An Aryan Meeting in 1893
Discussion on hypnotism by various theosophists.
Theosophical Quarterly, April 1910, Vol. 7, pp.357-362 - by Katharine Hillard
The article which follows concerning discussion at a meeting in April 1893, while Bertram Keightley was in New York City, was published in the Theosophical Quarterly in April 1910. Of particular interest is General Henry N. Hooper’s experiences with hypnotism, and the additional summary of related information in H.P. Blavatsky’s article in Lucifer, December 1890.
While Keightley was doing a lecture tour in the USA [November 1889 to June1890]H.P.B. received several letters from American members of the Esoteric Section who had “misconstrued” what was said to them by Keightley. Blavatsky was very upset with him and on June 9th sent a cablegram to Keightley in New York, addressed to Judge at the Path office, ordering him back to London as soon as possible. He left for England on the City of New York on June 18th, 1890.
On August 9th, 1890 H.P.B. issued a “Notice” in response to Keightley’s “personal speculative utterances in E.S. meetings [which] were taken by many members to be expressions of H.P.B.’s ‘inner’ teachings and accepted as ‘authoritative’.” She wrote: “I have neither written, issued, nor sent through Bertram Keightley any orders or instructions whatever respecting the above matter.”
Blavatsky was so angry that she even considered expelling Keightley from the Society. However, she instead appointed him as her personal representative in India and Ceylon and sent him as an intermediary to Adyar with a special “Open Letter” to deliver to Olcott. The open letter, written in April 1890, was directed to the Indian members of the Theosophical Society, addressed “To My Brothers of Âryâvarta”. Keightley arrived in India on August 31st, 1890. Olcott never did publish this “Open Letter” and it appeared for the first time in the Theosophist in January 1922, titled “Why I Do Not Return to India”. Students of theosophy should ask themselves why Olcott did not immediately publish Blavatsky’s “Open Letter”.
Of note, at the time of the above mentioned meeting at The Aryan in 1893 is the brief visit by Keightley, who always held Judge responsible for what had happened three years earlier. On this occasion, Keightley came to the USA specifically to spy on W.Q. Judge in an attempt to gather evidence of malfeasance to report back to H.S. Olcott and Annie Besant. He claimed that he had come to revisit individuals he had befriended during his lecture tour in 1889-1890, who were now assembling for the Seventh Annual American Convention held April 23-24, 1893 in New York.[TJC, 1, 27]
