Bonus Sample: The OG New Age Grifter: Madame Blavatsky
Sep 2, 2024
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Helena Blavatsky, a Russian aristocrat and pioneering figure of the New Age movement, delves into her controversial legacy. She claimed to channel ancient wisdom, yet much of her work was heavily plagiarized. The discussion reveals how she founded the Theosophical Society and adopted a dubious backstory. Blavatsky's influence extends even into the rise of alien channelers and extremist ideologies, including unsettling connections to Nazism. The episode cautions about the seductive nature of New Age beliefs and their potential dangers in today's culture.
Helena Blavatsky's pioneering efforts in theosophy laid the groundwork for contemporary New Age beliefs which incorporated themes of channeling and extraterrestrial communication.
The troubling ties between Blavatsky's ideologies and Nazi occult practices illustrate how New Age beliefs can be distorted for extremist agendas.
Deep dives
The Roots of New Age Spirituality
The origins of New Age spiritual beliefs are traced back to the ancient and mystical concepts of living in harmony with the Earth and awakening to hidden paranormal abilities. Key figures like Helena Blavatsky, who popularized the ideas of theosophy in the 19th century, played a significant role in shaping these beliefs, which later proliferated in the 1980s and 1990s. This period saw a fusion of holistic wellness practices with science fiction elements, leading to a surge in interest in concepts such as channeling and extraterrestrial messages. Such ideas gave rise to notable figures who claimed to communicate with beings from other realms, impacting various movements that embraced spiritual and New Age ideologies.
The Dark Side of Spiritual Beliefs
The podcast highlights a troubling connection between seemingly innocuous New Age beliefs and darker historical events, specifically the ideologies adopted by some Nazis. The belief systems promoted by figures like Blavatsky found their way into the occult practices of Nazi leaders, including Heinrich Himmler, who justified their actions through a reinterpreted spiritual framework. This intersection of mystical thought and extremist ideology raises questions about the potential consequences of unexamined spiritual beliefs. The blending of light-hearted New Age concepts with harmful political doctrines exemplifies how such ideas can be manipulated for insidious purposes.
Born in 1831, Helena “Madame” Blavatsky pioneered the New Age grift. The Russian aristocrat plagiarized her books while claiming to be channeling the “Masters of Ancient Wisdom” to tell a dodgy heroic back-story. She founded the Theosophical Society in New York, claimed to have learned a secret Tibetan language, and laid the foundation for alien channelers and Woo-Anon. She also inspired the Nazis.
In this debut episode from a series on the pseudoscience New Age roots of today’s conspirituality phenomenon, Julian pins Blavatsky on the cork-board map.