Hours with the Ghosts or, Nineteenth Century Witchcraft: Illustrated Investigations into the Phenomena of Spiritualism and TheosophyEvans, Henry Ridgely
Religion
Hours with the Ghosts or, Nineteenth Century Witchcraft: Illustrated Investigations into the Phenomena of Spiritualism and Theosophy
Evans, Henry Ridgely
Blavatsky, H. P. (Helena Petrovna), 1831-1891; Spiritualism; Theosophy
After seeing the Society well established, Madame Blavatsky went to India.
Her career in that country was a checkered one. From this period dates the
exposé of the Mahatma miracles. The story reads like a romance by Marie
Corelli. Let us begin at the beginning. The headquarters of the Society
was first established at Bombay, thence removed to Madras and afterwards
to Adyar. A certain M. and Mme. Coulomb, trusted friends of Madame
Blavatsky, were made librarian and assistant corresponding secretary
respectively of the Society, and took up their residence in the building
known as the headquarters--a rambling East Indian bungalow, such as figure
in Rudyard Kipling's stories of Oriental life. Marvellous phenomena, of an
occult nature, alleged to have taken place there, were attested by many
Theosophists. Mysterious, ghostly appearances of Mahatmas were seen, and
messages were constantly received by supernatural means. One of the
apartments of the bungalow was denominated the Occult Room, and in this
room was a sort of cupboard against the wall, known as the _Shrine_. In
this shrine the ghostly missives were received and from it were sent.
Skeptics were convinced, and occult lodges spread rapidly over India among
the dreamy, marvel-loving natives. But affairs were not destined to sail
smoothly. There came a rift within the lute--Madame Blavatsky quarreled
with her trusted lieutenants, the Coulombs! In May, 1884, M. and Mme.
Coulomb were expelled from the Society by the General Council, during the
absence of the High Priestess and Col. Olcott in Europe. The Coulombs, who
had grown weary of a life of imposture, or were actuated by the more
ignoble motive of revenge, made a complete exposé of the secret working of
the Inner Brotherhood. They published portions of Madame Blavatsky's
correspondence in the _Madras Christian College Magazine_, for September
and October, 1884; letters written to the Coulombs, directing them to
prepare certain impostures and letters written by the High Priestess,
under the signature of Koot Hoomi, the mythical adept.[5] This
correspondence unquestionably implicated the Sibyl in a conspiracy to
fraudulently produce occult phenomena. She declared them to be, in whole,
or in part, forgeries. At this juncture the London Society for Psychical
Research sent Mr. Richard Hodgson, B. A., scholar of St. John's College,
Cambridge, England, to India to investigate the entire matter in the
interest of science.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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