The Creator of Sherlock Holmes Was Deceived
by False Accusations Against Helena Blavatsky
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
Regarding the fraud made against Helena Blavatsky, Conan
Doyle (1859-1930) lacked the investigative powers of Sherlock Holmes
British author Arthur
Conan Doyle, who created the immortal detective Sherlock Holmes, personally met
Alfred P. Sinnett - one of the pioneers of the theosophical movement - and had
for some time a deep interest in esoteric philosophy.
Doyle found in theosophy various fascinating ideas
present in his books. However, he did not have the investigative talents of his
character Sherlock Holmes, and for this reason abandoned the theosophical
movement. Doyle was naive enough to lose his confidence in theosophy after the
publication of the notorious Hodgson Report, the false investigation and farce with
which the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) of London “condemned” H. P.
Blavatsky as a fraud in the 1880s.
Ms. Blavatsky, an unmarried woman writing in the 19th
century, questioned the main scientific, cultural and religious dogmas of her
time. It was both easy and convenient to personally attack her as a means to
preserve the blind routine of that intellectual and religious world. One
hundred years after the “condemnation” of Helena Blavatsky, the very Society
for Psychical Research made an informal self-criticism, in April 1986, and
published the essay by one of its leading members showing that Blavatsky’s accusers
used falsehood and fraud in the charges made against her and the theosophical
movement.[1]
In the 1880s, however, Conan Doyle believed at least
in part in the political show created by the Society for Psychical Research. In
his memoirs, Doyle says:
“I was deeply interested and attracted for a year or
two by Theosophy, because while Spiritualism seemed at that time to be chaos so
far as philosophy went, Theosophy presented a very well thought-out and
reasonable scheme, parts of which, notably reincarnation and Karma, seemed to
offer an explanation for some of the anomalies of life. I read Sinnett’s
‘Occult World’ and afterwards with even greater admiration I read his fine
exposition of Theosophy in ‘Esoteric Buddhism’ [2], a most notable book. I also met him, for he was an old friend
of General Drayson’s, and I was impressed by his conversation. Shortly
afterwards, however, there appeared Dr. Hodgson’s report upon his investigation
into Madame Blavatsky’s proceedings at Adyar, which shook my confidence very
much.”[3]
Unfortunately, Conan Doyle had more in common with Watson
than with Sherlock Holmes. Had he had the same eagerness to look for truth as
the detective he created, he would have investigated the facts by himself and
seen the sad fraud organized by Mr. Hodgson and the London SPR.
Conan Doyle wrote “The History of Spiritualism” (1926)
and other books on the Spiritualist doctrine, such as “The New Revelation” and
“The Land of Mist”.
Maracot Deep and Poison Belt
Perhaps his most interesting book from a theosophical
point of view is “The Maracot Deep”[4],
a science fiction novel offering an imaginative version of the end of Atlantis.
The book makes a thoughtful approach to the relation between the absence of
ethics and moral values and the end of civilizations.
Another volume by Doyle which coincides with the
writings of Helena Blavatsky and with the first books written by Alfred Sinnett
is entitled “The Poison Belt”.[5] The
story contains some elements of the warning made by Helena Blavatsky of a
mysterious form of war that could instantaneously annihilate most of human
kind. One of the implicit objects of the modern theosophical movement created by
Blavatsky is avoiding this kind of war through the formation of a nucleus of
universal brotherhood.
In the short-story “The Disintegration Machine” [6], Doyle anticipates in a humorous
style the idea of tele-transportation, or dematerialization and
rematerialization of objects.
The concept belongs to Raja Yoga and is present in the
spiritual traditions of different nations. Carlos Castaneda describes it in
some of his works. In present-day science, we have the idea of “quantum
teleportation”. In the first years of the theosophical movement, a number of
experiences in tele-transportation were described and discussed by Alfred P.
Sinnett in his first books, which were based in “The Mahatma Letters”. The fact
is discussed by Helena Blavatsky, who wrote:
“In the transport of inert substances, the atoms are
disintegrated, and suddenly reformed at the point of deposit”. [7]
Doyle adapted the idea of teletransportation to the
context of science fiction.
The creator of Sherlock Holmes was certainly an
effective writer and a good-willing soul with a genuine interest in theosophy
and the future of mankind.
NOTES:
[1] See the Essay “J’Accuse - An
Examination of the Hodgson Report of 1885”, by Vernon Harrison, Ph. D.,
published in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. 53, No.
803, April 1986, pp. 286-310. Read also the book “Blavatsky and the SPR, an examination
of the Hodgson Report of 1885”, by Vernon Harrison, Ph. D., member of the
Society for Psychical Research, London, England; Theosophical University Press,
TUP, Pasadena, CA, USA, 1997, 78 pp.
[2] Both books are easy to find in the 21st century.
[3] “Memories and Adventures”, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
Little, Brown, and Company, Boston, USA, 1924, 410 pp., see pp. 80-81.
[4] “The Maracot Deep”, Arthur Conan Doyle, first
edition, 1929. There is a recent edition published by Sequoya Books in Chicago,
Illinois, USA, in 2004, with 198 pages.
[5] “The Poison Belt”, Arthur
Conan Doyle, first edition, 1913. There is a recent edition published by
HiLoBooks in 2012, in Boston, MA, and Brooklyn, NY, with 174 pages.
[6] The story was published by the “Strand” magazine in
January 1929 and included in the 1919 edition of “The Poison Belt”. It is now
available online thanks to the Project Gutenberg Australia: http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0601391h.html.
[7] See for instance “Collected Writings”, H. P.
Blavatsky, TPH, volume IV, p. 125. Read more on pp. 174-175.
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The above article
is a translation from “Conan Doyle
Estudou Teosofia”. It was first published in English language on 9 April
2018.
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On 14 September 2016, a group of students decided to
found the Independent Lodge of
Theosophists. Two of the priorities adopted by the ILT are learning from the past and building a better
future.
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