Summary of the study of Isis Unveiled carried out on Sunday, September 2, 2012, at the Bangalore ULT
Chapter XII : The “Impassable chasm”
Pages covered : 454, first para to the end of the chapter on p. 460.
Vampirism – continued from previous week’s study
The discussion on the phenomena of Vampirism ends on p. 455 with a narration of one of the most frightful cases of vampirism. It is said to have taken place somewhere in Russia. The story goes that the governor of the province, 60 years age, who was of a malicious, tyrannical, cruel and jealous disposition, ruled the province with despotic authority as his brutal instincts prompted. A young beautiful daughter of a subordinate official of his government was betrothed to a young man whom she loved. But the despotic governor fell in love with the girl and forced her father to consent to having her marry him. The poor victim, despite her despair, became his wife. His jealous disposition exhibited itself, and he beat and tortured her, confined her to a room, forbade to her to have any outside contact except in his presence. Finally the governor fell ill and died. As his end was approaching, he made her swear that she would not marry again, and that if she did, he would return from the grave and kill her. He was buried in the cemetery across the river. The young girl experienced no further annoyances, got the better of her fears and consented to the importunities of her lover and agreed to be betrothed to him.
Then commences the fearful haunting of the vampire of the dead governor who rode in a black coach in the midnight hour into the mansion where she lived, entered her apartment , beat and tortured her. Shrieks of the young woman were heard in the neighbourhood, some of whom came, burst opened the door and found her lying in the bed in a swoon, and they heard sound of a carriage rumbling out of the courtyard. Her body bore black and blue patches due to beating and pinching, and her neck slightly punctured with drops of blood oozing out. She said her deceased husband appeared in the room exactly as in life except that his face was dreadfully pale. This continued night after night and she was brought close to the door of death.
Physicians had no explanation to offer and priests came and spend the night in prayer, but when midnight approached they were seized with over-powering lethargy and sank into sleep. Molestation of the girl continued thus night after night.
Authorities decided to post a pose of armed guards and priests at the bridge across the river from where came the ghostly carriage. When the carriage appeared in the midnight driving at full speed, they ordered the carriage driver to stop and challenged him. But the guards and the priests were flung side by an electric shock, and the spectral carriage went passed them. Finally the authorities decided to exhume the body of the governor and drive a stake through the heart of the carcass. When that was done a groan issued from the corpse and a jet of blood spurted high into the air. Thereafter the vampire was no more heard of.
This is an eye witness account HPB gives.
Questions raised by Dom Calmet, listed in last week’s blog—of the 26th August—remains to be answered. They are
i. Exit from and entry of the vampire into the grave without any disturbance of the earth over it.
ii. How to account for the appearance of the spectre of the person dead and buried.
iii. How does the spectre take on objective form, speak, walk and do all things a living person does.
iv. Why do spectres appear only at midnight hours.
v. How is the blood sucked from victims transfused in to the corpse in the grave, which when exhumed is found with nostrils and mouth full of blood, and body quite fresh.
vi. When the exhumed body of the vampire is cremated the spectral appearance ceases.
Answers
Part of the answers to the questions have already been discussed in the previous blog (of Aug. 26th study)
Besides the above, two other important laws are to be considered.
First is the laws governing separation of the ethereal body of a man from his gross physical body, and the electro-magnetic laws by which the ethereal form, invisible to the physical sight, is rendered visible, and how it gets fictitious life, and why the phenomena occurs the best in darkness.
A detailed scientific exposition of these laws are found in the article of Mr. W.Q. Judge, entitled, SPIRITUALISM, A “SPIRIT” TESTIFIES. It can be accessed here.
The two irrefragable propositions of occult psychological science explain the phenomenon of vampirism (Isis, I, p. 459)
1. The Astral soul is a separable distinct entity of our ego, and can roam far away from the body without breaking the thread of life.
2. The corpse is not utterly dead, and while it can yet be re-entered by its tenant, the latter can gather sufficient material emanations from it to enable itself to appear in a quasi-terrestrial shape.
The fallacy of the Roman Catholic Church in its attributing all such unexplained psychological phenomena to the “DEVIL,”` and the great harm which ensues spread of such fallacious religious ideas :
The philosophical Dualism of Good and Evil in the Zoroastrian religion has been disfigured by Catholic clergy into gross anthropomorphic idea of a separate and distinct mutually antagonistic extra-cosmic personalities called God and Devil. It was a theological expediency to explain the problem of evil in life, as solely instigated by the Devil outside of man and Nature.
In the middle ages, when this dogma was mercilessly enforced by the church, many an unfortunate victim of incubus and succubus (see Theosophical Glossary) were burnt a the stake in Auto de fe. It was a monstrous production of religious fanaticism and epilepsy. It was attributed to the Devil and the poor sensitives were subjected to torture and execution by the Church.
Incubi and succubi can have no objective form :
“To attribute its effects to the Devil is blasphemy; implying that God, after creating Satan, would allow him to adopt such a course……to uphold…that the Devil, whom the Catholics endow with a power, which in antagonism, equals that of the Supreme Deity, transforms himself into wolves, snakes, and dogs, to satisfy his lusts and procreate monsters, is an idea within which lie hidden the germs of devil-worship, lunacy and sacrilege. The Catholic Church which not only teaches us to believe in this monstrous fallacy, but forces he missionaries to preach such a dogma, need not revolt against the devil-worship of some Parsee and South Indian sects.” (I, 459)
What is the so-called Devil Worship of Indians ?
Whom the Christian Missionaries denounce as in league with the devil ?
It is simply this : As discussed in the last week’s (26th Aug. blog) : They dread visitation of spectral forms of their dead relatives who had been strongly attached to material life, and warded them off by offerings of food and such items they liked when alive.
Where then is the Devil ?
The devil is man’s own sinful nature.
“When we imagine that we see, and hear, and feel him, it is but too often the reflection of our own wicked, depraved and polluted soul that we see, hear and feel.” (I, 459)
A man of high character attracts to himself influences congenial to his higher nature, and vice a versa. Like attracts Like.
Our waking life thoughts and deeds have corresponding influence on our dream life—which in turn influences, for good or ill, our waking life.
“Thus according to the mood in which our astral forms oozes out during the hours of sleep, according to our thoughts, pursuits, and daily occupations, all of which are fairly impressed upon the plastic capsule called the human soul, the latter attracts around itself spiritual beings congenial to itself. Hence some dreams and visions that are pure and beautiful, others fiendish and beastly”
The faithful believer in the dogma of the Devil of the Church then rushes to the confessional, and he is promised salvation at the cost of some indulgences, which he has to purchase from the Church. But the sceptic, who cannot be led by the nose by the Church, and in absence of any rational explanation, remains indifferent, and gives himself to the devil, which is his own sinful nature. And he dies, with all the terrible consequences dealt with in the foregoing.
HPB ends the discourse with the following wise counsel:
“Let the student of occult sciences make his own nature as pure and his thoughts as elevated as those of these India seers, and he may sleep unmolested by vampire, incubus, or succubus. Around the insensible form of such a sleeper the immortal spirit sheds a power divine that protects it from evil approaches, as though it were a crystal wall.” (I, 460)
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