Theos-Talk Archives (December 2008 Message tt00381)

Sorry to take so long to get back to you Theo but with Xmas and all. I have not read James Webb however I have found these articles by HPB and as you say Webb would need to define what racist and anti-semitic ideas are before making the claim against anyone he believes complies to his accepted definition.

I have searched for the article in The New York World by Blavatsky but can't find it. But have found HPB's view on Kabalah and Kabalists and Russian Vandalism

Cass
Is this what you regard as HPBâs racism?
Persian Zoroastrianism and Russian Vandalism 

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ÂÂÂÂFew persons are capable of appreciating the truly beautiful and esthetic; fewer still of revering those monumental relics of bygone ages, which prove that even in the remotest epochs mankind worshipped a Supreme Power, and people were moved to express their abstract conceptions in works which should defy the ravages of Time. The Vandals â whether Slavic Wends, or some barbarous nation of Germanic race â came at all events from the North. A recent occurrence is calculated to make us regret that Justinian did not destroy them all; for it appears that there are still in the North worthy scions left of those terrible destroyers of monuments of arts and sciences, in the persons of certain Russian merchants who have just perpetrated an act of inexcusable vandalism. According to the late Russian papers, the Moscow arch-millionaire, Kokoref, with his Tiflis partner the American CrÅsus, Mirzoef, is desecrating and apparently about to totally destroy
 perhaps the oldest relic in the world of Zoroastrianism â the "Attesh-Gag" of Baku. 
And her views on the Kabalah
Â
ÂTherefore, no knowledge of Kabalistic methods can help one in finding that in the Old Testament which has never been there since the Book of the Law was re-written (rather than found) by Hilkiah. Nor can the reading of the Egyptian symbols be much helped by the mediÃval Kabalistic systems. Indeed, it is but the blindness of a pious illusion that can lead anyone to discover any spiritual and metaphysical correspondences or meaning in the Jewish purely astro-physiological symbology. On the other hand, the ancient pagan religious systems, so-called, are all built upon abstracts spiritual speculations, their gross external forms being, perhaps, the most secure veil to hide their inner meaning.
ÂÂÂÂIt can be demonstrated, on the authority of the most learned Kabalists of our day that the Zohar, and almost all the Kabalistic works, have passed through Christian hands. Hence, that they cannot be considered any longer as universal, but have become simply sectarian. This is well shown by Picus de Mirandola's thesis upon the proposition that "no Science yield greater proof of the divinity of Christ than magic and the Kabalah." This is true of the divinity of the Logos, or of the Christos of the Gnostics; because that Christos remains the same WORDof the ever-unmanifested Deity, whether we call it Parabrahm or Ain-Suph â by whatever name he himself is called â Krishna, Buddha, or Ormazd. But this Christos is neither the Christ of the Churches, yet the Jesus of the Gospels; it is only an impesonal Principle. Nevertheless the Latin Church made capital of this thesis; the result of which was, that as in the last century, so it is now in Europe
 and America. Almost every Kabalist is now a believer in a personal God, in the very teeth of the original impersonal Ain Suph, and is, moreover, a more or less heterodox, but still a, Christian. This is due entirely to the ignorance of most people (a) that the Kabalah (the Zohar especially) we have, is not the original Book of Splendour, written down from the oral teachings of Simon Ben Jochai; and (b) that the latter, being indeed an exposition of the hidden sense of writings of Moses (so-called) was as equally good an exponent of the Esoteric meaning contained under the shell of the literal sense in the Scriptures of any Pagan religion. Nor do the modern Kabalists seem to be aware of the fact, that the Kabalah as it now stands, with its more than revised texts, its additions made to apply to the New as much as to the Old Testament, its numerical language recomposed so as to apply to both, and its crafty veiling, is no longer able now to furnish all
 the ancient and primitive meanings. In short that no Kabalistic work now extant among the Western nations can display any greater mysteries of nature, than those which Ezra and Co., and the later co-workers of Moses de Leon, desired to unfold; the Kabalah contains no more than the Syrian and Chaldean Christians and ex-Gnostics of the thirteenth century wanted those works to reveal. And what they do reveal hardly repays the trouble of passing one's life in studying it. For if they may, and do, present a field of immense interest to the Mason and mathematician, they can teach scarcely anything to the student hungering after spiritual mysteries. The use of all the seven keys to unlock the mysteries of Being in this life, and the lives to come, as in those which have gone by, show that the Chaldean Book of Numbers, and the Upanishads undeniably conceal the most divine philosophy â as it is that of the Universal Wisdom Religion. But the Zohar, now so
 mutilated, can show nothing of the kind. Besides which, who of the Western philosophers or students has all those keys at his command? These are now entrusted only to the highest Initiates in Gupta Vidya, to great Adepts; and, surely it is no self-taught tyro, not even an isolated mystic, however great his genius and natural powers, who can hope to unravel in one life more than one or two of the lost keys.5
ÂÂÂÂThe key to the Jewish metrology has been undeniably unravelled, and a very important key it is. But as we may infer from the words of the discoverer himself in the footnote just quoted â though that key (concealed in the "Sacred Metrology") discloses the fact that "Holy Writ" contains "a rational science of sober and great worth,"yet it helps to unveil no higher spiritual truth than that which all astrologers have insisted upon in every age; i.e.,the close relation between the sidereal and all the terrestrial bodies â human beings included. The history of our globe and its humanities is prototyped in the astronomical heavens from first to last, though the Royal Society of Physicists may not become aware of it for ages yet to come. By the showing of the said discoverer himself, "the burden of this secret doctrine, this Cabbalah, is of pure truth and right reason, for it is geometry with applied proper numbers, of astronomy and of a system of
 measures,viz., the Masonic inch, the twenty-four inch gauge (or the double foot), the yard, and the mile. These were claimed to be of divine revelation and impartation, by the possession and use of which, it could be said of Abram: 'Blessed of the Most High God, Abram, measure of heaven and earth'" â the "creative law of measure."
And is this all that the primitive Kabalah contained? No; for the author remarks elsewhere: "What the originally and intended right reading was [in the Pentateuch who can tell?" Thus allowing the reader to infer that the meanings implied in the exoteric, or dead letter of the Hebrew texts, are by no means only those revealed by metrology. Therefore are we justified in saying that the Jewish Kabalah, with its numerical methods, is now only one of the keys to the ancient mysteries, and that the Eastern or Ãryan systems alone can supply the rest, and unveil the whole truth of Creation.6
Â



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From: paijmanstheo <th.paijmans@wxs.nl>
To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, 21 December, 2008 10:29:45 PM
Subject: Theos-World Re: Dark Fellowships: The Vril


Hi Cass and all,

The aspect of Blavatsky's anti-Semitism was already treated indepth by
James Webb in his 'Occult Establishment' , notably pages 226-233, and
his anaylisis forms the basis for my opinion. We need, of course, to
define what 'racist and anti-Semitic ideas' are, what our modern
interpretation of this is, and then, as Chuck rightly said, place
these in context, in order to have a proper assessment of this topic.

For instance, many, very many so-called enlightened thinkers and
literati of the 19th century were profound, self-proclaimed
misogynists. Many so-called enlighteend thinkers and literati were
anti-Semitic and racist. It is also a matter of the ethic elements of
19th century culture. But yes, even now, there are racist elements
found in the whole spectrum of theosophy and anthroposophy.

As you ask for examples, let me quote Webb (page 226): "Theosophy, its
doctrine, its foundress, and its adherents, can all be shown to have
been involved in racism, conspiracy theories and at least one
anti-Semitic tract. This tract is of considerable importance, as it is
one of the earliest anticipations of 'The Secret Of The Jews'and the
'Protocols'. .. Blavatsky was by birth a Russian of the official
classes, and it would be surprising if something of the anti-Semitic
mythology of the Russian aristocracy had not rubbed off on her. She
cannot be accused of any active anti-Semitism, but her attitude was
that of her origins. In 1877 she was in New York, and on 25 September
she published a letter in 'The World' protesting against an article in
the 'New York Sun'which described the continuing persecution of the
Russian Jews..."

Blavatsky, Webb concludes, suffered not from a "persecuting
anti-Semitism" , but from "a passive acceptance of some elements of the
myth". Webb further writes: "Her attitude to the Cabala was similar.
She allowed it value but thought it should be stripped of its Jewish
guardians. It may also be significant that she included in the
references for 'Isis Unveiled' a book on human sacrifice among the
Jews - a common topic of Russian anti-Semitism. "

Webb, page 229-231: "In 1888 the Theosophical Publishing Society in
London issued another document concerned with a conspiracy. This time
it was directed against the Jews." Its editor was Richard Harte, whose
"only other anti-Semitic statement... in print was his assertion that
'the conception of the incarnation of a God for the salvation of
mankind is a purely Aryan idea, absolutely and completely pagan, and
nothing would have horryfied the Jews themselves as a nation more than
the notion of Jehovah having a son by a woman."

The pages in Webb's monumental study make for some interesting reading
on this topic. And then there is theosophist Julia Glinka, whose
efforts brought the 'Protocols of the Elders Of Zion' into the
limelight. With dire effect, as we would learn later on.

Sincere regards,

Theo

--- In theos-talk@yahoogro ups.com, Cass Silva <silva_cass@ ...> wrote:
>
> Yes I have seen the documentary Theo and I was disappointed to hear
that you held the opinion that HPB heldà anti-semitic and racist
ideas.Ã I can only think that you haven't understood what she was
saying.Ã However, if you would like to give examples of these ideas
we can discuss it.
> 

 


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