Blavatsky H.P. - About Spiritualism - Revision history

Sergey at 19:09, 6 July 2025

2025-07-06T19:09:28Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:09, 6 July 2025
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	My 2nd letter to ''N. Y. Graphic'', November 14, 1874.<br>		My 2nd letter to ''N. Y. Graphic'', November 14, 1874.<br>
	{{Style P-Align right\|{{HPB-CW-comment\|—''Compiler''.]}}}}</ref>}}		{{Style P-Align right\|{{HPB-CW-comment\|—''Compiler''.]}}}}</ref>}}

			{{HPB-CW-comment\|view=center\|[''The Daily Graphic'', New York, Vol. VI, November 13, 1874, pp. 90-91]}}

	{{Style P-No indent\|To the Editor of ''The Daily Graphic'':}}		{{Style P-No indent\|To the Editor of ''The Daily Graphic'':}}

Sergey at 18:49, 6 July 2025

2025-07-06T18:49:31Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:49, 6 July 2025
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	{{Page aside\|45}}{{HPB-CW-comment\|[In {{SB-page\|v=1\|p=8\|text=''Scrapbook'', Vol. I, p. 8}}, the account of Mr. Brown is followed immediately by an article entitled “Unpractical Spirits,” presumably also from ''The Daily Graphic''. It is signed with the initials “I.F.F.” which obviously stand for Irvin Francis Fern. H.P.B. added the following remarks in pen and ink:]}}		{{Page aside\|45}}{{HPB-CW-comment\|[In {{SB-page\|v=1\|p=8\|text=''Scrapbook'', Vol. I, p. 8}}, the account of Mr. Brown is followed immediately by an article entitled “Unpractical Spirits,” presumably also from ''The Daily Graphic''. It is signed with the initials “I.F.F.” which obviously stand for Irvin Francis Fern. H.P.B. added the following remarks in pen and ink:]}}

	Bravo! Irvin Francis Fern—a great Occultist. He ~~IS RIGHT~~ but we have to defend phenomena & prove it too before we teach them ''philosophy''.		Bravo! Irvin Francis Fern—a great Occultist. He {{Style S-Small capitals\|is right}} but we have to defend phenomena & prove it too before we teach them ''philosophy''.

	{{Footnotes}}		{{Footnotes}}

Sergey at 10:22, 26 May 2025

2025-05-26T10:22:57Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:22, 26 May 2025
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	Willing as we are to give every one his due, we feel compelled to say on behalf of Dr. Beard that he has not boasted of more than he can do, advising the Eddys to take a few private lessons of him in the trickery of mediumship. The learned doctor must be expert in all such trickeries. We are likewise ready to admit that in saying as he did that “his article would only confirm the more the Spiritualists in their belief” (and he ought to have added, “convince no one else”), Dr. Beard has proved himself to be a greater “prophetic medium” than any other in this country!		Willing as we are to give every one his due, we feel compelled to say on behalf of Dr. Beard that he has not boasted of more than he can do, advising the Eddys to take a few private lessons of him in the trickery of mediumship. The learned doctor must be expert in all such trickeries. We are likewise ready to admit that in saying as he did that “his article would only confirm the more the Spiritualists in their belief” (and he ought to have added, “convince no one else”), Dr. Beard has proved himself to be a greater “prophetic medium” than any other in this country!
	{{Style P-Signature\|H. P. ~~BLAVATSKY~~.}}		{{Style P-Signature in capitals\|H. P. Blavatsky.}}

	23 Irving Place.		23 Irving Place.
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	So much in defence of ''phenomena'', as to whether these Spirits are ''ghosts'' is another question.		So much in defence of ''phenomena'', as to whether these Spirits are ''ghosts'' is another question.
	{{Style P-Signature\|H.P.B.}}		{{Style P-Signature in capitals\|H.P.B.}}

	{{HPB-CW-separator}}		{{HPB-CW-separator}}

Sergey at 17:30, 24 April 2025

2025-04-24T17:30:32Z

Show changes

Sergey at 17:02, 24 April 2025

2025-04-24T17:02:35Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:02, 24 April 2025
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	\| previous = Blavatsky H.P. - Marvellous Spirit Manifestations		\| previous = Blavatsky H.P. - Marvellous Spirit Manifestations
	\| next = Zirkoff B. - Elbridge Gerry Brown		\| next = Zirkoff B. - Elbridge Gerry Brown
	\| alternatives = ~~[http://www.katinkahesselink.net/blavatsky/articles/v1/y1874_003.htm KH];~~ [https://universaltheosophy.com/hpb/about-spiritualism/ UT]		\| alternatives = [https://universaltheosophy.com/hpb/about-spiritualism/ UT]
	\| translations = [https://ru.teopedia.org/lib/Блаватская_Е.П._-_О_спиритуализме Russian]		\| translations = [https://ru.teopedia.org/lib/Блаватская_Е.П._-_О_спиритуализме Russian]
	}}		}}

Sergey at 09:32, 5 December 2024

2024-12-05T09:32:08Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:32, 5 December 2024
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	{{Page aside continues\|36}}		{{Page aside continues\|36}}

	{{Style P-Title\|ABOUT SPIRITUALISM <ref>{{HPB-CW-comment\|[In her {{SB-page\|v=1\|p=6\|text=Scrapbook, Vol. I, p. 6}}, where this article is pasted in, H.P.B. wrote across the top of the page:		{{Style P-Title\|ABOUT SPIRITUALISM<ref>{{HPB-CW-comment\|[In her {{SB-page\|v=1\|p=6\|text=Scrapbook, Vol. I, p. 6}}, where this article is pasted in, H.P.B. wrote across the top of the page:
	My 2nd letter to N. Y. Graphic, November 14, 1874. —Compiler.]}}</ref>}}		My 2nd letter to N. Y. Graphic, November 14, 1874. —Compiler.]}}</ref>}}

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	Here I will briefly state what I reluctantly withheld up to the present moment from the knowledge of all such as Dr. Beard. The fact was too sacred in my eyes to allow it to be trifled with in newspaper gossiping. But now, in order to settle the question at once, I deem it my duty as a Spiritualist to surrender it to the opinion of the public.		Here I will briefly state what I reluctantly withheld up to the present moment from the knowledge of all such as Dr. Beard. The fact was too sacred in my eyes to allow it to be trifled with in newspaper gossiping. But now, in order to settle the question at once, I deem it my duty as a Spiritualist to surrender it to the opinion of the public.

	On the last night that I spent with the Eddys, I was presented by George Dix and Mayflower with a silver decoration, the upper part of a medal with which I was but too familiar. I quote the precise words of the spirit: “We bring you this decoration, for we think you will value it more highly than anything else. You shall recognize it, for it is the badge of honour that was presented to your father by his Government for the campaign of 1828, between Russia and Turkey. We got it through the influence of your uncle, who appeared to you here this evening. We brought it from your father’s grave at Stavropol. You shall identify it by a certain sign known to yourself.” These words were spoken in the presence of forty witnesses. Colonel Olcott will describe the fact and give the design of the decoration. <ref>{{HPB-CW-comment\|[See H.P.B.’s explanation on pp. 203-04 of the present Volume. On page 357 of Col. Olcott’s work People from the Other World may be found the drawing of both the buckle and the decoration itself. —Compiler.]}}</ref>		On the last night that I spent with the Eddys, I was presented by George Dix and Mayflower with a silver decoration, the upper part of a medal with which I was but too familiar. I quote the precise words of the spirit: “We bring you this decoration, for we think you will value it more highly than anything else. You shall recognize it, for it is the badge of honour that was presented to your father by his Government for the campaign of 1828, between Russia and Turkey. We got it through the influence of your uncle, who appeared to you here this evening. We brought it from your father’s grave at Stavropol. You shall identify it by a certain sign known to yourself.” These words were spoken in the presence of forty witnesses. Colonel Olcott will describe the fact and give the design of the decoration.<ref>{{HPB-CW-comment\|[See H.P.B.’s explanation on pp. 203-04 of the present Volume. On page 357 of Col. Olcott’s work People from the Other World may be found the drawing of both the buckle and the decoration itself. —Compiler.]}}</ref>

	I have the said decoration in my possession. I know it as having belonged to my father. More, I have identified it by a portion that, through carelessness, I broke myself {{Page aside\|44}} many years ago, and, to settle all doubt in relation to it, I possess the photograph of my father (a picture that has never been at the Eddys’, and could never possibly have been seen by any of them) on which this medal is plainly visible.		I have the said decoration in my possession. I know it as having belonged to my father. More, I have identified it by a portion that, through carelessness, I broke myself {{Page aside\|44}} many years ago, and, to settle all doubt in relation to it, I possess the photograph of my father (a picture that has never been at the Eddys’, and could never possibly have been seen by any of them) on which this medal is plainly visible.

Sergey at 09:34, 4 December 2024

2024-12-04T09:34:10Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:34, 4 December 2024
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	The dreaded day has come; the number of The Daily Graphic for November the 9th is before us. We have read it carefully, with respectful awe—for true science has always been an authority for us (weak-minded fool though we may be), and so we handled the dangerous exposure with a feeling somewhat akin to the one of a fanatic Christian opening a volume of “Büchner.” We perused it to the last; we turned the page over and over again, vainly straining our eyes and brain to detect therein one word of scientific proof or a solitary atom of overwhelming evidence that would thrust into our spiritualistic bosom the venomous fangs of doubt. But no; not a particle of reasonable explanation or a scientific evidence that what we have all seen, heard, and felt at the Eddys’ was but delusion. In our feminine modesty, still allowing the said article the benefit of the doubt, we disbelieved our own senses, and so devoted a whole day to the picking up of sundry bits of criticism from judges that we believed more competent than ourselves, and at last came collectively to the following conclusion:		The dreaded day has come; the number of The Daily Graphic for November the 9th is before us. We have read it carefully, with respectful awe—for true science has always been an authority for us (weak-minded fool though we may be), and so we handled the dangerous exposure with a feeling somewhat akin to the one of a fanatic Christian opening a volume of “Büchner.” We perused it to the last; we turned the page over and over again, vainly straining our eyes and brain to detect therein one word of scientific proof or a solitary atom of overwhelming evidence that would thrust into our spiritualistic bosom the venomous fangs of doubt. But no; not a particle of reasonable explanation or a scientific evidence that what we have all seen, heard, and felt at the Eddys’ was but delusion. In our feminine modesty, still allowing the said article the benefit of the doubt, we disbelieved our own senses, and so devoted a whole day to the picking up of sundry bits of criticism from judges that we believed more competent than ourselves, and at last came collectively to the following conclusion:

	The Daily Graphic has allowed Dr. Beard in its magnanimity nine columns of its precious pages to prove—what? Why, the following: First, that he, Dr. Beard, according {{Page aside\|38}} to his own modest assertions (see columns second and third), is more entitled to occupy the position of an actor entrusted with characters of simpletons (Molière’s Tartuffe might fit him perhaps as naturally) than to undertake the difficult part of a Prof. Faraday vis-à-vis the Chittenden D. D. Home.		The Daily Graphic has allowed Dr. Beard in its magnanimity nine columns of its precious pages to prove—what? Why, the following: First, that he, Dr. Beard, according {{Page aside\|38}} to his own modest assertions (see columns second and third), is more entitled to occupy the position of an actor entrusted with characters of simpletons (Molière’s Tartuffe might fit him perhaps as naturally) than to undertake the difficult part of a Prof. Faraday vis-à-vis the Chittenden D. D. Home.

	Secondly, that notwithstanding the learned doctor was “overwhelmed already with professional labours” (a nice and cheap réclame, by the way) and scientific researches, he gave the latter another direction, and so went to the Eddys’. That arrived there he played with Horatio Eddy, for the glory of science and the benefit of humanity, the difficult character of a “dishevelled simpleton,” and was rewarded in his scientific research by finding on the said suspicious premises a professor of bumps, “a poor harmless fool”! Galileo, of famous memory, when he detected the sun in its involuntary imposture, chuckled certainly less over his triumph than does Dr. Beard over the discovery of this “poor fool” No. 1. Here we modestly suggest that perhaps the learned doctor had no business to go so far as Chittenden for that.		Secondly, that notwithstanding the learned doctor was “overwhelmed already with professional labours” (a nice and cheap réclame, by the way) and scientific researches, he gave the latter another direction, and so went to the Eddys’. That arrived there he played with Horatio Eddy, for the glory of science and the benefit of humanity, the difficult character of a “dishevelled simpleton,” and was rewarded in his scientific research by finding on the said suspicious premises a professor of bumps, “a poor harmless fool”! Galileo, of famous memory, when he detected the sun in its involuntary imposture, chuckled certainly less over his triumph than does Dr. Beard over the discovery of this “poor fool” No. 1. Here we modestly suggest that perhaps the learned doctor had no business to go so far as Chittenden for that.

	Further, the doctor, forgetting entirely the wise motto “non bis in idem,” discovers and asserts throughout the length of his article that all the past, present, and future generations of pilgrims to the “Eddy homestead” are collectively fools, and that every solitary member of this numerous body of Spiritualistic pilgrims is likewise “a weak-minded, credulous fool”! Query—The proof of it, if you please, Dr. Beard? Answer—Dr. Beard has said so, and Echo responds, Fool!		Further, the doctor, forgetting entirely the wise motto “non bis in idem,” discovers and asserts throughout the length of his article that all the past, present, and future generations of pilgrims to the “Eddy homestead” are collectively fools, and that every solitary member of this numerous body of Spiritualistic pilgrims is likewise “a weak-minded, credulous fool”! Query—The proof of it, if you please, Dr. Beard? Answer—Dr. Beard has said so, and Echo responds, Fool!

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	Overwhelmed—be switched! . . . . not my father’s pet, if you please. H. P. Blavatsky is never “overwhelmed.”		Overwhelmed—be switched! . . . . not my father’s pet, if you please. H. P. Blavatsky is never “overwhelmed.”

	~~{{HPB-CW-separator}}~~

	{{Vertical space\|}}		{{Vertical space\|}}

	{{Page aside\|45}}{{HPB-CW-comment\|[In {{SB-page\|v=1\|p=8\|text=Scrapbook, Vol. I, p. 8}}, the account of Mr. Brown is followed immediately by an article entitled “Unpractical Spirits,” presumably also from The Daily Graphic. It is signed with the initials “I.F.F.” which obviously stand for Irvin Francis Fern. H.P.B. added the following remarks in pen and ink:]}}		{{Page aside\|45}}{{HPB-CW-comment\|[In {{SB-page\|v=1\|p=8\|text=Scrapbook, Vol. I, p. 8}}, the account of Mr. Brown is followed immediately by an article entitled “Unpractical Spirits,” presumably also from The Daily Graphic. It is signed with the initials “I.F.F.” which obviously stand for Irvin Francis Fern. H.P.B. added the following remarks in pen and ink:]}}

	Bravo! Irvin Francis Fern—a great Occultist. He IS RIGHT but we have to defend phenomena & prove it too before we teach them philosophy.		Bravo! Irvin Francis Fern—a great Occultist. He IS RIGHT but we have to defend phenomena & prove it too before we teach them philosophy.


	{{Footnotes}}		{{Footnotes}}

Sergey at 09:30, 6 October 2023

2023-10-06T09:30:10Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:30, 6 October 2023
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	\| previous = Blavatsky H.P. - Marvellous Spirit Manifestations		\| previous = Blavatsky H.P. - Marvellous Spirit Manifestations
	\| next = Zirkoff B. - Elbridge Gerry Brown		\| next = Zirkoff B. - Elbridge Gerry Brown
	\| alternatives = [http://www.katinkahesselink.net/blavatsky/articles/v1/y1874_003.htm ~~KHL~~]		\| alternatives = [http://www.katinkahesselink.net/blavatsky/articles/v1/y1874_003.htm KH]; [https://universaltheosophy.com/hpb/about-spiritualism/ UT]
	\| translations = [https://ru.teopedia.org/lib/Блаватская_Е.П._-_О_спиритуализме Russian]		\| translations = [https://ru.teopedia.org/lib/Блаватская_Е.П._-_О_спиритуализме Russian]
	}}		}}

Sergey at 22:47, 29 September 2023

2023-09-29T22:47:53Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:47, 29 September 2023
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	{{Page aside continues\|36}}		{{Page aside continues\|36}}

	{{Style P-Title\|ABOUT SPIRITUALISM <ref>{{HPB-CW-comment\|[In her Scrapbook, Vol. I, p. 6, where this article is pasted in, H.P.B. wrote across the top of the page:		{{Style P-Title\|ABOUT SPIRITUALISM <ref>{{HPB-CW-comment\|[In her {{SB-page\|v=1\|p=6\|text=Scrapbook, Vol. I, p. 6}}, where this article is pasted in, H.P.B. wrote across the top of the page:
	My 2nd letter to N. Y. Graphic, November 14, 1874. —Compiler.]}}</ref>}}		My 2nd letter to N. Y. Graphic, November 14, 1874. —Compiler.]}}</ref>}}

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	23 Irving Place.}}		23 Irving Place.}}

	{{HPB-CW-comment\|[In H.P.B.’s Scrapbook, Vol. I, pp. 6-7, where the above article is pasted, H.P.B. added in pen and ink under her signature:]}}		{{HPB-CW-comment\|[In H.P.B.’s {{SB-page\|v=1\|p=6\|text=Scrapbook, Vol. I, pp. 6-7}}, where the above article is pasted, H.P.B. added in pen and ink under her signature:]}}

	So much in defence of phenomena, as to whether these Spirits are ghosts is another question.		So much in defence of phenomena, as to whether these Spirits are ghosts is another question.
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	{{HPB-CW-separator}}		{{HPB-CW-separator}}

	{{HPB-CW-comment\|[In H.P.B.’s Scrapbook, Vol. I, pp. 7-8, there is a cutting from The Daily Graphic of November 1874, which deals with the visit of a Mr. Brown, the “mind reader,” to the Eddys’ Homestead. Mr. Brown relates how one of the “spirits” brought to H.P.B. one of the decorations which had belonged to her father, and says that “Madame was overwhelmed with gratitude.”}}		{{HPB-CW-comment\|[In H.P.B.’s {{SB-page\|v=1\|p=7\|text=Scrapbook, Vol. I, pp. 7-8}}, there is a cutting from The Daily Graphic of November 1874, which deals with the visit of a Mr. Brown, the “mind reader,” to the Eddys’ Homestead. Mr. Brown relates how one of the “spirits” brought to H.P.B. one of the decorations which had belonged to her father, and says that “Madame was overwhelmed with gratitude.”}}

	{{HPB-CW-comment\|H.P.B. underlined the word overwhelmed and added at the end of the article in pen and ink:]}}		{{HPB-CW-comment\|H.P.B. underlined the word overwhelmed and added at the end of the article in pen and ink:]}}
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	{{Vertical space\|}}		{{Vertical space\|}}

	{{Page aside\|45}}{{HPB-CW-comment\|[In Scrapbook, Vol. I, p. 8, the account of Mr. Brown is followed immediately by an article entitled “Unpractical Spirits,” presumably also from The Daily Graphic. It is signed with the initials “I.F.F.” which obviously stand for Irvin Francis Fern. H.P.B. added the following remarks in pen and ink:]}}		{{Page aside\|45}}{{HPB-CW-comment\|[In {{SB-page\|v=1\|p=8\|text=Scrapbook, Vol. I, p. 8}}, the account of Mr. Brown is followed immediately by an article entitled “Unpractical Spirits,” presumably also from The Daily Graphic. It is signed with the initials “I.F.F.” which obviously stand for Irvin Francis Fern. H.P.B. added the following remarks in pen and ink:]}}

	Bravo! Irvin Francis Fern—a great Occultist. He IS RIGHT but we have to defend phenomena & prove it too before we teach them philosophy.		Bravo! Irvin Francis Fern—a great Occultist. He IS RIGHT but we have to defend phenomena & prove it too before we teach them philosophy.

Pavel Malakhov at 07:46, 28 September 2023

2023-09-28T07:46:30Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:46, 28 September 2023
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	}}		}}

	{{Page aside\|36}}		{{Page aside continues\|36}}

	{{Style P-Title\|ABOUT SPIRITUALISM <ref>{{HPB-CW-comment\|[In her Scrapbook, Vol. I, p. 6, where this article is pasted in, H.P.B. wrote across the top of the page:		{{Style P-Title\|ABOUT SPIRITUALISM <ref>{{HPB-CW-comment\|[In her Scrapbook, Vol. I, p. 6, where this article is pasted in, H.P.B. wrote across the top of the page: