Cassandra Vlabatsky, author of Unfogging the Future

[Steve Bates]

No: HPFGUIDX 489

Wow!  I am starting school at Penn in two days!  I will have to look 
up Ms. Vlabatsky's house.  Do you have any more info on her, like was 
she connected with the University at all?

--- In HPforGrownups at egroups.com, "heidi tandy" 
<heidi.h.tandy.c92 at a...> wrote:
> 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.