Story of Madame Helena P. Blavatsky - The Controversial Seer
Daughter of a German father and a Russian mother of Imperial ancestry, Helena Blavatsky Petrova was talked about from an early age, due to the paranormal phenomena that occur in her presence; in Yekaterinoslav, her native village, she is believed to be possessed by the demon. This is where her story begins.
At the age of 8, she moved with her family to Saratov, on the banks of the Volga. When her mother succumbs to tuberculosis, her education is entrusted to her maternal grandparents; the grandfather introduced her to the occult sciences. Helena quickly becomes aware of her exceptional gifts: her psychic powers fascinate her family and friends. At 18, she married an older man, but fled a few months later to embark on an extended period of travel to Turkey, Greece and Egypt. When she was 20, she met the man she said she had known in her childhood visions in London: Mahatma Morya. It is he who, according to her own statements, shows her the Way and she accepts him as Guide, without hesitation.
In September 1875, she founded the Theosophical Society with some other personalities, to make known the ancestral teachings of theosophy, that is to say the wisdom which touches the divine.
Madame HP Blavatsky teachings
Originally, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's theosophy evokes the existence of a vague divinity, impossible to understand by men, who is at the origin of everything. According to these theories, the nature of man and all other living things is eternal, inasmuch as it belongs to one and only one universal “soul”; purification makes it possible to acquire occult powers by returning little by little to this original whole which gave birth to everything.
The fundamental points of Helena Blavatsky's doctrine are two in number: Karma, the interdependence between human actions and their effects, and Reincarnation, because only by returning and progressing can man aspire to perfection, Nirvana.
Exemplary life or deception?
Helena Blavatsky's doctrine has met with tremendous success; her followers see her as a superior being endowed with incredible supernatural powers. But she also has her detractors. In 1878, she was the object of virulent attacks: the mediums Daniel Dunglas Home and Sarasvati accused her of fraud, the latter being the founder of a Hindu community which proved Madame Helena Blavatsky's incompetence in matters of yoga and of Eastern doctrines. To cover up the scandal, she was forced to move to India and transfer her company headquarters there. But things are not getting better: in India, too, she attracts a lot of enemies; in 1884, she suffered another attack from Alexis and Emma Coulomb, two of her disciples. On March 31, 1885, she returned to Europe. In the meantime, the London Psychic Research Society has appointed a commission of inquiry into her.
In December 1885, she was officially accused of being one of the most remarkable and intelligent charlatans in history. However, a few years ago, this same Psychic Research Society established the unfounded report on Helena Blavatsky, fully rehabilitating her. Therefore, even today, it is clear that the last word has not yet been said on the true story of this singular woman.
The main works of Helena P. Blavatsky
Among Helena Blavatsky's best-known and translated books, let us recall Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine. The first traces the main stages in the history, purpose and development of the occult sciences, deals with the nature and origins of magic, the roots of Christianity, the errors of other religious doctrines. The Secret Doctrine, published in two volumes in 1888, is undoubtedly her masterpiece. The first volume deals with the evolution of the Universe and the interpretation of the symbols of the great religions and mythologies of the world, the second is devoted to the evolution of humanity. These writings had a profound influence on the thinking of writers, composers and scientists of the day: from Gustav Mahler to Jack London, from Gauguin to D.H. Lawrence, and even Einstein.
