Invisible Worlds: Annie Besant on Psychic and Spiritual Development

Kurt Leland, an award-winning poet and composer and author of five nonfiction books, has been called one of the world's foremost experts on out-of-body experiences by What Is Enlightenment magazine. He maintains an intuitive counseling practice called 'Spiritual Orienteering' in the Boston area. Orienteering is the art of finding our way through a physical landscape without a map, using only a compass. Spiritual Orienteering expands that definition to include finding our way through the landscapes of our emotional, mental, and spiritual lives. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was born on August 12, 1831, at Dnepropetrovsk (Ekaterinoslav), Ukraine, daughter of Colonel Peter Alexeyevich von Hahn and novelist Helena Andreyevna (née de Fadeyev). In 1849 she married N. V. Blavatsky, and shortly thereafter began more than 20 years of extensive travel, which brought her into contact with mystic traditions the world over. She was the principal founder of the Theosophical Society in New York City in 1875, and devoted her extraordinary literary talents to its humanitarian and educational purposes until her death in London, England, on May 8, 1891. Along with writing her several books, H. P. Blavatsky kept up a voluminous correspondence and also contributed a steady stream of essays and articles to periodicals in English, French, and Russian.

"To investigate the unexplained laws of Nature and the powers latent in humanity" is one object of the Theosophical Society. Annie Besant (1847-1933), outspoken feminist, political activist, and early president of the TS, thought that psychic and spiritual development should be available to everyone, not just a chosen few. In her many books and articles providing guidelines, her goal was not to help students develop supernormal powers, but to help them increase consciousness in order to receive instruction from the ascended Masters. Besant believed this work had positively changed her life and wanted others to enjoy the same benefit. Although penned a century ago, Besant's wisdom on the subject is still germane. Her prose is clear and inspiring, and Kurt Leland's introduction and notes are well-informed. He helpfully divides Besant's writings into four parts -- Occultism Light and Dark, Higher Life Training, the Investigation of Different Worlds, and the Science of the Superphysical.