Svitlana Gavrylenko – Ukraine
The author
Who, but us, people involved in Theosophy, knows for sure what tectonic shift in the consciousness of humanity began to occur after Theosophy, the Divine Wisdom, appeared on the arena of planetary thought in new modern armor, which was presented to the world at the end of the 19th century through Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. All her contemporaries were unanimous in the fact that she exerted incredible, almost superhuman forces to fulfill her mission, and even The Mahatma Letters say that she resembled a courageous warrior who, in an unequal battle, made desperate efforts for victory, the victory of truth, the victory of primordial wisdom over the ignorance and materialistic worldview of the then educated society.
There is no doubt that for such an inner strength, the power of an icebreaker that breaks the path to truth through the icy thickness of prejudices and scientific dogmas, there must be certain prerequisites. That is why I would like to touch on the origins of this invincible transformational potential that our outstanding compatriot Helena Petrovna Blavatsky brought into this world.
Undoubtedly, this is primarily the strength of her character. Each person brings into this world their previous achievements in the form of their character traits. Since childhood, Helena had the ability to learn easily and quickly various knowledge and skills; she seemed to grasp knowledge on the fly. She very quickly outgrew her teachers and tutors, whom her parents had invited. Very early on, she began to demonstrate the independence of her views, the ability to understand people and the ability to make decisions independently. Now we won't discuss different versions of H.P.B.'s previous incarnations, but it is important to note that the family in which she was born did everything necessary not to break her independence, but also to give her the opportunity for fully gaining the inner strength that she would later need so much to fulfill her life task. Important figures in her early development were her mother, father, and grandmother.
Some biographers believe that her father had little influence on Helena, because he was a military man and constantly on duty. But it was just her military father, Petro Alekseevich Hahn, who ensured a certain asceticism in her childhood, because Helena spent her childhood not in social salons, but in nature, leading a simple life. Also important in the moral and mental formation was the influence of grandmother Helena Pavlovna Fadyeyeva, née Princess Dolgoruky, a highly educated person, endowed by birthright and aristocratic upbringing with a noble character and a sense of self-esteem. In my opinion, it was the influence of the grandmother that contributed to the moral framing, or diamond cutting, of that special rebellious spirit that was inherent in the one to whom we are indebted for bringing renewed theosophical knowledge to people and for the very existence of the Theosophical Society, which this year (2025) celebrates its 150th anniversary.
It should also be noted that Helena was under the supervision of her Master from an early age. I offer you my assumption that neither her family nor her place of birth were accidental. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was born on the territory of Ukraine, so we share a common homeland with her. Of course, I want to say that we are proud of this, but on the other hand, we understand well that there is no merit in this, and moreover, it obliges us to do more, imposing a greater responsibility on us, Ukrainian theosophists. Let us analyze certain features of this territory from the point of view of its potentials. First of all, this is the land of Shiva. Did you know that His Trishul (Trident) is depicted on the passport of every citizen of Ukraine? Yes, this most ancient symbol has always been associated with this geographical place, as evidenced by numerous ancient artifacts and modern scientific researches. This is one of those places on our planet where the creative energy of transformation is especially active.
There are some other features of this territory, where Helena was born and raised; this is the lower Dnieper-river region, the city Katherynoslav, now Dnipro.
The Kursk magnetic anomaly is a unique planetary phenomenon. The magnetic field voltage is 2-3 times higher than the planetary norm. According to research by experts, people with cosmic thinking are born here; almost half of the luminaries of the rocket and space school were born here. We can start with Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. There is a powerful closed scientific base of rocketry and space technology in the city Dnipro.
The Ukrainian crystalline shield is a very ancient formation of our earth's crust, the main material of which is granite. Over the past three hundred million years, this territory has been constantly rising; this process affects not only the physical level, but also the mental and spiritual levels. The culture of the Dnieper-river region dates back to the Neolithic era, people lived here in the Archean period. Numerous artifacts of proto-Sumerian writing have been found here.
The Dnieper-river rapids. The Dnieper River is the central artery of Ukraine and Europe. In the span of 70 kilometers, between the two cities of Dnipro and Zaporizhia, there were 9 rapids. Thanks to them, a special, very powerful, transformational energy of this area was created for a long time. Each rapid had its own peculiarities of flora and fauna, its own spectrum of radiation. This is the land that raised Helena, she spent her childhood here, and from here, she set out to transform the world.
However, who will surprise us with changes now? Today it is obvious to many that we live in a period of such global changes that are connected with all the plans of human and planetary existence. Now imagine how we can live in the era of changes in that place where the energy of transformation is already beating. I assure you that there is nothing left but to change ourselves, and to do it urgently.
Look at the map we have compiled. It shows at least 12 places connected with the H.P.B.’s family and her childhood in our country. The places where the family's estates were located are marked here, these are numbers 1, 2, 6, 11 and 12. The places where the military regiment in which Helena's father served was located and the family followed him, are also shown. The memoirs say that soldiers were often Helena's educators, and this left its mark on her character and behavior in the future. The life of officer families is often associated with moving.
On the map, these are numbers 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10. The places that she visited upon returning from her travels around the world are also marked. These are numbers 7, 11. For example, she visited Kyiv three times. H.P.B.'s good friend Agardi Mitrovich was a soloist of the Kyiv Opera. A tragic page of her life is connected with Kyiv. Her adopted son, whom she loved very much, died here. She was tenderly attached to this boy, who suffered from a serious congenital disease.
Among all these places connected with Blavatsky, the most significant are two, namely Katherynoslav, where she was born (number 6), and Odesa, where she returned many times after her travels (number 11). Today, the house that belonged to the family and in which H.P.B. was born remains in Dnipro. This house is now the State Museum Center of H.P.B. and her family. In Pavlynka, near Odesa (number 12), there was an estate of her grandparents, the Fadyeyevs, where she spent her summer months as a child. We are currently building a Cultural Center there for summer programs of the Theosophical Society in Ukraine . As soon as the war is over, we dream of inviting all interested Theosophists to visit places related to the H.P.B. in Ukraine. Some of our friends have already been here and to remember these places forever. Some of them have returned here many times. We will be happy to see all of you in Ukraine, dear friends, sisters and brothers!
What this woman managed to accomplish is grandiose. She gave a new direction to the development of the consciousness of the fifth subrace. Of course, other disciples of the Great Masters in the world were successfully working on this task simultaneously with her and after her, but she was the flagship, she was like an icebreaker cutting a new path of thinking among the icy crystalline massifs of materialism. After The Secret Doctrine the world could not remain the same. Sometimes in medicine, especially in difficult cases, shock therapy is used. This was the case here. A mental shock contributed to overcoming and breaking free from established dogmas and stereotypes of materialistic thinking.
I would like to say a few more words about the transformational potential of Theosophy, about the current global evolutionary processes on our planet and the role of Theosophy as a worldview reference point for current and future changes.
For now, I will simply try to list three main areas of those transformations in the consciousness of humanity that are associated with the appearance of the Sun of Theosophy on the horizon of humanity at the end of the 19th century. This is, so to speak, the social transformational potential:
1. The world picture has begun its stage of radical transformation.
2. The beginning of the formation of new human relations, relations of Brotherhood has been laid.
3. "Brotherhood of religions". Another important sphere in which the ideas of Theosophy are able to bring an impulse of transformation, leading to unification and mutual understanding. This is the sphere of religions. It is very painful for humanity today, because more than half of the military conflicts in the world occur on religious grounds. These issues are given attention in Isis Unveiled and other works of H.P.B.
And finally, Helena Petrovna outlined for Western seekers of Truth the individual features of those transformational potentials that Theosophy initiates. The fourth President of TT, Churuppumulaj Jinarajadasa, in his wonderful book Practical Theosophy very aptly defined them:
“There are three fundamental truths of Theosophy that change a person’s attitude to life as soon as he begins to apply them. Here they are:
1. Man is an immortal soul that grows through the ages to the ideal of perfection.
2. The growth of the soul occurs through learning to cooperate with the divine plan, which is evolution.
3. Man learns to cooperate with the divine plan, primarily by learning to help his fellow men.”
So, we are all standing on the threshold of great planetary processes of transformation. We should not try to avoid this. Let us approach this constructively and help each other find the right solutions. We have a wonderful tool, this is Theosophy. We are grateful to Helena Petrovna Blavatsky for the feat of her life, for the signpost she left us.