This collection of sixteen stories contains a mixture of stories about ghosts and contacts from spirits, some by celebrated authors, together with essays on psychical research.
As Joseph French notes in the preface, even for the skeptic, tales of ghostly activity retain a distinct fascination. The widespread interest in psychic phenomena in the early twentieth century proved to be a significant stimulus to literary production.
CONTENTS
1) “When the World was Young” by Jack London2) “The Return” by Algernon Blackwood3) “The Second Generation” by Algernon Blackwood4) “The Clavecin-Bruges” by George Wharton Edwards5) “Ligeia” by Edgar Allan Poe6) “The Sylph and the Father” by Elsa Barker7) “A Ghost” by Lafcadio Hearn8) “The Eyes of the Panther” by Ambrose Bierce9) “Photographing Invisible Beings” by William T. Stead10) “Ghosts in Solid Form” by Gambier Bolton11) “The Phantom Armies seen in France” by Hereward Carrington12) “The Portal of the Unknown” by Andrew Jackson Davis13) “The Supernormal: Experiences” by St John D. Seymour14) “Nature-spirits, or Elementals” by Nizida15) “A Witch’s Den” by Helena Blavatsky16) “Some Remarkable Experiences of Famous Persons” by Walter F. Prince
An analysis of religious beliefs in general, this volume is in particular directed against theological Christianity, the chief opponent of free thought. It contains not one word against the pure teachings of Jesus, but unsparingly denounces their debasement into pernicious ecclesiastical systems that are ruinous to man's faith in his immortality and his God, and subversive of all moral restraint.
THE work now submitted to public judgment is the fruit of a somewhat intimate acquaintance with Eastern adepts and study of their science. It is offered to such as are willing to accept truth wherever it may be found, and to defend it, even looking popular prejudice straight in the face. It is an attempt to aid the student to detect the vital principles which underlie the philosophical systems of old. H. P. Blavatsky
Secret Doctrine Volumes I and II are the magnum opus of H.P. Blavatsky, founder of theosophy and enigmatic teacher of the Secret Wisdom. Volume III is her collected writings and thoughts after her death. Some of the writings are contributed to Annie Besant and others so the book remains as controversial as thought provoking.
The Secret Doctrine, the Synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy, a book originally published as two volumes in 1888 written by Helena Blavatsky. The first volume is named Cosmogenesis, the second Anthropogenesis. It was an influential example of the revival of interest in esoteric and occult ideas in the modern age, in particular because of its claim to reconcile ancient eastern wisdom with modern science. Blavatsky claimed that its contents had been revealed to her by 'mahatmas' who had retained knowledge of humanity's spiritual history, knowledge that it was now possible, in part, to reveal. Volume two (Anthropogenesis)The second half of the book describes the origins of humanity through an account of 'Root Races' said to date back millions of years. The first root race was, according to her, 'ethereal'; the second root had more physical bodies and lived in Hyperborea. The third root race, the first to be truly human, is said to have existed on the lost continent of Lemuria and the fourth root race is said to have developed in Atlantis. According to Blavatsky, the fifth root race is approximately one million years old, overlapping the fourth root race and the very first beginnings of the fifth root race were approximately in the middle of the fourth root race.
The Secret Doctrine Volume 1 Cosmogenesis. The Secret Doctrine, the Synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy, a book originally published as two volumes in 1888, is Helena P. Blavatsky’s magnum opus. The first volume is named Cosmogenesis, the second Anthropogenesis. It was an influential example of the revival of interest in esoteric and occult ideas in the modern age, in particular because of its claim to reconcile ancient eastern wisdom with modern science.
Blavatsky claimed that its contents had been revealed to her by ‘mahatmas’ who had retained knowledge of mankind’s spiritual history, knowledge that it was now possible, in part, to reveal.
The first part of the book explained the origins of the universe itself, in terms derived from the Hindu concept of Yugas, or long passages of time through which the world is supposed to have evolved. Blavatsky attempted to demonstrate that the discoveries of “materialist” science had been anticipated in the writings of ancient sages, and that materialism would soon be proven wrong.
