Alice A. Bailey - The Unlikely Occultist

How to introduce esotericism as a profound philosophy and tenable worldview to the intellectual, cultural and scientific elite? A somewhat unusual method of handling this issue is writing a novel. When I first discovered The Unlikely Occultist. A Biographical Novel of Alice A. Bailey, written by Australian author Isobel Blackthorn, I felt somewhat apprehensive. Being a student of esotericism for many years I first assumed this was just another sensational potboiler by someone not much versed in the Esoteric Tradition. I was wrong.

In a short author´s note in the beginning of The Unlikely Occultist, Isobel Blackthorn writes: ”This portrait of Alice A. Bailey is based on a deep and prolonged study of her life and teachings.” All this study and research has resulted in a PhD from the University of Western Sydney, Australia. Her thesis The Texts of Alice A. Bailey. An Inquiry Into the Role of Esotericism in Transforming Consciousness (2006) is published under her former name Isobel Wightman and aviable online. Besides this special interest Isobel is a prolific novelist or as she prefer to designate herself, ”author of diverse quality fiction”, but she is also a humanitarian, a campaigner for social justice and a qualified astrologer.

Isobel Blackthorn

As a retired librarian I was immediately charmed by the fact that part of the narrative centers around the ficticious Heather Brown, librarian at the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. During an routine inventory of boxes from the late Professor Samantha Foyle she discovers that the boxes comprise a large collection of Esoterica, especially Theosophy and Alice Bailey, a special research interest of Professor Foyle. Out of curiosity Heather begin reading The Unfinished Autobiography of Alice A. Bailey and is immediately hooked, and becomes deeply fascinated by the life of this unusual woman and ”unlikely occultist”. The reader can then follow two parallell stories, the life of Heather Brown coupled with the real life of Alice Bailey as told in her autobiography. The major characters in the novel are based on real people while their personalities and attitudes are more or less fictitious.

Those who have read Alice Bailey´s autobiography recognize the stages in her life: the strict and orthodox Christian upbringing in a wealthy British family, evangelical work in Britain and India, where she met her first husband, a distrastrous marriage resulting in three daughters. The move to America, conversion to Theosophy and finally the founding of The Arcane School in 1923, together with her second husband Foster Bailey. The narrative alters between the lives of Alice and Heather, who becomes more and more obsessed to find out why Alice Bailey, in spite being regarded as the mother of the New Age movement, is now so forgotten and criticized: ”Carl Jung and his intellectual coterie were the last piece in a jigsaw of condemnation… she had been abused by a violent husband, and then vilified and ostracised by purist Theosophists, the Jewish community, fundamentalist Christians, conspiracy theorists and leading scholars in the field of western esotericism.” (p. 295)

Alice Bailey

It is fascinating to follow how Isobel portrays the mindset and moral attitude of Alice Bailey. Not an easy undertaking as the scenes and anecdotes presented may create new myths around a woman already a favourite among conspiracy advocates. Reality and fiction becomes blurred. In the novel Alice is generally presented as a very strict moralist, especially when it comes to sex, nudity and her daughters upbringing. Very much different from her husband Foster: ”He was a perfect companion who held the vision as close to his own heart as she, yet he didn´t share her moral propriety. His was a more fluid, liberal morality…” (p. 140). This is exemplified in a scene at a conference in Ascona, Switzerland where Foster is observed sunbathing in the nude on a raft. For this shocking behavior he is heavily lambasted by Alice, who is very much afraid his act has damaged the reputation of the Arcane School.

Among esotericists a renewed debate has recently come up regarding the possible discipleship of Dag Hammarskjöld. Isobel Blackthorn mention an interesting speech (p. 5), written in the 1970s, by New Age activist Donald Keyes, who was also speechwriter for Secretary-General U Thant in the 1960s and Founder/President of Planetary Citizens. The speech can be found posted online. This quote is of special significance: ”In one of Alice A. Bailey´s books, written in the 1930s, there is a statement that a leading Swedish disciple would soon be working in the world. A high Swedish initiate who was a friend of mine was once asked if the foretold one were he. His answer was ”no, it is Dag Hammarskjöld”.”

I was not aware of this document but Donald Keyes is not the first to refer to Hammarskjöld as disciple. In the writings of Swedish esotericist Henry T. Laurency I have found two quotes referring to this issue, written in the beginning of the 1960s:
”That does not at all mean that they need to be aware of this in their present incarnation. Most often they are not. Neither Franklin Roosevelt, nor Winston Churchill, or Dag Hammarskjöld knew that they were disciples.” (Henry T. Laurency, Knowledge of Life Three, Esoteric Knowledge Orders, p. 8, digital ed.)

”… Mustafa Kemal, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Dag Hammarskjöld (were

unbeknownst to themselves) disciples of the planetary hierarchy.” (Henry T. Laurency, The Way of Man, 9 The Second Self, p. 84, digital ed.)

The actual quote by the Tibetan can be found in Bailey´s A Treatise on White Magic, p. 79: ”… They are aided by a disciple of rare capability in Sweden”.  I have always maintained that this is a reference Henry T. Laurency, who was a disciple of the adept known as Hilarion and Laurency was certainly a ”rare capability”. But of course it may also have been Hammarskjöld. We can only speculate. I do wonder who the ”high Swedish initiate” known by Donald Keyes was? Could it have been Laurency himself?

Article about Henrik von Zeipel (Henry T. Laurency) from the Swedish daily Morgon-Tidningen, July 9, 1947

From an esoteric viewpoint I have found no actual mistakes in the text, with the possible exception of a designation on page 8: ”Heather half expected the Buddha to appear from behind the fresco and greet the Christ standing before the altar, the heads of a spiritual hierarchy of ascenden masters central to Alice Bailey´s occult scheme.” Esotericists should refrain from using the term ”ascended masters” as this will associate Bailey with the I Am-movement and its offshoots. Ascended Masters was a concept advocated by Guy and Edna Ballard of the I Am-movement. The Tibetan is very explicit and critical, referring to the I Am Movement as a "cheap comedy" and travesty of the esoteric tradition. (Alice Bailey, The Rays and the Initiations, p.16).

Although The Unlikely Occultist can be considered as a defense or apology for Alice Bailey and esotericism, Isobel Blackthorn is no naive devotee. Like many critics she has noticed several controversial statements in the Bailey volumes that taken out of context could be used as a pretext for racism, antisemitism and persecution of homosexuals. The problem is that it is often difficult to assess what is Alice Bailey´s personal idiosyncracies and what is actual quotes from the Tibetan. Bailey was a unique amanuensis but heavely influenced by her fundamentalist Christian background. Isobel Blackthorn makes this relevant comment in the novel: ”It appeared she had taken the notions of Christian goodwill and service, and blended them with the Buddhist idea fo right relations. She never left her old faith behind; she dressed it up in new clothes.” (p. 87).

What is Isobel Blackthorn´s present view of Alice Bailey and her work? This quote from Isobel website is from what understand a good summary:

”For too long Alice Bailey has been either maligned or ignored and I think it is time the world knew just how important her body of work and her life’s mission are, influencing healing modalities, psychology, education, the ongoing campaign for world peace and the spiritual ethos at the United Nations. ”

I highly recommend The Unlikely Occultist. I found it intensely captivating and enchanting. This work can actually function as an introduction to studies in the Esoteric Tradition and may even inspire a minor renaissance for Alice Bailey. Esotericists will be delighted by this biographical novel and if you are a librarian or archivist you will just love it.

The Rise and Fall Of Understanding, Inc.

In the 1950s and 60s a remarkable social phenomenon emerged, basically concentrated in the State of California. It was organizations founded by UFO contactees, individuals who told of physical and telepathic contacts with space people. Three of these contactees, Daniel Fry, George Adamski and Gabriel Green, succeeded in creating large organizations with local units in many U.S. states and even abroad. Understanding was founded in 1955 by Daniel Fry, El Monte, California, with only nine members at the beginning. In September 22, 1960 the organization was registred as a non-profit corporation in the state of California, Understanding, Inc. By 1975 no less than 86 local Understanding units had been registred, the last one documented, founded  in Tonopah, Arizona.

Daniel Fry

In depth research and documentation is still very much lacking regarding the history and development of these organizations. This is probably partly due to the problem of finding archives with easily accessed original documents: newsletters, correspondence, photos etc. At Archives for the Unexplained (AFU) in Norrköping, Sweden we have for many years been working hard trying to salvage organizational archives from around the world, digitizing documents and making them aviable free on the internet. When it comes to Daniel Fry´s organization Understanding we must commend the excellent efforts of Sean Donovan in Canada who has salvaged and preserved the Understanding archive and making much of the data accessible on a website dedicated to Daniel Fry.

Sean Donovan

Based on documents from the Daniel Fry website, Sean Donovan´s excellent Fry biography and data from AFU I have made a small study of Understanding and the life of Daniel Fry. In every issue of Understanding magazine is to be found a department called Bulletin Board with news of Understanding units but also information on lectures, conferences social gatherings etc.by various ”Spacecraft Clubs”. By studying every issue of Understanding magazine I have been able to compile some statistical data that may be of interest. These figures should not be regarded as exact. Understanding magazine never mentioned when units had folded and sometimes units were given the same number.

Between 1955 and 1975 altogether 86 Understanding units were registrered in the Bulletin Board. A unit could be formed if there were five members. The organization was to a large extent California-based. Unit locations in the U.S. states: California (48), Oregon (7), Arizona (4), New, York, Oklahoma, Washington (3), Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin (2), Nevada, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota (1). There were also three units in Canada and one in Nigeria. In 1963 Understanding Sweden Unit no 1 was founded by Sven-Erik and Ing-Marie Asklund. The unit had some twenty members and during 1963-64 gathered at the Asklund home at Bandhagen, a suburb of Stockholm. The unit was discontinued in December 1964.

Daniel Fry in Sweden 1970

Usually between one and four new units were founded every year between 1955-1975. Understanding had its peak activity years in the beginning of the 1960s. In 1960 there were 24 new units registrered, 1962 eight new units and in 1965 ten new units. Directors were named Presidents and represented people from all walks of life, some with a Dr. attached to the name. Of Presidents mentioned in the Bulletin Board 70 were men and 55 women. In May 1963 a unit was formed at Stanford University, California by J. Lynn Mason. Generally members were people involved with various metaphysical, theosophical and UFO contactee groups.

Several of the local Understanding units initiated an impressive amount of activities, lectures and social gatherings. Lecturers were often the well known UFO contactees of the period such as George Adamski, Orfeo Angelucci, George Van Tassel, Dana Howard, Wayne Aho and of course Daniel Fry. A frequent guest and lecturer at the local units was Riley Crabb, from 1959 director of Borderland Sciences Research Foundation (BSRF). As the entire BSRF archive has been donated to AFU I have been able to study the correspondence between Riley Crabb and several of the local Understanding units in the 1950s and 60s. So far I have scanned 757 letters in the Riley Crabb file often giving interesting background information about Understanding units and activities.

Charlotte Sullivan was founder and first President of Understanding Unit no 6, San Fernando, California

The most extensive documentation of Understanding as an organization has been published by Sean Donovan in his excellent biography Contactee. Was Daniel W. Fry Telling the Truth?, published in 2013. Some 60 pages are devoted to the history of Understanding. Donovan relates the ups and downs, successful endeavors and projects, conflicts and crises during the four decades of organization activities. There are still some unsolved issues regarding the final years of Understanding. The last issue of Understanding magazine was published in September-October 1979 (vol. 24, no 5). But in November 1982 Daniel Fry began publishing a one-page newsletter with its final issue in June 1989. Beginning with the May 1985 issue the newsletter was published by World Understanding, Inc. On March 27, 1985 Daniel Fry had re-incorporated Understanding, Inc. As World Understanding, Inc. And the newsletters were published with this name until the last issue in June 1989. I have not been able to find out whether Understanding, Inc. Or World Understanding, Inc. were ever formally dissolved? Recently I sent a request to California State Archives whether there were any documents indicating that Understanding, Inc. or World Understanding, Inc. had been officially dissolved. According to the reference archivist I corresponded with no such documents were found.

Understanding Unit no 15, Inglewood, California was founded already in 1958 and was a very active local unit. In September 1985 newly elected President Bill Hamilton sent out a leaflet announcing a lecture by Al Synder. In this leaflet is also mentioned that ”In the future, we will be changing the name of the group to the Association for Universal Understanding as we are no longer connected to the now defunct Understanding, Inc.” But as the original organization was still functioning with the new name World Understanding, Inc. why not simply rename the unit World Understanding Unit no 15? Perhaps some of my blog readers in the U.S. can solve this mystery?

Daniel Fry wrote of his contact experiences with the spaceman Alan and the philosophy he received in several books. Essentially it is a message of goodwill and peace: ”… creating a greater degree of understanding between all the peoples of the earth, and of bringing to them some of the understanding of those beings who are not of earth.” (Understanding, vol 1, no 1, Jan. 1956, p. 1). Alan explain that humanity will not survive if we do not succeed in reaching a balance between the physical or material science, the social science and the spiritual science. ”Understanding is the key to survival for your race. There is little value in a treaty, a pact or a guarantee between governments, if understanding is lacking between the people” (Daniel Fry, To Men of Earth. Including The White Sands Incident, p. 115).

There is much of philosophical and spiritual value in the messages given by Alan to Daniel Fry. Words of wisdom and inspiration that became the core teachings presented in the Understanding units. As I have stated many times before I have advanced the theory that behind some of the 1950s contactees was a benevolent group of aliens visitors from somewhere who initiated a cultural and psychological influence test, at a critical moment for our civilisation. Some of the people contacted tried their best to implement the projects and ideas received by the visitors. Others couldn´t stand the psychological strain of the experiences or invented fake stories when the real contacts ended.

Alan´s basic message that understanding is the key to survival for humanity has an immediate appeal but still fails to adress the problem of evil. We may understand the ideas and motives of a Hitler, Stalin or ISIS leader but we will still be killed or imprisoned if we have a different idea. No amount of understanding will help us in this respect. Only force or power will do the job. Many of the members in the Understanding were mystics, who often fail or refuse to recognize the problem of evil or admit that an individual can be totally evil. Dag Hammarskjöld, 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations learned this lesson during the Congo-Katanga crisis in 1960-61. His best friend, Bo Beskow, related a conversation he had with Hammarskjöld in 1961 when he asked whether Dag still believed in the good in man, that there is something good in all people? ”That Summer, 1961, Hammarskjöld was very serious in his answer. You know I have concluded something I never thought possible. I have discovered that there really exist completely evil people.” (Documentary, Swedish TV October 29, 2005).

In the last book published by Daniel Fry, When In Cairo, there are indications that Alan was really very aware of the problem of evil. This is a strange, unfinished book by Fry which he claimed was 70% true. It is a sort of spy novel where Alan is the leader of a secret group fighting an evil society in Egypt (The Shukran), trying to find and use hidden  technological treasures from the Atlantean civilization: ” We simply must find some way to stop this insane organization before they take over all of Egypt and plunge the nation into a hopeless war of conquest. The three leaders are the most dangerous of egomaniacs, whose ambition has absolutely no limit. If they succeeded in conquering the entire earth. they would immediately set up a huge space program just so they could go to other planets and conquer them too!” (p. 12)

Another fundamental idea presented by Alan is the necessity of balance between physical, material science, social science and spiritual science. In the human being this could be compared with balance between the physical, emotional and intellectual/spiritual part of man. The problem is that humanity on this planet has no generally recognized spiritual science, only various religions and more or less obsolete belief systems. The custodians of the science of the multiverse (Esoteric Science) have only recently made some tests in giving this science to humanity. But mainstream academic scholars will probably not take an interest in esotericism until definite empirical evidence of the etheric worlds and their inhabitants can be presented in the form of photos and films. An elementary outline of The Esoteric Tradition was presented by Daniel Fry in his book The Curve of Development. This is actually an excellent, easy to read, introduction to the science of the multiverse but as usual, unfortunately, mostly introduced in old religious terms.

There are still many unanswered questions regarding the contact experiences of Daniel Fry. Who was actually Alan? Is he or his group still around? Why didn´t such a large organization as Understanding survive the death of Fry in 1992? There were many capable local leaders who could have continued Daniel´s work. Further in-depth research on the history of the Understanding movement could perhaps give more clues to this enigma?