Wonders today no longer arouse veneration and awe, but curiosity. It was in the hope of arousing and utilizing this spirit of curiosity that occult phenomena were shown. The Roman Catholic Church excuses itself from the examination of any occult phenomena on the plea that they are necessarily the work of the Devil, whenever they occur outside of its own pale, since it has a lawful monopoly of the legitimate miracle business. While Religion cannot grasp the idea of natural law as applied to the supersensuous Universe, Science does not allow the existence of any supersensuous universe at all to which the reign of law could be extended; nor can it conceive the possibility of any other state of consciousness than our present terrestrial one. Occult phenomena were claimed by the Spiritualists as the work of their dear departed ones, and the leaders of Theosophy declared to be mediums in disguise. What mean and unreasoning animals ignorant men become when their cherished prejudices are touched! Did not the history of scientific research teach us how, very like an ignorant man, a learned man can behave when the truth of his theories is called in question?

A thoughtful biography of one of the most polarizing pioneers of alternative spirituality, the occult-mystic Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. Pioneer. Visionary. Provocateur. Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky—mystic, occult writer, child of Russian aristocrats, spiritual seeker who traveled five continents, and founder (with Henry Steel Olcott) of the Theosophical Society—is still being hailed as an icon and scorned as a fraud more than 120 years after her death. But despite perennial interest in her life, writings, and philosophy, no single biography has examined the controversy and legacy of this influential thinker who helped define modern alternative spirituality—until now. Gary Lachman, the acclaimed spiritual biographer behind volumes such as Rudolf Steiner and Jung the Mystic, brings us an in-depth look at Blavatsky, objectively exploring her unique and singular contributions toward introducing Eastern and esoteric spiritual ideas to the West during the nineteenth century, as well as the controversies that continue to color the discussions of her life and work.

A study of the public fascination with spiritualism and psychical research in Victorian and Edwardian times.