Bozena Brydlova
Bozena Brydlova (Mrs. W. B. Rubin) was a well-respected numerologist and a member of the American Theosophical Society.
Personal life
NOTE: One genealogical source describes her as born in Prague, Hlavní město Praha, Prague, Czechia Death: 1969 (83) Daughter Alice Grotte Comstock
"Bess" Bredle (Bozena Brydlova) was born on September 11, 1886, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to James and Anna Bredle. She had a brother Louis and a sister Alice. She married Charles (Karl) Grotte on November 15, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois. Bozena's parents and Alice's father were born in "Czecho-Slovakia." According to the 1910 US Census they were living in Omaha, Nebraska. She was 23, and he was a 41-year-old traveling salesman born in Bohemia and immigrated in 1885. Their daughter Alice was born in 1914 in Omaha, Nebraska as the widow of Charles Grotte. The 1920 census showed her living at 42 South Union, Los Angeles as a 33-year-old widow with 5-year-old daughter Alice.
Around 1926 Mrs. Grotte married W. B. Rubin. Born about September 1, 1873, he emigrated from Russia with his father in 1881, with his native language listed as Yiddish. He attended the University of Wisconsin, and went into practice as an attorney in Milwaukee, in the firm of Rubin and Zabel. He and his first wife Sophia had a son Abner, born October 27, 1898. The 1940 U.S. Census has him as a 66-year-old attorney married to Josephine, age 65 so he seems to have been married 3 times. It may be that his marriage to Bozena did not last long, because according to the 1930 U.S. Census she owned a house valued at $15,000, located at 2720 North Gower Street, Los Angeles. At that time she was 43 and Alice was 15. Under "marital condition" she is listed as divorced rather than widowed, and she was back to using the surname Grotte.
Involvement in Theosophical Society
Mrs. Bozena Grotte of Los Angeles was admitted to the American Theosophical Society as a member-at-large on December 7, 1919, with Foster Bailey and Ila Fain (later Mrs. Augustus Francis Knudsen). Society headquarters and staff were then located in Hollywood, not far from her home. Her membership lapsed briefly before she was readmitted to the Milwaukee lodge in 1926, and at that point she reported her new status as Mrs. W. B. Rubin.[1] She was active with the Society for a few years, publishing two books in 1927 at the Theosophical Press.
Association of Hebrew Theosophists
Mrs. Rubin was also vice president of the Association of Hebrew Theosophists. The headquarters of that organization was in Seattle, but a local branch in Milwaukee was headed by E. F. Silberman. She wrote at least one article for The Hebrew Theosophist.
Later life
Writings
Studies of numerology comprise most of Ms. Brydlova's literary work. The Flame of the Fog is a collection of stories and mystical musings. The author wrote of her writing process:
I chatter to the world by mouth, by pen, by pencil. My eyes flash, my body tingles, and my words grow eloquent when commanding the attention of the masses. Syllables grow into words, words into phrases, phrases into essaying discourse, and even my eager spirit startles astonished at the daring of its epression.[2]
Books
- Flame of The Fog. Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Press, 1927. 88 pages. Reprinted by Kessinger Publishing.
- Io Unveiled and The Brydlovan Theory Of The Origin Of Numbers. New York: Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Co., 1922. 88 pages. Reprinted in 1993 (as 112 pages) and 2010.
- A Sinner's Sermons. Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Press, 1927. 114 pages.
Pamphlets
- The Angular Theory of Numbers and Bible Proofs Thereof. 12 pages.
- The Mystic Lost Word and the Science of Numerology. 8 pages.
- The Mystic Meaning of the Numeral One. 8 pages.
- The Mystic Meaning of the Numeral Two: Signifying the Sun, Light, and Heat. 12 pages.
- The Mystic Meaning of the Numeral Three: Signifying the Moon and Water. 8 pages.
- The Mystic Meaning of the Numeral Four: Signifying the Mineral, Crystal, and the Star. 8 pages.
- The Occult Creation of Earth and Man According to the 45 Degree Angle. 12 pages.
- The Occult Value of Numbers. 12 pages
- The Originators of the Primordial Number Forms. 12 pages
- Sound and Color and Their Numerical Equivalents. 12 pages
Plays
- This Bread Is My Body: A Play in 3 Acts, 1922.
- It's Your Funeral. 1939.