Madame Blavatsky: The Woman Behind the Myth (97 page)

148. Ibid.

149. Ibid.

150. Rawson,
Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly
, February, 1892.

151. The tests conducted by Eleanor Sidgwick with Gladys Osborne Leonard and her trance personality "Feda" were characterized by vagueness. For example, "Feda" might tell the sitter to go to a bookcase in his study, remove the seventh book from the left on the third shelf, open to page 48, and one third of the way down the page the sitter would find a meaningful passage. While "Feda" could give an accurate physical description of a book, he did not supply book titles nor did he quote from the works. (Society for Psychical Research,
Proceedings,
vol. 31, April, 1921, "An Examination of Book-Tests Obtained in Sittings with Mrs. Leonard.") 
Others who possessed clairvoyance for printed matter were Stainton Moses, William Eglinton, and Eileen Garrett. Again, none of them actually quoted from books.

152.
Religio-Philosophical Journal,
April 29, 1876.

153. Boston
Herald,
March 5, 1876.

154. H.P.B. to A. N. Aksakov, Spring, 1876, Solovyov, p. 268.

155. ODL, vol. 1, pp. 151-158.

156. H.P.B. to A. N. Aksakov, July, 1876, Solovyov, p. 269.

157. ODL, vol. 1, p. 161.

158. Ibid., p. 452.

159. Ibid., p. 410.

160. Rawson,
Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly,
February, 1892.

161.
Religio-Philosophical Journal
, September 14, 1889.

162. ODL, vol. 1, p. 461.

163. Ibid., p. 459.

164. Ibid., pp. 16-17.

165. Ibid., pp. 425-426.

166. Ibid., p. 429.

167. H.P.B. to Vera Zhelihovsky, circa 1877,
The Path
, January, 1895.

168. Blavatsky,
I sis Unveiled
, vol. 2, p. 621.

169. Ibid., p. 71.

170. ODL, vol. 3, p. 316.

171. Blavatsky,
Isis Unveiled,
vol. 1, p. vi.

172. Ibid.

173. Ibid., vol. 2, p. 584 footnote.

174. H.P.B. to Vera Zhelihovsky, circa 1876-1877,
The Path,
January, 1895.

175. ODL, vol. 1, pp. 377-381. The turban is in the archives of the Theosophical Society at Adyar.

176. David-Neel, pp. 313-315.

177. ODL, vol. 1, p. 18.

178.
The Word
, May-June, 1908.

179. H.P.B. to A. N. Aksakov, circa September, 1876, Solovyov, p. 275.

180.
Religio-Philosophical Journal
, September 14, 1889.

181. H.P.B. to Alexander Wilder, December, 1876,
The Word,
June, 1908.

182. Ibid.

183. J. W. Bouton to Henry Olcott, May 17, 1877, ODL, vol. l,p. 216.

184. Michael Betanelly to H.P.B., May 7, 1877,
The Theosophist,
August, 1959.

185. Ibid.

186. H.P.B. to A. N. Aksakov, June 15, 1877, Solovyov, p. 276.

187. H.P.B. to Vera Zhelihovsky, circa 1877,
The Path,
January, 1895. "Astral body" is also termed "etheric body." Spiritualists believe it to be the vehicle for the spirit in the first stages after death when it separates from the physical body. Supposedly it is the astral body that is sometimes faintly perceived as apparitions or ghosts.

188. LMW, vol. 1, p. 94.

189.
Religio-Philosophical Journal,
January 12, 1878.

190. H.P.B. to A. N. Aksakov, October 2, 1877, Solovyov, p. 276. As far as is known, the manuscript of
Isis Unveiled
was destroyed after publication.

191. ODL, vol. l,p. 296.

192. Home, p. 308.

193. Ibid., p. 326.

194. H.P.B. to A. N. Aksakov, November 6, 1877, Solovyov, p. 278.

195. H.P.B. to Vera Zhelihovsky, fall, 1877,
The Path
, January, 1895.

196. H.P.B. to Nadyezhda Fadeyev, 1877,
The Path,
January, 1895.

197. H.P.B. to Nadyezhda Fadeyev, July 19, 1877, HPBSP, vol. 1, pp. 165-166.

198. Ibid., pp. 180, 188, 209.

199. H.P.B. to Vera Zhelihovsky, undated,
The Path,
January, 1895.

200. ODL, vol. 1, p. 395.

201. Ibid., p. 397.

202. H.P.B. to Nadyezhda Fadeyev, July 3, 1877, HPBSP, vol. 1, p. 202.

203. H.P.B. to Vera Zhelihovsky, May, 1878,
The Path,
March, 1895.

204. Ibid.

205. Henry Olcott to Charles Massey, 1878, Besterman, p. 149.

206. Ibid., p. 148.

207. H.P.B. to Nadyezhda Fadeyev, July 8, 1878,
The Path,
February, 1895.

208. New York
Daily Graphic,
July 9, 1878.

209. New York
Star,
June 28, 1878.

210. Nadyezhda Fadeyev to H.P.B., October 1/13, 1877, CW, vol. 1, p.xxxvi, note.

211. H.P.B. to Caroline Corson, August 28, 1878, Corson, p. 199.

212. ODL, vol. 1, p. 454.

213. CW, vol. l,p. 409.

214. Ibid., p. 433.

215. He kept a diary at least from 1875 to the time of his death in 1907. The diaries for 1875-1877, however, mysteriously disappeared and the colonel had no idea what became of them.

216. The grocer refused to extend further credit, presumably because an unpaid account of one hundred dollars represented a sizable sum in 1878 (the equivalent of eight hundred to nine hundred dollars in today's terms). In view of Olcott's last-minute scramble for money, there is little likelihood that this bill was paid.

217. New York
Sun,
October 13, 1878.

218. New York
Sun,
October 18, 1878.

219. CW, vol. 1, pp. 415-420.

220. Ibid., p. 417.

221. Ibid., p. 419.

222. Ibid., p. 420.

223. Ibid., p. 423.

224. Ibid., p. 428.

225. Ibid., p. 429.

226. New York
Daily Graphic,
December 10, 1878.

227. Ibid.

228. These tinfoil recordings were kept at Adyar until 1895 when Olcott tried to have the sound transferred to more modern wax cylinders. By that time, however, the grooves had flattened out.

229. New York
Times,
January 2, 1885.

230. CW, vol. 1, p. 431.

231. Ibid.

INDIA

1. ODL, vol. 2, pp. 1-4.

2. Ibid., p. 1.

3. Ibid., p. 9.

4. H.P.B. to Vera Zhelihovsky, February, 1879,
The Path,
March, 1895. Describing her arrival in Bombay to Alexander Dondoukoff-Korsakoff in a letter of December 5, 1881, H.P.B. wrote that "after a deputation of 200 Hindus had gone on board to fetch us, we were received by a crowd of 50,000 people."

5. ODL, vol. 2, p. 16.

6. Ibid., p. 18

7. CW, vol. 2, p. 25.

8. Ibid., p. 26.

9. Henry Olcott to William Judge, February 24, 1879,
'Theosophist,
January, 1931.

10. William Judge to Henry Ol- cott, April 2, 1879,
Theosophist,
January, 1931.

11. William Judge to Henry Olcott, April 9, 1879,
Theosophist,
January, 1931.

12. Ibid.

13. The overwhelming probability is that H.P.B. induced an hallucination in Thackersey by means of post-hypnotic suggestion. Normally this consists of the hypnotizer making a statement to the hypnotized subject that at a given time the subject will have a specified experience. For example, the hypnotizer may say, "Next Friday morning at ten a.m., an Eskimo will enter your room, shake your hand and leap out the window." At the hour specified, the subject will in fact have precisely that experience. This type of induced hallucination, common in hypnotic practice, can be performed on any suitable subject.

14. ODL, vol. 2, p. 45.

15. Ibid., p. 47.

16. Ibid., p. 48.

17. Ibid., p. 57.

18. Ibid., p. 59.

19. Ibid., p. 60.

20. Ibid., p. 61

21. Ibid., p. 63.

22. Ibid., p. 65.

23. Ibid., p. 69.

24. H.P.B. to Alexander Wilder, April 28, 1879,
The Word,
July, 1908.

25. Ibid.

26. Ibid.

27. ODL, vol. 2, p. 71.

28. Ibid., p. 82.

29. CW, vol. 2, p. 82.

30. LMW, vol. 2, p. 68.

31. Ibid., p. 69.

32. Coulomb, pp. 4-7.

33. ODL, vol. 2, p. 91.

34. There were virtually none during H.P.B.'s lifetime. The exception was Mrs. Anandabay Joshi, who graduated an M.D. from Women's Medical College, Philadelphia, but died a year later of tuberculosis in Poona. Not until 1893, during Annie Besant's first tour of India, did women veiled in purdah attend her lectures.

35. ODL, vol. 2, pp. 95-96.

36. Barborka,
The Mahatmas and Their Letters
, p. 262.

37. Eek,
Damodar and the Pioneers of the Theosophical Movement,
p. 5.

38. ODL, vol. 2, p. 212.

39. H.P.B. to Abner Doubleday, July 16, 1879,
Theosophical Forum,
September, 1933.

40.
Theosophist,
October, 1879.

41. Damodar Mavalankar to William Judge, October 5, 1879,
Theosophical Forum,
November, 1934.

42. LMW, vol. 2, p. 71.

43. H.P.B. to Nadyezhda Fadeyev, November, 1879,
The Path
, March, 1895.

44. INC, p. 172.

45. De Steiger, pp. 157-158.

46. Linton and Hanson, p. 251.

47. Ibid., p. 252, quoting Sinnett's unpublished memoirs.

48. INC, p. 173.

49. Ibid.

50. LBS, p. 17.

51. ODL, vol. 2, p. 118.

52. Sinnett,
Occult World,
p. 42.

53. Ibid., p. 51.

54. Symonds, p. 11.

55. Coulomb, p. 8.

56. ODL, vol. 2, p. 145.

57. Coulomb, p. 8.

58. ODL, vol. 2, p. 151.

59. H.P.B. to Alexander Dondoukoff-Korsakoff, December 5, 1881, HPBSP, vol. 2, pp. 29- 30.

60. Ibid.

61. ODL, vol. 2, p. 207.

62. CW, vol. 2, p. xxxii.

63. H.P.B. to Emma Coulomb, June 16, 1880,
Christian College Magazine
, September, 1884. H.P.B.disownedauthor- ship of letters to Emma Coulomb but in my opinion they are genuine. Heireafter they are quoted as sources.

64. ODL, vol. 2, p. 110.

65. CW, vol. 2, p. xxxii.

66. ODL, vol. 2, p. 209.

67. CW, vol. 2, p. 208.

68. Ibid., p. 479.

69. ODL, vol. 2, p. 213.

70. Coulomb, p. 9.

71. CW, vol. 2, pp. 479-480.

72. Ibid.

73. Coulomb, p. 16.

74. Ibid., p. 15.

75. Kipling, p. 124.

76. Sinnett,
Occult World
, p. 38.

77. ODL, vol. 2, p. 226.

78. Ibid., p. 227.

79. Coulomb, p. 14.

80. According to Emma Coulomb, the sound was produced by a small music box that H.P.B. hid under her dress, slightly above the waist. A slight pressure of her arm against her side set the bell ringing. (S.P.R.,
Proceedings,
p. 263.)

81. ODL, vol. 2, p. 227.

82. Sinnett,
Occult World
, p. 48.

83. Ibid., p. 49.

84. Ibid., p. 92.

85. ODL, vol. 2, p. 242.

86. Sinnett,
Occult World,
pp. 61-63. The "pink note," the first Mahatmic message received in India, can now be seen in the manuscripts department of the British Library. Puncture holes visible in the paper show that the note had been pierced when fastened to the twig. Interestingly, the calligraphy of the message is different from all other specimens of Mahatma Koot Hoomi's writing. 
H.P.B. did this trick, said Emma Coulomb, with the aid of Babula, who had been sent ahead with instructions to plant the note in a particular tree. In Patience's presence, Helena took an identical slip of paper from her pocket, folded it into a triangle, and threw it over the edge of the hill. Then she directed Patience to the tree where Babula had pinned the message.