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Blavatsky H.P. - A Story of the Mystical (view source)

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{{HPB-CW-header
{{HPB-CW-header
  | item title  = A Story of the Mystical
  | item title  = A Story of the Mystical
| item subtitle= Told by a member of the Theosophical Society
  | item author  = Blavatsky H.P.
  | item author  = Blavatsky H.P.
  | volume      = 1
  | volume      = 1
  | pages        = 163-173
  | pages        = 163-173
  | publications = The Sun, New York, Vol. XLIII, No. 104, December 26, 1875
  | publications = The Sun, New York, Vol. XLIII, No. 104, December 26, 1875 (A Story of the Mystical); The Theosophist, Vol. IV, January, 1883, pp. 99-101 (Can the ‘Double’ Murder?);
  | scrapbook    = 1:117-8
  | scrapbook    = 1:117-118
  | previous    = Blavatsky H.P. - An Unsolved Mystery
  | previous    = Blavatsky H.P. - An Unsolved Mystery
  | next        = Blavatsky H.P. - The Luminous Circle
  | next        = Blavatsky H.P. - The Luminous Circle
  | alternatives = [http://www.katinkahesselink.net/blavatsky/articles/v1/y1875_034.htm KH]; [https://universaltheosophy.com/hpb/can-the-double-murder/ UT]
  | alternatives = [https://universaltheosophy.com/hpb/can-the-double-murder/ UT]
  | translations = [https://ru.teopedia.org/lib/Блаватская_Е.П._-_Может_ли_двойник_убить%3F Russian]
  | translations = [[:t-ru-lib:Блаватская Е.П. - Мистическая история|Russian]]
| notes        = This story was published under two different titles: “A Story of the Mystical” (''The Sun'', December 26, 1875) and “Can the ‘Double’ Murder?” (''The Theosophist'', January, 1883)
}}
}}


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{{Style P-Title|A STORY OF THE MYSTICAL}}
{{Style P-Title|A STORY OF THE MYSTICAL}}


{{Style P-Subtitle|TOLD BY A MEMBER OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.<ref> {{HPB-CW-comment|[This story was republished by H.P.B. in The Theosophist, Vol. IV, January, 1883, pp. 99-101, under the title of “Can the ‘Double’ Murder?” She prefaced it with the following Editorial Note:<br>
{{Style P-Subtitle|TOLD BY A MEMBER OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.<ref>{{HPB-CW-comment|[This story was republished by H.P.B. in ''The Theosophist'', Vol. IV, January, 1883, pp. 99-101, under the title of “Can the ‘Double’ Murder?” She prefaced it with the following Editorial Note:}}
“The story which follows was written by the editor of this magazine some years ago at the request of a literary friend in America, and published in a leading journal of New York. It is reprinted because the events actually occurred, and they possess a very deep interest for the student of psychological science. They show in a marked degree the enormous potentiality of the human will upon mesmeric subjects whose whole being may be so imbued with an imparted intellectual preconception that the ‘double,’ or mayavi-rupa, when projected transcorporeally, will carry out the mesmerizer’s mandate with helpless subserviency. The fact that a mortal wound may be inflicted upon the inner man without puncturing the epidermis will be a novelty only to such readers as have not closely examined the records and noted the many proofs that death may result from many psychical causes besides the emotions whose lethal power is universally conceded.”
{{Style P-Quote|“The story which follows was written by the editor of this magazine some years ago at the request of a literary friend in America, and published in a leading journal of New York. It is reprinted because the events actually occurred, and they possess a very deep interest for the student of psychological science. They show in a marked degree the enormous potentiality of the human will upon mesmeric subjects whose whole being may be so imbued with an imparted intellectual preconception that the ‘double,’ or mayavi-rupa, when projected transcorporeally, will carry out the mesmerizer’s mandate with helpless subserviency. The fact that a mortal wound may be inflicted upon the inner man without puncturing the epidermis will be a novelty only to such readers as have not closely examined the records and noted the many proofs that death may result from many psychical causes besides the emotions whose lethal power is universally conceded.”}}
{{Style P-Align right|—Compiler.]}}}}</ref>}}
{{Style P-Align right|{{HPB-CW-comment|—Compiler.]}}}}</ref>}}


{{Style P-Subtitle|A DREAD SCENE IN EASTERN NECROMANCY — VENGEANCE MARVELLOUSLY WROUGHT BY OCCULT METHODS— MYSTERIES—THE SCÎN-LÂC.}}
<center>A DREAD SCENE IN EASTERN NECROMANCY — VENGEANCE MARVELLOUSLY WROUGHT BY OCCULT METHODS— MYSTERIES—THE SCÎN-LÂC.</center>
{{HPB-CW-comment|view=center|[''The Sun'', New York, Vol. XLIII, No. 104, December 26, 1875]}}
{{Vertical space|}}
{{Vertical space|}}
To the Editor of The Sun.


Sir,—
{{Style P-No indent|To the Editor of ''The Sun''.}}
 
{{Style P-No indent|Sir,—}}


One morning in 1868 Eastern Europe was startled by news of the most horrifying description. Michael Obrenovitch, reigning Prince of Serbia, his aunt, the Princess Catherine, or Katinka, and her daughter, had been murdered in broad daylight, near Belgrade, in their own garden, the {{Page aside|164}} assassin or assassins remaining unknown.<ref>{{HPB-CW-comment|[Mihailo Obrenoviæ (1823-68) was the youngest son of Prince Milon Obrenoviæ (1780-1860). After the abdication of his father in 1839, and the death of his elder brother, Milan Obrenoviæ, the same year, he ascended the throne of Serbia. His ambitious program of self-assertion abroad and reforms within, alienated Turkey and Austria. Heavy taxation imposed upon the people strengthened the party which had forced his father to abdicate. In August, 1842, Vucic the leader of the malcontents, forced him to leave Serbia, and Alexander Karageorgevic was elected in his place. In 1858 Alexander was dethroned in his turn, and Milos Obrenovic recalled to the throne. On his death in 1860, Mihailo succeeded him. His policy was wise and moderate; he entertained plans for a union of various Slavonic tribes in South-East Europe, and obtained the withdrawal of the last Turkish garrisons from Serbia April 18, 1867. On May 29/June 10, 1868, he was assassinated in the park of Koshutnyak, at Topcider, near Belgrade.—Compiler.]}}</ref> The Prince had received several bullet shots and stabs, and his body was actually butchered; the Princess was killed on the spot, her head smashed, and her young daughter, though still alive, was not expected to survive. The circumstances are too recent to have been forgotten, but in that part of the world, at that time, the case created a delirium of excitement.
One morning in 1868 Eastern Europe was startled by news of the most horrifying description. Michael Obrenovitch, reigning Prince of Serbia, his aunt, the Princess Catherine, or Katinka, and her daughter, had been murdered in broad daylight, near Belgrade, in their own garden, the {{Page aside|164}} assassin or assassins remaining unknown.<ref>{{HPB-CW-comment|[Mihailo Obrenoviæ (1823-68) was the youngest son of Prince Milon Obrenoviæ (1780-1860). After the abdication of his father in 1839, and the death of his elder brother, Milan Obrenoviæ, the same year, he ascended the throne of Serbia. His ambitious program of self-assertion abroad and reforms within, alienated Turkey and Austria. Heavy taxation imposed upon the people strengthened the party which had forced his father to abdicate. In August, 1842, Vucic the leader of the malcontents, forced him to leave Serbia, and Alexander Karageorgevic was elected in his place. In 1858 Alexander was dethroned in his turn, and Milos Obrenovic recalled to the throne. On his death in 1860, Mihailo succeeded him. His policy was wise and moderate; he entertained plans for a union of various Slavonic tribes in South-East Europe, and obtained the withdrawal of the last Turkish garrisons from Serbia April 18, 1867. On May 29/June 10, 1868, he was assassinated in the park of Koshutnyak, at Topcider, near Belgrade.—Compiler.]}}</ref> The Prince had received several bullet shots and stabs, and his body was actually butchered; the Princess was killed on the spot, her head smashed, and her young daughter, though still alive, was not expected to survive. The circumstances are too recent to have been forgotten, but in that part of the world, at that time, the case created a delirium of excitement.
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As I was pretty sure that if the somnambule was Frosya, the rest of the family must be Gospoja P——, I readily accepted. At sunset we were at the foot of the mountain, leading to the old castle, as the Frenchman called the place. It fully deserved the poetical name given it. There was a rough bench in the depths of one of the shadowy retreats, and as we stopped at the entrance of this poetical place, and the Frenchman was gallantly busying himself with my horse on the suspicious-looking bridge which led across the water to the entrance gate, I saw a tall figure slowly rise from the bench and come toward us. It was my old friend, Gospoja P——, looking more pale and more mysterious than ever. She exhibited no surprise at seeing me, but simply greeting me after the Serbian fashion, with a triple kiss on both cheeks, she took hold of my hand and led me straight to the nest of ivy. Half reclining on a small carpet spread on the tall grass with her back leaning against the wall, I recognized our Frosya.  
As I was pretty sure that if the somnambule was Frosya, the rest of the family must be Gospoja P——, I readily accepted. At sunset we were at the foot of the mountain, leading to the old castle, as the Frenchman called the place. It fully deserved the poetical name given it. There was a rough bench in the depths of one of the shadowy retreats, and as we stopped at the entrance of this poetical place, and the Frenchman was gallantly busying himself with my horse on the suspicious-looking bridge which led across the water to the entrance gate, I saw a tall figure slowly rise from the bench and come toward us. It was my old friend, Gospoja P——, looking more pale and more mysterious than ever. She exhibited no surprise at seeing me, but simply greeting me after the Serbian fashion, with a triple kiss on both cheeks, she took hold of my hand and led me straight to the nest of ivy. Half reclining on a small carpet spread on the tall grass with her back leaning against the wall, I recognized our Frosya.  


{{Page aside|168}}
{{Page aside|168}}
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We parted. Three days after that I was at T——, and as I was sitting in the dining-room of a restaurant waiting for my lunch I happened to pick up a newspaper, and the first lines I read ran thus:
We parted. Three days after that I was at T——, and as I was sitting in the dining-room of a restaurant waiting for my lunch I happened to pick up a newspaper, and the first lines I read ran thus:


VIENNA, 186—TWO MYSTERIOUS DEATHS. Last evening, at 9:45, as P—— was about to retire, two of the gentlemen in waiting suddenly exhibited great terror, as though they had seen a dreadful apparition. They screamed, staggered, and ran about the room holding up their hands as if to ward off the blows of an unseen weapon. They paid no attention to the eager questions of the Prince and suite, but presently fell writhing upon the floor, and expired in great agony. Their bodies exhibited no appearance of apoplexy, nor any external marks of wounds; but wonderful to relate, there were numerous dark spots and long marks upon the skin, as though they were stabs and slashes made without puncturing the cuticle. The autopsy revealed the fact that beneath each of these mysterious discolorations there was a deposit of coagulated blood. The greatest excitement prevails, and the faculty are unable to solve the mystery.”
{{Style P-Quote|{{Style S-Small capitals|Vienna, 186—Two Mysterious Deaths.}} Last evening, at 9:45, as P—— was about to retire, two of the gentlemen in waiting suddenly exhibited great terror, as though they had seen a dreadful apparition. They screamed, staggered, and ran about the room holding up their hands as if to ward off the blows of an unseen weapon. They paid no attention to the eager questions of the Prince and suite, but presently fell writhing upon the floor, and expired in great agony. Their bodies exhibited no appearance of apoplexy, nor any external marks of wounds; but wonderful to relate, there were numerous dark spots and long marks upon the skin, as though they were stabs and slashes made without puncturing the cuticle. The autopsy revealed the fact that beneath each of these mysterious discolorations there was a deposit of coagulated blood. The greatest excitement prevails, and the faculty are unable to solve the mystery.”}}
{{Style P-Signature|HADJI MORA.<ref>{{HPB-CW-comment|[In her {{SB-page|v=1|p=118|text=Scrapbook, Vol. I, p. 118}}, H.P.B. pasted a cutting of this story and signed her name under this pseudonym. Concerning the veracity of the facts outlined by H.P.B., and other data relevant to this story, the student is referred to H.P.B.’s letter written to A. P. Sinnett in the early part of 1886 and numbered Letter No. LXI, in the volume entitled The Letters of H. P. Blavatsky to A. P. Sinnett, published in 1924.<br>
 
Some years later, when this story was republished in The Theosophist, Vol. IV, January, 1883, John Yarker, the well-known Mason, wrote a brief account of similar experiences he had had with sensitives (ibid., March, 1883, pp. 149-50). To his inquiry as to the genuineness of the narrative, H.P.B. added in a footnote: “We assure our learned correspondent that every word of our narrative is true.” —Compiler.]}}</ref>}}
{{Style P-Signature in capitals|Hadji Mora.<ref>{{HPB-CW-comment|[In her {{SB-page|v=1|p=118|text=Scrapbook, Vol. I, p. 118}}, H.P.B. pasted a cutting of this story and signed her name under this pseudonym. Concerning the veracity of the facts outlined by H.P.B., and other data relevant to this story, the student is referred to H.P.B.’s letter written to A. P. Sinnett in the early part of 1886 and numbered Letter No. LXI, in the volume entitled The Letters of H. P. Blavatsky to A. P. Sinnett, published in 1924.}}<br>
 
{{HPB-CW-comment|Some years later, when this story was republished in The Theosophist, Vol. IV, January, 1883, John Yarker, the well-known Mason, wrote a brief account of similar experiences he had had with sensitives (ibid., March, 1883, pp. 149-50). To his inquiry as to the genuineness of the narrative, H.P.B. added in a footnote: “We assure our learned correspondent that every word of our narrative is true.” —Compiler.]}}</ref>}}


{{Footnotes}}
{{Footnotes}}
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