Good day, my friends, and welcome to my third instalment of 2023's Women's History Month!
Today I will be telling you all about a woman who was described as a "short, stout, forceful woman, with strong arms, several chins, unruly hair, a determined mouth, and large, liquid, slightly bulging eyes". A woman who was overweight, who smoked heavily and whose "general appearance was outrageously untidy". Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce the legend that is Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.
The very first thing I'll say about Helena P. Blavatsky (referred to as H.P.B. and Helena throughout this text for sake of ease), is that she's not just a woman who did a thing which was awesome. Nor did she do two things that were awesome. She was a woman who did many, many things that were awesome all while living the most unconventional lifestyle of her time. I am going to go further and agree with the few who have studied her: Helena was more than a woman. She was more than a person. She was an idea, she was a force, she was the stuff of change. She was the energy behind some of the biggest historical movements in modern history and yet, so few talk about her. I aim to correct this grievous mistake by writing this article, though I'm already aware that it will pale in comparison to some of the other works out there written about her.
The second thing I will say about this extraordinary woman is that there is so much to discuss about her that one could easily spend weeks, if not, months, reading and learning about her. So, I will do my absolute best to keep this as concise and as interesting as I can.
I'll get the boring stuff out of the way first.
Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was born into an aristocratic family on the 12th of August 1831 in the Russian Provina of Yekaterinoslav Governorate (in Dnipro the south of modern-day Ukraine), though some historians argue she was born on the 31st of July 1831. So, summertime in 1831, then. Got it.
Okay, boring information over.
From the day she was born, Helena was anything but boring. She is said to have possessed a temper and an extremely rebellious spirit from an early age, often aggravating those who tried to impose any sort of authority on her. According to author A.P. Sinnett, who was in direct communication with Helena throughout her adult life, and who penned her biography, Helena was often told that due to her temperament that she would never find a man who would be willing to marry her. Helena, being Helena, said "Haha, the joke’s on you" and made Nikifor Vladimirovich Blavatsky, a man much older than her, propose to her. Their marriage took place on the 7th of July 1849. It’s possible that Helena regretted this decision because she ran away from home shortly before her wedding, much to her family's despair. It's rumoured that at the altar, when the priest was reading their vows and got to the part where a wife "should honour and obey her husband", H.P.B. responded with the words: 'Surely, I shall not.'.
Other accounts claim that Helena actually married Nikifor because his beliefs of the Occult aligned with hers. Oh, that's right, I forgot to mention: Helena largely educated herself, spending oodles and oodles of time in her Grandfather's library. It is there she came across material relating to magic and the occult. Helena, having experienced many a paranormal event, was a strong believer in all things spiritual, supernatural and mysterious. She was instantly attracted to the elements of the Occult and so, when Nikifor revealed that he, too, shared similar beliefs, she decided it would be in her best interest to marry the guy and so advance her education and understanding of the subject.
Regardless of which story you believe, we can already see that Helena, who regularly declined to mingle with society such as attending balls and other social events that ladies of her standing were expected to attend, was already a firecracker and willing to put herself first. E.L. Gardener put it perfectly when he wrote that: "Modern psychology is not equipped to analyse a nature such as hers [Helena's] and that is why she is a Law and Nature unto herself."
Hopefully, you can already see why I've chosen her as a topic of Women's History Month because if you can't, then I don't know what to tell you.
Anyways, on with Helena's story.
Her marriage didn't work out (shocker) and she often tried to escape it by literally running away. Again. Agitated, her husband often had to send out search parties to bring her back. Finally, he let her go, and she returned to her family home. Not knowing what to do with this 'problematic' young woman, H.P.B.'s father decided that he would take her to St. Petersburg, where she might learn to finally act as her aristocratic status dictated she should. H.P.B., however, had other ideas and managed to escape once again. This time, however, she made for Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul).
Here is where Helena made her debut into the wider world, changing it forever. Financed by her father (who had finally realised that no man could keep his daughter under control), Helena travelled throughout Europe by herself, making many an interesting friends along the way. And when I say interesting, I'm talking about friends such as Hungarian Opera singer (Agardi Metrovitch), Countess Sofia Kiselyova, an American art student (Albert Rawson) and many more. It is with Countess Kiselyova that Helena accompanied on a long trip around Eastern Europe, Greece and even Egypt. With Rawson, Helena is believed to have visited a Coptic (a group of Christians in Northern Africa) magician by the name of Paulos Metamon.
Now, this period of Helena’s life lasted about ten years, however, some historians don't really believe that Helena actually travelled or achieved as much as she said she did. This is mainly because Helena didn't keep a journal which means that we have only Helena's word to go off. I mean, yeah, it's possible that she made it all up. After all, she seems the type to do nothing and fib about it, isn’t she? Running away from home, abandoning her husband, annoying her father so much he gave up chasing her, sticking her middle finger up to the society she was born into. . . Yeah, absolutely. She didn’t keep a journal and therefore lied about the whole thing. Then again, we could, you know, actually believe a woman when she says she has (or hasn't) done something. Have we tried that yet? I assure you there's no harm in giving it a go.
Alright, that's enough of that.
Helena's story only grows more interesting from here. Aged just 20, H.P.B. travelled to Paris, then onto England where she met the mysterious Hindu known as Master Morya, one of the 'Masters of Ancient Wisdom'. Interestingly, Helena claimed that this is the man who had often appeared in her visions throughout childhood. People debate about where in England she met Master Morya, but that's unimportant. What is important is the message Master Morya had for Helena: You must travel to Tibet at once because I have a special mission for you. What's even more interesting is that Helena, so far the epitome of an independent woman, heeded his message and travelled to Tibet without delay. Then again, if a Master of Ancient Wisdom approached me with a message like that, you bet your butt I would be on the first flight to wherever he had told me to go. And, that's exactly what Helena did. Or, at least, attempted to do. She attempted to enter Tibet via India but, thanks to the British, was refused entry. Ugh. We will revisit Helena's beliefs about the British in India later in this article. I guarantee you'll want to stick around for that part.
Helena reluctantly returned to Europe, casually surviving a shipwreck on the way. As ever, Helena got by with a little help from her friends and she made her way to her friend Rawson in New York City. In the late 1850s, Helena made her way to her family, made up with Nikofor and together, they adopted a little boy named Yuri. Because Helena is a woman and because she was journeying alone and met many gentlemen on her travels, people whispered that Helena was actually Yuri's mother, meaning that Yuri was a lovechild. Naturally, Helena denied this. A. P. Sinnett asked her about Yuri, but she refused to deny or confirm any rumours about his parentage. If you want to read her entire response to A. P. Sinnet, then click HERE —it will also give you a good idea of how Helena spoke.
Tragically, Yuri died at the young age of five. Because Helena and Nikofor managed to obtain a passport for the little boy in 1862, he was able to be buried in Russia. After her stay in Russia, Helena hit the road and once more toured a list of countries longer than your arm. She then made a second attempt to enter Tibet (once again, entering via India).
Finally, she succeeded!
And, finally, Helena could get to work finding out what Master Morya's mission for her was. Granted, she arrived a bit late—many years after she initially received her message—but she arrived nonetheless. Once again, some historians argue that it wasn’t possible for Helena to have travelled to Tibet (or, indeed, accomplished many of her other travelling feats) because, and get this, of her weight and health issues. And yet, Butterbean, who weighs over 370 lbs, can have an incredibly long and successful career as a heavyweight boxer, martial arts specialist, wrestler and kickboxer but Madame Helena couldn’t have possibly reached Tibet because of her weight?
Right.
Once Helena did arrive in Tibet, she stayed with Master Morya's close friend, Master Koot Hoomi, and was taught the mysteries of Tibetan Buddhism. She was also taught a secret, unknown language. According to Boris De Zirkoff, during her stay in Tibet, Helena managed to translate several stanzas of the Tibetan Book of Dzyan (the Book of Meditation to you and I). This book, the Book of Dzyan, was part of a wider text known as Kiu-Ti—a Tibetan esoteric and exoteric text filled with legends and myths.
(Just as an FYI, 'esoteric' means knowledge that is not publicly or commonly known whereas 'exoteric' is the opposite, meaning knowledge that is commonly known. Just thought that they would be an interesting addition to your lexicon if they weren't a member already). I would also like to point out another reason we should believe Helena's accounts of her travels: Helena travelled throughout her life, something that Master Morya (who was in close communication with the author A. P. Sinnett) and many of her friends, corroborated. Why would Helena have bent the truth about her earlier years? Consistently, she demonstrates the preferences for a nomadic lifestyle. . . This didn't start just because at some point documentation and journal entries began (1870s). However, I digress.
Feeling overwhelmed yet? Because in collecting all the information for this article, I sure was long before I got to this point!
But, Helena gets better.
Remember I said Helena was the greatest Witch you'd probably never heard of? Well, here's why (if the whole abandoning-her-husband-to-travell-alone-and-being-independent-woman-at-a-time-when-it-was-heavily-frowned-upon and studying-with-the-Ancient-Masters-of-Wisdom-in-Tibet wasn't enough)—Helena began to put all she had learnt about the Occult in Tibet into action, thus inspiring the biggest Occult movement in history.
Let me just say that when I say 'Occult', I don't mean it in the way that it's portrayed in films and media. I mean it in the true sense of the word, that is, the Transformation of the Self. To fully understand that, I must tell you about the thing Helena refers to as the 'Divine Spark'. The 'Divine Spark' is a spark, an Essence from 'the Deity' that resides within all of us. It is also known by its more modern name, The Black Flame. This is the 'flame', or Essence, of personal freedom, of individualism. Modern-day Satanists use Satan as the symbol of the Black Flame because Satan is the Adversary i.e.: the one who opposes and rejects those who impose their beliefs on other people. So, in a sense, Occultism does incorporate some Devil worship but not in the way it's portrayed in films and books, with blood sacrifices of virgins and goats and all that jazz. Rather, it incorporates the philosophy of Satanism which is that Satan, or rather, Lucifer, is the force that will lead to awakening and embracing one's own individuality and actively fighting against herd mentality, judgement and violence often seen practised in organised religions (example: the Satanic Temple fighting against abortion bans imposed by conservative “Christians”).
Helena explained the 'Divine Spark' as follows: There are seven levels of Consciousness between our physical body and the Divine Spark. Each Level is a conscious entity; ever-growing, ever-changing and each a source of wisdom in its own right. It is through these levels of consciousness we can Ascend and gain access to Ancient Wisdom ourselves.
Right, back to the Earth we go. Specifically, to New York City in the 1870s.
Having acquired knowledge that Witches and Mystics around the world could only dream of, Helena set out on the next stage of her life, absolutely determined to use said knowledge to prove to people that claims made by Spiritualists were actually true. Helena's main source of her claims came from her own experiences–Helena often claimed to have acquired her knowledge in Tibet directly from the Masters of Ancient Wisdom by ways of telepathy. Even those who had passed on into the 'spirit realm'. She is said to have told people she achieved this connection by ways of entering into trance-like states, during which information and images were 'transferred' into her mind. Now, if you've rolled your eyes at this point, allow me to remind you of the title of the article.
After departing Tibet, Helena continued to travel, visiting countries such as Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, France and Romania and Greece and inspiring everyone she met. In Greece, Helena met another Master, Master Hilarion. Not long after, she travelled back to Egypt. The boat she was travelling on, however, blew up and Helena was one of the mere 16 survivors. Because of course it did and because of course she did.
Then, in April 1873, Master Morya resurfaced in Helena's life, this time instructing her to travel to America. She set out immediately and it’s said by Helena’s friends that she assisted a poor woman and her two children get to New York. The mother had been scammed and had no money, so Helena assisted her by exchanging her first-class ticket for third-class tickets and travelling with them to the city.
Two months later, in July 1873, Helena arrived in New York City. Unsure of what to do in New York, Helena set about making a life for herself and found employment by designing cards and sewing. She stayed in a women’s housing co-operative and entertained the ladies there with tales of her travels. Soon after her arrival in New York City, Helena’s father passed away and left his fortune to her. In Dec 1874, she married her second husband, Mikheil Betaneli after he nagged and pestered her to do so. He simply would not leave her alone. In true Helena fashion, however, she didn't divorce her first husband prior to marrying Mikheil Betaneli and also refused to consummate their marriage, leaving Mikheil humiliated and suing for divorce not long after. You get what you deserve, my dude.
Committing bigamy wasn't the only thing Helena got up to in 1874. According to author G. A. Barborka, Helena finally receives further directions from Master Morya: go to the Eddy farmhouse in Chittenden, Vermont. Once again, we see Helena instantly answer and obey his command. For me, this proves that, at least to Helena, the message and Work assigned to her by the Masters of Ancient Wisdom was the most important thing to her. Forget marriage. Forget children. Forget being a socialite and climbing the social ladder, forget popularity and fame, Helena was enmeshed in something far more important—introducing the Mysticism of the East to the West.
When Helena arrived at the Eddy farmhouse, she discovered that the Eddy brothers were hosting incredible seances. So, Helena decided to participate and ended up wow-ing everyone who attended with her psychic abilities. She ended up staying at the farmhouse for a lot longer than planned, which was actually a pretty good idea because who did Helena Blavatsky meet at the Eddy farm? Just some guy named Olcott.
You may be familiar with him. If not, let me tell you briefly about Mr Olcott.
You may know him better by his full title: Colonel Henry Steele Olcott. Yes, the same Colonel Henry Steele Olcott who was a Civil War veteran, lawyer, Freemason and journalist and who also played a role in the investigation of Abe Lincoln’s assassination. He is also believed to be the first American of European descent to formally convert to Buddhism and is considered a national hero in Sri Lanka (more on this later). So, yeah. An interesting fellow. And one whom Helena tutored personally on all she had learnt in Tibet, from her studies and from her trances/psychic connection to the Masters of Ancient Wisdom. To say Olcott was enthralled by Helena is an understatement—it wasn’t long before the pair became close friends and Olcott even witnessed Helena enter into trance-like states on many occasions. In turn, Olcott, using his status, brought a whole boatload of attention to Blavatksy and her abilities (during this time he also assigned Helena the nickname "Jack"). At the same time that all of this was going on, Helena continued to publicly defend the Spiritualist movement, something she had been doing from a young age. This involved writing articles on the movement and publicly denying (in writing) any and all accusations of fraud.
Remember when historians doubted Helena's claims of her travels around the world because of the lack of a journal and people to corroborate her tales? Well, now we have several more credible individuals confirming her claims. Olcott, Master Koot Hoomi, and author A.P. Sinnett. . . So, what now, then? Are we still not believing Helena's claims?
Anyway.
Alongside writing her articles and with her following growing in size, Helena set about establishing herself in America further and, in Sept 1875, Helena and Olcott founded the Theosophical Society. She appointed Olcott to be its first President and the pair set about engaging in the Work of the Society.
Have you ever heard of the Theosophical Society?
The Theosophical Society is a successful body that seeks to find Truth by incorporating influences from Buddhism, Occultism, Islam, Hinduism and a variety of other religions. This platform, along with the monthly magazine she and Olcott published, allowed Helena to continue "the Work" of teaching Eastern mysticism to the West.
The Theosophical Society's mantra is: "There is no religion higher than Truth". Now, I'm not religious at all. In fact, I reject any and all organised religions, but even I have to admit that this statement is incredibly appealing. It was also appealing to Ghandi, too, but we're not quite there in Helena's journey just yet, so hold on.
In addition to all of this (yes, I know, I know!), H.P.B. was working on her first, great written work: Isis Unveiled. This was essentially a compendium of a variety of esoteric texts as well as her own Theosophical views. Not only was this text rich in its teachings of magic, but Helena also used it to criticise Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Her argument was that Darwin had only focused on the 'real world' (meaning the physical world) in his studies. To Helena, Darwin negating to incorporate of the spiritual realm in his Theory meant that his Theory was incomplete and, therefore, flawed. The balls on this woman, I swear!
Okay, finally, let's touch on Ghandi and India in Helena's journey. . . And hold onto your hats for this one as it's a lot to take in!
So, we've established that Helena was taught in the ways of Ancient Wisdom by the Masters themselves. We know that she channelled a lot of this information herself via trances and rituals. We also know that she was instructed to teach all she had learnt in the East to the West, leading to the formation of the Theosophical Society in America in 1875. We also know that Hinduism played a major role in Helena's belief system. We also know that Helena enthralled anyone she came into contact with, which, for a woman out on her own in the 1800s, makes her even more interesting. Clearly, she possessed something special about her. Maybe this is why she was chosen to receive Master Morya's message? Perhaps the Masters know Helena would be The One to help the Masters connect the East with the West spiritually? I like to think so.
Now we're in 1879 and Helena and Olcott are now in Bombay, India, after Helena once again received instructions to go there from Master Morya. Here, history takes an interesting turn because you have two white people entering India believing in Hinduism and actively speaking out against Christianity and against the British. According to author Katherine Beechey, Helena firmly believed the Theosophy was the answer to solving “half of the world’s social problems” because Theosophy encouraged people to work together and respect one another. To Helena, Theosophy reminded people that they existed ‘on a plane of the higher Self, free from antipathy and racial, social and mental disabilities.’
Naturally, because of their stance, both Helena and Olcott became very popular, very quickly.
The reason for this was pretty straightforward: the British had landed in India sometime in the 1700s and thought "yeah, look at all the tea leaves! This is great! You know what would be a good idea? Occupying this country and imposing all of our bullshit beliefs onto its people!"
Okay, well, it wasn't as straightforward as that and you can read a lot more about British Colonialism and about the East India Company HERE but essentially, that's what happened, leaving millions of Indians caught in this clusterfuck of a society which tried to adapt to the imposing Westerners and their religions/culture and desperately trying to preserve their history and religious practices. You may wonder why India didn't immediately rebel against the British being there. I did, too, at first, but it's because India has had a long-standing trading relationship with Europe (I'm talking thousands of years here) so, the British influence simply grew and grew over time, thus mingling with the Indian population and, eventually, trying (but failing) to dominate it.
Why did the Brits fail?
Simple.
Because at some point, the Indian people really did have enough. Starting in 1850, there began a massive pushback in the form of religious reformation. Movement after movement reformed Hinduism, all slightly different but all stemming from the same core value: Preserve and promote Hinduism. Do not let it die.
And, the People succeeded.
Now, this is a very complicated topic that I won't go into in a huge amount of detail because we'll be here for years if I do, but let's take a look at Helena's presence in India. Namely, Helena's Theosophical worldviews, which were heavily influenced by Hinduism. As I've already said, for this reason, Helena and Olcott were warmly welcomed in India and proved extremely influential. They travelled all over India, visiting locations such as the Taj Mahal, Ceylon (where they were personally invited by Buddhist monks), the palace of the Maharaja of Vizianagram and the Yamuna River, where they met Babu Surdass. This is to name but a few places. . . And all the while, Helena was being told where to go by the Masters of Ancient Wisdom by way of telepathy. Given her history, I'm inclined to believe her. Again, after all, why not?
India is not only important in demonstrating how much influence she had over people, but it is where Helena demonstrated her most powerful and awe-inspiring magickal abilities: she stunned people with seances, shocked them with channellings and left them speechless as she materialised items out of thin air. Apparently, at one point, she even managed to manifest a teacup and saucer during a picnic one day when out with friends. As a Brit myself, this makes me laugh—all these white people out for a picnic and suddenly one fancies another cup of tea and Helena's like "lol, no problem, I got you fam".
So, what do Helena being in India and the Hindu Reformation have to do with each other? Is all of this in any way important? Well, the Hindu Reformation Movement, supported and promoted by Helena and Olcott, paved the way for the formation of a group called the Indian National Congress. I'm sure you can see where this is going. And the Indian National Congress, being the policy-makers of the Democratic movement in India, was instrumental in a little something called the Indian Independence Movement. A movement which aimed to, and succeeded in, ending the British rule in India once and for all.
Unfortunately, Helena had to leave India in 1885 due to her failing health. Her devoted student, Annie Besant, stayed in India after Helena left to continue Helena's work and became the first woman President of the Indian National Congress in 1917.
Now, the Indian National Congress Party was later led by someone who may sound familiar: a one Mahatma Gandhi. Annie, being a vital member of the Congress, often collaborated (and argued with) Gandhi. Now, I know Gandhi has become somewhat of a controversial figure of late, what with people realising that, in an effort to 'prove' his dedication to celibacy, he shared a bed with his 13-year-old niece which is absolutely fucking gross and should never have happened but he is important in Helena’s story. For this reason, I won't give Gandhi too much of my time and I will write about him objectively.
Gandhi led the Indian Independence Movement by spreading the idea that women deserved more rights, poverty shouldn't be a thing anymore and the whole 'Untouchable' rung of the Indian caste system should be thrown out. In an effort to demonstrate his understanding and sympathy for those struggling with poverty, Gandhi lived a very simple lifestyle and wore simple clothing. He also began publicly challenging the bullshit laws and taxes the British were imposing on the Indian population. This escalated to Gandhi saying the equivalent of "you know what? Forget the laws and taxes, just pack up your shit and gtfo out of our country". He liked to make this proclamation and make it often. He was sent to prison many times for it. India finally gained independence on 15th August 1947, all thanks to the efforts of Gandhi and many more leaders like him.
Pop quiz time!
What was one of Gandhi's famous sayings?
Anyone?
Okay, I'll tell you. It was: "All religions are True."
Now where have we heard something like that before? Oh, yeah. The Theosophical Society's mantra "There is no greater religion than Truth". Now, Gandhi himself professed how much of a role Theosophy played in the foundations of his personal and political development, and throughout his life maintained that Theosophy and Hinduism had a very close connection. He was also heavily associated with Blavatsky's Lodge in London and even met Helena in person there in 1891. I mean. . . it can’t be any clearer that Helena and her Theosophy and influence were incorporated into Gandhi's values and therefore played a major role in the Indian Independence Movement.
Take a moment to let that soak in.
Sadly, we now find ourselves almost at the end of Helena's journey. But, in a way, it was also the beginning. Allow me to explain. When Helena returned to Europe in 1885, her health was in really poor shape. Nevertheless, she continued to travel around Europe, even becoming extremely close friends with a Swedish Countess by the name of Constance Wachtmeister (also a Theosophist). By this time, over 120 Theosophical Society Lodges had been established around the world but still, Helena would go on to establish the 'Blavatsky Lodge' in London. In addition to this, Helena was also working on her masterpiece, The Secret Doctrine. I'll come back to this in just a moment.
In 1886, Helena, now wheelchair-bound, planted herself in Ostend, Belgium and received visits from Theosophists from all over Europe. There, she also set up an ink-producing business because she believed that Indian ink was the highest-quality ink one could buy and European ink was rubbish in comparison. Can’t really argue with that. The factory did well and one day, a poor woman showed up at Helena’s door. Helena didn’t give the woman any money, though. Oh, no. In true Helena fashion, she gave the woman the whole ink factory.
Another interesting development took place in 1886: the Theosophical Society founded a Lodge in Dublin Ireland. What else was happening in Ireland at this time? Well, a movement known today as the Irish Literary Movement, also known as the Celtic Literary Movement, was beginning to gain traction in Ireland. This Movement is a shining light in Ireland’s history as it marked the beginning of the people of Ireland rediscovering their love of their Gaelic roots.
According to author W. E. Small, many historians credit the Celtic Literary Movement to Theosophy. This is why: writers, such as W. B. Yeats and George Russel (pseudonym AE), personally attended the Lodges and, feeling brought together by the ‘brotherhood’ of the Theosophical Society, inspired each other to create their works which lay the foundations of the Movement. AE himself attributed his inspiration to Helena by saying, ‘I did what I could to keep always in line with the Message of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. . . My own writing. . . having been written in a spiritual atmosphere generated by H.P.B.’. AE also defended Helena to fellow writer, Sean O'Foalain, by telling him, ‘You dismiss H. P. Blavatsky rather too easily as “hocus pocus”’. He then goes on to say that nobody could have influenced that many men and women throughout the world by mere use of “hocus pocus”. And, he’s not wrong, is he?
One important thing to note is that the Irish Literary Movement also played a major role in the rise of Irish nationalism, a movement which eventually resulted in most of Ireland breaking free from the United Kingdom and establishing itself as an independent nation once more in 1922. Sadly, Helena, who died in 1891, did not live to see this but I’m sure she would have celebrated it had she been alive.
Once again, we see Helena have a direct and indirect impact on global politics—all of which followed the theme of independence and the rejection of oppression.
Even though Helena only had a few years left on this Earth, she was far from done living. Disabled and her health declining rapidly, Helena fought on by establishing the ‘Blavatsky Lodge’ in London in 1887. And, she did so out of spite.
The ‘Blavatsky Lodge’ was Helena’s own personal Theosophical Lodge and she set it up to rival the Lodge established by A. P. Sinnett (yes, the same guy who penned Helena's biography). Unsurprisingly, Helena's Lodge was far more attractive to Theosophists and they swarmed to her Lodge, all but abandoning Sinnett's, which is exactly what Helena intended. The reason for this was that there was a long-standing feud between Olcott and Sinnett. Olcott (and many other Theosophists) saw that Sinnett wasn't really interested in promoting the Society, rather, he was more interested in using it as a means to propel himself up the social ladder. Needless to say, Helena was mightily annoyed by this, hence her decision to set up her own Lodge, the Blavatsky Lodge. She continued to receive guests there until she died. Below is a photo of H.P.B. with Olcott in 1888.
During the final years of her life, Helena, having completed The Secret Doctrine, began to focus more on the philosophy of the Theosophy. She found herself in a bit of a sticky situation, as many people were criticising her and accusing her of being a fraud. Outraged, and rightly so, Helena wanted to pursue legal action against her accusers just to make a point. After all, she'd spent her whole life being the veil between our world and the spirit realm and had kickstarted several major global changes. No way was she going to let idiots ruin all of that. Unfortunately, Olcott advised Helena against taking legal action. In time, she came to agree with his position and was later heard saying that she was glad she didn't take the case to court, mainly because it 'kept the people's focus on her, rather than the Society.'
Helena then went on to publish a magazine entitled 'Lucifer'. During the Victorian era. Seriously, do you love her yet? I sure hope so!
Tragically Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky left her physical body behind on the 8th of May 1891 after contracting influenza, something that I and many magicians around the world consider very unfair and wish that the Universe would reconsider.
Before I let you go, I want to touch upon the aforementioned book Helena wrote called The Secret Doctrine. This book, this work, deserves its own section. So, without further ado, I present to you,
The Secret Doctrine.
Helena's magnum opus.
Here's a photo of The Secret Doctrine head-on.
. . . and here’s it is on its side.
Think this is thick? According to author Michael Gomes, the original manuscript was over 3 feet tall!
Look at it.
All that teeny, tiny writing.
And the paper is extra thin, too, just for good measure.
The Secret Doctrine, as I stated above, really is Helena's magnum opus. She began writing it in 1885 as she travelled back to Europe from India, and continued to work on it, even when she was at death's door. Her dear friend, Countess Constance Wachtmeister, witnessed Helena writing most of The Secret Doctrine, and vividly recalls Helena's writing process, saying that 'the Old Lady' would often stop writing and stare into space, at nothing in particular, as if in a trance. Helena confirmed this, and said that when this happened, she could 'see' the segments of the Doctrine appearing in her mind like 'a successive pictures of a diorama'. It should also be noted that, at the time, Helena lived in a tiny, one-bedroomed apartment in Würzburg, Germany (it was for this reason that Helena originally declined to see Countess Wachtmeister) and therefore, had very little room for books. Therefore, if Helena needed source materials from the books she had studied, she would again sink into a trance and 'the astral counterpart of the book appears'.
I, for one, can half-believe this. I'm an author and artist myself, as are many of my friends, and the whole sinking-into-a-trance, staring-off-into-space and seeing-the-next-part-of-my-work-in-my-mind thing is something most of us have experienced when working on a project. Maybe we, too, are witches in our own way? Food for thought.
Back to Helena.
Now, at the time of the Countess's arrival at H.P.B.'s home in Würzburg, Helena was only a few chapters in. After the Countess arrived, however, Helena seemed to find new energy and began working tirelessly on this manuscript. By the way, H.P.B. was well into her fifties at this point. Unfortunately, she was getting older and her poor health only continued to decline further. So much so that she even lost consciousness after dinner one evening, scaring the Countess half to death. Helena's regular doctor was sent for, who then immediately summoned the help of a specialist: Helena was suffering from uremic poisoning, which happens when your kidneys stop working properly, thus failing to clean your blood as they ought to do. This results in a whole bunch of nasty toxins building up in your body which can kill you unless treated quickly.
Sensing that Helena was in poor shape, the doctor also summoned an American lawyer (Helena had gained American citizenship in July of 1878) to make a will. Countess Wachtmeister herself was certain Helena would soon perish, and later told friends that she could even smell the sense of approaching death. Apparently, when someone is dying, their body starts to give off a specific odour, which is something that I know now. That night, the Countess went to sleep and when she woke, felt certain it would be to the news that her friend had passed.
Fortunately for Helena, she had decided that she really needed to finish The Secret Doctrine and that dying was something that would just have to wait until later. I'm not even joking—when the Countess rose, she went into Helena's sitting room and saw Helena there, reading a book and looking bright as a button, wondering what all the fuss was about. She recommenced working on her manuscript without further ado and the lawyer and two doctors left wearing very confused expressions.
Unfortunately, this wasn't the only nasty shock that was in store for Helena as she worked on The Secret Doctrine. By this time, the influence and interest of the Theosophical Society were waning. This was partly due to Helena's absence from the Lodges in England (on account of her health) and also in part to the many accusations of fraud against her. I touched upon this earlier but I'll expand on it here. Some a-hole (legal name Richard Hodgson, who will be aptly referred to as 'Dick' from now on) who worked for the Society of Psychical Research Committee became weirdly fascinated by Helena and the Theosophical Society and actually began to investigate them on behalf of his 'Committee'. This 'Committee' was founded in 1882 and aimed to investigate claims of all things weird and paranormal. Well, it's not surprising is it, what with the Spiritualist movement in full force by that point. Anyway, Dick published his report on the Theosophical Society in December of 1885. In it, Dick claimed that not only was Helena 'one of the most successful imposters in history' but that she was also a Russian spy! Why was this relevant? Because the Theosophical Society was still based in London and Helena was still a Russian citizen (yes, Dick left out the part where Helena was also an American citizen, but I'm sure that surprises absolutely nobody).
Now, Russia and England have a bit of a complicated history, so bear with me. . .
Back at the beginning of the 19th century, England and Russia were allies—united against the French dictator Napoleon. Then the Russian-English relationship broke down as the two superpowers went to war in 1850 over Crimea (not much changes, does it?). This spat continued throughout the rest of the 1800s as they fought for control in Central Asia. Then, in the early 20th century, Russia and England became friends again because a bunch of Germans decided that they weren't getting enough attention and that they were, in fact, just as great and powerful as everyone else. . .
So, for Dick to accuse the greatest, most interesting Occultist of all time of being little more than a Russian spy during the time when relations between England and Russia had all but broken down, really was an outrageous and dangerous thing to do. A Dick move, if you will. Helena certainly did not deserve that and, understandably, she took it really badly. She stopped working on the Doctrine and began to feel rage, anguish and intense loneliness; she feared now everyone would abandon her. In fact, it wasn't long after a-hole published his 'findings' that poor Helena fell ill and nearly perished. Luckily for us, she recovered from death pretty well and was soon on her merry way.
Side note: 100 years later, in April of 1986, a one Dr Harrison reversed Dick's verdict by stating that Dick's original report was extremely flawed and lacking in any evidence whatsoever and that Dick should be very sorry indeed.
Helena continued to write and work on The Secret Doctrine and it was finally published in 1888. In the end, Helena viewed her work not only as the beautiful masterpiece it actually was but also as a massive middle finger to Hodgson and the 'Society of Psychical Research Committee' and all of their BS accusations. Apparently, this Society is still going. Let's just hope they've learnt from their mistakes.
Now, I will admit I have not read The Secret Doctrine. Maybe I will in the future when I have a spare decade or so. I highly recommend you pick up a copy of H. P. Blavatsky and The Secret Doctrine (1988) if you can—it goes into far more detail about the Doctrine than I could ever hope to achieve and it's presented in a much more condensed way. I've left a link to it at the end of this article.
But for now, I'll leave you with the argument that The Secret Doctrine is the greatest Occult works in the last several thousand years. This bold statement was made by the author Boris de Zirkoff, who also happened to be the last known direct relative of Helena P. Blavatsky. He notes in his work, The Source of the Secret Doctrine, that the Book of Dyzan that Helena translated back in Tibet, and which is part of the foundation of the Doctrine, contains many sentences beginning with the phrases "Occultism teaches—", "Occult Science declares—" and, most importantly, "the Secret Doctrine states—". All in all, I'm inclined to believe his statement. And, looking at The Secret Doctrine, I don't blame him for making said statement. Again. . . just look at it!
There is another reason I chose to write about Helena for Women's History Month and it's actually far more personal than celebrating a great woman.
My own book series, The Dark Doctrines, are heavily influenced by Helena and the Occult. Once again, by Occult, I mean the 'Divine Spark' and the 'Black Flame', not the other dramatised version edgelords buy into. The Essence of independence, enlightenment, individualism and the ability to fight against oppression. This is how I portray it in The Dark Doctrines:
There are two deities, Mellik and Seth-An, who are brothers.
Mellik is of the opinion that Beings (that is, all sentient living things) should recognise Him and his family for the gods they are. Beings should reach out to Him and his brother for guidance, love, and protection and use them as a force to be called upon to achieve their wishes and goals. Seth-An disagrees, arguing that Beings should worship themselves, for it is within themselves that they will find the power to achieve all they set their mind to, so pro- and anti-Black Flame.
Following the thread of modern Occultism, Seth-An believes that if the Black Flame is given to Beings, they also have the potential to Ascend into godhood themselves. Mellik is horrified because normal Beings aren't gods and never will be. This leads to a slight disagreement between the two brothers, resulting in one imprisoning the other. This marginally irritates the imprisoned brother, who eventually breaks free and resorts to drastic and terrifying measures to prove that He is right and his brother is wrong.
The Dark Doctrines is told through the perspective of regular humans and Beings who are experiencing the consequences of this trivial disagreement in real-time. And, to honour Helena, I have created a character named Baba Petrovna, who will be Helena’s voice throughout the series. Weirdly, Baba Petrovna is the Mentor to a young Being named Yuri who is able to manipulate Reality. I shit you not. I almost choked on my drink when I read that Helena had adopted a little boy called Yuri some months after I had written Yuri's storyline.
That's all I will say for now. I'm currently working on the second book in the series (The Tenth Sphere) and plan to publish that in October 2024. The third book (The Coven of the Black Phoenix—working title), I intend to publish in 2025. Currently, you can find the first book in the series, The Scarlet Flowers of Engelstadt on Amazon. My novella, A Conversation with Mienk, is also part of The Dark Doctrines - you can find it by clicking HERE.
So, there you have it.
An extremely concise and, hopefully, informative summation of the mighty Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.
Helena was, indeed a 'difficult woman'. Or, was she? Jane Goodall said it best when she said: “It actually doesn’t take much to be considered a difficult woman. That’s why there are so many of us.” As women, when we are perceived as 'difficult' or 'non-confirming to patriarchal expectations', we are mocked, belittled, insulted, are told to go away and stop bothering people (As demonstrated by the incredibly imaginative "Get back in the kitchen and make me a sandwich" line often spewed by weak men who don't know how to handle strong-willed women. Or, any woman for that matter).
The message H.P.B. was sending was clear, however: I am my own person and no man or society shall rule me. She supported other women, committed bigamy, founded a whole new esoteric movement, influenced global politics and brought about changes in India, the world's largest democracy, and in Ireland, among many other countries. And she did this all by her own sheer will, stubbornness and, sometimes, spite. Helena put her energy and Will into the Universe and caused change on a colossal scale.
What is that, if not witchcraft?
So, Helena Petrovna Blavastky. A 'difficult woman', or a woman we should all take inspiration from?
I'll leave that to you to decide.
References and Further Reading:
Lachman, Gary (2012). Madame Blavatsky: The Mother of Modern Spirituality. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin.
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