MEMORIES OF DORA VAN GELDER KUNZ Talk by Ed Abdill www.EdwardAbdill.com Presented to the European School of Theosophy on Wednesday, September 23, 2020 BORN APRIL 28, 1904 GREW UP ON A SUGAR PLANTATION JAVA DUTCH EAST INDIES Dora was born in the Dutch East Indies with the gift of clairvoyance, and her mother was also clairvoyant. The family lived on a sugar plantation owned by her father. CLAIRVOYANCE • Dora was born in the Dutch East Indies with the gift of clairvoyance; her mother was also clairvoyant • When Dora saw a recently deceased person, so did her mother • Dora thought everyone saw what she and her mother saw • It was not until she was older that she found out that very few people were clairvoyant Dora was born in the Dutch East Indies with the gift of clairvoyance, and her mother was also clairvoyant. The family lived on a sugar plantation owned by her father. When Dora saw a recently deceased person, so did her mother. Dora thought everyone saw what she and her mother saw, so it was not until she was an older child that she found out that very few people were clairvoyant. DORA MOVES TO AUSTRALIA • The clairvoyant, C. W. Leadbeater, wanted to start a training camp in Sydney, Australia, for young sensitive children. As some of you know, when Dora was eleven years old, living with her parents in Indonesia, the clairvoyant, C. W. Leadbeater, wanted to start a training camp in Sydney, Australia, for young sensitive children. CWL asked Dora’s parents if they would allow her to go with him to Australia. Dora’s parents told Dora that she should decide whether or not to go, and whatever she decided, they would abide by her decision. Her mother told her to go to the meditation room, think about it, and decide what to do. To their great shock, Dora said she would go. Dora did not speak any English, and she was shy, but she said she thought it was the right thing to do. WW I Looking up Deaders Of course, I did not know Dora then, but she told us about her adventure to Australia. Dora was in Australis during the First World War. Many young Australian men were killed during that war, and the parents of those who were Theosophists wrote to Leadbeater to ask him to look up their deceased sons and let them know how they were doing. Leadbeater got so many of these requests that he did not have time to answer all of them. Therefore, he gave Dora the task of looking up the deceased men. Dora did that, and typical of Dora, she called the task, “Looking up Deaders.” FRITZ KUNZ AND SON JOHNNY When Dora was a young woman, she met and fell in love with Fritz Kunz When Dora was a young woman, she met and fell in love with Fritz Kunz, a fellow Theosophist. Fritz was an American citizen, so he and Dora came to the United States and got married here. Dora believed she should learn about American history, so she studied it thoroughly. She soon knew more about our history than almost anyone in the country. THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS When Leadbeater was working on his clairvoyant observations of the seven sacraments, he enlisted Dora’s help, along with other clairvoyants When Leadbeater was working on his clairvoyant observations of the seven sacraments, he enlisted Dora’s help, and also several other clairvoyants. CWL required that they all agree on what they saw before he included the observations in The Science of the Sacraments. DORA OBSERVED A MASS SAID AT 5:30 PM • Angel of the Eucharist did appear at the invocation • The nine orders of angels came at the preface • the oblations were consecrated • All was as usual, except at the breaking of the Host, the energy was not distributed to the neighborhood, as CWL said. Rather, it was grounded through those present. After the Roman and Anglo-catholic churches began to say mass after twelve noon, the then presiding bishop of the LCC asked Bishop Pitken in New York to ask Dora to observe a mass to be said at 5:30 PM. She did. In answer to the bishop’s questions, she reported that the angel of the Eucharist did appear at the invocation, the nine orders of angels came at the preface, and that the oblations were consecrated. She said all was as usual, except that at the breaking of the Host, the energy was not distributed to the neighborhood. Rather, it was grounded through those present. CAMP INDRALAYA PLACE OF THE GODS • Orcas Island Theosophical Camp • In 1927, Dora, Fritz, and others founded our first Theosophical camp In 1927, Dora, Fritz, and others founded our first Theosophical camp. It was on Orcas Island in the Puget Sound near Seattle, Washington. They named it Camp Indralaya, place of the gods. The camp is still active and popular. PUMPKIN HOLLOW FARM In 1937 Fritz and Dora, along with Emily and John Sellon found a farm for sale upstate New York. When Dora saw a mountain stream flowing through the property, she said, “This is it.” Dora, Fritz, and some others wanted to have a camp on the East coast, so they began a search for a location. In 1937 Fritz and Dora, along with Emily and John Sellon found a farm for sale upstate New York. When Dora saw a mountain stream flowing through the property, she said, “This is it.” Dora had a strong premonition that they should put a down payment on the property at once. She did not know why, but she trusted her intuition, so they did just that, assuring their purchase. The next day a wealthy gentleman came to purchase the farm. He wanted to fill the stream with trout. He tried his best to offer a great deal of money to the Theosophists to abandon the sale, but they refused. They named the camp Pumpkin Hollow Farm, Pumpkin Hollow being the village in which it was located. The camp thrives to this day. TREE SPIRITS AT PHF • Dora’s cabin at the camp was quite a ways into the woods, away from other cabins • After an evening program, she would walk home through the woods • Someone asked her if she was frightened walking through the woods in the dark • She responded that she was not at all afraid • She explained that during the day the tree spirits were busy with photosynthesis, but at night the tree spirit expanded some distance from the tree trunk. She said that is what people felt at night in the woods. They thought someone was there, but it was only the tree spirit. Dora’s cabin at the camp was quite a ways into the woods, away from other cabins. After an evening program, she would walk home through the woods. Someone asked her if she was frightened walking through the woods in the dark. She responded that she was not at all afraid. Then, she explained that during the day the tree spirits were busy with photosynthesis, but at night the tree spirit expanded some distance from the tree trunk. She said that is what people felt at night in the woods. They thought someone was there, but it was only the tree spirit. PHF MATTRESSES When Mary and I used to go to PHF, the camp had a “set up” weekend in the spring and a “put away” weekend in the fall. The weekends were to open or close the camp. One year, John Coates, then international president of the TS, was at the “set up” weekend. All of the mattresses had been placed in one cabin in the fall. Rat poison was placed around them because if not, the rats and mice would destroy the mattresses. Each mattress had a name on it so that we could identify where the mattress belonged. We were collecting the mattresses, placing them in a truck, and taking them to the appropriate cabins. One mattress had two names on it, so we did not know where it belonged. Dora was there with John and me. She cocked her head like a chicken, flopped down on her back on the mattress, jumped up, and said, “Margaret’s cabin.” Years later I reminded Dora of that, and she said, “Well, I didn’t want to waste time.” Her sensitive nature came in handy that day, and because of that we knew where to put the mattress. SILENT RETREAT WEEKENDS AT CAMP Meditation house at PHF Every summer Dora would lead a silent retreat weekend at the camp. They were amazing. Participating in those weekends was equivalent to having an internal shower. All the dross was flushed out, and one was left with a profound peace. On one of those weekends, the trees were suffering from a disease that killed many trees. At our final meditation that weekend, Dora said, “Let’s think of the trees.” We did, and after the retreat ended, we asked Dora to say how the trees responded. She said, “To tell you the truth, they were surprised.” On another occasion after a silent retreat, I was riding with Dora and a few others in a car going home. Someone asked Dora if a recently deceased member had attended the meeting. Dora said that they had because she had seen her last week and told her about the retreat. We all laughed, and Dora asked why. I said, “Well, most people don’t see dead people on alternate Tuesdays.” Dora talked about the Fairies Camp Indralaya always had a camp fire in the evening Years later, Mary and I occasionally went to Indralaya.