Translation from German by Robert Hutwohl[1]

On June 7, 1905, one of the greatest inventors and one of the most brilliant men, Dr. Karl Kellner, died suddenly in Vienna at the age of 54. The leading medical authorities treated him during his illness, but all of them contradicted each other in their opinions, and no one could ascertain the nature of his illness either before or after his death. As his death is undoubtedly due to occult causes, a description of this case, however brief, will be of interest and instructive to all those who are striving to learn occult arts.

          Dr. Kellner was no ordinary man. He was born in Vienna in September 1851 as the son of respectable citizens and spent his years of study in Vienna and Paris. When he was barely twenty-two years old, he invented the so-called “sulphite cellulose process,” i.e., a process for chemically producing the material needed for paper production, the plant fiber, from wood and other plant materials, a process which is now generally used for paper production, whereas previously it was limited to rags and ground wood. In addition to this invention, to which the present paper industry owes its prosperity, Dr. Kellner made a number of other extremely important inventions, of which we will only mention the following as the main ones:

      1. Numerous devices and machines for the production of pulp and paper.
      2. The bleaching of fibers by means of electricity.
      3. A process for the electrolytic decomposition of salt solutions, whereby chemically pure caustic soda and chlorine can be produced on a large scale, and whereby soda production was transformed.

          Dr. Kellner also worked on a number of experiments and new inventions, some of which were successful and some of which were not yet fully developed at the time of his death. These include his sensational discovery of being able to transform one chemical “element” into another “element” using high-voltage electric currents, of artificially producing real gemstones (turquoise, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, etc.), of transforming mercury into a solid body — in short, things that fall into the field of alchemy. His unfinished inventions include: The production of sugar and alcohol from the residues of the liquid used in paper manufacture; the production of cellulose from wood while simultaneously obtaining the products of dry distillation; the utilization of zinc-containing gravel combustion products; the extraction of copper from very poor copper ores; alloys using electricity; acetylene lighting for railway carriages; incandescent lamps and light bulbs; electric rotary lamp, etc. Mention should also be made of the help which Dr. Kellner gave to his long-time and intimate friend, the author of this article, in the development of his invention, the so-called “lignosulphite,” a gaseous antiseptic agent. This antiseptic, intended for inhalation, has proved to be brilliantly effective in the treatment of diseases of the respiratory organs and is beginning to gain an international reputation.

          As is clear from the above, it was Dr. Kellner’s aim to penetrate as deeply as possible into the secrets of nature, and had he been content with that, we would probably not have to mourn his loss today; but he wanted to aim even higher. He also wanted to include the realm of alchemy in the sphere of his scientific research and to subject certain powers, which are called “supernatural” because they do not belong to “natural man” but to man reborn in spirit, to scientific research and to place them in the service of science. In this he failed because, despite his extraordinarily high intelligence, he did not yet have the maturity necessary for this; for to work magic you must be either a god or a devil. As early as 1887 Dr. Kellner joined the “Theosophical Society” and partly on his advice the author of this article decided to publish “Lotusblüten,”[2] through which theosophical teachings and Indian philosophy were spread in Germany. Dr. Kellner sought to increase his knowledge everywhere. He held a high position in Freemasonry and was for several years a member of a Rosicrucian society, which is mentioned in my book “Among the Adepts.” He was an idealist and consequently a dreamer; he looked for “masters” in the outside world and therefore fell into the hands of fraudsters who sold him so-called “yoga exercises” and to whom he submitted himself.

          For example, he took lessons from a certain “Soliman Ben Aisha,” an Arab who could pierce his tongue, take out his eye, eat snakes and do similar things, and who also made himself visible [R.H.—invisible?] in public. Then he took as his teacher an Indian from Lahore named “Bheema Sena Pratapa,” who had the ability to put himself into a sleep similar to apparent death through autohypnosis and who also performed at the international psychology congress held in Munich, and finally he placed himself under the leadership of a certain Indian named “Sri Mahatma Agamya Guru Parahamsa,”[3] who boastfully claimed to be a saint and “master of all masters” and also caused mischief in Berlin.

          Dr. Kellner was taught the “science of breathing” and other exercises by this “Agamya Guru” and now believed he had achieved his goal. “Finally,” he wrote to the author, “I have found what I have striven for all my life.” However, the exercises he undertook had one result, and that was that he attracted a number of astral influences from which he could no longer free himself. In the room of his laboratory in Vienna, which he had set up for alchemical purposes, ghostly apparitions soon began to appear, and one day his laboratory assistant, a young, perfectly healthy man, fell down dead, without the doctors being able to find a cause of death when they dissected the cadaver.

          A few passages from Kellner’s letters to the author may serve to shed light on his condition:

“I do my exercises, climb a little higher and then tumble down even further. I fear the guarding hordes.”

“All these arts are reprehensible as such; but they open up the field of knowledge and are thus useful in an indirect way.”

          Soon after Dr. Kellner became a pupil of the notorious “Mahatma Agamya,” and shortly after the death of his laboratory assistant, mentioned above, he himself was attacked by that mysterious illness for which the doctors could not explain and which confined him to bed for about six months. When I last saw him he was emaciated to the point of being a skeleton and could hardly move a finger. He was also completely deaf. During the winter he recovered somewhat and was transported to Egypt to enjoy sunshine and warmth. From there he returned in fairly good health in early June, visited his alchemical cabinet in the laboratory and died suddenly the following night. It seems that the influences which he had attracted there were chained to this place, and when he returned they again took possession of him; for these things return to the source from which they were born.[4]

          We are of course far from wanting to reproach Dr. Kellner; he acted out of ignorance, because he did not understand that union with the divine is an end in itself and should not be used for any personal purpose (even if it is the advancement of science). God in his innermost being is eternal rest. Whoever wants to reach him must have rest, and this can only be achieved through a lack of desire, or more correctly, through being above all personal desires. Whoever wants to elevate himself to the level of divinity in order to make it an object of scientific investigation places himself above God, even without being aware of it, and he suffers like Icarus, of whom the myth tells that he tried to ascend to the sun with waxen wings; but the wings melted and he fell. Knowledge of God (theosophy) can only be attained through a complete sacrifice of selfhood and all earthly desires.

          This does not mean, however, that Dr. Kellner was an ordinary egoist. He was a person who charmed everyone who met him with his kindness. An obituary published in the daily newspapers rightly states:

“His kindness, his deep, unfeigned sympathy with everyone, his cheerful, heart-warming disposition won him countless warm followers. The more one got to know him, the more one discovered his worthy qualities; his all-encompassing altruistic love always stood out, which was expressed whether by consoling the suffering, by doing charity to the needy, by lifting up the helpless or by spreading the joy of life.”

          And as we write this, we have before us hundreds of alleged occultists who are morally and intellectually far below Dr. Kellner, and who are trying to enter the temple of divine wisdom through the back door in order to draw the divine down to themselves and use it for their own ends. Some of these, and we could declare well-known names, have committed suicide, others have become ill and died, and still others have fallen into madness. Many such deluded people are in the hands of impostors and on the road to destruction. We have written the above sketch as a warning to them, but since the craving for knowledge, power and fame is not to be removed, we do not expect success in this either.

Notes:

[1] Dr. Karl Kellner, a Victim of Occultism [Dr. Karl Kellner, ein Opfer des Occultismus. Von Dr. Franz Hartmann. Theosophischer Wegweiser 8, no 4 (January 1907), 137-140 {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than minor typos, by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}

[2] [R.H.—Although this is certainly true, it was Master Morya who suggested to Dr. Hartmann that he should, after a 3-year stay at Adyar, India, working with H. P. Blavatsky, Col. Olcott and many others, return back to Europe and try to renew the heritage of the German-speaking people as to their own great thinkers and their writings from the past.]

[3] [R.H.—This book, “The Science of Breath,” is still published today.]

[4] This reminds us of a case described in the “Lotusblüten”: A gentleman in Paris suddenly went mad and was taken to a madhouse in Naples. There he raved in his cell. After a few months he recovered just as suddenly; he was released and returned to Paris. Some time later he was informed that his ghost was still frequently seen haunting the same cell. He became curious to see this and, despite repeated warnings, travelled to Naples. There he had his cell unlocked and was immediately possessed again, which is how he remained until his death.