Chapter III.

ADVENTURES AND WONDERS.
1855-1867.
After waiting for two years in America, Madame Blavatsky again set out for the " burnished and mysterious East," which ever attracted her so strongly, and reached Calcutta in 1855. That she was able to travel about in this way was due to her father, with whom she kept in touch, and who provided her with the necessary funds at convenient opportunities ; her other relatives never heard from her, as she wished to run no risks of being taken back to the household life in Russia, from which, as we have seen, she had cut herself free. As I have before remarked, it is as useless to look for a conformity to the ordinary conventions of life in this biography as to expect the career of an eagle to conform to the views of life held by a sparrow. With three companions Madame journeyed through Kashmir, under the guidance of a Tartar Shaman or monk ; these men are often quite illiterate, but are sometimes well versed in certain forms of practical magic. Their aim was to penetrate into Tibet, but they had only proceeded sixteen miles, when two of them were politely escorted back to the frontier, while the third would-be explorer was stricken down with fever and had to return to India. Our heroine per- severed, however, and invested with an appropriate disguise by the Shaman, pushed far into the " For- bidden Land,"
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Like the Abbe Hue, who was one of the earhest travellers to record his recollections of these little- known lands, Madame Blavatsky saw many strange things, and her interest in all forms of magic was amply gratified. Her friend, the Shaman, constantly carried a stone talisman under his arm which excited her curiosity, and in answer to her questions would only promise to explain when a convenient opportunity offered. One day when a certain ceremony had called all the people of the village away, Madame Blavatsky repeated her question about the talisman. The Shaman agreed to explain, but first he fixed up a goat's-head at the entrance of the tent as a warning to the villagers that he was not to be disturbed. He then settled himself down and proceeded, as it seemed, to swallow the stone. Almost immedi- ately he fell into a deep swoon and his body became rigid and cold. Here was a worthy situation for our adventure-loving heroine ; in a tent in mid- Mongoha, with the sun sinking rapidly in the West, and the profoundest silence enveloping all — her sole companion an apparently lifeless Shaman. Is it any wonder that her thoughts turned to Russia and her friends ? Presently, however, a deep voice spoke through the cold hps of her companion, asking what she would have. Madame was fairly collected, having seen such trances before and knowing something of their nature and possibihties. She therefore demanded that the invisible questioner who spoke through the body before her, should visit three of her friends. First she sent him to an old friend, a Roumanian lady of a somewhat mystic temperament, who was
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described as sitting in her garden reading a letter, which was dictated slowly to Madame Blavatsky, who wrote it down. Then in a corner of the tent the misty form of this old lady appeared for a few minutes. Months afterwards it was ascertained that on that very day and hour the old lady had been quietly sitting in the garden reading a letter from her brother ; it was this letter which the Shaman dictated to Madame Blavatsky. Suddenly the old lady fainted and remembered dream- ing that she " saw Helen in a deserted place, under a gypsy's tent." For two hours the astral body of the entranced Shaman travelled at Madame's bidding, reporting to her as to far distant friends and places. In particular she directed him to a friend possessed also of occult powers, asking for means of return to more civilised parts ; a few hours later a party of twenty-five horsemen rode up and rescued her from the perilous situation in which she had involved herself.
After relating this adventure (see Isis Unveiled) Madame Blavatsky adds that while some may dis- believe her statements others will see in them an interesting instance of the powers of the human soul when freed from the body as the Shaman was. He, of course, was only a medium, not a veritable adept. The story is also interesting as showing the invariable respect which Madame commanded among those who possessed partial control of some of the finer forces of Nature.
This incident put an end for the time being to her wanderings in Tibet ; she was conducted back to the frontier and after some further travels in India was
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directed b}^ her occult guardian to leave the country, shortly before the Mutiny which broke out in 1857.
Her family in Russia had heard nothing of her except the vaguest rumours ; it was Christmas night, 1858, a wedding-party was in progress, when in the midst of the supper an impatient ring at the bell was heard, and Madame Blavatsky walked in !
At the time of which we write (1858) Madame Blavatsky was already possesesd of occult powers, and the next few years of her life, spent in Russia with her family, were crowded with marvellous occurrences, of which she was the central figure. Mysterious raps and whisperings were constantly heard in her presence, while occasionally the most astonishing things happened. The phenomona which surrounded her were similar to those sometimes found among mediums, but, unlike the latter, Madame Blavatsky had these manifestations to a great extent under her control, and this power to control and if necessary to stop them, was one which grew stronger. She con- sidered mediumship, which consists essentially in the surrender of that control, which we usually exercise, over the physical and etheric bodies in favour of some other entity or entities, to be degrading to human dignity. The following story is typical of many of the occurrences which happened at this time. Madame Blavatsky was in the drawing-room with her relatives, many of whom were sceptical as to her powers. Her brother, who believed in no one and nothing, was expressing his disbelief somewhat frankly, when Madame Blavatsky declared that she would so fix a small chess table to the floor without touching it that
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it could not be lifted. Her friends gathered eagerly round her while she fixed her eyes, with an intense gaze, upon the little table. Then, with a motion of her hand she directed one of the young men present to lift it. He stooped confidently down and seized it by the leg, but — the table was immovable, as though screwed to the floor. He was a muscular youth and disinclined to be beaten, so exerting all his strength and using his broad shoulders, he tried again, but in vain. The table seemed to be rooted to the spot. Her brother now stepped forward and met with no more success, although he gave the diminutive table a tremendous kick. Seeing the astonishment on the faces of all present Madame Blavatsky, with a laugh said, " Try once more." Her brother very irresolutely approached the bewitched table ; grasping it by the leg, however, he gave it a good heave up and nearly dislocated his arm owing to the useless effort, for the table was lifted like a feather this time !
Her father, Colonel Hahn, was utterly sceptical as to his daughter's marvellous powers, at which he simply laughed. One day, however, two old friends of his who had just con\'inced themselves absolutely of the genuineness of her psychic gifts, persuaded him to devise a test himself. The old gentleman, probably hoping to have a good laugh at their expense, proceeded into the next room and wrote a word on a slip of paper, which he folded and put in his pocket ; he then returned to his game of Patience, quietly smiling behind his gray moustache. All the others present gathered expectantly round, while the famihar raps were heard on a plate ; a young lady repeated the
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alphabet and at the proper letter a rap was made ; Madame Blavatsky did nothing at all — apparently* Slowly, letter by letter, a word was written down — a queer word, which so puzzled them all that they felt sure there must be some mistake. " Well, what have you got ? " called out Colonel Hahn. " One word — ' Zaltchik.^ " The old gentleman's face was a study ! With a trembling hand he examined the paper, muttering, " How very strange." Then pulling out his folded paper he handed it to them in silence. It bore the same word — the name of his favourite war horse in the Turkish war years ago ! From that day Colonel Hahn was firmly convinced of his daughter's gifts and studied them closely ; he sought her aid in complet- ing a history of his family, and marvelled at the complete- ness and accuracy with which she was able to give him, by means of her psychic powers, all the details he wanted.
Well, these are merely specimens of many wonder- ful tales for which readers are referred to Incidents in the Life of Madame Blavatsky, by Mr. Sinnett. As might be expected, the report of all these strange happenings got abroad, and Madame Blavatsky soon came to be regarded as a magician. About this time, however, she was taken seriously ill, and for days she lay like one apparently dead. She recovered, but from that time every phenomenon independent of her will entirely ceased. '^In her case, as in so many others, a serious illness has marked an important change in the life. The struggle of her earlier years was to obtain control over the mysterious forces of the inner side of nature which were always playing around her, and her victory seems to have coincided with this serious illness.'"
1870.
(To face p. 33.)
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