{{Short description|1885 report by the Society for Psychical Research}} {{Expand German|Hodgson Report|date=May 2015}}
{{Theosophy}} '''''Report of the committee appointed to investigate phenomena connected with the Theosophical Society''''',<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hodgson|first1=Richard|last2=Gurney|first2=Edmund|author-link2=Edmund Gurney|last3=Myers|first3=Frederic W. H.|author-link3=Frederic W. H. Myers|last4=Podmore|first4=Frank|author-link4=Frank Podmore|last5=Sidgwick|first5=Henry|author-link5=Henry Sidgwick|last6=Stack|first6=J. H.|last7=Sidgwick|first7=Eleanor M.|author-link7=Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick|display-authors=1|title=Report of the committee appointed to investigate phenomena connected with the Theosophical Society|journal=Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research|issn=0081-1475|volume=3|date=1885|pages=201–400|location=London|publisher=Society for Psychical Research|url=https://archive.org/stream/proceedingssoci00britgoog#page/n216/mode/1up}}</ref> commonly called the '''Hodgson Report''' was an 1885 report by the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) on Helena Blavatsky and purportedly apported Mahatma Letters.
==History== Richard Hodgson, a member of the SPR and a research worker of paranormal phenomena, was sent to India. Hodgson's task was to examine if the mode of appearance attributed to the Mahatma Letters represented genuine psychical phenomena. In December 1884 Hodgson arrived in Adyar. He eventually concluded that the evidence supported Emma Coulomb, and that various inconsistencies, misrepresentations, and provable falsehoods in sworn statements by certain Theosophical Society members destroyed their credibility. He included in his research examination of the physical spaces where phenomena had been reported, including architectural features that had been concealed or removed from their original placements. Hodgson wrote a 200-page report, in which Blavatsky was described "as one of the most accomplished, ingenious, and interesting impostors in history."
The report considers at length if letters from Blavatsky provided by the Coulombs as evidence for fraudulent activity were genuinely from her hand, the consistency and credibility of various people who claimed to have witnessed psychic phenomena that occurred through Blavatsky, possible methods by which many purported phenomena might have been humanly produced, and references to various accounts of these phenomena as they had been published or circulated in public knowledge. The Hodgson report is detailed and contains extensive appendices.
Blavatsky's reputation was seriously damaged due to the Hodgson Report.<ref name="Harrison1997a">{{cite book|last=Harrison|first=Vernon|title=H.P. Blavatsky and the SPR : an examination of the Hodgson report of 1885|location=Pasadena, CA|publisher=Theosophical University Press|isbn=9781557001177|year=1997|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OEVRAQAAIAAJ}}</ref>{{rp|page=33}}
== See also == * Coulomb Affair * ''Incidents in the Life of Madame Blavatsky''
==References== {{reflist}}
== Further reading == *{{cite web|title=Annie Besants critique of the Hodgson Report|website=blavatskyarchives.com|publisher=Blavatsky Study Center|url=http://blavatskyarchives.com/besantspr.htm}} Transcribed from {{cite magazine|last=Besant|first=Annie|title=The Great Mare's Nest of the Psychical Research Society|magazine=Time|location=London|date=Mar 1891|pages=193–204}} *{{cite web|last=Coleman|first=William E.|title=Critical historical review of the Theosophical Society|website=blavatskyarchives.com|publisher=Blavatsky Study Center|year=1999|url=http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/cole1893.htm}} Transcribed from {{cite journal|journal=The Religio-Philosophical Journal|oclc=6056674|location=Chicago|date=1893-09-16|pages=264–266}} *{{cite book|title=First report of the committee of the Society for Psychical Research appointed to investigate the evidence for marvellous phenomena offered by certain members of the Theosophical Society|location=London|publisher=National Press Agency|date=1885|oclc=230974874|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0aAGAAAAQAAJ}} * Hastings, Beatrice: ''Defence of Madame Blavatsky'' (Band 2). The Hastings press, Worthington 1937 *{{cite web|last=Hodgson|first=Richard|title=The Theosophical Society : Russian intrigue or religious evolution?|website=blavatskyarchives.com|publisher=Blavatsky Study Center|url=http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/hodgson11.htm}} Transcribed from {{cite news|newspaper=The Age|location=South Melbourne|date=1885-09-12}} *{{cite journal|last=Hodgson|first=Richard|title=The defence of the theosophists|journal=Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research|issn=0081-1475|volume=9|pages=129–159|location=London|publisher=Society for Psychical Research|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BRMrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA129|year=1894}} *{{cite book|last= Hubbell|first=Gabriel G.|title=Fact and fancy in spiritualism, theosophy, and psychical research|location=Cincinnati|publisher=Robert Clarke|date=1901|oclc=397415|url=http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/scd0001.00135232087}} * Kingsland, William: ''The real H. P. Blavatsky, a study in theosophy and a memoir of a great soul''. J.M. Watkins, London 1928 *{{cite journal|last=Knoche|first=Grace F.|title=H. P. Blavatsky and The Society for Psychical Research|journal=Sunrise|issn=0562-6048|date=Jun–Jul 1997|location=Pasadena, CA|publisher=Theosophical University Press|url=http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/sunrise/46-96-7/th-sprgk.htm}} *{{cite book|last=Sinnett|first=Alfred P.|title=The "occult world phenomena" and the Society for Psychical Research|url=https://archive.org/details/b30478364|location=London|publisher=G. Redway|date=1886|oclc=22622155}} *{{cite book|last=Solovyov|first=Vsevolod S.|author-link=Vsevolod Solovyov |title=Modern priestess of Isis|editor-last=Leaf|editor-first=Walter|location=London|publisher=Longmans, Green|date=1895 |oclc= 468865051|url=https://archive.org/details/amodernpriestes01britgoog}} * Vania, K. F.: ''Madame H. P. Blavatsky, her occult phenomena and the society for physical research.'' Sat Publishing Co., Bombay 1951 *{{cite book|author=Waterman, Adlai E. (pseud. of Carrithers, Walter A.)|title=The "Hodgson report" on Madame Blavatsky, 1885-1960 : re-examination discredits the major charges against H.P. Blavatsky|location=Adyar|publisher=Theosophical Publishing House|date=1963|oclc=21518496}} Transcribed in {{cite web|title=Obituary|location=Fresno, CA|publisher=Blavatsky Foundation|website=blavatskyfoundation.org|url=http://blavatskyfoundation.org/watermanobituary.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050512041947/http://blavatskyfoundation.org/watermanobituary.pdf|archive-date=2005-05-12|url-status=live}}
== External links ==
*{{cite book|last=Harrison|first=Vernon|title=H.P. Blavatsky and the SPR : an examination of the Hodgson report of 1885|location=Pasadena, CA|publisher=Theosophical University Press|edition=Online|year=1997|url=http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/hpb-spr/hpbspr-h.htm}} *{{cite web|title=Controversies surrounding H.P. Blavatsky's work & the teachings of Theosophy|website=blavatskyarchives.com|publisher=Blavatsky Study Center|date=2009-04-29|url=http://blavatskyarchives.com/hpbcontro.htm|access-date=2015-01-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527040415/http://blavatskyarchives.com/hpbcontro.htm|archive-date=2009-05-27|url-status=live}} *{{cite press release|date=1986-05-08|title=Madame Blavatsky, co-founder of the Theosophical Society, was unjustly condemned, new study concludes|type=Press release|location=London|publisher=The Incorporated Society for Psychical Research}} Reported in {{cite web|title=Press release of Society for Psychical Research – 1986|website=blavatsky.net|location=Blue Ridge, GA|publisher=Theosophy Foundation|url=http://www.blavatsky.net/index.php/9-theosophy/history/382-spr-press-release|access-date=2014-10-13|archive-date=1999-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990202214538/http://www.blavatsky.net/gen/refute/sprpress.htm|url-status=dead}}
Category:Helena Blavatsky Category:Theosophy