Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891) was a Russian mystic, philosopher, and co-founder of the Theosophical Society, a movement that sought to blend Eastern religious traditions with Western esotericism. She is considered one of the most influential figures in the development of modern occultism and New Age spirituality. Her teachings, known as Theosophy, combined elements of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Western esoteric traditions to propose a universal spiritual truth that transcended all religions.

Blavatsky was born in the Russian Empire to a family of minor Russian nobility. From a young age, she was described as a precocious child with a vivid imagination and a deep interest in mysticism and the occult. Her mother was a novelist and also translated novels for an English writer, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who explored ideas of the occult and science fiction in his writing. Once her mother passed away at the early age of 28, Blavatsky and her two siblings went to live with her grandparents. It was then when she found the vast library of her great-grandfather, containing many esoteric tomes where she really started to explore ideas of mysticism. She claimed it was around this time in her life that she started to see visions and her sister records times when Blavatsky would recount elaborate tales or visions about herself.

Her early life was marked by extensive travel across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. At the age of 17 she married a Vice Governor of a province in the Russian Empire, but very quickly ran away to travel the world. During these years of travel Blavatsky claimed to have studied with various occult masters, seeking their wisdom. She did not keep a record during this time, so accounts are based on her recall which have been shown to be conflicting in timing and detail. She claims to have saved an opera singer in Constantinople from murder, studied voodoo in New Orleans, performed as a concert pianist in London and studied amongst shamans. Blavatsky claims that she spent two years (1868-1870) in Tibet, where she was taught an ancient unknown language, translated ancient texts, and was taught how to control her psychic powers. These travels were allegedly critical in shaping her worldview and laid the groundwork for her later spiritual teachings.

In 1874 in Vermont, Blavatsky met Henry Steel Olcott, a reporter and lawyer investigating spiritual paranormal activity. Olcott was impressed by Blavatsky’s own psychic abilities and the two became friends. Blavatsky taught Olcott her beliefs and he soon became a follower and promoted her ideas and practices in newspaper articles and in his book People from the Other World in 1875. In their efforts to gain more followers for their ideas, Olcott and Blavatsky met William Quan Judge, an Irish Spiritualist, and in 1875 the three of them founded the Theosophical Society in New York City. The society aimed to promote an understanding of the spiritual realities underlying all religions and encourage a comparative study of religion, philosophy, and science. It also sought to investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the latent powers within humanity. The society's motto, "There is no religion higher than truth," reflects its commitment to discovering a universal spiritual truth that transcends all dogmatic and rigid boundaries. 

The Theosophical Society quickly gained a following among intellectuals and spiritual seekers in the United States and Europe. It offered a compelling alternative to both traditional religion and materialistic science, proposing a synthesis of the two that recognized the spiritual dimension of existence. The society's teachings emphasized the idea of a secret, spiritual hierarchy of masters or "Mahatmas" who guided humanity's spiritual evolution. These masters allegedly resided around the world, but mostly in Tibet, and Blavatsky claimed it was through them that the teachings of modern Theosophy were imparted through her.  

Blavatsky contributed two major works to the Theosophical movement: "Isis Unveiled" (1877) and "The Secret Doctrine" (1888). "Isis Unveiled" is a two-volume work that critiques both science and organized religion from a Theosophical perspective. In Isis, Blavatsky quotes from other religious and spiritual texts and brings together the idea that both science and religion both stem from a single “ancient wisdom” or truth and both schools of thought lack the elements of the spiritual realm. 

Eleven years after the publication of Isis, Madame Blavatsky’s second major work was published. “The Secret Doctrine” presents a complex cosmology that blends Hindu and Buddhist concepts of karma and reincarnation with Western esoteric ideas about the spiritual evolution of humanity and the universe. It also introduces her theory on the evolution of race with the concept of "Root Races," a series of stages in human evolution, each characterized by distinct physical and spiritual traits. Blavatsky claims to have received the information for this book while in trances and communicated with Tibetan, Buddhist masters who gave her access to ancient texts written in ancient languages. 

Blavatsky was a highly controversial figure during her lifetime and remains so to this day. Her claims of possessing supernatural powers, such as clairvoyance, telepathy, and the ability to produce physical phenomena through psychic means, were met with skepticism by many, including some former followers. The most famous of these controversies involved the "Mahatma Letters," a series of letters purportedly written by Blavatsky's spiritual teachers in Tibet. The letters were later deemed fraudulent by some critics, although their authenticity remains a topic of debate among scholars of Theosophy. The ancient Buddhists texts she claims to have had access to have also been deemed nonexistent by scholars. 

Blavatsky's writings and the teachings of the Theosophical Society have also been criticized for their appropriation of Eastern religious concepts and their tendency to exoticize and romanticize Asian cultures. Some scholars argue that Theosophy contributed to the construction of Orientalist stereotypes and that its portrayal of Eastern religions was often distorted by Western biases and misconceptions.

Despite these controversies, Blavatsky's influence on modern spirituality and the New Age movement is undeniable. 

Menina Bonita: beautiful girl

Doll: slang for girl 

Lose my marbles: slang for “going crazy” or losing common sense

Lunker: something that is large 

The Good Book: slang term for the Bible 

Medium: a person who is believed to be able to communicate with spirits or the dead

Capybara: a large rodent native to South America 

Capybara in Brazil. Creative Commons 

Diamond Jim: James Buchanan Brady, an American businessman and financier who was known for his very large appetite and wearing flashy jewelry

The Outfit: Another term for the Chicago Mob, Italian-American Mafia crime family 

Sources: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_Blavatsky#Influence

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosophical_Society

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Doctrine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis_Unveiled

https://julesevans.medium.com/madame-blavatsky-and-the-perils-of-mass-occultism-333fcd765c43

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/madame-blavatsky-a-seeker-of-truth-and-a-fraud-1.6478885

https://victorianweb.org/religion/blavatsky.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosophy