Twenty-One Occult
Stories By Two
Founders of the Modern
Esoteric Movement
H. P. Blavatsky and W. Q.
Judge
A 2012 Note to the Present Online Edition
Being universal wisdom,
Theosophy cannot be limited to any outward form of study, perception or
transmission.
It must speak to the multiple areas of human brain. It
has to enlighten every nook and corner of one’s soul.
From its first edition, “The Theosophist” - the magazine founded by H.P. Blavatsky in 1879 -
was “devoted to Oriental Philosophy, Art,
Literature and Occultism”. Theosophical
books and magazines typically include stories and poems.
In her writings, H.P.B. often quotes poets. She extensively
discusses Russian novelists like Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy and Turgenev, and
sometimes she translated texts by them. She defined French writer Balzac as “an
unconscious Occultist”, and among her articles on the relation between
theosophy and fiction literature one can find “The Tidal Wave”, where she comments:
“Dickens and
Thackeray both born a century too late - or a century too early - came between
two tidal waves of human spiritual thought, and though they have done yeoman
service individually and induced certain partial reforms, yet they failed to
touch Society and the masses at large. What the European world now needs is a
dozen writers such as Dostoyevsky, the Russian author, whose works, though terra
incognita for most, are still well known on the Continent, as also in England and America
Many of the following stories by H. P. Blavatsky and
W. Q. Judge study, describe and dismantle subconscious mechanisms of ignorance
and fear in human psyche. Readers who
are more inclined to look for optimism than depression have nothing to lose in
carefully reading and reflecting about them, even when the narratives show the
dark side of human life, for they help one get rid of the causes of emotional
suffering.
One of such stories, “The Ensouled Violin”[1],
has an earlier and shorter version written by a Master of the Wisdom. This was
published in “The Theosophist”,
January 1880, pp. 95-97, being signed by
“Hillarion Smerdis, F.T.S.” , and dated “Cyprus, October 1st,
1879”. [2]
Boris de Zirkoff
highlighted the fact that on letter 20 of the “Letters From the Masters of
the Wisdom” (TPH), First Series, a Mahatma writes, while referring to Ms.
Laura Holloway:
“…She will have in good time the help of the adept who
writes stories with H.P.B.”
There can be no doubt that this was a mention to
Master H.
We must thank the Theosophy
Company (India India
“Dear friend -, You have our
permission to publish online the version of “Tell Tale Picture Gallery” published and Printed by Theosophy Co (India) Pvt. Ltd., the latest edition of
which is June 1984. With best wishes, U.
L. T. Mumbai”.
Every story in this collection provides the reader
with a valuable lesson in theosophy. The
book includes an Appendix on Oriental Psychology (p. 234) and a Glossary
starting at page 239.
The Editors.
NOTES:
[1]
This particular story is
full of symbolism, and its lessons can be applied to various
situations according to the law of analogy. Another story of great interest to long-standing
students of H.P.B. is the Cagliostrian
tale “An Unsolved Mystery”. Good research done by Boris de Zirkoff on “An
Unsolved Mystery” can be seen at “The
Collected Writings of H.P. Blavatsky”, TPH, vol. V, pp. 159-162. Regarding Cagliostro, the “unsolved”
inconsistencies present in that story should be seen as “blinds”.
[2]
The same central idea of “The Ensouled Violin” inspires the 1998 Warner Brothers motion
picture “The Red Violin”, 130 m.,
directed by François Girard. The film is available in DVD.
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