Quotes:Pancoast, Dr. Seth

Boris de Zirkoff

Pancoast, Dr. Seth. Born in Darby, Penna., July 28, 1823; d. in Philadelphia, Dec. 16, 1889. American physician, anatomist and Kabalist, descended from one of the settlers who came to America with William Penn; son of Stephen Pancoast, a paper manufacturer, and Anna Stroud. Preliminary education in local schools; first few years of adult life spent in business; began study of medicine when he was twenty-seven years old, in Oct., 1850, at the Univ, of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated M.D. in 1852. Became Prof, of Anatomy in the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania; resigned, however, at the end of first year, to become Prof, of Anatomy at the Pennsylvania Medical College, in which position he continued until 1859 when he became Prof. Emeritus.

Apart from his medical work, Pancoast became greatly interested in Kabalistic literature, in which field he became a noted scholar and built up what was considered to be the largest library of books dealing with the occult sciences ever assembled in U.S.A, at the time. He blended his Kabalistic studies with his medical knowledge, producing several rather remarkable works, such as: The Kabbala; or the True Science of Light, New York: R. Worthington, 1877 and 1883; this book is said to have been the first written in English which attempted to explain the 10 Sephiroths and other similar subjects. It was followed by Blue and Red Light: or, Light and Its Rays as Medicine, 1877, which, while dealing with the therapeutic value of light, has a great deal of Kabalah in it also.

Dr. Pancoast was married three times: first, to Sarah Saunders Osborn; second, to Susan George Osborn; third to Carrie Almena Farnald; his family included children by all three wives. He was elected Vice-President of The Theosophical Society and remained a member until his death. He also wrote for Spiritualistic papers under the pseudonyms of ‘‘Lex” and “Lex et Lux.” H.P.B. always spoke with great respect of his erudition, but when, as Col. Olcott says (The Theos., XIV, Nov., 1892, p. 72), “it came to putting theory to the test, by evoking the unseen elemental races which guard the threshold of knowledge, he confessed he lacked courage, though she [H.P.B.] frequently offered to assist in the ceremonies and, if necessary, face the worst of the phantoms alone.”

Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 1, pp. 520-521