Blavatsky News

*  Gordon Strong who has written on Merlin, the Arthurian legends, the Holy Grail, Stone Circles, Tarot, Magic and the Qabalah will be releasing a new book on Dec 13, 2013: Lion of Light: The Spiritual Life of Madame Blavatsky. Published by Axis Mundi Books, the paperback of 142 pages will sell for £9.99 / $16.95. According to the publisher:

Madame Blavatsky was a pioneering woman, and not only as a traveller, writer and spiritual teacher. She was an inspiration to men and women around the world in Victorian times who desired to follow an independent path. In our own times, the New Age owes most of its spiritual knowledge to her. Blavatsky’s travels in Russia, India and Tibet; her absorbing of many different cultures and her personal magnetism, are the stuff of celebrated legend.


*  Col. Olcott is also the subject of a new biography, this one in Sinhalese by Jayantha Wijewickrama. Olcott Charithaya is reviewed in the Sri Lankan Sunday Observer by Arjuna Kurukulasuriya, who conveys the status of Olcott in Sri Lanka.

 Once I was travelling in an intercity bus where I happened to be the only passenger. The driver being in a relaxed and jovial mood, seeing the statue standing in front of the Fort railway station [Colombo, Sri Lanka], turned to the conductor and asked whose statue it was. Neither of them knew the answer. I intervened and said it is that of Olcott's. At least they knew who Olcott was. This is an indication that the memory of the great hero is gradually diminishing. Our memory of the hero is kept alive by several statues and places named after him. Therefore, writing a biography of the late Colonel Henry Steel Olcott is a timely endeavour by Jayantha Wijewickrama. Though most of us knew that Colonel Henry Steel Olcott was instrumental in opening several Buddhist schools in Sri Lanka, little is known about him, except for a few stories.