A Quarterly Journal of Research

Volume X, No. 2 April 2004 ISSN 0951-497X Theosophical History: :Occasional Papers A Quarterly Journal of Research Founded by Leslie Price, 1985 (ISBN 1-883279-00-3) Volume X, No. 2 Editor: James A. Santucci April 2004

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The journal’s purpose is to publish contri- Fullerton, CA 92834-6868 (U.S.A.) butions specifically related to the modern Theosophical Movement, from the Fax:714-693-0142 VOLUME IX The Unseen Worlds of Emma Hardinge Britten: Some Chapters in the History time of Madame and others who were responsible in estab- Email: [email protected] of Western Occultism lishing the original Theosophical Society (1875), to all groups that derive their Telephone: 714-278-3727 teachings—directly or indirectly, knowingly or unknowingly—from her or her Website: www.theohistory.org By Robert Mathiesen immediate followers. In addition, the journal is also receptive to related move- ments (including pre-Blavatskyite , Spiritualism, Rosicrucianism, Copyright ©2004 by James A. Santucci and the philosophy of Emanuel Swedenborg to give but a few examples) that Composition and Theosophical History logo by Eric Santucci have had an influence on or displayed an affinity to modern Theosophy. The www.ericsantucci.com Contents

April 2004 Volume X, Number 2

Editor’s Comments James Santucci...... 1

Article The Life and Works of Mabel Collins Kim Farnell...... 4

From The Archives The Helen I. Dennis Collection Michael Gomes...... 16

Book Review The Pagan Dream of the Renaissance Robert Boyd...... 28

On the cover: Mabel Collins (1911). Picture provided by Kim Farnell. Editor’s Comments ments of her life. She did leave a body of Gomes reported a discovery of a - work that has stamped her place in the lit- script by Blavatsky. Since the documents In this Issue erary world, albeit in a minor fashion. in the collection detail the allegation During the years when she was a member against C.W. Leadbeater for teaching mas- of the British Theosophical Society, she turbation to young boys, this highly lthough Mabel Collins (1851 – conduct – described alternately as a “flir- displayed the potential of becoming a charged piece of Theosophical history is 1927) has played a peripheral role tation” by W.B. Yeats and as “Tantric wor- major influence, perhaps as an inspira- effectively reexamined in the light of the in the history of the British ship and black magic” by Vittoria Cremers tional leader, had she chosen to do so. collection by Michael Gomes. A detailed ATheosophical Society, she is certainly one in her unpublished memoirs – involving Indeed, Annie Besant’s influence as a account of the scandal has not appeared in of its more fascinating characters. Mabel, and his propagator of Theosophical teachings print since Gregory Tillett’s biography of Remembered today as the author of Light nephew, . Collins’ could have been duplicated by Mabel Leadbeater, The Elder Brother (1982), so on the Path, Mabel was a prolific writer of involvement in this type of activity was but Collins had she applied herself in this Michael Gomes’ account is particularly sig- such works as When the Sun Moves a portent of what was to occur in her later direction. Although she left two spiritual nificant since it includes novel research Northward: The Way of , The life. works (Light on the Path and The Idyll of in this area. Scroll of the Disembodied Man, The In the article appearing in this issue, the White Lotus) that will ensure her noto- Blossom and the Fruit: A True Story of a “The Life and Works of Mabel Collins” by riety, one wanders what she could have The last contribution in this issue is a Black Magician, Through the Gates of Kim Farnell (a modified account of a paper accomplished had kinder circumstances book review by Robert Boyd of Joscelyn Gold: A Fragment of Thought, The originally presented at the London occurred and had she responded to those Godwin’s The Pagan Dream of the Awakening, The Star Sapphire, and The Theosophical History Conference in June opportunities. Renaissance, published by Phanes Press Idyll of the White Lotus, the latter being her 2003), we find in addition to the information We shall know more about Mabel in 2002. first Theosophical work. Introduced to provided above an interesting reference to Collins when Kim Farnell’s One Mystic Theosophical teachings in 1881, she Mabel’s encounter with Robert Donston Vampire: A Biography of Mabel Collins,” * * * became acquainted with H.P. Blavatsky in Stephenson, whom Collins suspected to appears later this year. 1884, who later became Mabel’s guest in be Jack the Ripper, thus involving Mabel, The contributors of the above have all her home, Maycot, after arriving in London though indirectly, in Britain’s most sensa- * * * appeared in Theosophical History in previ- from Ostend in 1887. This was a particu- tional crime of the nineteenth century. On ous issues. Kim Farnell, whose previous larly significant time in the history of the a more sober note, Ms Farnell recounts During the 1994 annual meeting of the contribution, “Walter Richard Old: The Man Society. The was estab- Collins’ involvement with the British Union American Academy of Religion in Chicago, Who Held Helena Blavatsky’s Hand” lished three weeks after Blavatsky’s arrival, for the Abolition of Vivisection and the I had the occasion to visit the Helen I. (VIII/2, April 2000), is a professional writer, and the magazine, Lucifer, was inaugurat- establishment of its journal, The Dennis Collection at the behest of the astrologer and researcher focusing on ed a few months later (September 1884). Abolitionist. author of the second article in this issue, movements and astrology in the late Besides serving as its co-editor, Mabel In 1913, she was to suffer the loss of Michael Gomes. The Helen I. Dennis nineteenth century. She is the author of a also helped in the editing of Blavatsky’s her assets when her bank went into liqui- Collection, though not generally well number of books, her latest being Reading seminal work, . All dation, an event that was to affect the known in Theosophical circles, first the Runes and Illustrated A-Z of came to an untimely end in 1889, however, remainder of her life. received mention in the January 1993 Understanding Star Signs. She has also after Blavatsky discovered questionable One may come to differing assess- issue of Theosophical History, wherein Mr. written a biography of Walter Old, The

1 Editor’s Comments 2 Editor’s Comments The Life and Works of Mabel Collins Astral Tramp: A Biography of Sepharial (Ascella Publ., 1998). Ms Farnell is Kim Farnell presently completing her Masters degree in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology at ost readers will be aware that advising on what to wear that season and Bath Spa University. Kim lives in London, Mabel Collins was the author of the use of cosmetics. When her birth data UK. Light on the Path, an acknowl- appeared in Alan Leo’s 1001 Notable Michael Gomes is a frequent contribu- Medged spiritual classic. Many will know of Nativities,1 she was described as an anti- tor on Theosophical history. His “Letter some of her other works, such as Blossom vivisectionist. She was also the lover of a from to William Q. and the Fruit. Some will be aware that man now believed by a number of Judge, September 28, 1893, appeared in Blavatsky stayed in her home for a while. researchers to have been Jack the Ripper, the January 2004 issue. He also inaugu- Mabel was certainly a prominent figure in Robert D’Onston Stephenson. Mabel knew rated the Occasional Papers series in 1993 the early Theosophical movement, yet she numerous prominent figures of her era. with his Witness for the Prosecution: Annie survives as little more than a footnote in She corresponded with the painter Besant’s Testimony on Behalf of H.P. most historical sources. Whistler,2 spent time at the house of Blavatsky in the N.Y. Sun/Coues Law I was drawn to finding out more about Frances Power-Cobbe,3 wrote a book Case. Mabel by the provocative comments that jointly with Charlotte Despard4 to name but are strewn throughout Theosophical texts a few. * * * * * of the late nineteenth century. Mabel’s Minna Mabel Collins was born on 9th name seemed to pop up wherever I September 1851 at St Peters Port, looked. And yet next to nothing was known Guernsey to Edward James Mortimer about her life. It was an irresistible quest – Collins, a popular poet and journalist, and to find out who Mabel was and how she fit- Susanna Hubbard, the daughter of a ted into the Theosophical milieu. However, Russian merchant and banker. my quest took me much further than I had Born in 1827, Mortimer Collins was the anticipated. Mabel was far more than an son of a Plymouth solicitor. Mortimer was early Theosophist. She deserves much always a writer and soon published in a better than a footnote or two. variety of magazines and newspapers. The We know that Mabel was an early unreliability of this work meant that he Theosophist, that much is reasonably well spent much of his time teaching to earn a documented. However, she was also a living. Attending a job interview one day he prominent novelist and journalist. She fell in love with the wife of the headmaster. wrote at least forty-six books and innumer- Three weeks later, the headmaster died able articles during her lifetime, and was and Mortimer married Susanna Hubbard, widely known as a novelist in the US and who was then nineteen years older than UK. Mabel was also a fashion writer; she him, causing both of their families to had columns in a number of publications oppose the marriage.

3 Editor’s Comments 4 The Life and Works of Mabel Collins Susanna, Mortimer and Susanna’s six barely a minute apart and Frances devoted Maryatt recorded how Mabel channelled Rumours were later to fly around that children travelled the country chasing jobs the rest of her life to working as Mortimer’s her dead daughter.6 Mabel described how Mabel had become engaged to Bert – or for Mortimer. They ended up in Guernsey secretary and co-writing his novels. Mabel in one vision she was led by the hand in perhaps that was simply a polite way of after Mortimer bought a partnership in a seems to have been almost incidental to her to a hall of learning where describing the black magic sex rituals the school. From the moment Mabel arrived Mortimer and Frances’ lives. Mortimer died she saw jewels and writing. The writing two were supposedly involved in? On 8th Mortimer adored her, writing her endless in 1876 while visiting Mabel. that she returned to note down was even- November 1884, Mabel met Blavatsky poems and sonnets. His devotion to his In 1870 Mabel met Keningale Robert tually to form the text of Light on the Path. shortly before she returned to India. Mabel meant that he refused to send her to Cook, the son of Robert Keningale Cook, In 1878 another experience was docu- When Mabel called on Blavatsky she school, preferring to teach her himself. the Church of England Canon of mented that was to lead to the writing of showed her a couple of pages of the work- The family returned to England in Manchester. Six years older than she, he Idyll of the White Lotus. She described how ing manuscript of Light on the Path. As far 1856. Mortimer became highly fashionable was instantly smitten. They married on 3rd a procession of priests appeared as her as Blavatsky was concerned the Master and his social life in London took wings. He August 1871. inspiration and how she wrote the first Hilarion had appeared to Collins in 1884 was known as the “King of Bohemia,” and Mabel’s new husband, Robert, had a seven chapters of the Idyll automatically. and had dictated to her the conclusion of frequently held court at a variety of water- degree in law and was a writer. He worked In later years, the method by which Mabel The Idyll of the White Lotus and the whole ing places. Drink became a large part of as a stockbroker for most of their marriage. obtained the text of Light on the Path was of Light on the Path. Mabel, believing her Mortimer’s life and he lived far beyond his Robert had already completed and pub- to cause a major argument within the work to have been dictated by a mysteri- meagre means. Susanna became ill and lished a book of verse, Purpose and Theosophical Society. And the fact that she ous person, then claimed that Light on the began to withdraw from the world while Passion. It was a total failure. suffered at least one nervous breakdown Path had been written under “Sri Hilarion.” Mortimer lurched from one financial disas- Undiscouraged, Robert contributed to a over the next few years, one that she her- Attributing Light on the Path to Hilarion ter to another. The family was uprooted variety of magazines. Mabel wrote along- self wrote about in 1889, has led to ques- neatly solved the problem of Blavatsky’s again and again as Mortimer ran from debt side him and in 1875 her first novel, The tions about Mabel’s state of mind. opposition to spiritualism and Mabel’s and chased possibilities of work. Mabel Blacksmith and Scholar, was published. Introduced to Theosophy in 1881 by insistence that she had acted as a medium grew used to escorting her father home Robert’s work was soon eclipsed by his the artist Isabelle de Steiger, Mabel was a for the true writer. There was no conflict if from his office when he was too drunk to wife’s. Novel after novel appeared in quick regular visitor at A.P. Sinnett’s house by the messages came directly from one of make his own way. The pattern of succession, many serialised in popular 1884. She described to Sinnett her experi- the Masters. Untangling the story of how Mortimer’s life was set – stay and work in magazines. Frustrated in her marriage ences of the Egyptian priests who crossed Light was written is rather like trying to knit one place for a while, overspend, run into Mabel finally separated from Robert. He her room as she was working. Mabel sent with spaghetti. As soon as one thread in debt problems, spend time in prison, run died in 1886. her work to Banner of Light, a Boston spir- the tale is grasped, it slips from one’s hold away and finally move to a new town Early in their marriage, Mabel was per- itualist magazine, which published it. It was and three more threads appear to confuse. where the whole process could begin suaded by Robert to take part in séances. published in booklet form in England and In May 1887 Archibald and Bertram again. She soon became a renowned medium. distributed amongst Theosophists. Keightley brought Blavatsky from Ostend By the time Mabel was twelve years A.P. Sinnett said “she was amongst those Helena Blavatsky visited London in to spend some time at Mabel’s house old, she had begun to write romances and gifted with the faculties that put conscious- 1884. Archibald and Bertram Keightley, Maycot, a little cottage in Norwood, south verse – just like her father. In 1866 ness into relation with other realms of who were to become instrumental in the London. Mabel was waiting and ready to Susanna died and a year later Mortimer nature besides those cognised by the Theosophical Society, met Blavatsky and welcome Madame into her home but things married Frances Cotton. The couple spent physical senses….”5 The writer Florence both became very close to Mabel. didn’t run smoothly. Blavatsky hated

5 The Life and Works of Mabel Collins 6 The Life and Works of Mabel Collins Maycot, and didn’t trust Mabel. “I am in the been a friend of her father’s. She remained Mabel herself had not initially been allowed had seized an opportunity to be rid of her. enemy’s camp, and this says all…. This the co-editor of Lucifer until 1889. Mabel to join the Esoteric Section. After pleading Why? Blavatsky must have known about house is a hole where we are like herrings would often be at Lansdowne Road late with Blavatsky she was allowed to join as a any goings on between Mabel and the in a barrel – so small, so uncomfortable, into the evening. She moved to Clarendon probationer but within four days was dis- Keightleys since they all stayed together at and when there are three people in my two Road, where her garden backed onto that missed. Maycot. rooms we tread uninterruptedly on each of Lansdowne Road. Although she wasn’t W.B. Yeats wrote, “Mme B expelled Annie Besant had asked W.T. Stead others corns.”7 part of the household, she and Blavatsky Mrs Cook (Mabel Collins), a most promi- for an introduction to Blavatsky after read- Busy with helping Blavatsky to com- developed the habit of signalling one nent Theosophist writer and daughter of ing The Secret Doctrine for review. After a plete The Secret Doctrine, Mabel was another across the gardens when they Mortimer, also the president of the lodge letter on 15 March, she called on Blavatsky overwhelmed with the many visitors wanted to talk. for flirtation; and expelled an American lady for the first time. On the 10th May 1889 she Maycot saw. The Sinnetts called regularly When, on February 15th 1889, for gossiping about them. Mme B is in joined the Theosophical Society. There and notable figures such as William Butler Mabel’s name suddenly disappeared from great spirits, she is purring and hiding her was no doubt from the onset that Besant Yeats arrived to pay their respects. Lucifer it was inevitable that everyone claws as though she never clawed any- would play an integral role in the Society. Three weeks after Blavatsky’s arrival would want to know why. Mabel herself body. She is always happy when she has Mabel simply could not compete with the the Blavatsky lodge was founded. Every kept quiet about the matter. Gradually, the found a Theosophist out and clawed potential Annie offered to Theosophy. Thursday evening meetings were held in scandal began to emerge. him.”10 Mabel’s relationship with the Right from the first of Blavatsky’s Blavatsky’s room.8 At its second meeting The American Theosophist Vittoria Keightleys was brought into question, accusations Mabel had talked about taking the Blavatsky Lodge decided that a new Cremers, then staying at Lansdowne “Presently there was much scandal and legal action against her. An action for libel magazine was in order and after long dis- Road, was called to see Blavatsky one gossip for the penitent was plainly entan- was lodged in July 1889, although it didn’t cussion it was decided to call it Lucifer. day. She was told that Mabel was being gled with two young men who were expect- reach court until July 1890. The case was Mabel was appointed as co-editor and sug- asked to leave the Society because of her ed to grow into ascetic sages.”11 short lived. Blavatsky asked that a letter gested that the new venture be called The conduct with the Keightleys. Blavatsky It seemed that although one Keightley written by Mabel be produced. It was Theosophical Publishing Company. related how Mabel had been engaged to may have been acceptable, two were shown to counsel who asked the judge to It was time for Blavatsky to move on. Archibald and the two had taken part in excessive. “The scandal was so great that take the case off the list.13 The Keightleys located a house in Notting Tantric worship and black magic. The trou- Madame Blavatsky had to call the penitent The stress made Mabel ill and she had Hill at 17 Lansdowne Road for Blavatsky to ble they got themselves into apparently before her and to speak after this fashion, a complete nervous breakdown, spending move into and become the new centre of meant that Blavatsky had to intervene to “We think that it is necessary to crush the four months being cared for by her sister, Theosophy. After three days of packing the rescue them. Vittoria refused to break her animal nature; you should live in chastity in Ellen Hopkins. Mabel’s fury with Blavatsky household moved – apart from Mabel – friendship with Mabel and left the Society. 9 act and thought. Initiation is granted only to continued unabated. “She taught me one she was left alone at Maycot. Mabel had also begun a friendship those who are entirely chaste,” But after great lesson. I learned from her how fool- Much of Mabel’s writing was directed with Michael Angelo Lane, a newspaper some moments in that vehement style, the ish, how gullible, how easily flattered towards Lucifer. The Blossom and the Fruit reporter from St. Louis and staunch penitent, standing crushed and shamed human beings are en masse. Her con- appeared there in serial form throughout Theosophist from 1885. As a member of before her, had wound up with the words, tempt for her kind was on the same gigan- 1887 and 1888. From July 1887 Mabel was the esoteric section he went from lodge to “I cannot permit you more than one.”12 tic scale as everything else about her….”14 writing a fashion column for The World, a lodge revelling in spreading tales of what Whatever the facts of Mabel’s entan- While Mabel was seething with resent- paper owned by Edmund Yates, who had was happening in the inner sanctum, glements, it appears clear that Blavatsky ment a whole new Theosophical crisis took

7 The Life and Works of Mabel Collins 8 The Life and Works of Mabel Collins wing. In May 1889, there appeared a letter around Theosophy. In 1888 discussions of Pompadour Cosmetique Company and One day when Stephenson had gone in the Religio-Philosophical Journal from Jack the Ripper and his activities were rented offices in Baker Street, Vittoria and out Vittoria let herself into his room to see Elliott Coues, including a letter to him from grabbing as much attention at Stephenson living on the premises. Mabel what she could find. Searching a box she Mabel Collins. Sometime in 1885, Coues Theosophical headquarters as anywhere talked of little but Stephenson to Vittoria found some books on magic and a number wrote to Mabel praising Light on the Path else. The Ripper was never found, and to and he was a regular visitor to her flat. of ties in the box, on close inspection find- asking about its real source. Mabel this day there is no certainty about who he About a month after the libel case ing them to be stained underneath.16 promptly replied saying that Light “was was, although numerous theories abound. against Blavatsky was thrown out of court, Shortly afterwards she was chatting with inspired or dictated from the source above In 1889 two articles about H. Rider Mabel entered the offices and questioned Stephenson when he told her that he knew indicated.” In other words she agreed with Haggard’s incredibly popular novel She Vittoria as to the whereabouts of Jack the Ripper. Giving her the details he the view that the work was inspired by one appeared in The Pall Mall Gazette. Mabel Stephenson. She told Vittoria that some- said that the organs taken from the bodies of the Masters, specifically the Master wrote to the author and after a few weeks thing Stephenson had shown her con- had been tucked behind the murderers Hilarion. At the beginning of May 1889 he she received a reply: Dr Roslyn D’Onston vinced her that Stephenson himself was tie.17 To Vittoria, knowing these details received a letter from Mabel dated April wrote to say that he was ill but once he Jack the Ripper. It was clear that Mabel meant that he had to be the Ripper. 18th 1889, immediately after she had been recovered he would arrange to meet her. was afraid and Vittoria was rather taken Vittoria and Mabel met for the last time ejected from the Theosophical Society. D’Onston was Robert Donston aback. Mabel admitted that she and in the summer of 1891. Stephenson held a Mabel said that Blavatsky had per- Stephenson, the son of a Yorkshire seed Stephenson had quarrelled but refused to collection of letters from Mabel, which were suaded her to lie about the source of her mill owner. He was a heavy drinker and say why she believed he was the Ripper. explicit enough for her to be worried about work for the benefit of the Theosophical reputed to use other drugs. It was as a She had become more and more fright- the possibility of blackmail. She was too Society. Coues was looking for a reason to patient in the London Hospital in ened of Stephenson but was afraid to frightened to reclaim them herself and suc- bring Blavatsky down and here was Mabel November 1888 that he became convinced leave him. She credited him with great cessfully begged Vittoria to retrieve the let- handing him one on a plate. Reams of arti- that Dr Morgan Davies was the Ripper, powers and was worried that they would be ters for her. cles and letters were written about the after he saw what he believed to be a re- turned against her. Now that she felt safer, Mabel wrote to affair, analysing every move any of the enactment of the murders. He went to the Mabel secretly went to Scarborough, Stephenson ordering him out of his room. players made. Coues was finally expelled police on Boxing Day 1888 with his suspi- swearing Vittoria to secrecy. Stephenson He took out a summons against Mabel her from the Society. cions against Dr. Davies.15 seemed to be unbothered by her depar- to return the letters. When the case was The story of the Coues attack and Vittoria Cremers returned from a trip to ture. With the collapse of the threesome heard Stephenson was unable to substan- Mabel’s role is extremely complex. The cul- America in February 1890. She wrote to as a team, the Pompadour Cosmetique tiate his allegation that Mabel had taken mination of the whole affair was a full-page Mabel inviting her to stay. In early March Company floundered. After a disagree- the letters from a locked trunk, in fact, he exposé of Blavatsky in the New York Sun Vittoria called on Mabel in Southsea where ment between them, Stephenson gave was unable to speak and the case was dis- on July 20th 1890. This prompted she was writing a new novel. Vittoria an account of the intimate details of missed. Although Stephenson wrote to Blavatsky to take legal action against When they met Mabel told Vittoria the relationship between Vittoria and Vittoria, she destroyed his letters and there Coues and the Sun. Her death in 1891 ter- about Stephenson and explained what a Mabel as told to him by Mabel. Vittoria was was no further contact between the three minated the suit but on September 26, great magician he was. She explained that upset and immediately wrote to Mabel of them. No one knows what became of 1892, The Sun published a biographical she was caring for him and planned to demanding an explanation. Mabel simply Stephenson. In 1904, after publishing a sketch of her by Judge with their apologies. return to London where the three of them said that she understood – their friendship book called The Patristic Gospels,18 he Mabel’s life did not completely revolve could set up in business. They formed the was ended. Vittoria was furious. vanished without trace.

9 The Life and Works of Mabel Collins 10 The Life and Works of Mabel Collins Aleister Crowley met Vittoria in 1912 Union for the Abolition of Vivisection before what she had found, convinced that many whole new audience, which could have and from her account, believed Vittoria to 1899. Its journal, The Abolitionist, first doctors had no idea of the sort of work that done the anti-vivisection campaign no have been Mabel’s lover.19 Vittoria spent appeared on 15 April 1899. Mabel was was being carried on in the name of med- harm at all. the remainder of her life in Wales and responsible for starting the magazine, ical research and that something needed The campaign against the Brown London, dying in 1936. Whether or not which was to prove a key publication of the to be done. At this time, Charlotte Institute remained Mabel’s main focus. She Stephenson was Jack the Ripper, Mabel movement. A staunch supporter of animal Despard21 was also living in Wandsworth. had organised a petition of protest and believed he was. After investing her money rights, Mabel had been a vegetarian since Horrified at what she saw as the torture of after she had gathered 53,000 signatures, in supporting a doomed business venture her early Theosophical days and pointed animals on her doorstep, Mabel wrote to the petition was handed to the University of of Stephenson’s, she had no choice but to out that she also refused to wear leather, the Poor Law Guardians and Charlotte London Senate. By 1903 Mabel was no declare bankruptcy in 1892. would not use an eiderdown and preferred responded and offered premises for meet- longer secretary of the North of England There is no doubt that Mabel kept her- to avoid eating eggs. ings.22 branch of the BUAV. The campaign against self busy in the early 1890s when several She first met Frances Power-Cobbe, Mabel founded the South London the Brown Institute took most of her time. of her novels were published. Morial the the power behind the anti-vivisection Branch of the BUAV. She paid for 1,000 Mabel came up with another bright Mahatma or, The Black Master of Tibet movement, in February 1899 and vowed to copies of her pamphlet to be made and idea to draw public attention to the anti- was a fictionalised account of activities in her to never let a day pass without doing distributed copies in London. Charlotte vivisection movement. Members searched and around the Theosophical Society and something for the cause.20 The anti-vivi- was appointed as secretary of the new for vacant shops in town centres. They created a small scandal in itself. It con- section movement was gaining serious branch, with Helen Pierrepoint, with whom were rented by the BUAV on a short-term tained a portrait of a woman, part fanatic momentum during this period. Mabel she shared her home, as Honorary lease. The shop was filled with leaflets and and part con artist, and black magicians established the first women’s only meeting Assistant. Callers were invited to visit on posters displayed in the windows to attract posing as white magicians. Members of of anti-vivisectionists in May 1899, Tuesday and Friday afternoons to collect a passers by. As this was so successful, the Theosophical Society weren’t slow to although the idea was later dropped. copy of Mabel’s pamphlet and find out shops were opened all over the country. realise that this was a fictionalised account Although Mabel spent a great deal of more about the campaign. Mabel was usually present, especially at of Blavatsky and the Masters M and Koot her time in West Hartlepool, she still kept a Mabel travelled the country speaking the opening of the shop, and she, along Hoomi. home in Wandsworth Road, in southwest about the horrors she had found at with other members of the BUAV, sat ready Mabel spent much of the 1890s in London. Just down the road from where Brown’s,23 attending meetings wherever to answer any questions that were put to Hartlepool, living with her mother and sis- she lived was the Brown Institute, ostensi- she could, at times speaking alongside them as well as discussing the issues with ter-in-law. Vivisection had long been a con- bly a hospital for sick animals, where a Frances Power-Cobbe. whoever decided to call in. In 1906 the cern of those in Mabel’s circle. Mabel her- large amount of animal experimentation In 1902 The Morning Leader carried a Government appointed the Second Royal self became a vegetarian and along with took place. Brown’s was to become review of Mabel’s newest novel – The Star Commission on Vivisection. Mabel had many Theosophists would discuss the like- renowned for its research into rabies, and Sapphire. “The book contains a vivid char- spent much of her time studying scientific lihood or not of animals having souls and numerous eminent medical practitioners of acter sketch of the great surgeon professor journals, and becoming one of the most the morality of vivisection. the late nineteenth century worked there. It Lawson Tait, well known as a powerful well informed people in the country, when it Mabel had been an honorary member was not long before Mabel’s attention was opponent of vivisection and a description came to vivisection. She gave evidence to of the Victoria Street Society since 1895 drawn to the activities taking place behind of him at work, which he good humouredly the Commission, mainly comprising her and was Honourable Secretary of the closed doors at Brown’s. accepted as very true to life.” The Star collection of accounts of animal experi- North of England branch of the British Mabel produced a pamphlet detailing Sapphire enabled Mabel to reach a ments gleaned from journals.

11 The Life and Works of Mabel Collins 12 The Life and Works of Mabel Collins Mabel was spending less time up deeply depressed. Although many 1927 at the age of 76. In her will she left a 8 Archibald Keightley, “Reminiscences of H.P. north and was now based in Southall, believed it would be over in a matter of little over £100. She is buried in an Blavatsky,” first published in The Theosophical Middlesex. On 22 July 1907 she applied to weeks, she was unconvinced. unmarked grave in Cheltenham Cemetery Quarterly (New York), October 1910: 109 –122. rejoin the Theosophical Society, now under She had been attracted to Rudolf and Crematorium, Bouncers Lane, Annie Besant’s presidency. Her certificate Steiner’s work for some time but with the Cheltenham. 9 This story comes from the unpublished mem- was sent to Besant on 24 August 1907 and onset of the war the British T.S. sought to oirs of Vittoria Cremers and was told to me by on Mabel’s request she was readmitted on dissociate itself from all things German. In ______the owner of these papers, the writer Melvin the basis of her old diploma. previous arguments about Steiner’s con- Harris. Although Harris had previously refused In July 1909 the Animal Protection duct within Theosophical circles Mabel had to make these papers available to researchers I was promised a copy of the relevant section. Congress took place in London. Mabel was taken his side. She was now forced to fol- 1 Leo, Alan, 1001 Notable Nativities (London: Unfortunately, Harris died recently. now Honorary Parliamentary Secretary low Annie Besant’s line. Modern Astrology, 1900). and in this role she spoke to delegates and During the war years Mabel visited 10 Some Letters from W. B. Yeats to John journalists at the congress. Annie Besant soldiers and took an interest in military dis- 2 Letters held at the Centre for Whistler O’Leary and His Sister, edited by Alan Wade and Charlotte Despard were amongst the plays. Throughout 1913 and 1914 she Studies, University of Glasgow. (London: Rupert Hard Davis, 1954), Letter 7, speakers, and the talks culminated in a spent more and more time with Catherine May 1889. half-mile long march of protest. Not only Metcalfe. In 1915 Mabel went to stay with 3 Frances Power-Cobbe (1822-1904) was a prominent social reformist, most noted for her was the congress a success, but also her and wrote Our Glorious Future at 11 William Butler Yeats, The Autobiography of anti-vivisection work and for her work within the Mabel was its star. She was never to be a Metcalfe’s home. Being too old for war William Butler Yeats, consisting of Reveries early suffragist movement. Theosophical star again however. On 1 work and in dire financial straits meant that over Childhood and Youth, The Trembling of April 1909 Mabel had tended her resigna- Mabel worked as a cook and laundress for the Veil, and Dramatis Personae (New York: 4 tion to the Theosophical Society. convalescent soldiers at Metcalfe’s home. Charlotte Despard (1844-1909) was a novel- Macmillan, 1938). In 1913 Mabel was to experience on of After the war she continued to stay with ist and active in a number of reform move- ments. She is primarily remembered as an the greatest disasters of her life. The Catherine regularly. Mabel never talked of 12 The Autobiography of William Butler Yeats, early suffragist and pacifist. Charing Cross Bank, in which her savings her early life and experiences. She was Consisting of Reveries over Childhood and Youth, The Trembling of the Veil, and Dramatis were invested, went into liquidation. She approached to write a history of the rise of 5 was desperately short of money. Friends in the Theosophical Society but refused. She A.P. Sinnett, “Some Psychic Experiences, Personae. M.C.’s Narrative,” Broad Views, vol. 1 (1904). America tried to raise funds for her and warned Catherine that if she ever attempt- 13 The Path, August 1990. Mabel received a number of grants from ed a biography she would appear in wrath. 6 the Royal Literary fund, which were her She lived and worked under the guidance In There is no Death reprinted in Researches into the Phenomena of Modern Spiritualism only source of income for some time. of her Master and often joined him and 14 The Sunday World (London) 10 May 1891. (Two Worlds Publishing Company, 1904). Mabel had become close to Catherine watched the world Masters weaving the Metcalfe by 1913. Catherine had contact- karmic threads on her deathbed. Hilarion 15 Melvin Harris, The True Face of Jack the 7 , Reminiscences of Ripper. (London: Michael O’Mara Books, ed Mabel after returning to England from told her she must not think she was coming H. P. Blavatsky and The Secret Doctrine 1995). Vancouver. They were to spend the last to rest, as she would have to join him in the (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, twelve years of Mabel’s life together. The Workshop. 1893) 65. onset of the First World War saw Mabel Mabel died of angina on 31st March 16 The version given of this story is substan- tially from Vittoria’s own memory as quoted to

13 The Life and Works of Mabel Collins 14 The Life and Works of Mabel Collins FROM THE ARCHIVES journalist Bernard O’Donnell in the 1920’s and related in Melvin Harris’ book The True Face of 22 The Abolitionist (Bristol: BUAV), 18 May The Helen I. Dennis Collection Jack the Ripper (London: Brochampton, 1999). 1900. Michael Gomes There are a number of variant stories about the ties. 23 She talked of a dying man who lived on Wandsworth Road who could gain no rest as n the January 1993 issue of important source for this piece of 17 Jean Overton Fuller, The Magical Dilemma he was constantly awoken by the cries of ani- Theosophical History, under the head- Theosophical history, including letters from of Victor Neuburg (W.H. Allen, 1965),166-68. mals. “I have seen the helpless creatures being ing of “From the Archives,” I gave an Annie Besant and other leading officials at taken in, and I am sure that anyone who heard overviewI of manuscript material from the time, it is further enriched by the addi- 18 The Patristic Gospels: an English Version of and saw these things would feel as I feel now- Helena Petrovna Blavatsky in various non- tion of Mrs. Dennis’s comments added the Holy Gospels as They Existed in the that the only joy to be found anywhere in the Theosophical archives and special collec- over the years.3 Second Century. Collated by Roslyn D’Onston world is that of ceaselessly working to try and tions in America. In passing I mentioned Theosophical collections tend to be (London: Grant Richards, 1904). rescue Gods creatures from the torturers.” The the Helen I. Dennis Collection at the highly selective, and this one is no differ- Abolitionist (Bristol: BUAV), 15 September University of Chicago Library, where I had ent. As late as April 1940, Mrs. Dennis was 19 The Confessions of Aleister Crowley: an 1900: 212. discovered a manuscript of Blavatsky’s still reviewing the events that led her to Autohagiography, edited by John Symonds among Mrs. Dennis’s papers.1 It was fold- take the steps she did: “The first hint of a * * * * * and Kenneth Grant, (London: Cape, 1969), ed in a letter-sized envelope, and I pointed rumor of Mr. Leadbeater’s corruption of 690. out to the curator, in view of the scarcity of boys came to me before the holidays of such material outside the major 1905. I denied it indignantly at first but it 20 “I first heard Miss Cobbe’s wonderful laugh Theosophical collections, that it might be was easy to question boys who had trav- in February 1899…she lost it soon after I met placed in a folder. Soon after this the col- eled with and visited him while in America. her; and it is one of the things I prize among my lection got a thorough overhaul, the mate- In consternation I learned that he had store of recollections that I was permitted to hear it before age and illness finally took it from rial was recataloged and put in folders fill- taught them not only what medical science her. She told me herself how much it had ing three boxes, and now a guide to the calls m—— or onanism but worse, he had always cost her to enter a sick room. I still have resource is available on the Internet at made them promise not to tell their par- some sweet scented rose petals gathered in http://ead.lib.uchicago.edu:8080/index.jsp. ents! I consulted officials in the Society far that wonderful garden of Miss Cobbe’s with the Helen Dennis was Corresponding older in membership than I and we drafted rushing stream passing between it and the Secretary in America for Annie Besant’s the following evidence and charges and mountain she lived the among the beauty that Eastern School of Theosophy during the sent Mrs. Besant and a copy to the man was her delight. She bade me never to let a day first decade of the twentieth century,2 and himself.”4 of my life pass without doing something in the the body of the collection covers the years On January 25, 1906, Mrs. Dennis in cause. I took a vow, and the scent of roses 1906 and 1907. Mrs. Dennis brought Chicago wrote to Annie Besant in Benares, reminds me always of it. “The Anti-Vivisection charges of immorality against C.W. India, apprising her of the charges against Review, No1, Frances Power-Cobbe by Mrs Leadbeater, a well-known Theosophical Leadbeater: “he [CWL] is teaching young Keningale Cook. lecturer, to Mrs. Besant’s attention and boys given into his care, habits of self- kept pursuing the matter for a number of abuse and demoralizing personal prac- 21 See note 4. years. So, although the collection is an tices.” That he did this “with deliberate

15 The Life and Works of Mabel Collins 16 From The Archives

intent and under the guise of occult training thoughts, with colorful lantern slides. This is much the same explanation as years ago, pointing out that his cus- or with the promise of the increase of phys- The sexual advice Leadbeater gave he gave to Annie Besant when the accusa- tom of allowing a boy to sleep with ical manhood,” and had “demanded, at boys (there is no indication that he offered tions arrived in India in January, for he was him laid him open to the worst least in one case, promises of the utmost similar advice to girls) was certainly staying with her in Benares. Dealing with charge, though the writer believed secrecy.” To this she added the testimony against the prevailing notions of the time.6 sexual problems was not unfamiliar to Mrs. him to be innocent. I resolved to speak to him about this, though I felt of the mothers of two boys who had Richard von Krafft-Ebing’s Psychopathia Besant. Before becoming a Theosophist ashamed of implying the possibility of received such instructions from Sexualis, a standard reference work on the she had been jailed for publishing a manu- so foul a charge being made; and Leadbeater. Mrs. Dennis had traveled to subject used by doctors and lawyers, al on birth control with the freethinker when he was in Benares, before the New York City and put the charges before warned that “Nothing is so prone to con- Charles Bradlaugh, and she went on to receipt of Mrs. Dennis’ letter, I had the General Secretary of the American taminate—under certain circumstances, write her own guide to prevent conception. advised him not to allow any boy to Section, Alexander Fullerton, and other even to exhaust—the source of all noble But, as she told the members of her sleep in his room or to bathe with him chief officers, and they affixed their signa- and ideal sentiments, which arise of them- school: in the bathroom. He seemed sur- tures to this document, demanding an selves from a normally developing sexual prised that any one should have inquiry into the matter be carried out and instinct, as the practice of masturbation in This was the first time I had heard of thought harm of his custom, but 9 Mrs. Besant’s decision be made known to early years.”7 such a method of meeting the sexual promised to reconsider it. them. Leadbeater’s rationale, given in a let- difficulty, let alone of Mr. At the time of these charges Charles ter to Alexander Fullerton, February 27, Leadbeater’s recommendation of it. I Mrs. Besant tried to reassure Mrs. had always regarded self-abuse as Webster Leadbeater was one of the most 1906, replying to the charges, was that “the Dennis by stressing that Leadbeater had one of the lowest forms of vice, and a given such advice “in rare cases.” “Mr. respected figures in the Theosophical majority [of boys] pass through a stage thing universally reprobated by Society. He was a member of over twenty when their minds are much filled with such Leadbeater says, that when a clergyman, decent people. To me it was not he found that some young men in danger years standing, having joined the Society matters, and consequently surround them- arguable. But I have since heard that 5 of ruin, were saved by this advice and in 1883 at the age of 29, had been out to selves with huge masses of most undesir- it is sometimes practiced and recom- the Society’s headquarters at Adyar, India, able thought-forms which perpetually react mended by ascetics, otherwise good gradually obtained complete self-control. I and had worked for it in Ceylon. He upon them and keep them in a condition of men, for the sake of preserving have explained to him my reasons for dis- claimed to have been trained by the emotional ferment. These thought-forms chastity—as though self-abuse did agreeing with him, though I know that his Mahatmas during his stay in India and to are the vehicles of appalling mischief since not destroy chastity as much as pros- motives were pure and good, and he has have developed clairvoyant powers. In through them disembodied entities can titution, and in an even more degrad- agreed with me not again to give such 1900 he had lectured across America, and and constantly do act upon the ing way. I had heard in 1890 of a advice. He offered at once, if I thought it in 1902 was invited back for a stay that child.…Now all this may be avoided by Sinhalese charge that he [CWL] had better, to retire from active work, rather committed sodomy; it came before lasted two years. His presence was an periodically relieving that pressure, and than that the Society should suffer through H.P.B. and Col. Olcott, and she at him.…I am against the retirement. All of us immense help to the development of the experience has shown that if the boy pro- once scouted it. Two or three times, American Section of the Theosophical vokes at stated intervals a discharge which make mistakes at times, and where the of late years, a similar suggestion mistake is honest, and will be avoided in Society, which had shrunk to a handful of produces that relief, he can comparatively has been made to me, but only future, it should not carry with it disassoci- lodges after the “split” of 1895. He was a easily rid his mind of such thoughts in the because Mr. Leadbeater disliked popular speaker, illustrating his talks, like interim, and in that way escape all the women’s society, and without a shad- ation from T.S. and E.S. work.…I fully those on the forms taken by one’s more serious consequences.”8 ow of proof. I received a letter some understand the horrible shock, but I know that all who approach the path have to face

17 From The Archives 18 From The Archives

these searching ordeals, and lived on could only be done by the section that he same manner.” tion was read by the President. The next through all. As one who has passed was part of. Leadbeater was a member of The news was so startling that it day Olcott issued an Executive Notice giv- through many such trials, I say to you, the and under the jurisdic- stopped the proceedings. G.R.S. Mead ing the resolution of the Advisory Board Have courage, be steadfast.” tion of the British Section. Since he held exclaimed, “This last statement of Mr. and declaring Leadbeater’s membership in But suspicious minds had been vigi- the position of Presidential Delegate and Leadbeater’s is one of the most extraordi- the Theosophical Society had ceased. lant, for it was rumored that Leadbeater since the charges had been brought by the nary things I have ever heard. It is incredi- After seeing the evidence put before would be named Vice President of the Executive Committee of a section, the ble to me that there is an organization of the Advisory Board Mrs. Besant wrote a Society at the European Congress in Paris President felt the matter should not be left the Church of England which teaches mas- long letter to the members of the E.S. giv- in June. Early in March, before she would to be decided by his lodge. Olcott’s turbation as a preventative against ing the background that led to have received Annie Besant’s reply of Advisory Board comprised the Executive unchastity. I ask, what is the name of this Leadbeater’s resignation, reviewing his February 26, Mrs. Dennis got a letter from Committee of the British Section, five men, organization?” Leadbeater refused to testimony before the Board, and outlining a member in Toronto, Canada, enclosing a including prominent members like A.P. reveal any particulars and the meeting her position in the case. “He denied none note from Leadbeater, found in the Sinnett, G.R.S. Mead and Bertram adjourned to meet without him present. of the charges, but in answer to questions, garbage, recommending similar solutions Keightley, and five women, with the addi- As he had handed in his resignation in very much strengthened them, for he to a third boy. And in May, a colleague, tion of Robert A. Burnett as the represen- the Theosophical Society to Col. Olcott alleged that he had actually handled the Elizabeth Chidester of Philadelphia, trav- tative of the American Section and P.C. before they had convened, it was now a boys himself, and that he had thus dealt eled to Toledo, Ohio, and extracted from Bernard from the French Section. matter of deciding whether to accept it or with boys before puberty ‘as a prophylac- the mother of a fourth boy another note Leadbeater was also present.11 vote for expulsion. Keightley felt that “the tic.’ So that the advice supposed to be from Leadbeater. A few lines typed in According to Bertram Keightley, one of impression created on the committee by given to rescue a boy, as a last resort, in cipher warned against nocturnal emis- the members of the Advisory Board, the Mr. Leadbeater was so bad that some the grip of sexual passions, became advice sions: “If it comes without help, he needs majority of its members were at first dis- members pressed for expulsion instead of putting foul ideas into the minds of boys rubbing more often, but not too often or he tinctly biased toward Leadbeater. Their resignation and the committee divided innocent of all sex-impulses, and the long will not come well. Does that happen when function was not to decide guilt but to evenly.”12 There was a great deal of talk intervals, the rare relief, became 24 hours you are asleep? Tell me fully. Glad sensa- advise the Colonel on what course to about the honor of the Society being main- in length, a daily habit.”13 tion is so pleasant. Thousand kisses dar- adopt. The charges before them were tained, how much should be kept from the Explaining why she had not actively ling.”10 those Mrs. Dennis had initially put before general membership, and, of course, the pursued the matter, she said, “I was guid- Col. Olcott, then in London, was Annie Besant in January 1906, and their boys. Eventually Sinnett drafted a resolu- ed in this, partly, by H.P.B.’s generous cabled immediately by Mrs. Dennis, telling initial questioning of Leadbeater was to tion that was accepted by all present: “That patience with serious sexual immorality on him that “worst evidence had been discov- verify that he did hold the views ascribed to having considered certain charges brought the part of a member, in which she had ered” and would be sent to him. By this him. But as they progressed it came out against C.W. Leadbeater and having lis- kept silence on the fault, and given time an Advisory Board had been called by that there might have been “indicative tened to his explanations, the Committee renewed opportunities of self-correction.” Olcott to decide what action should be action,” that is, as he admitted, there might unanimously recommends the acceptance Why had she as a spiritual teacher not taken against Leadbeater. The American have been some touching by him. He justi- by the President-Founder of his resigna- been perceptive enough to discern what Section wanted him expelled, but since he fied his advice by stating that “one at least tion already offered in anticipation of the was occurring? Again, she gave the exam- was not a member of that section of the of the great Church organizations for Committee’s decision.” Leadbeater was ple of Blavatsky, “I heard her beg Oscar Society no action could be taken. This young men deals with the matter in the called back into the room and the resolu- Wilde to join the T.S. at the very time when,

19 From The Archives 20 From The Archives

as was later proved, he was committing the taken vengence on him.” In a letter to Mrs. ed him from attending E.S. meetings. He Masters had remained silent. But in his last sexual abominations.” Dennis, November 28, 1906, she elaborat- feared the royalties from his books would President’s Address at the Annual Meeting While she could state therein that “it is ed, “I cannot treat as an abandoned crim- diminish. He had abandoned security as a of the Theosophical Society at Adyar on right that Mr. Leadbeater is no longer with inal a man with whom I have lived in inti- curate in the Church of England and December 29, 1906, Olcott, now failing in us,” she confided to C. Jinarajadasa in macy for years, and whom I have found worked for the Society for over twenty health, revealed that Mahatma M. had June, “Nothing would be more unwise nor self-sacrificing and devoted to his Master, years, and suddenly he was on his own.14 recently come to him and verified that the more injurious to the Society than the way simple in life and helpful. All this does not In his letters to Annie Besant, advice given by Leadbeater was in which Mr. Fullerton and Mrs. Dennis become annihilated because a lamentable Leadbeater kept restating his position, “wrong.”18 The February 1907 have handled this matter. The American error has distorted his views in one reminding her of their work on the higher Theosophist magazine contained further Executive had nothing to do with it, and respect. And knowing how much influence planes. “I never for a moment suggested information from the Masters about the calling them in practically made the matter his last Greek life has on his thought, that the Masters dictated or approved such matter. Here Olcott again conveyed “A public. The charges should have been sent knowing that Plato, an Initiate, taught a teaching; I should myself simply infer that Recent Conversation with the Mahatmas.” to Colonel Olcott, as President, with the worse form of sexual vice, knowing that Mr. they left me to make my own discoveries, “The Mahatmas wished me to state in ref- request, if they wished, that he would ask Leadbeater was taught this as a clergy- and presumably therefore did not consider erence to the disturbances that have aris- Mr. Leadbeater to resign or show that the man, I weigh all these facts in my judge- that this one thing outweighs everything en because we deemed it wise to accept charges were exaggerated or wrongly col- ment.” else, as you apparently do now, though Mr. Leadbeater’s resignation from the ored. As it is, the whole thing may become Following his ouster from the you certainly did not think so when we Society, that it was right to call an Advisory public property, and much temporary harm Theosophical Society Leadbeater left were together at Benares. Both matrimony Council to discuss the matter; it was right may result to the T.S. People in official London to stay with the family of one of his and prostitution must obviously be worse, to judge the teachings to which we object- positions have no right to lose their heads boys (Basil Hodgson-Smith) in Harrogate because in each case they involve action ed as wrong, and it was right to accept his in a crisis. Mr. Leadbeater telegraphs me in the North of England. (This brought an upon another person, yet those seem to be resignation; but it was not right that the that he has resigned, so they have their indignant letter to Mrs. Dennis from Mrs. differently treated.”15 matter should have been so public, for we way, and have driven out one of our best Mead [Laura Cooper], one of Mrs. Besant’s At the end of 1906 he received news should have done everything possible to workers. Conventional ideas among E.S. Secretaries for England. “Can you that criminal prosecution might be brought prevent it becoming so, for his sake as well English and Americans are a sort of mania. conceive the situation of allowing your fam- against him. Members in England urged as for that of the Society.” He closed with a People go raving mad when anything ily to associate on intimate terms with him not to stay at Harrogate, and so message from the Master to the Society unconventional is said; and no argument is C.W.L. once it was known what he is!”) He Leadbeater relocated to the small town of urging members to “Cease rushing head- possible.” had telegraphed Mrs. Besant and wrote to Taormina in Sicily. Homosexual acts were long into strife, or taking part in dissen- Writing to Alexander Fullerton on July her asking about the future. Where was he not actively prosecuted in Italy at that sions!”19 9, she added, “I think Mr. Leadbeater’s to go? What was he to do? He suggested time,16 and Taormina had gained the repu- The same issue of great services entitled him to more merciful perhaps he could teach English some- tation of a homosexual haven through the contained an article by Annie Besant on treatment. I do not believe him to be a where in India (Mrs. Besant had started the presence of the German photographer “The Basis of the Theosophical Society.” wicked man, though blinded pitiably in this Central Hindu College for boys in Benares Wilhelm von Gloeden, whose nude images Questioning the basis for eligibility for matter, and while rendering such teaching and had brought one of his former pupils, of the youths of the area in classical poses membership, she asked, “Does the impossible by a Theosophical leader, by , to teach there). Since he and settings were a draw.17 Theosophical Society enforce on its mem- accepting his resignation, I would not have was no longer a T.S. member this exclud- Throughout the events in this case the bers a moral code, the transgression of

21 From The Archives 22 From The Archives

which is punishable with expulsion?” To and the energies of the Theosophical “split” took most of the organization’s the Leadbeater issue, and throughout the which she replied, “I do not consider that Society were thrown into its support until in prominent lecturers and writers and left Section there is a serious decline of inter- the Theosophical Society has any moral 1929 Krishnamurti dissolved the Order, behind a scattering of members still loyal to est in study-classes, poor attendance and code binding on its members.”20 By the informing members that “Truth is a path- the headquarters at Adyar in India. The lec- a paralysis of effort.”27 time most members had received this, less land.” ture tours of Annie Besant in 1897 and In her study on sexual attitudes in Olcott had died, but not before nominating In 1914 Leadbeater left India for Leadbeater at the beginning of the twenti- Theosophy, Joy Dixon concludes that “one Besant as his successor. In response to Australia, which would become his base eth century helped place the section on a significant result of the Leadbeater crisis members in England who wanted to know for the next twenty years. He stayed at first secure footing. But the Leadbeater crisis was to shut down certain kinds of discus- her position on readmitting Leadbeater, in the Sydney home of Thomas H. Martyn, brought about another exodus, taking the sion of sexuality, and especially child sexu- she replied that if he publicly repudiated his E.S. Secretary for Australia, but was forced remaining Blavatsky-era Theosophists.25 ality, within the Theosophical teaching on sex, after two years, if the to move after an outbreak of scarlet fever This caused a shift of emphasis from cos- Society.…The result was not only to further majority of members wanted it, she, as in the house. Mrs. Martyn did not want him mology and allegorical interpretation of stigmatize homosexuality, but also to con- President, would not oppose it. But by back, and her husband wrote to Besant scripture to a program of study, service and solidate the links between sexual and spir- December 1908 the General Council of the complaining about Leadbeater’s habit of meditation. E.S. ideals about the spiritual itual identity, which meant that heterosexu- Society had voted that “there is no reason having naked boys in his bed.23 There life now informed the T.S. objectives. al norms were to be imposed on the spiri- why Mr. C.W. Leadbeater should not was a police investigation where his boys, A year after Leadbeater’s resignation tual as well as on the physical .”28 return, if he wishes, to his place in the including Krishnamurti, were interviewed, Annie Besant came to the Chicago Except for Fritz Kunz’ (a pupil of Society, which he has in the past served so but there was not enough evidence to bring Convention of the Section and, according Leadbeater) 1926 Sex Concepts for the well.”21 By February 1909 Leadbeater had a prosecution.24 to Mrs. Dennis’s notes, “announced in a , very little was subsequently writ- returned to the fold and was again residing Charles Webster Leadbeater died in public speech that C.W.L. was a ‘co-initiate ten on the subject by Theosophists.29 at the Society’s headquarters at Adyar. Perth and was cremated in Sydney in 1934 with her and stood on the threshold of At the height of Leadbeater’s influ- Charges of sexual impropriety would at the age of 80 or 87, depending on the Divinity.’”26 Weller Van Hook, a supporter ence, C. Jinarajadasa (a pupil of continue to follow him. Soon after his source used. He left behind an influential of Besant and Leadbeater, was elected Leadbeater) reissued one of the Society’s arrival at Adyar he discovered among the body of work that fueled many of the con- General Secretary and the dissidents early monographs that carried the com- boys there the vehicle of a great World cerns of today’s New Age movement. Two became increasingly marginalized. In 1908 ments of one of the Masters. Jinarajadasa Teacher. was the four- of his pupils became Presidents of the the Chicago Theosophic Voice reported urged members’ attention to it, for what it teen-year-old son of G. Narayaniah, Theosophical Society. To his admirers he that “the state of affairs in the American prophesied seemed a justification of Assistant E.S. Secretary for South India. was “a great occultist,” to his critics “a sex Section T.S. is by no means so satisfacto- Leadbeater’s attempt at dealing with the Narayaniah turned over custody of his pervert.” The Helen I. Dennis Collection ry as the rose-colored views set forth in problem. “The light that will come to it sons to Mrs. Besant, but news of allows us the opportunity to work toward a ‘The Messenger’ [the Section’s journal] [India] and to the world at large, when the Leadbeater’s past prompted him to with- better understanding of this complex char- would seem to imply. A very extensive dis- latter shall discover and really appreciate draw the offer. This led to a bitter court bat- acter, who would never return to America. integration has followed the policy inaugu- the truths that underlie this vast problem of tle, which though decided in his favor in The documents in this collection also rated at the last Convention. Many mem- sex, will be like ‘the light that never shone India was overturned on appeal in offer a glimpse into the transformation that bers have left the Society, several branch- on sea or land,’ and has to come to men England.22 The Order of the Star in the was occurring in the American Section of es have given up their charters, two have through the Theosophical Society.”30 East was formed to promote the “Coming” the Theosophical Society. The 1895 Judge experienced a secession on the basis of ______

23 From The Archives 24 From The Archives

1The MS, dealing with theories about cosmic Genealogists and former President of the 10 The original of the cipher letter is not in this Nair, Evolution of Annie Besant,167. cycles, avataras, and initiations, was published Theosophical Society in England. A copy is collection. It was burnt on March 16, 1913, by in Lucifer, August 1896, as “Fragments,” rept. reproduced in Gregory Tillett’s 1982 The Elder Elizabeth Chidester, who retained it. Mrs. 16 Krafft-Ebing, Psychopathia Sexualis, 593. Blavatsky Collected Writings, vol. 7 (Adyar: Brother, the sole biography of Leadbeater in Besant was shown the original in Philadelphia Leadbeater may have learnt about Taormina Theosophical Publishing House, 1958): 272- English. The Theosophical Society (Adyar) on Sept. 28, 1907. In spite of what is stated in from a visitor to Harrogate, James I. 80. It was probably given to Mrs. Dennis by continues to use 1847. See the dust jackets of a number of accounts dealing with this matter, Wedgwood. Annie Besant who had corresponded with her his books published by the Theosophical the letter was not available to the Advisory since 1897. Publishing House, Adyar. Board of May 16, nor commented on by 17 See Wilhelm von Gloeden, Taormina (New Leadbeater at that time. Mrs. Dennis herself York: te Neues Publishing Co., 1998). 6 2 Mrs. Dennis assumed the role of A survey of the attitudes at the beginning of only received it on May 20. Corresponding Secretary in September 1905 the twentieth century is given in Thomas W. 18 General Report of the Thirty-First 11 after the retirement of Mrs. Kate Buffington Laqueur’s Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Meeting at London’s Grosvenor Hotel on Anniversary and Convention of the Davis. Besant suspended E.S. work in America Masturbation (New York: Zone Books, 2003). May 16, the session began at 5 PM and lasted Theosophical Society, (Adyar: Theosophical in May 1906, but asked Mrs. Dennis to remain Leadbeater is mentioned in passing on p. 63 until after 9 with a brief recess at about 7:30. Society, 1906), 3. in her position until it was passed to A.P. for having “supposedly taught boys to mastur- Along with the transcript of the meeting, the bate as a way of preventing worse offenses. No Warrington in 1907. Collection contains a four-page summary writ- 19 “A Recent Conversation with the offense could be worse.” ten afterwards on Grosvenor Hotel stationary Mahatmas,” The Theosophist 28 (February 3 Presented to the University of Chicago and sent to Mrs. Dennis. 7 1907): 387-88. In his letter conveying this to Library in 1943, the material in the Helen I. Krafft-Ebing’s Psychopathia Sexualis had a Leadbeater, Olcott added: “They said you 12 Dennis Collection is classified under two cate- long life; published in German in 1886, it was Deposition of Bertram Keightley, Narayaniah should have stated in your resignation, that you gories: 1. General Material about the translated into English in 1892 and went v. Besant, Civil Suit No. 424 of 1912, High resigned because you had offended the stan- Theosophical Society: mainly Mrs. Dennis’s through many editions. I am using a 1931 print- Court of Madras. Keightley admitted he was dard of ideals of the majority of members of notes on Theosophy, the Blavatsky MS, and ing by the Physicians and Surgeons Book already biased because “I was informed by Society by giving out certain teachings which photographs, 2. Correspondence: over 50 fold- Company of Brooklyn, N.Y., translated by F.J. Colonel Olcott that Mr. Leadbeater had to leave were considered objectionable.” ers of letters, Mrs. Dennis’s notes and printed Rebman from the twelfth German edition, p. Ceylon on account of trouble in connection with 286. The publishers state that the “sale of the matter on the case. Throughout the Collection his relation with young boys.” 20 When reprinting this piece as a pamphlet in book is rigidly restricted to the members of the Mrs. Dennis managed to mute the fact that she 1910, she appended a note reinforcing her medical and legal profession.” was the mother of one of the boys. 13 Besant, To Wardens, Subwardens & 3rd stand, stating, “It is my profound conviction that degree members [of the E.S.], 9 June 1906. a spiritual Society may not, without committing 4 8 Helen I. Dennis Collection, Special Krafft-Ebing, Psychopathia Sexualis, 287, Mrs. Besant later backtracked on these state- suicide, drive away the sinner instead of seek- Collections Research Center, University of held the opposite would occur for “it maintains ments claiming she had been misled. ing to redeem him; that it cannot have a moral Chicago Library. Unless otherwise stated all imagination and libido in continuous excite- code, enforced by penalty on its members.” ment.” documents quoted are from this source. 14 Leadbeater’s letters to Annie Besant cover- ing the period from May to November 1906 are 21 “Reply from the General Council of The 5 9 rd Even Leadbeater’s year of birth is a source of Besant, To Wardens, Subwardens & 3 printed in T.M. Nair’s Evolution of Annie Besant Theosophical Society to the Resolution sent controversy. I am using the date of 1854 from degree members [of the E.S.], 9 June 1906, (Madras: n. pub., 1918). them from the British Section Convention, July, his birth certificate provided by Miss Lilian Simla, India. 1908,” The Vahan (London) 18 (February Storey, a member of the British Society of 15 Leadbeater to Besant, 11 September 1906, 1909). Leadbeater remained aloof from the

25 From The Archives 26 From The Archives

Book Review attempt to reinstate him; writing to his friends of 1907 that a defense of Leadbeater had to be he reiterated: “I do not wish to be ‘reinstated’, made. “Notes on a Meeting,” The Link (Adyar), and should decidedly object to be voted about November 1908, 72. and publicly discussed. I shall never make any The Pagan Dream of the Renaissance. It was not from any scholarly quirk, application for readmission, if the Society ever 27 “The Condition of the American Section T.S.” By Joscelyn Godwin. Grand Rapids, MI: adulation or ambition that repents of its action and wishes to take me The Theosophic Voice, May 1908: 18. The Phanes Press, 2002. Pp. 292.IBSN 1- Charlemagne was known as David, back, it may elect me as an honorary member. development of “Krotona,” the E.S. and T.S. 890482-84-6. $35.00. Alcuin as Horace, Angilbert as Meantime I shall continue my work very happi- headquarters in the Hollywood Hills, the com- Homer, Moduin as Ovid, and ly outside it.” Leadbeater to A.P. Warrington, 3 ing of the world teacher, and the chance to be eneral interest in the culture of the Eginhard as Beseleel, the wonderful April 1907, Taormina, in Joseph E. Ross, one of the elect, soon diverted the members’ Renaissance continues apace as a craftsman of the Old Testament. It Krotona of Old Hollywood, vol. 1 (Montecito, attention. stroll through almost any bookshop CA: El Montecito Oaks Press, 1989), 22. was rather because in the fervour of Gin the U.S.A. will attest. One will surely their spiritual life they felt that they 28 Dixon, Divine Feminine: Theosophy and meet with titles devoted to the world of the were lifted right out of time, and could 22 In the interim, Leadbeater, Besant, Feminism in England (Baltimore, MD: Johns Medici in peninsular Italy, Italian artists and commune with the great men of all Krishnamurti, his brother, and their tutors G. Hopkins University Press, 2001), 107, 118. artisans in France and not infrequently with ages. In this breath of new life, with Arundale and C. Jinarajadasa, relocated for papal histories as well. But admittedly, as the richness and serenity of mind that four months to the relative safety of Taormina. 29 I thank Prof. Dixon for bringing this pamphlet was theirs, they turned once more to See Joseph E. Ross, Krishnamurti: the Professor Godwin readily notes, the cultur- to my attention, see her “Sexology and the the ancients, and found there the Taormina Seclusion, 1912 (Ojai, CA: Edwin al developments of the Renaissance, Occult: Sexuality and Subjectivity in clear and polished expression that House Publishing, 2003). wherever they occurred, must be seen in Theosophy’s New Age,” Journal of the History critical perspective taking into considera- they sought. of Sexuality 7 no. 3 (1997). 23 Martyn to Besant, 20 May 1921. Martyn’s tion the temporal and spiritual agenda of the Roman Catholic Church of that period Thus it is possible to see that a rediscovery letter was published soon after by H.N. Stokes 30 “E.O. [Eminent Occultist]” note to Éliphas in relation to the same of the feudal lords of classicism as a model of life and beauty of Washington, DC. Lévi’s Paradoxes of the Highest Science (1883, who at various times either agreed or dis- and also considering the revaluation of 1922; Berwick, ME: Ibis Press, 2004), 172. man and nature that blossomed with the 24 Leadbeater’s stay in Australia, including the agreed with it. He manages to do this with Renaissance was not without precedent. police report on him, is detailed in John * * * * * considerable skill amounting to an interdis- Cooper’s “The Theosophical Crisis in ciplinary effort in which the majority of clas- But more importantly, Joscelyn Australia,” MA thesis, University of Sydney, sicists trained in this country fall far short. Godwin points out in this book that the 1986. The renewal of pagan antiquity during Renaissance was mainly a visual, not a lit- the Renaissance in contrast to the dogma- erary phenomenon, and clarifies this with a 25 In England 600 members, almost half the tism of Christian doctrine which surround- satisfying set of small illustrations from Section there, left in 1908 protesting ed it was not altogether without precedent page to page that serve a useful purpose. Leadbeater’s return, including such prominent for, as the eminent historian Giorgio Falco Models for recreation of the gods based on figures as G.R.S. Mead and A.P. Sinnett. pointed out in The Holy Roman Empire costumes and attributes found in the liter- ary sources such as Boccaccio’s 26 (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954. Tr. Besant later told her E.S. members that the by Virginia Kent, 145), at Charlemagne’s Genealogy of the Gods derived from litera- deceased H.P.B. had advised her in the Spring court in Aachen in the late IXth century: ture of mostly late antiquity on the pagan

27 From The Archives 28 Book Review: The Pagan Dream of the Renaissance pantheon. Almost everything described in commission the translation of Plato’s works foundation and aspirations of the renewal also obtained the release from the papal this book has a platonic dimension to it, as and the Corpus Hermeticum from Marsilio of pagan antiquity at the start of the prison of the goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini an earthly symbol pointing to spiritual real- Ficino who would go on to become the Renaissance. (1500-71) for whom the artist created ities. It is perhaps a matter of speculation founder of the Platonic Academy. It was sculpture that was the classical some of his most admired work. A journey that that was also what state-sponsored Moreover, the German-born cardinal medium par excellence, for although most to the court of Rudolf II at Prague revealed reverence for the gods during Roman Nicholas of Cusa (“Cusanus,” 1401-64) ancient painting was lost there was a the monarch to be deeply interested in times was meant to convey. Cultural had been to Constantinople to arrange for sense of its living presence in the friezes mechanical automata and other curiosities accommodation in the Roman Catholic the coming council. His philosophy, as and bas-reliefs of such statuary as kept in private chambers that would even- Church is certainly nothing new and has later developed, of the coincidence of remained at Rome through the centuries. tually gain a wider audience in the form of been an ongoing process virtually from the opposites, reconciliation of different faiths, Professor Godwin rightly notes that it car- the museum for wider public viewing. times of its formation, for humanists had omnipresence of God, unity of being, and ried the weight of millennia of idolatry, of Public festivals, even opera, in Italy managed to combine the Greco-Roman dissolution of the rigid hierarchies of wonder-working images, for between and France, celebrated the virtues of local Aesthetic with “(t)he reassurances of scholastic thought “(w)as the metaphysical moral and spiritual lessons to be meditated lords, in the form of spectacular parades Christianity and its sense of grateful supe- revolution that made possible the reab- upon derived from mediaeval scholasti- and special recitations comparing them to riority over heathendom”(9). Any combina- sorption of Platonism and the ancient the- cism there was also the newly revived lan- the most famous and revered figures of tion of spiritual and erotic impulses toward ology by Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, and guage of sculpture and painting through antiquity in which no expense was spared the formation of great works of art as in the Hermeticists”(11). which the pagan divinities took on a direct to impress the multitude. As noted, painting or sculpture were likely to be wel- The first Roman academy, which flour- relationship with the viewer, “(a) time whether the courtiers or the public fully comed and excused with moral platitudes ished under the humanist Popes Nicholas before Plato and the oriental philosophers understood the meaning of it all seemed consistent with their location in whatever V (1447-55) and Pius II (1458-64), was a muddied the waters with their contempt for scarcely to have mattered. Professor religious locus they were to be found. loosely-constituted group that met at the earthly things. This tendency had a natu- Godwin has underscored the importance But the Renaissance did not simply home of Giulio Pomponio Leto (1424-98), ral appeal to the aristocratic and warrior of the combined forms of music, poetry, blossom one fine day in full scale and Professor of Rhetoric at University of caste . . .” (51) which did not seek worldly sculpture and painting with a comprehen- Professor Godwin has wisely considered Rome and a passionate enthusiast for the intermediation through the priestly caste. sive view of Versailles during the reign of and defined its roots. Greece, as we know, Roman past. The members of the acade- Yet as we shall see later at the time of the Louis XIV where entertainments seemed was conquered by the Turks in 1460 (until my were mostly his ex-pupils. The acade- French Revolution, a neo-classical revival to be never-ending but even at that with a its liberation in 1831), and lacked a my was finally suppressed by Pope Paul II with militant themes would again serve to purpose in mind, namely for the sovereign Renaissance civilization but provided a Barbo because rumor had it that the mem- emphasize Republican values. to keep a watchful eye over the courtiers to leader of the Byzantine revival in George bers “(h)ad become so enamored of The all-inclusiveness of the meaning make sure that plots and intrigues would Gemistos (1355/60-1452) as an emissary ancient Rome that they were conspiring to of the Renaissance in this book extends to be kept to a minimum and not lead to his of the Eastern Church to the Councils of overturn papal rule and revive the the Bourbon court of France, where overthrow. Ferrara and Florence in 1437. It was he Republic”(12). Later the Roman academy Francois I (1515-47) had Italian artists from The wealth of general information in who inspired Cosimo de Medici (the Elder, itself was revived yet shows that the Venice and Mantua decorate his chateau, this publication would always serve as a 1389-1464) with the notion of an ancient charge of heresy was “(n)ever far away making plaster casts of the most famous useful reference for virtually any period of theology common to all peoples. Cosimo from the more intense cultivation of pagan antique sculptures in Rome and even the Renaissance and highly recommended was sufficiently impressed by this idea to fantasies”(11). So much for the literary bronze reproductions of them. Francois I in this regard. Would that the Protestant

29 Book Review: The Pagan Dream of 30 Book Review: The Pagan Dream of the Renaissance the Renaissance Reformation had placed more emphasis upon art than commerce, then just possibly the mania for high-tech gadgetry would not have been accompanied by a quest for beauty in the form of a less desirable demand for pornography. In a highly acclaimed earlier book by Joscelyn Godwin, The Theosophical Enlightenment (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1994), it is worth mentioning that the author states that those who followed the “(w)ork of Blavatsky and Olcott as a mis- sion to correct the misapprehensions of spiritualism, to expand the horizons of sci- ence, and to oppose dogmatic Christianity”(307) were awakened by a burgeoning esoteric tradition and “(s)eemed to be admitting that the tradi- tions of the West had failed them. Those who stayed behind contributed to a Hermetic renaissance which wanted noth- ing from the East”(369). This subject is parenthetically added because it seems to prove that classical revivals appear at var- ious times in history when the wealth and power of states, be they Venice or Rome, New York or Paris, accumulate to a point that almost necessitates a pause for recon- sideration of past values in relation to the present and how much has been con- tributed in quantifiable terms and whether it is still an ongoing process.

Robert Boyd

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31 Book Review: The Pagan Dream of the Renaissance