327 Alexandre Andreyev Alexandre Andreyev, a Historian of Science

BOOK REVIEWS 327 Alexandre Andreyev The Myth of the Masters Revived: The Occult Lives of Nicholas and Elena Roerich. Leiden and London: Brill, 2014. xxx + 502 pp. isbn 9789004270428 (hbk.) Alexandre Andreyev, a historian of science from St. Petersburg, is known for his pioneering books on Russian and early Soviet geopolitical ventures in Tibet. In this new volume, Andreyev provides the most comprehensive biog- raphy (in English) of Nicholas and Elena (Helena) Roerich, whose occult proj- ects were related to Tibet and Inner Asia in general. During the interwar years, Nicholas Roerich, a Russian émigré painter and cultural activist, became a peace advocate and what today we would call a New Age celebrity. Particularly, he received publicity for promoting the so-called Roerich Pact — a cultural Red Cross whose purpose was to safeguard historical and architectural land- marks in times of war. Additionally, Nicholas and Helena developed their own brand of Theosophy which they labeled Agni Yoga (Fire Yoga). Moreover, the Roerichs led the widely publicized Asian “scientific-artistic” expeditions: the first one to Tibetan-Mongol areas (1926–1928) and a second one to Manchuria (1934–1935). Although their contemporaries were aware that their activities had an occult bent, they did not know that this adventurous couple sought no less than to accelerate human evolution by preparing a foundation for the development of an advanced “sixth race.” Revealed in the prophecies of the famous Helena Blavatsky (HPB), the founding mother of Theosophy, this race was to be engineered by secret masters (or the Great White Brotherhood) that dwelled in the Himalayas, specifically in legendary Shambhala — the Tibetan Buddhist “paradise.” These masters sent out semi-divine messengers who were living among regular human beings, spreading “good news” and preparing peo- ple for the coming evolutionary jump. Both Nicholas and Helena thought of themselves as these messengers of the otherworldly forces. The Myth of the Masters Revived represents an updated English translation of the same book that was published by St. Petersburg University in 2008. Those readers who are not familiar with the topic of the Roerichs need to know that there are dozens of books and articles out there, especially in Russian, that deal with various aspects of their artistic, cultural, and spiritual ventures. Much of this literature has been produced by spiritual seekers and acolytes of the Roerichs, who portray them as great cultural and spirituality icons (e.g., Drayer 2005). Those writings that are critical of the Roerichs frequently picture them as unscrupulous manipulators and Soviet spies (e.g., Shishkin 1999) or even as Satanists (e.g., Kuraev 1997). It was not until after Vladimir Rosov published his two-volume work (2002–2004) that scholars and the general public were able to comprehend the magnitude and direction of the Roerichs’ activities. Rosov, © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ��7 | doi �0.��63/�5685�76-��34�465 328 BOOK REVIEWS a philosopher and historian from the Moscow Museum of Oriental Art (where he heads the Roerich Hall), was the first to dig through Russian and American archives and make public previously unknown documents that shed light on the Roerichs’ lives. In fact, much room in his two-volume work, which unfor- tunately remains unfamiliar to Western readers, is devoted to primary sources (letters to and from the Roerichs, excerpts from travel and daily journals, etc.). Thus, Rosov showed that the ultimate goal of the couple was to set up in Inner Asia a Buddhist-Theosophical theocracy that they referred to as the Sacred Union of the East. This “great plan” was revealed to them by the otherworldly masters. In light of the exhaustive research produced by Rosov, there seems to be little room for another text on the same topic. Yet Andreyev proved that this was not the case. In contrast to Rosov’s work, which represents a somewhat eclectic documentary narrative, The Myth of the Masters Revived is a coher- ent story with its own angle. Andreyev is primarily interested in exploring the origin and development of the Roerichs’ occult activities. He argues that Agni Yoga was an integral part of Theosophy, pointing to HPB’s Secret Doctrine as the Roerichs’ major intellectual inspiration and to genetic links between the Roerichs’ secret master Mahatma Morya and HPB’s otherworldly teachers (p. 443). Strictly speaking, The Myth of the Masters Revived is not exclusively focused on Nicholas and Helena. It is a story of a spiritual ménage à trois of Helena Blavatsky, Helena Roerich, and Nicholas Roerich. Still, as Andreyev points out, there were other important components of the Roerichs’ Agni Yoga: “fiery” Puranas, the Kabbalah, esoteric Christianity, and Tantric Buddhism. For example, Helena, Nicholas, and their associates routinely used tantric tech- niques of visualization to quickly establish contact with the secret master Morya by intensely gazing at his portrait (p. 445). Speculating about the origin of the Roerichs’ brand of Theosophy, Andreyev draws attention to Helena’s “divine headaches.” He explains how an early physical trauma (perinatal trauma during an unsuccessful attempt of Helena’s mother to abort her) might have contributed to her unbearable bouts of “fiery” headaches (p. 448), which Helena was later able to convert into a spiritual experience. Accompanied by recurrent and disturbing images of fire, these headaches eventually furnished her with “psycho-fiery” energy, which Helena linked to the Hindu-sounding “fiery Pranayama.” Andreyev believes that these “divine headaches” became an essential psycho-physiological source of Agni Yoga. For this reason, unlike other authors, he devotes much attention to Helena’s life and writings. According to Andreyev, despite all of his flamboy- ance and passionate publicity-seeking, Nicholas was not a spiritual leader. It was the painter who mentally linked himself to and followed revelations Numen 64 (2017) 323–338.

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