Behind the Bastards Part Three: Helena Blavatsky: the woman who inspired the Nazis, and Gwyneth Paltrow
Aug 30, 2022
A wild dive into Helena Blavatsky’s rise in U.S. spiritualism and her knack for publicity and performance. They cover her mix of fiction, Orientalist inventions, and salon tactics that popularized karma and New Age ideas. The discussion traces how her made-up esoterica and secret-brotherhood myths fed later conspiratorial movements and influenced modern spiritual leaders.
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Occultism Rebranded As Modern Religion
- Helena Blavatsky exploited spiritualism's decline by reframing occultism as a modern, scientific-friendly religion.
- She presented the occult as a synthesis of science, religion, and philosophy to attract disaffected audiences.
Fan Fiction Became Doctrine
- Blavatsky repackaged fiction and Orientalist claims as hidden ancient truths to legitimize her system.
- She blended Bulwer-Lytton, misread scholarship, and bits of real religion into a fabricated spiritual history.
She Brought Karma To America
- Blavatsky popularized Eastern concepts like karma and reincarnation in U.S. salons, shaping American New Age vocabulary.
- Her salons and writings normalized terms that entered mainstream culture by the 1890s.
