View source for Castle W.R. - Days with Mme. Blavatsky

{{Style P-Title|Days with Mme. Blavatsky.}}
{{Style P-Subtitle|Interesting Reminiscences of Visits to the Theosophist.}}
{{Style P-Subtitle|Strange revelations by her.}}

<center>[by William Richards Castle]</center>

<center>''Stories Told of the Past of the Writer That Were Startling Indeed, But prognostications as to the Future Not Correct – Peculiar Revolver Incident.''</center>

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As the subject of theosophy is exciting considerable interest in Honolulu at the present time, and indeed has been the occasion of much discussion and comment throughout the United States for several years past, anything with reference to the famous author of the system is likely to be interesting.

In the summer of 1875, while in a law office in New York with William Q. Judge, the present head of the order in the United States, Madame Blavatsky came into the city from Europe. Her advent and doctrine aroused some newspaper comment. Mr. Judge, I believe, was personally acquainted with Colonel Olcott and, through him. procured an introduction to the Madame. One afternoon lie asked if I would like to meet her with some other people holding various peculiar views. Of course, I was only too glad to have the opportunity. In a few days an appointment was made, and with Mr. Judge I went one evening to where Madame Blavatsky was residing on Irving Place. "We found a dimly lighted room, with a few rather interesting and curious people already assembled.

Sitting round a large table, Madame and some of the more prominent thinkers, like Colonel Olcott, began discussing some of the propositions of spiritualism which were then exciting attention. They had much to say of recent discoveries in Egypt and the Orient. They discussed the meaning of the hieroglyphics. It was stated that the key had been found which opened the way for those who became sufficiently possessed of the theosophical Idea to perform many wonderful things, and to exercise immense spiritual power. It was said that one, thoroughly acquainted with the signs and symbols used by the magicians of Egypt, could again accomplish many of the strange and apparently miraculous acts performed by them.

<center>MADAME BLAVATSKY'S APPEARANCE</center>

The Madame herself was to me quite as interesting as the subject discussed. She was very large, heavily built, very fleshy, with a heavy face, bright, sharp eyes, and the marks of intelligence and power; but, to my thinking, the face also seemed a gross one.

It so happened that I sat at one end of the table while she was at the other, and every once in a while, she observed what I was doing. A revolver lay before me and, seeing that it was not loaded, I occasionally handled it, lowly cocking it, watching the revolution of the barrel, while listening to the discussion. Now and then it caught at half-cock, though I could not see why. Presently Madame observed:

"Be careful: you will hurt yourself with that pistol."

"Why," I said, "what is the matter with it?"

"Nothing." she replied, "it is in perfect order, but sometimes John, in a spirit of mischief, meddles with its working and it catches, and, if you are not careful, it may suddenly snap and hurt your fingers."

This was interesting, and I looked at the revolver again very carefully with renewed interest, trying to make up my mind as to who "John" might be, and wherein his interference consisted. Finally either myself or Mr. Judge asked:

" Who is John, and where is he?" "John," said Madame, "is a knight, who lived during the time of Queen Elizabeth, and he is often with me. That is he," she said, pointing to a small picture in an oval frame hanging on the wall.

I glanced at it again, for I had looked at it several times during the evening with some curiosity, for it appeared as though a red rose had been forced between the glass and the picture. Both Mr. Judge and myself examined the picture and observed that it appeared to be of a knight of about the period of Queen Elizabeth apparently from his dress. To me be seemed to wear a peculiar sinister expression. The eyes seemed to glisten (though this may have been from my imagination) and, looking closely, It appeared tome that a rose had been forced between the glass and the picture mat.

" Why Is the rose there? " I asked of Madame.

"It comes itself," she said; "sometimes it is there and is again suddenly removed."

Tins again I found to be extremely interesting, and watched the picture furtively during the remainder of the evening, hoping to see the rose disappear, but it did not.

<center>A TEST</center>

After a conversation of several hours, about midnight the company began to break up, and, talking with one and another very graciously, in a few minutes a Madame reached our end of the room and I had a few minutes very pleasant conversation with her. I stated that while never having had an opportunity to test the so-called power of looking into the future, or of calling up the past, at the same time I had always felt much interest in it and would be very much pleased if she chose to give some exhibition of her power. She said that she would do so and asked if she should give me some statement of myself.

Knowing or believing that I was an absolute stranger to her, I said this would give me great pleasure. Whereupon she took one of my bauds, examined it carefully and made a number of statements with regard to my char acter, and various matters about myself which I believed to be correct. She then placed herself in front of me (we were both standing) and took what looked to me like an oval gutta-percha or rubber frame or plate, either slightly concave or convex, I could not tell which, and, placing one end against her waist, with her hand brought the other end out about right angles to her body. Then, looking into this black mirror, for such it was, being highly polished, she slowly stated correctly the date of my birth, also under what star or heavenly system I was born. She then gave a number of incidents with regard to my past life which I found reasonably correct. She stated that I was not American born but came from a foreign country, and then said, as nearly as lean recollect:

" I see a young man sitting at a table reading." (She then described his appearance which certainly correspond ed with my own at that time, and as it was upon an occasion which might have been what she described.)

"He reads a while; then throws down his book with an expression of uncertainty and discontent; then reads again; he goes to the window, looks down upon the lawn below apparently watching some people playing something with balls and sticks; then he reads again, but finally throws down his book and says, ' I'll read no more of it,' and, putting on his coat, goes out and joins the players."

<center>HER ABILITY ADMITTED</center>

As it did present an exact reproduction of what had occurred only a few days previously, I was compelled with considerable surprise to admit that it might apply very well indeed. Continuing to look into her mirror, Madame made several other observations with regard to my future life, and finally closed by saying:

"The crown of your life is very near at band but a dark shadow comes across in your twenty-ninth or thirtieth year," with which she closed.

I was interested to learn what the dark shadow was but failed to do so. She only shook her head gravely without giving any information. I then asked Madame if she would allow Mr. Judge and myself to take away the revolver for a careful examination, as we were anxious to ascertain whether or not it were in fact in perfect order. With rather an impressive manner, she replied:

"Oh, certainly; take it, you will find that everything is all right, and I am very glad to have you make the examination," after which we withdrew.

The next day Mr. Judge, his brother, now a lawyer in New York City, a young man by the name of William Learn, and another whose name I have forgotten, and I, during the forenoon in the law office took the revolver to pieces as carefully as possible but could discover nothing wrong, whereupon Mr. Judge rather triumphantly said:

"You would better have believed Madame last night for you see nothing is wrong."

"Oh, wait," I replied, "none of us are gunsmiths; let's have this thing more carefully looked into. We'll take it to the Remington Arms Company, (which had an office and salesroom just above on Broadway), and let them look at it." Putting it together as carefully as possible, we all went up there and, handing the weapon to a clerk, asked him If anything was wrong. Handling it with the precision of a skilled operator, he replied:

"Yes; something is the matter with the half-cock but I will make it all right in a moment," whereupon he ran down stairs to the work shop. I afterward regretted that some one of us did not go with him, but we did not think of it at the time. In a minute or two he returned and, handing us the revolver, said:

"It is all right now. The fine hair spring that controls the half-cock was broken; here it is," and he handed us the broken spring. This satisfied my curiosity as to John's fooling with the pistol, and we returned the weapon with a note, thanking Madame for her courtesy, by the hands of a messenger boy.

<center>ANOTHER CASE</center>

A few days later, at Mr. Judge's invitation, we again called upon Madame Blavatsky and found an interesting company present. Mr. Judge was greeted with much effusion. Madame then turned to me and her eyes flashing fire, she angrily said:

"Perhaps you think, Mr. C, that my spirit was not with you and that I did not hear your scornful and contemptuous remarks about that pistol, but I was there and I heard every word and knew every thought that you were thinking."

I was completely surprised and hardly knew what to reply but tried to tell Madame that she was mistaken about any contemptuous or scornful remarks, but she would not be an pleased and, during the long evening that followed, I had an uncomfortable sense of an occasional wrathful glance from her. The discussion that ensued that evening was very much the same as on the former occasion, only that it entered deeper into the mysteries than at that time. I regretted that I did not make notes, for it was extremely interesting and for many years I remembered much of what took place. At the present time, however, I hardly remember anything except the statement made by Madame that one who was studious and became absolutely possessed of the spirit of Inquiry and of truth might, at a moment's notice and by the mere force of a wish and desire, be transported to India, or China, or any other point, and that such a person might hold free communion with spirits or with spiritual things. Madame called the attention of the company to the fact that thirteen were gathered around the table, which bail some significance apparently.

Sometime after midnight she suddenly y exclaimed, "But why need we only meet and talk; why not materialize; why not, at the present moment, form a society and undertake the study of truth in connection with this great and absorbing subject?"

The others agreed, and it was also understood anil agreed specifically that those who joined the society for the study of theosophy should allow nothing else to interfere or step between them and the pursuit of this great subject. While I was very de sirous of knowing more upon this topic, I felt that I had no right to throw aside everything, and therefore could not join the society; so, when those gathered around the table, at Madame's command, joined hands and arose to repeat the promise, one to another, and to form the society, which was then done, I withdrew and kept my seat. Madame, at the other end of the room, leaned toward me, her eyes giving out an angry light, and motioned for me to stand up and join hands, but I shook my head and must confess that I was rather embarrassed to appear to stand in the way in any degree of the object in view. As soon as these preliminaries were over and the company began to disperse and converse with one another, Madame came quickly to where I was standing and, in an impressive, perhaps an angry voice, said:

"Perhaps, Mr. C, you do not think that I fully understand and appreciate what it is that comes between your spirit and mine that prevents you yielding to me, but I do; there is another person who stands between you and me, but I will gam that influence yet," After a few more remarks, Mr. Judge and I withdrew. He said, as we went away, that I seemed to have aroused Madame's Ire,' which fact I regretted.

<center>LETTERS FROM MR. JUDGE</center>

I saw nothing further of Madame Blavatsky but was aware that the Theosophical Society or America was organized; that it began active work, and that, within a short time, many other branch societies had been established throughout the country. After Madame's death, which occurred a few years ago, Mr. William Q. Judge, who had, as I understand, been in India with her and who had traveled elsewhere quite extensively as an influential and important member of the order, became the head of the organization in the United States. This is, however, given upon mere hearsay. I have letters of Mr. Judge's written several years ago; none recently. I know that he has been through the United States lecturing upon Theosophy and has interested large audiences. Prior to his becoming a member of the society, he was a member of an evangelical church in Brooklyn, but have understood since that he has withdrawn. In his letters to me he expressed contempt for the trammels of Christianity and hoped that I had become freed of its servile bondage.

With regard to Madame's prophecies about myself, my own plans were changed shortly after the meetings at Irving Place, and I was married in the following October. In December I received a telegram from Kalakaua to return to the Islands to occupy a Government position, which I did. In my twenty-ninth year my eldest child was born. Whether these events operated as a fulfillment of Madame's prophecies, I cannot say. Certainly, I have always regarded the birth of my eldest son as a bright and happy incident instead of a dark event. Upon my return in February, 1870, among many letters which were handed me was one which excited the interest and curiosity of my friends. The envelope was covered with cabalistic signs. I looked at it in surprise, not being able to guess for a moment who it came from, but it flashed across my mind that It might be from Madame and, when I opened it, read: "Madame Blavatsky presents her compliments to the Attorney-General of the Sandwich Islands and begs him to try and recollect her prophecy with regard to his future." In the foregoing notes I have tried to relate facts only without color, leaving it for those who read to draw their own conclusions. Probably most of those who have had the interest to follow this new ism are aware of the expose which took place in India; but even in view of that and with what may appear to disinterested persons as patent fraud, is it not possible that devotees of Theosophy and worshippers of Madame Blavatsky may honestly believe in the truth of her alleged miracles?

{{Style P-Signature|C. [William Richards Castle]}}
Honolulu, Oct. 15, 1894.


== Source image ==

[[File:Hawaiian Gazette, October 19, 1894, p. 2.pdf|x200px|page=1|thumb|left|Hawaiian Gazette, October 19, 1894, p. 2]]

Source image from [https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83025121/1894-10-19/ed-1/?sp=2 Library of Congress, USA]

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