Russian-Jewish occultist Blavatsky 'had a deep respect for Eastern Orthodoxy'
Blavatsky, Christian Theosophy, and Russian Orthodoxy
Printed in the Winter 2022 issue of Quest magazine.
Citation: Parry, David William, "Blavatsky, Christian Theosophy, and Russian Orthodoxy" Quest 110:1, pg 30-33
By David William Parry
H.P. Blavatsky had a deep respect for Eastern Orthodoxy that is seemingly at odds with her other writings on Judaism and Christianity. To explore this question, it would be best to start by examining Christian theosophy as a continuous spiritual current before moving on to HPB’s travels and her personal religious orientation.
Christian Theosophy
Theosophy as a generic term refers to a range of psychospiritual dispositions still present in the church. They focus on the attainment of direct, unmediated, knowledge of the Divine Nature, as well as the purpose of the universe overall. Theosophy in this sense is a form of Western esotericism that claims to hold a hidden transpersonal wisdom, or knowledge, from the ancient past that offers a path towards enlightened consciousness as well as deliverance from the crippling vicissitudes of mundane existence.
The French scholar of esotericism Antoine Faivre defines theosophy as a structured ideology whereby seekers approach “a gnosis that has a bearing not only on the salvific relations the individual maintains with the divine world, but also on the nature of God Himself, or of divine persons, and on the natural universe, the origin of that universe, the hidden structures that constitute it in its actual state, its relationship to mankind, and its final ends” (Faivre, 23).
The word theosophy was originally applied to the thought of the seventeenth-century German visionary Jacob Boehme. The generic term theosophy was adopted by the nascent Theosophical Society in 1875, and since then Theosophy (capitalized) has come to refer to the teachings and ideas promoted by the Society’s leaders, including Blavatsky, C.W. Leadbeater, and Annie Besant.
It could be argued that contemporary Theosophy follows a route starting from the Renaissance onward as a single stream beneath forms of early modern Western thought such as alchemy, astrology, Hermeticism, Christian Kabbalah, Paracelsism, occult philosophy, and Rosicrucianism. In any event, Christian theosophy in itself is an underexamined area about which a general history has yet to be written.
Blavatsky’s Travels
Blavatsky herself was baptized into the Russian Orthodox Church immediately after her birth. Her father, Pyotr Alexeyevich von Hahn, served as a captain in the Russian Royal Horse Artillery. As a result of his military career, Helena’s family frequently moved to different parts of the Russian empire—a mobile childhood that may partly explain her nomadic lifestyle in later life.
Helena discovered the private library of her maternal great-grandfather, Prince Pavel Vasilievich Dolgorukov, which contained a variety of books on occult subjects. Prince Dolgorukov had been initiated into Freemasonry in the late 1770s and also practiced the Rosicrucian Rite of Strict Observance as an initiate. Blavatsky said she experienced visions during which she encountered a “mysterious Indian” man, which many of her biographers believed was the first appearance of the supernormal Masters in her life.
At age seventeen, Helena agreed to marry Nikifor Vladimirovich Blavatsky, a government official in his forties. Her reasons for doing so remaining unclear to this day, although she later explained she was attracted to him by his belief in magic. It was, however, an unsuccessful choice. She tried to withdraw from these arrangements shortly before the wedding ceremony, and soon afterwards attempted to escape her postnuptial bonds (Meade, 55). Eventually succeeding, Blavatsky finally returned home, and soon after left to begin a series of moves to and fro across the world.
Unfortunately, Blavatsky did not keep a diary at all times, nor was she accompanied by anyone who could corroborate her activities. Hence detailed knowledge about a great many of these travels rests upon unverified accounts, which are themselves occasionally marred by conflicting chronologies.
Blavatsky went on to develop friendships with occult figures such as the Coptic magician Paulos Metamon and mesmerists such as Victor Michal. She claimed to have met her “mysterious Indian,” a Hindu whom she referred to as the Master Morya, in England, but she provided conflicting accounts of how they were introduced, while insisting that he had a special mission for her on a subsequently global scale.
Orthodoxy
Orthodoxy has at least two meanings. Etymologically, it means right doctrine, implying something accepted as true by a portion of humankind during a certain period of history. In a secondary sense, it refers to the Eastern Christian Church as it developed from the fourth century AD onward.
Blavatsky’s emotional ties to Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church have been largely overlooked by her biographers. Nevertheless, they are evidenced in several of her early letters and might help explain her passionate disdain for the Roman Catholic church.
In an early letter, dated December 26, 1872, addressed to the Russian secret service, Blavatsky offered to serve her motherland, implying an offer to volunteer as a spy for the Russian state on the papacy by using regular as well as paranormal means. Blavatsky says she has an “inborn hatred of the whole Catholic clergy” (Algeo, 26), adding that she is prepared to devote her remaining life to Russian interests.
Some doubts exist about the authenticity of this letter, even though HPB expresses the same sentiments in a letter to her sister, Vera de Zhelihovsky, dating from February 1877, where she writes that “the Orthodox faith of my Russian brethren [is] sacred to me! . . . I will alwaysdefend that faith and Russia, and shall challenge the attacks of the hypocritical Catholics against them, as long as my hand can hold a pen, without fear of either the threats of their Pope or the wrath of the Roman Church—la Grande Bête de l’Apocalypse” (“the Great Beast of Revelation”; Algeo, 289).
While writing Isis Unveiled, Blavatsky was anxious to make sure that its extensive critique of Christianity would not be understood amiss by her favorite aunt, Nadyezhda de Fadeyev. In a letter dated July 19, 1877, Blavatsky wrote to her, “Understand me; our own Orthodox Faith stands by itself. The book does not mention it. I have refused point blank to analyze it, as I wish to preserve at least one small corner of my heart where suspicion could not crawl in a feeling put down with all my strength . . . The Master himself admits this and says that the only people in the world whose faith is not a speculation, are the Orthodox people” (Algeo, 315–16).
Moreover, in a letter to Mme. de Fadeyev, dated October 28–29, 1877 (shortly after the publication of Isis Unveiled), Blavatsky wrote, “Of course you will not find one word therein against the Orthodox Church. Why? Your Church is the purest and the truest, and all the ugly human things, as well as all the little ‘enemies’ . . . will not suffice to desecrate it. In the Russian Orthodox Church alone is Divine Truth established, firmly established.” She adds, however, that this truth “is buried in the foundations; it cannot be found on the surface” (Algeo, 343).
Strong sentiments such as these color Blavatsky’s ensuing attitudes and subconscious convictions. Her early letters are important for a better understanding of her critique of Christianity as well as indicating enduring perspectives that shine throughout her writings. One cannot exclude the possibility that her critique of Christian dogmatism might have been motivated by spiritual idealism or the search for true religious meaning in a time of doctrinal crisis.
Concluding Comments
Do we really understand Blavatsky? After all, some of her writings bear the hallmarks of a confessional novelist more than of a metaphysician or occult historian. Furthermore, Blavatsky’s discourse against Christian dogmatism was influenced by Enlightenment critiques and the zeitgeist of her period, which is why she partly adopted secular thought. Her quest led to a further critique of Christian dogmatism, because she felt Christianity was ill-equipped in its battle against secular materialism.
HPB’s discourse against Christian dogmatism and the Roman Catholic church was partly motivated by her Russian birth and emotional ties with the Russian Orthodox church. This complicates the belief that Blavatsky was anti-Christian, even though she felt the need to challenge everything that stood in the way of her search for religious truth.
All, however, are agreed that humanity is moving towards some great end, some consummation of that hope which animates each individual. This hope expresses itself in many ways but principally takes the form of what is ordinarily known as religion, which in Christian terms is a living relationship with Christ Jesus himself as the ultimate integrative principle.
Sources
All italics in quoted material are from the original.
Algeo, John et al., ed. H.P. Blavatsky, Collected Writings: The Letters of H.P. Blavatsky, Volume 1: 1861–79. Wheaton: Quest, 2003.
Blavatsky, H.P. The Secret Doctrine. Two volumes. Edited by Boris de Zirkoff. Wheaton: Quest 1993.
Faivre, Antoine. Access to Western Esotericism. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994.
Meade, Marion. Madame Blavatsky: The Woman behind the Myth. New York: Putnam, 1980.
Dr. David William Parry is an international speaker and author of Caliban’s Redemption, The Grammar of Witchcraft, and Mount Athos inside Me: Essays on Religion, Swedenborg, and Arts. He is currently pastor of Valentine’s Hall, an independent Quagan chapel in Balham, South London. David can be reached via his website: http://www.davidwilliamparry.com. This article is an edited version of a virtual lecture delivered to the European School of Theosophy, May 23, 2021.