The Secret Doctrine: The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy

H. P. Blavatsky

Cambridge University Press, May 19, 2011 - History - 852 pages

Ukrainian-born Madame Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891) was a powerful and controversial member of the spiritualist world and for a time famous for her powers as a medium. She was a co-founder of the theosophy movement in the United States, which she later extended to Europe and India, drawing from her extensive global travels and her familiarity with a broad range of belief systems, from Asian religions to New Orleans voodoo, as well as secret societies such as the Freemasons. Drawing from Hinduism and Buddhism, theosophy aimed to understand the mystic powers of the universe and promote the study of other religions. In The Secret Doctrine, published in 1888, Blavatsky aims to explain the spiritual origins of the world. Volume 2 looks at the creation of humans and animals, and considers the lost world of Atlantis.

Contents

• PRELIMINARY NOTES: 1
• tions: 402
• CONCLUSION: 427
• PART II: 447
• IS PLEROMA SATANS LAIR: 506
• Cross and Circle: 547
• PART III: 643
• THE ANCESTORS MANKIND IS OFFERED BY SCIENCE: 644
• b The European Palæolithic Races whence and how distributed: 738
• SCIENTIFIC AND GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF THE EXISTENCE: 778
• Astræa falls on her Head: 785

About the author

A cofounder in 1875 of the Theosophical Society and its principal catalyst and intellectual force, Helena Blavatsky has had perhaps a greater influence than any other single person on modern occultism and alternative spirituality. Born Helena de Hahn of an aristocratic Russian family, she married Nikofor Blavatsky in 1848 but soon left him to travel widely. While the details of her wandering years are not entirely clear, it is evident that she augmented natural psychic and spiritualist interests with much esoteric lore. In 1874 Blavatsky came to New York, where she met Henry Steel Olcott, who became the first president of the Theosophical Society upon its establishment in the following year as a vehicle for the study of arcane wisdom and the promotion of human brotherhood. In 1877 Blavatsky published her first book Isis Unveiled. In 1878-79, she and Olcott moved to India, where the new movement met with both success and controversy. Returning to Europe, she settled in London in 1887, where her major work The Secret Doctrine was published in 1888. Combining shamanistic, Hindu, Buddhist, Neoplatonist, and Cabalistic lore to reconstruct what she considered to be the primordial human wisdom, Blavatsky forcefully engaged its concepts with those of the science and religion of her day. p A woman of independent and colorful character, Blavatsky evoked strong responses, both positive and negative, and left a permanent legacy whose influence on modern cultural movements in both India and the West is increasingly recognized. Blavatsky died in 1891.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Secret Doctrine: The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy; Volume 2 of Cambridge Library Collection - Spiritualism and Esoteric Knowledge; Cambridge library collection; Volume 2 of The Secret Doctrine 3 Volume Paperback Set; Volume 2 of The Secret Doctrine
• Author: H. P. Blavatsky
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2011
• ISBN: 1108073239, 9781108073233
• Length: 852 pages
• Subjects: Body, Mind & Spirit / Occultism; Body, Mind & Spirit / Spiritualism; History / Social History; Political Science / History & Theory; Religion / Theosophy