Spiritualism and the nineteenth-century revival
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
Co-founder of the Theosophical Society and author of an immense modern synthesis drawing on Western occultism, Hindu and Buddhist terminology, Spiritualism, Neoplatonism and comparative religion.
- Dates
- 1831 – 8 May 1891
- Dating
- documented dates
- Born
- Russian Empire
- Died
- London
The life
She travelled widely and eventually settled in New York, where she, Henry Steel Olcott and others founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. The headquarters moved to India, ultimately Adyar near Madras. She later returned to Europe and died in London.
Place in the tradition
She probably did more than any single nineteenth-century figure to create the intellectual environment of modern occultism and the later New Age.
a note on the record
History and later legend
She claimed instruction from hidden adepts or 'Masters'. Whether or not one accepts that religiously, the historical achievement is the synthesis rather than the claim.
the written record
Principal works
-
1877
Isis Unveiled
A sprawling attack on materialism and dogmatic Christianity, coupled with a defence of occult and ancient wisdom traditions.
-
1888
The Secret Doctrine
Her cosmological synthesis, presented as a reading of the Stanzas of Dzyan: cycles of evolution, root races, reincarnation and hidden spiritual hierarchies.
-
1889
The Key to Theosophy
A much more accessible question-and-answer exposition of Theosophical teaching.
-
1889
The Voice of the Silence
A devotional and mystical text presenting an ideal of spiritual compassion in strongly Buddhist-influenced vocabulary.