the way mysterious places. Appearances and a port of objects unclaimed by anyone present.
Sounds as of musical notes in the air wherever Madame Bllatsky desired they should resound. Many other phenomena were attributed to Madame Blavatzky but listing each one would take up the entire video. So let's jump forward in time to the next major event in HPB's life that affects us. The founding of the Theosophical Society. [Music] HPB's spiritual retreat in Tibet ran from 1868 to 1870 after which she returned to New York City.
Now, Bllovzky didn't know it yet, but this decision to return was a highly serendipitous one, as it allowed her to meet this man, Henry Steel Olcott, aka the man who effectively introduced Blavzky to the world. When Alcott and Blovatzky first met at a seance in Chittenden, Vermont, neither of them could have known the level of impact the other was destined to make on the other, and vice versa.
On the one hand was Blavzatsky whose teachings and ability to manifest spiritual phenomena attracted Olcott to the point where he willingly became her student embracing a life of celibacy, tea totling and vegetarianism. On the other hand was Olcott whose journalistic skills and contacts would effectively set the stage for the announcement of Madame Bllovatzky to the Western world.
Together, these two drummed up interest for their occultic ideas, spreading it far and wide until it precipitated the founding of the Theosophical Society in 1875. From this point, things started to move really quickly for the fledgling organization and its passionate leaders. It began with the publishing of HPB's first book called ISIS Unveiled. HPB claimed that the book had been dictated to her by a distinct consciousness within her which he called the lodger who is in me. Those who read it on the other hand had a very different conclusion plagiarized.
They said the book seemed to contain copious quotes from other esoteric and religious texts suggesting that HPB had lifted swaths of other people's work without giving credit. However, Olcott, who worked with her all through the writing of the book, vehemently maintained that no such thing happened, as Blavzatsky had no access to any of the books she had used in her work.
His defense didn't change much, unfortunately, and the mainstream press shunned HPB and her work. The public, however, couldn't be more excited. They welcomed the Madame's work with wide open arms, and in less than one week, the 1,000 copies printed were all sold out. Fast forward to 13 years later and HPB was ready for her second and final book.
The one that Albert Einstein allegedly studied religiously every day and from which he derived the theory of relativity. According to HPB, the secret doctrine contained her reflections on the book of Daizan, an ancient religious text written in Senza, the lost language allegedly taught to her by her masters while she was in Tibet.
The content of this book, including HPB's worrying predictions for the future, many of which are already coming to pass, is the focus of the next part of our conversation. On May 8th, 1891, 3 years after publishing her magnum opus, The Secret Doctrine, Madame Helena Blavatzki contracted influenza and passed away. Yet to this day, nearly 150 years later, the argument remains.
Was Madame Bllovvatzky a true psychic or was she a charlatan? We already considered all the claims of occultic phenomena attributed to her. And sure, HPB's detractors can find arguments to refute those claims. But what do we do with the predictions and prophecies, many of which either already came to pass or are currently in the process of coming to pass? Consider her prediction about the rise of Hitler in an article titled karmic visions for visions.
For instance, a full year before Hitler was born in 1889. Here's what HPB wrote about him. It is as though a heartless proud fiend assuming sudden authority, incarnate ambition, and power had clutched with iron hand the minds of a whole country. But what wicked enchantment has he brought the people back to those primeval days of the nation when their ancestors, the yellow-haired Suavey and the treacherous Franks, roamed about in their warlike spirit, thirsting to kill, to decimate and subject each other. And then the world is hushed in breathless expectation. Not a wife or
mother, but is haunted in her dreams by the black and ominous storm cloud that overhangs the whole of Europe. The cloud is approaching. it comes nearer and nearer. Oh, wo and horror. Keep in mind that HPB made this prediction before Hitler was even born.
So, this is not the case of her tinkering with hints within the political climate and then making a prediction based on that. Hitler wasn't even born yet, and Blavzky expressly predicted his rise to power. But that's not all. HPB also predicted the outbreak of both World War I and World War II. Here's what she said. In the prognostication of such future events, at any all foretold on the authority of cyclic recurrences, there is no psychic phenomenon involved.
It is neither prevision nor prophecy, no more than is the signaling of a comet or star several years before its appearance. It is simply knowledge and mathematically correct computations which enable the wise men of the east to foretell for instance that England is on the eve of such another catastrophe.
France nearing such a point of her cycle and Europe in general threatened with or rather on the eve of a cataclysm which her own cycle of racial karma has led her to. Now there are several things that stand out about this particular prophecy. In the first place, Madame Bllovatzky wasn't the only individual to predict both world wars.
Carl Jung, the highly respected psychologist, also had a very strong premonition about the war. However, when you begin to examine Jung's premonitions and Blavatzky's prediction, the difference becomes glaring. For context, Jung's premonitions leading up to the war were 12 violent visions, some of which included visions of blood flooding through Europe and a heavy boot stepping on a European city.
Compared to Bllovatzky's prophecy, Jung's premonitions are quite vague, especially when you consider that Jung's premonitions are coming one year to World War I at a point when rumors of war were already hanging in the air. Levatsky's on the other hand came 26 years before World War I. And yet, she didn't just mention Europe. She also mentioned the top two members of the Allied forces involved in the war.
How could she have known this if she was a fraud? Also, consider the fact that Jung was a top psychologist. In other words, he was a student of human behavior, which further makes his premonitions less spectacular, as we could explain them using natural means.
There's simply no other way to explain how HPB came into possession of such prophetic insight except to say that she was truly psychic. In the words of Sylvia Cranson, one of Bllovzk's several biographers, at the time the story was written, there had been no major wars in Europe for two decades, and his peace would continue for another 25 years. European observers were encouraged to predict a millennium of peace, prosperity, and scientific progress.
It is in this setting that HPB's story foretells the onslaught of World War I and the time period subsequent when armies would have weapons to destroy millions of people instantaneously. Once again, it's clear that Blavatsky's ability to predict both World Wars was off the charts, which makes one of her last warnings to humanity particularly troubling.
During an interview, HPB told her interviewer, "If you could foresee what I foresee, you would begin heart and soul to spread the teaching of universal brotherhood." These were some of HPB's chilling last words before her death, which some have taken to mean that there likely will be a third world war.
Considering HPB's accuracy rate, is this far-fetched to think? I think not. Another area where HPB is stunningly accurate is in her understanding of quantum physics. Here is another quote from her. Everything that exists has only a relative, not an absolute reality, since the appearance which the hidden numinal assumes for any observer depends on his power of cognition.
But all things are relatively real. For the cognizer is also a reflection, and the things cognized are therefore as real to him as himself. If you're familiar with the field of quantum physics, then you probably recognize that this sounds a lot like wave particle duality, where matter at once appears like a wave or a particle until you look at it.
In other words, the observer affects the existence of reality, making reality relativistic rather than objective. Once again, this is profoundly precient considering that not much was understood about quantum physics at the time. In fact, quantum theory did not emerge until the early 20th century with Max Planck's work on quantized energy in 1900, about a decade after Blavzky's prediction and death.
Yet, here is Blavzatsky with no formal training as a physicist perfectly explaining quantum theory, a full decade before it became common knowledge, a concept that many modern people still cannot fully grasp. And that wasn't even all she predicted. That has turned out to be a precursor to quantum physics.
In one of her writings, Levatsky also predicted that science would discover some forms of energy and matter beyond what was generally known at the time. She called these forms of energy the hidden forces of nature and said they could be harnessed for positive or negative purposes. Once again, HPB turned out to be far ahead of her time with her predictions and science ended up discovering subatomic particles several years after Blovatzky had hinted at them.
If she attributes this to a cultic knowledge, then without any evidence to the contrary, we have to accept that Madame Bllovatzky really was psychic as was claimed about her. And that's not all. We have predictions from Bllovzky about the rise of materialism and spiritual awakening. For instance, Blavzatsky foresaw a period in human history during which materialism would be rampant, eventually leading to widespread disillusionment and dissatisfaction that would finally trigger a global spiritual awakening.
I don't need to tell you that this has been the trend from the 20th century up to this point. Yes, we witnessed dizzying speeds of advancements and progress as marked by rapid industrialization and consumerism, but we've also seen a concurrent rise in interest in alternative spiritual practices from transcendental meditation to mindfulness practices. Once again, HPB's prediction is spoton.
There are other predictions we could go into, like her prediction of the decline of organized religion or her discussion on root races, but those are not as strong as the ones we've discussed so far. Plus, the one on root races is quite problematic with its racial themes. So, we're just going to skip that and get into the other side of the conversation.
On the surface, the case for Bllovzky's authenticity as a psychic appears very strong. She obviously made predictions that we have no other way of explaining. Plus, she was well read and respected by several of the most brilliant minds that we all respect to this very day. Obviously, that should count for something. And yes, it does.
However, in the 1880s, a series of investigations were carried out into Madame Bllovatzky, and let's just say the findings weren't good at all. The quality of Madame Bllovatzk's predictions has been hotly debated between believers and skeptics, and I will soon present some context to some ofky's most famous predictions that may affect how we interpret their fulfillment.
Before we get to that, though, I want to look through this 1885 report from the Society for Psychical Research, famously called the Hodgson Report. It's a pretty voluminous work, about 200 pages with damning information that described Blavatzky as one of the most accomplished, ingenious, and interesting imposters in history. Here's how that happened. So, 3 years after Blavzky and Olcott founded the The Theosophical Society, the duo moved shop to India, and it was here that the movement really took off.
Within a relatively short time, the Theosophical Society set up 121 lodges all over the world with 106 of those lodges based in India, Burma, and Salon. While this was great for the group, it also meant one tricky thing, unwarranted attention. The Society for Psychical Research, for instance, had been hearing of all the theosophic marvels coming from Adya, India.
So they decided to carry out an investigation to confirm the stories. In December 1884, the SPR sent out Richard Hodgson to investigate the stories coming out of the Theosophical Movement in India. By 1885, the infamous Hodgson report was ready and it was devastating. Now, prior to this time, Blavatzky was already in some hot water as a result of the column affair. The Kulums were friends and employees of Bllovzky.
However, after an internal conflict, the couple turned against Bllovatzky in 1884 and released a series of damning evidence that seemed to suggest that Blavatzky had been faking her occultic and spiritual phenomena the whole time.
For instance, Bllovzky had claimed that she received letters psychically from her masters in Tibet. However, the Kulums revealed that they had built a connecting door between the occult room and Blavzatsky's room and that it was through this sliding door that the so-called astral letters from the Mahhatmas were deposited.
In fact, if the Kulums were to be believed, Blavzky had written the so-called astral letters herself in a disguised hand, and the times the masters were said to have appeared. Bllovatzky had simply faked the apparitions using dummy heads and shoulders. As you might expect, these revelations dealt a huge blow to Bllovatzk's reputation. So, by the time the Hodgson report was ready, it was like pouring salt on a wound.
To save time, I'm just going to read the major points made in the report. Here's what Hodgson found. In the first place, a large number of letters produced by Mr. and Madame Kulom, formerly librarian and assistant corresponding secretary respectively of the Theosophical Society were in the opinion of the best experts in handwriting written by Madame Bllovatzky.
These letters which extended over the years of 1880 to 1883 inclusive prove that Madame Bllovatzky has been engaged in the production of a varied and long continued series of fraudulent phenomena in which she has been assisted by the Culums. As you can see, Hodgson's independent report corroborated what the Kulums had accused Blavatzky of earlier. An accusation that Blavzky had vehemently denied, by the way.
But that's just the overture. Let's get to the meat of the report. Hodgson also discovered that the two masters, Madame Blavatsky, claimed to meet in Tibet didn't actually exist. That is, Master Moria and Master Cutumi, never existed. Their identities were entirely fabricated by Madame Blavatzki.
Here's what the report said specifically. That the comparison of handwriting further tends to show that Khumi Lal Singh and Mahatma are fictitious personages and that most of the documents purporting to have emanated from these personages and especially from KH are in the disguised handwriting of Madame Bllovzky herself who originated the style of the KH handwriting and that some of the KH writing is the handiwork of Mr.
Damadar an imitation of the writing developed by Madame Blavatsky. Now addressing the spiritual phenomena themselves, Hodgson discovered that all the evidence provided as proof of Bllovatzky's psychic prowess were not genuine. Even the witnesses were quite unreliable, displaying several inaccuracies in observation and memory.
Plus, none of the necessary measures that should have been put in place to ensure that Bllovzky wasn't faking was put in place, which further affects Bllovzky's credibility. reading from Hodgson's report that not only was the evidence insufficient to establish the genuiness of the alleged marvels, but that evidence furnished partly by my own inspection and partly by a large number of witnesses, most of them theists, concerning the structure, position, and environment of the shrine, concerning Mahhatma communications received
independently of the shrine, and concerning various other incidents, including many of the phenomena mentioned in the occult world, besides the numerous additional suspicious circumstances which I have noted in the course of dealing in detail with the cases considered renders the conclusion unavoidable that the phenomena in question were actually due to fraudulent arrangement.
Hodgson's investigation took about 3 months after which he published his 200page report in an SPR publication called proceedings. Based on Hodgson's findings the SPR pretty much denounced Madame Blavatzky calling her a highly accomplished impostor. Obviously, this was devastating for Bllovzki's reputation, and anyone could have sworn that this was the end for the Theosophical Society.
Little did everyone know that a much worse storm was already brewing. In 1893, about 8 years after Hodgson's bombshell report dropped, an even more detailed report uncovering Bllovatzky's fraudulence emerged. While Hodgson's report focused on Blavatzky's spiritual phenomena, or lack of them, this report focused on Blavsky's writings. HPB had claimed that her writings were inspired, that the words had been received by her in a supernormal state.
However, when William Amet Coleman carried out his investigations into the books, he found out that this was not at all the case, like at all. I can't go into all the details so as not to bore you. Plus, it's a pretty lengthy read, so I'll just link to the report in the description and you can check it out for yourself.
Here are some highlights of the report, though. Contrary to Blavzk's claims that her writings had been received psychically, the truth turned out to be that she had actually plagiarized most of them. Let's zero in on her biggest work, for instance, Secret Doctrine.
HPB had claimed that the work was a translation or a reflection on the Book of Dan, which she said was the oldest book in the world written in Senzar, a language that no longer exists. However, Coleman's investigation showed that even the book of Dan was actually just Madame Bllovzk's own work. Bllovatzky had simply compiled a bunch of teachings and dogmas from different sources to create the book and then use that as source material for her book Secret Doctrine.
I find in this oldest book in the world statements copied from 19th century books and in the usual blundering manner of Madame Bllovatzky. In these Mahameic productions, I have raced various plagiarized passages from Wilson's Vishnu Piranha and Winchell's world life of like character to those in Madame Blavatsky's acknowledged writings.
In summary, the dogmas and doctrines that Blavzky packaged and taught as coming from the infallible Mahatma or masters of Buddhism in Tibet were actually just borrowed from a wide range of philosophies and religions both past and present. Coleman goes ahead to mention all the sources from which Blavatzky's teachings were collected.
According to him, a large part of Theosophist beliefs comes from spiritualism which happened to be Madame Bllovzky's worldview before she founded the Theosophical Society. But Blavatzky also borrowed teachings from Hinduism, Buddhism, the works of Alifas Levi, Paracelus, Jakob, Cabala, Plato, Platonists, Neoplatonists, Hermes, Gnosticism, modern science and philosophy, Zoroastrianism, Kingsford and Maitland's perfect way, general mythology, Egyptology, Rossianism, medieval and modern mystics, a seriology, Christianity. I mean, we could go on and on, but I think Coleman's last words sum it up
best. There is not a single dogma or tenet in theosophy, nor any detail of moment in the multiplex and complex concatenation of alleged revelations of occult truth in the teachings of Madame Bllovatzky and the pretended adepts, the source of which cannot be pointed out in the world's literature. From first to last, their writings are dominated by a duplex plagiarism.
plagiarism in idea and plagiarism in language. The implications of these discoveries are obvious. If Blavatzky faked her phenomena and even the very thing she taught, which she claimed she had learned from certain ascended masters in Tibet, then there can't be any other reasonable conclusion other than that she was a total fraud.
Right? But that's what makes Blavzky's story such a weird one. Keep in mind that all of these investigations were carried out in the 19th century, just within two decades of the founding of the Theosophical Society. Considering that the society was just getting started at the time, and considering the gravity of accusations leveled against Madame Bllovatzky, one would have expected the theosophical society to crash and burn under the weight of such controversies. But that's the weird thing. It didn't.
In fact, it grew the more. Not only did Blavzatsky retain her popularity in the esoteric community, the secret doctrine, her magnum opus, which was written after the Hodgson report, still managed to draw all kinds of readers, many of whom were top thinkers themselves, and some of whom eventually became Theosophists themselves.
Annie Bassant, for instance, took over from Bllovatzky after her death in 1891. However, before Basant's conversion to Theosophy, Bllovzky had personally requested for her to read the Hodgson report before picking up the secret doctrine and considering Theosophy. Bes did as Blavatzky asked. Yet, she went on to request Blavatsky to be her teacher.
Obviously, there was something about Blavzky that gave her such a strong appeal that made people drawn to her even after she had been evidently proven to be a fraud. And we're not even done uncovering all the problems with Madame Bllovatzky and the cult of personality around her. I told you earlier that I would be uncovering some context that would present a more accurate framework for interpreting some of these so-called predictions. Right? Well, deep breaths.
So, I began this video by telling you the common claim in esoteric circles that Einstein derived the theory of relativity from reading Blavatsky. Well, this claim turns to be tenuous at best. To be clear, Einstein did read Bllovatzky. The part of having a copy of the secret doctrine on his bedside table.
However, that part is really tough to prove, as none of Einstein's biographies nor photos of his desk have been able to confirm this claim. Plus, the myth claims that Einstein's niece was the one who revealed that Einstein kept a copy of the secret doctrine on his desk. Unfortunately, Einstein had no niece, as his only sister had no children.
But let's even grant that. Let's even say that Einstein did read secret doctrine as has been claimed by the theosophists. It still doesn't follow that he derived the theory of relativity from reading Blatzky. What seems more the case here is that overenthusiastic theosophists are trying to present their hero as larger than life and are resorting to twisting reality and taking things out of context to achieve that aim. Consider the theory of relativity claim for instance. The quote usually referred to was ripped out
of context. Here's what proponents usually present as evidence for Blavvatzky's preient knowledge of the theory of relativity. All the so-called forces of nature, electricity, magnetism, light, heater in essay, i.e. in their ultimate constitution, the differentiated aspect of that universal motion.
Unfortunately, when you look at the fuller quote, it becomes clearky wasn't referring to the theory of relativity, not even remotely. So, here's the fuller quote. The occultists who do not say, if they would express themselves correctly, that matter, but only the substance or essence of matter, is indestructible and et
ernal, i.e. The root of all mulap prahariti assert that all the so-called forces of nature electricity magnetism light heat etc etc far from being modes of motion of material particles are in essay i.e E in their ultimate constitution, the differentiated aspects of that universal motion which is discussed and explained in the first pages of this volume. Clear as day, what Blavatzky has on her mind has nothing to do with the theory of relativity.
She was simply regurgitating the popular scientific ideas of her day and putting a mystical spin on it. What were those ideas? That matter and energy were related and that everything in the universe was in motion. These ideas were already being talked about from as early as the 1870s among the likes of LR Curtis, CC Marman, JB Stallow, Henry Hobart Bathes, and others.
So, not only did Blavzky not invent the theory of relativity before Einstein, but her ideas weren't exactly new either. How about the claims of Blavzatsky predicting quantum physics? Well, that falls apart when you check out the context as well. Here's the quote usually presented by supporters of Madame Bllovatzky.
Everything that exists has only a relative, not an absolute reality, since the appearance which the hidden numinal assumes for any observer depends on his power of cognition. But all things are relatively real. For the cognizer is also a reflection, and the things cognized are therefore as real to him as himself.
Now, on the surface, it looks like one could make an argument that Blavatsky really did predict quantum physics. But read a few more sentences after this quote, and it immediately becomes clear that Blavatsky was talking about the complete opposite of quantum theory. Here's a fuller quote. Maya or illusion is an element which enters into all finite things, for everything that exists has only a relative, not an absolute reality.
Since the appearance which the hidden numon assumes for any observer depends upon his power of cognition. To the untrained eye of the savage, a painting is at first an unmeaning confusion of streaks and dorbs of color. While an educated eye sees instantly a face or a landscape, nothing is permanent except the one hidden absolute existence which contains in itself the numinina of all realities. The existences belonging to every plane of being up to the highest choans are in degree of the nature of shadows cast by a magic lantern on a colorless screen.
But all things are relatively real for the cognizer is also a reflection and the things cognized are therefore as real to him as himself. You don't need to be a quantum physicist to immediately see the problem here. Blavatsky is not talking about the theory of relativity here.
Her reference to a hidden absolute existence already betrays that. This is Plato's theory of forms, not quantum theory. To explain, Plato's theory of forms posits a set of perfect and absolute archetypes which we perceive imperfectly. This is different from quantum theory that posits that there is no objective reality to begin with. So once again, Blavatzky's predictions turn out to be far from that.
And while we're on this point, even the claim that Bllovatzky was the first individual to stir up interest in Eastern faiths in the West turns out to be very faulty. In 1864, Pius the 9th published an encyclical titled syllabus of errors. In this book, the Pope highlights beliefs and religious paths he deemed wrong, which included pantheism. For Pius the 9th to be creating a whole body of work to address these beliefs, it shows that such beliefs were already widespread at the time. And we're talking about the 1860s. Bllovatzky definitely wasn't responsible
for stirring up western interest in Eastern religions. Her own work was barely being noticed by the time of Pope Pius I 9th. So once again, Levatsky's reputation takes another major hit, which now begs the question, with this much dirt dug up on HPB, how is it that the Theosophical Society continues to grow to this very day? If you didn't already know, the Theosophical Society is considered the parent society to the New Age Movement. We've seen the organization birth other cults.
We've also seen top minds like Thomas Edison and William Butler Yates who changed our worlds also followed Bllovatzky. How do we explain that magnetism? How do we explain the longevity of her ideas despite being refuted multiple times? Should we maybe consider this as proof that there really was something extraordinary about Blavatzky? Maybe not in the ability to produce phenomena, but in the ability to capture the attention and devotion of generations despite having literally zero evidence to her credit. You've got to admit that there's something a bit supernatural about that.
Something that isn't that easily explained away by natural means. So, was Blavzky a fraud? Honestly, I think the character of Bllovzky is way too complex to make any simple judgment. Obviously, many of her claims and the claims made about her by her followers were false. And to be fair, some of the investigations carried out on her turned out to be less than stellar, especially the Hodgson report.
Besides the fact that Hodgson drew the far-fetched conclusion that Blavzky was probably a KGB spy, a critique of his report and methods revealed that he seemed to be investigating with the aim to confirm a bias rather than simply find information and draw conclusions from that.
Still, we have other investigations and reports showing us that Blavatzky was a highly suspicious character. And yet, her influence on esotericism and occultism remains to this day. That isn't nothing. There definitely was something about this woman. But what do you think? Was Helena Petroa Blavatzky the real deal? Was she a mere charlatan? Or was she something in between? Let me know what your thoughts are by dropping a comment below.
Meanwhile, if you're interested in exploring yet another eccentric woman, Dorothy Edy is a reincarnated ancient Egyptian priestess. Click here to learn more about her story.
