Theos-Talk Archives (December 2001 Message tt00307)

Olcott wrote about the innitial aims of the TS : 
Of all the practices, the highest possible achievement is the 
separation of the astral body from the physical body , becouse with 
this separation the astral body becomes almost omnipotent." 
(Theosophical History Quarterly III/6:p.176)

The phenomenon of projection was a common explanation also of many 
of the appearances of the Brothers/Masters in New York, and of 
Blavatsky's "double" counsciousness as their agent.
J.P. Deveney, along with the other books and authors I have reffered 
to, describes in "Astral Projection or Liberating of the Double
and the work of the early Theosophical Society"(1997)
And wrote: "But the ability to project the astral double, and 
act through it at a distance was not reserved to the Brothers alone, 
and was held up to the members as the `verry last and highest
possible achievement of magic,'a goal actively to be pursued and
achieved."

Pls also note that Dr.James Santucci wrote in his 
article "G.H.Felt,The Life Unknown":
"Keeping in mind the activities of Blavatsky's and her 
followers in the Lamasry in the New York days, are we actually 
confronted with asociety that was more a "theourgia"and less 
a "theosophia". (I invite Steve to comment and translate this to 
the rest of the group, if I do so they might think I pulled it of the 
Akashic records)

In her letters to Elliot Coues Blavatsky wrote; "My dear
nocturnal visitor, You are very clever in paying visits & in feeling 
my presence in your bones"
"Let us go on with our attempts to communicate & see each other 
astrally."

In fact it was precisely becouse of the Theosophical ideas regarding 
living men project their doubles that the S.P.R. undertook the study 
of the T.S. at all !

In the First Report of the Committee of the Society for Psychical 
Research on Phenomena in Connection with the TS, it states:
"if-real evidence can be adduced for a separability of principles in 
living men,-for voluntary projection of the double, or manifestation 
of aspects of the same identity in discrete places at the same 
moment,-then though the superstructure of occult doctrine will remain 
unproved, there will be a sufficient presumption of the existence of 
real psychical knowledge in the East (and they already practiced it 
based on Emma Brittens info in New York !) to make it our duty to 
track out such knowledge through every accessible avenue with 
pertinacious care."

In the Theosophist in Dec. 1883, it is says with a note by Blavatsky 
that " Damodar was a chela of but four years standing and that 
whenever the phenomenon of the separation of the astral from the 
physical body takes place, we are told,he falls invariable asleep or 
into a trance before."

In the "First Report" of the SPR above it also states
however that; 
the evidence available rendered it impossible to avoid one or the 
other of two alternative conclusions: "Either that some of the 
phenomea recorded are genuine , or that other persons of good 
standing in society , and with charcters to lose, have taken part in 
deliberate imposture."
In the event , such gentlemen were cleared from charges of dishonesty 
in the SPR report, but only at the expense of their dignity. 
According to Hodgson, the theosophical witnesses were "as a
whole excessively credulous, excssivly deficient in the powers of 
common observation; and to many of them prone to supplement that 
deficiency by culpable exaggeration"

It is interresting that Blavatsky levelled "extreme
exaggeration" charges regarding Olcott in one of her letters to 
Hartmann.

Brigitte