It is well known that the founder of theosophy, Mme. H. P. Blavatsky, has for a number
of years denounced Spiritualism and mediumship in no uncertain terms. As per contra
it may be well to present a few facts relative to the connection of this woman with
spiritualistic and other alleged occultic phenomena. In 1874, she first came to the
attention of the American public in connection with certain alleged marvelous
manifestations of spirits to her through the Eddys at Chittenden,
Vermont. It was claimed among other things, that a buckle, attached to a decoration,
buried with her father, was brought, from his grave in Russia, to her at the Eddys,
by spirit power. It was subsequently established that decorations of Russian
officers were never buried with the bodies of those upon whom they were bestowed. It
is clear, then, that the alleged spiritual phenomenon was a trick or device, doubtless
arranged between herself and the mediums. These mediums have been detected in
trickery a number of times, and I have a mass of positive evidence as to the fraudulent
character of the Chittenden manifestations. There is little doubt that the whole of
the wonderful phenomena described as occurring at that place in connection
with Mme. Blavatsky, were fraudulent, --- got up by preconcerted arrangement between the
Madame and the mediums.
In 1875, the Madame was closely involved in certain manifestations, claiming to come
from John King, through the mediumship of Mr. and Mrs. Holmes in
Philadelphia. Mme. Blavatsky then claimed to be herself a medium of the said John
King; and through her various phenomena from him, are said to have occurred, including
long messages by rapping, direct writing and painting by John King, transportation of
objects, etc., all similar in character to many, afterwards claimed as being performed
through her by the mahatmas or adepts. She sent General F. J. Lippitt a painting,
which she said had been painted by John King for the General; but proofs that this
painting had been done by the Madame herself, were afterwards published. She was
also seen to get up in the night and paint pictures, which she claimed were produced by
spirit power. The Holmeses were exposed as frauds both before and after Mme.
Blavatskys partnership with them in the John King manifestations in
1875; and there is strong evidence that she and the Holmeses were in collusion in the
production of bogus phenomena, principally for the purpose of hoodwinking Colonel Olcott
into the belief in her remarkable occultic powers.
In 1874 and 1875, Mme. Blavatsky many times declared, in the most emphatic manner, that
she was a life-long Spiritualist and the champion of mediums, and Spiritualism was the
worlds savior, etc. In 1875, she instituted a new society, called the
Theosophical, at first quasi spiritualistic in nature, but subsequently
of a more pronounced anti-spiritualistic character. After transfer of the
headquarters of this society to India in 1878-79, she became radically
anti-spiritualistic, and has since been a bitter opponent of that which she professed so
ardently in 1874-75. In India she became notorious through the performance of a
number of purported feats of magic, alleged as being partly her own work and partly those
of certain adepts, living in the Tibetian Himalayas. Overwhelming proofs of the
frauds practiced in the performance of these feats, has been published by her confederates
in guilt, Madame and M. Coulomb, and by Mr. Richard Hodgson, in his report of a scientific
examination of said phenomena.
I have evidence that a number of the leading workers in the Theosophical Society
acknowledge that fraud was practiced by Mme. Blavatsky and her assistants in the
production of her feats said to have been done by the adepts and herself. I have
read the original of a letter [by] probably the ablest and one of the most honest
of the leading theosophists of the world, in which he avows his knowledge of the frauds
practiced by Mme. Blavatsky, and her assistants in the production of spurious maketime
phenomena. He speaks of a nasty trick the old lady has of writing bogus
letters from the mahatmas, instancing a case when a friend of his had been caused to go to
Germany, in obedience to a spurious letter from the mahatma; while he himself had received
one of these bogus letters from the Madame. While he believes that a very few of the
mahatmic phenomena are genuine, he is convinced that nearly all of them are
fraudulent. He also says that he was warned by the Countess Wachtmeister, the
Madames confidential friend and champion, to beware of bogus
manifestations made by Mme. Blavatsky. He also says that Mr. A. P. Sinnett,
the author of Esoteric Buddhism, detected her in a trick attempted to be
played on him, with a spurious precipitated letter, and that it nearly caused
Sinnett to throw up the whole business. He says, in addition, that Dr. Franz
Hartmann, the most prolific of theosophic authors, had written a pamphlet, in which like
Col. Olcott and Mr. Cooper Oakley, he declared a large number of the Madames
phenomena to be fraudulent. It is published that Dr. Hartmann, Mr. W. Q. Judge
(President of the American section of the Society), and a native Hindu, destroyed the
trick shrine at Madras, in which the spurious mahatma phenomena were performed for so long
by the Madame, with the assistance of the Coulombs. This shrine contained such
palpable evidence of the trickery that had been performed by its aid, that these three
destroyed it, to prevent its examination by Mr. Hodgson and others. This destruction
Dr. Hartmann acknowledged to Mr. Hodgson. It is also published that the knowledge of
her frauds in India is held over the Madames head by Mr. Judge, and that the society
was compelled to pay Mr. Judges expenses back to America from India, he having
threatened that if such was not done, he would publicly expose the fraud he had
discovered.
Mrs. Anne Kingsford, author of The Perfect Way, and at one time a prominent
theosophist, severed her connection with the Theosophical Society, alleging as a reason
her discovery of the frauds practiced by Madame Blavatsky. Mr. A. O. Hume, was at
one time one of the most prominent theosophists in India, and he was the person to whom
was addressed, in conjunction with Mr. Sinnett, the Koot Hoomi correspondence, ultimating
in the publication of The Occult World and Esoteric
Buddhism. When he discovered the fraud that Madame Blavatsky, and her
confederates had practiced on himself and others, he severed his connection with the
Society, and since then has had nothing to do with it. We thus have the very
head and front of the society cognizant of the Madames frauds, namely,
Col. Olcott, W. Q. Judge, A. P. Sinnett, Dr. Hartmann, Dr. Cooper Oakley, Countess
Wachtmeister, Anne Kingsford, A. O. Hume, and the writer of the letter referred to, who
has not given permission for the publication of his name.
The doctrines of theosophy are contained in the two works of Madame Blavatsky,
Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine. The whole of these
peculiar theories and statements are plagiarized from other works and authors. I
have discovered the source whence they were borrowed. There is nothing
original per se in theosophy. Her first book, Isis Unveiled, is a
compilation from other books, mostly without proper credit. The bulk of the
contents of this work was copied, with light alterations, from other books, without
crediting the borrowed matter to the sources whence it was stolen. I have traced to
the original source most of the contents of the work, and such a gigantic mass of
unadulterated plagiarism the world probably never saw before. Moreover, the
quotations from other authors in this book are in a great many cases grossly garbled,
distorted, and perverted; and in a number of cases spurious citations manufactured by the
unscrupulous Madame, are attributed to various books and authors. Besides this, the
whole work is one mass of blunders and errors of every imaginable description. The
extreme carelessness of the author and her great ignorance in every branch of knowledge,
are conspicuous on every page of the work. The worlds literature has never
before been cursed with such a monument of plagiarism, literary forgery, falsehood,
ignorance, blunders, and general balderdash as that alleged production of the Tibetan
mahatmas in Isis Unveiled. I am now publishing in The Golden
Way, an expose, in detail, with proofs of every statement, of the true character of
this unique production. It is probable that I may, at some future time, publish a
book giving a complete expose of theosophy in all its features, with full evidence of the
truth of every point presented.
San Francisco, Cal.