Author: Isobel Blackthorn

Publisher: Creativia

ASIN: B07KHN3N7B

Understanding the Mystic Alice Bailey

This is an interestingly unusual and very well written biography of the lesser known occultist, Alice Bailey, a leading light of the Theosophical Society, that was founded in 1875, by Madame Helena Blavatsky.

The Theosophical Society is an international society of people who sought answers to their life issues in more inclusive philosophical systems. The teachings of the Theosophical Society were passed on through Helena Blavatsky to the world by a sage called Djwhal Khul, (D.K.), also known as “the Tibetan”. The information passed on through Madame Blavatsky and others, was and still is, a precursor to the ideas of  the movement that goes by the name of New Age. The tenets of Theosophy included reincarnation and invoked a role of consciousness that had its roots in Eastern philosophies.

Alice Bailey was first  contacted by D.K. when she was fifteen years old, before which she had no idea of existence in other consciousness realms. Life circumstances brought her to the teachings of the Theosophical Society. Thereafter, she came into renewed contact with D.K- and went on to be his scribe, publishing a total of twenty four books before passing on.

This book investigates the life of Alice Bailey from the perspective of a Victoria based archivist, Heather Brown, who has been assigned the task of cataloguing a large body of material, mostly books and notes, left behind by a deceased professor, who was working on a book on Alice Bailey and was unable to complete it before her demise.

Heather has not been very interested in spiritual esoterica before she is assigned the task of cataloguing the formidable amount of archived material left behind by the deceased professor. At the same time, she is recovering from the loss of a much loved aunt whose absence  she feels deeply in being unable to discuss vocally, the new ideas on spirituality that she is encountering. Paradoxically enough, she can feel her aunt’s presence as she wades through the material.

Prominent among the archived material, is “The  Unfinished Autobiography” by Alice Bailey. Heather begins her processing by reading this book. She feels very attracted to Alice Bailey’s personality, so much so that she is impelled to consider writing her own book on the subject. The author, Isobel Blackthorn, has, with great finesse created a narrative that alternates between the two protagonists, viz. Alice Bailey and Heather Brown.

This book presents  a picture of Alice Bailey, the person, without concentrating on her esoteric work. Instead, the author focuses on the incidents and choices made that sculpted the occultist into being, in consonance with the parallel narrative of Heather Brown. We go through  her childhood, her ecumenical service in Ireland and India, her disastrous first marriage that gave her three daughters and how she came across the teachings of the Theosophical Society and got hooked.

Soon enough, Alice realized that Theosophy was her calling. She realized also that her first marriage was over and she moved to Krotona near the headquarters of the Theosophical Society. She got  a job at the society’s cafetaria where she met her future second husband Foster Bailey. Interspersed with Alice’s story is Heather Brown’s chronicle of piecing together the narrative while also clearing her aunt’s belongings from her house.

One day, not long after her change of residence, Alice was once again approached by D.K. Reluctantly, after weeks of self -doubt, she agreed, and soon enough, a book was in the making. The rest of the novel describes her fascinating career, how it progressed as  she became D.K.’s scribe, the resistance she had to face and her willingness to work tirelessly towards spreading the message of how humanity could come together in harmony, despite suffering from severe pernicious anaemia,

It is not possible to detail all the ups and downs of Alice Bailey’s eventful life that are mentioned in this book in this limited review. For, given Alice Bailey’s low key, self effacing personality, it should not come as a surprise that she had had to face an incredible amount of opposition and adversity, given her lofty goals. It must be said, in this context, that the author, Isobel Blackthorn, has put forth a very skillful portrayal of the dynamics of the interaction between Alice and her co-workers and associates, making her responses to her opponents very plausible, given her background. The author concludes with a chapter on the growth and status of Alice Bailey’s organizations since her passing in 1949.

Alice Bailey had envisioned in her writings a world platform where people from  all the countries in the world could come together in harmony and solve their conflicts on the negotiating table, which is why she was very happy when the United Nations Organization was formed. An altar which seems to depict one of her visions was installed in the Meditation room in the United Nations building at the behest of Dag Hammarskjold, who who it is believed may have been influenced by her teachings. Also many of the organizations that she started are alive to this day.

This is not a very easy book to read if you are looking for a quick perusal as the intricacies are quite complex and not easily assimilated. But if you persist and read it to the end, you will see her vision coming to fruition, some decades later as people from all countries come together on a never-before-seen scale to solve common issues, The world has gotten much smaller and even six year olds ,irrespective of nationality are coming to the fore and demanding answers from the powers-that-be to solve global problems.   

I recommend this book warmly.