Autobiography of Dr Franz Hartmann (1908)

AUTO BIO GRAPH APH Y OF OF D R.\ y FRANZ HARTMAXN H A V I N G lon g ago bee been accus accustt omed to look upon t hi s evane evanes scent cent world of illusions as a great comedy and upon the actors therein as continually changing masks in which only the etemal reality hidden behind the veil of visible matter is worthv of serious consideration, I consider the mundane affairs of mortal personalities, m y own i nclu ded, as of no great im por t ance and and h ave no great desire to parade my own personality with its virtues and vices before th e publ ic. H owever, as as every one of us m ay l eam eam somesomething useful by being informed of the experience of another, and as m y experi experi ences ences and and advent ur es, es, especiall especiall y in regard regard t o occult subjects have been somewhat extraordmary and interesting, illustrating, moreover, the action of Karma acquired in previous incamations, I have pleasure in supplying (at the Editor’s request) the following account:— I was bom on N ovember 22, 22, 1838, at Don auwert h, a small small town on th e Danube in Bavari Bavari a. M y father, Dr. Ca Cari H artm ann, was a well-known and prominent physician, and my mother, Eli zabeth von St ack, w as of I ri sh desce descent nt ; her ances ancestt ors were were said to be desce descendant ndant s of Caolbh Caolbh a th e I 23rd and last ki ng of the Ir ish race and 47th ki ng of Ul ster. Some oíd f ami ly papers papers still in my possession go to corroborate this statement, and, strange to say, it seems to me that I was inhabiting Ireland myself in some some previou s in cam cam ati on ; beca becaus use e, upon visit visit in g that coun t ry some years ago, ago, the lakes of K i l l am ey and and m any ot her places places seemed ven* familiar to me, and I remembered certain events in the hi st ory of I reland of whi ch I had neve neverr r eceived ceived infor mati on in any extem extem al way. M y mother’s famil y emi emi grated grated to France after the execution of Charles I and afterwards to Bavaria during the French French Revolu Revolu t ion . Wh en I w as about one year oíd, oíd, m y parents parents moved to 'Kem pt en in Southern Bavari a and there I rece received ived m y educati on; fir st un der der the guidance guidance of m y grandfather, who had been an officer in the French army under Napoleon Napoleon I and a part ici pant of h is batt les in Russ Russia ; aft er wards in the ordinary curriculum of the public schools. I remember remember t hat eve even i n m y earl iest iest yout h it seemed to me as i f I were compose composed d of t wo personalit personalit ies. ies. I spoke of myself myself as bein g two tw o boys, bo ys, a good one and a bad one. one. The Th e good one was a dreamer and idealist and had sometimes beautiful visions,

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perhaps recollections oí the devachanic state which he had occupied pi ed previou s to his pres present in camati on ; th e bad bad one was very obstínate and self-willed, ready to perpetrate all sorts oí mischief and reprehensibl reprehensibl e t ri cks, and for all all I k now he m ay have bee been a so-call o-call ed “ Dweller oí the Th resho ld " ; t hat is to say, say, a form shaped b y bad bad Kar m a duri ng a previous in carn carn ation and and having survived in Kama loca. I alw ays loved solit solit ude, and m y íavour it e loun ging place place was was near the top of a tall spruce tree in the thicket oí a pine íorest on a hill, where I built myself a nest of boughs and held converse \vit h t he spir spir it s of the air, or I spent pent hours at at the shore shore of a soli tary lake hidden between hills and rocks, where I imagined I saw the nymphs playing among the water-lilies and listened to their songs. ongs. The Th e in tercour se wi t h th e spi ri ts of nat ur e was to me so Teal and interesting, that I cared very little for being in company wi th m y schoolmates schoolmates and taki ng part part in t heir pl ay ; in fact, fact,-- it developed developed a cert cert ain senti ment alit y, of which I have not bee been cured up to this day. My longing for the supersensual and mysterious may have been the reason why I was strongly attracted by the ceremonies of the Román Catholic Church, in whose doctrines I was educated. The grand dome with its cupola and coloured windows, hidden stalls and secret vaults, the music and lights and mysterious ceremon ceremon ies exercised exercised a great great i nfl uence over my m ind. I felt showers of ethereal vibrations pass through my bodv during' the hol y mass mass and the soundi soundi ng of th e big bell bell seemed to l if t my spir it beyond the clouds. clouds. I k new th at behind all th is out ward show and ceremony there must be some mysterious, living influence or power ; but bu t none of the pri ests ests whom I consult ed could could give me any satisfa satisfactor ctor y expla explanation. nation. They only talked about about blind belief in t he teachin teachin gs of the Catechis Catechism m ; but I did n ot w ant m erely to beli beli eve in theories ; I w anted to know. I w as not Sware Sware that t he mysteries of religión must first be realized within t he knowledge of th e heart before they can be understood with th e brain. /-r W A t a time when my religious doubts were very strong, I made friends with a comrade somewhat older than myself and who lat er on beca became a well-know n compose composer of music. music. Thi s youn g man was a thorough materialis materialistt and rati rati onalist. Accordi Accordi ng to t he phrenological development of my skull, I have a great deficiency of self-estee lf-esteem. m. I alw ays believed believed th at everyb ody kn ew everything much better than I, only to find out my mistake afterwards. In t his way I fell int o a great great man y deplorable errors













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and lost lost a great deal deal of mon ey. ey. M y new íri end did not believe in anyt hj ng exce except pt eati eati ng and dri nki ng, pl aying the pi ano, and enjoying himselí wherever there was an occasion. and it did not t ake him long to persuade persuade me t hat all religión was only a humbug instituted by priests for the purpose of proñting írom the ignorance and supersti t ion of the people. people. M oreover, oreover, mat erial ism was

P O R T R A I T O F Ü R . F r AXZ H a RTMANN'.

at t hat ti me t he fas fashion ; I r ead t he books books of Lud wi g Büchner, Büchner, composed poetry and wrote a theatrical play, the subject being taken from Gree Greek k histor histor y. I tr ied to avoid avoid all all religious thought and looked upon clericalism clericalism wit h the great great est est cont cont empt . NeverNevertheless, the teachings of Büchner, Moleschott and Comte did not sat sat i sfy me. There seemed emed to be be somet hi ng wan t i ng in them. Th ey onl y tor e down down and and destr destr oved oved t hin gs whi ch existed existed : but













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they did not build up anything compatible with my own intuiti on. Conseque Consequent nt ly, th ere remain ed not hi ng else lse to do but to fall for a while into a State of agnosticism, which was more unsatisfactory than all the rest. In this state of mind I became a student at the Universitv of Munich, joined a “ Corpfrarien.” and soon excelled the rest in duell in g, occa occas sion al dri nk in g and oth er amuse amusement ment s ; not for the love of such things, which appeared to me ridiculous, but out of ambit ion and pri de. I want ed to be at leas least t he equal equal of everyeverybodv in everyt everyt hi ng. Thi s love of ambit ion, t ogeth ogeth er wi th a superuperabun dance of energy, has oft en caused caused me t rouble. rou ble. Thus, Th us, for instance, once while making a difficult ascent of a high glacier of th e Al ps one of m y comr ades des dared dared me t o pass pass over over an extr emel y st eep eep part of th e ice. ice. M y pri de aróse ; I w anted to show show him t hat t o me no such t hi ng was im poss possibl e. I went, slipp ed, fell dowTi and had to be glad to escape a fall of 3,000 feet by striking against against a rock and and get get t in g a fr actu red leg. leg. Thi s, however, however, was cured and the accident did not prevent me joining the Bavarian arm y and and servi servi ng.for a few few mont hs in the i st Ar t il len- regime regiment nt as a volun teer teer in 1859 duri ng the war betwee between A ustri a, I t aly and France. France. Num erous amusing inci dents mi ght be tol d of of my advenadventu res duri ng those ti mes ; but t hey do not come wi th in the scope of thi s arti cle, which is to deal deal more especially especially wi t h in t erior experiences and changes of mind. I n t he year year 1865 1865 m y medical st st udi es were were ended ended and and I went t o París, Parí s, where I remai ned for fo r some some weeks. weeks. Bein g desi desi rous rou s of seeing seeing the oce ocean, I one day made a tr ip to H avre by an excurs excursión ión t rain, such as frequently carry the Parisians there on Saturday evening and bri ng them back back on on M onday mom in g. On the int erveni erveni ng Sunday I made the casual acquaintance of a gentleman who in th e cours course e of our conve conversa rsati ti on as asked me wheth er I would not li ke to make a tr ip t o Ameri Ameri ca, ca, and and he furt herm herm ore told me th at the ship Mcrcury, with some 360 emigrant s, was about to leave for New York, and that they needed a physician. Love of adven tur e induced me to accept that position, and instead of retuming to París I went on board, after having passed through a hurried examination before the medical committee for the purpose of provin g my quali quali ficati ficati ons. ons. We start start ed for for New York , and the voyage was very pleasant, but not without incidents, for another emi grant shi shi p, wi t h hund reds of pass passengers, engers, t ook f ir e in t he open open sea and was was bum ed. On l y a f ew were save saved d whi ch we t ook on board. I loved the sea and would have wished to stay there all my













A F T O B I O G R A P H Y OF O F D R . H A R T M A XX X X 11 11 liíe ; but to ray great regret we arrived at New York, after a forty d ays’ voyage, voyage, on on Augu st 28, 28, 1865, 1865, and and h avin g noot her pl ans I went t o see th e N i agar agar a Fall s and th ence ence to St St . Louis. Now it happened that there was an epidemic of cholera at St. Louis at that time. Thi s gave'm gave'm e an opport uni t y to make m yself yself use useful. So I hung out m y sign, sign, remained at St St . Loui s, became became an Am erican cit izen and soon had a remunerative practice. Lov e of change change and advent advent ur e, however, however, l eft me no rest. rest. I found my li fe too monotonous ; th e cli cli mate oí St. St. Loui s was in winter exceedinglv coid and I desired to see a tropical country. So I tur ned m y pract pract ice over over t o anot anot her physici physici an and went to New Or leans leans and fin din g, whi le taki ng a walk on the wh arf, a schooner chooner r eady eady t o sail sail f or M éxico, I t ook pass passage age and and left for Vera Cruz, Cruz, where we arr i ved on on Febr u ary 17, 17, 18 18 71. 71. I t hen went to the city of México and later on to Puebla and Cordova, and I mi ght wr it e'a'volu e'a'volu m e about the m any interes interesti ng experience xperiences s which I had in that country, which at that time was not yet so much in vaded vaded b y for eigners as i t is now ; but space pace wi ll not perm it it . I can, can, however, however, not omit m ent ioni ng the beaut beaut if ul spectacle pectacle oft'ered by a sight of the Pique de Orizaba on a sunny moming, when darkness sti ll covers covers the vall ey and and t he mi st hides t he foot of the mountain, while the icefields of the volcano reflect the ¿ •ple •plendo ndour ur of the th e rising ri sing sun sun ; so t h at i t seems eems as as i f a new planet h;i d bee been created created dur ing th e ni ght and w as now fl oati oati ng in space space in cióse ióse pr oxi m it y to our earth. H owever owever much I was was pleas pleased wit.h México México I thought i t m ore profi table for me me to retum to the U ni t ed Stat es. es. I t ook pass passage age at Vera Cruz on board board an an Am eri can can br ig and and arr i ved once once mor e at N ew Orl eans eans.. There I was rob bed b y a fell ow- pass passenger enger of t he whole of of m y bagg baggag age, e, whi ch I had ent ru st ed to his safe keeping for a few hours ; but who absconde bsconded d wi t h i t. Thu s I was left at New Orl eans, ns, where I did not know a single soul, with nothing but the clothes I wore and a few dollars in m y waistcoat pocket. pocket. Al l m y goods goods,, instrum ent s, papers, books and documents were gone, and I was at a loss what to do. do. To begin begin to pract pract ice medicine in a st range cit y wit hout havi ng any means means or acquaint ances ances woul d have been been an imposfo r a posit sibil it y. I thought of applyin g for posit ion as poli ceman ceman ; but I soon found out that I might just as well expect to be elected Pres Presid ent of th e Un it ed St ates as t o be appoin t ed a poli ceman ceman at New Orleans, as to that office only persons of political influence are selected. Th at n ight th e mosquit mosquit oes oes on on t he M ississ ississippi ippi River were were verv annoyin g to me, me, and the next m omi ng I went t o a dr ug stor e to bu y













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a rem edy to cure th e bi tes. The apot apot hecary began began a conversaconversation with me, and hearing of my adventure, he told me that I came came to hi m li ke a godsend, godsend, as as he needed needed a ph ysici an t o wr it e prescriptions for the patients that came to seek advice in his drug store. H i s offers were Yery Yery favourabl e ; I accepted accepted them and and in less than a month I had a very remunerative practice and a larger income than I would have ever dared to hope to attain in my life. But to retum again again to religious subjects. ubjects. Dur in g m y travels travels I had come into contact with many Protestant sects and also boarded a whol e year in the house house of a Jew i sh Rabbi . I att ended m any r eligious services services of all th ese persuas persuasions, ions, bu t foun d nothi ng t hat satisfied satisfied me in them. Especial Especial ly th e Prot est est ant svstem svstem seemed to me a delusion delusion of the brain wi th out any heart heart . The pious people whom I mét claimed that all the Bible stories, no matter how absurd and incredible they were, had to be believed lit erally, erally, and m y objection objection t hat “ the letter ki lleth, but the spir it giveth li fe ” made no impr ession upon upon th eir minds. They seemed to believe in some vicarious atonement made by another person, and that one could only attain etemal salvation by claiming to believe in certain theories and in the veracity of a certain histori cal cal account , of which, in reali t y, nobody kn ew whether it was actu all y tr ue. Their religión seemed eemed to me extr emely egotisti egotisti cal,' cal,' because every one asked, above all, salvation for himself, caring but li tt le what would be become come of the res rest. A far bett bett er sentim ent I had found in the hous house of the Jewish Jewish Rabbi , whose whose fam il yl if e was ver y h armon iou s, and also among th e Red I nd ian s ; for vvhe vvhen I once, and without any companion, undertook an excursión on hor seback eback among th e Sené\ ené\ ca, ca, Shawn ees ees and Chok Chok t aw tr ib es, es, I found there the most admirable kindness and hospitality and was assured by them that the “ Great Spirit ” (whom I suppose to be the spirit of brotherly love) was residing with them. u'T h u s far I had been been an an enemv enemv t o spi spi ri ti sm ” becaus because e I h ad bee been t old t hat all the “ spir it ualistic ” phenomená were were produce produced d by t ri ckery and fraud. A believer believer in spir spir it ism was, to m y min d, a long-haired crank with goggle eyes, who would see the producís of his own di sease ased i maginati on i n t he shape shape of ghosts in every comer. Nevert Nevert heless heless, m y curi osit osit y prompt ed me t o visit visit a ce certain “ mateijmateijali zing sé séance ” held held b y a médium médium by the nana^ nf Mrs. Rice or Mr s. Hol mes (?), (?), and and th ere I saw the most most won derfu l phenomená of tangible appearances and materializations of ghosts, known as the spiri ts of Kati e Ki n g and cert cert ain others others.. I became became int erested rested in these things and went to hear the lectures of Profes$or Peebles, and















A U T O B I O G R A P H Y O F D R . H A R T M A XX X X 13 13 the philosophy which he taught seemed to me very rational and plausible ; but it o vert hr ew all all t he theories of Büchn er and and Comte. Ju st at t hat t ime I had a lad y pati pati ent wh ose ose ñame was Kat ie W entwor th. She was a highl y acco accompl mpl ished ished m anied lady, w it h Engli sh and and In di an blood in her her vein vein s. She was not a believer in spiritism, and rather unwilling to gi\-e credence to the













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her^elí one of the most remarkable médiums for all kinds of manifestations, including trance, materialization, levitation, apports, dir ect wr it in g, etc. Perh Perh aps, aps, owing to her her prese presence, nce, I myself myself became to a certain extent clairvoyant and clairaudient, and I highly enjoyed enjoyed the int ercourse rcourse wi th the “ depart depart ed." Bein Bein g accus ccustom tom ed to go eas easil y i nt o ext ext remes I n ow devoted devoted nearly all m y time to the reading of books on spiritualism, such as the works of An dr ew Jackson D avis, Hu dson dson Tut t le, Jud Jud ge Edm Edm onds, and m any others, others, wh il e m y pr in cipal amusements amusements were were m y séa séance nces s with my friend and with other médiums whom I had learned to know. Some of m y expe experi ri ences ences dur in g t hat t im e have already been described in the O c c u l t R e v i e w , and i t would take too much much space pace to repeat repeat these these account account s. Kat i e W ent wor t h’s accompl accompl ishment s as as a médium soon oon became became kn own among t he spi r it ual i sts; she received invitations for holding séances from all sides and acce accept pt ed m any. Th e conseque consequence nce was t hat she was cont i nu all y vampirized by these ghosts, lost her vitality, became paralysed and died. died. That t hes hese “ spir spir it s ” were were not what t hey claimed claimed to be was clearly shown by the fact that, even within half an hour of that lady’s death, pretended spirits of some of the most celebrated physicians that ever lived on earth, came and made prescriptions for her and insisted that there was no danger. It would perhaps have been well for me, if I had remained at New Orl eans ; but des desir e for change and advent advent ur es, es, t ogeth ogeth er wi t h glowing reports that came to me from Texas^ induced me to go to t hat count ry. I was t ir ed of fashi fashi onable cit y li fe ; I longed longed to se see the “ W il d W est.” I w ent there in 1873 1873 and and had had my fill of of adve advenntur es. M y horse horse was shot dead dead by a pl ayful drun ken cowboy, cowboy, while I was riding through the Street in Fredericksburg, a few days after m y arr arr ival. There was a cont cont inual war among among the catt catt le t hi eve eves, and,t he cowboys bein bein g good good sho sho ot ers,m ers,m y services services for holdi ng in quests quests were were sometim sometim es more in demand t han m y aid for at tendi ng the wounded. There were were a great great m any poor people people in t hat count ry, and m any a dark dark night I had to ri de a great great













A U T O B I O G R A P H Y O F D R . H A R T M A XX X X 15 Colorado in 1879 1879 where I sett led fo r t he ti me bein bein g at at George Georgetow tow n, and felt myself immediately at home in the Rocky Mountains ; for they had some resemblance to my beloved Bavarian Alps, onl y th e vegetati vegetati on in th e “ Rocki Rocki es ” was much poorer, poorer, owing to t heir hi gher elevat elevat i on above t he sea. As thi s is a mi ni ng councoun-













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very nea near to str ik in g a “ pocket,” pocket,” I abandone bandoned d mini ng and all aspirations oí becoming a millionaire in this incarnation. During my five years’ stay in Colorado I had many wonderful experiences in occultism and spiritism, some oí which I have already mentioned in the O c c u l t R e v i e w and of which a whole volume mi ght be wri tt en. There There I was was cured cured by spir it ual power power of trouble which had been caused to me in my earliest childhood bv the abominable practi practi ce of “ vaccinati vaccinati on.” There I made the acquaintance of Mrs. N. D. Miller, of Denver, one of the most remarkable remarkable “ materializi ng médiums médiums ” th at ever ver existed, xisted, and as she someti mes stayed at m y house house I had occas occasion to w it ness ness the most interesting phenomená, fully materialized ghosts be came came m y alm ost ost dai l y compani ons, fresh fresh seawe seaweeds eds were brought from t he far di st ant ocea ocean ; I w as m yself yself levit ated to the ce ceil ing and carr carr ied thr ough the air air ; in short short , all all the now well- know n spiritual phenomená occurred under test conditions which left nothing to desire. I was, was, and am of course st i ll , a beli ever ever i n t hese hese phenomená, for I cannot “ unknow ” that which I have actually experienced and known as well as any other fact fact in m y dail y life ; but m y experienc xperience e wit h m y f riend K ati e Wentwor th had had already already t aught me that these phenomená were probably not always caused by the spir spir it s of of departed hum an beings, beings, and t hat they surely oft en ori ginated in occult occult but int ell igent forces or powers at present present unk nown t o us. us. M y des desir e was t o kn ow th e cause cause of such such thi ngs. ngs. I had no doub t t hat in some cas cases, especial especial ly i n th ose ose of sui cides or sudden sudden deat deat hs, th e souls souls of t he kil led, being stil l bound t o eart eart h by t heir own unfulf il led des desires, ires, could could communicate communicate wit h mor tals. tals. I had received strong proof of it and especially the following experi xperi ence made a st st ron g impress impression upon m y m i n d :— I w as elected lected coroner coroner for th e di st ri ct of Clear Clear Cree Creek Count ry, to w hich George Georgetow tow n belongs, belongs, and and i t w ould have bee been m y du t y to order and h old i nquest nquest in cas cases of sudden sudden dea death . One m om in g, however, however, in a tow n not far fr om where I r esided, a physician













A U T O B I O G R A P H Y O F 1) 1)R . H A R T M A X X 17 I made use use of of every every opport uni t y to stay at house houses th at were reput ed to be haunt ed by ghost ghost s, and and had some some remark able experi experi ences nces ; but t he ghost ghost s I saw saw or heard heard showed showed very l it t le or no in t elli gence gence : somet sometii mes th ey appeared appeared t o be bi rd s of enor enormous mous size ; t heir footsteps were audible and the rush of their wings could be felt. While my perplexity was at its highest and I despaired of the possibility of knowing anything certain about these manifestations, a number of The Theosophist, a joum al edited edited by H. P. Blavat sky and publi shed at M adras, dras, fell into m y hands hands.. I t contained an article describing the seyenfold constitution of man and th e seven pr in cipi es in th e uni verse verse.. Th is came came to me l ik e a revelation, and seemed to furnish the key to those mvsteries whose whose explanati explanati on I had sought so so long in vain vain . I was deli deli ghted wi t h t hi s discovery, and and m y greatest greatest desir desir e now w as to become become personally acquainted with Madame Blavatsky and to learn from her more of the secrets of life and death. I wrot e to her, and a few weeks weeks aft aft erwards I had a vi vi d dream. dream. I dreamed dreamed I saw a let let ter w it h t he address ddress wr it ten in a to m eunknown handwriting and with a strange postage stamp stuck on th e wrong side side of of it . I went t o the Pos Postt Offi ce, and and there I found found t hat i dentica dentica.1 .1let let t er in m y box wi t h t he postage postage stamp on t he wrong side. I t was a lett er from Adyar, wri tt en by Colone olonel H. S. S. Olcott , the President of the “ Theosophical Society,” who in the ñame of his “ Master Master ” in vit ed me to come come to I ndi a and to collaborate collaborate wit h him . A few ki nd words were were added by H . P. P. Blavatsk y. Of course, after such an invitation I had no desire to remain any longer in the United States of America or to continué the pr acti ce of of medicine, and and i n t he mont h of Se Sept ember, 1883, I left Colorado and started for California for the purpose of sailing to Indi a. I stopped stopped at Salt Salt Lake Cit Cit y on on m y way to stu dy the lif e of the Mormons, en rouie to San Francisco. I t has alw ays bee been m y experience experience t hat if a person person des desir es to















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decide decide ; but at last th e des desir e for occult know ledge gained gained t he victory over love; I tore myself away from the object o¡ my pass passion , and on October n , 1883, I left Cali Cali for ni a on on board board oí tac s.s. Coptic, bound for Hong Kong. My adventures and experiences on the voyage and during my stay in India have been described, to a certain extent, in my age of Urur , a humorous story which novel The Talk in g Im age appeared first in H. P. Blavatsky’s paper Lucifer and was afterward s publ ished as as a book. Th is book, however, however, i s now out of print . I t w as wr it ten for the purpose purpose of showing showing th at “ from th e sublime to the ridiculous there is only one step.” ■ On December 4, 1883, w e arr arr i ved at M adras, adras, and I went to Adyar, where where I was welco welcome med d by M adam adam eBlavatskv eBlavatskv “ to m y fut ure hom e,” as she expr expr ess essed it . The headqu headqu art ers of th e “ TheosoTheosophical Society,” where she lived, were beautifullv located near th e A dy ar Ri ver and only a short di stance from t he sea. Th ey consisted of a bungalow with some outbuildings and were surrounded by a park, containing palms, mango, and other trees. The lower part of the two-story house was for the use of the members of the Soc Soc i et y; t he upper st st ory' was occupied by Madame Blavatsky.*













A F T O B I O G R A P H Y O F D R . H A R T M A XX X X 19 19 to sav sav : “ M y learn learn in g is m y M aster’s aster’s.. I am noth in g but a ívll cctor of sume one else’s luminous light.”













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compared compared to lantern s in wh ich such such a li ght exists ; in some some it is onl y a spark spark t hat has not yet bee been disco discovered, vered, i n oth ers t he wick sheds but a dim glow, while in rare cases it gires a bright li ght t hat shines th rough t he crvstal. M any of th ose ose who presumed to judge the character of H. P. Blavatsky could only see the polish polish of the “ lant ern,” but were were blind t o the light cont ained in it. Thu s M adame Bl avat sky appeare appeared d to be tw o or or even more different persons manifesting themselves in one body, and I have no doubt that her inner real or permanent self was in communication with other higher intelligences existing on the same plañe, and t hat t hey t hu s were able to comm uni cate cate t heir knowledge through her instrumentality or agency to the outside worl d. These These int elli gence gences s, or “ M ast ast ers,” ers,” she claim ed w ere certain adepts still living in Tibet and in possession of great occult powers, such as impressing suitable minds at a distance by what is now called called “ telepath y,” going going out i n t heir astr astr al forms or or “ t hought bodies ” and m ateriali zin g t hemse hemselves, lves, usin usin g t he organism organism of H . P. Bl avat sky and other “ disciple disciples s ” for the production of “ occult phenomena phenomena,” ,” etc. Al l such such thi ngs, ngs, which some years ago appeared incredible, now appear quite possible in the light which recent investigations in occult Science have













A U T O B I O ' "T "T t A P H Y O F D l l . H A R T M A X N 21 which originated from the adepts, and the phenomená were to her nothing else but the sweets, with which one coaxes the children to come come to school school and t o learn. learn. I t m ay also be st ated th at the demands demands made upon her by ignorant and unspi unspi ri tu al people people were were often of an incredibl e absur absur di ty and extrem ely selfi sh There













22

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llEVIE

íavourable reply, they soon became her enemies and would have nothing to do with the teachings oí wisdom. I t is, is, therefore, therefore, not surpri sin g t hat H. P. B. sometim es amu amu sed herself herself by maki ng fun of such such fools. fools. In f act her her se sense nse of hum our was very great, and one of her objectionable sides was that she lo ved to m ake sport even of her her bes best fr iends. Al t hou gh she, she, as far as I know, never had taken any lessons in drawing, she some ti mes drew cari cari catu catu res t hat were were not wi th out arti sti c valué and and por t rai t s t hat were were easily easily recognizable. One such repr esents esents the examination for initiation of a prominent member of the T.S. _ji e is eviden t ly un able to answer answer the questi questi ons asked of him by^K. H., and he looks with a wistful eye at a bottle of champagne champagne and and a dancing girl , as as if he were were very l oath t o abandon abandon t he pl easures easures of th i s li fe. An element al hol ds a candl candl e, and in th e di stance is t he Mast Mast er ~Sly and still further on Madame Blavatsky herself sitting upüfTan elephant.* Already on the first day after my arrival at Advar I received through Madame Blavatsky an unsought and unexpected test. I went to her her room room and and found her her writi ng. Not wi shing to distu rb her, I sat down near the window and thought of a lady friend of mine who had died at Galveston some years ago, wondering what had beco become me of h er “ pri ncip ies.” ies.” I noti ced ced th at M adame adame















A U T O B I O G R A P H Y OF O F D R . H A R T M A N N 21 21 and appreciative audiences in India and afterwards in America, Germany and Italy, although I had never spoken in public before I arrived in India.













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Lat er on there arr iv ed oth er visit ors, Mr. St. George George Lañe Fox , W. Q. Judge, Mr. Leadbeater, Mrs. Cooper-Oakley, and others. W ealso ealso h adfr equent vi sit s from Mr . Sub SubJ JajsR jsRfiro^ a great occult occult ist and and teache teacherr of M adame dame Bl avatsk y ; but as I am not wr it in g a history of the Theosophical Society of those times, and as Colonel Olcott has considered it prudent not to refer in his Diary period of m y activi ty at at Ad yar, yar, I wil l not enter Leaves to that period in t o detail detail s, but m erely menti on th e above-named above-named persons persons as witnesses of certain important events which took place at that time.













A U T O B I O G R A P H Y OF O F D R . H A R T M A N N 25 25 panied her her to Bom Bom bay. I went wit h her on board the steamship teamship and aft aft erwards retur ned to m y room. Befor Befor e leavin leavin g Ady ar she she had given m e a kee keepsa psarke as as comi comi ng from th e “ M ahatm a,” a sort sort of amulet in the sbape of a coin with inscriptions in Tibetan lett ers. ers. Now whi le I was alone in m y room at Bom Bom bay, I paced paced the floor, tbinking of buying a gold chain or something with which which to wear wear t hat amulet around around my neck. neck. Ju st then t he thought struck me that a silk ribbon would answer the same pur pose, and as I meditated upon it, something fluttered through the air and fell fell t o th e floor before before my feet. feet. I t was a rose rose-coloured -coloured













26

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remain in g stu mp of his tongue. There was not a drop of blood but th e tongue was cert cert ainl y cut. Af t er the exa exam in ation he repl aced aced t he cut pi ece and and all was as as sound sound as before, b ut he refused to proceed with other phenomená, saying that a certain in fl uence uence was was prese present whi ch abst abst racted hi s power t o such such an extent that he dared not attempt any more. ¿''Now it seems to me that this circumstance is even more satisfactory to prove the genuineness of those phenomená than the













A U T O B I O G R A P H Y O F D R . H A R T M A X X 27 in one of t hese hese let t ers dat dat ed Apr i l 27, 27, 1884, and before an y suspicion regarding the genuineness of the phenomena aróse, it was said : For some t im e t he wom an (Coulomb) (Coulomb) has opene opened d a com muni mu ni catio n wi th t he enemie enemies s of the caus cause e. Henee hi nt s as to tr apdoors and and t ri cks. Mor eove eoverr when nee needed ded t rapdoors wil l be found, as t hey have been been fort hcoming for some some ti me. Th ey (the Coulombs) oulombs) h ave ful l entr ance to and control of the premises premises. Monsieur is clever clever and and cunnin g at every every handihandicraf t , a good mechanic and carpent er and good at walls wal ls li kewise kewi se.. . . . — M.C.















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2^ 1

A U T O B I O G R A P t i V O F D R . H A R T M A XX XX which was was actually the fift h.

Wh en I went to pay the bil í nex













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íer physici an had declared declared her to be out of danger. danger.

She remain ed













^ l O G R A P H Y OF O F D R . H A R T M A X X 31













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RE VIEW







































Autobiography of Dr Franz Hartmann (1908)

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