Theos-Talk Archives (July 2001 Message tt00323)

John Beer's posting (24/7/02) requires some comments.

1. Leadbeater and the Apostles

There is no evidence that Leadbeater accepted or even considered 
seriously Arundale's claims about the "Twelve Apostles", and substantial 
evidence (including material from those present at the time) that he 
positively rejected all the "Huizen Revelations". Incidentally, Rukmini 
Arundale denied (in an interview with me) that her husband had "brought 
through" any "revelations" at all in Huizen in 1925, let alone 
"revelations" about the "Twelve Apostles". This was in spite of published 
transcripts of the announcements of the "revelations". Of course, the 
whole "Huizen" drama is omitted from official Adyar histories. According 
to Dick Balfour Clarke (who was with him at the time he received news of 
the "revelations") Leadbeater was horrified by them all and considered 
them to be madness. In his usual fashion, Leadbeater said nothing in 
public to bring the "revelations" into question.

2. Dora Kunz as clairvoyant

The assertion that Mrs Kunz is a clairvoyant (whatever that may mean) is 
based on her claims to be such. Evidence? Well, she has published a book 
describing (a la Hodson) clairvoyant visions of fairies. It is worth 
recalling the Hodson also published an account of the "Cottingley 
Fairies", now known to have been a fraud (albeit probably an innocent 
one) by the girls who originally claimed to have photograph the fairies 
concerned. Hodson, apparently, clairvoyantly observed the fairies whose 
pictures had been fraudulently fabricated by the girls who "introduced" 
him to them. His clairvoyance apparently did not extent to recognizing 
the fraud. It is probably worth stating (this should arouse some 
controversy!) that there is not a single published statement by any 
Theosophical "clairvoyant" that has been supported by scientific 
evidence. Either the claims were so vague and untestable as to be 
meaningless, or they have been positively disproved by subsequent 
scientific data. One might note Leadbeater's claims about life forms on 
Mars .... It would seem a relatively simple matter to demonstrate by 
clairvoyance (if such a power exists) some knowledge which could not have 
been known by the clairvoyant at the time and is subsequently (contrary 
to the received wisdom of the time) proved to have been true. Might I 
enquire whether anyone can produce a single example of such a test being 
successfully met? Hodson's laughable "clairvoyant" claims in his work on 
the origins of Christianity made pathetic reading in the light of 
contemporary archaeology.

Dr Gregory Tillett