Nothing answers questions like Theosophy can!:-The Key to Theosophy

THEOSOPHY

Nothing Answers Questions Like Theosophy Can!

The Key to Theosophy

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

1831 -1891

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The Key to Theosophy

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Key to Theosophy Index

The Difference Between

Theosophy and Occultism

Q. You speak of Theosophy and Occultism; are they identical?

A. By no means. A man may be a very good Theosophist indeed, whether in or

outsideof the Society, without being in any way an Occultist. But no one can be

a true Occultist without being a real Theosophist; otherwise he is simply a

black magician, whether conscious or unconscious.

Q. What do you mean?

A. I have said already that a true Theosophist must put in practice the loftiest

moral ideal, must strive to realize his unity with the whole of humanity, and

work ceaselessly for others. Now, if an Occultist does not do all this, he must

act selfishly for his own personal benefit; and if he has acquired more

practical power than other ordinary men, he becomes forthwith a far more

dangerous enemy to the world and those around him than the average mortal. This is clear.

Q. Then is an Occultist simply a man who possesses more power than other people?

A. Far more-if he is a practical and really learned Occultist, and not one only

in name. Occult sciences are not, as described in Encyclopedias, …

those imaginary sciences of the Middle Ages which related to the supposed action or influence of Occult qualities or supernatural powers, as alchemy, magic, necromancy, and astrology …

-for they are real, actual, and very dangerous sciences. They teach the secret

potency of things in Nature, developing and cultivating the hidden powers

"latent in man," thus giving him tremendous advantages over more ignorant

mortals. Hypnotism, now become so common and a subject of serious scientific

inquiry, is a good instance in point. Hypnotic power has been discovered almost

by accident, the way to it having been prepared by mesmerism; and now an able

hypnotist can do almost anything with it, from forcing a man, unconsciously to

himself, to play the fool, to making him commit a crime-often by proxy for the

hypnotist, and for the benefit of the latter. Is not this a terrible power if

left in the hands of unscrupulous persons? And please to remember that this is

only one of the minor branches of Occultism.

Q. But are not all these Occult sciences, magic, and sorcery, considered by the

most cultured and learned people as relics of ancient ignorance and

superstition?

A. Let me remind you that this remark of yours cuts both ways. The "most

cultured and learned" among you regard also Christianity and every other

religion as a relic of ignorance and superstition. People begin to believe now,

at any rate, in hypnotism, and some-even of the most cultured-in Theosophy and

phenomena. But who among them, except preachers and blind fanatics, will confess to a belief in Biblical miracles? And this is where the point of difference

comes in. There are very good and pure Theosophists who may believe in the

supernatural, divine miracles included, but no Occultist will do so.

For an Occultist practices scientific Theosophy, based on accurate knowledge of Nature's secret workings; but a Theosophist, practicing the powers called abnormal, minus the light of Occultism, will simply tend toward a dangerous form of mediumship, because, although holding to Theosophy and its highest conceivable code of ethics, he practices it in the dark, on sincere but blind faith.

Anyone, Theosophist or Spiritualist, who attempts to cultivate one of the branches of Occult science-e.g.,Hypnotism, Mesmerism, or even the secrets of producing physical phenomena, etc.-without the knowledge of the philosophic rationale of those powers, is like a rudderless boat launched on a stormy ocean.