The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-05-18
DR.. Allan Griffths Says Men
Are Reborn On Earth
Many Times.
TWO PHILOSOPHICAL LECTURES
An Argument for Cremation on the
Theory That the Astral Body
Haunts Graveyards.

The advent of the Countess Wachtmeis-
ter of the Colonel Olcott faction of the
Theosophical Society has caused stir
locally.
There were two largely attended meet
lngs last night, one in Beethoven Hall,
addressed by the Countess under the hos
pitable wing of Golden Gate Lodge and
one in Red Mems Hall, q few doors east,
where DR.. Allan Griffiths of the Theosophi-
cal Society in America spoke to an equally
large and appreciative audience.
Before beginning his lecture DR.. Grit
fiths was asked to explain the difference be-
tween the two factions of the seekers after
truth. He said that the Theosophical So
ciety, OF which Nine. Blavatsky was the
founder, was first organized in New York
City. j. Q. Judge, the predecessor of
President Hargrove, was the first vice
president and secretary of the American
section. Judge was great power because
of his superior skill and judgment in draw
ing men and women to him, and he made
the American section a great organization
among the followers of the "Ho, alb
oriente, phos''-the light from the east
When Madame Blavatsky died, Judge
stepped into her Shoes he being eminently
well qualified for the position by reason of
his occult knowledge and his intimacy
with the adopts or Mahatmas who con-
template the affairs of this life from the
snowy SUBMITS of the Himalayas, in
Thibet, where Able Hue saw so many
miraculous phenomena.
Judge was much higher than mere
student" said DIR. Griffiths in an inter
view last night. ''He was the highest
chela.
Colonel Olcott was only an exoteric
member, not an esoteric or student of the
| occult. His knowledge of occuitism was
what placed him at the head OF the order.
Judge worked without salary and never
used his power to benefit HIMSELF
"karma and Reincarnation" was the
| theme OF DR.. Griffiths' discourse. 1t was
| up to the standard of his able efforts and
| was literally applauded.
Beethoven Hall, in the Hotel SAVOY, was
J ia mined with people. Alter all the chairs
were taken several rows of men and
women were obliged to stand against the
walls. The Countess Wachtmeister is
| portly lady, on the shady side of 40. She
has full, rich voice, which she uses to ad-
vantage, and she speaks in the accent of
an educated English woman. Her subject
was "D-ath and After" and it was han
| died from the theosophlcal point of view
/ III
London deliver sermon on hell, in which
he pointed out the horrors of that place so
wildly that women trembled and burst
| into tears.
She said that no one dreaded death so
much as the person who believes in the
existence of hell. People may create their
own hell on earth by vile and wicked and
malicious thoughts and people the space
around them with devils born in their own
minds. Thoughts are entities that will re-
turn to torment the person from whom
they issue.
eve sorrow for the dead" said the
speaker, "but they do not sorrow for US.
/ They yearn for the time when those they
loved on earth may meet them"
The seven parts of man Intertwined with
the body were then described by the
speaker. The astral form, said the speaker,
could, at the command of a magnetizer,
leave the body OF the magnetized and
travel to distant points.
| Some theosophists, of their own Volt
ton could 60 into a trance and send their
astral souls whithersoever they chose.
The speaker favored cremation as
cleanly and sanitary method of disposing
of the bodies of the dead. 1t would also
prevent burial alive. A theosophical rea-
son in favor of cremation, she explained,
was that until the gross material body had
dlsintegrated the astral form lowered
about the place of interment in the shape
of blush mist.