New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-06-10
NEW PUBLICATIONS
AsTRAL PHILOSOPHY.

Oro of the most remarkable things aoou. "au
p,.vatskv. the celebrated prophecies Oh '"o INV
,onbical Society is her power OF producing ,"ppns
and similar spiritual signals. not only oii ."o0' c
,;thin clock-shades and other cavernous oouies' III
w., ,hs hnman head Something like this phe-
,onor anpears TO have started reverberatlons III
.ho sLull of A p Sinnett, esq. To certain extent
the subiect of his book is indeed the mysterious
learning indicated by the title, but the gus Va
Madane Blayatsky are really the chief inspiration
of his pen description aud discussion OF her per
formances filling about twothirds o. lts pages 'o
narratives are doubt remarkanle' nut We ne'u
NO, dwell upon them, first because the wonders
told by Mr. Sinnett do not difer IN KIND OF uesiee
from those related of spiritual mediums and Jug
C,ers. and secondly because these stories seem
co,culated 10 serve no practical purpose Admit
tne the good faith of the narratOrs the public nave
no means of knowing that they were competent oo-
servers noting all the circumstances OF each case
accurately and reporting them exactly as they oc-
curred precise and complete testimony respecting
the strange and the unknown being very nara u
obtain And there is the further and stu stronger
objection to the theosophcal miracles that they
cannot be cited as the proofs of iany lntelhg'oIe
truth and therefore can have no other effect upon
The mind than TO puzzle or entertain. When Peter
and John healed the lame man ii was to convince
the world of the divinity of new religion; put
when Madame Blavatsky's familiar creates tea
Gun If is only to accommodate an unexpected guest
at picnic.
The doctrine of the Philosophical Society. so far
rs that organization has any doctrine is that an
other society, which is nameess, has certain doc
trin,s. which are not to be revealed For ages there
ba, existed a school of occult philosophy possess
ing knowledge not only of esoteric religious truth
hut of tremendous physical forces which modern
science does not suspect 1t fOurlshes at pres
ent chiefly IN India, but it has permeated the wlole
East and il penetrates now as far as Europe nay
as Colonel Ocott could testify, as far as America
Egyptian priests, Chaldean Magi, Gnnstcs' EsseheS'
Pythagoras Plato, ST. Paul, Sir Ed"aiu Dui"er-
Iytton are mentioned among the adeplsi AS ioI
the last-named, Mr.. Sinnett hnds II dncult 10 uh-
dr,tond why the author of " ZanOni" and " The
Gaming Race should have been content to use
mn his incarnation an ornament OF fiction instead
of giving il to the world in a form which should
claim more serious consideration" Perhaps other
people may not find the .nOvelists behavior so eX-
traordinary. The adopts i'll the higher degrees are
supposed TO lead secluded and contemplatlve lives,
and TO communicate with their disciples principally
through occult agencies. They far from desiring
10 thrust the truths of theosophY upon an unbeeY-
ing world: on the contrary they can hardly De
coaxed into letting any of 1t out; and 1t Is only on
rare and special occasions that they consent even
TO the working of a wonder or so, for the SatlSlac-
ton of the faithful We regret to say that Colonel
Ocott is not yet adept he is only so to speak,
catechumen Madame Blavatsly herself is not an
adept. Mr. Sinnett although owing to a train of
fortunate circumstances he has come TO know
what is in this book, has never seen an adept He
has however been in correspondence with one, an
Indian gentleman known as KOot HOomi, who, bay-
ing studied for some time in Europe, writes coplous
and long-wnded English in a style so idiomatic as
10 be urdistnguishable from Mr. Sinnett's own
"The more my readers may be acquainted with In
/. +1,,,1ap flotrI
will be willing to believe except on the most posi-
tive testimony, that the letters from Koot Hooml,
as now publish them, have been written bv ma
tive of India lie proceeds accordingly TO make
the testimony positive by saying that the fact g Is
beyond dispute" The most eXactng sceptic could
ask nothing more positive than that When MI
Sinnett wishes to communicate with the sage, he
gives his letter to Madame .Blavatsky, and she
causes it, occultism only knows how" to be III
Simultaneously conveyed to Koot Hoomi in Thibet.
His replies, which are fifty pages long and immeas-
urably deep are sometimes found on Mr.. Snnetts
haltable sometimes i'll Mr.. Sinnetts napkin, and
occasionally they come by post. They leave some
thing to be desired in the way of precise informa-
ton but they are delightfully."- ingenious. MI. Sin
nett for example, asked for test miracle. proposing
as an absolutely conclusive piece of evidence the
production in his presence in India of copy OF The
London Times of that days date. But Koot Hoom
replied that the test was inadmssible, "precisely
because il would close the mouths of the sceptics
the world was prepared for the truth every one
who witnessed the miracle d" would be thrown of
his balance and the result would be deplorable'
IL would be especially disastrous to Mr. SiDnett and
Madame Blavatsky because it would make them
notorious and that of course they would not like.
Evidently Root HoOm is discreet and cOnslderate
person.l
II is difficult to say what the occult Brothers may
not be able TO do through their familiarity with
hidden forces of nature, but the powers of theirs
which appear to have particularly impressed Mr..
Sinnett arc connected with their superiority to the
ordinary limitations of time place material OBJ
stacles, etc. They can communicate with one an
other at any moment. thongh separated by me me
exercise OF WILL psychological biography.
They enjoy a degree of clairvOyance which makes
them practically Omniscient in mundane affairs
They can transport themselves over vast distances
In the twnklmg OF a bedpOst. They can cause solid
material objects TO pass through otheT SOLOS. re
cciying closed letters, they can read them without
opening them, and can write the answer-mOre
properly impress or precipitate written answer
on the inside These magic feats are performed by
means OF familiarity with force IN nature which
outsiders know nothing about Mr.. Sinnett says
that il is referred TO in Sanscrit writings akaz"
1t would be interesting TO nave a more dehnlte
reference to this Sanscrt" word, because there Is
no z in Sanscrit, nor any sound which we could
represent by that letter. The manner IN which
aka" works in the occult transmission of objects
is fortunately susceptible OF some partial eXplana
ton even for ordinary readers" The body to be
transmitted is first picked up by the thOughtpowcr
of Brother who may be thousands OF miles distant
is then disintegated into infinitely minute par
tcles is conveyed in that condition by currents"
is passed through other matter if any intervenes
and is finally restored TO its original solidarity. If
this partial explanation does not satisfy the ord-
nary reader. il only be because the union OF his
mind with the minds of the adopts is prevented
by its induced inequalities" Doubtless there
even scoiers who will find fault with the state
ment OF Koot Hoomi that the result of the highest
intellection in the scientifically occupied brain Is
the evolution of a sublimateO form of spiritual en-
ergy, which, in the cosnc action is productive of
llliInitable results; SO that the complete adept