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'''Mahatma Letter to Henry Steel Olcott - LMW Vol. 2 No. 3'''
[[File:WIZARDS - Mythical Monsters and other works.jpg|right|240px|thumb|Books by Wizards Bookshelf]]
'''Wizards Bookshelf''' was a publishing house operated by [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Blavatsky]] scholar Richard Robb. The company was founded in Minneapolis in 1972, and later moved to San Diego, California. It continued producing books until 2006[?].  


{{Infobox MLbox
== The Secret Doctrine Reference Series ==
| header1 = People involved |
| writtenby        = [[Tuitit Bey]]
| receivedby        = [[Henry Steel Olcott]]
| sentvia          = unknown
| header2 = Dates
| writtendate      = June-August 1875
| receiveddate      = June-August 1875
| otherdate        = none
| header3 = Places
| sentfrom          = unknown
| receivedat        = New York 
| vialocation      = none
}}
'''This letter is Letter No. 3 in ''Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom, Volume II.''''' Mahatma Tuitit Bey reassures Henry Steel Olcott that Mahatmas are watching over him
<br>
<br>
<big>[[Mahatma Letter No. 139|Next letter to Olcott'''<nowiki> > </nowiki>''']]</big>{{pad|3em}}
<br>
<br>
== Page 1 transcription, image, and notes ==


{{Col-begin|width=98%}}
=== History of the series ===
{{Col-break|width=55%}}
FROM the BROTHERHOOD OF LUXOR, Section the Vth


to Henry S. Olcott.
Mr. Robb wrote about the beginnings of Wizards Bookshelf in ''Sunrise'' in November 1975:
 
<blockquote>
Brother Neophyte, we greet thee.
''The Secret Doctrine'' was written for the Western world to stem the tide of abject materialism. No messenger made his appearance in glowing aura to impress the multitude and, if he had, he would probably have been completely ignored. Instead, we have a book designed to gain acceptance in the minds of thinking men for many long years to come. The form and content of the S.D. is such that the student is constantly referred to the thoughts and ideas of hundreds of authors, all of whom are generally tending in the same direction.
 
He who seeks us finds us. TRY. [[File:ML symbol.gif]]
 
Rest thy mind — banish all foul doubt. We keep watch over our faithful soldiers. Sister Helen is a valiant, trustworthy servant. Open thy Spirit to conviction, have faith and she will lead thee to the Golden Gate of truth. She neither fears sword nor fire but her soul is sensitive to dishonour and she hath reason to mistrust the future. Our good brother “John” hath verily acted rashly, but he meant well. Son of the World, if thou dost hear them both. TRY. [[File:ML symbol.gif]]
 
It is our wish to effect an opprobrious punishment on the man Child and through thy means, brother. TRY. [[File:ML symbol.gif]]
 
David is honest and his heart is pure and innocent as the mind of a babe, but he is not ready physically. Thou hast many good mediums around thee, don’t give up thy club. TRY. [[File:ML symbol.gif]]
 
Brother “John” hath brought three of our Masters to look at thee after the séance. Thy noble exertions on behalf of our cause now give us the right of letting thee know who they were:
 
Serapis Bey (Ellora Section)<br>
Polydorus Isurenus (Section of Solomon)<br>
Robert More (Section of Zoroaster)<br>
 
Sister Helen will explain thee the meaning of the Star and colors.
 
Activity and Silence as to the present.
By Order of the Grand


TUITIT BEY
Some people have claimed that the 750 and more books cited are merely proofs. But what are proofs? If these references are by sheer weight of numbers designed to force people to believe the validity of the teachings developed in the S.D., then surely the exposition could have been far more explicit and detailed, thus removing from the mind of the inquirer any chance of doubt. But this is not the case. As stated in the Preface, there is simply not room enough to explain the complete scheme of nature in two volumes. It would take a thousand volumes. Moreover, the ideas expressed are often obscure to the Western mind, because we have no background. Background in these areas is best supplied by the very sources that are used, and the reader will discover that there are perhaps 40 or 50 out of the 750+ books referred to that are mentioned with regularity.
When I first became interested in The Secret Doctrine, an interest that was fostered by happenstance — an encounter with a copy of The Mahatma Letters in a small bookstore in New Orleans — I felt the work was utterly impossible, that there was little chance that I would ever be able to understand it. However, I found parts so interesting that I continued to read. Whole paragraphs passed without the least bit of comprehension, but occasionally a page really made sense to me.


<nowiki>*symbol*</nowiki>
That was in 1965. Several people told me that the S.D. could not be read per se, but used only as a sort of dictionary or reference work. Be that as it may, I started and read the entire two volumes all the way through. When I had finished, two things were uppermost in my mind: first, that I was utterly ignorant; and secondly, that my education had left me totally unprepared for the study of The Secret Doctrine. Here was a range of knowledge that required effort and scholarly endeavor, books that I had never heard of before, whole subject areas that were foreign to me. As it turned out, I really was motivated to begin my education over again. And in so doing I set out to find some of the books quoted or referred to in the S.D. Of course, these were rather scarce and I didn't locate them immediately. However, after a time I discovered a copy of ''The Source of Measures'' on a used book list and sent away for it. The parts of [[J. Ralston Skinner|Skinner's]] treatise that I did understand were an absolute revelation to me. "Why," I thought, "hadn't the Masons made a point of preserving this text, so rare and valuable as it is?" Inquiries of local Masons indicated that they possessed little knowledge of the subject matter. At length, I became convinced of the absolute necessity of preserving the text of ''The Source of Measures'', regardless of cost or its public acceptance. Some day, somewhere, there would be men who would fasten upon these ideas. Though utterly unacquainted with the publishing industry, I did finally succeed in reprinting 535 copies. Response to advertisements was nonexistent. However, a few copies were sold, and I was encouraged to the extent that I considered a second title — ''The Book of Enoch''. Since then the list of titles has steadily grown.


Observatory of Luxor.                                                                 <nowiki>*symbol*</nowiki>
Thus the "Secret Doctrine Reference Series" (published by Wizards Bookshelf) came into being. It is fundamentally designed to guarantee future generations access to the ideas contained in the already rare and difficult-to-obtain titles of past centuries. These works, if hard to find today, will be impossible to locate a hundred years from now.
Tuesday Morning.
There are many whose spiritual longing and philosophical inquiry are too sacred to be exposed among strangers or even among friends who they suspect may have entirely different views. The fact is, it is the written word that allows the student the privacy of his own thoughts, that gives rise to the most profound aspirations and the most intuitive insights It is literature, then due to its impersonal character, its relative permanence and its very silence, that has motivated us.
Day of Mars.
 
{{Col-break|width=3%}}
{{Col-break|width=15%}}
'''Images not available yet'''
 
{{Col-break|width=30%}}
'''NOTES:'''
*
 
{{Col-end}}
 
== Context and background ==
 
[[Curuppumullage Jinarājadāsa|Mr. Jinarajadasa]] provided this background information:
<blockquote>
As is well known, H. P. Blavatsky went to America at the direct command of the Masters, and, throughout all her time there, she was in constant communication with several of Them. At first, the detailed direction of her work was under the supervision of the Egyptian Brothers, of whom the chief is the Adept who called Himself Serapis Bey. Associated with Him were others, among whom Tuitit Bey is referred to several times by H.P.B.
 
Colonel Olcott has not mentioned anywhere the date when he received this letter from the Brotherhood of Luxor. It is evidently among the earliest letters received by him, if not the first.<ref>CJ, LMW2...........</ref>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>


== Physical description of letter ==
Richard Robb wrote of [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's]] work '''[[The Secret Doctrine (book)|''The Secret Doctrine'']]''':  
 
The original may be in the Adyar Archives or Adyar ES Archives. [[Curuppumullage Jinarājadāsa|Mr. Jinarajadasa]] described the letter in this way:
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
The envelope is addressed as follows:
''The Secret Doctrine'' is a timeless synthesis of philosophy, science, religion, history and metaphysics; its bibliography of over 1,000 books and journals draws upon many languages, and it has been called the most abstruse work in English.<ref>Richard Robb email to Michael Conlin. October 29, 2023. Theosophical Society in America Archives.</ref>
 
O.G.L. pour Messager Special
Colonel H. S. Olcott,
au No. 7, Beekman Street, New York,
États Unis d’Amérique.
aux bons soins de Madame H. Blavatsky
F.G.S. R +
 
The envelope is of black glazed paper and the inscription on it is in gold ink, which is now somewhat faded. It is closed with a red seal, but the seal is not decipherable. The letter is written in gold ink on thick green paper. The letter is now in four pieces.<ref>CJ, LMW2...........</ref>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>


== Publication history ==
{|style="margin: 0 auto;"
| [[File:Wizards_Bookshelf_MEC_set.jpg|400px|center|thumb|SD Reference Series with Blavatsky books. Owned by Michael Conlin]]
|}
=== List of titles in the series ===


* '''''The Divine Pymander of Hermes''''' translated from Arabic by John Everard.
* '''''The Virgin of the World: Hermes''''' translated by Dr. Anna Kingsford.
* '''''The Book of Enoch the Prophet''''' translated from Ethiopie by Richard Laurence.
* '''''Esoteric Budhism''''' by A.P. Sinnett. 1885 edition with annotations.
* '''''The Origin & Significance of the Gt Pyramid''''' by C. Staniland Wake.
* '''''The Eleusinian & Bacchic Mysteries''''' translated by Thomas Taylor, notes by Alex Wilder.
* '''''The Chaldean Account of Genesis''''' translated from Cuneiform tablets by George Smith.
* '''''Sacred Mysteries Among the Mayas & Quiches''''' by Augustus LePleongeon.
* '''''The Theosophist: Volume I''''' edited by H.P. Blavatsky. 320p.
* '''''On the Mysteries: Iamblichus''''' translated by Thomas Taylor.
* '''''The Desatir''''' (1818) translated by Mulla Firuz bin Kaus.
* '''''The Pythagorean Triangle''''' by George Oliver.
* '''''Key to the Hebrew-Egyptian Mystery in the Source of Measures, + index & notes''''' by J. Ralston Skinner.
* '''''The Gnostics & Their Remains''''' by Charles W. King.
* '''''Mythological Astronomy of the Ancients Demonstrated''''' by Samson Arnold Mackay. Revised 2nd edition 1826.
* '''''The Zohar (Bereshith)''''' translated by Nurho de Manhar
* '''''Theon of Smyrna: Mathematics Useful for Understanding Plato''''' translated by Robert & Deborah Lawlor.
* '''''Surya Siddhanta (Hindu astronomy)''''' translated by E. Burgess & W.D. Whitney.
* '''''New Platonism & Alchemy''''' by Dr. Alexander Wilder.
* '''''The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac''''' by T. Subba Row.
* '''''Plato: Cratylus, Phaedo, Parmenides, Timaeus, & Critius''''' translated by Thomas Taylor. (1793 edition, reset).
* '''''Ancient Fragments of the Egyptian Phoenician, etc.''''' translated by I.P. Cory. 1832 edition.
* '''''Posthumous Humanity''''' by Adolphe D'Assier translated by Henry S. Olcott.
* '''''The Anugita''''' translated by K.T. Telang.
* '''''Mythical Monsters''''' by Charles Gould.
* '''''Life & Teachings of Paracelsus''''' by Dr. Franz Hartmann.
* '''''The Qabbalah''''' by Isaac Myer, intro by H.P. Blavatsky.
* '''''Sepher Yetzireh''''' translated by W. W. Westcott.
* '''''Sod, the Sun of Man''''' by S.F. Dunlap.


== Commentary about this letter ==
== Other books published ==
 
[[Curuppumullage Jinarājadāsa|Mr. Jinarajadasa]] provided this commentary:
<blockquote>
The letters of the Master Serapis several times mention John King. Under this name several entities seem to have played their part in the early days of Spiritualism. Spirits calling themselves “John King” still materialise, with the orthodox features, but they are fraudulent spirits, I think, utterly lacking in the distinction which was a characteristic of the genuine and original John King, Colonel Olcott mentions that John King was first heard of in 1850. According to Colonel Olcott, there were three John Kings: 1. “An elemental pure and simple, employed by H.P.B. and a certain other expert in the doing of wonders”; 2. “the earth-haunting soul of Sir Henry Morgan, the famous buccaneer”; 3. “messenger and servant—never the equal—of living Adepts”. It is this third John King who is referred to in the letters of the Master. See Old Diary Leaves, vol. I, chap. I.
The Brotherhood of Luxor which was directing H. P. B. and H. S. O. must be distinguished from “The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor” This was a spurious organisation started somewhere about 1883. The papers about it in the Adyar records show that its principal agent in U. S. A. was a certain “M. Theon, Grand Master pro tem. of the Exterior Circle”. This person’s real name was Peter Davidson, who, in the secret instructions issued, signs himself “Provincial Grand Master of the Northern Section”. The originator of this “H. B. of L.” seems to have been a Hindu, Hurrychund Chintamon, at least one of the records says so. Whether this was the Hurrychund Chintamon of Bombay, who was in correspondence with the Founders in 1875, and who quarrelled with them and with the Arya Samaj over funds sent by the T.S. to the Arya Samaj, I have no means of ascertaining. He seems to have had as fellow-workers Davidson and a certain D’Alton, alias T. H. Burgoyne. Burgoyne seems to have passed under several aliases and was sentenced in 1883 to prison for swindling under the name of Thomas Henry Dalton. Davidson, who was at the time in England, seems to have returned to America. It is not easy to under stand how Thos. M. Johnson, the well-known writer and publisher of The Platonist, of Osceola, Mo., U.S.A., was brought into this quack organization. Writing in 1886 Mr. Johnson, in a letter now among the records concerning “H. B. of L.,” adds to his signature an inscription showing him to be the President of the American Central Committee of the “H. B. of L.” In 1875 when H.P.B. tried to found the Theosophical Movement, she had a definite seal, symbolical of the Brotherhood of Luxor, printer on her note-paper. This seal of hers was imitated with modifications by Davidson for use of the “H. B of L.” From some of the secret instructions, now among the records, of this organization, which Colonel Olcott rightly calls a “gudgeontrap,” it is evident that its “occult”’ teaching was distinctly allied to the questionable practices of the darker Tantric cult of India.
It is characteristic of the letters written to Colonel Olcott by the Master Serapis that often. He gives the exhortation “Try”.
All the letters of the Master Serapis, published in this Part I of this book, are at Adyar. Except one letter, they were all received by Colonel Olcott between the months of June and August, 1875.
 
"on the man Child" - Dr. Henry T. Child. This person came before the American public in January, 1875, as an exposer of two American mediums, Mr. And Mrs. Holmes. Instructions were received by both H.P.B. and H.S.O. that Child himself was to be exposed, as he was their “ex-partner and show-manager” (O.D.L., VOL. I, P. 70). Colonel Olcott exposed Child thoroughly in his People from Another World. Says H.P.B. in her Scrap-Book in one place: “Dr. Child was a confederate. He took money for Holmes’ séances. He is a rascal.” In another place in the Scrap-Book, she writes: “Ordered to expose Dr. Child. I did so. Dr. is a hypocrite, a liar and a fraud.”
 
"David" - I have no clue who David is.
 
"don’t give up thy club" -  The “Miracle Club”, whose organization was announced in the Spiritual Scientist of May 27, 1875. H.P.B. writes of this first attempt to form a Society: “An attempt in consequence of orders received from T.B. . through P. . personating G.K. Ordered to begin telling the public the truth about the phenomena and their mediums. And now my martyrdom will begin! I will have all the Spiritualists against me in addition to the Christians and Skeptics! Thy will. O. M. . !, be done ! H.P.B.”
 
"Ellora section" - Ellora is a series of rock-hewn caves, ten miles north of Daula-tabad, and 225 miles north-west of Bombay. Ellora is still a “tîrtha” or place of pilgrimage, though it has now no reputation as an occult center. “In the rainy season a torrent flows at its foot and a great cascade pours over in front, so that the pilgrims can pass along a ledge behind it and bathe in the falling spray, believing that it is Ganga’s holy stream falling over the great God’s brow. For over a mile in length this scrap of rock is carved into monasteries and temples belonging to different sects, among the earliest being the Buddhist Visvakarma stupahouse already described.” A Handbook of Indian Art, by E. B. Havell, p. 79.<ref>CJ, LMW2...........</ref>
</blockquote>


== Additional resources ==
* '''''Astronomy & Astrology of the Babylonians''''' by A.H. Sayce.
* '''''Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on H.P. Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine'''''.
* '''''The Lost Fragments of Proclus''''' translated by Thomas Taylor.
* '''''The Books of Kiu-Te in the Tibetan Buddhist Tantras''''' by David Reigle.
* '''''H.P. Blavatsky and the Secret Doctrine''''' by Max Heindel.


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
<references/>
<references/>


[[Category:ML from Tuitit Bey]]
[[Category:Publishing companies|Wizards Bookshelf]]

Latest revision as of 16:23, 26 April 2024

Books by Wizards Bookshelf

Wizards Bookshelf was a publishing house operated by Blavatsky scholar Richard Robb. The company was founded in Minneapolis in 1972, and later moved to San Diego, California. It continued producing books until 2006[?].

The Secret Doctrine Reference Series

History of the series

Mr. Robb wrote about the beginnings of Wizards Bookshelf in Sunrise in November 1975:

The Secret Doctrine was written for the Western world to stem the tide of abject materialism. No messenger made his appearance in glowing aura to impress the multitude and, if he had, he would probably have been completely ignored. Instead, we have a book designed to gain acceptance in the minds of thinking men for many long years to come. The form and content of the S.D. is such that the student is constantly referred to the thoughts and ideas of hundreds of authors, all of whom are generally tending in the same direction.

Some people have claimed that the 750 and more books cited are merely proofs. But what are proofs? If these references are by sheer weight of numbers designed to force people to believe the validity of the teachings developed in the S.D., then surely the exposition could have been far more explicit and detailed, thus removing from the mind of the inquirer any chance of doubt. But this is not the case. As stated in the Preface, there is simply not room enough to explain the complete scheme of nature in two volumes. It would take a thousand volumes. Moreover, the ideas expressed are often obscure to the Western mind, because we have no background. Background in these areas is best supplied by the very sources that are used, and the reader will discover that there are perhaps 40 or 50 out of the 750+ books referred to that are mentioned with regularity. When I first became interested in The Secret Doctrine, an interest that was fostered by happenstance — an encounter with a copy of The Mahatma Letters in a small bookstore in New Orleans — I felt the work was utterly impossible, that there was little chance that I would ever be able to understand it. However, I found parts so interesting that I continued to read. Whole paragraphs passed without the least bit of comprehension, but occasionally a page really made sense to me.

That was in 1965. Several people told me that the S.D. could not be read per se, but used only as a sort of dictionary or reference work. Be that as it may, I started and read the entire two volumes all the way through. When I had finished, two things were uppermost in my mind: first, that I was utterly ignorant; and secondly, that my education had left me totally unprepared for the study of The Secret Doctrine. Here was a range of knowledge that required effort and scholarly endeavor, books that I had never heard of before, whole subject areas that were foreign to me. As it turned out, I really was motivated to begin my education over again. And in so doing I set out to find some of the books quoted or referred to in the S.D. Of course, these were rather scarce and I didn't locate them immediately. However, after a time I discovered a copy of The Source of Measures on a used book list and sent away for it. The parts of Skinner's treatise that I did understand were an absolute revelation to me. "Why," I thought, "hadn't the Masons made a point of preserving this text, so rare and valuable as it is?" Inquiries of local Masons indicated that they possessed little knowledge of the subject matter. At length, I became convinced of the absolute necessity of preserving the text of The Source of Measures, regardless of cost or its public acceptance. Some day, somewhere, there would be men who would fasten upon these ideas. Though utterly unacquainted with the publishing industry, I did finally succeed in reprinting 535 copies. Response to advertisements was nonexistent. However, a few copies were sold, and I was encouraged to the extent that I considered a second title — The Book of Enoch. Since then the list of titles has steadily grown.

Thus the "Secret Doctrine Reference Series" (published by Wizards Bookshelf) came into being. It is fundamentally designed to guarantee future generations access to the ideas contained in the already rare and difficult-to-obtain titles of past centuries. These works, if hard to find today, will be impossible to locate a hundred years from now. There are many whose spiritual longing and philosophical inquiry are too sacred to be exposed among strangers or even among friends who they suspect may have entirely different views. The fact is, it is the written word that allows the student the privacy of his own thoughts, that gives rise to the most profound aspirations and the most intuitive insights It is literature, then due to its impersonal character, its relative permanence and its very silence, that has motivated us.

Richard Robb wrote of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's work The Secret Doctrine:

The Secret Doctrine is a timeless synthesis of philosophy, science, religion, history and metaphysics; its bibliography of over 1,000 books and journals draws upon many languages, and it has been called the most abstruse work in English.[1]

SD Reference Series with Blavatsky books. Owned by Michael Conlin

List of titles in the series

  • The Divine Pymander of Hermes translated from Arabic by John Everard.
  • The Virgin of the World: Hermes translated by Dr. Anna Kingsford.
  • The Book of Enoch the Prophet translated from Ethiopie by Richard Laurence.
  • Esoteric Budhism by A.P. Sinnett. 1885 edition with annotations.
  • The Origin & Significance of the Gt Pyramid by C. Staniland Wake.
  • The Eleusinian & Bacchic Mysteries translated by Thomas Taylor, notes by Alex Wilder.
  • The Chaldean Account of Genesis translated from Cuneiform tablets by George Smith.
  • Sacred Mysteries Among the Mayas & Quiches by Augustus LePleongeon.
  • The Theosophist: Volume I edited by H.P. Blavatsky. 320p.
  • On the Mysteries: Iamblichus translated by Thomas Taylor.
  • The Desatir (1818) translated by Mulla Firuz bin Kaus.
  • The Pythagorean Triangle by George Oliver.
  • Key to the Hebrew-Egyptian Mystery in the Source of Measures, + index & notes by J. Ralston Skinner.
  • The Gnostics & Their Remains by Charles W. King.
  • Mythological Astronomy of the Ancients Demonstrated by Samson Arnold Mackay. Revised 2nd edition 1826.
  • The Zohar (Bereshith) translated by Nurho de Manhar
  • Theon of Smyrna: Mathematics Useful for Understanding Plato translated by Robert & Deborah Lawlor.
  • Surya Siddhanta (Hindu astronomy) translated by E. Burgess & W.D. Whitney.
  • New Platonism & Alchemy by Dr. Alexander Wilder.
  • The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac by T. Subba Row.
  • Plato: Cratylus, Phaedo, Parmenides, Timaeus, & Critius translated by Thomas Taylor. (1793 edition, reset).
  • Ancient Fragments of the Egyptian Phoenician, etc. translated by I.P. Cory. 1832 edition.
  • Posthumous Humanity by Adolphe D'Assier translated by Henry S. Olcott.
  • The Anugita translated by K.T. Telang.
  • Mythical Monsters by Charles Gould.
  • Life & Teachings of Paracelsus by Dr. Franz Hartmann.
  • The Qabbalah by Isaac Myer, intro by H.P. Blavatsky.
  • Sepher Yetzireh translated by W. W. Westcott.
  • Sod, the Sun of Man by S.F. Dunlap.

Other books published

  • Astronomy & Astrology of the Babylonians by A.H. Sayce.
  • Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on H.P. Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine.
  • The Lost Fragments of Proclus translated by Thomas Taylor.
  • The Books of Kiu-Te in the Tibetan Buddhist Tantras by David Reigle.
  • H.P. Blavatsky and the Secret Doctrine by Max Heindel.

Notes

  1. Richard Robb email to Michael Conlin. October 29, 2023. Theosophical Society in America Archives.