Translation from German by Robert Hutwohl[i]
The attempt by a certain party to convert the “Theosophical Society” into an orthodox Brahmin sect and to introduce certain articles of faith into it has, as was to be expected, ended in a miserable fiasco for this party; for at the convention of theosophical societies held in Boston (Mass.) at the beginning of May, they expressed their aversion to all dogmatism by declaring the “Theosophical Society in America” its independence by an overwhelming majority (191 to 10) and appointing W.Q. Judge as president for life. The “Theosophical Society in America” is thus a society for free research, in which every member is free to believe what he thinks is good, or as far as his cognitive ability extends, without hanging on the coattails of anyone else, if he can stand on his own two feet. This is the answer they deserve to those well-meaning but extremely short-sighted people who, through their ignorance, were close to destroying the work of H. P. Blavatsky by substituting blind faith in authority for their own thinking and wanting to introduce a kind of hierarchy into the T. S. It is true that these opponents of freedom, blinded by self-delusion, believe that truth is the highest; but the truth which is the highest for them is their own; that is, what they believe to be true and which they want to instill in others at all costs; but they know nothing of the truth itself, which is above everything and therefore also above all faith in authority and all personal opinions.
The Theosophical Society in America is free, and a number of theosophical societies in Europe have joined it; others will follow when they are ready. The revolution which has taken place in the T.S. was a natural process, necessary for the purification of that society at the present stage of its growth; for after the T.S. has existed for twenty years, it was necessary that those who do not possess the ability to see what the nature of Theosophy is should remain behind and not become an insuperable obstacle to the progress of the Theosophical movement.
As far as the “Lotusblüten” are concerned, they remain true to their resolution to keep away from all club-related and party-related activities and to contribute only to general enlightenment and edification, and therefore like to associate with those who not only “do not belong to any party” (and thereby form a party for themselves), but are above all party spirit and seek refuge not in the opinions of this or that person, but in their own spiritual knowledge, in higher thinking and feeling.
In the “scientific supplement” of the “Leipziger Zeitung” No. 56, edited by Dr. Julius Riffert, there is a “critique” of the “Lotusblüten” which deserves to be handed down to posterity as a historical “curiosity”.
Lotusblüten. Theosophical monthly magazine. Published by Franz Hartmann. Leipzig, Wilhelm Friedrich. Year 10 marks. Individual issues 1 mark.— The magazine preaches a pantheism of a fantastic kind, which is based on the corresponding teachings of Buddhism. If we can fully believe the leading article at the top of the January issue before us, the enterprise has had an unexpectedly great success, and this fact is much more remarkable to us than all the strange talk of adepts, nirvana, elemental spirits, etc. It is not only a testimony to the decline in religious knowledge in certain sections of the population, but above all to a spiritual degeneration of the circles concerned. That all the ideas which are presented here as the newest, insofar as they have any significance for the human intellectual development, have already found their effect in German philosophy and especially in medieval mysticism, is something this generation knows not the least bit about, for it does not concern itself with philosophy, except perhaps to deign to look at von Hartmann and Nietzsche. But the need for knowledge must ultimately be satisfied, and so one visits Buddhism and receives with a kind of horrific pleasure the statements of this fantastically embellished materialism, which knows how to go about in the guise of apparent ethical rigor. And while one turns one’s back on the sublime wonders of Christianity as an enlightened person of the nineteenth century, one willingly allows the fairy tales of Indian and Japanese adepts to be forced upon one. Since the followers of such a theosophy are lost anyway due to a lack of moral strength for Christianity, we lament the increase in these efforts mainly in the national interest: it is the receipt for the ongoing decline of the higher thinking ability.
B.K.
Regarding astrology, “the celestial science,” the London-based Borderland says the following:
“There is no science older, grander, and more exact, and about which the public in general knows less, and which is less appreciated and understood by it, than astrology. Without making the slightest attempt to understand this sublime science, the present “learned world” is content to reject this great philosophy, the study of which has occupied the greatest thinkers in past centuries, and to deny it all value. That misunderstanding arises from error is understandable; that ignorance arrogates to itself the right to pass judgment on matters of great importance of which it knows nothing is annoying; but that many, without ever taking the trouble to think for themselves, worship these ignorant screamers and adopt their folly would be ridiculous if it were not very regrettable.”
Astrology is the science of the spiritual forces at work in the universe, and is no less exact than astronomy, which deals only with the material side of the universe, i.e. with the movements of the visible celestial bodies.
But in addition to the spiritual significance of astrology, it also has its material value; for spirit and matter are not separate things, but are intimately connected with one another, in that the spirit works through matter. What is love in the spiritual realm, expresses itself in the material realm through mechanical attraction or gravity, and if material “science” knew the spiritual relationships of the planets to one another, our “experts” would not be so at a loss when faced with an earthquake, the causes of which astrologers have long since recognized. For example, in the March issue of the Boston astrological journal Stars and People we find the earthquake in Laibach,[ii] which began on April 22nd and has not yet subsided, already predicted, and it is claimed that this is only the beginning of a series of tremors which will in the not distant future shake the earth from its core to its periphery. If this happens, it will only fulfill what H. P. Blavatsky predicted for the end of this century.
Note:
[1] Little things. Various. Franz Hartmann, M.D. Lotusblüten 5, no. 33 (June 1895), 461-467 [Kleinigkeiten] {Translation from German by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}
[2] [R.H.—The largest city in Slovenia. Also spelled: Ljubljana. Ljubljana spelling goes back to medieval times.]