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SPEAKER_02: Hey, it's Jenny. We're currently gearing up for a brand new season of Womanica. Until then, we're bringing you our favorite episodes featuring villains, troublemakers, magic, and mystery in honor of October. Now, onto the episode.
SPEAKER_03: Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Sarah Schled, and I'm a production assistant here at WMN. I'm so excited to be introducing this best of episode of Womanica. Today's episode was originally part of our October 2019 theme, Witches and Saints. Our woman of the day was a famed Russian spiritualist and author. She co-founded one of the earliest societies to promote theosophy. It's a philosophical religious system that leans into the mystical experience of revelation and meditation. I loved learning about her travels around the globe to study spiritual traditions from different cultures. Now, here's host Jenny Kaplan to talk about the most notorious occultist of the 19th century, Helena Blavatsky.
SPEAKER_01: ["The Bright Side of Your Life"] Helena Hahn was born in 1831 in the Russian Empire to an aristocratic Russian-German family. At the age of 17, Helena married a Russian military officer and provincial vice-governor named Nikifor Blavatsky. They separated after just a few months, and when her marriage fell apart, Helena became interested in spiritualism, occultism, and esoteric and Eastern philosophies. Spiritualism refers to the belief in communication with the dead, particularly through mediums. And occultism refers to belief in the power and influence of the supernatural. Both spiritualism and occultism were particularly popular during this era and would become even more so over the next century. Many historians attribute interest in this movement to the clash between enlightenment, science, and traditional religious beliefs. People were looking for a new spiritual paradigm that encompassed and reconciled both the scientific revolution and the spiritual realm. For the next few decades of her life, Helena claimed to have traveled throughout Asia and Europe, searching for religious and philosophical truths. She said she spent several years in India and Tibet studying with Hindi and Buddhist gurus. In 1873, Helena arrived in New York City. There, she met a man named Henry Steele Olcott, who shared her spiritual and intellectual interests. Two years later, the pair, along with several others, founded the Theosophical Society. Helena described theosophy as the synthesis of science, religion, and philosophy. She said theosophy revived an ancient wisdom beneath all religions. Around the same time, Helena traveled to Chittenden, Vermont. It was the height of a time known as the epidemic of raps. People all over were taking part in seances with self-described mediums and spiritualists, and believed that spirits were making rapping noises on tables and walls in an attempt to communicate. When one reporter wrote that the noises got louder and more frequent once Helena got to town, her celebrity was solidified. In 1877, Helena published her first book, entitled Isis Unveiled, highlighting the importance of mystical experiences and laying out the basic elements of her theosophical belief system. Despite the book gaining attention, the Theosophical Society was losing members in the US. So two years later, in 1879, Helena and Henry Olcott moved to India and established a Theosophical Society headquarters there. They started a society journal and gained a significant following in the country. Helena faced rebuke from around the world at various points in her life, including from her Indian followers. She was often accused of faking spiritualist activities. An investigation done by the London Society for Psychical Research found that she was a fraud in 1885, though a century later, those findings were reevaluated by the same organization and were found to be unjust. Not long after that 1885 judgment, Helena left India. She moved to Germany, then Belgium, and then London. She wrote three more books about her theosophical beliefs called The Voice of Silence, The Secret Doctrine, and Key to Theosophy. Helena died in London in 1891. Despite the fact that many described Helena as a charlatan, she had a significant impact on the introduction and advent of alternative religions and philosophies in the West. She helped to turn Europeans and Americans toward Asia for spiritual inspiration during a time when traditional Christian beliefs were facing new challenges. Helena Blavatsky's influence was just the beginning of a spiritual movement that's still evident today, as Westerners continue to turn eastward for spiritual inspiration and practice. Her influence is also heavily felt in what we now call the New Age movement.
SPEAKER_02: All month, we're bringing you the best of villainy, magic, and mystery. Tune in tomorrow for another of our favorite episodes. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. Talk to you tomorrow.
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