HIRAF’s “ROSICRUCIANISM”

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Introduction

[James A. Santucci][1]

Research requirements demand access to primary sources, especially if the scholar wishes a more accurate understanding of the history of the Theosophical Society.  “Rosicrucianism” helped launch H. P. Blavatsky’s public career in occultism with the publication of her response to this article, “A Few Questions to ‘HIRAF’,” described by Blavatsky as her “first Occult Shot.”  Included with HIRAF’s article is the “Announcement” of the publication, presumably written by the editor of the Spiritual Scientist, E. Gerry Brown, but which may have been partially or wholly written by Henry S. Olcott if we accept the statement of the Compiler of the first volume of the Blavatsky: Collected Writings.[2]   It is curious that the Announcement cites HIRAF as a lone individual when in fact the article was written principally by three authors, William E. S. Fales, Frederick W. Hinrichs, and William M. Ivins.  In addition to these two individuals, James C. Robinson, and Charles Frederick Adams comprise the remaining two, forming the acrostic HIRAF by employing the first letters of their last names: [H(inrichs), I(vins), R(obinson), A(dams), and F(ales)].  All were engaged in the legal profession; none were expert chemists, none lived in the Orient for an extended period in order to study Hermetic philosophy or to visit “noted Brahmins and their holy places” as was claimed in the Announcement.  Nor was the article the work of serious scholars on the subject; it appeared to have been more “as a joke than in earnest”[3] that arose out of a conversation during one of their soirees, perhaps emerging out of Ivins’ and Fales’ association with Blavatsky when they represented her in a lawsuit involving her participation in the ownership of a farm on Long Island.  It was during the trial (April 26 to June 1, 1875) that Ivins, Hinrichs, and Fales, knowing of Blavatsky’s interests in occultism, apparently took it upon themselves to discuss various esoteric subjects with her.[4]  Shortly thereafter, the decision was made during the soiree to write an article on esotericism.  The result, in large part due to the editorial skill of Fales, was an article he named “Rosicrucianism.”  The following is a summary of the some of the main points of the article:

1)  Modern science has shed some light on the mystery of life by suggesting that no force—be it in the form of light, heat, electricity, and magnetism—is ever annihilated. Furthermore, force and matter are interrelated: “assuming either as the cause, one of the others will be the effect.” 

2)  “Dynamic conservation” is the law that permeates the universe, directing “the movements of the stars.” 

3)   All force—whether in the past, present, future—is part and parcel of  “the dead unknown.” [4] 

4)   From “the ultimate essence have sprung or evolved the countless varieties and concatenations of force and matter, all interdependent, and all cognate with the unknown centre.  Such is the discovery of the “godless science of the latter-day enquirers.” 

5)   Such is the teaching of the “oriental” philosophers, who add however, that the universe originates from God, is God; in other words, God is but the “combined forces and laws manifested in the great universe.”  In other words, science is only discovering what has already been known to the ancients. 

6)   Such pantheism is discussed in the emanations of Pythagoras and Plato, as well as in the teachings of Zarathushtra and Zarathushtrism, of the Vedas and Brahmanism, of the Mishna and Gemara and “Mosaism,”, in the Old and New Testaments, of Gnosticism, of Manichaeanism, of Christianity, of Islam, of the Alchemists, Cabalists, and Rosicrucianists up to Spencer through Hegel, and Van Hartmann. 

7)   The “nursing-mother of all later intelligence” was ancient Egypt. 

8)   The prime purpose of the article, however, is to emphasize the role of Rosicrucianism and Rosicrucianists, who are regarded, respectively, as the lost wisdom and the apostles:  “To regain this treasure, long lost by humanity, we must study the seers who gathered it, gem by gem, and coin by coin. Of that web, from the looms of the Nile, the power is Ain-Soph,—the Cabala is the gospel, and the Hermetics or Rosicrucians the apostles and the masters.” 

9)   The last part of the article discusses the gnosis or wisdom of the Rosicrucians.  For the novice, the “all-world” is threefold: comprising God, humanity, and nature, or super-mundane  emanations, microcosm, and macrocosm. 

10)   The evolution of life moves from macrocosm to microcosm. 

11)   The levels of the microcosmic life are the illusive or ignorant (the “microcosmic bud”), those who are partially aware, that is, who are somewhat aware of the self and other (the “microcosmic flower”), and those who reach the highest life (the “microcosmic fruit”), “half-realized in a few grand types, Christ; Buddha, and perhaps Khoung-fou-tsee (Confucius).” 

12)  The adept or the one who reaches the highest wisdom perceives the truth as One and as a set of complementary unions. The authors proclaim: “the all-world is two-fold,—flux and reflux.  The one is justice, truth, courage, power; the Other, mercy, love, ‘altruism’, in the latter-day tongue. 

13)  To the novice and adept alike, “The Rosicrucian becomes and is not made.” 

It is hoped that these observations will shed more light on Blavatsky’s response in her “A Few Questions to ‘Hiraf’.” 

 

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Historical Photos from the Surendra Narayan Archives (Adyar Archives) – CHARLES WEBSTER LEADBEATER

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The archives at sunset ...

[Note from the editor: With great pleasure I dedicate this photo series to a man who might have caused some controversies in the Theosophical world, but who was most definitely a part of the early history of the movement. Notably outside the TS Adyar, theosophists who are affiliated with other streams maintain a certain opinion about him,  caused by and based on hearsay, misinformation and prejudice. Opinions, ideas, convictions and ultimately beliefs even, ought to be based on thorough and impartial research. This series is not put together to “convert” those Leadbeater critics to followers of his works, but it is set up to encourage them to  acquire objective, well-written, and well-documented information about this eminent theosophist, in order to look at his life and what he left us from at least another perspective. In this context I especially want to point at Pedro Oliveira’s  book Leadbeater Speaks, of which the PDF version is attached to this unique series of photos.]  

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Historical Photos from the Surendra Narayan Archives (Adyar Archives) - George S. Arundale

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A part of the fully renovated and modernized Surendra Narayan Archives

George Sydney Arundale (1878–1945) was an English Theosophist, educator, writer, and editor. He served as the third President of The Theosophical Society based in Adyar, India from 1934 to 1945.

Early years and education

George Sydney Arundale was born on December 1, 1878 in Surrey, England, the youngest child of the Reverend John Kay, a Congregational minister. His mother died at childbirth, and George was adopted by his aunt, Francesca Arundale. Miss Arundale joined the Theosophical Society in 1881 and often welcomed Madame H. P. Blavatsky to her home at 77 Elgin Crescent, Notting Hill, London. George became a member in 1895 and joined the London Lodge. A. J. Hamerster recounted the affection that both HPB and Colonel Olcott had for the boy:

Excerpt from “Personal Recollections of Sir Richard Francis Burton

Excerpt from “Personal Recollections of Sir Richard Francis Burton, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., F.R.G.S.”

(Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly, Vol. XXXIV, No. 5 [November 1892], pp. 572–574)

A. L. Rawson

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Sir Francis Richard Burton (1821-1890)

INTRODUCTION:

[The following is an excerpt that appeared in Theosophical History XVIII, no. 3-4 (July-October 2016): 190–94. It includes a brief episode in Madame Blavatsky’s early life wherein Rawson and Sir Richard Burton meet a “pretty young (grass) widow,” i.e., a “married woman whose husband is absent from her” (OED). The event took place in Egypt, between the latter part of 1852—following Rawson’s release from jail[1]—and May 1853—when Burton left Cairo for Mecca.  In an email dated December 31, 2016, Mr. Deveney remarks:

We know two facts here: Rawson got out of jail in New Jersey in mid-1852 (June) and Burton left Cairo for Mecca in May 1853.  So, this little snippet, if it occurred, took place in that period.  It’s funny that Rawson insists that he had by the time he encountered Burton in Cairo already been to Mecca—where he learned H.P.B. had preceded him.  He was certainly a busy beaver and careful to one-up Burton. 

In reading through all of Rawson’s pieces on H.P.B. it’s hard to determine what he actually thought about her and what he was trying to portray her as.  He certainly was under no illusions about her or her “powers”, but he seems at great pains to try not to utterly call her, flat-out, a phony.  He also was very careful to show that, whatever she was, he was greater! 

Rawson’s piece is very disjointed and reads like some editor cut a lot out: H.P.B. just appears, without introduction, and there are loose ends everywhere: who was her “Russian friend” and was it a man or woman?  Was she in the group that went around Cairo after the séances at Shepheard’s Hotel?  The visit to the snake charmer is obviously the same as that described in Theosophical Occult Apology, in which Rawson is obviously the young American artist. 

This complete article appears on pages  565–576 of Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly.

James Santucci, Editor of Theosophical History]

Historical Photos from the Surendra Narayan Archives (Adyar Archives) - Curuppumullage Jinarājadāsa

  

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Curuppumullage Jinarājadāsa (16 December 1875 – 18 June 1953), was a Sri Lankan scholar, lecturer, and writer who served as the fourth President of the Theosophical Society based in Adyar, Chennai, India from 1945 to 1953. An accomplished linguist, he traveled extensively for fifty years as an international lecturer, speaking in English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, as well as Sinhalese and Tamil. He was known to his wide circle of friends as "Raja", "Brother Raja", or "CJ"

H.N. Stokes’ Early Contact with The Theosophical Society

[This article originally appeared in Theosophical History II, no. 1 (January 1987): 4–22. It provides additional information on H. N. Stokes that could not be included in my original article, “H. N. Stokes and the O. E. Library Critic,” which appeared in Theosophical History I, no. 6 (April 1986): 129–39. Since the reproduction of the original was very poor, due to my poor choice of formatting, this is the first opportunity of displaying the article in a readable format. As with my previous article that appeared in Theosophical History I, no. 6 (April 1986), some minor revisions were made in order to correct the text.

H.N. Stokes’ Early Contact with The Theosophical Society

 By Dr. James Santucci 

Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies 

California State University 

Fullerton, CA 92834-6868  

“Dr. Roastem Stokes”, 1 “Paprika-Tabasco - Stokes” 2 : fitting names for an individual who was identified as perhaps the most outspoken detractor of the leaders of the Theosophical Society. (Adyar). For those familiar with Dr. Henry Newlin Stokes (1859–1942) and his O. E. Library Critic, he either was the doyen of derogators—a villifier, a falsifier, a vilipender—or the guardian of Truth and exposer of purulence, deception, and hypocrisy. 3 For those on the receiving end of his vituperations, Dr. Stokes was considered to be an individual incapable of engaging in or even, for that matter, of suggesting constructive endeavors. He was the censurer par excellence, a Cain, a scourge, a Hun on the rampage, and when there was nothing left to despoil, a “Shiva without a job” 4 on the lookout for new territory to plunder.

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Paprika-Tabasco - Stokes

Such observation, however blunt, cannot be disputed, for even a casual reading of the O. E.Library Critic from 1918 to its demise in 1942 exhibits this negative tendency well enough. Yet, when the Critic is read prior to 1917 in conjunction with Stokes’ private correspondence, especially from the years 1912 to 1914, one is struck—perhaps astonished is the more appropriate word—with the antithetical attitude of its Editor. A more diametrically opposed perspective vis-a-vis the Theosophical Society cannot be imagined. If he was a Leadbeater-phobe after 1917, he had been more of a “-phile” prior to this time; if he considered George Arundale more of a buffoon with overblown and fatuous designs for the Society from the 1920s on, he had had nothing but admiration for Mr. Arundale in 1914; if he was identified with the “Conservative Party” within the Theosophical Movement after 1917, he certainly had made it clear that he considered the “Progressive Party” as the more authentic representative of Theosophical ideals. Perhaps the most astounding revelation from his early correspondence is the impression that Dr. Stokes, the one responsible for coining the phrase “Back to Blavatsky” 5  in 1917, had not placed any reverential significance in the writings of Madame Helena P. Blavatsky a few years earlier. It is true that he [5] fully appreciated her role as a Founder of the Theosophical Society, but he considered Mrs. Annie Besant his role model, the one who inspired him to be a Theosophist, for it was she “who ...showed me the tremendous significance of Karma and that the universe is conducted on ethical principles .... “ 6

H. N. Stokes and the O. E. Library Critic

James A. Santucci* - USA

[author’s note: This article was first published in Theosophical History I, no. 6 (April 1986):129-39. The preponderance of information appearing herein originated from the archives of The Theosophical Society (Pasadena), which at the time of the writing of the article was accessible to Theosophists and non-Theosophists alike because of the policy advocated by its Leader, Ms. Grace Knoche. I was also very fortunate to have known the archivist, Mr. Kirby van Mater, who, together with his brother, John van Mater—the librarian of the Society—was personally acquainted with Dr. Stokes. Because of my numerous discussions with the van Maters, researching Stokes’ life became much more than a simple exercise of researching a distant figure. Little did I know that I would assume a role very similar to that of Dr. Stokes, an editor of an independent journal.]

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Henry Newlin Stokes

Henry Newlin Stokes is a name familiar to none except perhaps those who are well-versed in the history of the Theosophical Society. Unfamiliarity, however, does not detract or diminish from the unique contribution that he made to the Society. He belongs to that vast, nameless group of individuals who in their own quiet and committed way contribute whatever talent and resources they possess to making their society more enlightened, humane, ethical, or materially better off than it was before their entry onto the human stage. He led a most unusual life that encompassed chemistry and occultism, agnosticism and theosophical ideals. He was a friend of the friendless and a contentious and outspoken antagonist of the powerful.