Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Isis in Wonderland July 4, 2008
2 out of 8 found this review helpful
Maybe this is one of those reviews I will want to amend or modify or retract altogether, but I doubt it. H.P. Blavatsky, one of the truly peculiar manifestations of the 19th century "spiritualism" wrote several lengthy tangled and ultimately indecipherable expositions on the esoteric mystery teachings through the ages. Several of the reviews have alluded to the fact that these bloated monstrosities are ultimately a confusing mass of disconnected divagations. Try if you date to enter this dense jungle of the Madame's convoluted mind and see how far you get before overtaken by a despair of ever figuring out what point, if any, she is trying to make, other than the desire to hear the sound of her own voice (if only in her own head).
Blavatsky was one of the great con artists of the past two hundred years, and the story of her life, inner and outer, makes for fascinating reading. Especially interesting are her numerous spirit guides or masters, each with a more spectacularly bizarre name. If you look closely enough at photographs of Blavatsky, you can almost hear her saying "are these people actually buying this nonsense?"
 More Input! April 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Like one of the other reviewers, read this 3 decades ago. One studying philosophy is led down many paths in search of knowledge. Seems the delving into personalities, of the many supplying philosophical references, removes one from the search. Of course there was contorversy around Blavatsky, she was no shrinking violet like others of her time. Enough on that.
P.D. Ouspensky and G. I. Gurdjieff may also provide a bit of interesting reading as well as Andrew Jackson Davis. Davis, perhaps, rivals M.P Hall in the wealth of knowledge presented during his life time.
Isis, though not an easy read is worth the effort, in my view.
peace and love to all........
 A little wisdom, a lot of vindictiveness August 30, 2007
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
I was greatly disappointed in these books. I've read a bit by the more modern theosophist authors and wanted to dig back into some of the "classic" texts. What I found in these 2 books is a strange pudding in which a few nuggets of knowledge are randomly interspersed with a big amorphous mass of diatribe against science (Vol 1) and Christian religion (Vol 2). Perhaps because I've already encountered most of the interesting knowlege in these books elsewhere I am more aware of the matirix of hate (too strong a word?) in which they were embedded. I think we all know that both science and religion have huge blind spots and that the christain church has actively persicuted any beliefs contrary to her own. Perhaps in HPB's time she felt that this needed to be known, but that hardly warrents 1400 pages of sledgehammering and repetition.
The book is also a mess to follow. Chapter headings generally have little or nothing to do with what is presented there, it is really a rambling random mess, not seeming to build or evolve in any rational way.
A much more coherent and informative book is The Secret Teacing of All Ages by Manley Hall. It contains much of what is here without the editorial commentary. Its half the length of this and twice as informative.
 QUITE INFORMATIVE! January 9, 2007
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
The two volumes of "Isis" treat of the interrelationship of science and religion as they correspond to the Ancient Wisdom, or Theosophy. The author, HPB, takes painstaking care to show how modern science (c. 1875ff.) is greatly at odds with theosophical science inasmuch as the ultra materialistic perspective of modern scientists prevents them from seeing the meta-reality of the science of the Ancient Wisdom.
HPB is quite thorough in venturing among a number of prominent scientists of her day--e.g. Farraday, Huxley, Cooke--and showing how their theories either: (1) were preceded by the Ancient philosophers/mystics or (2) are hopelessly obscured, and hence, invalid, due to the refusal of the modern scientist to accord well with principles that operate beyond the realm of the several measurable senses.
Consequently, HPB takes something of a polemical tone in these volumes, which, at times, can be somewhat tiring, as the volumes total 1400 pp.
The second volume treats of the development of religion from the most ancient times to the modern day, and attempts to show how the Ancient Wisdom beliefs were only taught to the initiates of the Inner Mysteries and how, over time, various perversions of that teaching got picked up by the profane and then layered over with ceremonies, rules and superstitions. Volume 2 shows, for instance, how sacred Egyptian temple rites devolved into the Greek religion of Eleusis, and how that developed into the Roman cult mythology and how Judaism was a pastiche of the faiths of Egypt, Persia (contemporary Iran), with Christianity being the latest of the religious heritage, excepting Islam.
In my opinion, humble though it be, HPB seeks to show how all religions form from one common thread and that, thus, there are far more similarities in our far-flung and diverse belief systems than there are differences. The author invites us to look beneath the superficial, what she calls, 'the husks', and into the 'true kernal', so that we can claim what was once lost.
Overall, I would recommend these volumes to the reader, assuming he has patience to wade through a fair amount of detail, has some ability to read Greek and Latin, and loves small-print footnotes. Even should the reader be unconvinced of HPB's thesis, she should come away with much food for thought.
Myth or Myth? you be the judge February 16, 2006
4 out of 66 found this review helpful
This book has no scientific proof of exisitence nor validity. Purely speculation and guess work seemingly based upon one persons viewpoint and assumptions made thereof. I would not take this book seriously nor read in in any other manor than to fall asleep at night!
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