Theos-Talk Archives (December 2001 Message tt00246)

Steve Stubbs wrote:

> If you read Wachtmeister's book you will find that
> after she had been breathing Blavatsky's second hand
> smoke for awhile she started seeing all sorts of
> strange things, including peculiar phenomena
> surrounding her cuckoo clock.

So Steve, you are now saying that HPB's "second hand smoke"
was the cause of much of HPB's paranormal phenomena?

The cup and saucer and the brooch incidents were
also probably caused by HPB's "second hand smoke"?

Steve, please give us your opinion of the following Franz Hartmann 
experience:

"This morning at half-past eleven I went upstairs to Madame 
Blavatsky's room and had a conversation with her in regard to
society 
matters. After this conversation the thought came in my mind to ask 
her opinion in regard to a certain subject of which I had been 
thinking. Madame Blavatsky advised me to apply to the Master 
himself, to ask him mentally, and that the Master himself would 
surely answer my question. A few minutes later she said she felt his 
presence, and that she saw him writing. I must say that I too felt 
his influence and seemed to see his face, but of course this 
circumstance will carry conviction to no one but myself. 

"Just then another lady came in, to my great annoyance, and expressed 
her wish to have a pair of pincers, which she needed for some 
purpose, and remembering that I had such a pair of pincers in the 
drawer of my writing desk, I went downstairs into my room to get 
them. I opened the drawer, saw the pincers and a few other things in 
there, but no vestige of any letter, as I had removed my papers the 
day before to another place. I took the pincers and was about to 
close the drawer, when --- there lay in the drawer a great envelope, 
addressed to me in the well-known handwriting of the Master and 
sealed with the seal bearing his initials in Tibetan characters. On 
opening it, I found a long, very kind and somewhat complimentary 
letter, treating of the identical questions, about which I had just 
been talking with Madame Blavatsky, besides giving a detailed and 
satisfactory answer to the very question which had so perplexed my 
mind, and a satisfactory explanation of certain matters, which for 
some time had been foremost in my mind, but of which I had said 
nothing at all. 

"Moreover, there was in the same envelope a photograph, cabinet-size, 
of the Master's face, with a dedication to me at the back. This 
picture will henceforth be considered as the greatest treasure in my 
possession. 

"Now, if I know anything at all, I know that my drawer contained no 
such letter, when I opened it, and that there was nobody visible in 
my room at that time. The letter, giving a detailed answer to my 
question, must have been written, sealed and put into the drawer in 
less than four minutes, while it took exactly forty minutes to copy 
it the next day; and finally, it treated a very difficult problem in 
such an elaborate and yet concise manner, that only an intelligence 
of the highest order could have done the same."

Can we attribute these experiences to HPB's "second hand smoke"?

This is a very interesting speculation of yours.

How long did one have to be around HPB's second hand smoke before
one started having these full-blown hallucinations?

Exactly what was in her cigarettes?

And is there any information about such drugs that could cause such 
vivid hallucinations VIA second hand smoke?

There are many such questions that need to be fully explored in order 
to determine how reasonable or unreasonable your hypothesis really is?

One final question: Do you beleive now that any of HPB's occult 
phenomena were realy paranormal, ie. NOT some hallucination caused by 
HPB's second smoke or Olcott's cigar or ......?

Daniel H. Caldwell
BLAVATSKY ARCHIVES
http://hpb.cc