Blavatsky on esoteric aspects of the family

Besides, Blavatsky's extensively developed trinitarian philosophy based on the symbolism of father, mother and child, below are a couple of suggestive passages that evoke a cosmic and metaphysical perspective of the family, where is described a holistic, organic view of the familial unit, not unlike the symbolism of the tree, which Blavatsky, in The Key to Theosophy, uses to explain the notion of universal brother/sisterhood; also related to the concept of the Macrocosm and Microcosm Correspondence :

This mysterious process of a nine-months formation the kabalists call the completion of the "individual cycle of evolution." As the foetus develops from the liquor amnii in the womb, so the earths germinate from the universal ether, or astral fluid, in the womb of the universe. These cosmic children, like their pigmy inhabitants, are first nuclei; then ovules; then gradually mature; and becoming mothers in their turn, develop mineral, vegetable, animal, and human forms. From centre to circumference, from the imperceptible vesicle to the uttermost conceivable bounds of the cosmos, these glorious thinkers, the kabalists, trace cycle merging into cycle, containing and contained in an endless series. 

The embryo evolving in its pre-natal sphere, the individual in his family, the family in the state, the state in mankind, the earth in our system, that system in its central universe, the universe in the cosmos, and the cosmos in the First Cause: — the Boundless and Endless. So runs their philosophy of evolution:

"All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body Nature is; and God the Soul."

"Worlds without number
Lie in this bosom like children." (Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man, 1734) 
(Isis Unveiled, Vol. I, pp. 389-90)

In the Greek and Latin churches -- which regard marriage as one of the sacraments -- the officiating priest during the marriage ceremony represents the apex of the triangle; the bride its left feminine side and the bridegroom the right one, while the horizontal line is symbolised by the row of witness, the bridesmaids and best-men. 

But behind the priest there is the altar with its mysterious containments and symbolic meaning, inside of which no one but the consecrated priests ought to enter. In the early days of Christianity the marriage ceremony was a mystery and a true symbol. Now, however, even the churches have lost the true meaning of this symbolism. (The Secret Doctrine. Vol. 1 , p. 614 fn)

It is a truism of too long standing, a policy acted upon by every civilized nation from antiquity, that the prosperity of every state is based upon the orderly establishment of family principles. Nor is anyone likely to deny that social ethics depend largely upon the early education received by the growing-up generations. On whom does the duty devolve of guiding that education from early childhood? Who can do so better than a loving mother, once that her moral worth is recognised by all, and that no evil report has ever sullied her fame? The youth and his later intellectual training may well be left to the firmer hand of the father: the care of his childhood belongs by all divine and human rights to the mother alone; the parent who gave her offspring not only a part of her flesh and blood, but a portion likewise of her immortal soul— that which shall create hereafter the real man, the true EGO. This is the A B C of the life-duties of mankind; and it is the first duty of those in power to guard the sacred maternal rights against any brutal violation. (Our 19th Century Christian Ethics [Lucifer, Vol. II, No. 12, August, 1888, pp. 482-484], Collected Writings, Vol. 10, p. 83)

 

Some Hints on Theosophical Parenting and Child Education

The following article was written during Blavatsky’s time in London and gives some simple, common sense reflections that are still relevant today and retain a freshness that can be seen in the educational philosophy of modern alternative education schools. Some Thoughts About Fairies, Lucifer  v5 January, 1890, p382, by the same author, has some related matter of interest.

"Ye open the Eastern windows, That look towards the sun."

(Children, HenryWadworth Longfellow, Birds of Passage, 1858)

The Natural Child-like quality

IN these two lines a great poet expresses one of his thoughts about children, and the idea is full of suggestion to anyone who has come in contact with the fresh and natural mind of a child, who has watched its intuitive powers, and its simple faith that accepts truth without question, — nay, not only without question, but with clear understanding, as if, indeed, it still retained some glow from those "trailing clouds of glory" which so soon grow dim and "fade into the light of common day". These little ones do,indeed, "open the Eastern windows" for us, letting in sunlight and air on our shadowed and stifled lives; and by our very love for them they draw us into a higher life, and often do more to educate us than we do to train them.We see in the natural child the unconsciousness of self that we have lost —the simple regard for things as they are, stripped of the world's opinion of them — the frank, outspoken word and revealment of their thought, which puts to shame our use of language to conceal thought, the natural modesty and refinement which is as far as possible removed from our grown-up propriety, which is measured only by what other people say. All these contrasts between ourselves and them bring before us many thoughts. And two specially prominent questions occur to us: (1) Why do we not make ourselves more child-like?(2) Why do we not endeavour to keep our children child-like?

Materialistic Education

If we are earnest Theosophists — that is, if we are earnestly trying to live up to the spiritual truths in our own form of religious belief, which it is one of the great aims of Theosophy to show us — we have already answered the first question by trying to cultivate the teachable mind, the open heart and clear spirit, without which very little growth can go on;we are trying to make thought and life harmonious, to put aside shams and selfishness, prejudice and pride, and in very truth to "become as little children". And our efforts with ourselves, our struggles in our own growth, bring forcibly home to us the need for looking seriously into the defects in modern methods of educating children. Seeing the hard task of uprooting so much that has become ingrained in our characters, the difficult warfare against habits, mental and bodily, which we have only just begun to try and conquer — seeing all this, we must ask ourselves, Can we not save our children the same long, hard struggle, or, at any rate, mitigate it by equipping them at the outset with proper weapons, and teaching them how to use them ? Whilst we are striving to become more child-like, we see the children growing rapidly into old men and women, becoming hard and materialistic, almost before they can speak plainly, and losing that lovely freshness and clearness of soul so valuable to the aftergrowth, so necessary to spiritual development.

Excessive Stimulation of the Mind

To acknowledge the evil is the first step, to remedy it, a harder task, but one that as earnest Theosophists we must not shirk. For, as each one of us has to find the truth within himself — and only so can it be perceived and known — so it behoves us to help our children to keep the clear mirror of the soul untainted, and free from everything that can distort the Divine images reflected on its surface.Our first aim should be to promote the harmonious development of all the faculties; to strive after bodily, mental, and spiritual perfection, and to endeavour to make the advance equal in each. If we strain the mind and starve the body, we warp and destroy both. To starve the mind and soul produces equally disastrous results; but perhaps our worst error nowadays is the excessive stimulation of the mind, especially the lower critical faculty, and the almost total disregard and stunting of the imagination.The senses should be cultivated; indeed, they are not trained sufficiently, but, at the same time, they should not be regarded as the only avenues to knowledge.

Training the Senses

To train a child to see — really to see an object on which its eye rests — not only quickens and sharpens the sense of sight, but gives it a power of creating and holding mind pictures which stand out clear and strong, and also develops higher powers and greater capacity for abstract thought than we can have any idea of until we have tried the experiment upon ourselves; so with all the senses. We do not want our brains burdened with confused masses of acts and images, and half-blurred memories, a kaleidoscopic tangle of colours and forms and ideas coming and going whether we wish it or not. How much more, then, should we try to train the young growing brain of a child, to give it few ideas, and those clear ones — few images, and those distinct — to nourish its mind with a small quantity of easily digested food, instead of pouring a perpetual stream of miscellaneous knowledge into its brain, the very amount alone preventing its being of any use. Pouring in— not drawing out — such is modern education to a very great extent. Together with this cultivation of the senses should the reasoning faculties grow, but kept in subjection as half-developed powers, not dragged into prominence, otherwise conceit and self-confidence shut out further knowledge. In children,and in uneducated people, the intuitive powers are strong; but as the logical faculty develops, the intuition becomes less prominent, and, if resolutely set aside, disregarded, and unused, will wither and lie entirely dormant; and as an unused limb hampers and warps the body, so will this dormant faculty hamper and warp the soul. The logical powers, trained side by side with the intuitional, will produce the highest form of intellect — the intellect that may be more rightly named genius.

Humility

A natural child is humble and anxious to learn, ready to reverence and respect what is higher and wiser than itself, and this reverence should be fostered and carefully guarded, not by parents and others in authority setting themselves up on a pedestal, and all the time allowing the child to see weaknesses and want of dignity that destroy the authority and respect at once, but by influencing and commanding their obedience and regard by showing them that we are fallible as they are, struggling against temptation and faults, doing wrong and getting punished for it like themselves, but still trying to follow a high ideal, and reverencing all that is wiser than ourselves. If we show them ourselves thus striving, we step down and take them by the hand and draw them upwards with us, instead of landing on what is to a child an unreachable level of supposed goodness, with the chance of the child losing all faith in that goodness by seeing we are but human after all. First, then, train the senses in due order and with full knowledge of their limitations, letting the child see that where these stop short, faith begins — that side by side with the visible, tangible world, lies that larger and more real invisible world, to be believed in first, and afterwards to be apprehended and known as the child grows and develops.

Self-Knowledge and Self-Control

So we lay a groundwork on which to build self-knowledge, and together with this must be built its inseparable companion, self-control. From the very beginning a child should be taught this, and the little efforts at self-command and the conquest of uncontrolled impulses give a child a sense of power, strength and reliance that cannot be given by any outward authority. Let it see that faults and tendencies to wrong-doing are not to be excused on the ground of natural defect or bad example of others, but as so many difficulties to be overcome, so many opportunities for self-conquest, so many lessons set for us to learn, for our final good and well-being. Never let a child say, "I cannot do this". Put in its way only such tasks as are within its power, and see that the required effort is made, or better leave it unattempted. For successful effort braces and inspirits the whole being, and gives confidence, whilst nothing so deteriorates the character as half-done work.

Gentle Discipline

Unquestioning obedience is another most necessary factor in education. But commands should be few and certain. Wavering indecision in issuing commands is fatal to authority. No child should be irritated with a host of petty orders and rules, but the habit of instant obedience, when once the word of command has gone forth, should be established early. No one can rule till he has learned to obey. It is difficult in a short space to touch on the wide and important question of punishment, but a few general remarks may be made. Theosophists should bear in mind the law of Karma, and carry it out in their training. Punishments should rather be called consequences — the inevitable result of a cause. A child should be made to see that certain effects follow certain of its actions as surely as night follows day. And due warning of the effect should be given. If you do such or such an action, this or that penalty will follow! Parents should never punish in anger, never lose temper with a child; but calmly administer the previously threatened payment for breach of law. Children are very quick to perceive, and the certainty of the effect is the only deterrent to the act in future. Punishments depriving children of food or play, or any of the necessaries of life, should be avoided, likewise long tasks that try the brain or nerves; and, of course, all threats of unknown bogies or other methods of working on their fears are as wicked as they are useless. Too many people punish offences against custom and manners as heavily, if not more so, than moral delinquencies. This gives a child a very false idea of the relative proportion of human and Divine law. In all our action and attitude towards children, love, and love alone, should be apparent as our motive power. Discipline and teaching alike prompted by our desire for their final welfare. Pain and sorrow, pleasure and happiness, given in the same loving spirit, for the same wise and good end; and the more we realize that our own education goes on in the same way, the more will our children see and understand the use of our discipline.

The Secret Power of Thought

And here we touch on the root of the whole subject. It is our growth, our education, that affects them. It is what we think and what we believe that has most effect on them. When we realize, as all students of Occultism must realize, that our unspoken word, our most secret thought, is given out by usunconsciously, and either taints or purifies the subtle atmosphere around us, and takes effect for good or evil on those with whom we come in contact, then, and then only, do we wake up to our terrible responsibilities, and the need for the most searching cleansing of those thoughts, the need for high and lofty ideals for perpetually dwelling in thought on all that is good and beautiful, that no inward taint of ours may sully their purity, nor infect them with evil. They can in this way imbibe our faith, our deepest religious beliefs, our love of and trust in the Divine, just as they will no less surely catch our want of faith,our doubt and cynical discontent with life. Let us, then, as children too, members of the one great family, by our striving, our own growth in goodness, our own sense of the unity and harmony of all things, make an atmosphere of sunshine and purity for our children to live in, and from the very beginning of their young lives inculcate those larger lessons of universal Brotherhood which Theosophists are endeavouring to teach, so shall we no less than they open windows towards the East for them and for ourselves.

Francis Annesley - Some Hints on the Theosophical Training of Children - March, 1890 ,“Theosophical Siftings” Volume 3 The Theosophical Publishing Society, England"

The author of this article may possibly be Charles Francis Annesley Voysey (1857-1941), an English architect and furniture and textile designer.

Theosophy and Family Life

In the absence of any well-defined theosophic creed or dogma, theosophic principles in the form of generalisations only having been given out, there has been no end of misapprehension and. misapplication of these principles. The resulting errors have been charged to theosophy and odium has not infrequently attached to the very name. It would be very easy to show that such must necessarily have been the result from the very nature of the case and that all these misapprehensions are the fault of individuals alone. Individuals differ widely both intrinsically and extrinsically, and a specific statement that would apply exactly to one individual case might not fit another in a million.  

It has been repeatedly stated that the only theosophic schoolmaster is man’s own higher nature, that his intelligence and consciousness, illumined by conscience, must enable him to feel his way, what a recent writer in The Theosophist says about the desirability of a teacher or Master, is doubtless true, and the desire for this has been the one cry which has come up from thousands of seekers all over the land, but, alas ! the cry has been in Vain, and we have witnessed the result in the flocking to other societies which promised just these teachers or teachings. The Theosophical Society has beaten the cover, while others have bagged the game. This would be of no consequence whatever if the best results for these seeking souls were thereby attained, but when delusion and ceremonial magic are the inevitable results, we may not altogether shirk the responsibility of thus arousing the spirit of enquiry. The last state of such seekers is worse than the first.

The time is at hand when our would-be leaders must come down from the clouds, for every professed theosophist will be held to strict account. True, an all-sufficient body of the doctrine has been set forth, and if one but catches the spirit of the movement, he may easily gain a clue to the labyrinth that will in no case lead him astray into pitfalls and dangers. The real ethics of theosophy apply to man, not man in India or Europe, or America alone, but to man everywhere, and at all times, and under every condition, and here is just the reason why more specific instructions cannot be given. The doctrine per se, is set forth, the application, must be made by the individual, and if the doctrine be not capable of such varied application, it cannot be universally true.

A large part of what has been written applies to those favoured individuals who have means for leisure, and opportunity to devote to work either personal or otherwise, who “untrammelled” by wife or children or worldly obligations, feel free to make theosophy the business of their lives. It has thus happened that others not thus free to choose, and feeling the sting of injustice, born it is true of selfishness, and fortified by the aforesaid more fortunate examples, have made the fatal mistake of seeking to ignore or get rid of their obligations rather than to discharge them, imagining that thereafter they would find an “open sesame” to the temple of the gods. I said, a large part of what has been written, but this refers less to the text than the commentary, less to the doctrines originally given out, than to the applications and annotations.

Let it be clearly shown that theosophy has a practical application to the family, to the home circle, to husband and wife, to every and every-day relation in life and its following will be increased tenfold. Let it be clearly shown that no husband can progress in, or even enter the Path by ignoring or deserting his wife and children, but on the contrary, that they may and ought to be his companions at every step, and that nothing so unifies a household, as one genuine theosophic life therein, and theosophy will begin to be understood, and as it is understood it will be espoused and exemplified. It was undoubtedly necessary in the present low spiritual condition of the world, to point out the transcendent heights attainable by the soul who wills and dares. Nothing else would arouse the sleeping God within us, but when it was added, that not one in a million could reach this height, it was human nature to try, or else to deny its possibility. This explains the growing tendency to deny the existence of the Masters, and as this denial is supposed to take all authority from the Theosophical Society’s movement, progress in many places is in abeyance. The idea of Truth is the only authority, and the coherence of truths as evidence thereof, unfortunately has not yet taken possession of the body theosophic, though this one principle was nailed to the mast at the publication of the first number of The Theosophist and floats there still.

It is possible that one may starve his body into submission, and become clairvoyant by gazing at a spot on the wall, and by fleeing to the desert avoid temptation, and if he can avoid insanity and imbecility, gather vibrations by the out-breathed word, but place within his reach a half-clothed voluptuous woman, and he will doubtless learn more of ‘’magic” in an hour than the wilderness has taught him in forty years, and his role will be that of slave, rather than master, for in the hour of triumph he "shall surely die.” “ Elephants and cows eat grass,” and hundreds of men and women are continent from apathy, or lack of opportunity. A real adept is one, it is said, whom every woman desires, yet none possess, and on the higher plane men are as women, and women as men. Our ancient brothers called the process by which this higher plane is reached, “ Alchemy,” or the “ Great Work,” converting the baser metals into gold. He who is incapable of lust, is incapable of power, yet he who mistakes lust for love is a beast. He who converts lust into love, is thus far an adept, for he knows the elixir of life.

The man or the woman who is the centre of home and children, need not envy the recluse, for any real progress of which he or she is intrinsically capable is open now and here, as well, nay often better than there. These are the natural and necessary conditions, else they had not been. Imagine an “ adept” sighing for other conditions with which he might exercise his power!  

He is an adept, who seizes on the commonest things nearest at hand, and transforms them into beauty and blessing. The world is his, and he is helped infinitely if he can make the centre of that world a happy home. Here let him will, and do, and dare, let him learn patience, self-control, unselfishness, and above all the power of love. As he conquers himself, he shall learn to know himself.

 The voices of wife and child when he goes out into the world, shall make his own voice seem a symphony, and sorrow and pain shall flee at his approach. 

There is true magic in happiness, when based on intelligent knowledge, and unselfish endeavour. He who despises this magic, is capable of no other. He who triumphs here, is capable of all. One by one the veils are lifted, and the faithful disciple reads in the hall of truth the lessons of wisdom. He walks with no uncertain step. That which he needs comes at the appointed time, though he pauses not for its coming. He may hear no voice of Master till he utters no plaint of slave, yet he knows in whom he has trusted and he cannot be put to shame. He is the true clairaudient who listens to and obeys the voice of God in his own soul. He is the true seer who walks by the light of an enlightened consciousness—the highest intuition. (Harij (J. D. Buck). The Theosophist, Vol. 8, No. 93, June, 1887, pp. 533-35)