Cassandra Vlabatsky, author of Unfogging the Future

[heidi tandy]

No: HPFGUIDX 483

Just a little note on names - I have a very very strong feeling that 
the name of the author of Unfogging the Future, Cassandra Vlabatsky, 
is derived from the name of a woman who owned a house which is now on 
the campus of the University of Pennsylvania (which is where I went 
to school) - she was very well known in "spiritualist" circles in the 
late 1800s. I just popped over to the restaurant's website, where 
they have a little history of the house where the restaurant is 
located, and I have reposted it here:


In 1875, Madame Helena P. Blavatsky resided at 3420 Sansom Street, 
now home of the White Dog Cafe. Scholar, teacher, spiritualist, and 
uninhibited eccentric, Madame Blavatsky was one of the most colorful 
and extraordinary characters of the century. She authored many 
volumes of work including The Secret Doctrine, which explored, in her 
words, "The accumulated wisdom of the ages." In the fall of 1875, she 
founded the Theosophical Society, a worldwide organization dedicated 
to the promotion of universal brotherhood, and standing for complete 
freedom of individual search and belief.

While living on Sansom Street, Madame Blavatsky became ill with an 
infected leg. During her illness, she underwent a transformation 
which inspired her to found the Theosophical Society. In a letter 
dated June 12, 1875, Madame Blavatsky described her recovery, 
explaining that she dismissed the doctors and surgeons who threatened 
amputation, ("Fancy my leg going to the spirit land before me!") and 
had a white dog sleep across her leg by night, curing all in no time.

"Behold the truth before you: A clean life, an open mind, a pure 
heart, an eager intellect, an unveiled spiritual perception, a 
brotherliness for one's co-disciple, a readiness to give and receive 
advice and instruction, a courageous endurance of personal injustice, 
a brave declaration of principles, a valiant defense of those who are 
unjustly attacked, and a constant eye to the ideal of human 
progression and perfection - these are the golden stairs up the steps 
of which the learner may climb to the temple of divine wisdom." H.P.B.