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VERA JOHNSTONE’S ACCOUNT OF THE MAKING OF THE SECRET DOCTRINE




Countess Wachtmeister asked several people to tell her about the experiences they had with Blavatsky when she was writing her book The Secret Doctrine, and Blavatsky's niece (Vera Johnstone) sent her a letter telling her the following:


« Dear Countess Wachtmeister,

In June, 1886, I stayed with my aunt in Elberfeld (Germany) and then in Ostend (Belgium).

It was her habit to read out in the afternoon what was written of The Secret Doctrine in the preceding night. Not knowing much English then I am sorry to say I was seldom present at these readings and only half understood the conversations that ensued, so that my contribution to your interesting book must be very small.

Generally on coming down in the morning from the bedroom I occupied in the house of Madame Gebhard together with my mother, I found my aunt deep in her work. So far as I know, she never wrote at that time in the morning, but carefully went over what was written the previous night.

One day I saw evident traces of perplexity written on her face. Not wishing to disturb her I sat down quietly and waited for her to speak. She remained silent a long time with her eyes fixed on some point on the wall, and with a cigarette between her fingers, as was her custom. At last she called out to me:

-   "Vera," she said, "do you think you could tell me what is a pi?"

Rather astonished at such a question, I said I thought a pi was some kind of an English dish.

-   "Please don't make a fool of yourself," she said rather impatiently, "don't you understand I address you in your capacity of a mathematical pundit. Come and see this."

I looked at the page that lay before her on the table, and saw it was covered with figures and calculations, and soon became aware that the formula π = 3'14159 was put down wrongly throughout them all. It was written π =31'4159. With great joy and triumph I hastened to inform her of her mistake.

-   "That's it!" she exclaimed. "This confounded comma bothered me all the morning. I was rather in a hurry yesterday to put down what I saw, and to-day at the first glance at the page I intensely but vaguely felt there was something wrong, and do what I could I could not remember where the comma actually was when I saw this number."


Knowing very little of Theosophy in general and my aunt's ways of writing in particular at that time, I of course was greatly struck with her not being able to correct such a slight mistake in the very intricate calculations she had written down with her own hand.

-   "You are very green," she said, "if you think that I actually know and understand all the things I write. How many times am I to repeat to you and your mother that the things I write are dictated to me, that sometimes I see manuscripts, numbers, and words before my eyes of which never knew anything."


On reading The Secret Doctrine several years later I recognized the page. It was one of the pages which discuss Hindu astronomy.

Later on, when we three went to Ostend, it was I who put aunt's things and books in order, so I can testify that the first month or two in Ostend she decidedly had no other books but a few French novels, bought at railway stations and read whilst travelling, and several odd numbers of some Russian newspapers and magazines. So that there was absolutely nothing where her numerous quotations could have come from.

Yours very sincerely,
Vera Johnstone


P.S.: I append a letter received by me from Dr. Franz Hartmann. »




« Hallein,
  June 2ndy 1893.

My Dear Mrs. Johnstone,

With regard to our conversation referring to the way in which The Secret Doctrine was written, I beg to say that in April, 1885, when I accompanied H.P. Blavatsky from Madras to Europe, while on board of the S.S. "Tibre" and on the open sea, she very frequently received in some occult manner many pages of manuscript referring to The Secret Doctrine, the material of which she was collecting at that time.

Miss Mary Flynn was with us, and knows more about it than I; because I did not take much interest in those matters, as the receiving of "occult correspondence" had become almost an everyday occurrence with us.

Yours very truly,
F. Hartmann»


(Reminiscences of H.P. Blavatsky and “The Secret Doctrine” by Countess Wachtmeister and others, appendix I-5, p.107-109)





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