Re: Theos-World Bart on Blavatsky's supposed trickery: Where did the trickery end??
Apr 18, 2004 07:07 PM
by Bart Lidofsky
Daniel H. Caldwell wrote:
But, Bart, where did the trickery END and the genuine
BEGIN??
Did she use trickery ALSO when it came to the appearances
of her Masters?
Good question. I don't know. I don't even know, for sure, that she used
trickery, only that some of the phenomena she showed had elements which
were consistent with trickery, which makes me BELIEVE she used it.
In the opinion of skeptical magicians (like the Amazing
Randi??) ALL of her phenomena were consistent with
trickery. As far as I know, Randi has never seen a
paranormal event that he didn't beleive was really due
to trickery or to some other normal explanation. So I
suspect he would label all of Blavatsky's phenomena as
trickery or some other kind of delusion.
He would say that it was almost certainly trickery, but he would leave
open the possibility that it wasn't, since he did not physically witness
them. However, he would point out, and probably better than I can,
details in SOME OF THE (emphasis on purpose) descriptions which are
indicative of trickery.
For example, years ago, on Uri Geller's visit to the Dick Cavett show,
Randi discussed what he believed to be Geller's methodology. The props
were chosen in such a way so that if Geller's powers were real, it would
not make a difference, but would prevent the specific methods that Randi
suspected Geller of using. In fact, Geller failed to produce a single
phenomenon on that appearance.
In general, we will never know for sure what was true and what was
false. All we can go with is probabilities, and quality of the evidence
presented. But, once again, Blavatsky emphasized that producing
phenomena had NOTHING to do with spiritual advancement, which means
that, frankly, even if they were real, they were a mistake.
Bart
[Back to Top]
Theosophy World:
Dedicated to the Theosophical Philosophy and its Practical Application
