Blavatsky's Influence on Occult America with Mitch Horowitz

Open Minds with Regina Meredith

In this interview with Regina Meredith, Mitch Horowitz returns to explore the occult foundations of progressive social concerns in American history. We begin with exploring the charismatic figure of Helena Blavatsky who brought forward the strengths and benefits of Buddhism and traditional Hindu beliefs, at a time when such views were dismissed as antiquated and inadequate. Building upon her foundation of Theosophy, we see the emergence of the spiritualist movement which held strong ties with emancipation and abolitionist politics. We also discover the origin of the power of positive thinking and Law of Attraction philosophies which taught that happiness and transcendence are contained within the human mind.