Isis Unveiled: Volume I

The "Infallibility" of Modern Science

De: H. P. Blavatsky

Narrado por: Graham Dunlop

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.

Public Domain (P)2021 Adultbrain Publishing

Amazing

Amazing great book. Through, comprehensive. Astounding knowledge of historical documents. I will listen again. Thank you

Narrator so bad that I returned the title

I’m not sure the other reviewers were listening to this with a copy of the book in front of them, so they may not have realized that the narrator not only was butchering the pronunciations of some really basic terms like “theologian" and “Catholicism” while mysteriously pronouncing the "Bhagavad-Gita" correctly only to be utterly defeated by the “Æneid”. But that wasn’t why I returned it. He kept skipping over entire passages of text Blavatsky quoted from other sources— passages that weren’t in English. He stumbled his way through short Latin phrases, but skipped over the Ancient Greek and anything longer than a few words entirely. If the text was too dense for the narrator— then narrate something else. Initially, his voice was irritating in a scratchy sort of way, but I got used to it. But, just skipping over parts that were just too dense for him isn’t cool.

I’m one of those people who need the audio alongside the text not just for convenience, but for processing. By not reading what was just too difficult for Mr. Dunlop has actually denied me full access to this title. Maybe that’s why Audible doesn’t have Volume II available? Either way, I’m trying not to interpret his ignorance or laziness as an insult.

As for the text itself— Blavatsky has been in my peripheral for probably the last 30 years. But, with other convergences over the last few weeks, I thought it was high time I start at the beginning with Isis Unveiled. I find it very disturbing— and this is one reason I shied away from Blavatsky— that so many conspiracy theorists, occult-curious-fascists, fringe science deniers masquerading as neo-pagans, and white supremacists cherry-pick and manipulate what Blavatsky is saying for their own ends. Granted much of that manipulation and usurpation is from The Secret Doctrine, but she laid the groundwork for that with Isis Unveiled.

Here, she does talk about problems with science, religion, and I see that she appeals to those who feel disenfranchised— people who feel that “The Establishment” has been lying to them. But she was speaking as a woman during a time when women the world over were fighting for recognition and participation in all of the pillars of society Blavatsky criticized. She was appealing to women and oppressed people primarily during a period in time when the working class was literally fodder for the factory or the battlefield. Her Theosophy movement was the first in modern history that allowed women as much freedom and stature as men, if not more. Most people who criticize her or call her a fraud— or adopt her views to suit their own twisted worldviews— may either not realize, or not care, that she was a woman of her times and her movement allowed women autonomy for the first time. She was also writing from a perspective that many of us can’t imagine. She was railing against the scientific establishment of the 1870s. Most of her complaints —about science, religion, and philosophy— stemmed from the social problems of the day— and the fact that so much of the world that we take for granted was considered what she called magic. Things like germ theory were panned by so-called men of science as the product of diseased minds. Process that for a moment. Doctors thought washing hands was a bad thing. There were no antibiotics. Doctors still thought that bleeding was a thing or that mercury was a cure-all. Even though she talks about alchemical notions like “red salt” (probably cinnabar... another serious toxin— mercury sulfide) like some elixir of life— there were serious inequities across society, especially science. When she published Isis Unveiled, Madame Curie was what 10?

Blavatsky makes many really good points— but she also presents many fallacies that are also problematic. She holds fictions— like Herodotus and Pliny who were liberal in their exaggerations and fantasies— as completely grounded in reality. She takes a number of mythical stories also as literal explanations of the world instead of symbolic ones. My issues with the narrator aside— this is an important foundational work for anyone interested in the occult, in spiritualism, in learning about how people thought of the world and the workings of the universe prior to the splitting of the atom.

Learning Is Forever Eternal

Good book to listen to. Definitely a treat and a treasure trove for those looking for more answers to life and it's still unanswered questions. Will listen to again in future. On to the next volume....

Seeking A Deeper Understanding

This one is for those wanting to learn about spirit, magic, truth and the real history of our possible beginnings. Current schools, science and religion are not teaching the knowledge found in these pages. Thoroughly enjoyed!

timeless data-dense classic

this title pours as much "wisdom of the ages" unto its patrons as any other qualified composition.

ages like fine wine as father time confirms more & more of its mysteries.

a physical copy is deserved on the shelf of any respecting seeker.

God Almighty, seated in Heaven above, Bless those who've found this article with Your Mercy & Grace; Most Radiant & Pure. Through Lord Christ, I Pray, Amen.