His Life.

If one were among the twenty-two-some Masters of Wisdom on the planet, who are in charge of serving humanity, one may be asked to search for future candidates to help launch the budding Theosophical Society off the ground. One would then be observing how a certain Bavarian-born, future Doctor of Medicine, Franz Hartmann was getting along. Although Franz could be said to have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, soon enough he certainly did not play the part of a privileged person. His father, Karl Hartmann, was a physician at Donauwörth, Germany where Franz was born. After Franz was a year old, the family moved to Kempten, where his father became a government physician. His mother, Elise von Stack, was an ancestor of the last ruler of Ireland and 47th king of Ulster.^[1] But Franz’ solitude over most everything, especially social events, was the keynote of his entire life.

     A need for solitude is a condition during which profound questions can be reflected upon. But putting metaphysical perspectives up and out into the world must be practical to be utilized. The last thing the world needed was another arm-chair philosopher. This was later ascertained directly to Dr. Hartmann, in a letter from Master M., after Hartmann had arrived at the Adyar headquarters:

     [December 25, 1883]

[Excerpted] Blessings! Were we to employ in our service a man of no intelligence, we would have to point out to him, as you say in the West, chapter and verse, i.e., give him special assignments and definite orders; but a mind like yours, with a background of much experience, can find the way by itself, when given a hint in regard to the direction which leads to the goal.^[2]

     Just as H. P. Blavatsky was guarded over and watched, even during her youthful days, so too was Franz Hartmann. Nevertheless, their karma was still being worked out over that time. The law of karma is rarely suspended for the sake of higher duties.

     Dr. Hartmann led a life of great inquisitiveness, which contributed to his manifold talents in medicine as a pharmacist, physician, and occultist. His interests in literature were broad enough to the extent that he was open-minded to Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, Persian writings and occult phenomena. However, being of German descent, the areas of Christianity and its mystical areas of thought (i.e., alchemy, Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism) were also influential to him.

     At the age of 27, Franz was asked to be the ship’s doctor on the parcel carrier “Mercury,” which set sail in 1865 from Le Havre, France to New York City. This voyage was originally intended to be a 42-day’s journey. Little did he know at the time, this trip would occupy eighteen years of his life in the United States, where he was able to experience numerous adventures and perfect his spoken English skills. Though, it was his metaphysical skills which were to be finely honed.

     In his twenty-part series, “Memorable Recollections from the life of the author of the ‘Lotusblüten,’” he says:

An old Russian book on astrology claims that people born on November 22 will have no fixed abode for the rest of their lives.^[3]

     Looking over Dr. Hartmann’s life, that numerological analysis appears to be quite correct. Even during the period when he had to settle down to research and author his two journals: Lotusblüten (from January 1897 to December 1900) and the second generation Neue Lotusblüten (from January 1908 up to the time of his death, August 7, 1912), he still traveled throughout Germany, Italy, America and other lands.

     Dr. Hartmann’s life adventures and travels indicate this astrological configuration had its intended effect of allowing him to effectively witness and experience a wide range of occult phenomena. Wherever he travelled, there was almost always something of the occult to witness and require an explanation. It seemed he attracted it and did not shirk from the difficulties. This allowed him to add to his “database” of metaphysical information. Acquiring book knowledge without personal, direct knowledge, could never replace human adventure and understanding.

     Dr. Hartmann espoused the student of Theosophy to acquire personal knowledge along with application of Theosophical knowledge; to more fully understand the circumstances, purpose and basis of the knowledge contended just as occult writers  Leadbeater, Besant, Hodson and H. P. B. also espoused. But they, in addition to Dr. Hartmann, always insisted upon the prerequisite of cultivating ethics first before investigating and then engaging occult praxis.

     Hartmann’s experiences throughout his life were unique and he never shied away from an understanding of the phenomena around him. This alone, in addition to his profound curiosity, made him a unique recipient and witness for the occult. He relates much of his recollections through his two journals. The longest recollections were published serially as “Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der ‘Lotusblüten’ ” (Memorable Recollections from the Life of the Author of the “Lotusblüten”). Further thoughts were published as “Aus meinem Leben. (From My Life.)” which was published in his second journal: Neue Lotusblüten. And he wrote several recollections about H. P. Blavatsky in those journals.

     During Dr. Hartmann’s stay in New Orleans, Louisiana (1871):

 . . . Hartmann had resigned himself to a kind of agnosticism and tried to make himself believe that one cannot know anything about spiritual things and that it would be a waste of time to worry about them. The questions kept coming up: “What is life? What is love? What is truth, what is virtue? Where does good and bad come from? How does justice come about? By what is reason, mind, and consciousness made or generated? How can the brain craft a thought when there is no idea about it? etc.^[4]

     Little did he know it was periods like these which set him up to be noticed by the Masters of Wisdom.

     His spirit of inquiry led him to the hidden side of nature through witnessing séances at his house in Georgetown, Colorado. Where others around him were mostly reserved with doubt, (which is understandable), the root of Dr. Hartmann’s pursuits lay in wanting to know why certain metaphysical or spiritual phenomena were able to penetrate the physical realm. This predilection of metaphysical questions never ceased his entire life.

     He engaged upon many spiritualistic experiments and witnessed quite interesting phenomena:

. . . during the sessions with others, the most diverse lying spirits often appeared, parading about under assumed names and titles of famous people, but always eventually betraying their origin. Such as, for example, the alleged ghost of Professor Justus von Liebig who was unable to answer even the simplest questions concerning chemistry, and the ghosts of Napoleon I and Josephine turned out to be products of a medium’s imagination, although they bore the closest resemblance to the portraits of these persons.^[5]

     While living in Georgetown, Colorado, in addition to considerable investigations trying to understand spiritism and spiritualism, he also was a Coroner, mine owner and physician. His ad about eye surgery (see below), while working in Georgetown, is quite interesting, especially considering the human eye’s long evolutionary connections with the pituitary gland and pineal body.

     Increasingly, Dr. Hartmann, through his labors of meticulous observation and increasing experiments with mediums, found there were no reasonable answers to the contradictions which he observed of the spiritualistic and spiritistic phenomena:

. . . such disappointments and similar hair-raising nonsense were likely to put the most energetic spiritist out of business. The statements of the “clairvoyants” and the spirits usually turned out to be wrong; the spirits parading under names known in history were proved by their ignorance, that they were not what they said they were; Mediums who claimed to be constantly accompanied by the highest heavenly spirits, angels and archangels and received advice from them regarding everyday life, were physically and morally degenerated; some succumbed to drunkenness, others to madness, some to suicide. The ghosts of loving mothers who had died came to be phantoms to frighten their children to death; the Apostle John came and asked for prayers and rosaries to be said, and then reappeared in tails, with a white cravat and top hat, to give thanks for the prayers said; the ghosts of Goethe’s Faust, Cervantes’ Don Quixote, and Shakespeare’s King Lear appeared in full regalia and behaved as if they were indeed deceased persons and not mere poetic creations. “Faust” even provided the material for his own commentary.^[6]

 . . . And despite all this, the presence of mysterious forces could not be denied. Direct “ghost writings” appeared without any human intervention on slates and paper in places where no fraud was possible; Seaweeds and shells still damp from the salty sea, tropical plants, the damp earth hanging by the roots and with the dewdrops still fresh in the calyxes, were brought, though the sea and the tropics were a thousand miles away; and all this was done by an old woman who had neither the intelligence nor the means to deceive.

In short, Dr. Hartmann found himself in a world of contradictions in which he wanted to clarify at all costs. But all attempts in this direction were in vain, the key to solving the riddle was missing. But no help could be expected from the spirits; they, who otherwise meddled in the petty affairs of life, who even tended to our kitchen, lay their hands on their laps where the need was greatest and seemed to be even more ignorant of the “afterlife” than the people. There, instead of simple answers to simple questions, there was long-winded and meaningless chatter, hackneyed sayings, unctuous nonsense; there was nothing valuable to learn other than what one already knew, and what one learned, had not the slightest value.^[7]

     The healing remedies to Dr. Hartmann’s perplexing questions, came from the most unexpected source, as he had, through his observations and occult experiences, set himself up for this. He was about to be introduced to the teachings of Theosophy. His state of mind was ready:

Suddenly a star of hope appeared in the sky and an unexpected light pierced the dark night. H. P. Blavatsky’s book “Isis Unveiled” brought enlightenment to the mystery of man and his place in nature. There, it was clearly stated that the real spirit of man is a being of divine nature, having his home in heaven, and when he has entered his higher existence, he no longer bothers with earthly dreams, least of all with the trifles of spiritism. Then the mask of the “dear ones [who departed] before” was torn from the face of things and the spiritless elemental beings were shown in their often hideous forms. In this book there was no narrow-minded and spiritless erudition, no windy sentimentality and hollow enthusiasm, other than the product of true self-assurance and knowledge, which, precisely because it was true, was self-evident; no speculation based on uncertain opinions, but a deep knowledge, high above the standpoint of modern science and before which our lectern of wisdom had to hide in shame; and the plainly stated truths, which, as soon as they were known, seemed self-evident, were proved by irrefutable logic to those who could still doubt.

. . . The revelations given in the book were not, like those of a Swedenborg or other seers, simply descriptions of spiritual perceptions, the reality of which no one can prove, but everything was there not only described, but also proved by historical facts and tested by reason and understanding.^[8]

     Thus, Hartmann began sending articles to The Theosophist, which were the fruit of his deep thought over many metaphysical questions and observations while living in Colorado and other places. Those articles were seriously considered by H. P. Blavatsky and were published in her journal.

     As Dr. Hartmann explained, experience on occult matters required a lot of time and more so than physical epistemological research:

All these things did not become clear to the subject of our consideration in a single day, but required many years of observation and experience, supported [later] by the teachings of “Theosophy.”^[9]

     During Dr. Hartmann’s “mediumship” experiments in Georgetown, with Mrs. Miller from Denver, Katie Wentworth, he states that he became “clairvoyant and clairaudient, to a certain extent.” He was, at that point able to more fully understand the mechanism behind the activity of elementals and earth-bound humans as well as those who had permanently left the physical body behind. But the fact that he was a medical doctor certainly required an effort to extend understanding into the metaphysical. Over the course of ten years, he studied the phenomena of mediumship. With his experiences while living in the U.S. he gained expertise and this is probably one of the many reasons why he was asked to join H. P. B. and others at Adyar, Madras, India. As may be seen, metaphysical sentiency is a requirement for occult research. No amount of book reading can replace it although the development of the reasoning powers and the development of the will can help to overcome any emotionalism the pupil may be exercising.

     Hartmann joined the Theosophical Society in America in 1882. Succeeding that event a year later:

One morning in 1883, Dr. Hartmann, while half asleep, saw a letter whose handwriting was unknown to him. The foreign postage stamps, which were also unknown to him, were also stuck on it, not on the addressed side of the letter as is customary, but on the sealed side. After breakfast he went to the post office and actually found the letter just described. It was a letter from Colonel Olcott who invited Dr. Hartmann to come to India and take part in the direction of the theosophical movement.^[10]

     Hartmann got ready and left Colorado on September 21, 1883. In fact, a letter to Franz Hartmann, dated December 25, 1883 by Master Morya, says “I placed in H. S. Olcott’s head the idea to suggest to you to come here [Adyar].” Master Morya’s letter, of course, is dated months after Dr. Hartmann had arrived in India and had become familiar with some of the Mahātmas by then.

     Once Dr. Hartmann had settled in at the Adyar Headquarters, he witnessed the most amazing things before his eyes. Genuine events which occurred beyond what he witnessed in the presence of a medium in Colorado:

Occult Letters . . . suddenly fell down from the ceiling, or lay on the table where nothing had been lying there the moment before, yes, it even happened that you could see a kind of mist forming in the air and a written letter with an address emerging from it formed and materialized. Sometimes, too, direct writing appeared on papers placed there, and all this was not done for no purpose, or to amaze the curious, but for the purpose of making communications, giving orders, and giving advice. Manuscripts were often modified in this way, marginal notes were written on proof sheets; Papers suddenly disappeared and then just as suddenly were back in their place; in short, it was as if invisible helpers were active in the house and office in addition to the visible employees.^[11]

     But, it was through the machinations by the Christian missionaries in India that they were able to accomplish the ouster of H. P. Blavatsky and the theosophists. The Coulombs, who resided at the Adyar headquarters, Madame C. as housekeeper and her husband as a handyman, aided the missionaries through various means. (Madame C. was particularly fond of the Christian church but over time she became mentally poisoned due to the narrow-minded thinking by Christian fundamentalism.) The Coulombs attempted to manipulate the structure of the “miracle cabinet” at Adyar by modifying it as a device of sleight of hand, using Monsieur Coulomb’s expertise at cabinetry, whereupon he installed trapdoors (As Master M. said in a letter, . . . the C…’s are the sole masters of the upper floor. . . .) Once Richard Hodson, a representative of the Society for Psychical Research, was invited to investigate, many began to slander H. P. B. and the sensationalistic newspapers attacked her at all sides on the basis of nothing of substance! Hodson was a poor choice as he had no credentials towards metaphysical knowledge in order to properly examine how the Mahātma letters were manifested. He announced himself as an alleged expert investigating occult phenomena, but certainly was not. Unfortunately, some theosophists began to leave Adyar and it came time for H. P. B. to leave Adyar for good. Pressure from all sides was against her. The newspapers announced all they could about these events. The slimy media helped with the exiting of the theosophists.

     Dr. Hartmann comments on the hypocrisy he had observed. Something which should not have been beholden to true Christians:

The English missionaries cheered. “Science” had done police patrols for religious intolerance. Truth might perish, but the authority of clericalism was secured for a time. All earthly activity, all one’s own life, all selfhood, whether this is for an individual, a state or a church or anyone else, affects the organism and is based on self-delusion. Everything strives for its own profit, its own progress, its own growth. Where there is a “self” there is also the struggle for existence, and therefore egoism lurks everywhere behind the scenes.^[12]

     However, as it turned out even the weeds served as fertilizer for future theosophical flowers:

Indeed, the sensational reports which the newspapers of all countries carried about H. P. Blavatsky drew the attention of thousands to what was happening at Adyar. Among these thousands were hundreds who, moved by curiosity, procured Blavatsky’s writings of which they would otherwise never have heard . . . Even the weeds which ignorance had brought to bloom on the great manure heap of the “Theosophical Society” could no longer suffocate the noble plants that had grown on it. The flame, lit by Blavatsky, spread light everywhere.^[13]

     H. P. Blavatsky was intensively working on her magnum opus The Secret Doctrine, in Italy, in order to overcome the stifling influences at Adyar. Master M. had healed her body once again but asked her if she wanted to continue on with writing The Secret Doctrine. Her answer was that she did. At this point, it was time for Dr. Hartmann to return to Germany. Upon the advice of her physician, Blavatsky left Adyar and settled in Würzburg, Germany to mend. From there she stayed at Ostend, Belgium for respiratory recovery from the coastal air. Then, she moved to London for the remainder of her life. Hartmann paid some visits to Blavatsky at Würzburg and London. But during the last couple of years Hartmann did not visit, as he was busy writing, which later were published in his first journal, Lotusblüten. H. P. Blavatsky, after completing The Secret Doctrine in 1888, died on May 8, 1891.

Works.^[14]

     Franz was a prolific writer, as may be attested by my research into his works. This can only be attributed to his incessant inquiry and interest into the unseen. Once one has witnessed the unknown, beyond the five senses, life is never the same again. He adapted well towards a life of service instead of disengagement from helping to educate humanity.

     Hartmann had the privilege to read some Mahātma letters before they appeared to the public. He wrote a series of eleven articles about them:

. . . original letters from among the circles of Tibetan adepts known as the Masters and Teachers of H. P. Blavatsky were received “occultly” during my stay in Adyar in 1883 and 1884 and for obvious reasons were kept secret for a long time . . .^[15]

     Hartmann studied and translated the life and works of Philippus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, or Paracelsus. The application of metaphysical science to medicine was considered by Hartmann to be most important and would be used as food for thought towards future concepts of healing and this was certainly due to Paracelsus’ influence. Several articles, and books which Hartmann wrote, such as “Souls Brides and Vampirism” (“Seelenbräute und Vampirismus”) and “The Source of the Passions. Involution and Evolution” (“Der Ursprung der Leidenschaften. Involution und Evolution”) may have been written based on Hartmann’s understanding of Paracelsus, the Doctor of extraordinary talents. Hartmann’s book, Occult Science in Medicine (published 1893) was certainly influenced based on his knowledge of Paracelsus’ concepts and therapies.

     Various mystics and occultists were investigated by the Doctor, such as Michael de Molinos (the Spanish mystic), Jacob Boehme, Karl von Eckartshausen (the Great German Mystic of the Fourteenth Century), Madame Guyon (the French mystic), Jane Leade (the mystic from England), John Pordage (the English Priest and alchemist), Thomas à Kempis (Thomas of Kempen, German-Dutch), Cagliostro, Comte de Saint-Germain, Pythagoras, and many other personages. Hartmann wrote short biographies and studies about H. P. Blavatsky, William Q. Judge, Annie Besant, and many others.

     Hartmann’s investigations of Rosicrucianism and its symbolism such as the philosopher’s stone, Freemasonry and alchemy were viewed along theosophical lines. His association with a secret group of Rosicrucians may have attributed to his understanding about the original Rosicrucian teachings. The Bhagavad Gītā was one of his most favorite texts. He wrote a series of articles in seven parts: “The Epistemology of the Bhagavad Gītā.” The Gītā verses were used quite a lot in his writings because of its applicability to many spiritual events in the life of every person. He valued the great Śaṅkarācārya and his writings as well. He also wrote a twelve-part series on the subject of karma. He wrote some Hermetic stories for children, which was characteristic of his concern for cultivating young minds.

     He spoke and wrote about advanced topics (at the time) such as speaking out against the practice of animal vivisection, which, as a medical doctor, was very forward thinking, and opposing the capital punishment of humans, which was also very progressive for his day. He wrote a book about Premature Burial and therefore argued in favor of cremation.^[16] He even emphasized chastity in his writings.

     Dr. Hartmann wrote a long esoteric study on Goethe’s Faust and also wrote an excellent series on Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, from a theosophical viewpoint. He wrote about reincarnation and composed a multiple part study pertaining to karma. He explained the phenomena of elementals and nature spirits and vampires in numerous articles. Dr. Hartmann’s forward-thinking character made him a fitting candidate for membership in the Theosophical Society.

     Hartmann frequently used throughout his writings, references from the Christian Bible, Jakob Böhme, Schopenhauer and the Bhagavad Gītā. For a person who knows that the Bible is esoteric and has a hidden meaning throughout, this will not be a problem at all. He wrote his journals mainly for the Christian  German nation, in order show that the Ancient Wisdom was everywhere—in all ancient cultures and lands.

Closing

     I would like to end this short survey of Dr. Franz Hartmann by translating some paragraphs from the last article which he wrote for his first journal (Lotusblüten). It reflects some reasons why he wanted to do a journal in the first place.^[17]:

. . . the main purpose [of starting the journal] was to stimulate the inner spiritual life of people in larger circles in Germany, religious views from the shallow superficiality which has become generally fashionable and to deepen it, to illuminate some of what is obscure in the religious systems of the West by the light that has come to us from the East, and thereby to bring religion and science closer together in order to finally to unite them. The importance of such an undertaking becomes even more apparent when we consider that the outward life of every man and every nation is based on an inward life, and the more this inward religious life permeates man’s outward life and becomes self-conscious in him, the external conditions also become all the more favorable for everyone. The more people are permeated by the feeling of justice, by the power of love and by the knowledge of truth, the more the high ideals which all mankind is searching for will be realized in them.

In all countries journals were created that dealt with a discussion of the newly appeared light, only in Germany nothing else stirred other than speculative philosophy, which blindfolded the searches for the reasons for the existence of truth, but cannot tolerate the light of truth itself. Therefore, upon my departure from India for Europe, one of my Indian teachers expressed the wish to bring the teachings proclaimed by Blavatsky to bear in Germany, to compare them with the teachings of the Christian mystics, and to bring to light the mystical treasures in which Germany is so rich, but which lie dormant, covered in dust, in the forgotten corners of our libraries.

That an elevation of mankind to a higher stage of development is scarcely doubted by anyone, and it is just as certain that this will be achieved neither by an accumulation of philosophical theories, of which the world already has a heavy quantity, nor can it happen by high-sounding phrases and unctuous sayings. Anyone who considers the current and unsustainable conditions and the general confusion which will inevitably lead to a general revolution will easily see that these conditions have their sole root in egoism. Every organism, be it an individual, a sect, a state, a nation, seeks to elevate itself at any cost. Everyone fights not only for existence, but for the greatest pleasure that he can derive from this material existence, and in the process becomes less and less conscientious in the choice of his means. Each seeks his own advantage to the detriment of the other, and there can be no improvement until men learn, in appreciation of the baseness and superficiality of lofty principles, instead of acting out of self-conceit and self-interest, and this will not happen until a larger proportion of people recognize what is good and noble, beautiful and sublime, true and immortal and of a divine nature in each individual.^[18]

     The early leaders of the Theosophical movement were sent to India to help revive the near extinct ancient wisdom which was interspersed throughout the great literature of India. So too, Dr. Franz Hartmann was sent back to his native land of Germany to reawaken the vast treasures which the German people had in their native literature and writings of great mystics. Such a task for a mortal to accomplish. But he was relentless and untiring, attributes which served to correct errors along the way and get the work done.

Works Cited

• Hartmann, Franz, M.D. 1897. “Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der ‘Lotusblüten.’” Translated from the German by Robert Hütwohl. Lotusblüten X, no. 60 (September): 603–631.
  • 1897 “Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der ‘Lotusblüten.’ VI. ‘Besessenheit.’” Translated from the German by Robert Hütwohl. Lotusblüten X, no. 62 (November): 809–832.
  • 1898 “Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der ‘Lotusblüten.’” Translated from the German by Robert Hütwohl. Lotusblüten XI, no. 65 (February): 125–150.
  • 1898 “Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der ‘Lotusblüten.’ IV. Hinter den Coulissen.” Translated from the German by Robert Hütwohl. Lotusblüten XI, no. 68 (May): 365–383.
  • 1898 “Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der ‘Lotusblüten.’ V. Europa.” Translated from the German by Robert Hütwohl. Lotusblüten XI, no. 69 (June): 457–469.
  • 1900 “Ein Abschied.” Translated from the German by Robert Hütwohl. Lotusblüten 16, no. 99 (December): 809–826.
  • 1908 “Aus meinem Leben.” Translated from the German by Robert Hütwohl. Neue Lotusblüten I, no. 1-2 (January-February): 37-62.
  • 1909 “Vertrauliche Mitteilungen aus den Kreisen der tibetanischen Meister.” Neue Lotusblüten 2, no. 9-10 (September-October): 278.
• Hütwohl, Robert. Bibliography of Franz Hartmann, M.D. with Annotations. With an Addenda: His Stay in Georgetown, Colorado, USA. Compiled and translated from German, French, Spanish and Italian sources by Robert Hütwohl. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Spirit of the Sun Publications, 2001.

^[1] Caolbha (or Caolbadius): son of (No. 44) Crunnbhadroi; brother of Frochar, and uncle of Fergus Fogha. Caolbha: his son; the (123rd and) last Monarch of the Irian race, and 47th King of Ulster.

^[2] Instead of translating into English, Dr. Hartmann’s German version of the letter, and since the original letter was in English, I am using that English version as given by Master M, as found in H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings VIII. 1887. Madras, India: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1980, 444-445.

^[3] Franz Hartmann, M.D. “Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der ‘Lotusblüten.’” Lotusblüten X, No. 60 (September 1897): 619. [All translations from the German, here and subsequently, are by Robert Hütwohl.]

^[4] Franz Hartmann, M.D. “Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der ‘Lotusblüten.’” Lotusblüten 10, No. 60 (September 1897): 623.

^[5] Franz Hartmann, M.D. “Aus meinem Leben.” Neue Lotusblüten 1, no. 1-2 (January-February 1908): 45.

^[6] Franz Hartmann, M.D. “Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der ‘Lotusblüten.’ VI. Besessenheit.” Lotusblüten 10, no. 62 (November 1897): 824.

^[7] Hartmann, “Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der ‘Lotusblüten.’ VI. Besessenheit.” 825, 827.

^[8] Hartmann, “Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der ‘Lotusblüten.’ VI. Besessenheit.” 828-829.

^[9] Hartmann, “Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der ‘Lotusblüten.’ VI. Besessenheit.” 816.

^[10] Hartmann, “Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der ‘Lotusblüten.’ VI. Besessenheit.” 832.

^[11] Franz Hartmann, M.D. “Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der ‘Lotusblüten.’” Lotusblüten 11, no. 65 (February 1898): 139.

^[12] Franz Hartmann, M.D. “Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der ‘Lotusblüten.’ IV. Hinter den Coulissen.” Lotusblüten 11, no. 68 (May 1898): 366-367.

^[13] Hartmann, “Denkwürdige Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Verfassers der ‘Lotusblüten.’ IV. Hinter den Coulissen.” 375.

^[14] For an in depth representation, detailing Dr. Hartmann’s works, lectures, consecrations and works of other authors translated and/or annotated by Dr. Hartmann, see my Bibliography of Franz Hartmann, M.D. with Annotations. With an Addenda: His Stay in Georgetown, Colorado, USA., compiled from German, French, Spanish and Italian sources by Robert Hütwohl. Santa Fe, New Mexico, Spirit of the Sun Publications, 2001.

^[15] Franz Hartmann, M.D. “Vertrauliche Mitteilungen aus den Kreisen der tibetanischen Meister.” Neue Lotusblüten 2, no. 9-10 (September-October 1909), 278.

^[16] As the conditions, especially in London, indicated western materialism (big business and Christian convictions) had blinded the masses into thinking the burial of the deceased in an expensive box was the preferred way to dispose of the body (at least for the first and second class funerals) the practice of cremation had a slow start. The Theosophical Society would help lead the world for the idea of cremation, in both London (H.P.B. in 1891 at Woking Crematorium) and Pennsylvania, at least in the west, as we know cremation was popular with the Aztecs, Romans (but not the Greeks who chose the method of burial but later allowed cremation, probably due to Roman influence) and the people of India and Tibet had been practicing it for hundreds of years. Evidence of cremation goes back to the Stone and Bronze Ages.)

^[17] My emphasis has been added.

^[18] Franz Hartmann, M.D. “Ein Abschied.” Lotusblüten 16, no. 99 (December 1900): 809–810.